Class 1You'll be shown how to move, how to tap, and how to keep yourself safe. You will not be fed to anyone.
Ages 16+ · All Levels · New Lenox, IL
Adult
Jiu-Jitsu.
GB1 Fundamentals is built for the person who has never trained, hasn't exercised in years, and doesn't want to be the guy who gets destroyed on day one. You won't be.
Get In Shape Learning Something That Actually Works
01 / Why parents and students start
What You Came
Here To Fix.
"I hate the gym and I quit every time."
You're not counting reps — you're solving a problem with a partner. People who can't stick to a treadmill train Jiu-Jitsu three times a week for years.
"I'm out of shape and I'll embarrass myself."
GB1 Fundamentals is beginners only. Everyone in the room started where you are, and the pace is set for learning, not surviving.
"I want to know I could protect my family."
Jiu-Jitsu is the highest-percentage answer to the situation most fights end up in: on the ground, up close, someone bigger on top of you.
02 / The promise
A Room That
Makes It Easy To Come Back.
The hardest part of getting in shape is showing up twice. Here, people notice when you miss, your partner is expecting you, and the class is built so a beginner leaves feeling capable instead of wrecked.
- Beginners train with beginners in GB1 Fundamentals
- Coaches on the mat correcting you, every single class
- Live rounds are your call — drill as long as you want
- Schedules built around a full-time job
03 / Inside a class
Exactly What
Happens.
- 01
Warm-up
Joint prep and movement — no boot-camp punishment.
- 02
GB1 technique
A structured Fundamentals position each week: escapes, guard, control, submissions.
- 03
Drilling
Reps with a partner at your pace, coached and corrected.
- 04
Optional rounds
Live training when you're ready. Never before.
04 / What actually changes
The First
Six Months.
Not a promise — the pattern we watch play out with almost every new student, class by class.
Class 1
Week 2The warm-up stops wrecking you. You know the first escapes and can drill them without thinking.
Month 3Conditioning is unrecognisable, and you're surviving positions that buried you in week one.
Month 12Blue belt is realistic for consistent students — roughly the top few percent of people who ever start a martial art.
05 / The path
Where This
Leads.
Gracie Barra runs one curriculum in 1,000+ schools across 60+ countries. Progress is defined, earned on the mat, and recognised anywhere in the world you walk into a GB academy.
GB1 — Fundamentals
Where every adult starts. Core escapes, guard, control and submissions at a learning pace.
GB2 — Advanced
Opens at three stripes on white belt and runs through blue belt. Faster pace, live rounds standard.
GB3 — Expert
Blue belt to black belt. Highest intensity and the deepest end of the Gracie Barra syllabus.
No-gi & open mat
Extra sessions to sharpen what you learn in the structured classes.
GB1 Fundamentals (beginners) → GB2 (three-stripe white through blue belt) → GB3 (blue belt to black belt)
Uniform included with your two-week trial
Class times that work around a full-time job
06 / Real classes, real students
This Is The
Room.
A look inside our mat in New Lenox — real classes, real students.
07 / Who is teaching your class
Ron
Poholik.
Certified Gracie Barra Instructor · 30+ Years Teaching Martial Arts
Ron Poholik has spent more than 30 years on the mats as a full-time martial arts instructor, teaching thousands of kids and adults in the Chicago southland before opening Gracie Barra New Lenox in 2018. In 2017 he was named the Greatmats National Martial Arts Instructor of the Year — a national award voted on for teaching, not for trophies. Today he runs his academy on the Gracie Barra standard: a structured, worldwide curriculum used by 1,000+ schools in 60+ countries, taught by coaches who look after beginners instead of throwing them to the wolves.
2017 Greatmats National Martial Arts Instructor of the Year
30+ Years
Full-time martial arts instructor
4.9★ · 100+ reviews
From local families
Since 2018
Serving New Lenox and nearby
Part of something bigger
One Curriculum.
1,000+ Schools.
1,000+
Gracie Barra schools worldwide
60+
Countries running this syllabus
1986
Gracie Barra founded in Rio de Janeiro
08 / The trial
Two Weeks.
$19.99.
Everything you need to find out whether this is your thing — including the gi you walk out with, whether you continue or not.
Start The Trial- Two full weeks of unlimited Adult Jiu-Jitsu classes
- Official Gracie Barra uniform, yours to keep
- A short intro with a coach before your first class
- A progress check with your coach at the end of week two
Your price today$19.99
You're never required to continue when the two weeks are up. Keep the uniform either way.
09 / Your first day
Nothing To
Figure Out.
Three things to know before you walk in. That's the whole list.
01
Arrive 15 minutes early
Short paperwork, a tour, and a coach walks you through mat etiquette before class.
02
T-shirt and shorts, no metal
Your gi comes with the two-week trial. Trim your nails, leave the jewelry at home.
03
Drill only until you're ready
Live rounds are your choice, not a requirement. Nobody gets hazed here.
10 / Straight answers
Adult Jiu-Jitsu
Questions.
Still unsure? Call or text the school and we'll answer your questions straight.
(815) 463-9327We have people starting in their 40s and 50s every month, and training safely into their 60s. Jiu-Jitsu is designed for the smaller, older, weaker person to prevail — that's the whole point of it.
11 / Where we train
New Lenox, IL.
14627 W Edison Dr, New Lenox, IL 60451
(815) 463-9327
Evening classes weekdays · Saturday mornings
Families travel to us from Frankfort, Mokena, Joliet, Manhattan, Tinley Park.
Try Adult Jiu-Jitsu
$19.99 for 2 Weeks.
Free uniform included. You're never required to continue after the two weeks. Walk in this week.