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It’s a nightmare scenario: you’re getting into your car late at night, you didn’t notice the assailant hidden in your backseat. As soon as you close the door he lunges at you grappling you to bring a knife to bear. You’re now in the fight of your life. Are you ready? Out of this hypothetical scenario, all too real for a few of us, it would seem a new sport has been born: Car-Jitsu. And of course…they came up with it in Russia… because …well… it’s Russia.
“In 2020, I came up with the idea of doing competitive grappling in vehicles.” The sport’s invento Vic Mikheev said, according to Jiu-Jitsu Times. “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 way Mikheev tells it, Car-Jitsu started as an experimental form.
Back (And Front) Seat Grappling Shenanigans
Car-Jitsu contests are held in mid-sized sedans (naturally) and the participants compete in two, three-minute bouts of grappling, alternating between driver and passenger seats between rounds. The fighters may earn points through the establishment of an advantageous position or a submission similar to traditional jiu-jitsu matches. If both competitors are tied for submissions by the end of round two, the action moves to the back seat until one of the participants comes out on top within four minutes.
MMANews detailed how the scoring works a bit further,
“Everything within the vehicle is fair game and available for use. That means mirrors, seat belt, steering wheel—you name it. This is all factored into the “creative use of the environment” criterion. Participants are awarded four points for mount and back control and two points for placing their knee on the belly of the opponent.”
Matches, like any fighting competition, are typically assigned by gender, but intergender matches between more advanced fighters are permitted. You can find some of the men’s matches here and intergender matches here.
After pouring over several of Mikheev’s videos we found we enjoyed Sarah and Miss Toast the most for the sheer fun they had together, but it was pretty wild to see Alexandra and Gina straight-up break a windshield.
As Car-Jitsu catches on stateside, a whole new branch of MMA is entering the forefront, along with a whole new training concept for everyday people to defend themselves should the worst day ever happen to them.
