# Dojo reccomendations, please!



## Franklin (Apr 4, 2009)

I recently took a few lessons from United Studios of Self Defense, and frankly, suspect a McDojo.

I googled said suspicion and saw your guy's thread on said dojo, and my suspicions were confirmed.

I'm a huge MMA fan, and am a huge fan of Rich Franklin, Tim Silvia, Good old Fedor and a few other guys.

For those of you who aren't too into UFC/Affliction, those guys (the first couple) are fantastic stand up strikers, utilizing hands more than legs, but with Franklin awesome leg kicks too, and some clinch game as well. Also solid BJJ, and great take down defense and offense. Tim Silvia is a kickboxer, period. But I'm interested more into Jiu Jitsu, and standing and throwing punches. I have pretty fast hands for somene with rudimentary training; it's definately a strong point.

Also, Muay Thai seems insanely useful.

Frankly, and to the point, I'll study any form of MA so long as it's good instruction.(Besides TKD. Not my strong suit, and it seems dumb to swim against a natural current)

Are there any well known, uhm...how do I put this, haha. Is there like, a brand of MA instruction that's well known for being thorough and useful? Like, where you can actually spar? 

Any anecdotal suggestions would be appreciated, seriously, I'm so confused.


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## Carol (Apr 4, 2009)

Welcome to Martial Talk, Franklin!  :wavey:

I am a huge Rich Franklin fan too.  

Great questions to ask.  

There are going to be a lot of people with opinions that "X" style is not useful but "Y" style is...but I think all styles have something useful and positive to offer.

What will vary though with the _schools _is the quality of instruction, and the style of the teaching.  Not all schools spar, and an art that may appear interesting (such as Muay Thai) may not be a good investment of your time and money without a knowledgeable Kru (coach).

What will vary with the _student _is the interest of the student themselves. Personally I think there are many martial artists that say "X" is better than "Y" because they are more interested in "X" and more inspired to train in "X".

Based on what you are saying about your interests, I'd lean towards checking out a school that teaches Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or Muay Thai. 

Is there a "brand" of instruction?  Some schools are part of one organization or another....others are independent.  Some organizations are better than others.  There are good orgs with so-so instructors, and so-so orgs with some great instructors.  There are independent schools that are good and bad.

Most martial arts schools have introductory offers where the student can try out the school for a week or two, or even a month or two without entering in to a big commitment.  What I would recommend is making arrangements to visit schools near you, talk to the instructors, try the classes out, see if you like it.  See if the students like it.   See if it feels right to you.

Do you mind sharing the general area where you live?  Some other posters here may be able to recommend a school.

Good luck on your journey!  Keep us all posted with how you do.  :asian:


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## Franklin (Apr 4, 2009)

Wow, very in-depth reply, much appreciated.

You have me to a T, or I should say, what I think I'd be interested in, respectively.

I live in Lynnwood, Washington, an outskirt of Seattle.

My friends and I sort of...spar all the time, though I'm not sure if you'd call 4 uncoordinated UFC fans throwing rudimentary jabs sloppy leg kicks at each other sparring, haha. But regardless, I'm usually very good at the boxing aspect because I'm pretty fast, and I'm pretty good at submissions; I've made people tap to a guilitine(SP?) and a rear naked, and it's just really, really fun getting technical like that.

I was thinking this would be interesting:

http://www.alderwoodmixedmartialarts.com/index.html

But I'm not sure how the training at an MMA gym is, and I really would like to learn! If you don't mind my asking those who know: What's the training like at a presumably decent MMA gym like?


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## blindsage (Apr 4, 2009)

Franklin,  that school looks like exactly what your looking for.  A typical MMA gym will work on a lot of stand up kicking and punching, ground grappling, conditioning, and fight strategy.  Be ready because they will whip your *** into shape.

I'm in Seattle so I'll recommend a couple of other gyms that are a little further from you, but that you might want to check out:

http://www.ivansalaverry.net/  this is a major one in Seattle, I'll think you'd like it.

google seattle jiu jitsu and you'll come up with a number of BJJ schools.  A couple examples:

http://www.bjjseattle.com/

http://www.nwjja.com/ - there's also a guy that teaches stand up fighting at this school seperately- check him out at http://www.threeharmonies.com/

I tried to find the gym in Bellevue that Maurice Smith trains and sometimes teaches at, but I don't remember the name and I couldn't find it googling.  

Short answer is there are plenty of places in seattle to get good grappling training and a few good MMA schools.

Good luck, hope this helps.


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 4, 2009)

Franklin said:


> I've made people tap to a guilitine(SP?) and a rear naked, and it's just really, really fun getting technical like that.



I have no advice on a training style, method, or location to offer you, but this caught my eye.  If you don't mind, a word of advice.  The rear naked choke is extremely dangerous.  Once known as the figure 4 chokehold or the sleeper, it works by compressed the carotid artery, interrupting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the brain.  Properly applied, it causes unconsciousness in 3 or 4 seconds.  Done incorrectly, it can take up to 30 seconds.  Either way, the person applying the choke must be very aware of whether or not the recipient is out.  They may not know themselves, it happens suddenly.  Failure to release the hold can end in death.

More dangerous, however, is that some people improperly apply the rear naked choke to the extent that it becomes an air choke, which restricts air from getting to the lungs.  This can lead to death very quickly.  Los Angeles Police Department abandoned the process due to the number of suspects who died while being choked while being apprehended.

Please use caution.


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## Tez3 (Apr 4, 2009)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I have no advice on a training style, method, or location to offer you, but this caught my eye. If you don't mind, a word of advice. The rear naked choke is extremely dangerous. Once known as the figure 4 chokehold or the sleeper, it works by compressed the carotid artery, interrupting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Properly applied, it causes unconsciousness in 3 or 4 seconds. Done incorrectly, it can take up to 30 seconds. Either way, the person applying the choke must be very aware of whether or not the recipient is out. They may not know themselves, it happens suddenly. Failure to release the hold can end in death.
> 
> More dangerous, however, is that some people improperly apply the rear naked choke to the extent that it becomes an air choke, which restricts air from getting to the lungs. This can lead to death very quickly. Los Angeles Police Department abandoned the process due to the number of suspects who died while being choked while being apprehended.
> 
> *Please use caution*.


 
I have to second this, the guillotine/RNC is a dangerous move, it's done with great care in the gym and is watched with equally great care by fight referees. It's not something to be practised outside proper training imo. To be effective it also needs to be taught properly.Sorry but it's a pet hate of mine that people watch the UFC and then think they can do MMA. it does us great harm. 
Training in a good MMA gym is hard work and great fun, one thing to take notice of is that the gym is the place to tap, as soon as a techniques comes on you tap for the other guy to release, it's not a place to be macho and see how long you can carry on for.
Some MMA clubs and gyms ( we don't have MMA 'schools' here at all) will have separate sessions for the various disciplines other will have them in the same session neither is wrong.


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## Hawke (Apr 4, 2009)

You got some great advice.

Visit the local training halls like Carol mentioned.

Blindsage gave you some places for you to checkout.

Look for a good instructor (not necessarily a particular style).  

Thinking outside of the box attend a seminar by Datu Kelly Worden.

Also checkout Bobbe Edmonds.  Both these guys are on youtube so you'll get an idea of what they teach.

Hope you find a training hall you can call home.  A place to train, to learn, and have fun.


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## Steve (Apr 4, 2009)

Ivan Salaverry is probably your best bet.  His school is right downtown, which is a bit of a drive for you, but he is a really nice guy and runs a school that focuses on MMA and no-gi submission wrestling.

BJJ Seattle is a Gracie Barra affiliate whose head instructor, Rodrigo, has a great reputation.  Closer to you, a little further north, is Marcelo Alonso's school.  It's up toward Greenlake.  Marcelo Alonso is also a top notch instructor who has been around forever. Many of the black belts in our area have trained under him at one time or another.  There's also a Gracie Barra affiliate run by Micah in Ballard.  All of these schools focus more on strictly BJJ.  You will be able to learn gi and no-gi at any of them.  I have never trained at any of these schools, but based upon reputation and performance in tournaments, you'll get great instruction at any of them.  

Northwest Jiu-Jitsu academy is actually closer to you yet, but I'm not personally familiar with any of the instructors, although I do know that John Will has been around forever in BJJ.  He was, I believe, the first black belt in BJJ in Australia and I've been reading his blog for a few years now.

There may very well be schools closer to you up north, but I'm not familiar with them.  I live in south king county, so I'm more familiar with the schools closer to my area.

Best thing... go in, meet the instructors, take a free class at several of the schools and then make a decision.


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## Franklin (Apr 4, 2009)

The MMA gym seems perfect, then. I was just afraid that is was less teach, more do. Haha, it'd suck if they taught me basic blocks and punches, and some sprawl and take down techniques, and then gave me a mouth guard and 4 ounce gloves and threw me into a cage with smeone who can actually fight.

The last thing I want to do is accidently hurt someone and become a beacon to the media and parents that MMA is a terrible thing. I absolutely love the sport; the feeling of respect and comradery after a fight is intangible in any ther endeavor I've experienced. That's why I want the training.

Also, I really respect martial arts and people who exceed in them. I realize that anyone who actually can fight would beat me from an inch of my life if forced. I really just want to establish my absolute humility; the comment that TEZ3 made got me a little butthurt. I'm not one of those people who wear sideways TAPOUT hats and thinks he's a legit fighter because he won a few high school brawls. On the contrary, I've never been in a fight that wasn't just two friends enjoying the sport, and trying to learn without cash.

I just wanted to establish that. I hate those kids.


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## Tez3 (Apr 5, 2009)

Franklin said:


> The MMA gym seems perfect, then. I was just afraid that is was less teach, more do. Haha, it'd suck if they taught me basic blocks and punches, and some sprawl and take down techniques, and then gave me a mouth guard and 4 ounce gloves and threw me into a cage with smeone who can actually fight.
> 
> The last thing I want to do is accidently hurt someone and become a beacon to the media and parents that MMA is a terrible thing. I absolutely love the sport; the feeling of respect and comradery after a fight is intangible in any ther endeavor I've experienced. That's why I want the training.
> 
> ...


 
I don't understand 'butthurt' lol but am guessing you thought I was getting at you? I wasn't, well, I would have been if you hadn't cleared it up by saying what you did in the above post. 
It's a shame but you can't really learn MMA without a proper instructor, its martial arts after all, you need to be taught properly. You wouldn't expect to learn karate, Judo, Aikido etc without going to classes so why MMA? The fact you were doing chokes is a case in point. Perhaps the fighters make it look easy when they are in the cage/ring but it's not. 

Any instructor/coach who gave you a few lessons then threw you in too fight isn't a proper one. We never do that, we wait until the student asks to fight then they are given an assessment of how long they will need to train up to the standard required. it takes longer than you think, it takes a couple of *years* not months and thats if you have a martial arts background. Longer if you haven't. Remember its martial arts! Sorry if I'm labouring this point but we so often get people phoning up wanting to be matched on fight nights who think because they have done a bit of grappling around with mates or had a brawl in the street they can fight in the ring.

There is a huge amount to be learnt in MMA, you never stop learning, it's one of the things that make it enjoyable to train in, you never get bored lol! If you can watch the new TUF and watch a chap called Stapes (Martin Stapleton) now thats a great fighter! (he's also a Royal Marine Commando back from Afghanistan,) it's taken him a few years building his way up from amateur fights through semi pro then to pro rules, he's never stopped learning and pushing himself but he's been patient.

Keep letting us know how you're getting on!


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