After its appearance in the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Sambo was recognised by FISU in 2016. The first World University Championship was held in Larnaca, Cyprus, the same year. In 2022, Sambo became part of the FISU University World Cup Combat Sports in Samsun, Türkiye. Combat Sports will return to the Championship format in 2024.
News
All newsEvents
FISU TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIR
Resources
The History of Sambo in FISU
Sambo is a martial art and combat sport developed by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve hand-to-hand fighting abilities. Incorporating judo and jujitsu, but also incorporating wrestling moves, sambo derives from a Russian acronym, which translates literally to ‘self defense without weapons’. Both men and women compete by weight category in this gender-equal sport.
With its Russian roots, it makes sense that Sambo entered the FISU event programme at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan as a non-compulsory sport. The first World University Sambo Championship was held in 2016 in Larnaca, Cyprus. The next edition of the World University Sambo Championship will take place in Novi Sad, Serbia in 2018.