I founded Stealth Grappling in January 2022, as a crazy idea during the COVID lockdown. My goal was to provide local athletes in New Zealand the opportunity to regularly compete in an exciting, submission based ruleset, as an alternative to always competing in IBJFF-style points formats and to put the focus on sharpening their submission skills.

As a regular competitor myself, both locally and overseas, I’ve seen many competitions of varying quality, and seen what works and what doesn’t. With shorter rounds, no positional points, and round robin bracketing, I strive to deliver a circuit that’s exciting, provides a ton of XP, and is great value for money.

What started as a few puzzle mats set up in a local primary school hall quickly grew into one of New Zealand's largest competition circuits, with 8+ events per year spanning the entire country. With an exciting ruleset and a focus on a professional yet laid-back vibe, my goal is to help launch aspiring athletes onto the big stage and continue to grow the sport of submission grappling in NZ.

- Jay Mahadevan, Founder & Owner