• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

10 Tips for Surviving Your First BJJ Class

Don’t be overwhelmed. Beginner classes everywhere go through the same sequence. Here's what to expect.

Written by Sally Arsenault Last updated on November 5, 2014

I remember my first Brazilian jiu jitsu class at Titans Fitness Academy. I was so nervous. I had heard so much about what a competitive team they were and how hard they rolled. I was intimidated.

For months after I started training there, I had to push past the fear of not fitting in order to get myself to class. The little voice in my head said, “I’m so small and so much older than everyone!” Plus, I was the only female. Who would want to be partners with me?

It turned out everyone was willing to roll with me and help me get better at jiu jitsu. Not just a few people – everyone. I’ll never be a 25-year-old guy with endless energy, but there’s definitely a place for me at Titans. And I’m confident there’s a place for you at your local jiu jitsu academy.

RELATED: The 5 Phases Every BJJ Newbie Has to Go Through

People often ask what they can expect at their first class, and based on my experience training at a number of different clubs, I can tell you that beginner classes go through pretty much the same sequence, no matter where they are geographically.

1. The Warm Up

Many academies start with running or footwork drills, arm pummeling, shrimping, sprawls, and other movements used regularly during sparring. Here’s an example from black belt Marcelo Garcia:

Marcelo Garcia Warm Up Drills 01

After a general warm up, sometimes instructors will have students do technical drills to work frequently used movement patterns. These may include guard passing, back takes, submission chains, and other important skills.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Guard Drills for Technique and Cardio

2. Technical Training

This is where you learn the moves people use in live matches. I am an instructor in the women’s class at Titans now, and in my class, I’ll cover the same movements over and over again until they are ingrained into the students’ memories.

“As Bruce Lee said, ‘I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.'”

How many times have I taught the same people armbars and triangles? A lot, but never too many. As Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

One of our jiu jitsu neighbors, Abhaya Martial Arts in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, has created an amazing video demonstrating some of the submissions you can learn as you progress in your training.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the Most Effective Martial Art on the Planet - Abhaya BJJ Promo 45+ Moves

It’s silly to focus only on the moves that will get you the tap, though. Even UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, who has won eleven MMA fights via armbar can’t finish that armbar without setting it up first. In her book, Winning on the Ground, Ronda’s mother AnnMaria De Mars said:

It seems to have become popular to call someone who repeatedly wins using the same technique, such as an armbar, a ‘one-trick pony.’ That ‘one trick’ has many entries into it. It is not one trick; it is several different tricks.

So in beginner classes, look for instruction that also puts focus on positional techniques such as passing the guard, achieving and solidifying mount, side and back control. These are all positions we need to get to in order to apply our submissions.

3. Sparring

This is where we attempt to pull off what we have learned, in real time and against a resisting opponent. This is how we identify our strengths and weaknesses. Some beginner classes don’t ask their students to spar right away, but I suggest that my students try it.

Even a brand-new student can hold guard or sit in mount while a more experienced student tries to escape. And maybe someday you will be kicking butt at a tournament like the phenomenal men and women below, but on your first day, I’d be happy if you simply tried (as would any good instructor).

2014 WORLDS: FEMALE BLACK BELT HIGHLIGHTS

2014 WORLDS: BLACK BELT HIGHLIGHTS (Saturday)

4. The Line-Up

This doesn’t happen at every BJJ gym, but at the end of class, often students will line up according to rank and bow out.

And that’s it! Are you overwhelmed? Don’t be. If you stick to it, you will wonder how you ever lived life without BJJ.

10 Quick Tips for Surviving Your First BJJ Class

  1. Bring a friend! Trying something new is less scary with a buddy.
  2. Clean your person. Brush your teeth. Be odorless.
  3. Cut your fingernails and toenails. You’ll be in close contact with other people and your nails can cut someone. Open wounds in BJJ could lead to more serious issues if they come into contact with fungus or bacteria.
  4. Remove all jewelry. Jewelry can be accidentally ripped off or cut your partner.
  5. Remove all transferable cosmetics. Being pretty isn’t important at jiu jitsu and cosmetics can stain your partner’s clothing.
  6. Wear comfortable clothing that covers as much skin as possible. Remember, you will be in close contact. Your sweat will get on people, and their sweat will get on you. A clothing barrier is nice.
  7. Be aware that your instructor is just a person who kept coming back after their first day. Just because he or she is good at jiu jitsu doesn’t mean they know everything about everything and it doesn’t mean they are better than you at anything other than BJJ. So don’t be intimidated.
  8. Be humble. Be open to learning the lesson your instructor is providing and accept the help of your new teammates. Be kind and respectful to your training partners and do your best to help each other get better at jiu jitsu.
  9. Don’t take shortcuts. Each movement in a technique is there for a reason. Skilled practitioners can improvise, but it’s important you practice the technique as it is taught.
  10. Have faith there is a game for you in jiu jitsu. Whether you are overweight, teeny tiny, over forty, or still in junior high, you can do jiu jitsu if you want to. If the techniques you learned on your first day weren’t for you, there will be another new technique tomorrow. It takes most people ten years to get a black belt, so don’t feel discouraged if you aren’t a champ on your first day.

RELATED: The Gentle Art of Humility: Ego and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Common New BJJ Student Feedback

The feedback I’ve gotten from new students after their first class has some commonalities. They found the close contact of jiu jitsu a little weird, they were sore from all of the new movements, and they loved it. Of course, I only get feedback from the students who have returned, so it stands to reason they liked it enough to come back again.

If you’re a current student, I’d love to hear about your first impression of BJJ, and what you would suggest to people thinking about trying it for the first time. Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

About Sally Arsenault

Sally Arsenault was not an athlete growing up and did not begin fitness training until she was 26 years old. Her first love was weight lifting, but after being robbed at gunpoint twice, she decided to learn self-defense to take back a sense of control over her own safety.

After trying muay Thai, MMA, and BJJ, she decided to focus on BJJ as it is a leverage-based martial art that was developed for small people, like her, to defeat larger attackers.

Now Sally is a BJJ brown belt under Kevin Taylor at Renzo Gracie Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. She founded a women's only program with hopes of introducing other women to the sport she loves.

BJJ is Sally’s passion and she is constantly researching training methods, techniques, supplements, nutrition, new training gear, and following leaders in the sport to learn their strategies to become a better athlete and competitor.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

sophiamcdermottblackbeltbjj
Avoid Burnout On The Way To Your BJJ Black Belt
crawling
Where Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Meets Natural Movement
facesbjj3
Be a Team Player: Understand Your BJJ Teammates
img5381
Strength for BJJ: 3 Guard-Opening Exercises

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

2023 Musclecontest Campinas Pro Results — Brenda Farias Qualifies for Olympia

Larry Wheels Teases Ripped Transformation for Classic Physique Division

Phillip Herndon (125KG) Squats 411 Kilograms (906.1 Pounds) for Raw All-Time World Record

Jamal Browner Logs a Monster 426.4-Kilogram (940-Pound) Conventional Stance Raw Deadlift

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About