This is car-jitsu – the most bizarre sport you’ve never heard of
- Car-jistu is a bizarre new sport that sees people performing ju-jitsu in cars
- Created by martial artist Vik Mikheev the unusual sport is growing in popularity
- Competitors can use anything inside the car, including seatbelts, to try and win
Published on Jul 04, 2024 at 6:31 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Jul 04, 2024 at 5:48 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
There’s a bizarre and incredibly niche sport known as car-jitsu – that is leaving people baffled but unable to stop watching.
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you combined Brazilian ju-jitsu with a Toyota Prius?
No? Most likely not.
But that is exactly what Russian martial artist Vik Mikheev dreamed of when he came up with the concept of car-jitsu during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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How does car-jitsu work?
“In 2020, I came up with the idea of doing competitive grappling in vehicles,” Mikheev told RollingTimes Mag.
“Since October of 2020, I and my friends run small tournaments of car-jitsu to study the aspects of jiu-jitsu application in such a confined space.”
The off-the-wall sport sees competitors using the moves usually associated with ju-jitsu but rather than grappling it out on a mat, they’re inside a car. See, we told you it was bizarre.
The match kicks off with both competitors in the front of the car, with their seatbelts on and their hands on their knees – much like they’re about to set off on a nice road trip.
However, once the ref gives the signal, it’s anything but nice as the two fighters quickly attempt to free themselves from their seatbelts, all while making sure their opponent doesn’t get the better of them, of course.
Points are earned in a similar way to regular ju-jitsu – by gaining positional dominance.
Wins can also be gained via your opponent’s submission.
Oh and just about anything in the car be used as a weapon, including the seatbelt, which seems a fairly common way that competitors choke out their opponents. We’re not quite sure how the inventor of seatbelts would feel about the safety device being used in a such a manner.
At least organizers opted for a roomy vehicle, can you imagine trying this in a Peel P50?
The sport is growing in popularity
Despite – or maybe because of – its bizarre nature, the sport has gained a lot of fans in Russia.
The Pro League Network – who produce the CarJitsu Championship – had more than 13 million views in a single week. You can check out the channel here.
Many of those watching couldn’t quite believe their eyes.
“What is going on with the world? What’s next bathroom UFC?” one viewer asked, while someone else admitted that they ‘couldn’t stop’ watching.
We’re just slightly upset that no one thought to call it CARtial arts.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
