Members,

We are excited to begin transition into routine training next week. For many of our new adult members, this will be a brand new experience for them, especially those who began with restrictions in place. As we continue to grow and develop the program there will be several modifications mentioned in this post that apply to the adult classes. We have already made several changes this year and have found that all of them have led to more students and higher retention, and know these changes will have the same effect.

DROP INS

We are implementing a policy of members only training. This ensures that our members are able to safely train in an environment with students who share the same core values and fundamental skills in their BJJ journey. It is not right to have any student lose even one hour of training due to injury or mistreatment to someone who might come in from another gym, or even a previous member, who does not share the same core set of values or is not invested in our training system. If a traveling student from another school or former member is looking for a place to train for a day we can provide them with a list of other schools in the area that permit drop-ins. Team Rhino drop-ins with proof of membership will be permitted.

CROSS TRAINING

Members are reminded that our member contract permits training other martial arts at other venues, but that BJJ training with other gyms while you are training at GFBJJ is not permitted unless you are traveling out of state, or are at an approved affiliate gym. We will have special training opportunities, like striking classes, in the future for those seeking something outside of the fundamental curriculum. GFGFBJJ is a gi school. Members are required to obtain and wear a gi for training and grappling. No gi rolling will be permitted on special no gi nights. New members awaiting a gi order will be temporarily excused from the gi requirement until their gi arrives. We will offer specific no gi classes in the near future.

SELF-DEFENSE

Although we allow our students to compete, GFBJJ is a self-defense and not a competition school and we will continue to ramp up our self-defense training.

These changes will further our goals of helping students who are interested in long term, consistent training and advancement in the art of Jiu Jitsu. This also ensures that as the program continues to expand, dedicated students get the instruction and attention they deserve and need to grow, advance, and be representatives of our school and program. We are not interested in weekend warriors or fair weather students. BJJ is diverse and these changes may not be right for everyone’s individual goals. As we are not the only gym in the area, we want to remind everyone there is no need to be here simply because “we are the only BJJ gym.” If you do not feel the fit will be right for you, we are happy to make recommendations for you and/or cancel your membership.For those of you who move forward with us we look forward to raising the bar and standard. We appreciate everyone who has stood by and continues to make our school great.