Topics:

• Hygiene
• Banned techniques
• Gym Etiquette at Golden Jiu Jitsu
• Gear Recommendations
• Content recommendations if you want to study outside of the gym

Hygiene

• Keep your feet clean. If your feet are dirty, the mat is dirty. If the mat is dirty, we're all dirty. You don’t have to use the foot-cleaning tub before you walk onto the mats, but you do have to have clean feet.
• Wear shoes or flip-flops when you are not on the mat!
• DO NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE GO INTO THE BATHROOM BAREFOOT!!
• No shoes or flip-flops on the mat!
• Shower immediately after class! Not doing so puts yourself and others at risk of skin infections.
• If you’re not able to shower immediately, there are Defense wipes available for free in the gym (but it’s not a full substitute for a shower).
• Wash your gi/clothes after every practice! If you put it on, it's now dirty and needs to be washed, no exceptions.
• Wash your belt after every practice.
• Keep your clothes/gi clean. If your clothes/gi are dirty or have any odors, please ask staff for a loaner we will be happy to provide one!! It has happened to everyone and it is not an issue as long as you ask for a loaner.
• All jewelry, piercings, necklaces, and other items should be removed before training. They can injure your opponent and will destroy our VERY expensive mats.
• Please remove your makeup before class. It stains other members' clothing and our VERY expensive mats.
• Please do not come to class with strong odors - this means showering, wearing deodorant, and not wearing perfume/cologne.
• Please have good breath - brush your teeth and/or use mouthwash before class. We have free mouthwash available at the gym in the bathroom.
• Keep fingernails and toenails neatly trimmed and filed, they will scratch and cut people if they are not.
• No food or drinks (besides water) on the mat.

Banned Techniques at Golden Jiu Jitsu:

BANNED AT ALL LEVELS:

• Grabbing Single Fingers (including thumb)
• Bending Fingers Backwards
• Jumping Guard
• Slams
• Suplex Takedowns
• Kani Basami aka Scissor Takedown
• Flying submission Attempts
• Two Hand Trachea Chokes
• One Hand Trachea Choke
• Estima Lock
• Any striking (punching, kicking, kneeing, elbow, head butt, etc..)
• Biting (self-explanatory)
• Shoving into/off of someone’s groin. It’s not Krav Maga.

BANNED AT VARIOUS LEVELS (X = BAN, ✓ = ALLOWED)

ALLOWED AT ALL (ADULT) LEVELS:

• Muffler Chokes (allowed but they won’t make you any friends).
• Cloverleaf - which is ‘technically’ referred to as a calf slicer, but doesn’t attack ligaments and is allowed in the gym at white belt - I think it’s actually likely the safest leg lock, although it will snap your tib/fib if you don’t tap to it.

NOTES ABOUT BANNED SUBMISSIONS:

There is some nuance about this list. If we are working a leg lock series as a class, we will override some of these banned techniques to allow them in class (BUT NOT IN LIVE SPARRING ROLLS AFTERWARDS)

In general, I think it’s safe for most white belts to play most of these techniques most of the time. I believe that exposure is helpful and it handicaps your game to not play heel hooks for the first 4 years of training like many gyms do. However, safety takes precedence over skill acquisition and there are some things that I’d rather keep banned at some levels. A few bad apples ruin the whole bunch, so most leg locks are banned by default for white belts.

If you’re a white belt, and you’re rolling with a higher belt, you can use leg locks outside of Z locks & outside toeholds IF AND ONLY IF YOU TALK TO YOUR TRAINING PARTNER AND THEY’RE OKAY TRAINING WITH THOSE SUBMISSIONS. PERMISSION GIVEN TO PLAY UNDER THESE RULES SHOULD BE OBTAINED EVERY SPARRING SESSION.

LEG ENTANGLEMENTS:

If you’re a white belt, or rolling with one, you don’t have to avoid leg entanglements. You do, however, need to take care of your training partner. If they’re brand new, don’t put them in a position where they’re likely to injure themself if they spaz out. When people don’t know what to do and they haven’t trained for very long, they often respond to new situations by moving faster and more dangerously rather than slowing down.

Keep your training partner safe

• Be ready to let go in an instant
• Minimize the chance of them doing anything that might risk injury
• Remember that the gym is for skill acquisition and not a competition

TOE HOLDS:

Outside toe holds (externally rotating the foot away from the centerline) are more dangerous than inside toe holds because they come on quicker and have less movement during the range of the attack. They also often put knee ligaments under stress in addition to attacking the ankle. They’re banned in most competitions and people aren’t used to them.

WRIST LOCKS:

Technically, wrist locks are allowed at white belt in most competitions. However, they attack small ligaments and fragile bones and tend to be done very poorly with little to control and a lot of speed. The juice is not worth the squeeze, and I’d prefer everyone to generally avoid attacking wrist locks in the gym unless they’re getting ready for a competition.

KNEE REAPING:

Knee Reaping - this is an integral part of the sport and I think it should be allowed early for white belts. The thing to know about knee reaping is that it’s an example of external rotation of the leg while controlling the foot, knee, and hip. Because of this, if someone tries to explode in the wrong direction (causing more external rotation of their leg) they are at high risk of injury. However, straight foot locks are generally difficult to attack from a knee reap position and all other foot locks are banned at white belt, so it’s a positional dead end at white belt level and should be avoided.

CRANKS/SPINAL LOCKS:

These aren’t super risky in general, but if someone didn’t tap to one the results would be catastrophic so they are banned at beginner levels. Also, it’s generally considered a bit of a jerk move (neck cranks specifically) and they won’t make you any friends if you attack them.

ALLOWED AT ALL (ADULT) LEVELS:

• Muffler Chokes (allowed but you won’t make friends if you do this to them).
• Cloverleaf - which is ‘technically’ referred to as a calf slicer, but doesn’t attack ligaments and is allowed in the gym at white belt - I think it’s actually one of the safer submissions

Gym Etiquette at Golden Jiu Jitsu:

First and foremost, please be a good training partner, be an ambassador for our sport, and be an ambassador for our gym.

Secondly, I’m going to quote Ryan Hall because he said it better than I can:

Each day we train, we hold our partners’ safety, even their life, in the palm of our hand. This is a sacred trust and it creates an implied contract that, though often unspoken, is the foundation of why martial arts is different than almost every other area of endeavor in which a civilian will ever participate. It bonds us together more tightly than those who have never trained can easily understand.

Most of the following items about our gym’s etiquette could really be summed up with one sentence: “Don’t break that trust”.

TRAINING MINDSET:

The gym is for skill development & play. At the end of the day, we grapple because it’s fun, it’s good exercise, and there’s community. When you’re training at the gym, your goals should be to have fun, get some exercise, and interact with the community.

Ego is a part of every sport, including grappling. However, If you focus on winning and losing over learning, you won’t have much fun.

SPARRING INTENSITY:

Sparring rounds in the gym are not competition rounds. If you want to compete, I’ll be your most vocal supporter, but the gym is not the place for it.

In the gym you are investing in each others development and skill acquisition. Don’t hurt anyone (including yourself). If you don’t take this seriously, you will be banned.

If someone is escalating in intensity and risking safety, use your words and ask them to slow down or go lighter. If they don’t, then stop sparring and please talk to a coach. Do not escalate back with them into a death match.

Don’t be a knuckledragger. Generally before around purple belt, people aren’t able to go at a high level of intensity (speed & strength) without having the awareness and reflexes to let go of something if something happens.

TAPPING:

Tap quickly, tap often. It’s the most commonly used technique in every gym, get good at it.

I have tapped to lower rated players, and it does not make me a bad grappler.

If you catch a submission on me and I tap, I’ll congratulate you and tell you “good job”.

Jiu Jitsu works. It will work on me, and it will work on you too.

The gym is not a place for ego sparring. The focus is not on winning and losing. The gym is a place for skill development and play.

P.S. Don’t be so headstrong that you pass out from a strangle because you don’t want to tap. I’ve seen it happen several times, and it’s both silly and probably bad for you.

ATTACKING SUBMISSIONS:

Tapping is the foundation for the trust that we have in each other. Without that trust, we don’t have grappling. The most fundamental rule of grappling is to let go when someone taps. Pay attention while attacking, sometimes people are bad at tapping - I’ve had people use their fingertips and it can be hard to tell if they’re actually trying to tap. When attacking, be ready to let go.

If someone isn’t tapping to a submission, let it go or ask them for feedback. Maybe you don’t really have it. Maybe they aren’t aware of how close they are to having their arm/leg broken. One of my favorite training partners hates to tap, and I’ve never gotten him to tap while rolling with me. I’ve caught him in several deep heel hooks, and every time I’ve had to let it go because I’m not a psychopath who’s going to hurt his friend to stroke their ego.

That being said, don’t be the knuckledragger who makes their training partners choose between breaking a limb or letting go. Just tap please.

LANGUAGE AT THE GYM:

The gym isn’t your place of work, but it is a place of business that regularly has kids on the mats.

Please keep your language respectful of others. If you hear someone saying something that you don’t think is appropriate for the gym, please either say something or talk to a coach. It will not be the first time, or the last time. Culture is built and maintained, not just written out.

SEXUAL HARRASSMENT:

It will not be tolerated, and you will be banned.

Many gyms have strongly enforced power dynamics that have been taken advantage of by many people. I would highly recommend reading Ryan Hall’s “An Open Letter to the Martial Arts Community” which talks about this and the dangers of power dynamics in grappling gyms.

RANK & HIERARCHY:

Jiu Jitsu gyms, like many other martial arts, has had cultures shaped by 80’s martial arts movies & crazy wannabe cult leaders. We do not want that culture at Golden Jiu Jitsu. We play a weird niche sport, sometimes in pajamas, rolling around the ground. Don’t take it too seriously.

Rank doesn’t give anyone the right to be a jerk.

In an effort to make this a priority in our culture, we are getting rid of lining up by rank and will circle up at the end of class.

ASKING PEOPLE TO SPAR:

You can ask anyone to spar at anytime. It is not taboo to ask a higher belt (including black belts). Anyone can also, for any reason, say no or decline to spar. I do it all the time.

CLOTHING:

You can wear whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t have pockets, zippers, buttons, or inappropriate content printed on it.

Some gyms require rash guards under gi’s, but I find it to be really hot and uncomfortable. You do not have to wear a rash guard under a gi at Golden Jiu Jitsu, and I don’t unless I’m a little sunburnt and worried about irritating my skin.

CULT STUFF:

A cult can be defined a lot of ways, but in the context of Jiu-Jitsu gyms, I’d define it as: a gym where undue control is exerted over the students, usually for the benefit of the gym leaders.

A gym’s ‘cult-ness’ exists on a spectrum. It isn’t all or nothing. here’s a short list of various common practices that I think are somewhat cult behavior:

• Disallowing cross-training - this is surprisingly common

  *We highly encourage cross-training. Go learn cool stuff and bring it back to the gym

• Bowing to some random old guy on a wall

• Bowing when you step on/off the mat

• Paying money for belt promotions

• Paying more money as your rank increases

• Telling members what they can and can’t post on social media (this actually happens)

• Calling coaches ‘master’ or ‘sensei’. Please call coaches by their name or ‘coach’ if you forget it

• Calling black belts Professor

  *It’s a mistranslation of the word for teacher, not tradition

• Telling lower belts they have to clean the mats or clean the gym

  *Although secret grappling knowledge is stored in the mop bucket and helping clean mats is a surefire way to improve more quickly

• Telling members they need to perform favors such as bringing food

• Coercing students into going to paid seminars

• Coaches/staff yelling at and belittling members

• Having to move out of the way for higher belts while sparring

  *Although I’m a little split on this one because it’s my favorite perk of being a higher belt :(

• Not being allowed to speak to higher belts/coaches

• Not being allowed to ask questions

• Lining up by rank

  *This is something that I’ve done because ‘tradition’ and never questioned it, but the more I’ve thought about it, it seems to exist to enforce hierarchy and doesn’t accomplish anything else.