Tom Hardy Is a Real-Life Bad*** — Even Though He Claims to Be a ‘Petit Little Bourgeois Boy from London’
Tom Hardy is one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood. But for the A-list actor, these past few weeks have been all about Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). In just one month, Hardy won three different BJJ tournaments. This is more than enough proof that Hardy is a real-life bada**, despite his claims that he’s just a “petit little bourgeois boy from London.”
Tom Hardy competed in BJJ tournaments under his real name
The Mad Max: Fury Road star is a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he competed in the REORG open tournament in Wolverhampton England back in August under his birth name, Edward Hardy. The actor competed in both gi (the traditional uniform of the martial art) and no-gi tournaments in the 36-years-old-and-up division, and he ended up winning.
A few days later, Hardy competed at the Ultimate Martial Arts Championships (UMAC) tournament in Milton Keynes and won again. This time he was part of the 41-years-old-and-up division. Competing in the gi, the 45-year-old actor submitted all three of his opponents to win the gold medal.
After winning these tournaments, Hardy posted about his wins while promoting REORG — a charity that “encourages and enables veterans, active military, and first responders to use Brazilian jiu-jitsu and physical fitness training as a form of therapy.”
“Simple training, for me (as a hobby and a private love) has been fundamentally key to further develop a deeper sense of inner resilience, calm and well being,” Hardy wrote. “I can’t stress the importance it has had and the impact on my life and my fellow teammates.”
He’s a real-life bada**, despite claims he’s a ‘petit little bourgeois boy from London’
Winning martial arts tournaments isn’t the only way Hardy has proven himself to be a real-life bada**. Back in 2017, Hardy witnessed two 16-year-olds attempting to steal a motorbike and he intervened.
“He went off like a shot in pursuit and looked furious,” witness Arun Pullen told The Sun. “He told me he chased [the culprit] through my back garden and caught him around the block—but the route was like an assault course.”
To catch the thief, Hardy had to “vault walls,” which Pullen described as “mental.” It was as if the actor “switched to superhero mode in an action movie” after two boys stole the bike, jumped a red light, and smashed into a car.
“Tom Hardy’s clearly not a man you’d mess with,” Pullen noted.
But according to the actor, he doesn’t feel manly and he’s terrified of scary people. He told Vanity Fair, “I’m not a fighter. I’m a petit little bourgeois boy from London. I don’t fight, I mimic.”
Tom Hardy says he doesn’t feel ‘how I imagine a man ought to be’
Starring as the villainous Bane in Dark Knight Rises and a mixed martial arts fighter in Warrior doesn’t make Hardy a manly man, the actor says. Neither does stopping thieves or winning MMA tournaments. Instead, he says it’s all an act.
“I don’t feel very manly,” he said. “I don’t feel rugged and strong and capable in real life, not how I imagine a man ought to be. So I seek it, to mimic it and maybe understand it, or maybe to draw it into my own reality. People who are scary, they terrify me, but I can imitate them.”
But those who have seen him fight in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments disagree with Hardy’s assessment of his masculinity.
REORG tournament organizer Mohamed Itoumaine told ESPN that he thinks Hardy will get his black belt because he “loves it so much.” He added that Hardy is “really legitimate,” and when you get him on the mat he will “smash you.”
