Rapper Tinie Tempah recently appeared on the BBC Radio podcast, where host Vernon Kay asked him how Brazilian jiu-jitsu became such a significant part of his life.
“Brazilian jiu-jitsu is your thing. Why do you think that became your pastime?”
Tinie revealed that it all started with an unexpected encounter involving actor Tom Hardy.
“I kind of just stumbled on it by coincidence. It was actually Tom Hardy. Sorry to drop a name, but that kind of got me into it.”
Vernon was surprised, explaining that he had once crossed paths with Hardy at the same gym.
“I had a meeting in Richmond, I think it was. You might know the studio. So, where Tom does his Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I was in a meeting above. And he came out and I came out at the same time.”
Vernon then explained that the chance meeting turned into an invitation. Hardy then asked what Vernon was doing for fitness.
“I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He went, ‘I’m doing this.’ ‘What do you do for fitness?’ I said, ‘I just got the gym. I’m more cardio. I like American football at times, playing American football in South London.'”
Hardy then encouraged him to try jiu-jitsu instead.
“And he went, ‘Come to this.’ And he went, ‘I do it with a lot of former armed forces blokes.'”
Vernon admitted he had turned the invitation down.
“No, you’re all right. I am fine. Thank you, Tom.”
Tinie laughed and insisted that had been the wrong decision.
“You shouldn’t have said no. Because I think with me, I said yes. I just jumped at the opportunity.”
He went on to describe his first experience stepping onto the mats.
“But that was the whole thing. Yeah. He’s doing it with all these ex-SAS guys and do I want to come down in Richmond? So I came down one day.”
Hardy even helped him get started by lending him the proper training attire.
“He gave me a gi, which is like your, you know, karate suit, and I just loved it. Like I absolutely loved it.”
Tinie said the sport quickly became about much more than fitness.
“I think what I get from it is a certain level of discipline. You have to leave your ego at the door as well.”
He explained that everyone is treated equally once training begins, regardless of their fame or profession.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. Whether you’re Tom Hardy, whether you’re Tinie Tempah, because you’re meeting the lad that’s like, you know, used to serve in the army, you’re meeting the lad who works at a school. And they’re excited about who you are for a split second, but once you get on the mat, they don’t give.”
Vernon summed up the point with a reference to Hardy’s famous movie role.
“They put Bane down.”
Tinie agreed immediately.
“Yeah. Exactly. They put Bane down.”
He said that experience forced him to become more humble at a time when success in music had inflated his sense of self.
“And so all of that I think was extremely humbling and I think it was great for me because I think I had this kind of sense of who I thought I was, which I guess is quite normal as an artist because you’ve got loads of people feeding your ego.”
Today, he says jiu-jitsu is one of the highlights of his week, and the community has become just as important as the training itself.
“And now all I can say is that it’s one of the things I look forward to the most in my week and the community is incredible globally.”
Even while traveling for work, he now seeks out local academies in the same way he once searched for musicians.
“As much like in the same respect that I’ll fly to a country and I’ll be like, I need to find a studio and I need to find an artist, I’m just as excited about finding a jiu-jitsu gym, plugging into that community, and it’s amazing and it’s growing.”
Tinie added that he is happy to see the sport attracting younger practitioners and said his own children now train as well.
“I’m excited to see loads of younger people getting into Brazilian jiu-jitsu. My kids do it. I would recommend it to everyone.”
Vernon wrapped up the exchange with a joke about turning Hardy down all those years ago.
“I’m glad I said no to Tom. I’m so glad. So glad.”
