“Come On, Hit Me!” Lukashenka Recalls Harrowing Childhood Encounter With a Sambo Wrestler

Reform.news Editorial Team · 16 October 2026, 16:40

https://reform.news/en/come-on-hit-me-lukashenka-recalls-harrowing-childhood-encounter-with-a-sambo-wrestler/

Aliaksandr Lukashenka demonstrated self-defence techniques, explained how to defend against a knife attack, and recounted an encounter with a sambo wrestler during his childhood.

During a visit to the Vierkhnyadzvinsk District, Lukashenka was shown how members of the people’s militia units had mastered hand-to-hand combat techniques.

“It’s what a man needs. It won’t do any harm,” Lukashenka commented.

Lukashenka could not resist offering some valuable advice and recounted how a sambo wrestler had twisted his arm when he was a child.

“I was watching closely. Teach them how to defend against an upward knife attack. If he strikes upward with his right hand, you intercept it, twist his arm, and that’s it — take him down. This was the first technique a sambo wrestler showed me when I was a child in the village. He said, ‘Come on, come on, hit me.’ He twisted my arm and then suddenly threw me forward. He dislocated my shoulder. That’s why I still remember it. But you have to know how to defend against an upward strike,” Lukashenka said, demonstrating how to twist an opponent’s arm.

“When someone is afraid, a person with a knife will always come at you. If he raises his arm, it takes a long time. You will have time to react. But if he strikes upward, you have to break his arm and that’s it — twist it,” Lukashenka advised.