Practical self-defense for adults, kids, and women — built on no-gi jiu jitsu, wrestling, and striking fundamentals, pressure-tested in live training every week.
Claim Your Free TrialMost self-defense advice fails for the same reason: it's never been tested. Techniques that only work on a cooperative partner fall apart the moment someone actually grabs you. At 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Murrieta, our self-defense training is built the opposite way — every skill is drilled against real resistance, in live training, so what you learn on the mats is what actually works off them. The curriculum combines the three ranges of a real confrontation: striking fundamentals to manage distance, wrestling to stay on your feet and control the clinch, and no-gi jiu jitsu for when things reach the ground.
Real altercations rarely look like a boxing match. They start at grabbing distance — a shove, a grabbed wrist, a hold — and most end up in a clinch or on the ground. That's exactly where untrained people are most helpless, and exactly what jiu jitsu trains. You'll learn to protect yourself, control an aggressor's posture and balance, escape bad positions, and get back to your feet and away. Because our students grapple live in every class, those skills are verified at full resistance with minimal injury risk — tapping ends every exchange safely. We break the research down in our guide to whether jiu jitsu is effective for self-defense.
Our adult self-defense training lives inside our Adult No-Gi Jiu Jitsu and Adult Muay Thai programs, where the curriculum covers the full picture: awareness and distance management, fundamental strikes to create space, clinch control and takedown defense from our wrestling program, and ground survival — escaping pins, standing up safely, and disengaging. No experience is required, and you set your own intensity. Train for preparedness, and you'll get serious fitness and confidence as a side effect.
For kids, self-defense starts long before any physical technique: awareness, verbal boundaries, and the confidence that makes a child a hard target in the first place. Inside our age-based programs — Littles (5–8), Juniors (9–12), and Teens (13–16) — students learn age-appropriate escapes from grabs and holds, how to fall safely, and how to stay calm under pressure, all inside a culture that rewards discipline and respect. Parents across the Temecula Valley tell us the change shows up at school first: posture, eye contact, and a quiet confidence that bullies read instantly. We cover it in depth in our guide to jiu jitsu for kids who get bullied.
The situations women ask us about most — being grabbed, held, pinned, or overpowered by someone bigger — are grappling problems, and grappling is the one discipline where leverage and technique beat size and strength. Women train in our adult jiu jitsu and Muay Thai classes, where the curriculum emphasizes breaking grips, escaping pins and grabs, framing against a larger opponent, and striking to create space to get away. You'll train with coaches who pair you thoughtfully, in a room full of training partners who look out for each other.
Awareness and distance. Reading a situation early, managing space, and using your voice — the layer that keeps most confrontations from going physical in the first place.
Striking fundamentals. From our Muay Thai program: a strong base, fundamental punches, elbows, knees, and push kicks used to create space and escape — not to trade blows.
Clinch and takedown defense. From wrestling: balance, posture, sprawls, and controlling the clinch, so you decide whether things stay standing.
Ground survival and escapes. From 10th Planet no-gi jiu jitsu: protecting yourself on the ground, escaping pins and holds, and standing up safely — pressure-tested in live training every week.
Our academy sits in the heart of Murrieta, and our students come from across Southwest Riverside County — Temecula, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, French Valley, Canyon Lake, and Winchester. Wherever you're coming from, the first step is the same.
Start with a free trial — meet the coaches, try a real class, and feel the difference tested training makes. Call +1 (951) 708-6644 or reach out through our contact form. Find us at 26305 Jefferson Ave, Suite M, Murrieta, CA 92562.
Yes — because most real confrontations end up in grappling range: grabbed, clinched, or taken to the ground. No-gi jiu jitsu teaches you to stay calm, control the position, escape, and get back to your feet — and you pressure-test those skills against resisting partners in every class, so they are verified, not theoretical.
Absolutely. Most of our students start with zero experience. You will begin with awareness, distance, and the highest-percentage escapes and controls, progressing at your own pace with coaches guiding every step.
Yes. Kids build self-defense skills inside our age-based programs — Littles (5–8), Juniors (9–12), and Teens (13–16) — where anti-bullying awareness, boundary-setting, and age-appropriate escapes and controls are woven into every class.
Right alongside everyone else in our adult classes — with coaches who will pair you thoughtfully and teach to your goals. Our curriculum emphasizes leverage over strength: breaking grips, escaping pins and grabs, and creating space to get away safely.
Comfortable athletic clothes and water — that's it. We train no-gi, so there is no uniform to buy, and nothing special is needed for your free trial.
Reach out through our contact form or call +1 (951) 708-6644. We will book your free trial and answer any questions before you step on the mats.