Meet the SBG Manchester Coaching Team

Casey Jones is Vice President of SBG UK, Head Coach of SBG Shropshire and a Third Degree BJJ Black Belt. He was the first athlete to reach this rank under the legendary Karl Tanswell, the founding father of SBG in Europe.

As a BJJ competitor, Casey was among the first British athletes to qualify for and compete in both the IBJJF World Championships and the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a black belt. He has competed internationally, won medals at every belt level and completed almost 200 BJJ matches, alongside competition experience in kickboxing, MMA and submission wrestling.

Casey has worked as a full-time BJJ and MMA coach for more than 15 years, including coaching at SBG UK headquarters in Manchester. He has delivered classes and seminars internationally and worked with everyone from recreational students to elite athletes.

During two years with the Palms Sports children’s Jiu-Jitsu programme in Abu Dhabi, Casey coached hundreds of children in several high schools. He took numerous students to world-level competition and received an award recognising his contribution to Al Khazna and Remah High Schools.

Chris coaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling at SBG Manchester. He is an experienced coach and competitor, having competed in numerous BJJ and submission grappling competitions and won gold for SBG twelve times to date.

Josh joined SBG in 2016 as a junior following ten years of gymnastics training.

He represented England in amateur MMA at the IMMAF World Championships before turning professional. He has also competed and medalled in numerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions from white belt through to brown belt.

Josh coaches regular classes and one-to-one sessions at SBG Manchester, taking a detailed interest in each student’s technical development.

His coaching experience ranges from first-day beginners and amateur fighters to professional athletes, world champions and fighters competing in the UFC, PFL and Rizin.

Paddy started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at SBG Manchester in 2012 under Karl Tanswell. He has represented the SBG BJJ team across the UK under multiple rulesets, including IBJJF, submission-only and ADCC competition, and has won multiple gold medals in advanced divisions.

Paddy is passionate about teaching complete beginners, advanced students and children’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Manik started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at SBG in 2007 under Karl Tanswell. He has competed in both BJJ and MMA across the UK and in Brazil under multiple rulesets.

With more than a decade of coaching experience, Manik is passionate about helping students at every level improve.

Simon has trained in martial arts for more than 40 years. He began Muay Thai in 1981, later trained in several traditional martial arts and settled on Jeet Kune Do in the early 1990s under Steve Powell.

While training with Steve, Simon first met SBG UK founder Karl Tanswell. When Karl opened Defence Unlimited, Simon began training exclusively with him.

After Karl founded SBG United Kingdom in 1999, Simon qualified as a coach in Karl’s DAT — Defence Awareness Tactics — programme and trained with Karl during the development of his STAB — Survival Tactics Against Blade — programme.

Simon received his BJJ black belt from Chris Coltrane and remains an active competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and No-Gi grappling.

Ali joined SBG in 2016 and is a seasoned, active competitor across IBJJF and submission-only rulesets. He has also competed on invitational events including Grapplefest and the Northern Submission Series.

Ali currently coaches SBG Manchester’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes for children.