The art of hand-to-hand combat

Nikolai Nilovich Oznobishin was a hereditary nobleman, polyglot, circus artist, writer, boxer, one of the predecessors and inspirers of sambo, a combat instructor who taught Red Army fighters hand-to-hand combat for eight years. Nil Oznobishin's book "The Art of Hand-to-Hand Combat" was first published by the NKVD RSFSR publishing house in 1930. Operatives needed to be trained in hand-to-hand combat techniques to counteract criminal elements. From the age of fifteen, Nil Oznobishin joined a circus troupe and traveled to many countries with it, witnessing not only the variety of combat techniques (at that time, the circus was the main place for the development of various martial arts), but also the customs of European streets with their tricks of robbers and police resistance. The book "The Art of Hand-to-Hand Combat" is considered one of the most comprehensive and useful guides on self-defense. Soviet founders of sambo used Oznobishin's developments in creating the domestic wrestling school.