Grappler’s Grove expands tonew location on Bell Mill Road

Grappler’s Grove owners John Froese, left, and Andrew Leliveld demonstrate one of their jujitsu moves on the mats in the facility. The business’s facility at 1,418 Bell Mill Side Road opened in January. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Grappler’s Grove is bringing a new sport concept to Tillsonburg.

Grappling is defined as any matrial art where strikes (hitting) isn’t allowed, explained Andrew Leliveld and John Froese, two of the three owners. This includes jujitsu and wrestling.

The business’ roots are in jujitsu, and involved the third partner, Joel Stringer.

“He and I were practicing jujitsu at the time,” Leliveld said. “We were quite passionate about it.”

Stringer is from Elmvale, and got to know Leliveld after his brother lived with him in North Bay. Stringer then started dating a Tillsonburg girl, who eventually became his wife, and he moved to town.

“He and I always dreamed of opening a jujitsu gym,” Leliveld said.

Instead, he ended up selling real estate, but the dream of a gym didn’t go away.

Leliveld also trained with Froese occasionally, despite the age difference between them. Froese, who owns an excavation company, started in jujitsu after his sons got involved. Froese then reached out to Leliveld professionally in 2024, asking him to help find a location for a gym.

“Unbeknownst to him, I had already been in conversation with Joel about starting a jujitsu gym,” Leliveld said, saying that started the partnership.

The business started in 2025 in a temporary space at Lightweight Gym while renovations continued at the current site at 1,418 Bell Mill Side Road. The new location opened in January.

The location offers jujitsu, freestyle wrestling, and kickboxing classes. Andrew Redden, who owned Iron Monkey MMA in Woodstock, teaches MMA.

Leliveld believes jujitsu is the most effective self-defense for one-on-one situations.

“We try to take our opponent to the ground, where the ability for the other participant to generate dynamic power is greatly reduced, plus it is a much safer and more controlled environment to subdue an attacker,” he said.

Leliveld was a high school wrestler and made it to OFSSA. He explained that, compared to wrestling, the goal in jujitsu is to have an opponent submit through a choke or joint lock.

Local Brayden Ambo is the wrestling coach at Grappler’s Grove. He won at OFSSA, wrestled at university, and represented Team Canada at the Pan-American championships.

Classes are offered for both adults and youth from Monday to Friday. Youth birthday parties that include both grappling and non-grappling games are offered. Saturdays are open mat time, with no teaching, but people are welcome to come and take part in various grappling pursuits. Saturdays are also a time for one-on-one time with instructors.

Grappler’s Grove youth wrestlers competed in Ingersoll in May and earned three gold medals, plus other hardware. The facility will host its own tournament on Nov. 28.