Tom Hardy is a celebrated British actor and has played iconic roles like Bane and Charles Bronson to absolute perfection, but he’s been spending a large part of his time over the last few years training in BJJ and has even reached the rank of blue belt in the sport. One thing has separated Hardy from a number of other celebrities who have decided to train however is that he has not only been willing to train at an intense level against your average person, but he has also decided to compete as well.
In fact, not only do the vast majority of celebrities avoid competition or hard rolling but a surprising amount of average people would also choose not to compete. There’s nothing wrong with doing so of course, competition isn’t for everyone, but it’s definitely something to admire when someone is willing to test themselves. Hardy doesn’t just train either, as he has incredibly close ties to Reorg as well. Reorg is a charity founded by Royal Marine Sam Sheriff that focuses on bringing BJJ to those who have serious, life-altering injuries or are suffering from PTSD and depression. It’s an incredible cause and one that Tom Hardy has been the head ambassador for for several years, they even organized the very same competition that he entered.
Hardy isn’t completely alone in competing of course, as fellow actor Mario Lopez has also frequented his local competition scene. Not only did Lopez compete in a Compnet competition arranged specifically for Gracie Barra students, but he even decided to step onto the mats in an IBJJF open as well. Interestingly, not only are both Tom Hardy and Mario Lopez blue belts in BJJ but they are also 44 and 48 respectively, putting them in the same age division as well. If celebrity BJJ matches ever become a thing (unlikely), then there’s definitely something there!
The footage of Tom Hardy competing in a BJJ tournament at blue belt and winning a match by armbar was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Jiu Jitsu World:
