MARTIAL MATTERS

Joining a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is good news for your mental and physical health, according to Jack Sugden, an academic who spent four years studying the sport. Sugden, a blue belt in BJJ, trains at the MMA Academy in Liverpool.

“BJJ training was very different to what I was expecting,” he says. “There’s a sense of reconnecting with your body in a spiritual way, which is difficult to findanywhere else. These gyms provide a sense of community, teach you to trust, give you strategies for coping and help you to reconnect. There aren’t always many options for men, when it comes to mental health, that don’t involve talking to a stranger – I was surprised to find one in a warehouse in Liverpool.”