Grapple Hub Glory at Grappling Industries

Esa (Abu Ubaidah) Gold

The Grapple Hub is a new project of Muslim Charity aiming to promote the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and grappling in the heart of the East End, Tower Hamlets, London. It is a safe space for people to enjoy themselves and have fun, and at the same time learn useful life skills and thereby help reduce the rates of delinquency and violent crime in the area.

The Grapple Hub had yet another successful competition on 18th March 2023 at UEL Sports Dock in Beckton. While the Headcoach Bradley Hill was busy at the UFC 286 in London cornering Jake Hadley and UFC headliner Leon Edwards, the students were busy collecting medals. The day was a long but fruitful day for both coaches and competitors with exhilarating matches, multiple medals and many lessons learnt.

The star of the day, by far and away, was Ismail who fought 4 times, secured 4 submissions and took home the gold. Competing at white belt in the u84kg division, Ismail used the day to show off his arm bars catching them from every possible position. Ismail won 3 out of 4 matches via armbars. We have now named him the ‘Arm collector’.

As usual, Coach Esa put in an impeccable performance getting a clean streak in the middle weight (u84kg) purple belt division and adding another gold to his burgeoning collection. More importantly, Coach acted as a diligent corner man giving critical advice that was vital for the success of the team. As ever, thank you Coach!

For the final piece of silverware, we had Musaddik getting silver in the u77kg division. To nobody’s surprise, Musaddik spent most of his matches spamming the guillotine. In one of his fights he was run back into a table on the other side of the hall – and that still wasn’t enough to get him off his opponents neck. Whilst the guillotine served him very well for his first 5 matches, in the finals he came up short against a competitor from Nova BJJ.

Azharul also put in a stellar performance, winning 3 out of 4 of his matches. His one loss was to the guy who went on to win gold, so some might say Az has a claim to second place. The Round Robin structure of Grappling Industries requires 4/4 wins for getting into the knock out rounds.

Mabz H also put in a fantastic performance showcasing his solid deep half game. He takes away home a solid win and some learning experiences. He promises to be back.

The fighters were also joined by Coach H, Coach Hejraat, Sam and Shah who shouted their support from every competitor’s corner giving all the matches a strong team spirit. The day ended with a spectacular feast at Grizzlies where the team discussed the areas they need to improve, the next competitions they will be signing up to and shared many laughs over some fantastic burgers. A great day for The Grapple Hub and an invaluable learning experience for all involved.