It looks like Tom Hardy’s training for the movie Warrior paid off! According to recent news, he participated in a martial arts tournament anonymously- and he ended up winning. The 45-year-old actor definitely surprised all of the attendees at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship that took place at the Oakgrove School in Milton Keynes on the 17th of September. The sponsor for the event, Sean Rosborough, informed Daily Mail that they had full information about Hardy’s participation. Nevertheless, they decided to keep it under wraps for they didn’t want a horde of his fans storming the event and disrupting the championship in the process.[1]
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Tom Hardy Entered a Jiu-Jutsu Tournament — and Won
Tom Hardy faced Andy Leatherland, a 42-year-old sales manager in the finals. And incidentally, Leatherland had also signed up for this event after he saw the actor’s name on the list. While the rest of the attendees would be focused on the actor’s stage name, Leatherland thought it was quite suspicious that someone called Edward Hardy had signed up. “I was contemplating the Milton Keynes tournament as it was very local. And then one morning- [the actor] goes by the name Edward Hardy- I saw that he’d actually signed up.” Leatherland also held the same belt that Hardy did in BJJ.
But as it turns out, Tom Hardy didn’t have much trouble in securing the gold medal. Leatherland stated that the actor brought in the same intensity that he showed while acting. He didn’t treat this competition as beneath him and gave it the proper respect it deserved. “I made a mistake and he capitalized on that. He absolutely nailed it, and he subbed me, and it was over relatively quickly.”[2]
Another opponent of Tom Hardy, Danny Appleby, also mentioned the shock he experienced while seeing the actor step in the circle with him. “I recognized him straight away. Everyone knows who Tom Hardy is, don’t they? I was shell-shocked. He said, ‘Just forget it’s me and do what you would normally do.’ He’s a really strong guy, you wouldn’t think it with him being a celebrity. I do OK, I’ve done about six tournaments and I’ve been on the podium in everyone. But he’s probably the toughest competitor I’ve had- he certainly lived up to his Bane character, that’s for sure.”
All those action film roles might not have been too much acting, after all.
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Sources
- “Tom Hardy secretly enters UK jiu-jitsu competition – and takes home the gold.” Independent. Maanya Sachdeva. September 2022.
- “Tom Hardy Makes Surprise Appearance at Martial Arts Tournament, Wins All His Matches.” Hollywood Reporter. Abid Rahman. September 20, 2022.
