# Jumping on the MMA band wagon



## D-TEC (Nov 27, 2007)

Has anyone else noticed but MMA gyms seem to be popping up everywhere now? even the pure BJJ schools are now buying cages and hiring Thai coaches?.

When our place started in 2006 there was only our gym and a couple of other legit places around Birmingham, In the past couple of years we have now have LOADS in Birmingham, all with world class instructors or so they claim ( where were all THESE world class instructors when MMA was un-popular?. We even have business men throwing money at it with MASSIVE gyms like we see in the USA popping ( even using the contract and DD method ) it seems to be more like a production now a days rather than the good old days when we had to sweat bleed an train bloody hard in tiny squash courts and church halls. I'm just waiting for the bubble to burst as it always does with new commodities, I just hope we have and MMA left not WWE to carry on with.


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## Agentman (Jul 1, 2010)

Its both a good and a bad thing.

If genuine trainers and gyms are diversifying into MMA training then that can only be good for the sport and for people who want to train in it as it drives up standards and provides greater choice, but yes, there are alot of cranks out there apparantly setting themselves up as experienced MMA trainers when they are nothing of the sort just like there has previously been a boom in traditional martial arts gyms extorting money out of kids and charging them through the nose to learn hoiw to throw a punch from the hip in a mixed class full of adults.


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## SteSteez (Jul 21, 2007)

as Dave mentioned this has happened previously with the boom in TMA in the 80's.

I've found people not involved with the sport whatsoever have got involved with it through having some spare cash and investing in it.

Many places have done it the right way and hired coaches who have experience but several places I've noticed recently have been setup by people with far less experience than say someone like myself (and I'm no expert) and are teaching it themselves.

Now if you are confident enough to do this and want what's best for the sport then great go for it, but if you are just here short term and to line your pockets then f**k off.


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## MrDave56 (May 18, 2011)

i may be new here but i am genuinely interested in mma im looking for a gym to go to, but like you folks have been saying there are a fair few gyms that claim to have very experienced trainers that barley no anything about the sport. and i dont want to fork out money so this guy can teach me a load of BS. i would love to find a place that can show me things of good use. i want to start fighting amateur fights after some good training but cant find anywhere to train. do you guys no of any good clubs around perthshire by any chance?


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## Kunoichi (Sep 30, 2007)

D-TEC said:


> Has anyone else noticed but MMA gyms seem to be popping up everywhere now? even the pure BJJ schools are now buying cages and hiring Thai coaches?.


I like how you used the word 'pure' here. I remember when I first got into MMA there were a couple of guys who looked a bit sideways like 'check out this newbie trying to fit in'. Truth is I got into the sport not on my own but by the hand of a BJJ legend (buffs nails) in a non-MA scenario, and within a couple of months I learned a lot about MMA (which was way before I started actually doing BJJ), and I started discussing the little I knew. However when I was asked the longevity of my membership on the Church of MMA they scoffed like this was some sort of exclusive club that were for 'old schoolers only' (read, any time before 2005) and I was there to ruin the fun. It felt like with me I was bringing all the scum of the earth to f**k up with the 'purity' of it all.

I'm sure this is not how you meant it, but the wording that hit home a little.

/rant


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## PrideNeverDies (Sep 28, 2008)

I understand what d-tec is saying, especially in terms of brum

Gyms i respect are .. Dtec, utc, sprawl n brawl

Braulio estima is bringing in a muay thai coach, n mma coach .. He's a man who can move into mma .. You made reference to "pure" bjj gyms, i imagine this is aimed at braulio also moving into mma ??

If thats the case, he's been training in mma for the last 3 years and was meant to go pro last year, his brother os rough house bjj coach .. And he's helped train GSP .. If there is a world class lure gym that can go into mma, its GB estima ..

But its pathetic how many boxing / karate / kickboxing gyms there are in brum that say they now do ultimate fighting / cage fighting .. They're clearly decent at 1 discipline, but jumping on the bandwagon

Like seriously, ive seen taxis with cheap ads promotinh boxing gyms doing submission wrestling

In my experience .. Its these rubbish 1 discipline gyms that are home to the knobheads who want to use mma to make them tough in the street .. And not in the gym.. And thats not good for us genuine mma fans n trainers

Do not get it twisted .. These gyms are diversifying becaise they see mma as the new Â£Â£

Theres this muslim area called alums rock in brum, now muslims tend to prefer boxing .. But with mma growing, these gyms are now claiming they do submission wrestling aswell

I saw this in derby a few years back .. A boxing coach would go to nottingham to learn about bjj m grappling, and then go back the next week to his gym n teach what he learnt

It pisses me off too .. Becase these gyms are jumping on the bandwagon for Â£Â£Â£ .. They dont have quality coaches in the different disciplines

Now i understand why d-tec is frustrated, all these smaller gyms that are in reality, amateur to mma are

Teaching stuff they dont know about and taking genuine mma enthusiasts away from joining their gym


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## Zardoz (Nov 3, 2010)

The bandwagon only lasts for so long before the wheels drop off

It's the same with anything where chances of extra $$ are concerned

And, like most similar situations (music, etc.), once the excitement dies down you're usually left with the quality places, not the laughable hybrid boxing/ninja gimmick schools

In the long term I think it's a good thing because the good gyms will try MMA and will stick to it and actually teach people

The others will fail and go back to teaching knitting or whatever

It's the way of the world


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## Gods of War MMA (Aug 3, 2009)

I'd agree that the popularity of the sport is a doubled edged sword. One the one hand, increased interest and more oney coming into the sport means we have been able to move from a small rented matted room to a full time gym with cage, weights and conditoning area and much larger mat space. Our fight team and long term students have all benefitted from the new facilities and we have had lots of new students sign up.

Like chump in the water though the incresed public interest and williness to spend money on learning MMA attracks the sharks. We get frustrated lilke anyone else at all clubs in the area advertising MMA when they don't have any true MMA experience between them although they may offer a good standard of sport kickboxing or traditional martial arts. The only plus side is as soon as they realise the instructors really don't have a clue, they then start looking for somewhere better to train and then end up at our door and realise they have been fed a lot of watered down, inaccurate nonsense. The stories of instructors taking MMA classes who cant even teach an armbar properly are always good for a laugh.


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