What to expect at your first class?
One of our primary goals at Providence BJJ is to make jiu jitsu accessible to everyone and make it easy to get started. One thing we’ve seen over and over in our time doing jiu-jitsu: folks who never thought they’d enjoy jiu jitsu try it for the first time and realize they love it.
People often worry that their first few classes will feel overwhelming, intimidating, or intense! We want to assure you that every class at Providence BJJ is calm, welcoming, and gives you the flexibility to engage as much or as little as you’d like to.
Some important things to know:
Everyone at Providence BJJ, both the staff and students, love to meet and engage with new people.
Brand new beginners are welcome, and will do well, at every class, even the ones that aren’t specifically for beginners.
If you want to see what our classes are like before getting onto the mats, you are also welcome to come and watch any class, as often as you’d like, even if you are not a member and are not doing a free trial. Please come by!
When you come to join a class, all you need to wear are comfortable athletic clothes— sweatpants, yoga pants, a rash guard, shorts, long or short sleeve shirt, whatever works for you. You are welcome to wear a gi (it looks like a karate uniform) if you have one, but it is definitely not expected or required.
We have changing rooms, bathrooms, and showers if you want to use any of these when you arrive.
Classes will usually begin with the instructor welcoming everyone, sometimes doing light warm ups, and then presenting a technique for the class to learn and experiment with.
At some point in the class there will be a very optional time to try live rolling (wrestling) with each other. New students are always invited to try rolling at a slow and relaxed pace and are also welcome to watch this portion instead of participating.
If you do roll, no one will tackle you or crush you or be aggressive! Everyone at Providence BJJ is very conscious about helping people learn jiu-jitsu gradually, or at their own pace. This is core to what we do.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to us! We’d be glad to tell you more about what we do, how we do it, and why.