‘He took my heart to space’: UAE jiu-jitsu community rejoices over AlNeyadi’s video – News

The astronaut posted a six-minute video about the sport wearing Jiu Jistu gi (the traditional kimono-style clothing worn by athletes in the sport)

When UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi posted a video about the sport, the country’s jiu-jitsu practitioners cheered. “I feel like he took my heart into space,” said jiu-jitsu champion and Olympian Faisal Al Ketbi. “It’s amazing. He’s true national pride. He took ju-jitsu to space and showed it to the world.”

On Thursday, AlNeyadi posted a six-minute video about the sport in Jiu Jistu gi, the traditional kimono-style clothing worn by athletes in the sport. He outlined how martial arts – a key pillar of the UAE school physical education syllabus – can help develop discipline, focus and resilience, skills he has transferred to prepare him for his six-month assignment and, now, in his life Among the stars in microgravity.

According to Al Ketbi, the video sent the entire UAE’s jiu-jitsu community into a bind. “When everyone started sharing videos in all groups, all my groups started beeping,” he said. “Everyone was retweeting it and talking about it. I showed it to my kids. Several coaches showed it to their students. It was a proud moment for all of us.”

A coach who teaches jiu-jitsu in the UAE says this is the best story from the community. “It has had a big impact on the sport,” said Professor Luis Carreno. “This video exposes martial arts to thousands of people, and interest in it will increase.”

Carreno said he’s glad the astronauts put jiu-jitsu on the map. “Jiu-jitsu is very much about physics,” he said. “Its movements, techniques and methods are closely related to the laws of physics. I believe that through this video, many people in the scientific community will be interested in Jiu-Jitsu and will further improve the sport.”

Abdel Moneim Al Hashemi, Chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, Chairman of the Asian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, and Senior Vice-Chairman of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said that AlNeyadi is the credit and inspiration of the UAE. “He put the sport of jiu-jitsu on a whole new map, taking us from the mat to the stars,” he said.

Al Ketbi also pointed out that the sport adds a lot of value to people’s lives. “As AlNeyadi mentions in his videos, Jiu-Jitsu has many advantages and can add value to the life of everyone who practices it,” he said. “It trains people to be patient, to dream big and achieve more.”

In his video on Friday, AlNeyadi wished the athletes participating in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam (ADGS) World Tour, which will take place at the Mubadala Arena in the capital Zayed Sports City from Friday to Sunday field held.

Considered one of the most important events in the global jiu jitsu calendar, the championship will be in the UAE capital as the final stop of the season after visiting Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Sydney and London.

Filipino athlete Eliecha Malilay, who lives in Dubai, said she was inspired by watching AlNeyadi’s video, which gave her much-needed motivation for the ADGS weekend. “It has profound implications for how jiu-jitsu connects to everything in our lives,” said the 18-year-old full-time jiu-jitsu athlete.

“Seeing the video made me proud of how the sport has grown and helped a lot of people. As Sultan said, jiu jitsu really helped him prepare for missions in outer space, and he is still learning the tricks in outer space to this day. So it’s motivating I’m learning more from this weekend’s game.”