Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stand-out JP Hasley has won a medal in the British Open after bad eyesight forced him to give up boxing.

The British Open took place in Birmingham on May 12 and Hasley brought home a bronze in the Gi category.

Hasley trains at Workington’s Just Grind MMA and Fitness Centre under the tutelage of black belt David Delvecchio and club founder Mark Hodgson.

And Hasley benefits from their coaching: “When I first joined the club, Dave was the first to take the classes along with Mark Hodgson. Dave comes down to all my competitions.”

Hasley has been involved in combat sports since age nine, his first passion was for boxing but he was ruled out of competition due to being partially sighted.

“With having bad eyesight from birth it led me to pursue BJJ. Once I started I was hooked, my eyesight didn’t affect me at all. I found it relaxing as well as challenging, the drills, the movement.”

Hasley described the nature of the sport: “Different sizes of people, women and men, gender or size didn’t make a difference in this martial art it was all about technique.”

Speaking on behalf of Just Grind, Dave Straughton added: “There’s loads of talent at the gym, it’s exciting.”

The club have praised him for his dedication and work ethic.

Just Grind grapplers have received high-level coaching recently, the team went to Amsterdam on April 25 to train with world-leading submission specialists..

Black belts that provided coaching including Ben Eddy, who visited the gym to hold his own seminar in 2018; the renowned Martinez brothers, Geo and Richie as well as world leading expert, Eddie Bravo.

With legendary knowledge and prowess, Bravo has a direct lineage to the sport’s founding fathers, Carlos Gracie and Mitsuyo Maeda.