If you’ve thought any of those, you’re in the right place. They’re the four things people tell us when they don’t start, and every one of them has an answer.
Here’s the answer to each one
01
You don't need to be fit first
Jiu-jitsu is a skill before it is anything else. The fitness turns up as a side effect. The entry requirement is turning up.
02
There's no striking
The sport has a full stop built into it: tap twice and everything stops, immediately, every time.
03
Twice a week is proper training
Most people here are never going to compete, and that is completely fine. Nobody is keeping score of who’s serious.
04
There's a class that fits
41 classes a week, from 7am to 9pm, plus Saturday and Sunday. Have a look at the timetable before you decide it won’t work.
Grappling. Grips, position and leverage: controlling someone rather than hitting them. Most of what you learn is what to do when somebody already has hold of you.
It’s one of the few martial arts you can take up at forty without being hit, which is why a lot of people take it up late. But the reason people stay for years isn’t the self-defence.
01DisciplineTurning up on the days you don’t feel like it. It’s the only thing that separates the people who get good from the people who don’t.
02Problem solvingEvery round is a puzzle with a person in it. You’re not counting reps, you’re working out what to do next.
03Calm under pressureYou practise being in a bad position and thinking anyway. That part travels off the mat.
04ResilienceYou will be terrible at this for a while. Everybody is. Learning to keep going while you’re bad is the whole thing.
The offer
Your first class is free
One class, no charge. Nothing to buy, nothing to sign before you come.
Gi class? We lend you the gi. No-gi class? A t-shirt and shorts is the whole list.
Faisal Kayani and Dr Salaman Iqbal opened this club on Stuart Place with one idea: build a place where people of any age could learn jiu-jitsu and belong to something.
Mikael Rhaillander joined them on the mats. Between them they put hundreds of children and adults through a first class, and produced competitors along the way.
There's a class on Sunday evening called Beginners & Over 35s. That's the name on the timetable, and it's there for the reason you'd expect.
Do I need to be fit to start?+–
No. You get fit by turning up, not before turning up.
Do you train no-gi as well?+–
Seven of the eighteen adult classes here are no-gi.
Do you do MMA, boxing or kickboxing?+–
No. There's no striking in jiu-jitsu. It's grips, position and leverage.
How old do children have to be?+–
From 4 to 13. Boys and girls train separately.
Still not sure? Message us on WhatsApp. We’d rather answer a question than lose you.
Kids jiu-jitsu in Luton
Children train from 4 to 13. Boys and girls train separately.
There is no striking in what they learn. It’s grips, position and leverage, and the first thing anyone is taught is how to stop. Their first class is free too.
three classes a week are women only. All in the gi.
Jiu-jitsu is grappling, so most of what you learn is what to do when somebody already has hold of you. It’s taught over time, as a skill, not as a weekend course.