British rap star in surprise career change, musician wins gold medal in same competition won by Hollywood star Tom Hardy

A British rap star has embarked on a surprise career change by revealing he won a gold medal in the same jiu-jitsu competition that saw Hollywood star Tom Hardy triumph.

Tinie Tempah took to Instagram last week to show off her award after emerging victorious at the third annual Reorg Jiu Jitsu competition held at East London University.

Real name Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, 35, previously had a successful music career, releasing massive hits like Pass Out, Frisky and Invincible.

He also has numerous accolades including BRIT Awards, MOBO Awards and an Ivor Novello gong.

And Tinie recently added to his successes after dominating the competition after entering the self-defense martial art in 2020.

Tinie took to social media to share a series of photos of himself wearing the medal as he celebrated his win with his team.

He also shared pictures of himself wrestling his opponent on the mat.

The triumphant rapper captioned his post writing, “REORG OPEN 2024 No Gi Gold! OSSSSSSSSS.’

He’s so good at the sport that UFC fighter Conor McGregor praised him last year after he claimed another gold medal at the English BJJ Open.

Opening up about her love of jiu-jitsu in 2022, Tinie said in an interview with Reorg Charity: “I took up jiu-jitsu a few years ago and it’s incredible but really hard. I’ve done other martial arts and a bit of boxing, but this really takes it to another level.

“Nothing can describe how it feels when someone spends five minutes trying really hard to choke you unconscious. But if you can get over that, you can get over anything.

“The vibe is great because everyone is focused on getting better and everyone is helping each other. It sounds strange – let’s help and beat each other. It’s all part of the fun!

Tinie follows in the footsteps of film star Tom Hardy, who proved he was a true action star after winning two gold medals in a charity Jiu-Jitsu championship in 2022 – with his army veteran opponent Danny Appleton , admitting that he had to “press” before. his arm was broken.

Pictures of the actor have emerged showing him dominating the competition and winning all his matches at the REORG Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton.

Teesside native Danny revealed he didn’t realize his opponent would be the Peaky Blinders star, who is a fellow blue belt, until he reached the semi-final.

He told LADbible about the “surreal” experience: “I tried my best, but he was much stronger than me, I have to admit. He’s a strong guy and a talented guy, too.

“I have a story to tell, the kids were there to watch – which was the main thing – and I got a bronze medal – so it’s not a loss at all – and I lived to tell the tale.”

And when you had to ‘tap’, he confessed: ‘As soon as you know it’s straight and it’s on – if you don’t grab it, your arm will break. It’s as simple as that.

Tom later recounted that practicing jiu-jitsu was “key” to helping his “well-being” as well as his past struggles with addiction and mental health.

He shared an impassioned post on Instagram about the positive impact the martial art has had on his life and said he entered the competition as part of the global non-profit organization REORG.

Tom began training with REORG and learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while preparing for his role as an MMA fighter in the 2011 film Warrior.

More recently, as part of his preparation for his role in the 2018 film Venom, he transformed his physique with mixed martial arts training.