King Charles visited the Roger Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Hammersmith today, where he presented a student with his black belt – and also received his own white belt
King Charles with Tinie Tempah at the Roger Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in London today(Image: Chris Jackson/PA Wire)
The King surprised a star student with his Jiu Jitsu black belt today, during a visit to a world-renowned martial arts school.
Charles took part in the ceremony at the Roger Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Hammersmith, one of the world ’s leading Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) schools. As he watched a range of demonstrations from students of all abilities, the King reminisced on his time in the Royal Navy, joking that their grappling skills resembled him taking part in a tug-o-war on board HMS Bronington.
Charles, who served on the mine hunter during his naval career which spanned from 1971 to 1976, told them: “It’s almost like you’re in a tug-o-war. We used to do that on HMS Bronington, but the rope was tied round the stern so you couldn’t see the other team. It was like a pulley system that never ended.”
The King, 77, was introduced to students from REORG, an organisation set up to promote the sport among serving military personnel, veterans, emergency service workers and others facing physical, mental and social challenges. REORG was founded in 2017 by Royal Marines veteran and BJJ black belt holder Sam Sheriff MBE.
Ahead of the presentation at the grading ceremony, Mr Sheriff praised student Trent Scanlen for his dedication in being promoted from brown belt to black belt.
The pair met when Trent opened a gym in Richmond in 2015 where he met Sam who introduced him to REORG and has since gone on to support the military, emergency services and veteran community as a Trustee of REORG since 2020.
Sam said: “There’s very few people on the planet that get to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, that’s because it takes between 10 to 15 years to achieve that.”
After the presentation, the King was presented with his own white belt – the entry level grading in the sport. Chuckling, the King waved the belt in front of his face as the students applauded.
Roger Gracie Academy is one of the world’s leading Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools. Founded in 2004 by 10-time world champion Roger Gracie and his father Master Mauricio Gomes, the academy combines the Gracie family’s traditional approach to jiu-jitsu with modern training methods.
Mauricio Gomes, widely recognised as the “Godfather of British Jiu-Jitsu”, played a vital role in spreading BJJ beyond Brazil. An eighth-degree black belt holder, Mauricio has been training and teaching BJJ for over 50 years.
Former Royal Marine commando Mark Ormrod MBE told how the sport had given him and others a “new lease of life” after their service.
Mr Ormrod, 42, lost both legs and his right arm when he stood on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve in 2007. He has gone on to set records through challenges including achieving the world record for the fastest triple amputee 1km swim and raised more than £150,000 when running a 5km (3.2 mile) run in prosthetics.
He said: “It might sound ridiculous, but this sport has given me so much. The gift of being in combat with another man, the gift of being challenged every time I step on the mat and the gift of the community that surrounds Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I’ve been in the very fortunate position that I’ve watched Sam grow this organisation from the very beginning and reach thousands of people around the world and I’ve watched a lot of those people’s lives change.
“There’s no egos in this sport, nothing outside of here matters. We have people from all walks of life, from high ranking military and emergency services personnel, world champions or people just joining the sport. There is honour, respect and patience, and that’s what the King saw today. It was a pleasure for him to visit.”
Roger Gracie said: “This was a very historical day, not just for us her3 but for all of Jiu Jitsu. For our community and for everybody who has ever trained to better themselves. To have the King attend our academy was a great honour. “Our sport embodies everything about the community. People come here to train and to celebrate the human spirit and it reflects in everyone around them.
“The King’s visit is a reflection of the jujitsu, that no matter who you are or where you come from; everyone is welcome.”
Pop star Tinie Tempah, who is a currently purple belt – two away from the top grade – told the King how actor Tom Hardy introduced him to the sport after their met at King’s Trust event in 2018.
He said: “So we were both ambassadors for what is now the King’s Trust, that was the Prince’s Trust back then and we were in a line-up and I think he was training for a film, Venom.
“While we were waiting, you know, we had like 10 minutes to just chat, and he was like, ‘Oh, mate, do you do jiu jitsu?’ And I was like, ‘This jiu jitsu, I’ve been hearing about it for ages and ages and ages, but I’ve never tried it’, and so he invited me down to a gym he was training at.
It has taken him seven years to earn a purple belt, two below black, and the martial arts had “changed my life” and given discipline, introduced him to father-figure role models, a Jiu Jitsu community across the globe and now his two young daughters “love it so much”.
Commenting on his chat with Charles about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu he said: “He was basically saying that he’s been wanting to champion this in some capacity for ages, and that has been talking to Idris (Elba) about it, and maybe I could be of service in some capacity. Because he wants to use it to help young people, and I said to him that that is basically my ambition.
“I want to set up some sort of charity or infrastructure where we can get young people from year nine and upwards who are a bit disenfranchised, maybe they’re from challenged backgrounds, things going on at home, maybe on the verge of going into gangs… to just come (to a club) because there’s hundreds of this around London and the country, hundreds of these clubs.”
Influencer Paul Olima also chatted to Charles about his suggestion of using the sport to support young people. Mr Olima, who has around 15 million followers across social media, said: “I think it’s a wonderful idea to get the kids off the streets. You sometimes see kids hanging about on a corner but if you got them down here they would be different people.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
