Free for 10 Days, $75 a Month, and One 7-Day Rule: Jiu-Jitsu in St. Louis
Revised October 22, 2026
How much does a BJJ gym cost per month?
Wise Warriors MMA & Fitness prints its prices: $75 a month for three training hours a week, $99 for five and $150 for unlimited, with jiu jitsu among its classes. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis offers a 10-day free trial, BJJ Lifestyle Academy a free week and Revive a free first class. Use the free time to get the monthly price, sign-up fee and cancellation terms in writing.
Keep reading ↓Your first jiu-jitsu class starts in bare feet. At Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis someone hands you a uniform, and an instructor gives you a focused introductory lesson before you join the group. The mat gives a little under your heels, a partner taps twice to say stop, and the whole room is built around honoring that tap. Nobody has asked you for money yet, and the gi you’re wearing is a loaner that weighs more than it looks.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis gives you 10 days. BJJ Lifestyle Academy gives a free week. Revive books a first class free, Onyx Grappling offers a free class, and Wise Warriors on Manchester Road gives a first workout free.
The 7-day rule: at Revive, to cancel future billing you must contact the gym at least 7 days before your next scheduled payment. Put the date in your calendar the day you sign up. Its code NEW100 takes $100 off the first month.
How much does a BJJ gym cost per month?
Money comes up after the class, when you’re sweaty and flattered and ready to say yes. That’s the moment to slow down. Wise Warriors (7403 Manchester Road, #130; 314-630-7280) prints a full price list on its own site and sells its memberships by training hours: $75 a month for three hours a week, $99 for five, $150 for unlimited. The first workout is free, and the classes include jiu jitsu alongside MMA, kickboxing and wrestling, so the price buys more than one sport.
Maelstrom BJJ on Ohio Avenue lists a Monthly Unlimited membership and shows no dollar amount. At the others, the free class is how you learn what a month costs. Get three answers before you pay: the monthly price, any sign-up fee, and exactly how to cancel, in writing. A cancellation rule like Revive’s is fair, and it’s the kind of detail that costs you a month if you miss it.
The honest downside
Your body keeps score the next morning, in places you didn’t know you had, and your knees will have opinions by noon. Jiu-jitsu hurts sometimes, and the research says so plainly. In a survey of 1,140 jiu-jitsu athletes from 62 countries, two out of three reported at least one injury in three years that kept them out of training for two weeks. The knee was the most common site, at 27.1% of injuries, and 77.6% of injuries happened during sparring. Competing regularly, older age and a higher belt rank were significant risk factors too.
None of that is a reason to stay home. It’s a reason to ask, on the free class, how beginners are introduced to sparring and how often the mats are cleaned.
Where to take the free class
Bring a water bottle and your nerve; the rest is on loan. At Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis (314-659-8200) the trial runs 10 days, and when you arrive you’re given a uniform and walked through a focused introductory lesson before you join the group. The kids’ side starts at age 3 with Mat Munchkins, then Little Champs for ages 5 to 7 and Jr. Grapplers for ages 7 to 12.
At BJJ Lifestyle Academy (4274 Telegraph Road; 314-780-4222) the free week starts with a phone call or an email, because you must schedule your first visit. You sign a release on-site, and a guardian signs for a minor. Wear comfortable athletic gear without pockets or zippers. The head coach, Mike Rethmeyer, is a 4th degree black belt under Leo Peçanha and a 20-time IBJJF medalist.
Two academies sit on Jungermann Road in St. Peters. Revive (1278 Jungermann Rd., Suite A; 636-344-9334) books a first class free, with no commitment and no gear needed, and says everything will be ready when you arrive. Onyx Grappling (953 Jungermann Road; 636-339-4277) offers a free class and runs kids’ classes for ages 4 to 6 and 7 to 9, plus kids and teens classes for ages 10 to 12 and 13 to 15.
In Collinsville, Gracie Barra Collinsville (2539 Vandalia St.; 618-213-2422) books a free class. Fathom BJJ (618-979-8010) takes free-trial requests.
What to ask before you sign
Take the free class with a short list. What is the monthly price, and does it cover every class or only some? Is there a sign-up fee? How long is the commitment, and how do you cancel? Does the price change for a child, a teenager or a second family member? Is a gi required right away, or can you borrow one? Does the trial week count toward your first month? The answers should come without a sales pitch. A school proud of its program will tell you plainly.
Read the trial paperwork too. BJJ Lifestyle Academy asks every new student to sign a release before the first class, and a guardian has to sign for a minor. That’s normal, and it’s also your cue to ask what happens if you or your child gets hurt.
Kids and teens
The age bands differ by school, so match the class to the child. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis starts at age 3 and covers up to age 12 in three groups. Onyx Grappling starts at 4 and runs through 15. BJJ Lifestyle Academy and Revive both list kids’ programs. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis says it encourages parents to watch their children’s lessons, which is worth taking up on the free week. Ask the coach how kids are grouped, by age, by size or by rank, and watch one class from the side before your child steps on.
If grappling turns out not to be your kid’s thing, the metro has plenty of kids’ music, art and dance classes instead.
Women’s classes
Several schools run women-only programming. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis gives 10 days free of its Women Empowered beginner classes. Gracie Barra Collinsville describes its women’s program as a supportive and inclusive introduction to jiu-jitsu. Fathom BJJ’s women’s program includes female-taught self-defense classes and seminars, a ladies-only jiu jitsu night, bodyweight fitness classes and cardio kickboxing, and Revive and Onyx Grappling both list women’s programs.
What a free class looks like
Book it, show up, and expect paperwork before sweat. At BJJ Lifestyle Academy you schedule the first visit by phone or email. You sign a release on-site before class. At Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis you get a uniform and an introductory lesson from an instructor before you join the group. Revive says you will meet the coaches, step on the mats and be guided through everything from the moment you arrive. Plan to stay for the whole class.
Choosing by what you want
Want structure? Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis teaches adults 36 core techniques in a defined sequence of lessons, and Gracie Barra Collinsville splits beginners, a second level and a blue-belt-and-above class. Want a coach with a competition record? BJJ Lifestyle Academy is led by Mike Rethmeyer and teaches gi and no-gi to adults and children. Revive lists a competitors’ program. Rethmeyer’s black-belt record includes 1st place at the Pan-American Championship and 3rd place at the World Championship. Want something cheaper to start? Wise Warriors’ $75 membership covers three training hours a week. Want your kids in the room with you? Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis encourages parents to join the adult classes and train alongside their children.
Belts and the long road
Fathom BJJ puts it well: the belt is simply there to keep your jacket closed. Your instructor decides when and if you are ready to move up, based primarily on knowledge, ability and time, and the path to black belt typically takes 10 or more years. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis says the same thing in numbers: on average, a minimum of 10 years. Between belts, Fathom says, stripes track your progress: you can earn up to 4 on a belt, each one a strip of white tape wrapped around the black tab at the end. A stripe is the school’s way of saying you are still moving, even in a year when the belt stays the same.
There is no single clock for the early belts. At Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis the beginner path is 23 group lessons, each completed twice, before you qualify for the Reflex Development classes that lead to a belt test. At Gracie Barra Collinsville the second-level class asks for at least 3 stripes on a white belt, which takes a minimum of 4 months of training. Ask your school for its promotion criteria in writing, and treat a school that can’t produce them as a reason to keep shopping.
What to wear and bring
Don’t buy a gi before you go. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis gives you a uniform when you arrive. Revive says no gear is needed. BJJ Lifestyle Academy says to wear comfortable athletic gear without pockets or zippers. The pocket rule isn’t about style: fingers and toes catch on fabric. Bring a water bottle, wear shoes to the door and take them off before the mat, and trim your nails, fingers and toes.
A five-minute hygiene check
The mat itself is worth a look before you commit. Stand at the edge and watch. Do people take their shoes off before they step on? Is there a place to put them? Does anyone wipe the mat down, and is a cleaner kept where you can see it? Do students arrive in a clean gi, and does the coach send someone with a visible rash or sore to the side? None of that takes a question. All of it takes a few minutes of looking.
Then do your part. Shower after class, wash your gi or training clothes every time, cover any cut before you step on, and tell the coach about anything that looks like ringworm or a sore that won’t heal. A good school wants to hear it.
Rolled enough for one day? Post-class hunger has an answer: where to eat in Mascoutah, Illinois.
More places to move, train and stretch live in our guide to the metro’s independent gyms and studios.
Looking for other ways to train? Browse gyms and studios across the metro on St Louis Near Me Directory.
If you run a jiu-jitsu academy, a gym or a studio, see who the AI names instead of you when customers ask where to train.
Frequently asked questions
Is 200 a month a lot for BJJ?
Wise Warriors’ printed price list tops out at $150 a month for unlimited training, so $200 would sit above it. That doesn’t make $200 wrong. Ask what it covers, whether kids or a family are included, whether there’s a sign-up fee, and how you cancel. At Revive, for example, cancelling means contacting the gym at least 7 days before your next scheduled payment.
What are the downsides of Jiu-Jitsu?
The biggest is getting hurt. In a survey of 1,140 athletes in 62 countries, two out of three reported an injury in three years that kept them out of training for two weeks, mostly during sparring. The other costs are money and time. Wise Warriors prints $75 a month for three training hours a week, $99 for five and $150 for unlimited, so the hours you commit to shape the bill. Ask how often the mats are cleaned.
What is the most common injury in jiu jitsu?
In a survey of 1,140 jiu-jitsu athletes, the knee was the most common injury site, at 27.1% of injuries, led by meniscus tears, ACL tears and MCL injuries. Most injuries happened during sparring, at 77.6%, and competing regularly, older age and a higher belt rank were significant risk factors. Ask any school how beginners are eased into sparring before you sign.
How easy is it to get a blue belt in BJJ?
There’s no single clock. Fathom BJJ says the instructor decides when and if you’re ready, based on knowledge, ability and time. Gracie Barra Collinsville ties its second-level class to at least 3 stripes on a white belt, a minimum of 4 months of training. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis builds its beginner path from 23 lessons taken twice. Ask your school for its promotion criteria in writing.
Should I join BJJ?
Try it before you pay. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis gives 10 days free, BJJ Lifestyle Academy a free week, and Revive, Onyx Grappling, Gracie Barra Collinsville and Wise Warriors a free first class or workout. Use the trial to check how new students are introduced to sparring, how the mats are cleaned, and what the monthly price and cancellation terms are. If the answers are clear, join.
Do I need to buy a gi before my first class?
No. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. Louis gives you a uniform and an introductory lesson when you arrive, Revive says no gear is needed, and BJJ Lifestyle Academy says to wear comfortable athletic gear without pockets or zippers for the first class. Buy a gi once you know you’re staying.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.