Hollywood star Tom Hardy showed he’s tough both on and off screen after winning gold in Buckinghamshire martial arts championships at the weekend.

The blockbuster film actor, known for his hardman roles in Mad Max, Batman, Dunkirk and Venom, surprised everyone by fighting in secret in a Milton Keynes sports hall on Saturday (Sept 17).

Clearly it wasn’t the first fight for the 45-year-old action hero, who holds a high-level blue belt in the ground fighting combat sport Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship.

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He emerged as the champion of his section after beating all-comers.

Speaking about the surprise appearance, sponsor of the event Sean Rosborough, 37, said he knew the global mega-star was coming to Oakgrove School in the county already few weeks earlier.  

The organisers had remained tight-lipped about his appearance to stop masses of people “distracting” him from focusing on the day.  

However, the actor was “brilliant” with fans, who approached him for photos while mums in the audience were “all over him.”

Mr Rosborough said: “We found out he was coming probably a couple of weeks before.

"But the organisers kept it to themselves – and didn’t want masses of people turning up distracting him from what he was doing.

“He was brilliant. A lot of people were asking for photos, and coming up to him, and he had no problem with that all. The mums were all over him. It didn’t bother him.

“And when he was fighting, he was focused on what he was doing. He’s amazing at Jiu-Jitsu.”

Hardy reportedly got into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he trained for the film ‘Warrior’ where he played the part of a former boxer who trains to be an MMA fighter.

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Those who take part in the hundred-year-old sport grapple with their opponents on a floor mat in order to achieve “non-violent” submissions.

Mr Rosborough, who watched each of Hardy’s fights, said the actor won rapid victories in all of them in order to be crowned champion of his section.

Bucks Free Press: Tom Hardy was dressed in blue martial arts outfit, and donned a rugged hair and beard (Credit: SWNS)Tom Hardy was dressed in blue martial arts outfit, and donned a rugged hair and beard (Credit: SWNS) (Image: SWNS)

He said: “I saw his matches, and he had submissions in them all – and they were really quick.

“He did really, really well. He’s not the highest grade, but you could see he had turned up to win, and he was impressive in every fight.”

While the sponsor tried not to bother the actor too much, he felt Mr Hardy had a “good time”.

He added: “We tried not to bother him too much. We didn’t pap him to bits.

“We just tried to keep it as normal as possible for him. I think he had a good time.”

Tom Hardy most recently starred as Alfie Solomons in the final season of hit series Peaky Blinders.

He is set to return to his roles as Eddie Brock in the Marvel superhero movie Venom, which is currently in pre-production.