If you have a Judo Gi, wear that. Thinner Karate style Gi’s may not be stong enough for grappling. Otherwise shorts or jogging bottoms and a t-shirt or vest. Wear old clothes which you won’t mind getting ripped/stretched and don’t wear anything with zips/buttons etc.

Many people start BJJ without any prior athletic experience/while being overweight/while being unfit. While having a good level of cardiovascular fitness and conditioning will undoubtedly help you train BJJ, and will help you get more out of each class (by allowing you to train harder and longer), it is not a prerequisite to training.

Participating in BJJ will increase your cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility, speed and can help you lose weight. As this may suggest, however, it is hard work so be prepared to sweat! If you are unfit, just get stuck in and train as hard as you can. If the training gets too hard ask for some time to recover before joining in again. Your fitness level will increase rapidly if you always push yourself.

Brilliant! Entering BJJ competition is a great way to test your skills against other players from other clubs. All competitions are grouped by ranking & weight class so you will be competing against people of a similar size and standard. Any one training at Aspinall Jiu Jitsu will be fully supported by the team should they choose to compete. The only thing we ask is that you represent the club at any competition you take part in.

BJJ is an excellent choice for women. BJJ is perfect from a female perspective as the art was designed for a smaller person to overcome a larger one, having clear applications for women's self-defence.

BJJ is an excellent sport for children. It teaches the values of hard work, discipline & respect and is excellent for improving overall physical fitness. We currently have a number of families training with us at the club.