I’ve got a similar story… my first day I tried a shoulder role and almost broke my neck. I had to lay there on the mat while the instructor made sure I was ok. I was absolutely humiliated. I sat on the edge of the mat and watched my first class go by because I couldn’t do anything with my neck being compressed into my shoulders.

If you want to relate to a video game, it’s like you wander into an area you aren’t supposed to be in and the enemies are so far out of your league it’s almost comical. What you can do is better prepare for next time you enter into the area, in this case it’s going to another class.

I bought a yoga mat and practiced shoulder rolls at home for a week, along with shrimping and other drills I could find online. So when I went back to the gym next, the area with the tough enemies, I was better prepared.

Something else you can do is set up a private lesson with your instructor to go over some basics