Check the instructor’s rank and lineage
Ask the head instructor who awarded their black belt and when. A clear answer names a person and an academy, and that academy can usually confirm it. Lineage, the chain of instructors behind a black belt, is something most instructors are glad to talk about. If no one at the gym can say who promoted the head instructor, keep looking.
The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), which runs the largest gi and no-gi tournaments, certifies black belts who apply and keep up a membership. To register an academy with the IBJJF, its head instructor must be a certified black belt, and in the US the head and assistant instructors also need a recent background check and SafeSport training, a course on preventing abuse in sport. Certification shows that the federation has the rank on record. An instructor has to apply for it, so a belt without it is not fake by default, but the question of who awarded it still needs a clear answer.
Before you sign up, also search the instructor’s name online, including news results.
What to watch in a trial class
Most gyms let you try a class for free or at least watch one. Treat a gym that allows neither as a reason to look elsewhere. If you can, visit on a normal weeknight rather than at an open house, so you see the class as it usually runs. You do not have to train on your first visit. Our guide to BJJ for beginners covers what a first class involves and what to bring.
During the technique part of class, watch the instructor more than the technique. A good instructor explains why each detail matters, walks the room while pairs drill, corrects people by name and answers questions without impatience. Watch the students too. Experienced students who help a newcomer through a drill show how the gym treats new people. If the class is so large that the instructor cannot reach every pair, ask whether there are smaller classes or assistant coaches.
Signs a gym keeps students safe
Stay for the sparring. The instructor or a senior student should be watching the rounds and should stop one that gets out of hand. Partners let go as soon as someone taps, the hardest rounds happen between people who chose them, and new students are paired with partners who help them through the round rather than trying to beat them.
Look at the mats and the changing area. The mats should be cleaned often, at many gyms after each block of classes, and no one should walk on them in shoes. Ask what the gym does when a student has a skin infection such as ringworm. The answer you want is that the student stays off the mat until a doctor clears them.
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask these at the front desk or after class, before you sign anything. Open each one to see what a clear answer sounds like and what should make you wary.
How do new students start sparring?
A clear answerA plan, such as rounds from set positions first and full rolling once the instructor thinks you are ready, with the option to sit out any round.
Be wary ifNew students go straight into full rounds with anyone on the mat, or no one can say how beginners are brought into sparring.
Who teaches the classes I would attend?
A clear answerNames and ranks for each class on your schedule, with the head instructor teaching regularly.
Be wary ifThe head instructor rarely teaches, and no one can say who leads the beginner classes.
What does a beginner's week look like?
A clear answerFundamentals classes several times a week that follow a set curriculum, so the basic positions, escapes and submissions come up in order.
Be wary ifOnly one or two beginner classes a week, or new students join whatever the advanced class is working on.
How do you decide on stripes and belts?
A clear answerThe instructor describes the skills they look for, and promotions follow those skills.
Be wary ifA set fee for each promotion, or a belt promised by a certain date regardless of skill.
What does the membership include, and how do I pause or cancel it?
A clear answerA written price that lists what it covers, a clear way to cancel, and a way to pause for an injury or travel.
Be wary ifA long contract, fees to register or cancel that were not mentioned up front, or no way to pause.
Can I go to seminars or open mats at other gyms?
A clear answerYes, sometimes with a request that you tell the instructor first.
Be wary ifA flat ban on training anywhere else.
Gi or no-gi, competition or hobby
Gi classes train in the jacket and pants and use them for grips. No-gi classes train in shorts and a rash guard, a fitted athletic shirt. Instructors disagree about which to start with, so if you have no preference, a gym that teaches both lets you try each before you decide.
Gyms also differ in how much they center on competition. Some run as a competition team, some mostly train people who never compete, and many mix the two. Ask whether the gym has a competition team and whether students who do not compete train alongside it, then watch who is on the mat during your visit. Pick the one that matches why you train. If you plan to compete, our guide to preparing for your first tournament covers what comes next.
Check the drive and the class times as well. A gym you can reach on a normal workday is easier to keep attending than a better one an hour away.
Red flags
Some problems only show once you are on the mat or at the front desk. Think hard before joining a gym that pressures you to sign a contract on your first visit, tells students not to tap or brushes off injuries as part of training, never speaks to a partner who keeps hurting people, or talks as if every other gym in the area is bad. An instructor who dates students is a reason to leave.
Once you have found your gym, your instructor will see your training week by week. A filmed match gives you one more view of it. On Grappling Breakdown, a verified black belt breaks down your match with timestamped notes and a written report. Our article on roll and match reviews explains what a black belt looks for, and how to film your rolls covers getting footage worth reviewing.