Women-Only Classes (age 13+)

No prior martial arts experience is required. Our classes are designed to be accessible to individuals of all backgrounds and fitness levels. We welcome newcomers and provide a supportive environment to help you get started.

For the Friday class, whatever active wear you’ve got is perfect. Please bring footwear such as slides or crocs that are easy to slip on/off. Eventually, you might want to invest in a rash guard (long or short sleeves) and leggings specifically for jiu-jitsu and a gi for the Sunday Women-Only class. A well-priced, good quality starter gi is the Elite Gi which comes with a white belt. We do not have a specific color so pick whatever you like! Club patches can be purchased directly from Jenn.

For the comfort and safety of your training partners, please do NOT wear jewelry or watches, nor strong perfume or scents.

No. While the Friday class does cover much of the fighting/counter ambush material, the majority of self-defense-specific info is only taught in the Self-Defense Series. Most Self-Defense Skills have nothing to do with fighting!

The training we provide is effective for self-defense, fitness, and personal growth. If you’re interested in building self-confidence, improving physical fitness, and learning valuable life skills while enjoying a supportive community, martial arts at Solarte could be the perfect fit for you. But there’s only one way to find out…you just have to try it!

Solarte Jiujitsu stands out for its professional instruction, structured curriculum, welcoming community, and holistic approach to well-being. Our focus on individual growth, both on and off the mats, sets us apart from other martial arts schools in the area.

Safety is our top priority. Our instructors are highly trained to ensure a safe training environment, and we teach techniques with a focus on control and injury prevention. We also provide guidelines for safe and responsible training.

We have a very informal training environment. You don’t have to ask permission to go on or off the mats. You’re welcome to take breaks at any time. You DO NOT have to train with anyone you don’t want to train with!Most classes begin with a warm up. It’s usually an easy going game or skill-building exercise that develops striking or grappling skills while getting your mind and muscles ready.After that, we usually teach a series of games and skill-building exercises that focus on:

• striking (kicks and punches)standing (both people standing)escapes and attacks from grounded positions (versus a kneeling or standing person)movement, pinning and attacks from the top/back control positions

ATTACKS include sweeps (going from bottom to top position), taking the back (controlling from behind) and submissions such as chokes and join locks (both from the top and bottom positions).You will play the games with different amounts of resistance. Always talk with your training partners to set a pace that works for you. The games can get VERY TIRING, especially if you’re worried about winning. Don’t. If you play to have fun and solve problems, you’ll learn a LOT more quickly. You’re welcome to go slower and work steadily. You have no obligation to “go hard” (which doesn’t help you or your training partners anyway).If you’re new to jiu jitsu, the games also get you used to the close contact and pressure you’ll experience during “rolling” (sparring). Training sessions sometimes end with rolling, which are 3- to 6- minute timed rounds of sparring. There is no kicking or punching during sparring, but chokes and joint locks are in play. You DO NOT have to roll if you don’t want to, especially if you’re brand new. All students, whether new or experienced, can use the rolling time to work on skills or play games. Eventually, all students do roll because it allows you to tie together all the skills you learn from playing the games.

The instructors at the club are NOT gods, Yoda or secret wisdom keepers. It doesn’t matter if they’re wearing a black belt. They’re just human beings who love jiu jitsu and want to share this sport with you. If you want to call them “Coach” feel free, but most feel way more comfortable if you just call them by name.

This workshop introduces you to concepts and training methods that help you move through the world with greater awareness and confidence. Students begin to learn about the relationship between their personal ethics, use of force and the law. We look at social, asocial and hybrid types of conflict/violence with a particular focus on the most common threat women face—a known person such as a coworker, intimate partner or other acquaintance. This program focuses on “soft skills” (understanding legalities/ethics, violence dynamics, avoidance, freezing and aftermath). Thus, don’t expect a lot of physical work related to fighting. It’s mostly lecture, discussion and training related to PREVENTION of violence. Although not required, we highly recommend you take this class before joining in “hard skills” training (counter-ambush/combat). As part of the 8-week series, we will begin to introduce boundary-setting/distance management concepts and exercises including deflecting unwanted hugs or other “too close” attention.

Homework for next class: read your information packet

We continue our Introductory discussion on trusting intuition, avoiding violence, escape and evasion, dealing with the effects of adrenaline, de-escalation concepts and what to say/do after an incident. We will also review physical boundary setting that we covered in the first class. Then we add on to these skills by developing strategies and concepts for assessing a known or unknown contact. We will gradually increase the level of resistance and the complexity of decision-making over the course of the session.

Homework for next class: Read over the list of 10 principles our physical skills are based on in your info packet.

The discussion today will go over 10 principles our physical self-defense skills are based on. It’s much easier to remember a principle or concept than memorizing a bunch of techniques! The physical work continues the concepts from Boundaries & Distance Management 1. The level of conflict and resistance increases as we deal with greater levels of conflict such as persistent unwanted contact. You’ll have the opportunity to safely train scenarios using “verbal judo,” as well as protecting yourself so that you remain conscious and standing if ambushed. We also introduce how to develop full body weight strikes and applying this tool to specific vulnerable targets on an attacker’s body. Students are welcome to bring their tactical flashlights and water-filled practice pepper spray.

Homework for next class: Read info packet’s notes on self-defense law and articulation

The lecture and main training exercise of the day gives students a chance to work on articulating their story after a high impact event. The physical work will build on the information from Distance Management 2 & Targeting 1. It takes time to figure out how to use body weight strikes and targeting. This session gives you LOT of reps to help you get these skills into your body! There’s a lot of movement in this class, but you can do the work at your own pace.

Homework for next class: Choose a type of breathwork to practice from the info packet. Try to apply when feeling stressed and report back on results. Watch TV shows/movies/news and note at least three examples of violence/conflict and explain what type(s) it is.

We will discuss the homework related to breathwork and identifying different types of violence (social/asocial/hybrid). Then we’ll warm up with our boundary setting and escapes before moving on to ground work. Ground Work 1 helps you develop training to go from the ground to standing and to prevent yourself from being pinned down. This is a bit more physically demanding class, but you are always encouraged to train at a pace that works for you.

We will review concepts around articulation, including a discussion on how articulation affects our own personal stories and our view of training. After a warm up to review previously learned escapes, we’ll go into the Ground Work 2 material. We will work on ways to escape if you’ve been pinned to the ground. Like Ground Work 1, this is a more physically demanding class. Always train at a pace that works for you.

Homework: Look up WA state laws regarding self-defense and justifiable homicide, stand your ground, defense of others. Go to a place you frequent and think of who you would pick as a target (when? where? why?)

The discussion portion will discuss the results of your homework related to WA state laws and the “think like a bad guy” drill. The physical work will focus on close-range grappling from a standing situation. It’s better to stay standing whenever possible. This class teaches fundamental strategy for dealing with an aggressive close quarters attack. We will be doing a lot of standing grappling work in this course. I’m not gonna lie—it’s a work out, but the skills are critical, especially for those who carry pepper spray, knives, guns, etc. for self-defense.

Homework for next class: Using the info packet’s list “PRACTICE READING THE ENVIRONMENT” take notes about a place you go to often. Bonus: note and “off-baseline” behavior in a group or individual there.

The discussion portion will talk about the results of your homework on reading environments, groups and individuals. We’ll also go over the Risk Triad for assessing potential danger. The physical work will add on to the material from Standing Grappling 1. This is essential training for anyone who carries pepper spray, knives, guns, etc. for self-defense. Standing work can be challenging, but worth it to remain up and not on the ground.

We offer a NON-live-fire introduction to safe handling of firearms for those who are completely new to firearms. Very often, we have students who own a pistol or revolver that they have no idea how to use. We can help you learn how to safely manipulate this tool again in a NON-live-fire setting. This is offered as an individually scheduled session. NOTE: This class does NOT count toward WA state’s current safety training requirement per HB113/i-1639 if you’re applying for your Concealed Pistol License. However, click here for a FREE online class that does: Free Firearms Safety Training

We also highly recommend Firearms Academy of Seattle in Onalaska, WA area for high quality firearms instruction. They have an excellent facility offering a wide range of classes from very basic to advanced, self-defense/security to sport/competition. They also invite some of the best instructions in the country to teach competition shooting, the nuances of firearms law, extreme close quarters combat, and more. Click here to check out the FAS schedule.