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Jonathan White

The UFC insists it will continue to fight the good fight during the coronavirus pandemic, even trying to set up shop on an island somewhere.
Other promoters have stood less firm, following other sports in cancelling and postponing shows, leaving a gap in the schedules and time on the hands of fight fans.
Luckily, there are plenty more unusual combat sports on video sites such as YouTube to explore during this downtime.
Follow us down the rabbit hole to Russia, the US and beyond, for the world’s weirdest combat sports.


Chess boxing was not the inspiration behind the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Mystery of Chessboxing”, which was a mixture of Chinese chess and kung-fu in the film of the same name.
Instead, it combines two of humanity’s greatest one-on-one challenges into a simple format: alternating three-minute rounds of chess and boxing.
Fighters are divided by the same weight divisions as boxing and with more ways to win via the chessboard than inside the ring, it pays to be an intellectual heavyweight.


The annual Siberian Power Show plays host to a face-slapping contest that is a massive hit with those in attendance.
The premise is simple: you open-hand slap your opponent in the face, then they take their turn to slap you. That’s if it gets that far. There are plenty of knockouts.
As the organisers told Radio Free Europe: “Anyone who is willing to take part can do so, but the person must understand that it is not fun. It is fun on the one hand, but it carries a high risk to life and a risk of getting injured.” Fun on the one hand, indeed.


If Black Mirror focused its dystopian myopia on sleepovers it seems unlikely that it would come up with a world of semi-professional pillow fighting.
Somehow that has already happened in Toronto where the Pillow Fight League went from the bedroom to the boardroom, eventually spreading to New York City and ESPN as the world woke up to competitive pillow fighting.
Sadly, they appear to have hit the snooze button on proceedings.


Armoured Combat League is self explanatory but that does not stop them elaborating. “The Armoured Combat League is the most extreme, full force, full speed, full contact sport on the planet,” says Combat Con.
“Their athletes wear 60-80lbs of armour. They face opponents with deadly weapons made of steel. They have one goal … incapacitate their opponent with punches, kicks, throws, axes and swords until someone is on the ground.”
What follows is like a Renaissance fair on steroids, and a guarantee of a good knight out.


Anyone who has watched the Sylvester Stallone film Over The Top will know about the World Armwrestling Championships.
Did you know that there is also a World Armwrestling League. It is on ESPN and describes itself as “the world’s fastest growing sport”.
What more do you need to know? One of them beat The Mountain from Game of Thrones despite being half his weight.


Did you know there is a World Jousting Championships? Well, there is.
It takes place in Australia, which missed out on medieval knights battling it out the first time round and appears to be making up for lost time.
Impressive, but is it as good as the joust from Gladiators?


Finger jousting sounds like a euphemism that is best left unexplored but it is, in fact, a sport of sorts.
It takes place at the same World Alternative Games that gives us the bog snorkelling world champs and sees competitors try to poke the other with their index finger while maintaining locked hands.
Someone could have their eye out, which is against the rules.


People forget that tug of war was an Olympic sport in the early days and this is a variation that deserves a wider audience than the Australian country fair it takes place at.
Goanna pulling is basically tug of war with competitors using their head and neck to pull the other forward. This is made possible by the leather strap that loops the pair of tuggers together.
This would have been the 35th year that the Wooli fair had crowned an Australian national champion.


The World Shin-kicking Championships take place at the Cotswold Olimpick Games in Gloucester, England, where competitors boot each other in the shins until one falls to the ground or cries “enough”.
They do so in hardened boots and with straw stuffed into their trousers for padding. Ambulance crews are on standby for any injuries.
This being Britain it is a tradition that dates back to the 1600s and is cheered on by a boozy crowd to this day.


Another British addition to the combat sports canon is toe wrestling but rather than being an ancient event resurrected for modern times, this is more recent.
The story goes that in 1974 four people were in the pub bemoaning Britain’s inability to produce a world champion and came up with toe wrestling as the solution.
Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn in Wetton, Staffordshire, still plays host to the annual world champs but the sport has now dipped its toe in the water overseas, spreading as far as China.


Thumb wrestling is familiar to most schoolchildren but it is one with a world ruling body and world championships.
Still, it is probably no shock to find its home in a British pub, in this case The Locks Inn in Geldeston, Norfolk.
That has not stopped global ambitions, with the sport reaching Hong Kong in 2019 where it got a massive thumbs up from locals.


You cannot blame Britain for finger wrestling, rather it is the Bavarians who came up with this particular gem.
Lederhosen-clad locals take advantage of the bierhall benches at Oktoberfest and face one another with the middle digit of one hand in a leather loop before going finger-to-finger in a tug of war.
The winner is the one that pulls their opponent over the table and its popularity across Europe suggests it pulls a crowd.


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Martial arts

Chess boxing, face slapping and shin kicking – the world’s weirdest combat sports

Vasiliy “Dumpling” Komotskiy slaps an opponent at the 2019 Siberian Power Show. Photo: Dmitry Kotov

Slap smackdown: Russian ‘Dumpling’ Kamotskiy blasts ‘Bazooka Arms’ with one blow

Vasiliy “Dumpling” Komotskiy slaps an opponent at the Siberian Power Show in March. Photo: Dmitry Kotov

The weirdest Olympic events – horse long jump, town planning and pigeon shooting

The Olympic Rings outside the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo: AFP

Swamps, calcio storico and robots – weird and wacky football  from around the world

Players clash during the final match of the Fiorentino calcio storico, the traditional 16th Century Renaissance game, at Santa Croce square in Florence in 2017. Photo: Xinhua

Thumbs up! Hong Kong hosts hundreds of competitors for World Thumb Wrestling Championships

Local participants battling in the semi-finals of the World Thumb Wrestling Championships in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Jack Paul Alastair Reynolds (right), 2015 champion of the World Thumb Wrestling Championships, battles Nick Hanington (left). SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

Sport

Other Sport

Organised pillow fights and arm wrestling stand alongside modern takes on jousting and medieval combat
A combination of ancient games and British pubs are to blame for some of the odder ways to establish human dominance


Organised pillow fights and arm wrestling stand alongside modern takes on jousting and medieval combat with inspiration coming from ancient games and British pubs.


Britain

Boxing

Sylvester Stallone

Chess boxing, face slapping and shin kicking – the world’s weirdest combat sports

Organised pillow fights and arm wrestling stand alongside modern takes on jousting and medieval combat A combination of ancient games and British pubs are to blame for some of the odder ways to establish human dominance

Organised pillow fights and arm wrestling stand alongside modern takes on jousting and medieval combat

A combination of ancient games and British pubs are to blame for some of the odder ways to establish human dominance