IN 2002 BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU WAS STILL A RELATIVELY UNHEARD OF SPORT, WITH VERY FEW CLUBS IN THE UK. IN THE SMALL TOWN OF CATERHAM, SURREY, A BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU BLUE BELT BY THE NAME OF STEVE HAYDOCK WANTED TO BRING BACK THE EXPERIENCES AND SKILLS LEARNT FROM SEVERAL TRIPS TO LOS ANGELES TO TRAIN WITH RICKSON GRACIE AT HIS ACADEMY (WHERE HE WAS AWARDED HIS BLUE BELT), AND TEACH THEM WITHIN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

SO STEVE HAYDOCK, ALONG WITH HIS SCHOOL FRIEND DAVE LUCAS, STARTED A GYM, APPLIED FIGHTING SYSTEMS, AND BEGAN TEACHING BJJ CLASSES TWICE A WEEK IN A SMALL COMMUNITY HALL.

STEVE GIBSON HAD BEEN TRAINING WITH CHEN MORALES AT THE BUDOKWAI FOR A FEW MONTHS, AND WHEN HE FOUND A GYM SO CLOSE TO HOME HE PACKED HIS GI AND HEADED STRAIGHT THERE. HE HAD STUMBLED UPON A BJJ GOLD MINE AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME – STEVE HAYDOCK HAD A VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASICS OF BJJ AS HE HAD BEEN LEARNING FROM ONE OF THE GREATEST GRAPPLERS IN BJJ HISTORY. AS THE POPULARITY OF BJJ STARTED TO GROW, SO DID THE GYM – FROM 5 OR 6 STUDENTS, THE MEMBERSHIP SUDDENLY STARTED TO EXPAND. AROUND THIS TIME STEVE HAYDOCK HAD MET A NEW INSTRUCTOR, ROBERTO ATTALLA, WHO WAS TRAVELLING TO THE UK AND WHO EVENTUALLY AWARDED STEVE HAYDOCK HIS PURPLE, BROWN AND BLACK BELTS. STEVE WAS ONE OF THE UK’S “DIRTY DOZEN” (FIRST 12 UK BLACK BELTS). BY THE TIME WE HAD THE RARITY OF A BLACK BELT INSTRUCTOR IN THE UK, THE SMALL DOJO HAD GROWN INTO A FLOURISHING CLUB, WITH FULL-TIME PREMISES THAT WAS USED AS BOTH A BJJ AND CROSSFIT GYM, AND THE CLUB HAD A HOST OF BEASTLY PURPLE BELTS TEARING UP THE UK COMPETITION SCENE, INCLUDING DAVE PAWAN AND JAMIL SOROUJI.

DURING THIS TIME, STEVE HAYDOCK BEGAN LOOKING FOR AN AFFILIATION DUE TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR COMPARATIVELY SMALL CLUB ON THE COMPETITION CIRCUIT. MANY CLUBS WERE INTERESTED, BUT HE DECIDED THAT THE BEST WAY FORWARD WAS TO BECOME PART OF CARLSON GRACIE TEAM. THIS OPENED UP A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF TRAINING FOR THE CLUB, AND MANY OF US WENT UP TO CARLSON GRACIE LONDON TO TRAIN WITH NEW TEAM MATES AND SPARRING PARTNERS.

STEVE HAYDOCK DIDN’T KNOW IT AT THE TIME, BUT THIS AFFILIATION WOULD CHANGE THE FUTURE OF THE GYM FOR THE BETTER. WITH THE ACADEMY NOW PART OF THE FAMOUS CARLSON GRACIE NETWORK, AND ALMOST 10 YEARS AFTER STARTING THE CLUB, ON 31 DECEMBER 2011 HE GAVE HIS FIRST BLACK BELT TO STEPHEN GIBSON. IT WAS A VERY PROUD DAY FOR THE WHOLE TEAM! SOON AFTER THIS STEVE HAYDOCK BEGAN TO LOSE INTEREST IN BJJ, AND HIS FOCUS WAS VERY MUCH ON CROSSFIT, AND AS A RESULT THE BJJ CLUB SLOWLY STARTED TO DECLINE WITH THE LOSS OF MANY OF ITS MEMBERS. STEVE HAYDOCK EVENTUALLY MOVED OVERSEAS AND ASKED THREE OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS (STEPHEN GIBSON, SAM GIBSON AND DAVE PAWAN) IF THEY WANTED TO TAKE OVER. THE ANSWER WAS A RESOUNDING YES, AS EACH HAD A PASSION FOR THE SPORT, THE CLUB AND THE PEOPLE WHO TRAINED THERE.

AT THIS POINT THE NUMBER OF MEMBERS HAD REDUCED TO ABOUT 12 BUT DAVE, STEVE AND SAM HAD A CLEAR VISION OF WHAT THE CLUB COULD BE, AND THEREFORE WENT STRAIGHT TO WORK TOWARDS BUILDING IT.

AT THE TIME DAVE PAWAN HAD SUFFERED A SERIOUS KNEE INJURY IN COMPETITION WHICH KEPT HIM OFF THE MAT FOR APPROX. 15 MONTHS, AND WITH HIS TIME OFF HE WORKED RELENTLESSLY TO FIND A FULL TIME PREMISES, ORGANISE THE ACADEMY SO THAT IT WOULD RUN PROFESSIONALLY, AND TOGETHER DAVE, STEVE AND SAM TURNED AN OLD CANDLE STORAGE WAREHOUSE IN WARLINGHAM, SURREY INTO A GYM THAT WOULD ENABLE THE CLUB TO OFFER GREAT TRAINING FACILITIES FOR ITS MEMBERS.

AFTER 4 YEARS OF HARD WORK THE CLUB IS NOW FLOURISHING IN ITS NEW HOME, WE HAVE THREE BLACK BELT INSTRUCTORS TEACHING AT THE ACADEMY, ONE OF WHICH IS A 2016 ADULT BLACK BELT EUROPEAN MEDALLIST, AND OUR INSTRUCTORS AND MEMBERS HAVE WON NUMEROUS MEDALS IN MAJOR IBJJF TOURNAMENTS, AS WELL AS OTHER INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC COMPETITIONS FROM WHITE BELT ALL THE WAY UP TO BLACK BELT.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THAN OUR COMPETITION SUCCESS, WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF THE POSITIVE AND FRIENDLY TRAINING ENVIRONMENT THAT WE HAVE CREATED, AND WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO BE ABLE TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE A PART OF OUR TEAM.