anyone belong to an mma/bjj no gi club?

[CushingRW]

Does anyone here take formal bjj, or mma classes?
Or even train full time for that matter?

I'm thinking of enrolling in a program here local http://www.thelabbjj.com

The guy who teaches it seems pretty legit.

My only concern is the last place I took MMA was a fucking joke.

I could beat everyones ass in the class, badly, with zero experience.

I was in a marine corps special ops unit, and a nationally ranked high school wrestler, but
have no experience in bjj whatsoever.

What are your experiences with bjj/mma classes, where do you live, and how much is it/what does it include?

I was paying 80 per month in San Diego, I think this place is around $125/month. Does this seem reasonable?

[powerbomb]

I dont train full time anymore due to work but when I did, I trained at Paragon BJJ with Franjihna for a little over a year and it ran about $100 a month with a contract. When I moved back up to the Bay Area I trained with Ceasar Gracie for a while and that ran around $150 per month. I dont remember if it was a contact or not. At both places I could train 6 days a week/ 2 times a day. I would say I was in there for about 4 to 5 hours a day on the average. Also, There was always someone to help and roll with in there Like Jeff Glover, Bill Cooper, Franjihna, Ceasar, Gil Castillo, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Dave Terrell... and sometimes Guys like Dean Lister just to name a few. In my experience training with those guys was worth the money spent. I never placed lower than 3rd in any tournaments as a result. If you're down in SD look up Fabio Santos, he runs a good school. I have also found alot of those strictly MMA schools to be somewhat of a joke. Sport BJJ and Gi-less is the way to go in my opinion.

[Thin Lizzy]

I train at Renzo Gracie's in Manhattan. It's 190 a month. $125 for VA sounds about right. The place looks good. I've heard of Chad Lebrun. He's pretty badass.

[Captain Equipoise]

I train at Renzo Gracie's in Manhattan. It's 190 a month. $125 for VA sounds about right. The place looks good. I've heard of Chad Lebrun. He's pretty badass.

$190 a  MONTH !?!?!?, holy shit, that's almost my Gym Membership for a YEAR.
most MMA schools around here (Torono) go up to about $85 a month.

You guys are getting bent over backwards!

[Fury]

$190 a  MONTH !?!?!?, holy shit, that's almost my Gym Membership for a YEAR.
most MMA schools around here (Torono) go up to about $85 a month.

You guys are getting bent over backwards!

Almost every school in NYC is around that price. They're good at gouging the shit out of everyone who wants to train.

[powerbomb]

NYC is the most expensive city in the country. Imagine what the school space costs to rent or buy there. It must be rediculous.

[*ChuteBoxe*]

I dont train full time anymore due to work but when I did, I trained at Paragon BJJ with Franjihna for a little over a year and it ran about $100 a month with a contract.

Are you familiar with any of the Paragon guys from Texas?

[powerbomb]

Are you familiar with any of the Paragon guys from Texas?

No, I don't know any of them. I just know the guys from the Santa Barbara school although Jeff lives in Vegas now.

[onlyme]

Monthly dues for MMA is A LOT more than regualr gym memberships.  I have seen them over $200 a month.  Private lessons as much as $1000 an hour at places like Randy Coutures gym

[Fury]

Monthly dues for MMA is A LOT more than regualr gym memberships.  I have seen them over $200 a month.  Private lessons as much as $1000 an hour at places like Randy Coutures gym

Is it true that the gym BJ Penn owns in Hawaii doubles as a meth lab in the back? 

[Thin Lizzy]

I have also found alot of those strictly MMA schools to be somewhat of a joke. Sport BJJ and Gi-less is the way to go in my opinion.

There is probably only a handful of MMA schools in the country that are worth a shit. Even the guys at Renzo's who do MMA go to a boxing or Muay Thai school to train stand up. The overwhelming majority of the students are people with day jobs, have no interest in MMA and do BJJ for fun and exercise.

[Captain Equipoise]

I have also found alot of those strictly MMA schools to be somewhat of a joke. Sport BJJ and Gi-less is the way to go in my opinion.

I disagree strongly,  unless you're training for a cage fight where you'll be in your briefs/shorts only.. .realistically for a fight on the street you'll have some clothes on you (shirt, pants maybe jacket or sweater) so it makes more sense to train in a school with gi (that simulates wearing street clothes and some specific holds and moves that only apply to that).

[powerbomb]

I disagree strongly,  unless you're training for a cage fight where you'll be in your briefs/shorts only.. .realistically for a fight on the street you'll have some clothes on you (shirt, pants maybe jacket or sweater) so it makes more sense to train in a school with gi (that simulates wearing street clothes and some specific holds and moves that only apply to that).

 I was talking about training just for sport. I have wrestled for ever and love it and HATE being punched in the face so for me its purely sport. I know alot of guys that train MMA and they constantly have a black eye or a busted nose and that just doesn't look like any fun at all. The reality of a street fight is that the first hit usually gets thrown quickly and unannounced and a cage fight has a ref and is just completely different so if you want to train for a street fight then go get into street fights...... and eventually get locked up.

[*ChuteBoxe*]

No, I don't know any of them. I just know the guys from the Santa Barbara school although Jeff lives in Vegas now.

I have a few friends who train with Paragon (one's a blue belt, the other a purple) and one of them was telling me the story about Jeff getting disqualified for not wearing any underwear, I guess his gi bottoms came off during a match and he was going commando so they stopped the match and dq'd him.  If im not mistaken this happened at the last mundials, or it could have been the Naga's. 

[powerbomb]

HAHA. That was actually Bill Cooper at the worlds last summer. He was in the Brown belt division and would have taken 1st but that DQ left him at 5 for 6 with a 2nd place finish.

[*ChuteBoxe*]

HAHA. That was actually Bill Cooper at the worlds last summer. He was in the Brown belt division and would have taken 1st but that DQ left him at 5 for 6 with a 2nd place finish.

There you go, I wasn't really paying that much attention to him so I didn't get all the details of the story.  My buddy competed in the bluebelt division at that event but got choked out by the eventual winner (I think he lost by bow and arrow choke if im not mistaken).  Either way that's some funny shit.

[RancherRanger]

I used to train MMA for about 8 months.  Quit going because I got staph and ringworm during that time.  They won't cleaning the mats, and even though I showered afterwards, it doesn't take anytime for bacteria to do it's thing.  I paid 75 bucks a month and we had at least 3 classes a week.

[onlyme]

Is it true that the gym BJ Penn owns in Hawaii doubles as a meth lab in the back? 

No we actually sold it out of the front.  Man, where do you get your info?

[davinci]

travis lutters in fortworth, i train at both places, great instructor for bjj, gi and nogi, cant say nothing but good things about the place, mma training is by invite only

[americanbulldog]

I train at 02 martial arts academy, a Relson Gracie affiliate.  I pay 100 a month for three classes and unlimited open rolls.  That seems about right, and the instructor is legit. 

[IronGame]

As far as I am concerned, if the place doesn't have anyone actually fighting, it can't be taken as a serious MMA academy.