Leicester is a sporting city.
While Leicester City and the Tigers might dominate that landscape for most outsiders looking in, the city also boasts the oldest UK-based basketball team, the Leicester Lions and one of the 18 first-class county cricket clubs in the country.
Jamie Merryfield and Craig Appleby (left) with Peter Částka, Jody Harris, Peter Wan and Marcus Patten
And for those in the know, a strong grassroots jiu-Jitsu scene. There was just one problem.
Despite the number of clubs and talented athletes, anyone looking to compete in a tournament would have to go much further afield to test themselves. There was nothing in Leicester.
“That always felt strange,” said Jamie Merryfield, the team leader for Digital Content and Media at DMU. “The clubs were here, the talent was here but the competitions weren’t.
“Between us, we have over 30 year's event experience and I think the penny dropped and we asked ‘wait, why aren’t we doing this?’”
Together with Craig Appleby, a Digital Content and Media Instructor within the university, the pair launched the Leicester Open in March 2024, with The Venue proving to be the perfect spot to host.
Having taken part in martial arts from an early age and trained in clubs all over the county, they were able to create a small army of volunteers from clubs to help support the first tournament.
Craig said: “We knew there’d be an appetite for it. We said if there were around 100 competitors, we’d be really happy, and we surpassed that.
“After that, it’s just grown and grown. We used to ask if anyone was free to help us set up and now we have a waiting list of both staff and competitors.
“With the event growing, we felt it was time to drop the Leicester Open name because we wanted to expand to host invitationals. Open competitions are a specific format, with multiple bouts going on at one time.
“The invitational looks more like a boxing card, with one match taking place at a time in front of an audience, so we switched it to Series so we can cover both events.”
The pair rebranded to the Leicester Grappling Series, with the latest Open event in February attracting more than 300 competitors and drawing athletes from as far as Newcastle.
BJJ is regarded as one of the UK's fastest-growing sports with membership soaring from just 10,000 practitioners in 2016 to over 40,000 in 2025, according to the UK Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Association (UKBJJA).
The development of the Leicester Grappling Series also comes at a time when more women than ever are taking part in jiu-jitsu across the UK and Europe.
Just 13 years ago, Yasmine Wilson became just the fourth woman in British history to achieve the rank of black belt. Now there are more than 100.
With women's participation rapidly increasing, demand for competitive environments is growing.
Keen to supply that demand, Jamie and Craig’s latest Invitational event hosted a number of female bouts, including a women’s quintet tournament, with four teams of five competing – the largest of its kind in the UK.
The teams, formed of women from different clubs and gyms from across the country, competed in back-to-back matches, with the winner staying on until only one team was left standing.
“We were just trying to bring that opportunity in line with the opportunity that the men were getting,” Craig said. “To then find out that we were doing something that is essentially UK history is amazing, really. It just kind of justifies the work that we’re trying to put in.
“Really, we just want to make jiu-jitsu more inclusive and increase the profile of the sport. It’s still in its infancy compared to other mainstream sports, so growing participation early is one of our key goals.
Jamie added: “At our first competition we didn’t have a single woman compete. At the last one, we had over 50.
“We’ve always pushed hard to get more women involved in the sport, so to have that many competing in one event was just fantastic.”
As well as helping more competitors take part in competitions, the duo wanted to give DMU students an opportunity to capture the action and build up their portfolio.
Viki Borisova, a third-year Media Production student, was among the students covering the events, filming and taking photos.
Students have been involved since Jamie and Craig’s first event but the recent April event was Viki’s first exposure to the sport, and she loved every minute.
Viki said: “It was the first time hearing about the sport, and I got to say I am not disappointed.
“I had loads of fun, we had mics that we could all communicate with, we were cracking jokes, commenting on the fights through our views and making mini bets on who we wanted to win or how the fight would turn out, be it a draw or a win.
“Honestly, it was so good to get behind the camera and remember all the terminology behind the camera angles we have learned about and putting them to use with new cameras was great.”
Jamie and Craig’s next events are the ‘Summer Open’ on 6th June, with the next show ‘Invitational 4’ on the 26th of September.
If you’re interested in taking part, or just finding out more about Jiu-Jitsu, you can contact info@leicestergrapplingseries.co.uk where Jamie or Craig can best advise gyms and clubs to help you get involved.
Posted on Friday 22 May 2026