What can I expect from my first bjj class if....

[Maint]

I'm old, fat, out of shape, and not flexible at all? Lol. I've spoken with the owner online, who assured me that I can hang. He said the warm up might be a little rough but just do the best I can and he doesn't expect me to roll with the more experienced. They also offer Muay Thai and mma all included in the monthly cost but I'm not quite cardio ready for that. Lol

 

[Tony Dismukes]

A lot depends on the school and the instructor. Some schools have an organized curriculum and separate classes for beginners. At other schools you'll just learn whatever the instructor feels like showing that day, which may or may not be useful for the total beginner.

In general a typical class will go something like this:

• warm up - this may be some gentle movement to get the blood flowing or it may be a series of intense calisthenics, depending on the instructor
• techniques - the instructor will demonstrate 2-3 techniques, then go around the room to check form and answer questions as you drill the movements with a partner
• rolling - you'll do a number of rounds of free grappling with different partners. This can have different forms - sometimes you might start standing and work for a takedown, sometimes you might start mounted and work to escape, sometimes you might have to defend against punches - but the most common form is grappling only, starting from the knees.*

*(Personally I think that grappling from the knees is not the best training method and I don't use it very often in the classes I teach. However it is the most common type of rolling you see in BJJ classes.)

If you are out of shape, you will end up exhausted very quickly. Even students who are already in good shape typically are exhausted when they first start grappling. Some things that will help - relax, breathe, don't worry about winning or losing, relax some more, breathe, try to remember and attempt the techniques that were shown in class, breathe, relax. Try to make it to the end of the round so you don't cheat your training partner of practice time, but it's okay if you need to roll one round, then sit out one or two rounds while you recover.

After you get home, take a hot bath, do some gentle stretching, take an ibuprofen, and beg your SO for a back rub. This will help reduce the soreness that you will feel the next day.

 

[kuniggety]

I would say expect to just feel like a clutz. You're going to be doing a lot of new motions that you're probably not used to. Just don't fret about it because every person in the class who looks like they know what they're doing started out the same way. Just realize that no one is judging you. You're there training and that's what they're doing to. Just enjoy it.

 

[drop bear]

 

[Buka]

Go have fun, bro. It gets easier with every passing month. Gets to be more fun, too.

 

[Drew Ahn-Kim]

Don't focus on what might happen, or even how you perform the first day, we all sucked our first day. Most likely you'll be overwhelmed by how much other higher belts and experienced White Belts will want to help you out and walk you through things. If you decide to roll and are getting manhandled by a much smaller opponent forget about your ego and just realize that if you keep at it you will soon be able to do that to others.

Good luck, have fun and stick with it!

 

[ballen0351]

What to expect? HMM Ego and everyone telling you how great it is

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

What to expect? HMM Ego and everyone telling you how great it is

I agree with you most of the time, and have in the past when I was active here, but not necessarily on this. A lot of schools are like that. However, no reason to assume all are. If they're saying that they think an old out of shape guy will be fine, the instructor probably is more friendly and not focused on ego, and the instructors attitude has a huge effect on the students.

 

[ballen0351]

I agree with you most of the time, and have in the past when I was active here, but not necessarily on this. A lot of schools are like that. However, no reason to assume all are. If they're saying that they think an old out of shape guy will be fine, the instructor probably is more friendly and not focused on ego, and the instructors attitude has a huge effect on the students.

I was mostly kidding....mostly

 

[kuniggety]

I've rolled at half of a dozen BJJ schools... All have been extremely laid back and super friendly. Keep it playful.

 

[Nate1010]

Expect to be bruised, sore, and having a crazy desire to go back and to it again. I am new as well just a couple weeks in. We start doing some cardio and other exercises, then the instructor shows some techniques we pair up and practice the techniques on each other then we "go live."

 

[BamBamx8]

Keep your goals small and one step at a time.I'm 2 weeks in and my current goal is to finish sparring without being exhausted.

 

[Dinkydoo]

Expect to be very out of breath after rolling for the first time, try to stay relaxed and most importantly, don't hold your breath and struggle around aimlessly.

The class will likely be a combination of warmup > techniques > apply techniques against resistance > sparring (rolling)

I haven't actually ever done 'just' a BJJ class before but I have done some ground basics as part of beginner MMA and with friends in free sparring sessions we used to do - pretty much style v style match ups with no hard elbows and a 'don't kill each other' ruleset.

What to expect? HMM Ego and everyone telling you how great it is

Man, that post sucks.

 

[ballen0351]

Man, that post sucks.

yet so true which is why it bothered you

 

[Dinkydoo]

yet so true which is why it bothered you

No, did you miss the part where I said I haven't ever been to an actual standalone BJJ class? At the minute, i don't do BJJ, although that may change. I did want to chime in and give a little advice on what the OP's first taste of groundwork might be like though.

We're now training in an era where it's "in" to do martial arts (combat sport in particular) and be super fit. More and more people are adopting the conceptual JKD/MMA philosophy and like to compare and contrast training methods in order to find what works best so that they can be as good as they can be. Sports evolve, in part, by changing the methodlogy behind training so don't take it personally when people are bashing things that probably do have some crossover into your own training.

For what it's worth, I also think that posts saying "traditional arts are for weaklings and women" sucks too - arguably even more.

Peace ✌