Our Story
Steve, Ross, Aidan and friends were brought together by the Covid lockdowns in 2020-2021. To maintain some sense of normality, a few times each week, the group would lay down temporary mats and grapple in the cafe area of Deptford’s bike & coffee shop at the time, London Velo.
It was here that the topic first came up of opening a grappling gym in the local area. With Steve’s skills in business and finance, Aidan’s project management and BJJ skills and Ross’ decorated grappling and coaching career, the three felt they had a great opportunity to build a successful gym.
The trio had a vision to create a different style of martial arts gym. Clean and crisp visually (across the facility, marketing & social media), clear and concise on the mat.
While encouraging a relaxed approach to training and sparring, allowing members and visitors the freedom to train in the manner they deem best for their development. This included an open door policy for anyone who wanted to visit the gym.
London Grapple officially opened in August 2021. The gym quickly became known across Europe as one of the premier No Gi Grappling gyms to train at.
To diversify the classes on offer, MMA was added to the timetable in early-2022, with Matt Inman fronting this programme. In 2024, London Grapple will be more than doubling its current mat space.
Taking on a second facility, just 50m from its current Unit 17 location. The expansion will include a full striking and MMA programme, plus many more gi, no gi and wrestling classes.