Women’s Jiu Jitsu in Laurel, MD

This Room Was Built for You

Jiu Jitsu is the most practical self-defense system available to someone who does not have size or strength as an advantage. This program was built to teach it, in a room of women only.

Women Only | Coached by Women | Practical Self-Defense | First Week Free
Why This Program

Picture a Jiu Jitsu gym. Most people see a room full of men. Some gyms are exactly that. This one is not.

The Women’s Only program at 2nd Gear is coached by women, built for women who want to learn something real, in a room full of women.

Coached by Becca and Divina.

Becca started training to protect herself. For years she had no interest in competing. Then she competed at the highest levels, including the IBJJF Pan, Europeans, and Master Worlds. She came to 2nd Gear for one reason: to build this program. What she teaches works. She has proven it.

Divina started exactly where you are. She walked into 2nd Gear as a beginner with no experience and built her blue belt from the ground up. She has competed, challenged herself, and grown. Now she coaches the next group of women coming through the door. There is no version of “I am not sure I can do this” that she has not heard. Because she said it herself once.

Most women who walk in spend the drive home thinking about when they can come back.

What You Are Building

The most practical self-defense available to someone without size as an advantage.

Jiu Jitsu teaches you how to control a situation from the ground, how to create distance, and how to stay calm when something is uncomfortable. But it builds something else. Every session you stay on the mat when it would be easier to stop, you are building a version of yourself that handles pressure differently. That carries into everything else.
Teaching the armbar in women's only class
Your First Class

The First Class Is Nothing Like You Think It Will Be

Most women walk in expecting to feel out of place. What they find instead is a room where the pace is set around learning, not performance. Where nobody measures you against anyone else. Where the only expectation is that you try.

Walking out of the first class most women feel one thing above everything else. Curious. About what they could not do yet and what it would feel like to be able to do it.

That curiosity is what keeps people coming back. It is also what you are paying for when you train here.

★★★★★
“We all bring different life experiences, body types, strengths, and preconceived notions to the mat. I am happy to be in a very inclusive, welcoming and supportive team and community. I love that there is a system of rules and respect that develops a comradery among the members.”
Maria Paleocrassas  ·  Google Review
Your First Week Is Free

Seven days. Coached by women. Completely free.

As many classes as you want before you decide anything. No gear to buy. No commitment until you choose.

Armbar practice in the women's only BJJ class.
Your First Class

Built from the ground up for women who are just getting started.

Becca came to 2nd Gear specifically to build this program. Not to run a general class with fewer men in it. To build something that starts where a woman who has never trained starts, moves at a pace she can stay with, and produces a skill she can trust.

Class Schedule
Wednesdays at 6:30 PM
Saturdays at 10:00 AM
The Saturday morning class is the recommended starting point for anyone new to the program.
Common Questions

Everything you want to know before your first class

Will what I learn here protect me in a real situation?

Yes. Jiu Jitsu is designed specifically for someone who is smaller or lighter than an attacker. You will learn how to break a grip, control a position, create distance, and get away. These techniques are drilled until your body knows them without thinking.

Do I need to be in shape first?

No. Training is how you get in shape. Women start here at every fitness level.

Will I get hurt?

Jiu Jitsu is a contact sport but this program is structured around beginners. You will not be placed in situations you are not ready for. Safety is built into every class from day one.

Will I be training with men?

No. This is a women-only program. Every person in the room, including the coaches, is a woman.

Do I need to buy a gi before my first class?

No. We have loaner gis available. Come in athletic clothes.

How much does membership cost?

The Women’s Only program runs twice a week and is priced accordingly. A one-year commitment is $99 per month. An open membership with no long-term commitment is $129 per month, cancelable with 30 days notice. Your first week is completely free so you can try it before choosing either option.

The Community

There is a specific kind of friendship that forms between women who do hard things together.

Not the kind built on convenience or proximity. The kind built on watching someone struggle with something and show up for it anyway.

The women in this program know each other in that way. Some of them started on the same Wednesday evening. Some of them have trained together for years. None of them planned for that when they walked in. It happened because the room made space for it.

The Room You Have Been Looking For

You did not find this page by accident.

You were looking for something specific. A way to feel less vulnerable and more capable, in a room built entirely for women. This is that place.

Your first week is free. Walk in once and see for yourself.

2nd Gear Logo

2nd Gear BJJ

Prince Georges County

 

8730 Cherry Ln, Suite 14
Laurel, MD 20707
Driving Directions
Email: [email protected]
Call Today! (240) 786-5553

 

Our Mission

 

2nd Gear exists for people who are ready to stop coasting. We train Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. We do it seriously. And we do it in a room where every level is welcome and ego stays at the door.

Your first week is free. No experience needed.