Carlos Santos is a BJJ black belt under Roger Gracie and he also happens to be Tom Hardy’s Jiu-Jitsu coach, so he recently sat down with MMA Fighting to talk about the Hollywood star. Santos has a wealth of experience both training and teaching the sport, and like the majority of BJJ coaches he also spends time cornering them live in competition. As a result, he’s spent a lot of time with Hardy over the years helping him perfect his skills on the mats and helping him put them to good use in his recent tournament appearances. Santos gave his thoughts on Hardy’s progress in the sport:
“He’s a great champion. He’s very special. He really loves jiu-jitsu. It’s so nice to see someone dedicate like that to the art.”
Hardy is far from the first celebrity to get involved with BJJ, but he is one of only a handful that get involved to the same extent that regular people do. A lot of celebrities choose to stick to private sessions with coaches and some choose not to spar at all, but he doesn’t want any special treatment. Tom Hardy’s BJJ journey started out with private sessions so that he could get a feel for the sport, but his coach Santos has said that he doesn’t stick to just them:
“He wants to enjoy the art like a normal person. He always does group classes too. I admire that about him. Famous people usually want private classes. He did that at first so he could understand the art, but then he asked to be on the group class too, and would continue training after the class was over.”
Other famous actors like Mario Lopez have competed in BJJ tournaments too, and their presence is a huge way to boost the profile of the sport for those outside of it. Hardy does more than that though, as he’s also an ambassador for Reorg and he continually tries to spread the sport further in his personal life too:
“His stuntman trains Jiu-Jitsu because of him. They practice together when they’re filming. Sometimes I send them videos with exercises, showing what we’re working on in the gym.”
Carlos Santos has dedicated years of his life to becoming a BJJ black belt and coach, and he’s got nothing but positives to say about Tom Hardy’s love for the sport:
“I’m very happy and honored to train him. I was lucky to be on the right place at the right time to work with him. He really is expanding the art. He loves the culture.”
