Mallorca’s British Jiu-Jitsu Spanish champion who nearly set fire to Ed Sheeran

Scott’s true passion is film, which he studied at the UCA Farnham. After graduating, he worked as a music video director in the UK for the best part of ten years, during which time he nearly set fire to a budding Ed Sheeran, but that’s another story. And then on moving to Mallorca he continued to shoot promo videos on the island, but growing family commitments led him down another career path, a more stable one, one could say.

And he got more into training, learning and development and now he works fully remotely, as a result of Covid, for a UK/Swedish company called Kry Livi which provides a digital heath care app. He builds training for doctors in the UK teaching them how to use the app and the different digital tools used today in the health care sector.

Competition became insane
“The video industry was great, but as I got further and further up the ladder I found that the bigger the budget, the less you got paid. You were literally expected to work for free and it was around the same time of the big boom in YouTube channels and people started self directing, so the competition became insane. But I’m trying to get back into it. I’d love to work in the film industry again - I’m actually in contact with Boris who is running the stunt courses and creating a team of stunt people here on the island.

“One way or another, whether it’s throwing myself down the stairs or getting back behind the camera, I just love the film industry. And I can see some great opportunities here in Mallorca, the industry is growing, some big productions are coming and it’s all coming together so let’s see where that goes.

I’m a writer, producer, director and I’m not shy to get in front of a camera, so I think Mallorca is a good place to be right now, especially with the growth in the festivals,” Scott said. “But to be honest, with film making, you’ve just also got to be extremely lucky, get that break and the money,” he added.

And now Scott has another passion and that is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which has already rubbed off on his eight-year-old.
“My dad was always into karate, he got us into it when we were young. He was a big Bruce Lee fan and all that kind of stuff, the Karate Kid, so I grew up will all that on the TV - all good stuff.

Started jiu-jitsu in September 2022
“I was a rugby player and I played at quite a high level as fly half. I got to East of England three counties level when I was a teenager as team captain. So I’ve always been active, all the athletics as well, so sport has always been a major part of my life. But a knee injury forced me to give up rugby and then when I went to university I just focused on my filming and kind of forgot about sport for a while.

“Once I moved out here that changed. The island is really fitness focused - lots of marathons, cycling, people on the beach swimming, Mallorca’s got that real health focus. You’re out in the sun, it’s more body conscious than some places and I’ve trained at Megasport for years in the gym. Then I started taking boxing lessons and they introduced the jiu-jitsu in September 2022 with Sito Martinez running the academy as the master or lead coach. So I thought I’d go along and just honestly fell in love with it and I’ve been going ever since. If I can get myself down there six days a week, I will.

“It’s a really good team and it’s grown so much. There was a handful of us at the start and now there are like 150 people on the WhatsApp group,” Scott explained.
And now, he is a Spanish national champion and is about to sign up for his next tournament.

“Although I’m not Spanish, I’m a Brit, how it works is you register with the IBJJF, which is the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation and the I’m also registered under the Sito Martinez BJJ Mallorca, which is his academy. So you can basically enter as an athlete from any academy internationally, from anywhere in the world, and then you apply and enter the tournaments.
“So I entered the Spanish National Championships XV 2024, which were held in Guadalajara the other week.
“In my category I competed in GI and no-GI. So GI is with the full uniform and the other is without. I competed in both in the medium heavyweight and over 36 category,” Scott, who is 38 and with just 12 months experience, explained.

Really proud
“I’m white belt two stripes, basically right at the beginning, that’s the lowest belt, but my aim is to keep going to obtain my black belt for sure.
“I’ve even got my eldest son training now and hopefully, once the baby grows up, he’ll do the same.
“I won third, bronze, in the GI, and then I came first with a gold win in no-GI. I won all three five-minute matches by submission and came out champion, which I’m really proud of. But it was a shame the family and friends weren’t there to see it and share it, although they did follow it on live streaming.

“It’s such a great team. We’ve got David Mills, another Brit who lives here and who I train with, who last year won double gold in his category. He’s someone that I roll and spar with a lot and he gave me some good points. And then there’s my coach Sito, he’s the main reason I’ve got to where I have and I intend to progress under him.

“He’s brought my martial arts background alive, made it a reality. It’s a 90-minute class broken down into 30 minutes of cardio and stretching, then we’ve got 30 minutes of technique where you learn a new move, way to defend or attack, a way to submit. You drill the technique over and over again and then the last 30 minutes is sparring and you do five minute rounds with whoever happens to be there. They could be bigger, stronger, more experienced or smaller and a beginner, which is great because we all learn off each other and experience contrasting situations on the mat.

“And, of course, you totally disconnect from the daily routine and worries. You have to focus 100 percent on what you are doing and that’s another plus, it gives you your own space. You haven’t got that time to think about anything else. It’s a great way to let off some steam too.

The ‘gentle art’
“Jiu-jitsu is called the ‘gentle art’, it’s not like boxing where you’re being constantly punched in the face. Yes, you’re strangling people but you tap at the point when you’ve had enough. There’s a point of submission and that makes it fun, like when you’d wrestle with your mates when you were a kid. I’m very competitive, always have been and you get to test your skills during every session. The fitness level is extremely high and demanding, but it’s safe compared to most other contact sports,” Scott explained.
“It’s taken off across the island, we have a lot of inter-club tournaments hosted by Mallorca BJJ, which is where Conor McGregor trains when he is on the island. So there’s a lot going on, which is great.

Physical but safe
“I love it, it’s physical, it’s safe. You might get a sprain - fingers and toes are always a bit of a problem - but like I said it’s not like boxing, for example. It’s knocks and strains like any other sport and you get to spar with all sorts and there’s some incredible talent on the island,” Scott, who does not appear shy to spar with all comers, said.
“It’s like a physical game of chess.”
“I’m not going to stop until I’m a black belt. That said, at the moment the belts are not important to me. I believe you are awarded the belt when they can tell you’re ready to have it. So I’ll just keep competing at white belt until it turns blue then purple, brown and finally black,” he added.
“I’d love to compete more, now I’ve proved to myself that I can win, but obviously in an ideal world I’d get some sponsorship because I have to travel and live while I’m away competing on the mainland, in the UK or elsewhere in the world. So that’s something I’m looking at.”

Ed Sheeran
But apart from now being able to recall how he won his first Spanish title, and I am sure there will be many more to come, he says that his main party piece is when he nearly set Ed Sheeran on fire.
“The music video was Young Guns, before he really got famous. The video was about the elements, earth, wind, water and Ed Sheeran was fire. And the idea was to pour some petrol along the back of the line behind Ed and then on action set it on fire, so a flame would shoot up behind him.

We gave Ed a little fire cube, a fire starter, to hold and then set on fire. But what we didn’t take into account was that the floor was not flat, so between us pouring the petrol at the back and action, the petrol started to creep up to the back of Ed’s legs. So when we did it, and it’s on YouTube, you can see that first and only take - he didn’t want to do another after that, the fire shoots up behind him and he just turned around in shock, he could feel the heat. So that’s my little party story.

“But my dream is still to make a movie, or at least be on the credits of one. And who knows, hopefully it will be here in Mallorca while I push on with my jiu-jitsu - that’s going to be with me for life.”