It’s a Silver for Paul at the EFN Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Championships

Paul Cole, an employee for Acorn Industrial Services Ltd, won a Silver Medal at the EFN Sports Disneyland European BJJ Championships held in Paris earlier this month.



Paul, aged 25, took up the sport in 2000 and, after being invited to compete at the championships by the EFN this year (European Fight Network), his ten years of hard work have finally paid off - with the championship’s silver medal.


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s, or BJJ, promotes the principle that a smaller person can successfully defend himself against a bigger, stronger assailant using leverage and proper technique. The emphasis is on taking your opponent to the ground and utilizing ground fighting techniques and submission holds, involving joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat your opponent. The premise of this being most of the advantage of a larger, stronger opponent comes from superior reach and more powerful strikes. By taking your opponent to the ground effectively ‘cancel out’ these advantages. BJJ is a staple training discipline of all fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC) - the largest MMA cage fighting organisation in the world, and makes up 80% of the ground fighting.


The silver medal was awarded to Paul after he successfully beat his opponents in the Lightweight under 70kg division. With this championship under his belt, and having achieved a purple belt-4 stripes status at the sport, Paul’s sights are now firmly set on becoming the UK’s youngest ever brown belt. But for now, Paul has started his training for the British Championships held at the end of March – we wish him all the best.