The hardest class is the one you have not been to yet, mostly because you do not know what happens in it. So here is the whole thing, start to finish, for a first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class at True North Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Coquitlam. No surprises.
Before You Arrive
Book your free trial class first so we know you are coming and can pair you with the right training partner. You can do that through our contact page, and the current class times are listed on our schedule page.
Adult classes run Monday through Thursday. There are midday sessions at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and evening sessions at 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, plus a 6:00 pm class on Wednesday. Kids classes run in the late afternoon, from 4:15 and 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.
Eat something light an hour or two before, not right beforehand. Grappling involves a lot of pressure on the midsection and a full stomach is a mistake you make once.
What to Wear
For your first class, you do not need a gi. Wear athletic clothing with no zippers, buttons, pockets, or metal. A t-shirt or rash guard and athletic shorts or leggings are ideal. The reason for the rule is simple: fingers and toes catch in anything hard or open, and that is how people get hurt in an otherwise safe class.
If you are attending a gi class, let us know when you book and we can usually lend you one. If you decide to keep training, we will help you get sized for your own.
Leave jewellery at home. Rings, necklaces, earrings, and watches all come off before you step on the mats.
What to Bring
- A water bottle. You will use it.
- Sandals or slides. Shoes never go on the mats, and bare feet never leave them. Sandals are for getting to the washroom and back.
- A towel and a change of clothes if you are heading somewhere afterward.
- A mouthguard if you have one. Not required for a first class, since you will not be sparring hard.
Hygiene Rules, and Why They Are Strict
Jiu-Jitsu puts you in close contact with other people for an hour. Every academy that has been around a while takes hygiene seriously, and ours is no exception.
Nails trimmed short, hands and feet. Long nails scratch training partners, and scratches on a mat are how skin infections start. A coach will notice, and you will be asked to trim them.
Clean clothes every session. A gi or rash guard gets washed after every single class, not after two or three.
Shower before class if you can, and definitely after.
If you have a skin infection, cut, or open blister, stay off the mats or cover it properly. This one is not negotiable and it protects everybody, including you.
The mats themselves are cleaned regularly. The hygiene culture in a good academy is a two-way arrangement, and it is one of the first signs of whether a place is well run.
Arriving at 814 Brunette Ave
We are at 814 Brunette Ave Unit B, in Maillardville in southwest Coquitlam, just off the Brunette and Lougheed interchange. That puts us within a short drive of Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Burnaby, Burquitlam and New Westminster, and only a couple of kilometres from the New Westminster line.
Come about ten to fifteen minutes early for a first class. Take your shoes off at the edge of the mats, and someone will meet you, take your details, and introduce you to the instructor teaching that session. Our instructors are Professor Khatib Ahmad, our head instructor and a fourth degree black belt, along with Professor Mahan Salimian, Professor Ash "Smash" Mashreghi, Coach Igor Vavi and Coach Kim. You will train under one of them.
You will be paired with an experienced student for the class. That is deliberate. An experienced partner knows how to drill safely with a beginner, and you get someone who can quietly answer the questions you will have.
How the Class Runs
Warm-up, ten to fifteen minutes. Some general conditioning, then Jiu-Jitsu-specific movements: shrimping down the mat, technical stand-ups, breakfalls, rolls. These feel awkward the first time. They are the movements every technique is built from, so they are worth taking seriously even when you are wobbling through them.
Technique, fifteen to twenty minutes. The instructor demonstrates the position of the day, breaks it into steps, and explains why each step matters. You will not remember all of it. Nobody does on their first day. Focus on the first two steps and let the rest wash over you.
Drilling. You and your partner take turns repeating the technique, slowly, with no resistance. This is where the actual learning happens. Your partner is not trying to stop you, which lets you feel the mechanics. Ask questions here. Everyone asks questions.
Positional work or rolling, ten to fifteen minutes. More on this below.
A brief line-up to close. Then the mats get wiped down.
Will You Spar on Day One?
Probably not, and there is no pressure to.
Live rolling is where two people start and go, with resistance. It is the best part of Jiu-Jitsu and also the part most likely to overwhelm someone in their first hour. Most new students at our academy watch the rolling round on the first day or do light positional work instead, where you start from a set position and work one specific problem at a controlled pace.
When you do start rolling, it will be with an upper belt who is deliberately managing the pace. A good training partner's job with a beginner is to give you something to solve, not to win.
The one thing to learn before you roll is the tap. Two or three clear taps on your partner or the mat, or the word "tap" out loud, and everything stops immediately. There is no ego in it. Black belts tap in training every week. It is the mechanism that makes it possible to train difficult positions for decades without injury.
Afterward
You will be tired in a way that is hard to describe until you have felt it. You will probably be sore across your neck, hands, and midsection for a day or two. That fades after the first few weeks as your body adapts.
You will also have forgotten most of the technique by the time you get to your car. That is universal and it is fine. Jiu-Jitsu is learned by repetition, not by memorization, and the second time you see that technique it will look completely different.
Come back within the week if you can. The gap between the first and second class is where most people talk themselves out of it, and almost nobody who makes it to class five regrets starting.
If you have questions before you come in, or you want a one-on-one session to get oriented before joining a group class, private lessons are available. Otherwise, book your free trial class and we will see you on the mats.
No. Beginners are expected to gas out early, and coaches adjust the pace for new students. You can step off to the side and take water any time you need to. The conditioning Jiu-Jitsu requires is built by training Jiu-Jitsu.
That describes most of our new adult students. Classes are structured so techniques are taught from the beginning each time, and you will be paired with an experienced partner who can guide you through drilling. No background is assumed.
Nothing. The trial class is free for new students of all ages, kids and adults. Contact us to book a time that works with your schedule.
Yes, you are welcome to come by and watch a session from the side of the mats. Many parents do this before enrolling a child. Give us a call at 604-777-0396 first so we can tell you which class would be most useful to see.