Manchester Jiu Jitsu clothing business expands as martial art enjoyed by celebrity fans including Henry Cavill

Manchester based martial arts clothing brand Progress JJ have become a huge local success story. The company has doubled its sales in the last year to £2.4 million. 

The company specialises in stylish Jiu Jitsu sportswear kits, and it is proving to be a big hit around the world. It currently ships to 75 countries. 

The thriving business celebrates its humble Manchester roots with kimonos and gi fighting jackets and trousers named after local landmarks such as the M6. The fast-growing firm secured six-figure funding from the Northern Powerhouse last year to fund export growth.

Founder and chief executive James Tighe, an intermediate purple belt fighter, spoke about the success of Progress JJ on Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 E-Commerce Growth Hacking Podcast.

The business was named second last year in Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 league table of the UK’s fastest growing ecommerce brands. Tighe spotted a gap in the market for high quality jiu jitsu clothing and has worked with his father Denis and nephew Sam to grow the business.

Talking on the podcast, he said: “This is very much a family business, created after we all fell in love with the Brazilian jiu jitsu sport. Our dream was to one day quit our jobs and work on the brand full time, being involved with the jiu jitsu community, to help it grow as much as we could.

"Fast forward to January 2021, we finally achieved our goal and launched the brand full time from our distribution centre at Trafford Park. We have not looked back since and have our amazing customers to thank for giving us the best job in the world. 

“We take great pride in being from Manchester and the city's culture and history influences a lot of our designs such as M6 kimonos and gi wear. We add more value to the jiu jitsu community than we take out and our mission is to create the best products and projects that motivate and inspire all Jiu Jitsu athletes to Progress.

“We're growing at a really good rate at the minute, which obviously comes with problems and challenges, but we are getting on top of things now.”

The number of people taking part in jiu jitsu is on the rise, and the company have said that big celebrities getting involved has helped the martial art to grow. Earlier this year Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were in the headlines over their proposed jiu jitsu bout. 

James added: “People have started really getting involved in watching and training in mixed martial arts. A lot of people don't like boxing or getting punched or kicked in the face, so people naturally sort of gravitate to the sport which is a little bit less intense, which is jiu jitsu, a more gentle martial art.

“It's kind of like a combination of judo and wrestling, but you don't really get hurt.

“I think that's why people love training. People start training in their 40s, 50s or even into their 60s. It's not like a lot of other sports where it requires a lot of physical attributes - anyone can do it.”