About the book: 2001 / This book, widely known in the CIS by a specialist in the field of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat, is an excellent addition to his famous bestseller “Fighting Machine”! In it, he outlines the basics of the hand-to-hand combat system that was used during the Patriotic War by employees of the Soviet military counterintelligence “Death to Spies.” The author debunks the legend according to which in the USSR in the pre-war period a top-secret “hand-to-hand” system was allegedly developed, which had no effectiveness equal in the world. Soviet counterintelligence officers surpassed their enemies primarily by their moral and psychological qualities - courage, patriotism, contempt for death, and not by applied physical training. At the same time, the Sambo fighting techniques they used were in no way inferior to those of the enemy. Applied sambo of the 30s had little in common with its post-war sports counterpart. His technique was a reliable and powerful close-combat weapon against any opponent. The author introduces readers to the methods of psychological and physical preparation of counterintelligence officers for hand-to-hand combat, describes all the basic techniques of applied sambo, and shows with numerous examples how to use it in real combat situations. He selected for the book mainly such techniques that allow effective self-defense from hooligans and armed criminals.