Adult BJJ Program

Intermediate

Where technique stops being something you remember and starts being something you do.

Level: Fundamentals complete, or 1 stripe

Sparring: Yes, starts here

Format: Gi, group class

Leads to: Blue belt

In Fundamentals you learn the moves. In Intermediate you learn to use them against someone who does not want you to.

That gap is the entire point of this class. You already know what an escape looks like. Now you will do it while your training partner works actively against it, at real speed, without being told what is coming.

Your recall gets faster. Then it stops being recall at all and becomes reaction. Most students say this is the stage where jiu jitsu finally makes sense.

Are you ready for this class?

Route one: You have been training in Fundamentals and your coach says you are ready.
Route two: You have your first stripe on a white belt.
Not sure: Ask any instructor after class. It takes ten seconds, and we would much rather you asked than waited.
Coming back: If you trained before and stopped, you belong in this class regardless of how long it has been.

How sparring works here

This is the class where live training begins, so it is worth being clear about what that means.

Sparring is not fighting. It is two people solving a problem at a pace you both agree on. Tapping is how you say that one worked, not how you lose. Everyone taps. Black belts tap. It is information, not defeat.

You will be paired deliberately. You will be told what to work on. And nobody in this room is trying to prove anything to a white belt.

What you will work on

Chaining techniques

Single moves rarely land on a resisting person. You will learn to connect them, so that when the first attempt fails the second one is already waiting.

Timing and reaction

Knowing the technique is not the hard part. Knowing when is. This gets drilled until you stop thinking about it.

Building a game

You will start to notice what suits you, your build, your reach, your temperament, and begin to specialise. Two students in the same class end up with completely different jiu jitsu.

Pressure and pace

Learning to keep breathing, keep thinking and keep your composure while someone heavier is making all three difficult.

Everyone taps. Black belts tap. It is information, not defeat.

The road to blue belt

Intermediate is the stage most students are in when they earn a blue belt.

We will not put a timeline on it, because anyone who does is guessing. Belts here are given for what you can do on the mat, not for months served. Train consistently and it takes care of itself. The students who progress fastest are, without exception, the ones who stopped thinking about it.

Two more people this class is for

You trained before and stopped.

Injury, work, a new baby, a few years. It does not matter. Your body remembers more than you think, and what is gone comes back faster than it came the first time. You will spend a few weeks feeling rusty and then you will be fine. Nobody is keeping score, and every person on that mat has taken time off.

You are already past this level.

Higher belts train in Intermediate on purpose. When a blue or purple belt wants to fix a leak in their basics, this is where they do it. Slower reps, more attention on detail, less ego in the room. You are welcome in any session.

What a session looks like

Warm up and movement drills.
Technique of the day, shown in detail and broken into parts.
Drilling with a partner, cooperative and repetitive.
Positional rounds, starting from one specific position.
Live rounds, full sparring at an agreed pace.

Your first class is on us

Current students, talk to your instructor after your next class. If you have been away, or you trained somewhere else and want to know where you fit, send us a message and tell us a bit about your background. Your first session with us costs nothing either way.