Frequently Asked Questions

I can’t make the intro session, can I still come?
It doesn’t matter if you’ve missed the intro session, beginners are always welcome. Just turn up at Westwood Games Hall on Mondays: 6:00 – 8:00 or Fridays, 5:00 – 7:00. You won’t be the only one who starts later in term, and you won’t be massively behind everyone else.

I didn’t come for the first few weeks of term, is it too late to learn?
It doesn’t matter when you join. We get people joining throughout the year. Everyone gets taught at the level they are at: we won’t expect you to be doing the same things as people who started a month earlier than you. And you’ll find that you ‘catch up’ more quickly than you’d expect.

I can only come once a week, is it worth me coming at all?
It doesn’t matter if you can only come once a week, you will be taught at the rate that you learn at. You will find that others progress faster than you – because they’re training twice as often as you – but this doesn’t matter. Jitsu isn’t a race. It doesn’t matter if you take a bit longer to learn things. And everyone always helps everyone else to become as good as they can become.

I have lectures until 5:00 on a Friday, is that a problem?
No problem. We like people to be punctual if they have no reason not to be, but if you have lectures, then that’s not a problem a all. Turn up after your lecture and we’ll make sure you still get given a proper warm up and then you can join in with the rest of the session.

Isn’t judo/aikido/kung fu/ karate better?
I don’t go in for “My martial art is better than your martial art” Every martial art has it’s strengths and weaknesses. Anyone who tells you that this isn’t so and that they have the ultimate martial art is lying. No martial art is better than the people who actually do it, and most of the major martial arts will have people who are very good at what they do, and not very good at what they don't.

The martial art you choose will be as good as you make it, and you will get as much out of it as you put in. I personally do Jitsu because I love it, and as a martial art it suits me and my personality. If you aren’t sure, go to a couple of sessions of all the different martial arts and see which one you like.

What about Gracie Jiu-Jitsu? They keep winning the UFC.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is very good as a grappling martial art, especially in a one on one situation. However, you might not want to end up on the floor (Gracie Jui-Jitsu specialises in ground fighting, and a lot of their fights end up on the floor) in the Student’s union where there’s broken glass around and lots of people’s feet. And you really don’t want to end up on the floor if the person you’re fighting has mates around. This everyday random violence is the sort of situation we specialise in. We teach you a variety of techniques so that you can choose the level of violence you respond with as is called for by the situation. If someone is a bit drunk and being a nuisance, you might not want to end up doing them serious damage, and we can teach you how not to. We advocate anything from walking away, to running away to being able to totally incapacitate someone - if the situation demands it.

How do I get to the session?
For the first few weeks there will be a group of us meeting on Central Campus in Rootes reception about half an hour before the sessions start to all walk over to Westwood together.

If it’s later on in term and you’re reading this and don’t know how to get to Westwood games hall, have a look at the maps on the Warwick website (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/visiting/maps/), or ask in the forums on this site, and we’ll sort out directions for where you’re coming from, or (if you're like me and could get lost in your own home) one of us will meet you somewhere you can find and take you across.

Do I have to be fit/Strong/Supple/Co-ordinated?
You don’t need to be fit to do Jitsu, but you will find that you do get a lot fitter, especially if you start coming to the grades sessions once you have graded.

You don’t need to be strong either, Jitsu works by using your attackers strength against him/herself. Jitsuka (people who do Jitsu) don’t look muscle bound or like they’ve just stepped out of the SAS or could run a marathon. They are all normal, everyday people doing something a bit special.

Jitsuka are some of the most un-supple people you will come across. Most of the grades can’t touch their toes without bending their knees. We don’t do high kicks, and so don’t need to be supple. If we wanted to kick someone in the head, we’d put them on the floor first. Jitsuka are basically very efficient (lazy) and will find the way of least resistance to any situation.

Being Co-ordinated will make Jitsu a bit easier for you, but I know of a lot of people who are not natural atheletes or naturally co-ordinated and they have no problems doing Jitsu. There are some people who pick up the techniques we teach really easily, but they are the minority (and make the rest of us sick!)

Basically: Anyone can do Jitsu.

I’m sure I’m too small to do this:
I don’t think it’s possible to be too small. If you’re very short you might need to do techniques slightly differently to other people, but then tall people have the same problems too. And Jitsu is very flexible, what we teach works for pretty much everyone because it is adaptable and not set in stone. Previous girls who have trained at Jitsu at Warwick have weighted 8stone and been able to throw around 6’ men because the techniques we teach work for everyone and rely on technique not strength.

One of the top females in our style is not quite 5’, (and definitely not built like a man either)

Does it hurt?
You may well ache after the first few sessions because Jitsu uses muscles from your entire body, often including muscles that haven’t been used much before. You probably will get the odd bump or bruise – you are doing a full contact martial art. However you are not going to come out of each session with your face looking like it’s been through a meat grinder or you’ve just gone 10 rounds with Lenox Lewis.

What does it cost?
We know that lots of people have no idea what Jitsu is (unlike hockey or football for example) so that when they come along they are trying something completely new for the first time. As a result we don’t charge anything for the first two sessions you come to, so that you can try us out for free. You will need to get insurance, but you are covered by the Instructor’s insurance for the first two weeks, again to let you be sure you want to try this before you pay out any money.

Insurance (your licence) is £20, which insures you for training at any session or course anywhere in the country within our style.

I’ve never done this before, does it matter?
You’ll be in good company. We have lots of people all starting at the same time. And even if it’s later in the term when you decide to come, you will be taught as a new beginner and not thrown in at the deep end.

The Jitsu Foundation puts a lot of work into making sure that all their Instructors have proper training in how to teach a club, and into making sure that all their students receive proper training in Jitsu.

Do you train with weapons?
We train with a large variety of weapons, mostly learning how to defend ourselves from them. We use coshes, bottles, broken bottles, knives, chains, pickaxe handles, baseball bats, bo and swords.

When you are learning all the weapons are wooden, rubber or plastic. As you become more skilled we start using the real thing – sharp knives that can cut, real broken bottles, proper heavy chains….

We also teach the basics of how to use a sword, bo and baton as an offensive weapon.

How long does it take to get a black belt?
It takes a minimum of 5 years to get a black belt, which seems a long way away, but you will be learning interesting and exciting stuff from day one, and there is lots to learn. You won’t just be repeating the same few techniques for five years until you can do them perfectly.

If you train regularly you will probably be able to grade at the end of the first term and become a yellow belt. (Then you can come to the grades sessions – otherwise known as “The Wednesday Sessions”)

The people who started in October last year and trained regularly have all made it green belt in three terms (grading once a term). The belt colours go: Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Brown, Black.

All our Black belts spend two years as Brown belts and have to instruct a club for at least a year; our brown belts are of a very high standard at Jitsu also.

Is it competitive?
We do have two national competitions a year, but these are done very much in the spirit of fun and good sportsmanship. Jitsu is much more about everyone learning and sharing as much as they can. Everyone wants everyone else to be as good as they can be because then the training is more fun. This means that everyone is trying to help each other.

People do not gain great kudos from winning competitions, rather, respect is given by how people do in their gradings.

Do you have gradings?
Yes, we have gradings three times a year. They can be quite an intense experience, and you will always feel that you have earned the belt that you wear. The coloured belts go in the order of: Yellow, Orange, Green, Purple, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Brown, Black.

People who train regularly should all be capable of grading at the end of their first term. Any who continue to train regularly can potentially reach green belt by the end of their first year doing Jitsu. There after it can take longer to go up through the grades.