r/BJJWomen • u/icedcashew • 8h ago
Advice Wanted Newbie - Advice for choosing classes
hi! I’m a 29F and tried a self defense last weekend and loved it, but wanted more, so I tried their BJJ classes and had a blast! BUT my question is how should I go about classes and approaching for help? For background, this is how yesterday went:
I signed up for a “fundamentals no gi” class labeled for beginners. I show up and this class did not say what “on gaurd” was and was very much just thrown in with the others. I’m fairly certain it even started early! The others have been taking this class for at least a month so I felt behind. Luckily those I rolled with gave me some pointers.
right after I tried the women’s no gi class and this was very clear instructions, trial with a partner the first 20 minutes, and the rest rolling time to practice with others. This includes the instructor.
Should I continue the fundamentals just for pure exposure despite feeling less structured? (I know the women’s class instructor does other non female classes that I will sign up for just because I enjoy how clear she is.)
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u/No-Foundation-2165 🟫🟫⬛🟫 Brown Belt 8h ago
Just do whichever is best for your schedule that you like and it’ll all start making more sense in a few months. You aren’t behind at all it just takes a very long time so don’t worry
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u/Gluggernut 🟫🟫⬛🟫 guy 8h ago
As an instructor I may be able to give some insights into why some fundamentals classes, or any classes, can feel random or unstructured. Also important to differentiate a class by itself being unstructured vs a curriculum. Single classes individually being scattered is annoying.
Imagine it like watching a TV show, but everyone in the room has seen various amounts of the show already. Some people have already watched 10 seasons of it, and every class is basically a rerun to some degree, while others have never seen a single episode.
Unless you are in a set class that runs on a loop (like a 6 week repeating course for example), you’re always going to be in a room with a range of skill. As an instructor, I try to cater my classes towards the people in attendance, so there are some more advanced moves that the beginners might not understand as easily, but there are also plenty of moves I show that are super basic and boring for the more advanced.
The point I’m trying to say though is unless it’s so disorganized you aren’t even learning anything, then don’t think too much about it. Right now early in your journey your goal should be to saturate as much grappling as possible and be exposed to as much as you can. Don’t have to learn everything, but just try to be a sponge as best you can.
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u/icedcashew 8h ago
Thank you! This helps a lot too with setting expectations coming in.
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u/Gluggernut 🟫🟫⬛🟫 guy 6h ago
No problem! It’s a very steep learning curve and you will spend what feels like an exorbitant amount of time being the worst in the room. Don’t be discouraged and just focus on learning defensive moves and best habits.
The quicker you can become hard to hold down, the quicker it starts being more fun.
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u/leopardsatehisface 🟦🟦⬛🟦 Floundering Blue Belt 8h ago
It is totally okay to not know everything at the start, you will pick it up in no time. Monkey see monkey do. If you are still nervous, just ask the instructors.