Getting Started and WhereVeteransTrainDotCom
Getting started in Jiu Jitsu takes a small leap of faith. It takes a minute to acquire the coordination required for some of the movements. Usually around 2-3 months. Try to minimize discouragement …there will be some guaranteed. Gym locations might be a challenge. You want to find a place that is clean. Research the Professor or Instructor of a gym and make sure that they are legit (still some phonies out there).
The training format is consistent among most spots. Most all start with stretching and a warm-up. Warm-ups can be running, passing drills, bear crawls, any light PT to get warmed up and focused. After warm-ups the Professor will teach certain techniques based off their curriculum schedule. Then comes everyone’s favorite part…… Rolling. Rolling is active sparring that uses resistance to test the techniques learned. It’s basically getting after it with a training partner. Intensity is situational……. future blog I’m sure. After Rolling the class lines up, the instructor and class bow to one another, and then everyone in the class shakes hands.
Finding a Jiu Jitsu gym was easy for me. I had a buddy from work that heard about a place from another buddy at work and we buddied up and checked out a free class. Most good gyms offer a free class for you to see if you are a good fit. And I ended up liking it there! Everyone was friendly and inviting. Certainly not the case for all gyms, but most Jiu Jitsu gyms have a good vibe. Egos for the most part have been strangled out of the folks that continue to train.
As far as training partners go you will eventually grow friendships with the people you train with. There trust involved with letting someone put their hands on you and put you in a position in which they could harm you. That fraternal trust is more immediate when I meet a veteran that starts training. I guess it’s because you already realize that to some degree you might share some of the same values. That you see a little bit of yourself in them subconsciously.
There are a lot of gyms out there that offer discounts to first responders, law enforcement officers, active military and veterans. Some are partnered up with organizations like Mission 22 who foot the initial costs of getting set up. There are also organizations like Gis 4 Gis who donate uniforms for newcomer vets.
We have started working on a locator to find gyms like this to make it easier. Check out WhereVeteransTrainDotCom. If you know of a gym like these please refer them to the page. We would love to add them! We are also ironing out our plans to offer Gis, Patches, and Rashguards to gyms at wholesale pricing. Stay tuned!
Semper Fi,
Josh