Short answer
A first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class begins with a short warm-up, then a coach teaches one technique that you drill slowly with a partner, and it ends with optional live rounds. You wear shorts and a t-shirt, nobody tests your fitness, and at Iron Wolf in Thamesford the first class is free.
Almost everyone who books a first jiu-jitsu class spends the days beforehand quietly worried about the same three things: that they will be the least fit person in the room, that someone will hurt them, and that they will look foolish. Here is exactly what happens, in order, so that none of it is a surprise.
What should I do before I arrive?
Turn up fifteen minutes early in shorts and a t-shirt with your nails cut short — that is genuinely the whole preparation.
Fifteen minutes rather than five gives you time to change without rushing and to speak to the coach before the room fills up. Wear shorts with nothing hard on them: no zips, no buttons and no pockets, because pockets catch fingers and toes during scrambles. You do not need to buy a gi, because we lend one free for your first month.
- Shorts and a fitted t-shirt, with no zips, buttons or pockets
- Fingernails and toenails cut short and filed smooth
- Flip-flops or sandals for walking off the mat
- A water bottle
- No rings, watches, necklaces or earrings
What happens in the first ten minutes?
Someone meets you at the door, takes your name, shows you the change rooms and walks you onto the mats.
You will be introduced to a few people, usually including whoever is going to be your drilling partner for the night, and shown the two pieces of etiquette that matter on day one: shoes off before you step on the mat, sandals on the moment you step off it. In a well-run academy you should never be left standing at the edge of the room wondering where to put yourself. If that ever happens to you at any gym, it tells you something useful about the gym.
What does the warm-up involve?
About ten minutes of movement drills rather than conditioning — shrimping, bridging, rolling over one shoulder and technical stand-ups.
It looks strange the first time you see it, and it feels stranger to do. It is not a fitness test and nobody is scoring you. You will be worse at it than everybody else in the room on day one, and every single person on that mat was too.
How is the technique portion taught?
The coach demonstrates one move twice, once at full speed and then broken into three or four steps, and then you pair up and drill it slowly.
You will not get it right on the first night. That is the expected outcome, not a problem. Your partner has been told you are new and will walk you through it. Ask questions, including the obvious ones, because nobody in the room thinks less of you for it. Our Fundamentals classes assume no prior experience at all, so the move of the day is chosen to be learnable cold.
Do I have to spar on my first day?
No. Live rounds are optional on your first visit and plenty of people sit on the edge of the mat and watch instead.
Rolling — live training against a resisting partner, usually in five-minute rounds — comes at the end of class. No coach worth training under will push a first-timer into it. If you do decide to roll, you will be paired with an experienced training partner rather than another beginner. That sounds backwards and is not: an experienced partner can control the round completely, keep you safe and let you try things. Two beginners together is where people get hurt, because neither of them knows how to stop.
What is tapping, and when should I tap?
Tapping is how you end a round instantly, and you should do it early and often.
Two firm taps on your partner or on the mat and everything stops immediately, no questions asked. Tap when you are merely uncomfortable rather than when you are in pain. There is no cost at all to tapping and a real cost to not tapping, and there is nobody in the building who is not tapping regularly to somebody better than them.
Will I be the least fit person in the room?
Almost certainly not, and the class is not built around fitness anyway.
Every session contains people at every level of conditioning, including several who started in worse shape than you and stayed. Jiu-jitsu builds the specific fitness it needs as you go; you are not expected to arrive with it. The people who train with us come from Thamesford, Ingersoll, Woodstock, London and across Oxford County, and they arrive from every kind of background — shift workers, students, and parents who have not trained since school.
Am I likely to get hurt?
It is a contact sport so nothing is impossible, but a beginner class is structured specifically to make injury unlikely.
There is no striking of any kind. Intensity is capped in Fundamentals classes. Leg locks are restricted by belt level. A coach watches every round and stops anything that is heading in the wrong direction. The most common complaint after a first class is a sore finger or stiff hips the next morning. Tell the coach before class about any injury, old or current, and the session will be adjusted around it.
Which class should I come to first?
Come to a Fundamentals class, or to the Saturday late-morning adults session if weekday evenings are difficult.
| Day | Best class for a first visit |
|---|---|
| Monday | 6:00 PM Fundamentals Gi |
| Tuesday | 7:00 PM Fundamentals No-Gi |
| Wednesday | 6:00 PM Fundamentals Gi |
| Thursday | 7:00 PM Fundamentals No-Gi |
| Friday | 6:00 PM Women’s Only, or 7:00 PM Fundamentals Gi |
| Saturday | 11:30 AM Adults Gi |
We train six days a week and are closed on Sundays. The full weekly schedule lists every class, including the morning sessions.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the first class cost?
Nothing. Your first class is free, we do not take card details to book it, and there is no follow-up sales call afterwards. If you decide it is not for you, that is the end of it.
How old do you have to be to train in the adult classes?
Adult classes are for ages 13 and up. Younger children train in our kids programme: Wolf Cubs for ages 3 to 6 in a 30 minute class, and Wolf Pups for ages 7 to 12 in a 50 minute class.
Do I need to tell you I am coming?
It helps. Phone (226) 559-3957 or email ironwolfbjj@gmail.com and we will have a gi ready in your size and someone expecting you at the door, which makes the first ten minutes much easier.
Where is the academy?
Iron Wolf Jiu-Jitsu Academy is at 20127 Cherry Hill Road, Thamesford, Ontario N0M 2M0. It is a short drive from Ingersoll and Woodstock, and we regularly see people travelling in from London and the rest of Oxford County.
Is there a class for women only?
Yes. The Women’s Only class runs on Friday from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. It is a common starting point for women who would rather learn the basics before joining the mixed Fundamentals classes.
How often should I train when I am starting out?
Two classes a week is plenty at the beginning and is enough to make steady progress. Recovery matters more than volume in the first few months, and the schedule runs six days a week so you can build up when you are ready.
Train with us in Thamesford
If you have read this far, the honest next step is simply to come in and do one class. Your first class is free, there are no card details taken and no sales call afterwards, and we lend you a gi for your first month so there is nothing to buy.
Pick a time on the weekly schedule, read more about our adult jiu-jitsu programme, or get in touch and we will answer any question before you set foot on the mat.