I looked through the yellow pages and found a nearby MMA studio. I plan on visiting and/or calling sometime this week and I am wondering what your guy's and girl's opinion on it is? MarinMMA
*Update* I know I have yet to receive a response, but I will add a little bit to it. I took the "fighting fundamentals" class and was pretty impressed. The location is pretty well sized and the main desk/sitting/mat area is well sized; there is also a somewhat smaller changing room. The Sensei (I don't know what they are called in MMA, Sensei, Sufi, Master, ect.) appeared midway through the class but I never ended up talking to him. There were 2 instructors in that class and about 15-20 students (not sure exactly how many). Both of them were nice and both of them offered me advice during warm-up. After about 5 minutes of shadow boxing, one of the instructors took 2 others and me to another section of the mat and showed us the basic strikes (jab, cross, hook, then combinations of the three). Afterwards he showed us the basic takedown (double A takedown, I think) as well as another takedown where you break the guard of the opponent (standing up) get them in a sort of bear hug, then put pressure on their spine. Then immediately pulling one of the legs from underneath them and taking them down. It was a very intense workout, and I am still aching. The prices are pretty high: With once a week being 95 a month and unlimited being around 185-200(I am not totally sure the accurate amount and I forgot what 2 times a week and 3 times a week cost.) The BJJ Gi is 110 dollars, which seems insane coming from a TKD (about 30-40$) and Aikido (about the same). Although they talked about it being thicker and well padded. I am going to find out about any other fees (belt testing ect ect. Their prices are already so high that any more would make me consider going somewhere else.) I would also like to meet the Sensei (whatever you call 'em) to make sure he isn't a self righteous "I'm better then you all because I have a black belt in BJJ" attitude. Other than that they seem to have a good variety of people there, (though they tend to e males in their 20's with tattoos, just a thought) and they were all nice. Anything else i should look for out check on before I make the leap to join? Thanks in advance
That price is dubious. I bought my grappling gi (which later turned out to be a judo gi, not BJJ) for 50-60 dollars. There shouldn't be a price difference between them. I say, look around and by your own gi.
So besides the fact that the Gi is overpriced and I put double A instead of double-leg, does anyone think that it is a worthwhile place to train at? I would like to learn BJJ but the Cheif Instructor is only a brown belt. But anyways, ANY comments about this place would be helpful, thanks...
brown belt is quite good for bjj. I think lots of places that have bjj instructors are like purple and stuff.
My instructor is only a purple belt under machado, and he is excellent on the ground. The equipment my instructor sells is also a bit pricey, but he offers excellent equipmnt. You should find out what type of gi it is and price it.
May I just say that I have a limited knowledge of BJJ and the belt system (other than a guy who trains at our judo club and used to do BJJ), but I'd like to point out the following. If I am drastically wrong, someone in the know please correct me... Belts in BJJ work differently. There are only 4 of them (5 if you count white), and they seem to be a lot harder to obtain than belts in other arts. I don't think they can be obtained from demonstrating techniques, but rather the application of them in sparring. Perhaps someone else could advise, as I'm interested myself! The wait between belts is generally quite long too. The ranks go: white > blue > purple > brown > black At my shootfighting gym (where I haven't been back to since I separated my shoulder :cry: ) the head coach was a Blue belt. Admittedly his main strength was his wrestling but in BJJ he was only a blue belt. As a judoka of 7 years now (nearly 8!), I was quite happy to learn from him. I also learnt a lot of submission holds from him. He was also a lot better on the ground than me. If I had a gym run by a BJJ brown belt down the road from me, I would not be sitting here typing this now! As mentioned above, there are many purples who teach.
