Ever since Royce Gracie shocked and awed the world at UFC 1 by defeating larger opponents to become the champion – BJJ has risen to be one of the most popular martial arts and sports in existence. That being said, there are thousands of people all around the world that train BJJ. And the popularity and effectiveness of this martial art have even attracted the attention of some A-list celebrities. Below you will find out some of the names of the biggest celebrities that have trained BJJ.
List of Celebrities
Chuck Norris
Back in the day when BJJ was still relatively unknown outside of Brazil – there was Hollywood legendary actor and martial artist Chuck Norris training BJJ under Helio Gracie himself. There’s even an interview where he tells of an early experience being in the mount position over Helio. Helio told Chuck to hit him as hard as he can. As Chuck tried to do this – he went to sleep. When he woke up, he realized that Helio used a powerful BJJ choke to put him to sleep before he could do anything to cause him any harm. You can see the interview how he started with BJJ in the video below
Keanu Reeves
Even though it’s said that the zenith of his acting career was back during the time of the Matrix trilogy, Keanu Reeves is making a comeback. His latest blockbuster John Wick movies show him as a supreme martial arts practitioner, among other things. And he’s known for training various martial arts during his life – including sword fighting and kung fu. One of his latest passions in the world of martial arts is BJJ. He’s frequently seen honing his craft with the Machado brothers.
Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy is a top-tier Hollywood celebrity and has had several blockbuster hit movies. He wasn’t outshined even by some of Hollywood’s greatest, like Leonardo DiCaprio, in the movie “The Revenant”. That being said, he’s an avid practitioner of BJJ. Once, he acted in the movie called “The Warrior” in which two brothers eventually duke it out against one another in the ring under MMA rules. Tom Hardy did the role perfectly and we could see that he had extensive knowledge of martial arts, including BJJ.
Guy Richie
Guy Richie is a famous movie director and has made several great movies like Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla and many others. He trains BJJ under some of the greatest practitioners in the world, including Roger Gracie and Renzo Gracie. People that have rolled with him say that he’s a very tough black belt. He’s so obsessed that there are reports that he rolled with the crew on mats before shooting movies with them.
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher is also a big star in Hollywood and he starred in many successful movies. He’s practicing BJJ under Rigan Machado – whose club is known for taking in some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Currently, Ashton Kutcher is a purple belt under Rigan Machado.
Usher is an RnB singer with a long-lasting career. He has made many hits and is one of the top names in music. That being said, he too trains BJJ. And we’re not talking just training in some low-quality BJJ club – he trains with some of the best practitioners in the world. He’s to be seen on the mats with martial arts and BJJ legends like Anderson Silva and Andre Galvao.
Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn is a big celebrity in Hollywood and has made a number of successful blockbuster hits. He’s a live testament to the fact that age doesn’t really matter when it comes to training BJJ. He started training originally when he was 46 years of age. He trains under Ryron and Rener Gracie in Torrance, California.
Kelly Slater
Kelly Slater is a world-renowned surfer. He too is known for his work in BJJ and is currently a blue belt. He’s frequently seen at the Mendes brothers BJJ academy. He’s also known to have trained with UFC legend BJ Penn during his visits in Hawaii.
Henry Cavil
Finally, one of the biggest names in Hollywood, Henry Cavil, is also an avid BJJ practitioner. Chances are that you have seen him in the Superman movies. He frequently posts videos on his Instagram about how he trains BJJ and he says that it’s one of the best sports when it comes to getting stronger and healthier.
There are many other major and minor celebrities that train BJJ. However, this shouldn’t be of big importance – it should register as trivial knowledge. The important thing for you to do is pick yourself up and start training BJJ as soon as possible. After all, all of these celebrities that train BJJ can’t be all wrong. You will experience many different benefits if you train BJJ – you will get stronger and sharper and you will learn an effective martial art.
