Andy brings more than 25 years of martial arts experience to Prodigy Martial Arts.

His journey has taken him through Karate, Taekwondo, Sanshou and Kung Fu before starting training at a BJJ club in November 2010.

Since starting BJJ, Andy has travelled extensively to train and learn from some of the sport’s greats and pioneers. He began competing at 36, entering his first BJJ competition at the Bournemouth BJJ Open in 2011. The first couple of competitions didn’t exactly go to plan, but they were valuable learning experiences — and they quickly sparked a love of competition.

In November 2011, Andy met Nick Brooks and had a private lesson with him. He was invited to train at Mill Hill and travelled up for another private session with Nick.

Just one week later, having been training in BJJ for less than a year and having lost almost 15 kg since starting, Andy won silver in his blue belt division at the English Open.

That experience was the beginning of a long association with Nick and the Mill Hill team. By the end of December 2011 Andy was travelling to Southampton most Saturdays to train with Nick, and in January 2012 the club he trained at joined the Mill Hill team banner, allowing him to train there regularly.

This was the start of many years of training, competing and travelling around the UK and Europe, sometimes competing several times a month under the Mill Hill banner.

In 2015, Andy travelled to Rio de Janeiro with friends and members of the Mill Hill team to train and compete in the home of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He came away with a silver medal from his first competition in Brazil.

Andy began his coaching journey in 2019, when he was asked to become the grappling coach at an Isle of Wight MMA club. During his time there, he built a successful competition team whose grappling helped produce national-level results in both gi and no-gi competition. The MMA team also developed a reputation for being dangerous on the ground, with submission victories and amateur MMA titles along the way.

Andy went on to earn his black belt and continued competing himself, winning silver in the gi divisions at both the English and British Opens. He also won gold in a no-gi heavyweight division despite weighing just 75 kg.

Andy’s own competitive journey didn’t stop there. In 2023, at the age of 47, he stepped into the cage himself to face an opponent 15 years younger — winning by rear-naked choke.

In 2024, it was time to take the next step and build a club of his own.

Prodigy Martial Arts held its first open mat on 3 June 2024, in a cleared-out 30-square-metre MOT bay. The rest of the future gym was still occupied by the landlord’s furniture, an old kitchen, an RS2000, an XR3i, an original Mini — plus an engine and interior.

The club officially opened to the public on 3 September 2024.

Since then, Prodigy has grown rapidly, picking up medals at South Coast competitions while building a club that welcomes everyone from complete beginners and hobbyists to experienced competitors — with members ranging from 5 to 63 years old.

For Andy, that’s what Prodigy is really about: giving everyone the opportunity to give Jiu-Jitsu a go.

Jiu-Jitsu is for everyon