Adult BJJ Program

Fundamentals

The beginner’s class. No experience, no fitness test, no idea what you’re doing. That is exactly who this is for.

Level: Complete beginner

Age: 14 and up

Format: Gi, group class

First class: On us

Athletic or not, fit or not, this class is built for exactly where you are right now.

Every person on the mat had a first day, and none of them arrived knowing anything. The only difference between them and you is that they turned up.

Fundamentals is where you learn what jiu jitsu actually is. How to move on the ground. How to stay safe when someone is on top of you. How a smaller person controls a bigger one without using strength. Nothing is assumed, because starting from zero is the entire point of the class.

Your first class is on us

Come and try it before you commit to anything. There is nothing to pay and nothing to sign.

Your first session is an introduction to jiu jitsu. What it is, how it works, and what it feels like to train. You are not going to be dropped into the deep end and told to keep up.

Most of it is about training safely, because that is what everything else is built on. How to move without hurting yourself, how to look after the person you are working with, and how to tap. Nobody expects you to be good at any of it on day one.

By the end of it you will know whether this is for you. That is the only thing your first class needs to do.

Claim your first class

A group of students and instructors at a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy, mixed belts, gathered for a class photo

What you will learn

The syllabus covers four things, in this order, because each one only makes sense once you have the one before it.

Positions

Jiu jitsu is a game of position before it is anything else. You will learn the small number of places the fight can happen, guard, side control, mount and back, and how to recognise which one you are in.

Escapes

Before you learn to finish anyone, you learn to get out. How to breathe with weight on your chest. How to free your hips. How to be uncomfortable without panicking. This is the part that transfers straight into real life.

Submissions

Chokes and joint locks, taught slowly, with the mechanics explained. Why they work, and exactly when to stop.

Control under pressure

The habit underneath all of it. Staying calm while someone is trying to control you. Most people find this is what they came for, even if they did not know it when they signed up.

Who trains in this class

Any gender. Any build. Any fitness level. Age 14 and up.

Doctors, drivers, students, mothers, and people who have never trained at anything before. Some are here to defend themselves, some to get fitter, some because they saw it on television and got curious. All of them started in this room.

You do not need to get in shape before you start. That is backwards. The class is how you get in shape.

A solid base in the fundamentals is what unlocks everything else. Most schools skip it. We built the whole program around it.

Where this syllabus comes from

Our head instructor, Deddy Wigraha, brought Brazilian jiu jitsu to Indonesia in 1998. He is the only Indonesian to receive a black belt from Romero “Jacaré” Cavalcanti, the founder of Alliance, one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport.

What that means on your first day is simple. The order you learn things in was worked out over decades by people who have taught thousands of beginners. You are not being improvised at.

Before you come

What to wear: A t-shirt and shorts or track pants with no zips or pockets. You do not need to buy a gi to start.
Nails: Fingernails and toenails cut short. This one matters.
Arrive: Ten minutes early, so you are not walking in halfway through the warm up.
Bring: Water. That is the whole list.
Injuries: Tell the instructor before class starts and we will work around it.

Common worries, answered honestly

I am not fit enough.

Nobody is, at first. You pace yourself, you sit out when you need to, and nobody comments. Six weeks in you will notice you are not sitting out anymore.

I am too old.

Our older students train beside people half their age. Jiu jitsu rewards patience and timing over speed and power, which is why people keep training into their fifties and sixties.

Will I get hurt?

Beginners do not spar. You drill technique with a partner at a controlled pace, supervised. When sparring enters your training later it is a conversation, not a fight. Both people are trying to learn, and tapping is normal and expected. Control is a rule here, not a courtesy.

I am not an aggressive person.

Good. Aggression is the first thing jiu jitsu takes away from people, because it does not work. The calmest person on the mat is usually the most dangerous one.

How you progress

Your first class, an introduction to jiu jitsu and to training safely.
Fundamentals classes, learning positions, escapes and submissions in a set order.
Your first stripe, awarded on what you can do rather than on time served.
The Intermediate program, where live sparring begins.

Your first class is on us

Send us a message and we will tell you which class to come to. Your name and the fact that you are new is all we need. Nothing to pay and nothing to sign until you have trained once and decided for yourself.