Congrats! You found a Jiu-Jitsu School that you want to try out. You are probably wondering about what your first class is going to be like. Maybe you are a little bit nervous to walk into your first class. No worries, we all start there. In the following article we’ll be discussing what you can expect joining our Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
You found a Jiu-Jitsu school that appeals to you and you wanna give it a try. Naturally you might feel nervous, maybe even a bit intimidated. First off, it is totally normal to feel that way. Given the history of Jiu-Jitsu, maybe you watched the UFC fight that ended in a brutal submission. I definitely get it. I was intimidated by the first martial art I ever did which was boxing. I watched highlight reels of boxing knock outs which is literally one of the most awful things to watch before going into a boxing gym. However I found a much different environment than what I had expected. The experience for Jiu-Jitsu is going to be much the same. So let’s go into what you can expect walking into the Academy.
First you can expect a clean environment. Regardless of what is shown in the movies about grimy fight gyms, high caliber gyms have a high level of cleanliness. We participate in a combat sport that does have its inherent risks. There is no need to elevate anyone’s risk with lack of hygiene. Mats will be cleaned everyday following practice with an antibacterial solution to make sure we are safe. Personal hygiene is also paramount so our gis, rash guards, fight shorts are cleaned and nails are cut.
The next portion of concern that people have is the aforementioned “inherent risk.” In combat sports there is a risk of injury. This risk however is mitigated at Archimedes Jiu-Jitsu Academy. The first portion of risk mitigation is built into the curriculum. We do a crawl, walk, run and build up with techniques. We start with a good warm up focused on the movements we’ll be focused on that week. The next mitigation of risk is the building up to sparring. The prospect of grappling another person who is fully resisting your attack and trying to attack you themselves can escalate to a point that causes injury. This is mitigated by the situational and positional sparring built into the curriculum. Bridging the gap in understanding the movement.
The next thing you can expect is a culture of mutual benefit. To get good at Jiu-Jitsu the more body types, games, attacks, and defense I encounter the better prepared I’ll be to do this in competition or in a self defense encounter. Also we are in a unique position to meet, train with, exchange techniques, and ideas with all sorts of people we would never otherwise meet. I have had training partners of all ages, sizes and weights. From Teens to 65 year olds you can train here and get a benefit from everyone. At First BJJ Headquarters Utah, we have several students who are older that have become some of my most technical opponents. Sure can I try to smash them with my weight and use greater strength and athleticism to overwhelm them to eke out a win. But that is not conducive for me because in my division I’ll never fight someone who is that small or old and it increases risk of injury to my training partners.
The final thing you expect walking into the doors of Archimedes Jiu-Jitsu Academy is to have fun. Once you get your skill level up to a certain point you’ll cover the majority of self defense. Given enough time sparring and drilling you’ll improve your fitness. The thing that keeps people from all Jiu-Jitsu academies coming back day after day is the fun on the mat. In today’s environment when do adults get to play? The older we get the more removed we are from the concept. We got work, bills, kids, responsibilities. However Monday-Thursday at 6pm and Saturday Morning you get to be a kid again. In the words of Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”
Butterflies be damned, don’t grow old.
