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11
Jun 2023
How Brazilian jiu-jitsu changed Harrogate instructor’s life
Brazilian jiu-jitsu changed the life of Harrogate instructor Lewis Matthews.
The 33-year-old has been practising the martial art for 17 years and owns the Gracie Barra club at The Zone on Hornbeam Park.
Lewis is a black belt grade one in jiu-jitsu and has competed in the British Open, where he won a silver medal just last month and has an ambition to achieve gold.
To get to this point, Lewis has had to make choices in his life from work to family life.
Despite having a steady job in construction which took him around the country, he decided to settle in Harrogate to pursue his love of jiu-jitsu.
'It was something to do'
Lewis grew up in the village of Scackelton, a small village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire.
He started karate before he caught the jiu-jitsu bug after he went with his mum to Ampleforth College, where he was initially taking up swimming.
To help himself get around, Lewis got a moped and began to go to the next village over to another karate class.
After finishing the session, he noticed more people turning up for another class - it was jiu-jitsu.
Lewis (right) with coach and programme director, Jack.
Lewis was asked to stick around and join in the practice. From that moment, he started to take up the martial art as a hobby.
He left school and took up a joinery apprenticeship in Malton.
After completing his apprenticeship and a higher national certificate in construction at college, he took a career break and went travelling to South America.
At this point, he was a blue belt in jiu-jitsu - the first belt in the martial art - and he continued to practice and compete on his travels.
When he returned to the UK, he worked his way up to become construction manager at a firm in Leeds.
It was here that Lewis had a sliding doors moment.
'I'll leave my job before I leave jiu-jitsu'
After tendering a project for Bettys and Taylors at its factory in Starbeck, he allowed himself more time to commit himself to jiu-jitsu at the club in Harrogate - which was part time.
Lewis demonstrating jiu-jitsu. Picture: Gracie Barra Harrogate.
After he finished working in Starbeck, his wife became pregnant.
At the same time, the club on Hornbeam Park, which Lewis founded with his friend Geoffrey Cumbus, had also grown while he was working on the project.
Lewis had already long been considering going full time at jiu-jitsu.
During the covid lockdowns, he was furloughed for eight-weeks and took time with his wife to consider what he wanted to do.
Jiu-jitsu for everyone
The club on Hornbeam Park became affiliated with global martial arts organisation Gracie Barra in October 2017.
It forms part of a network of schools across the world offering the highest standard of BJJ instruction.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy allows people to develop the martial art and earn belts as part of their development.
The belt grading is at the discretion of the jiu-jitsu professor - Lewis was awarded his black belt in December 2017.
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Lewis took over the club fully after the covid pandemic and is now head instructor.
He takes pride in welcoming new people to the martial art.
The club caters for all abilities and needs. It teaches self-defence, physical fitness but also offers a social element.
Techniques taught within BJJ focus not on striking, but on grappling and defending yourself, without the need to punch or kick someone.
But, for Lewis, jiu-jitsu is more than the martial art itself.
While he continues to compete in competitions, such as winning silver in the British Open last month in Coventry, and has ambitions beyond that - jiu-jitsu has always meant something more.
He said:
This is the fourth article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.
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