Gamzatkhanov represented Russia on the Russian Fighting Network RINGS team with Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Kopylov, Nikolai Zouev and Mikhail Ilyukhin.
In 1981, upon beginning his two-year service in the USSR military, Han switched to Sambo, and was immediately scouted by Viktor Lysenko for his team in Tula.
[15] The next year, after several wins against names like Chris Dolman, Mitsuya Nagai and Willie Williams, Han took part in the next edition, eliminating Masayuki Naruse in the opening round before falling to teammate Nikolai Zouev in the second.
After a lesser but notable participation in the 1995 tournament, in which he was eliminated by Maeda in the semifinals, Han won the 1996 iteration by defeating Naruse, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Tariel Bitsadze and Kiyoshi Tamura.
Following an elimination from the 1996 to hands of his own apprentice, Mikhail Illyukhin, Han gave his last great tournament participation in the 1999 edition, which was fought in team format.
[7][8] Following a winning debut against RINGS rookie Yasuhito Namekawa, Volk's skills were proven further against American wrestler and Mark Coleman's teammate Branden Lee Hinkle, 12 years his junior.
During the semifinals, Han met young star Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, expert in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and almost half of Volk's age.
When the second round arrived, Han sprawled a takedown and gained his signature knee-on-stomach control, with the Brazilian coming back with a kneebar; the hold was completely extended, but Volk shockingly escaped.
After a restart, Han came attacking with a flying Kimura lock which Nogueira answered with an omoplata/ankle hold combination, but he was unable to submit Volk, and the match ended shortly after.
Volk Han has served as the head instructor of the Russian Top Ten team for years, alongside Andrei Kopylov, and has coached names like Fedor and Alexander Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, Karimula Barkalaev[3][4] and two-time world sambo champion Suren Balachinskiy.
After the departure of Fedor from RTT, it became public that Han was no longer on good terms with him, although Emelianenko still considers him one of the best in his field [2][page needed] Other than martial arts, he ran for parliamentary elections in his home country without success.
[citation needed] He also helped in building a mosque in his homeland, the Republic of Dagestan, with the fight money he earned from his RINGS career.
[citation needed] In fighting games, Volk Han's brand of Command Sambo or Commando Sambo is used by various fictional characters, including Blue Mary from SNK's Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series,[17] Bayman from Dead or Alive series[18] and Dragunov from the Tekken series Volk Han himself has become a model for many fictitious sambo practitioners in popular media, including Heizo Onikawa from the manga "Tough", Wolf from video game "Battle K-Road" and Preston Ajax from video game Fighting Layer.