On a spring afternoon in Kyiv's Podil neighborhood, black belt Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) artist Vladislav Shuhai parked a battered Mercedes Benz on the street and helped wheel out Illia Misyura, a 22-year old paraplegic veteran. An elderly passerby offered to help, but Vlad politely declined, manoeuvring him deftly to the stairlift descending to a basement gym - home to the training gym of Kult.
This past March, Shuhai teamed up with fellow martial artists Volodymyr Senok and Andriy Ishchuk to establish Kult, a BJJ club that helps Ukrainian soldiers and veterans cope with life-altering injuries and trauma.