Stenka na Stenku (Стенка на стенку) means wall against wall and is an ancient fist fight dated from early 13th century, and occurred in villages on Saint’s Day on crowded places. It is possible that initially it was held as part of the special rituals in honor of the god Perun, who was considered the saint of soldiers.

There are three main types of fights in ancient Russia: “one on one”, “sceplyalka-svalka (one against all) and stenka na stenku. This one might have involved more than a hundred fighters. The fight is prearranged and the number of participants could be unequal, but with a slight difference. From ancient times until today, they fight between two teams in a rank.

The current participants do not follow many of the rules from the past. They could not wield heavy objects, hit an opponent when he was down or hit from the side or from behind. Also grabbing an opponent by clothes was prohibited. At the present, gangs and hooligans are using this kind of combat on wide-open areas as seen in this video:

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Almost 40 young men formed teams arranged in the classical formation of the “wall against wall”, wearing black and white shirts in order to differentiate themselves. They collided in a brutal mass brawl, landed an absurd number of punches and kicks, even on the men down. Quickly, the black team decimates the white team, where many remained on the ground, unable to stand up.

Russia also developed his own martial arts with different styles. They are Russian fistfight, Sambo and Systema. The Russian fistfight is bare-knuckle boxing, originated from its ancient fights. The government created Sambo during the Soviet Union, as a military hand-to-hand combat, but also as combative sport. Systema is also an old martial art, allegedly originated from Hun and Mongolian martial arts. It is focused on self-defense, mostly. [Source: Rusfan.ru]