The United Kingdom has some of the biggest and best BJJ academies in the world and the growth of Jiu-Jitsu there over the past few years has been tremendous.
We sat down and talked with Freddie Sykes, a BJJ black belt belt under Roger Gracie to find out more about BJJ in London and his own journey over the years.
1. Hi Freddie, Can you please introduce yourself to the worldwide BJJ community?
Hey Guys. I’m Freddie Sykes . Owner of MMA LDN . Blackbelt from Roger Gracie Academy. I compete as much as possible and have medalled in some big comps, winning the Europeans Absolute as a brown belt (in the masters) l being the most significant.
2. Please tell us about your academy in London?
I opened MMA LDN nearly two years ago, towards the end of the lockdown period. People’s said I was crazy to open a gym with the Pandemic” still looming but I knew people were desperate to train and decided to take a chance. 2 years later we have nearly 300 members , a coffee shop and a restaurant. We have been very fortunate and owe our success to our amazing coaches and students. There’s always a great vibe in the Gym and a strict no dickhead policy !
We split the classes 50/50 Gi and NO Gi Grappling . We also have wresting twice per week. If you’re ever in London , please come visit us.
We are starting to get success in big comps . We took 3 students to the Euro NoGi / Rome open and came back with 9 medals.
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3. How is the UK BJJ scene?
Jiu jitsu is everywhere in London and there’s a great open mat community.
We have some huge academies such as Roger Gracie academy HQ and Fightzone with over 1000 members each
Other academy’s launched at the same time as MMA LDN and are also successful , most of which are No Gi , which is great to see. The UK has some tremendous talent and I think the current crop of adult competitors will be world champions in Gi and NoGi.
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4. Tell us a bout your BJJ story. How did you start training etc..
I started Jiu jitsu late in my mid/ late 20s around 2010 , like most others in the Uk I had played football and toyed with traditional martial arts . I was introduced to BJJ and Capoeira by Faisca , one of the 6 Mauricio Gomes black belts. I was terrible at both but a little worse at Capoeira so i decided to go with BJJ. I trained at the first RGA HQ but moved to the local Gracie Barra’s to maximise training hours (At the time RGA was still affiliated ). I moved back to RGA at purple , training at RGA Gymbox and HQ. I’ve been fortunate to train with and get my ass kicked by some amazing people over the years !
5. You’ve travelled a lot training and competing in the past years. Where have been? Tell us about your experience
I’ve traveled all over the world to teach and compete and have aways been made or feel welcome where ever I’ve been
The National Team training in Israel is always great 100s of young killers on the mat . Going to Belgrade, Serbia at during the pandemic was amazing. People from all over the globe had moved there to train. Traveling from London where you couldn’t go outside your house to training on a full mat 8 hrs later was a shock!
Travelling California as a blue belt was a fantastic experience too.
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6. What is next for you in 2023?
We plan on opening two more gyms in London this year and to expand internationally within the next 5 years
We believe we have a strong blueprint that we can replicate.
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I believe the next few years will see jiu jitsu become mainstream and the big brands that are already sniffing around make solid investments.
I’m looking forward to the future.
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