A practitioner of both judo and sambo, he started his martial arts journey at 12 and later even became a hand-to-hand combat instructor for the Russian KGB (Committee for State Security).

The martial art later developed alongside the samurai ... Greater emphasis was also placed on the sport side of the discipline. Akido and sambo can also trace back their inspiration to ju-jitsu.

The fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games were held in Turkmenistan ... kurash, muay thai and sambo. The Ashgabat Olympic Complex hosted 11 days of competition in its state-of-the-art ...