Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
What is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, self-defense system, and a fitness program. It has proven to be the most practical and effective self-defense system in the world. It relies on leverage and technique, rather than strength and size. This allows you to defend yourself against much bigger, stronger attackers. As a result, BJJ is a great sport for everyone – including women and kids.
It is one of the fastest growing martial arts, due (in part) to its great success in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and Mixed Martial Arts in general. BJJ focuses on grappling and ground fighting with the goal of getting into a position to force an attacker or opponent to submit or give up. BJJ is also an intense, aerobic and anaerobic workout so your overall health and fitness will improve, including your flexibility, strength, cardiovascular fitness, ability to burn fat, and muscular endurance.
What do I wear for practice or to train?
You generally wear either a gi (sometimes called a kimono) or no-gi attire to practice/train. If you are in your trial classes, you can wear any comfortable clothing and we will loan you the appropriate attire. When you sign up, you will be required to purchase a gi from one of our preferred vendors (WarTribeGear, FujiSports, and Venum). A gi consists of a jacket, reinforced pants, and a belt. Both men and women should wear a rash guard and a spandex shorts under the gi.
We also practice and compete (for those who want to compete) without the gi. This is called “no-gi” Jiu-Jitsu or “submission grappling”. The “no-gi” attire consists of fight/board shorts and a rash guard.
Do I have to compete?
No. The majority of people who learn and train Jiu-Jitsu do not compete. Of course, competition can be a reason to set goals and a great way to challenge and test yourself. We encourage anyone who wants to compete to do so, but there is no expectation or requirement to do it. Come learn, get in shape, and enjoy the sport. You can decide later if you’d like to compete.
How do I get started?
Today is the day you can begin your journey that will definitely change your life. Sign up for your 3 DAY TRIAL today!
Who can/should do BJJ?
BJJ is for everyone – regardless of sex or age. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was originally formulated for use by smaller, weaker people to allow them to defend themselves against larger, stronger attackers. In that way, Jiu-Jitsu is perfectly suited for women, kids, young and old. Anyone and everyone can participate!
Is BJJ good exercise?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the best workouts you can get, and it provides far better results than a typical aerobic workout. It is also much more fun and interactive than most exercise programs, so you end up working out more and harder. Many people practice it primarily for the health/exercise benefits, which increase muscle tone and reduce body fat while improving your balance, coordination, cardio vascular capacity, and muscular endurance.
BJJ Promotions
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has an informal approach to belt promotions, in which one or more instructors subjectively agree that a given student is ready for the next rank. This applies to all athletes at LJJA, including kids and adults.
Gi care instructions
We require that you wash your gi before rolling in it. Wash separately the first time, and then with like colors after that. Don’t iron the prints/logos/patches. We always recommend washing your gi in cold water, low/medium spin, and low/normal soil level, and then air drying. Never tumble dry your gi unless you want it to shrink, and even then do so VERY carefully.
When you do wash your gi, put in a couple of laundry cups full of white vinegar into the basin. White vinegar is naturally antiseptic and relatively cheap, a big bottle of it costs less than 5 dollars. Still use your other cleaning agents and set the washer to a heavy cycle so that the clothes get agitated. Removal of soil from clothing is a largely mechanical process so the more violent your washer is the better chance you have of getting rid of the nasties on your gi.
MUAY THAI
What Is Muay Thai?
Muay Thai is a form of hard martial art practiced in large parts of the world, including Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The art is similar to others in Southeast Asia such as: pradal serey in Cambodia, lethwei in Myanmar, tomoi in Malaysia, and Lao boxing in Laos. Muay Thai has a long history in Thailand and is the country’s national sport. Traditional Muay Thai practiced today varies significantly from the ancient art muay boran and uses kicks and punches in a ring with gloves similar to those used in Western boxing.
Muay Thai is referred to as “The Art of the Eight Limbs“, as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A practitioner of Muay Thai (“nak muay“) thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight “points of contact,” as opposed to “two points” (fists) in Western boxing and “four points” (fists, feet) used in the primarily sport-oriented forms of martial arts.
What do I wear to training?
You can wear a sports tee or singlet as a top. For your bottoms, Muay Thai shorts are your best options, as are MMA board shorts.
Basically, any short.s that do not restrict your leg movements will do just fine. You will be throwing some leg-splitting kicks so you don’t want to be restricted by your bottoms.
As you progress, we suggest you also purchase your own hand wraps, gloves, and shin guards
LEGACY JIU-JITSU SPECIFIC
Do you have childcare?
No, we do not have childcare at LJJA. We do however have an area that children can sit and watch movies or do homework while their parents train. Parents are required to keep their children from disrupting class.
Do you offer morning/daytime classes?
Yes! Please check our schedule.
How young can my child be to train?
We accept youth athletes ages 4+ in our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu programs and 8+ in our Muay Thai programs.
Do you offer private lessons?
Yes. Please contact us to get more information.
Before you train
Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai are highly intimate sports that involve a lot of close contact. That close contact can result in awkward situations and gross out moments. This is a friendly PSA with some tips and tricks to keep your training partners safer and happier:
Make sure you clip your fingernails and toenails. However, it is not enough to merely clip them. Clipping a nail makes it far sharper, so while it may be shorter, the threat of it may have been accented. Rather, clip the nail, then FILE it. This takes an extra 3 seconds per nail, but it ensures that your nails will not cut your training partners or snag on their rash guards.
Gi/equipment cleanliness is crucial. When we train we get abrasions on our exposed skin from the coarse gi material/contact, and if the gi material is dirty that can lead to infections. Moreover, smelly equipment makes training much less pleasant. If you do not intend to wash your equipment, immediately after using it hang it up somewhere, this allows the moisture that it absorbed to evaporate. Bacteria and fungus love moisture and they don’t love open air. This should go without saying, but: wash your equipment every time you use it.
Wear deodorant. Bonus points for wearing odorless/scentless deodorant. Training with smelly partners can be bad; rolling with smelly partners with BO (body odor) takes the bad to a whole different level. Not everyone likes the scent of Axe or Old Spice; an unscented deodorant gets rid of BO without putting new, potentially unpleasant smells into the mix.
Brush your teeth regularly. Better yet, use mouthwash or eat a mint before rolling.
Shower after (and, if possible, before) every training session. Showering before isn’t always possible; showering after is a MUST. When you do shower, use a soap with natural antiseptic products like tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, etc. These products are easy to find and well-advertised to grapplers; there are also generic products that you can get for relatively cheap. These will help aid in staving off infections.
Eat yogurt. This is a serious one: there are live and active cultures in yogurt that help your body mitigate would-be fungal infections.
Don’t expose your training partners and yourself to bacteria that can lead to terrible things such as MRSA (staph on steroids), staph, and ringworm. If you do have a skin infection, treat it immediately and make the instructors aware.
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1324 Jadwin Ave, Richland WA 99354
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