# Evaluating a MMA school



## ziason (Mar 9, 2007)

I need a little advice on evaluating a MMA school. There is one near me I have been trying to research. There are three instructors. They al have very mixed backgrounds, but none seems to have any rank beyond First degree in any style they have trained in, and I can't get a clear picture of what styles they are training in. They are issuing belts and promoting students, but I can't determine in what. I have trained in other styles, and this place is close to my home and seems to have a good sized enrollment. I'm just not sure how to evaluate there program to determine if I want to get involved in it or not. Any advice?


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## MJS (Mar 9, 2007)

ziason said:


> I need a little advice on evaluating a MMA school. There is one near me I have been trying to research. There are three instructors. They al have very mixed backgrounds, but none seems to have any rank beyond First degree in any style they have trained in, and I can't get a clear picture of what styles they are training in. They are issuing belts and promoting students, but I can't determine in what. I have trained in other styles, and this place is close to my home and seems to have a good sized enrollment. I'm just not sure how to evaluate there program to determine if I want to get involved in it or not. Any advice?


 
A few more things would probably help here.  Is there a link to the school that we could view?  Can you give more detail as to what their background is?

As for your questions.  I wouldn't let the fact that the instructors are 1st degrees stop you from training there.  IMO, it shouldn't really matter if they're a 1st degree or an 8th degree.  How well can they teach?  How well do they know the material?  How well can they apply the material?  Those are more important questions IMO.  

How is the program structured?  What is a typical class like?

Mike


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## PictonMA (Mar 9, 2007)

Walk in the front door and talk to the instructor(s).  Ask them questions in a polite and respectful manner but be direct.  Find out if you can take any trial classes.  If no alarm bells go off, sign up for a month or two and go from there.


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## Andrew Green (Mar 9, 2007)

Sounds kind of odd.  Belts in MMA? This is a no-gi sport and there generally is no belts.

If they're BJJ belts that would make some sense, but any other style, then something odd is probably up.

MMA is a term that different people assign different meanings too.  They could mean MMA in the UFC type of sense, or they could just mean that they teach a mixture of different arts.

Do they have a website?  

Phone in, ask questions, watch or try out a free class.  Sometimes things sound fishy on the net and aren't, other times they sound great and are really rather fishy.


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## ziason (Mar 9, 2007)

Here is a link to the schools website. I am interested in adult classes.

http://www.whitetigermartialarts.net/index.cfm


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## Andrew Green (Mar 9, 2007)

Yeah...

Ok, so the head instructor has 4-5 years training.  One's a black belt in a open tournament version of TKD and Kyokushin Karate, and one is listed as a 1st Kyu (Brown belt in a Japanese style) with 6 months boxing, 6 months TKD and I imagine less time in a few other listed things.

I think it's safe to say you won't find much of a MMA class in the sport fighting sense there.


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## MJS (Mar 9, 2007)

OK...upon first look, this is a typical MA school, which offers MMA/BJJ on the side.  Nothing wrong with that, as everyone seems to be doing that.  They have a BJJ Black Belt teaching the BJJ class which is a good thing.  Who teaches the MMA class?  Is it the BJJ BB?  As for the belts...as Andrew said, if they're BJJ belts, that would make sense, but anything else, I'd question.  The system should go like this: White, Blue, Purple, Brown and Black.

I suggest, if you already haven't, going to watch a class or two.  See if you can join in for a free class.  Talk to the instructors and students.  I'm sure there are a number of BJJ schools in Florida, so if this isn't meeting your needs, check out some others. 

Mike


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## MJS (Mar 9, 2007)

Not sure how close any of these are to you, but it may be worth checking out. 

Mike


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## Andrew Green (Mar 9, 2007)

Missed that page, the BJJ class might be worth doing if you are interested in MMA, but if it's those other instructors teaching MMA, which it looks like they are to me,  do the BJJ class


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## MJS (Mar 9, 2007)

A few more:

Royce Gracie

Roy Harris


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## Eternal Beginner (Mar 9, 2007)

One of the problems evaluating a MMA school is the fact that the concept of teaching "MMA" as opposed to cross-training is still fairly new.

Looking at credentials can be misleading, very often people get a bb in a TMA, watch a few UFC's and videos and figure they can teach MMA.  Some can, most can't.  I think what you need to do is look at other students, what type of track record they have as well as the instructor.

All the credible MMA schools in my city have had instructors who have a solid track record in MMA as well as in their base art (usually MT kickboxing or BJJ, wrestling, boxing).  The newer the school's MMA program is, they won't of course, usually have students who have competed at an amateur or professional level.  But after a couple of years most good MMA schools will have a core of "serious" fighters or at least competitive hobbyists who like to test themselves.  Even though it may not be your intention to fight at amateur or professional level it is good to train with people who are at that level if you really want to develop a solid skill set.

But most importantly, you need to go in and try the classes out.  Some of the "best" MMA schools may not suit you because you just want to approach it on a purely hobbyist level and the actual standard of MMA isn't important but feeling comfortable and having fun is.  If you are a little more intent on developing solid skills and training with the highest level instructors, you may have a less 'family friendly' atmosphere, but you will have great skills.  And of course, nothing is ever black and white, you may find the perfect place that has world class instructors as well as a great atmosphere (like I have at my club! )

Good luck!


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## Khall (Nov 27, 2007)

While the last post I noticed is quite old at this point, I have to put something here as I feel that you have searched for answers to something you could have handled yourself.

It's great to gather opinion, but if you want true facts to specifics, why didn't you just stop by the studio and ask for some info?

Multiple arts building all ranges of benefits whether it be getting into shape or learning some stand-up/ground fighting, etc. You get the point I'm sure. HENCE. . . . . MMA Mixed Martial Arts. Notice though. . . "Martial Arts"

I like the words of one post regarding ability whether you are 1st Degree or 8th Degree. That's respecting the martial artist and not the belt alone.

Much appreciated.

You will only get so far asking those who know not what we truly offer. Everyone's martial arts are unique, it's what suits you.

Regardless, the first step is checking out for yourself what is available and taking the next step from there.  Only then will you truly have your answer.


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