How much is it?

Currently seniors is £28 per month, juniors is £15 per month. We ask that this is paid via direct debit.

 

Is Ju Jitsu good for self-defence?

Absolutely. We particularly focus on the self-defence application of Ju Jitsu – learning to protect against strikes, escape grabs, deal with multiple assailants and more. It’s important to bear in mind that there’s a lot more to self-defence than just physical moves, and we make sure we cover these concepts in our classes too.

 

Do you do competition?

We’re not a competition-orientated club, but it is possible to compete in Ju Jitsu, and our governing body the BJJA holds regular courses where students from across the country can compete in a number of disciplines.

 

What’s the difference between Ju Jitsu and Brazilian Ju Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu came from Judo (which in turn came from Ju Jitsu) and is far more sport-orientated than the art we practice. It has an extremely heavy focus on 1-on-1 groundfighting, whereas we have a far wider scope of techniques, though don’t tend to do much sparring.

 

Do I need to be fit?

No. While having some fitness and flexibility is helpful, it’s certainly not essential. At the start of every session we always have a light warm-up and as it’s a physical activity you’ll find your fitness and flexibility will improve, but we’re not a club that will force you to do hundreds of press-ups on your fingertips! It’s all about incremental progress – if you can do a little bit more each week than that’s a success. We encourage you rather than force you.

 

What’s with the spelling? Is Ju Jitsu different to Jiu Jitsu / JuJitsu / Jiu-Jitsu etc?

No, it’s all the same art. The variations are partly because the art came to these shores in a rather piecemeal fashion around the start of the 20^th century so there was no centralised agreement on spelling, and partly because of the vagaries of translating not only from a different language but a different alphabet.

 

What do the coloured belts mean?

The different colours indicate your grade. What they signify varies from martial art to martial art, but for us the order goes:

Red belt (for juniors)

White belt

Yellow belt

Orange belt (for juniors)

Green belt

Blue belt

Purple belt

Brown belt

Black belt (also known as 1^st Dan)

To achieve each belt a student must demonstrate a set syllabus of techniques, plus some random extras as decided by the grading examiner. The difficulty and amount of precision required increases for each grade.

 

What syllabus do you use?

We follow the syllabus set down by the Bushido Ju Jitsu Academy.

 

How long does it take to become a black belt?

While some clubs race their students to black belt in the shortest time possible, we don’t solely focus on syllabus work. Instead we prefer to give students the in-depth knowledge of the art they’ll require to develop into confident and capable martial artists.

Our aim is to give people a comprehensive understanding of what they are doing and why they are doing it; rather than a parrot fashion ‘copy and forget’ style. This all means the average student training on a regular basis could expect to gain a black belt in approximately six years.

 

What do I need to wear?

To begin with you can turn up in something you would feel comfortable doing physical activity in – tracksuit bottoms, t-shirt, etc. After a few sessions we strongly recommend getting a Ju Jitsu suit (gi) as these are designed to stand up to the rigours of training. We carry most sizes in stock and sell them for around £25.

 

 

Do I need to attend every session?

Consistency is key to progressing, so we would definitely recommend being there as often as possible. However we’re aware that real life must take priority so there’s no condemnation if you do need to take a night off!