Tucked inside the Trinity Centre is one of the Park’s most unexpected high-performance environments: a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy run by Leo Gamarra, a 5th degree black-belt coach from Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Dr Cristina Ariani, a Cambridge-trained geneticist.
For Leo, Jiu-Jitsu started in 1993 as self-defence. It quickly became a lifelong discipline. “I went in to learn how to defend myself,” he says. “But I found something much bigger, a friendly community, a way of thinking”.
When Leo arrived in Cambridge in 2011, he was one of only two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts in the city. Today, he has graduated 18 black belts, and built a community grounded in the same curiosity, discipline and problem-solving which defines the Park.
Cristina, who originally moved to Cambridge for her PhD in genetics and genomics, describes Jiu-Jitsu as “the perfect mental reset for people who spend their days solving complex problems”.
“When you’re on the mat, you can’t think about the lab or your inbox,” she explains. “Jiu-Jitsu is an arms race, just like the immune system. Someone develops a new technique, someone else finds a defence. It’s constant evolution. That’s why it never gets boring”.
With children’s classes, women’s self-defence and a growing community of Park members already training, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is quietly becoming one of the Park’s most powerful wellbeing and performance tools.
The benefits go beyond fitness. “You learn how to stay calm under pressure,” Leo explains. “When someone is literally on top of you, you learn to breathe, think and solve the problem. That carries into real life”.
Park employees can book a free trial and receive a two-month introductory discount, a chance to experience one of the most intellectually engaging sports.