Starting jiu jitsu is a big moment in a martial artist’s journey. Whether it’s the first time you’ve done any grappling or you’re a seasoned martial artist in another discipline like Muay Thai, karate, taekwondo, or wrestling, we can assure you that jiu jitsu is a totally different animal.
It’s critical that you get a great start in your jiu jitsu journey to adopt the sport as a part of your life. Mostly because it’s a sport that takes YEARS to master and combines concepts from several other disciplines.
Fear not: Today, we’re here to give you our Beginner’s Guide to Starting Jiu Jitsu. This guide might be useful no matter where you live and train, but it’s mostly meant for our friends here in Bastrop, TX (the greatest city on Earth, FYI).
- Find the Right Jiu Jitsu Gym for You
Every jiu jitsu gym approaches the sport differently. And every gym has different things it does that may work or not work for your personal preferences. Any jiu jitsu gym that tells you it’s perfect at everything is already showing a red flag. You should consider trying out classes at a few places.
A great jiu jitsu gym should be able to identify their strengths, and they should be somewhat obvious. Since this is after all, our post, it’s only fair we get to share the things 10th Planet Airlock in Bastrop is particularly good at:
- Working with beginners who are brand new to jiu jitsu. It’s one of the cornerstones we built 10th Planet Airlock on. We wanted to revolutionize the experience of starting jiu jitsu for brand new white belts.
- Teaching a wide variety of styles. Our coaches all come from mixed backgrounds with experiences in many different approaches to jiu jitsu. 10th Planet Airlock isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to jiu jitsu.
- Training families and kids jiu jitsu. Families who train jiu jitsu together stay training jiu jitsu. 10th Planet Airlock doesn’t phone it in when it comes to our kids program. To quote ourselves, “Some parents might want their kids to become the next world champ (and that’s certainly possible), but let’s get real: most parents want their kid to become the best version of themselves. And we see a pathway for that journey through jiu jitsu.”
- Building community. Members come first. Service is everything.
2. Build a Responsible Training Schedule
Jiu jitsu burnout is REAL. And as coaches, it’s totally heartbreaking. People sometimes begin this sport with a real fire in their belly. But they don’t realize that growth in jiu jitsu takes a LONG time. Jiu jitsu is an ultramarathon, not a sprint.
If you can accept that mastering this sport comes with a long timeline, you can develop a smart training schedule. It’s not responsible to start by training 10 classes a week and spending every free minute of your life watching BJJ instructionals. That’s the recipe for burnout.
Train as often as it feels responsible for you. Most people will land somewhere between 3-5x per week. And let your training fuel a healthier lifestyle. Speaking of which…
3. Support Your Jiu Jitsu Start With a Healthier Lifestyle
In a great gym with great teammates, it’s hard to avoid doing this one. We all talk to each other about how we recover from training, what foods we eat, how we can improve our sleep recovery…
This is surely one of the best aspects of starting jiu jitsu with a true team behind you. We’re all trying to get better together. And the choices we make outside of the gym impact how much improvement we can make in the gym.
The work you put into the sport of jiu jitsu will inspire your decisions regarding your diet and exercise outside of the gym. And the decisions you make outside of the gym will fuel your performance on the mats. That cycle of caring for your body and your performance is one of the most powerful things you can add to your life.
4. Focus on the Fundamentals
Unless you’ve already done it, it’s hard to describe to a beginner what the first year of jiu jitsu FEELS like…
Imagine trying to sip some water out of a firehose. It’s something like that.
It’s easy to get distracted by the wide and exciting puzzle of jiu jitsu techniques out there. But when you’re first starting jiu jitsu, you really should focus on the fundamentals first:
- Learn the key positions, how they connect to each other, and what your priorities are in each position: guard, side control, mount, back control.
- Focus on escapes. Understand how to escape from each position and advance to a better one.
- Defend yourself from submission attempts. Learn what it takes to protect yourself from submission threats.
5. Know Your “Why”
Work without vision and purpose is surely doomed to failure.
You must decide early on what your purpose is in starting jiu jitsu. As Kenny Powers would say, we play a real sport in jiu jitsu; not trying to be the best at exercising.
Some of the most common purposes that keep practitioners training for years:
- Self Defense. Some of us start so that we can learn to fight. To defend the ones we love. To reclaim an ancient rite of passage by understanding violence.
- Friendships. Jiu jitsu is a social sport. It builds a level of trust with others that no other sport does. And many gyms are part of a larger affiliation. As a 10th Planet gym, Airlock members are able to travel and train jiu jitsu with other 10th Planet schools all over the world.
- Fitness. Nothing motivates health & fitness in your life like having a sport you’re dedicated to. It’s hard to exercise for the sake of exercising. But exercising and eating well for the sake of kicking someone’s *ss is truly rewarding.
- Self Improvement. Believe in yourself as you are. And believe in what you could become. The mental health benefits of jiu jitsu have been staggering (in a good way) for millions of people. Perhaps we’ll write more on that another time…
No matter how or when you decide to start you jiu jitsu journey, stay true to yourself. Find where you belong. Begin in the right way. And continue even better.
And yes, if you’re in Bastrop, TX, you should probably come hit up a trial class with us at 10th Planet Airlock. See you in class.
