There are various forms of sports in the mainstream that originated during the Industrial Revolution. While boxing is an older sport, it is among other sports like golf, cricket, soccer, and rugby that gained prominence between the 1750s and 1850s. Meanwhile, there’s one medieval sport that has stood the test of time, which has left Joe Rogan baffled recently on his podcast, but it’s not really a mainstream sport.

Historians have revealed that many civilizations and empires in the past had their own sport. One of the most famous ones included the Aztec ballgame known as ullamaliztli, which is similar to soccer or rugby, but had different rules. Meanwhile, there’s another medieval sport, which is big in Italy, called calcio storico. Joe Rogan spoke about it with his recent guest Mike Vecchione, asking him, “Have you ever seen that game that they play? I think it’s called calcio storico… It’s like a combination of rugby and MMA. And they do it in Italy, and they do it in a couple of other places.”

He went on to mention the details about the blending of rugby and MMA elements of the game, but had one issue. Joe Rogan didn’t seem to comprehend the reason the game is played with a ball between two teams. Given that there was a lot of fighting moves taking place. Rogan would also call the sport absolute mayhem, while expressing his disbelief that the sport actually exists in modern times.

“[It’s like rugby] but it’s fighting. So, they get together as teams, and they’ve got a ball. I don’t know what the f—ing deal is with the ball, but they beat the f—ing piss out of each other… Animals. Like animals,” Joe Rogan further stated on #2356 JRE. “These guys stand outside each other, and they’re having gang fights… while that’s ball moving around, these guys in the middle are just beating the s–t out of each other. They’re wrestling, they’re f—ing shooting takedowns, bodyslamming each other, elbows to the face on the ground. It’s nuts.”

Calcio storico takes place mostly in the Italian city of Florence, and in places around that region, which is a part of their rich medieval history. But for some reason, Joe Rogan can’t seem to understand what this sport is all about, and when he first mentioned it a few years ago, he called it a “Bizarre, stupid sport.” Let’s take a look at that front.

Joe Rogan once sounded off on calcio storico

During a conversation with fellow comedian Whitney Cummings, Joe Rogan learned about calcio storico for the first time, and when he reviewed some footage of actual matches, he didn’t seem to find it too entertaining. First of all, he took shots at the fighting skills of calcio storico players, and then was surprised to see how fighters exchange partners while brawling with each other.

Well, guess what? Whitney Cummings would mention that there aren’t too many rules in the calcio storico. Also, none of these athletes were actual professionals, so looking at the chaos, Joe Rogan didn’t really think this sport made any sense. “First of all, these guys have dogs–t skills… He went down, then another guy took his place instantly… Oh, what a bizarre, stupid sport,” Joe Rogan said in a 2016 JRE episode.

Well, there will always be cultures and traditions around the world that have been able to survive the test of time. Calcio storico appears to be just one of them, even though Joe Rogan doesn’t seem to be a fan of it. Do you have any other medieval sport in mind? Let us know in the comments down below.