Our Mission
Enyo exists to elevate women’s grappling by creating consistent, meaningful opportunities for athletes to compete, develop, and be seen at every level of the sport. Built as a female led promotion within the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling community, its mission is to address the long standing gap in visibility and representation by providing a professional platform where talent is recognised through performance, not profile. From emerging prospects to established black belts, every athlete is given the chance to test themselves in high level, thoughtfully matched competition.
Beyond the mats, Enyo is committed to growing the wider ecosystem that supports women’s grappling. This includes creating space for female coaches, referees, commentators, and officials, as well as investing in grassroots development through open mats, seminars, and the Enyo Foundation. By combining elite competition with community driven initiatives, Enyo aims to build a sustainable pathway for women in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling, where opportunity, progression, and visibility exist at every stage of the journey.
Our History
Enyo Grappling was conceived during the COVID-19 lockdown period, when opportunities to compete were limited and conversations within the UK grappling community began to focus more sharply on visibility and representation for women in the sport. From these discussions, Joanne Wellstead and a small group of grapplers developed the initial idea for a dedicated all female platform, driven by a shared belief that women’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling deserved a more consistent professional stage.
Over the following years, that idea was developed into a fully realised promotion, culminating in Enyo’s debut event in 2022 in Southampton as the UK’s first professional all female grappling invitational. Built to provide meaningful opportunities for athletes at every level, Enyo launched with a focus on high level matchmaking, professional presentation, and showcasing both established competitors and rising talent. From its origins during lockdown to its continued growth today, Enyo remains aligned with its core mission of elevating women’s grappling through opportunity, progression, and consistent visibility.
Joanne
Wellstead
Joanne Wellstead is the co-founder of Enyo Grappling and a driving force behind its mission to elevate women’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling in the UK. She played a key role in developing Enyo during the COVID-19 lockdown period, shaping it from an early concept into the UK’s first professional all female grappling invitational.
Alongside her work with Enyo, Joanne runs Parity Martial Arts in Southampton with her husband. With a background in grappling as both a competitor and coach, her focus is on creating opportunity, improving visibility for female athletes, and building a platform where performance is the primary measure of recognition. She is also the founder of the Enyo Foundation, which supports grassroots development and helps remove financial barriers for athletes pursuing competition.
Simon
O’Brien
Simon leads production and operations across Enyo Grappling, overseeing the planning and delivery of events to ensure a consistently high professional standard from start to finish. He is the owner of Showtechs, a specialist live event production company, as well as Bristol Dojo and Pro Sport Grappling, where he is actively involved in coaching, athlete development, and running competitive grappling events.
With extensive experience across the UK combat sports and live events industry, Simon works across professional grappling, MMA, and broadcast level productions, including collaborations with organisations such as Polaris, Cage Warriors, and BBC Sport related events. A Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, he combines technical understanding of the sport with production expertise to deliver professional environments that elevate both athlete performance and the presentation of women’s grappling.
Production & Presentation
Enyo events are produced in collaboration with Showtechs, a specialist live event production company with extensive experience across combat sports and broadcast environments.
We are proud to work with a highly skilled production team, whose expertise helps shape the atmosphere, presentation, and live experience that define every Enyo event. Their work combines lighting, staging, sound, and visual design to create a high impact environment that elevates both the action on the mats and the experience for the audience.
Showtechs has delivered production for organisations including BBC Sport, UFC Fight Pass, Polaris Professional Jiu Jitsu, FloSports, Channel 4 Sports, and Cage Warriors.
Looking AheadEnyo Grappling continues to evolve, but its purpose remains unchanged: to elevate women’s grappling, strengthen the pathway from grassroots to elite competition, and provide a professional stage where talent at every level can grow, compete, and be recognised.
Our open mats are built to strengthen the foundations of women’s BJJ through shared training, collaboration, and community. Bringing together athletes from different gyms, backgrounds, and experience levels, they create a welcoming space where women can train, learn, and build confidence in an environment designed for them. Alongside the open mats, Enyo also hosts seminars led by elite grapplers, giving athletes the opportunity to learn directly from some of the sport’s top competitors. Focused on developing grassroots jiu jitsu and growing the wider women’s grappling community, many athletes who first attended Enyo events and open mats have gone on to compete on the Enyo stage themselves.
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Step onto the stageAthlete Applications
From rising prospects to established competitors, Enyo is always looking for talented female grapplers.