Vasili Oshchepkov (January 7, 1893 - October 10, 1938) was a researcher of different types of national wrestling and martial arts. He was ranked as a Merited Master of Sports of the USSR and an Honored Coach of the USSR.[1] He was one of the founders of sambo, a martial art developed in the Soviet Union.[2][3][4] During the political purges of 1937, Oshchepkov was accused of being a Japanese spy, and was executed in prison as a result[5][6][7]
Murat Khasanov, 11-time world heavyweight champion in SAMBO, 8-time winner of the World Cup, 7-time champion of Europe, 19-time Russian SAMBO champion, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia, Awarded with the Order of Friendship
Irina Rodina, 11-time world champion, Multiple winner of Championships of Europe, Awarded an Order for Merit to the Fatherland of II class, “Sport Elite of Prikamye”, “Gold Belt”, “Sports Heroine” title
Svetlana Galante, 7-time world champion, 8-time winner of the World Cup, Awarded a medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “For Military Valour” of II class, “Gold Belt”, Multiple winner of title “Sportswoman of the Year”
Fedor Emelianenko, 4-time combat SAMBO world champion and seven-time Russian champion, Honoured Master of Sports in SAMBO, Awarded an Order for Merit to the Fatherland of II class, Order of Peter the Great of I class. Two-time Russian national Judo Bronze medalist, he was the last Heavyweight champion of the PRIDE Fighting Championships and was the consensus No. 1 ranked Heavyweight MMA fighter in the world for over seven years and undefeated for 10 years in all of MMA
Ron Tripp, 1994 World Champion and 7 times World Medalist capturing 8 US National Titles and 6 Pan Am Golds during his career (both FIAS East and West). A Judo champion and current general secretary of USA Judo. Tripp was promoted to 10th degree in sambo in 1995 and became America's first International Distinguished Master of Sport in 1996. Also in 1996, he served as World Team Coach at the Tokyo World Championships. At the 1993 U.S. Sambo Championships, he scored a total victory throw over Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie,[16] the only time Gracie was defeated in competition
James Chico Hernandez, First sambo champion to be featured on a box of Wheaties Energy Crunch.[17] He won the 2000 FIAS World Cup silver medal,[18] FIAS Pan American silver medal, 10 time USA AAU Sambo Champion, three-time British FIAS silver medalist,[19][20] and bronze medal winner at the 2010 FIAS Championships of Scotland. 2009 American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo Award winner
Scott Sonnon, Honourable Master of Sports in Sambo from the AASF,[21] was nominated for (but did not win) the American Sambo Association's Pioneer of American Sambo Award, World University Sambo Games Silver Medalist (not an official University games event), USA Grand National and Pan-American Sambo Champion, and USA National Sambo Team Coach[22]
David Rudman, USSR, champion of the first International Sambo Tournament, at 70 kg,[23][24] and first World Champion in the weight category up to 68 kg[25]
Yury Rybak, Belarusian sport sambo champion, and World Judo silver medalist
Garry Kallos, Canadian, Pan American Games champion
Andrei Kazusionak, Belarusian sport sambo champion, European Judo champion, and Olympian
Genrikh Shults, 6-times Soviet Sport Sambo Champion (85 kg), the first captain of the USSR national Judo team, European Judo champion (80 kg)
Magomedkhan Gamzatkhanov, a.k.a Volk Han, 1987 and 1988 USSR Champion, 1987 and 1988 Russian National Champion, Merited Master of Sports of the USSR. Multiple time freestyle wrestling champion of Dagestan. Also the first primary trainer for the Russian Top Team, the mixed martial arts team for which Fedor Emelianenko, Aleksander Emelianenko, and Sergei Kharitonov all were members
Dean Lister, American MMA fighter, 2x ADCC champion, U.S. National Sambo Champion
Satoko Shinashi, accomplished Japanese mixed martial arts competitor
Dennis Siver , Russian-German MMA fighter in the UFC
Yaroslav Amosov, Ukrainian sambo and MMA fighter in the welterweight category. Four-time world sambo champion, two-time European champion and Eurasia champion, European Cup winner, as well as the winner of many national and international competitions
Shamil Zavurov, Russian mixed martial artist of Avar descent, who competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2004, he is the former M-1 Global World Welterweight champion
Vladimir Putin, Russian politician who has served as the President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. He is a judo black belt and sambo practitioner
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