Streatham schoolboy, 9, wins prestigious jiu-jitsu competition in Brazil
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk
Marlo Brixton Jones won his category at the Brazil National Jiu-Jitsu Championship this month. And that’s just the latest in an already seriously impressive honours list for the nine-year-old.
Jones, a pupil at Streatham’s Henry Cavendish School, started the sport at the age of three.
He splits his time between Great Britain Top Team in Mitcham, run by ex-UFC fighter Brad Pickett, and Mandala Jiu-Jitsu School in Sydenham, training under founder Vinicius De Castro.
“Vini is like a second father to him,” Jones’ dad Sam told the South London Press. “I used to do MMA myself a few years ago. And the whole self-defence thing, growing up in South London, was important.
Marlo also looks like a little girl with his long hair and he only weighs 24 kilos now. He’s going to be quite small because both my wife and I are.
“He ended up being really good at it and then he started doing competitions at five and started winning everything.
“The categories are done on age and weight and he is European champion, British champion, Ukrainian national champion and French national champion. He won the North American Grappling Association, which is a big championship belt.”
Jones, whose middle name is also where he was born, spent just more than a week in Brazil with De Castro sorting out his training requirements.
“We were out in Rio and Vini took us into the favelas so we could train with all the street kids,” said Sam. “He was doing his running on the beach and sticking to his diet.
“There were two other kids from Liverpool who came as well and they were already world champions.
Those boys got bronze medals and Marlo won gold. It’s the equivalent of winning the Champions League.
“A lot of the American kids are scared to go there and lose their records. It’s the pinnacle.
“This is like a second job for me and it’s his life. We go to the Pan-American in Miami in July and then the Abu Dhabi World Championships in November.”
Jones is also a big football fan, supporting Cardiff – echoing Merthyr Tydfil-born Sam’s club – and Napoli.
He has started training with Lambeth Tigers, who have helped produce a number of players for the professional game.
Jones is a grey belt and his dad would rather him concentrate on becoming a black belt rather than entering MMA (mixed martial arts) in the future.
“I don’t really want him to do that – it’s hard work getting punched in the face for a living,” he said.
“The main goal is to get his black belt in jiu-jitsu, if he does that then he has got a job for life and can travel the world.
“It takes you 10 to 15 years to get a black belt in jiu-jitsu. If you are a black belt in that then you are a real black belt. You can open a school anywhere in the world or get a job in teaching.
“Black belts are getting younger and younger because they started so early.
“He is a grey belt at the moment. Next after that is yellow, orange and then he would start adult blue. From blue it is purple, brown and black.
“But when he is 15 he might go straight to purple belt because he has been doing so well. He’d be beating adults at 15 and 16.”
PICTURES: BJJEYES Photography
