Your first BJJ class in Lisbon is free: how it works

Your first class at Grapplers Collective Lisbon is free. Not a discounted intro, not a ten-minute look around the edge of the mat — a full hour of no-gi grappling, on us, in Campolide. We do it this way because grappling is hard to understand from the outside. You can read about it, watch clips, ask questions, and still have no idea whether it is for you. One real session answers that better than anything we could say. So the invitation is simple: come train as our guest, do the whole class, and decide afterwards.

What "free" actually means here

A free first class can mean a lot of things, and most of them are not worth your evening. It often means a watered-down taster, a few minutes of light movement before someone steers you toward a contract. That is not what this is. Free, here, means we open the door and let you train properly before money is ever part of the conversation.

• It is a real class, not a demo. You warm up, you train live games against a partner who is actually resisting, and you leave having genuinely grappled.
• It is the same session everyone else does. You are not put in a separate beginner corner. You join the room, scaled to your level, alongside people who train here regularly.
• There is no card and no commitment. You do not pay anything, you do not sign anything, and you are not expected to decide on the night.
• It is an invitation, not a giveaway. We offer it because we would rather you train once and know, than guess from the outside and never start.

Why we give the first class away

Look at what a class normally costs and the free one starts to make sense. A drop-in here is €10. Monthly plans run from €65 to €80. So the first session is not a loss leader we are nervous about — it is a small, deliberate gift, the cheapest way for both of us to find out if we are a good fit. We want people who train, get hooked on the problem-solving, and come back because they want to. The free class is how the right people find that out, and how the wrong fit finds out early too. No pressure either way.

How to claim it: book a spot

We keep classes small on purpose. A small room means more attention, more rounds that fit you, and a partner who can actually look after a first-timer. The trade-off is that we cannot have people simply turn up — so we ask you to book a spot. Send a WhatsApp message, pick a night, and we will save you a place and have someone meet you at the door. When you message, it helps to tell us:

• Which night you want to start — we train Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 19:00–20:00.
• Roughly your experience level (none is completely fine — most people who book have never grappled).
• Anything we should know, like an injury or that you are new to Lisbon.

Classes are taught in English, and Portuguese speakers are just as welcome. We are at R. de Campolide 165, about fifteen minutes from central Lisbon — the metro Blue Line stops at Praça de Espanha, a five-minute walk away. Bring shorts or leggings and a rash guard or T-shirt; no gi is needed, since we train no-gi only. There are changing rooms and showers, so bring water and a towel.

What happens after your free class

If it clicks, here is what continuing looks like — no contract anywhere in it:

• Drop-in: €10 per session, whenever you want to come, with no commitment.
• Monthly, twice a week: €65.
• Monthly, three times a week: €70.
• Monthly, unlimited: €80.
• Cancel anytime. No contracts, no notice period, no awkward exit.

And if you want to keep training with us without committing to a plan, we run a free monthly open seminar. It is open to everyone, from any gym, and built around live rounds rather than a lecture. It is another low-key way to spend an evening grappling and see whether this is where you want to train.

The short version

Your first class is a real, full session of no-gi grappling, free, as our guest. Classes are small, so message us to book a night rather than turning up. There is no card, no contract, and no decision to make on the spot. Train once, see how it feels, and take it from there.