What to Expect in Your First Jiu-Jitsu Class

Almost everyone walks in nervous. Not about getting hurt, usually — about looking stupid in front of a room full of people who already know what they are doing. So here is the whole thing, start to finish, before you ever have to set foot on the mat.

Nobody is going to make you spar

This is the fear that keeps most people in the parking lot, so let's kill it first. On day one you are not rolling with a competitor. You will not be thrown to a stranger to see how you handle it. Your first class is drilling positions and movements with a partner who is being told, out loud, by a coach, to work at your pace. If a room does the opposite of that, leave — that is not toughness, it is bad coaching.

What actually happens in the hour

Class has a shape, and it is the same shape every time. Once you know it, the room stops feeling unpredictable.

What to wear and bring

We train no-gi, so you do not need to buy a uniform to try a class. A fitted t-shirt or rash guard and shorts or leggings without pockets, zippers or drawstring loops — anything a finger can catch in comes off. Bring water and a towel. Trim your nails, take out your earrings, and if you have long hair, tie it back. Come clean; it is a contact sport and everyone is sharing the same mat. Bare feet on the mat, shoes on everywhere else.

The part nobody tells you

For the first month you will forget the technique roughly nine seconds after the coach demonstrates it. That is not a sign you are bad at this — it is what learning a physical skill feels like from the inside. The people who get good are not the ones who understood it faster. They are the ones who came back on Wednesday.

How to tell it is the right room

Watch three things on your first visit, and you will know more than any review can tell you: