BJJ Black Belt, James Owen has been a long time student and coach at the MMA Academy. He became one of Jason Tan’s first students in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, walking into one of Jason’s classes in 2002. Jay has been training Jiu-Jitsu ever since, receiving his Black Belt from Jason Tan in 2018. Along with his training under the MMA Academy, James has also trained with the likes of BJ Penn, Pablo Popovitch, Charuto, Karl Tanswell, Matt Thornton and others. James has an extensive competition history, picking up a silver medal in the Adult Brown Belt Division of the No-Gi Europeans in 2015, winning the Black Belt division of The English Open the same year and winning or medalling in numerous prestigious grappling events such as Grapplers Quest and the North West Area BJJ Championships. James has coached BJJ since the academy first opened its doors. He is the lead coach for the Combat 101 Programme for BJJ in the gym, and plays a key role in developing and instructing on our Explorers kids’ programme. Through this, he has helped both adult and junior members of the gym become national and European BJJ champions. With his knowledge and wealth of experience, James ensures that all our students have solid foundations and an enthusiasm to explore Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu further. James can be found around the gym most mornings and nights and is available for private tuition.