10 reasons to join Trent Jitsu this year:
- The first reason is obvious: You get to learn jiu-jitsu! Jiu-jitsu is a martial art consisting of locking, throwing and striking techniques. Among other things, it focuses on yielding, balance and joint manipulation in response to a conflicting force. You’ll probably learn how to do things you never thought you could do! Forwards rolls? Cool. Hip throws? Sure! Handstands? Eventually. You’ll learn lots of neat skills, and you’ll look awesome doing them! (okay, maybe not right away, but eventually).
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- You don’t need to have any experience! We welcome those of all skillsets, because we start with the basics of our style for every new recruit. So if you’ve never stepped into a dojo in your life, you’re just as welcome as someone who already has experience in another martial arts style and is looking to try something new. Come check us out!
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- It’s free to try out for a couple of classes! For the first sessions you show up to, you can just drop in. You can try a few classes to see if you like it first without committing to anything! And the beginning of the new school year is the perfect time to start (although this offer stands all year round).
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- Self-defence is important! All jokes aside, it’s necessary to know how to be alert and protect yourself. If you’ve ever thought, “Hmm, I should really learn self-defence sometime”, take this as a sign to start doing jiu-jitsu. Our style does do some artsy/fancy techniques (those are the ones that look awesome!), but a lot of the stuff you’ll do is practical. You’ll learn some gross motor functions/pressure points to use in quickly escaping an attacker. You’ll also learn how to keep your cool in high-pressure situations, using the techniques you’ve learned to protect yourself. Hopefully you’ll never have to deal with a threatening situation in real life, but it is important to be prepared!
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- We sometimes use cool ninja weapons! Not right away though. You’ll start off with empty plastic bottles (but we treat them as if they’re glass), and learn how to disarm and restrain opponents without getting ‘cut’ by the dummy weapon. We emulate real weapons in a safe environment, and eventually you’ll move on to rubber knives (but we treat them as if they’re real!), and even bokken, a Japanese wooden training sword! These are all super fun to practice with, and make you feel like a real ninja.
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- You get to smash people around! Safely of course. The first thing you learn is how to fall down properly. There is a secret way to hit the ground so that it doesn’t hurt, even if you fall from a few feet in the air! We’ll teach it to you, and then you can use it when learning cool throws where you use body mechanics and gravity to hurl people to the ground.
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- You get to wear a cool uniform! If you stick around, you can buy a special training uniform (gi), and then you’ll look like a real martial artist.
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- And after you have your gi, you might get to upgrade your belt! If you train regularly for the fall semester, you could be eligible for your first grading. If you pass the test, you’ll upgrade your white belt to a shiny new yellow one. And if you train all through the winter semester, you could even move up to orange! From there, the next colours are green, purple, light blue, dark blue, brown and black (the first dan belt). So if you start doing jiu-jitsu in your first year, and train regularly all through your undergrad, you might grade up all the way to a blue belt, (or even brown, if you train extra hard!), by the time you graduate. We also have other clubs in our style all around the province, so you can even keep training in another city after you leave Trent!
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- You’ll get to be part of our community! (we are awesome). After class we usually frequent the Olde Stone Pub in downtown Peterborough to chat and get to know each other over a pint (or a non-alcoholic beverage of your choosing if you don’t drink, or are under 19). Come out after class to get to know everyone!
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- Trent Jitsu is right on campus! We train at the Athletic Centre Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8:30-10:30. Go up the steps after the changerooms and look for people in white gis. Just wear loose clothing, like a T-shirt and track pants, for your first class. See you there!