But it didn’t go well at first as Jamie bet he could beat a youngster. He sparred with them and got ‘battered’. Just 30 minutes into the class, he knew he needed to learn it and that was the start of his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey.
At the next class he got paired with a tiny girl and got battered again. It was a test for him, but from then on, he has been obsessed with the sport. Jamie, from Saltash, decided he was going to dedicate himself to the sport from there on – and has become the European champion – and founded Centaur Jiu-Jitsu, which now operates out of Saltash.
It has helped him stay out of trouble after a difficult start to his life. The now dad-of-three grew up in Bristol, but aged just 14, he started getting involved in drugs and became hooked on heroin. The next decade saw a pattern of repeated offences and time behind bars, but when he got out of jail aged 24, he made the decision he wasn’t going to go back and he was going to get clean – and stay clean.
He admits he always had an addictive personality and even got into fishing at one point, and was trying Thai boxing when he stumbled into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His passion for the sport led Jamie to open his own academy in Bristol, enabling dozens of lower-income kids to discover and train in Jiu-Jitsu – now he is bringing that to Saltash.
“As a lost youngster in a rough neighbourhood; occasionally on the wrong side of the law, I gradually became addicted to the sense of belonging, discipline and purpose Jiu Jitsu offered,” he said. “I was getting better, fitter, and more confident and my life outside the gym improved as a result. Jiu Jitsu has given me so much to me and my family’s life, it is now my goal to give something back.
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