Lydia Maguire 
I recently saw a meme that said, “Having a random hobby as an adult is actually hilarious. You’ll be having a day delivered directly from hell but then gotta suck it up to get to tap class by 6:30 p.m.” For me, it wasn’t tap shoes waiting by the door. It was a gi. When I signed up for the Intro to BJJ Course at North South Jiu Jitsu on 1285 Broad Street in Bloomfield, I was not exactly arriving with a long martial arts résumé. Unless you count a semester of Kung Fu at the Y in high school, which feels generous. Still, I had always wanted to learn some kind of self-defense. Like many women, I enjoy the fantasy that if the moment ever called for it, I could become the capable heroine of my own action movie and absolutely handle myself. So this felt like a solid place to start. Besides, what else did I have going on at 7PM on a Wednesday? Read on for more about my introduction to Brazilian jiu jitsu at North South Jiu Jitsu at 1285 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ.
My First Steps into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
The first thing I learned was that wearing a gi (the traditional two-piece uniform used in many martial arts) makes you feel instantly cooler than you are. Never mind that it was stiff, that I could not for the life of me figure out how the belt was supposed to stay tied, or that my white belt might as well have been blinking beginner in neon. I still felt legit.
I showed up with a fresh manicure (long, almond-shaped, hot pink, obviously) only to be greeted by a sign informing everyone that nails must be clipped short and jewelry had to come off before class. Necklaces and bracelets, fine. But the nails? That felt personal.
There were women there, men there, and even a teenager. Some people had a reason for starting. One woman’s husband was already trained, so she wanted to learn too. Another person had practiced when he was younger and wanted to get back into it. And then there was me, looking for a few self-defense moves and the chance to feel like the badass of my own superhero movie.
About North South Jiu Jitsu
North South Jiu Jitsu is owned by married couple Adam and Karen Peterson, who met doing Jiu Jitsu in New York City before eventually building a gym and community of their own in Montclair. Karen began training in 2004 and just received her fourth degree on her black belt, while Adam, who started in 2009, is a third-degree black belt. Yes, because she has been training longer, she has a higher degree, and yes, I absolutely caught that and chose to celebrate it.
Speaking of celebrations, the gym just celebrated 10 years in business this past March, which feels especially impressive considering North South has grown little by little, across multiple Montclair locations before landing in its current space on Broad Street. It’s even in the process of outfitting one of its former locations on Walnut Street and having a full second space to train.
The Heart of the Gym: Community
The Broad Street gym itself is stripped down in the best way. There is a small reception area and desk up front, but most of the square footage is taken up by one giant mat, surrounded by padded walls in one big open sparring ring. There are changing rooms in the back, restrooms, a water fountain, and shelves with Muay Thai gloves and shin guards that really should have tipped me off when I wandered into a Muay Thai class during the free week included with the intro package.
Friend, I showed up in my gi. Everyone else was in workout clothes. The instructor asked if I knew how to do a certain kick, and before I could even begin pretending I did, one of my classmates helpfully said, “She showed up in a gi.” Which, honestly, was the most accurate and useful thing anyone could have said at that moment. He was right. I had, in fact, shown up in a gi. I still do not know what kick the instructor was referring to.
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That, though, is very much the vibe at North South. It is warm, kind, and deeply unpretentious. It is just you, your gi, your community, and the mat. By the end of class, the windows are nearly steamed over and everyone is one giant sweaty heap. People high-five before they spar/roll and after. Better still is watching two people really go for it, struggle, counter, fight for control, and then, in the second it is over, they sit up laughing, and slap hands. No ego, no weird posturing, no shame if you are new or nervous or need to sit a round out. You are never forced to roll if you do not want to. You do, however, need to cut your nails so you do not scratch someone’s eye out.
That supportive culture is intentional. Adam told me that while Jiu-Jitsu matters, the community matters just as much. “A lot of our members have become really great friends outside of jiu jitsu as well,” he said, adding that as adults, “it becomes a little bit more difficult to find those friends and have common interests with people.” For many members, North South has become “an outlet where everyone has something that, not only are we learning something together, getting better at it, but we’re learning a lot about relationships and life together as well.”
Training at North South Jiu Jitsu
Our first classes, led by Coach Adam and Coach Luis, focused on foundational movements. The kind of basics that do not look especially dramatic until you realize they are the building blocks for everything else. We learned break falls, leg drags, and warm-ups like shrimping, bear crawls, crab walks, and gorillas. In other words, there was a lot of moving around in ways that felt like preschoolers pretending to be their favorite animal at first and then, very quickly, deeply humbling.
We also learned practical self-defense techniques: how to break free if someone grabs your wrist, arm, or clothing, and how to use leverage and body positioning to keep someone from gaining control of your body. That, to me, is one of the most compelling things about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, especially for women. It teaches you not to panic, not to give up a compromising position, and not to assume size automatically wins. You learn how to use what you have, how to leverage someone else’s weight against them, and how to create openings even when the other person is bigger and stronger. Those feel like very good instincts to train into your body.
The Thrill of Rolling
By the end of the first class, we were all sweating enough to understand immediately why the walls and floors are padded. A few classes in, we were learning sweeps, mounts, side control, closed guard, open guard, and half guard. So many guards.
And then, finally, came the best part: rolling.
At the end of class, we would line up against the wall while the coaches set the timer, then rotate through one by one and take them on. By “take them on,” I mean we white belts would fling ourselves into the experience with very limited knowledge, some adrenaline, and the vague hope that we might remember literally anything useful.
My signature move, to this day, is side control. Look out.
Will I get you into side control? Maybe. Will I know exactly what to do after that? Less certain. But for one glorious moment, I will feel unstoppable.
That is the thing about rolling. It is exhausting, chaotic, sweaty, and weirdly exhilarating. One second, you are trying to remember an actual move your coach taught you, and the next, your body is reacting on instinct, your knee is driving forward, someone’s armpit is in your face, and suddenly, somehow, you have done the thing. You found the opening. You got the sweep. You landed in side control. You pop up feeling like a champion, then shuffle to the back of the line with maybe 30 seconds to recover before doing it all over again.
Why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Becomes Addictive
The same energy carries over into the open mat classes, which are packed. White belts, blue belts, purple belts, brown belts, black belts, all rolling with one another. And yes, every now and then, the white belts win a round. Whether that is because someone more experienced is tired or being generous is beside the point. The point is that everyone is there because they love this sport enough to keep showing up and getting humbled by it.
Adam put it perfectly when we talked about what makes beginners want to come back. “You spot a little thing, and then that’s how…the hooks start getting into you,” he said. “You do that little thing, and you’re like, oh, I can do this.”
That is exactly what it feels like. Once you are on the mat, there is no room to be distracted. You have to be fully present, because the next move is coming whether you are mentally prepared or not.
That, more than anything, is what makes it addictive.
Family-Centered Atmosphere
North South offers classes for adults, teens, and kids, with options ranging from beginner and fundamentals classes to mixed-level sessions, competition classes, and open mats. They also offer Muay Thai and all-women classes, which is one of Karen’s passion projects. The Petersons have two children of their own, and that family-centered feeling comes through in the gym’s atmosphere. It is a place where people come to train seriously, but also to learn, laugh, and grow together.
Final Thoughts: More Than Just Self-Defense
By the end of the Intro to BJJ Course, I did not want to stop. Somewhere between the soreness, the sweat, the very close physical proximity to relative strangers, and the thrill of actually remembering a move at the right moment, I had started to get it. I felt stronger. I felt more capable of protecting myself. I felt like I had found a workout that challenged me physically and mentally. But more than that, I felt like I had stumbled into a genuinely welcoming community right here in Bloomfield.
And that might have been the most surprising part.
I came in hoping to learn a few self-defense basics and maybe feel a little cooler in a gi than I actually was. I left understanding why people devote themselves to this. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is hard, humbling, empowering, and unexpectedly joyful. I came for the self-defense, stayed for the community, and yes, apparently found something worth trimming my nails for after all.
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