Brian Jacks

Brian Jacks (born 5 October 1946)[1] is a British judoka who won Britain's first medal at a world championship, taking a bronze in Salt Lake City in 1967,[2] and gained a second bronze at the 1972 Munich Olympics.[1]

Brian Jacks
BJA 8th Dan, WMAC 10th Dan

Brian Jacks (left) vs Aad van Polanen in 1967
Personal information
Birth name	Brian Albert Thomas Jacks
Nationality	Great Britain
Born	5 October 1946 London, England
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	77 kg (170 lb; 12.1 st)
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Judo
Rank	British Judo Association (BJA) 8th Dan, World Martial Arts Council (WMAC) 10th Dan
Club	Budokwai
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1972 Munich -80 kg World Championships 1967 Salt Lake City -80 kg European Championships 1970 Berlin -80 kg 1973 Madrid -80 kg 1965 Madrid -70 kg pro 1964 Berlin -68 kg pro 1967 Rome -80 kg 1971 Gothenburg -80 kg Junior European Championships 1964 Berlin -80 kg

Superstars

Brian Jacks later achieved national fame for his outstanding performances on the BBC programme Superstars,[3] all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon. He was one of the most successful competitors and dominated the British and European version of the contest from 1979 to 1980, winning four titles.

Jacks was most famous for his efforts in the gymnasium, where he repeatedly set records in the "gym tests", including 100 parallel bar dips in 60 seconds in the 1981 Challenge of the Champions, and 118 squat thrusts in the 1980 World Final. He was also very dominant in the weightlifting, canoeing and cycling events, rarely placing lower than second. Jacks was never able to win the World Superstars title, being forced to miss the 1979 event due to illness and finishing third in 1980. In 1981 he was beaten for the first time in Europe (by Keith Fielding) and would never again compete in Superstars.

His victories in the British and European Superstars led to the creation of the branded computer games: Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge and Brian Jacks Uchi Mata.

Superstars record

Year	Event	Position
1979	British Heat 2	1st
1979	British Final	1st
1979	European Final	1st
1980	British Final	1st
1980	International	1st
1980	World Final	3rd
1981	Challenge of the Champions	3rd

Retirement

After retiring from judo he opened a fitness and martial arts club, and in 1990 he started a company hiring bouncy castles. In 1984 he briefly appeared on the BBC show Micro Live, where he set up his new Atari 800XL with his family.[4]

Jacks lives in Pattaya, Thailand and runs a 60-room hotel/condo building.[5]

Jacks has held the official judo rank of 8th Dan from the British Judo Association (BJA) since November 1994.[6] Although considered retired from judo since the 1990s, and until recently rarely seen on the judo scene for more than 20 years, Jacks is now listed by a British multi-martial arts organization called World Martial Arts Council, as a 10th Dan.[7]

Autobiography

• "Brian Jacks: The Mindset of a Champion", Brian Jacks, 2017 - ISBN 978-9811140792

Notes

1. "Brian Jacks". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
2. "The History of the Budokwai". 2005. Archived from the original on 15 September 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
3. "Superstars: A brief history". BBC. 5 November 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2006.
4. Micro Live Brian Jacks follow up on YouTube (2007-02-20). Retrieved on 2014-01-23.
5. "A Night of Magic at Manhattans". Pattaya Mail. 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
6. "British Judo Association – Dan Grade Register". British Judo Association. 22 November 1994. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
7. "WorldMAC News". World Martial Arts Council. Retrieved 15 October 2017.