Canada jiu-jitsu tournament canceled as police threaten arrests

Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A jiu-jitsu tournament in Canada was canceled after the event was found to be in violation of a local criminal code.

The Canada National Pro Jiu-Jitsu committee shared a post on Facebook explaining the Canada Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championships event was unable to proceed as Montreal police stated their intention to arrest participants in the tournament.

"The SPVM, acting on an internal legal memo that included Jiu-Jitsu as a combat sport, i.e. having strikes ('an encounter or fight with fists, hands or feet'), according to section 83 of the Canadian Criminal Code, informed the Abu Dhabi Pro Jiu-Jitsu committee that they would proceed to enforce the section to arrest any participant in the tournament," the committee said. "Furthermore, they informed the committee that the Municipal Prosecutor of Montreal intended to prosecute every such case to court."

The event organizers stated the Canada Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championships features Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which does not include strikes.

"The Canada Pro Jiu-Jitsu committee, the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation and numerous members of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community attempted to convince the SPVM of the difference between BJJ and Jiu-Jitsu from the time of the complaint," the committee said.

Nearly 240 people were scheduled to take part in the competition, as competitors and organizers were baffled by the enforcement of the strange law.

"For us, it was a huge shock because it was never a problem before. We didn't even think it could be a problem," organizer Danny An Khoi Vu told the CBC.

The event was ultimately postponed to March 5.