Eskrima Self Defence Systems in Nottingham...

Discussion in 'Filipino Martial Arts' started by rob0107, Aug 6, 2013.

  1. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    Was just wondering if anyone had heard of these guys, or had any experience training with them. Their head instructor is someone called Chris Booker, and they teach here:

    http://www.gymcombat.com/#!tuesday/c20vx

    It's only £9.99 a month to join the gym and have access to all classes for free, but you have to sign up for a 12 month contract, which puts me off signing up before I knew more about them.

    I personally feel £9.99 just seems a little cheap to for decent MA training, but I'd very happily be wrong, as it'd save me a lot of money
     
  2. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Looks like that place does Ashihara Karate! *hops from foot to foot*

    I'm amazed at their pricing, don't see how they can work at that?

    Mitch
     
  3. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    That's what I thought. If the teaching here for MA is respectable then that's incredible value for money. Even just to supplement training elsewhere, £9.99 a month for say a session every other week is really good value...
     
  4. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I may pop along there tonight to have a look at the place. I'll let you know how it looks. Hopefully someone here may have heard of the Instructors. :)

    Mitch
     
  5. Unreal Combat

    Unreal Combat Valued Member

    Never heard of them before. It says from £9.99 so I think there's possibly some hidden costs there.

    Let us know how it goes Mitch. I'm curious about the quality of training on this one.
     
  6. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    I've had a look at the pricing. The £9.99 is a deal for the next 12 months, then it goes up. The pricing is:

    City Gym Special Membership (includes Full Gym and Classes) For a Limited time only
    12 months minimum
    £9.99 per month plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Student Gym Only Membership
    12 months minimum
    £9.99 per month plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Student Gym Only Membership
    Annual
    £99.00 per year plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Student Full Membership
    12 months minimum
    £14.99 per month plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Student Full Membership
    Annual
    £150.00 per year plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Gym Only Membership
    12 months minimum
    £14.99 per month plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Gym Only Membership
    Annual
    £150.00 per year plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Full Membership
    12 months minimum
    £19.99 per month plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    Full Membership
    Annual
    £199.00 per year plus an upfront £10.00 join fee

    But they're still really good prices for the amount of stuff you can go to (IF any of it is any good).

    The instructors are:

    Charles Libor for "Grappling" MMA
    Owen "Iceman" Comrie for Thai Boxing/MMA Standup
    Chris Booker for Eskrima
    Adnan Amar for Boxing
    Sifu Paul Johnson for JKD
    Rory Smith for Wing Chun
    Sensei Mohammed for Karate

    Do any of these ring a bell to anyone?
     
  7. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Owen is well known in the area and has a pretty good rep as far as I know.

    Mitch
     
  8. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    The place is the old fitness4less gym up the side of Waterstones in town.

    Facilities wise there's a boxing gym and MMA cage in a couple of side rooms, a large open area with cardio, free weights, two tracks for boot camps complete with tyres, sleds, ropes and sledgehammers and a separate studio.

    The Eskrima class was going whilst I was there, only a few students but it had already started so I didn't want to interrupt. It was in a matted area to the side of the main room, which put me off a bit as the usual gym music was a bit intrusive.

    The place looks to have good facilities with more planned too. I couldn't comment in the quality of the classes but the chap I spoke to said he was keen to have good quality tuition there.

    All in all worth a look I reckon :)

    Mitch
     
  9. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Paul Johnson is(was) under Jerry Poteet's banner and trained with Lamar Davis for a while I think.

    hang on a sec......*google*

    Yep

    http://www.realjeetkunedo.com/About.html

    I am not a fan of the Poteet lineage politically or philosophically in any way shape or form, but if you try it and like it then good luck
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2013
  10. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    Sounds interesting. Puts me off a little that the classes happen in the main area of the gym, but I could deal with that for the money you pay. Did they say anything about prices for individual classes? can't seem to find anything on their website...

    I'm going to try out Jon Broster's BJJ and Eskrima class first, as I've always wanted to do both, and the fact that they both fall on the same night and are pay per session fits in perfectly with my shifts at work. But if I can try out this place too, and it's any good, it could be a good place to go to supplement my training.

    Does it make a huge difference that Chris Booker isn't on the The British Council of Kali Eskrima Arnis Instructors? (Although he is their friend on Facebook...)
     
  11. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    Yeah also found Lamar Davis refuting the claim that Paul was his UK representative

    http://jkdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2395

    Although he does confirm that they did train together...
     
  12. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    It wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

    How does he move, what's his energy like and does he inspire you?

    These for me are the important questions.
     
  13. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    I edited my post to make it less snarky, but you snuck in there :)

    Like I said, not a fan of JPJKD politically, but if you can find what you want therein then more power to you
     
  14. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    I'm like a ninja when I want to be...

    What specifically do you not like about JPJKD?
     
  15. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    The whole "JKD as it was meant to be" "Keepers of the flame" "Conscience of JKD" horse poop

    Do what you do, I'll do what I do and we may meet along the way - outside of that it's all about following the money sadly
     
  16. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I believe all the classes are included in the membership.

    Mitch
     
  17. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    Oh no, I knew that, I just meant if they'd said anything about paying to try out a class as a one off, without having a membership. Just be handy to try it out before signing up for a whole year in case, for whatever reason, I decide it's not for me.
     
  18. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Ah, I see, sorry. I didn't ask about that. Drop by and have a look round though if you're local. Otherwise I hear there's great TKD in Southwell... :D

    Mitch
     
  19. rob0107

    rob0107 Valued Member

    Might have a look round tomorrow if I get the chance. And sadly Southwell is a little far for me as my car decided to do an incredibly selfish thing and die...
     
  20. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    It does not matter if someone is or is not a member of the BCKEAI the council is an umbrella organisation that has a purpose of promoting FMA regardless as long as its instructors have a good background and that's regardless of whether they are part of the council or not. So check him out and if you like what you see then train.

    Mind you if you get a chance to train with Jon Broster take it he is top class.
     

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