While aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Sultan Al Neyadi, the Emirati astronaut, has become the first person to practise Jiu-Jitsu in space.
In a tweet posted on Twitter, Sultan is seen wearing a UAEJJ Gi, which is the traditional sporting wear worn during Jiu-Jitsu.
Sultan said, "I love Jiu-Jitsu, I have been doing Jiu-Jitsu for so many years. Jiu-Jitsu helped me so much in my preparation for this mission and getting adapted to the environment on the International Space Station."
Currently, in his second month aboard the ISS, Sultan added that Jiu-Jitsu helped him during his spacewalk on 28 April, where he spent six hours replacing the Radio Frequency Unit (RFU), which is used by astronauts to communicate and prep the solar array installations, that generates power from the outside to the ISS, along with astronaut Steve Bowen.
The sport regularly trains arms and helped Sultan with having a strong grip while on his spacewalk.
Abdel Moneim Al Hashemi, Chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, President of the Asian Ju-Jitsu Union and Senior Vice President of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation said, "We are eternally proud of Sultan. His bravery, intelligence and humility are a credit and inspiration to the UAE, and all our citizens and residents. He is an example for the Arab and Muslim worlds, and to a global nation of jiu-jitsu athletes. He has put the sport of jiu-jitsu on an entirely new map, taking us from mats to stars."