Sityodtong, Wai Kru, or Red Line??

[Gdash]

if anyone from the Boston are goes to any of these gyms, I'd love to hear a review....

I use to train at Brazilian Martial Arts Center in Sommerville (up the street from Sityodtong) for about 3 years....got laid off and couldnt affort to go....gained about 20lbs and now looking to get back into training.....I've been training the last 5 months about once or twice a week with a Cambodian guy who teaches Pradal Serey(basically muay thai) but I really want to start training grappling again....BMAC is now to overpriced and they charge you for a belt test in everything from Muay Thai to no gi about once a month so thats out.....I got a crazy work schedule that changes almost monthly, different days off all the time, working days then workin nights so I wanted a place that had a real flexible schedule.....I've never trained with the gi either and I want to try that....there's also one of the best boxing gyms around right in my city, they win at the New England Golden Gloves all the time, but I'd only be able to got once a week, and if you're not their 6 times a week, they wont even look at you...its an old school Latin boxing gym

I've heard Sityodtong is the best muay thai gym around but can get crowded....schedule wise I'd be able to go a decent amount of the time...but the price is a little steep

Wai Kru has the best schedule around, decent price, and all the stand up and grappling you can get but I've heard nothing but bad things about that gym on this site...dont know why people say its so garbage, their fighters seem to clean up at the local grappling events and do pretty well in local mma....plus I think John Howard and Sean Gannon train there...John use to be one of the trainers at BMAC when I first went and he as the man, madd humble and easy to learn from

Red Line Fight Sports has a similar schedule to Wai Kru, the price is the best I've seen so far......they are mainly a San Da gym but have incorporated grappling....facility is sick but I just havent heard that much about them, I know their main trainer Marvin is one of the best San Da fighters in the country....thier fighters do pretty well at muay thai to...only draw back is no BJJ

I know most of you will say go try a class at each gym and thats what I plan on doing, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any personal opinions on training at any of these gyms

 

[kokoro]

I've been to BMAC and Wai Kru..

BMAC is pretty expensive but the training is pretty good... they're a Chutebox affiliated gym I think...

Wair Kr is good for training whenever you want but the problem (at least when I went there, which was like 1.5 years ago) John was the only guy training anyone... him and maybe on BJJ guy would come in every once-in-awhile.. even then it was a pretty informal class... John knew his shit but I felt like he was too spread out or could only focus on his big name pro fighters and give everyone else menial drills to keep busy. It could be different now so I can't say whats being done there currently.

Some other options you might consider...

Fenix Fight Club in Woburn... mostly BJJ based but they have a nice facility.. never been there so can't comment on the training.

MK Boxing in Woburn as well... LA Boxing-Woburn Kickboxing and Martial Arts Training its more laid back and more of a fitness-boxing type gym but its open almost all day everyday so you can train whenever you want.. cheaper too.. Chris Eldridge is the main Muay Thai guy there... really nice dude... I went there for awhile and it was nice... the bad part was no real fight training going on and no one to really push you hard if you serious about it.

 

[Holy Canoli]

if anyone from the Boston are goes to any of these gyms, I'd love to hear a review....

I use to train at Brazilian Martial Arts Center in Sommerville (up the street from Sityodtong) for about 3 years....got laid off and couldnt affort to go....gained about 20lbs and now looking to get back into training.....I've been training the last 5 months about once or twice a week with a Cambodian guy who teaches Pradal Serey(basically muay thai) but I really want to start training grappling again....BMAC is now to overpriced and they charge you for a belt test in everything from Muay Thai to no gi about once a month so thats out.....I got a crazy work schedule that changes almost monthly, different days off all the time, working days then workin nights so I wanted a place that had a real flexible schedule.....I've never trained with the gi either and I want to try that....there's also one of the best boxing gyms around right in my city, they win at the New England Golden Gloves all the time, but I'd only be able to got once a week, and if you're not their 6 times a week, they wont even look at you...its an old school Latin boxing gym

I've heard Sityodtong is the best muay thai gym around but can get crowded....schedule wise I'd be able to go a decent amount of the time...but the price is a little steep

Wai Kru has the best schedule around, decent price, and all the stand up and grappling you can get but I've heard nothing but bad things about that gym on this site...dont know why people say its so garbage, their fighters seem to clean up at the local grappling events and do pretty well in local mma....plus I think John Howard and Sean Gannon train there...John use to be one of the trainers at BMAC when I first went and he as the man, madd humble and easy to learn from

Red Line Fight Sports has a similar schedule to Wai Kru, the price is the best I've seen so far......they are mainly a San Da gym but have incorporated grappling....facility is sick but I just havent heard that much about them, I know their main trainer Marvin is one of the best San Da fighters in the country....thier fighters do pretty well at muay thai to...only draw back is no BJJ

I know most of you will say go try a class at each gym and thats what I plan on doing, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any personal opinions on training at any of these gyms

I have trained at a ton of places all around Boston and this is my opinions:

BMAC: they do belt testing? there isnt even a belt system for Muay Thai so that alone says something. Also, there was a bunch of legal trouple surrounding their instuctor and some fighters beating up people at a McDonalds or something. I also know they had some infections issues over there before which is why i originally left there.

Sityodtong: They have a really good reputation because of Kru Mark Delagrotti (spell check) but hes never the one i saw teaching any of the classes when i trained there. They do have great technique but its a pretty small place and it does get overcrowded and they only have a few classes available with limited hours.

Wai Kru: They have a big place with a full cage and ring. They have tons of hours, classes, and styles (not just MT & BJJ). Im not sure why people say bad stuff sometimes about them, but they are obviously people that have never been there or trained under their instructors. (which by the way their instructors are great for stand up and groud work. Alex Costa is World Class Jiu Jitsu) I guess the only thing that was a pain for me sometimes about the place was parking.

Redline: I hear Marvin was teaching there. Its not Muay Thai, but hes a good teacher if thats where hes at now (he used to be at a place in Boston)

There is also Boston Boxing which offers Boxing only but is a pretty good.

There is a place in Brookline that I think Kenny Florian opened, but they make you buy a gi and pay all kinds of upfront sign up cost when i went there to check it out. So i was a little put off by that.

You should contact some places and see if you can get an intro class or just a gym walk through. That way you know what your getting before you jump in feet first.

 

[Holy Canoli]

...

 

[kikbox9]

updates?? I'm thinking of joining Fenix Fight Club in Woburn. I did a couple of trial classes a long time ago and was impressed with the egoless training. I'm also interested in the new TapOut Boston on Canal St. headed up by the WaiKru instructors. Any other schools I should check out?

 

[soundnin]

boston combat sports that just opened up near north station as well would be worth checking out.

 

[BankartGuy]

Combat Sports Boston
Mixed Martial Arts Boston, Combat Sports Boston, MMA Boston, MA

You get a membership there and it includes a membership to ALL Beacon Hill Athletic Club Facilities, not just the one they are in at the North Station. Very well priced. No hidden fees/charges. Been going to BHA for awhile as my regular gym to lift and strength train, and the people there run a very nice facility.
They are adding Catch-Wrestling classes and Dog Brothers stick fighting classes as well as 2-3 BJJ Blackbelts under Roberto Maia.

 

[Kin]

Red Line Fight Sports has a similar schedule to Wai Kru, the price is the best I've seen so far......they are mainly a San Da gym but have incorporated grappling....facility is sick but I just havent heard that much about them, I know their main trainer Marvin is one of the best San Da fighters in the country....thier fighters do pretty well at muay thai to...only draw back is no BJJ

I know most of you will say go try a class at each gym and thats what I plan on doing, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any personal opinions on training at any of these gyms

I train at Redline, so I'd be glad to tell you a bit about that.

The main reason you haven't heard much about Redline is that it's a really new gym. The core instructors were inherited rfom the now-defunct Boston Sanda Kickboxing team, which had world class San Shou competitors and professional Muay Thai fighters in Marvin Perry, Josh Bartholomew, Mike Norman, Rudi Ott, All Loreaux, and more. Also, Marvin wasn't just one of the best Sanda fighters in the country, but was also an undefeated national Champion in Muay Thai and Full Contact Kickboxing. However, all of those awesome fighters have moved on from the BSK fight team whether that was to finish school, focus on teaching, or just moved across the country.

Long story short, Redline has some of BSK's people as teachers, but only got a couple of their fighters. Between settling in to the new space and getting things going, they haven't been getting their name out there, but that's starting to change. I was originally part of a separate team, but our gyms recently merged, and our guys have just started fighting under the Redline banner. We went 3-1 in our last MMA show. The MMA team is headed by Paul Rosado.

Redline also has a good boxing program, which is led by Lyle Lashley. He's produced a good amount of Golden Glove champions. A couple of his fighters won last years Gloves.

EDIT:

BJJ Blackbelt and MMA Judge David Ginsberg is running the BJJ program. There are also 3 wrestling classes a week -- one taught by a freestyle wrestling coach with 15 years in the sport and another by a wrestler with 7 years freestyle experience, 4 years college greco experience, and amateur MMA experience.

But yeah, nonetheless, try out all of them and see what you like best.

 

[patferrari]

go to dragonlairmma in framingham

he facility itself features over 4500 sq. feet of clean, well equipped training space. we have a cage, ring,tons of mat space, jorge rivera was also with us but moved. mike brown fought out of dragon lair, jorge rivera fought out of dragon lair too.check us out i been training in dragon lair since i was 9
Self Defense Framingham 01702 - Dragon Lair MMA

 

[XPirate]

They are all pretty much the same. I've talked with fighters from wai kru, and asked why they picked it over sityodtong. The reply was simply scheduling. One of them only lost his first fight (and won the rest), the other won his first fight. As far as the grappling, if you are a beginner everything is fine. I actually know most blackbelts teaching because they are from Gracie Barra in Newton. They are really top notch guys. What really matters is your attitude and how you train. Winners come from all kinds of gyms. Sityodtong has champs, Redline has champs, and Wai Kru has champs.

That said, I don't think any gym can beat gracie barra for bjj. They have a really good teaching system there, and there is a blackbelt teaching every class, plus they have mma classes too once you hit blue belt. The instructor in mma there has a professional win under his belt along with being a bjj blackbelt.

I'm just a 1.5year whitebelt fyi.

 

[LoneWolf237]

if anyone from the Boston are goes to any of these gyms, I'd love to hear a review....

I use to train at Brazilian Martial Arts Center in Sommerville (up the street from Sityodtong) for about 3 years....got laid off and couldnt affort to go....gained about 20lbs and now looking to get back into training.....I've been training the last 5 months about once or twice a week with a Cambodian guy who teaches Pradal Serey(basically muay thai) but I really want to start training grappling again....BMAC is now to overpriced and they charge you for a belt test in everything from Muay Thai to no gi about once a month so thats out.....I got a crazy work schedule that changes almost monthly, different days off all the time, working days then workin nights so I wanted a place that had a real flexible schedule.....I've never trained with the gi either and I want to try that....there's also one of the best boxing gyms around right in my city, they win at the New England Golden Gloves all the time, but I'd only be able to got once a week, and if you're not their 6 times a week, they wont even look at you...its an old school Latin boxing gym

I've heard Sityodtong is the best muay thai gym around but can get crowded....schedule wise I'd be able to go a decent amount of the time...but the price is a little steep

Wai Kru has the best schedule around, decent price, and all the stand up and grappling you can get but I've heard nothing but bad things about that gym on this site...dont know why people say its so garbage, their fighters seem to clean up at the local grappling events and do pretty well in local mma....plus I think John Howard and Sean Gannon train there...John use to be one of the trainers at BMAC when I first went and he as the man, madd humble and easy to learn from

Red Line Fight Sports has a similar schedule to Wai Kru, the price is the best I've seen so far......they are mainly a San Da gym but have incorporated grappling....facility is sick but I just havent heard that much about them, I know their main trainer Marvin is one of the best San Da fighters in the country....thier fighters do pretty well at muay thai to...only draw back is no BJJ

I know most of you will say go try a class at each gym and thats what I plan on doing, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any personal opinions on training at any of these gyms

I train at Wai Kru, took a free trial at Sityodtong and picked Wai Kru over Sityodtong.


Wai Kru's claim to fame is that you can show up anytime and there is ALWAYS someone there to hold pads...perfect for your situation.

Sityodtong didnt seem too bad though from what I saw, though they seem to cater to MMA guys more, whereas in Wai Kru they have Muay Thai fights all the time.

Wai kru is cheaper and Sityodtong is pricey.


the one complaint I have about Wai Kru is that Im not a big fan of some of the technique they preach....but overall a good gym.



also, theres Boston Muay Thai (another gym that seems to be authentic Muay Thai, not just putting attention on MMA)...ive never been there but they always seem to do good in fights.

 

[thecyborg***]

bmac is a chuteboxe affiliated school thats why they have a belt system for muay thai.

waikru and sityodtong have fighters in the ufc

john howard used to go to bmac now goes to waikru and kenny florian goes to sityodtong.

as for redline i dont know much about them.

 

[Gdash]

Wai Kru is awsome, just doesnt really fit my schedule, sityodtong is a little to pricey and out of the way, Redline is dope but again out of the way for me....but the new Tapout gym is across the street from my work so that will most likily be my choice....facility is top notch, all the same instructors from Wai Kru, open all day, and the price is pretty cheap considering what they offer, I think they have a $89 a month promo for unlimited classes......Combat sports would've been my choice but they dont offer as many day classes as tapout and its more expensive......anyway, cant wait to start training....I've heard nothing but praise about the Wai Kru trainers, they turn average joes into champions...hopefully they can wip this overweight 30yr old into shape for the summer

 

[thecyborg***]

redline has some good amateur fighters in a year or two they will fighter like sityodtong and waikru fighting in the ufc.

i seen a local mma show where a local redline fighter kin moy knocked a guy out with an awesome headkick.

 

[PenKru]

Wai Kru is awsome, just doesnt really fit my schedule, sityodtong is a little to pricey and out of the way, Redline is dope but again out of the way for me....but the new Tapout gym is across the street from my work so that will most likily be my choice....facility is top notch, all the same instructors from Wai Kru, open all day, and the price is pretty cheap considering what they offer, I think they have a $89 a month promo for unlimited classes......Combat sports would've been my choice but they dont offer as many day classes as tapout and its more expensive......anyway, cant wait to start training....I've heard nothing but praise about the Wai Kru trainers, they turn average joes into champions...hopefully they can wip this overweight 30yr old into shape for the summer

Be interested to hear what you think of Tapout once your gone there.

 

[Kin]

Be interested to hear what you think of Tapout once your gone there.

Same. I'd really like to hear from anyone who goes to TapouT or Combat Sports.

 

[soundnin]

Same. I'd really like to hear from anyone who goes to TapouT or Combat Sports.

i went to combat sports recently to specifically check out their boxing, and happened to stay for a no gi bjj class afterwards (i have no experience in bjj at all, but figured since i was there, i might as well see how the class is).

from what i gathered that night, i would say that combat sports is good for a workout, but not good for people looking to compete. the boxing class was pretty standard (not great, not horrible), and i can't comment too much about the bjj class, but the big downside is that they don't have any trainers on site during the gym's open hours (which is the majority of the time it's open since not a lot of classes are currently offered). once class is over, the gym's empty.

however, this might have to do with the fact that the gym is relatively new and they might be working out scheduling issues.

 

[Kin]

i went to combat sports recently to specifically check out their boxing, and happened to stay for a no gi bjj class afterwards (i have no experience in bjj at all, but figured since i was there, i might as well see how the class is).

from what i gathered that night, i would say that combat sports is good for a workout, but not good for people looking to compete. the boxing class was pretty standard (not great, not horrible), and i can't comment too much about the bjj class, but the big downside is that they don't have any trainers on site during the gym's open hours (which is the majority of the time it's open since not a lot of classes are currently offered). once class is over, the gym's empty.

however, this might have to do with the fact that the gym is relatively new and they might be working out scheduling issues.

If I may ask, what did you do in the boxing class and what is a standard boxing class? When I've visited actual boxing gyms, I didn't see any actual classes so much as people just working out. At the gyms that I've been to, which feature a boxing class, my experiences have been pretty varried in terms of what we do.

I really want to check that place out some time (and TapouT) but I can't seem to find the time in my schedule to do so.

 

[soundnin]

If I may ask, what did you do in the boxing class and what is a standard boxing class? When I've visited actual boxing gyms, I didn't see any actual classes so much as people just working out. At the gyms that I've been to, which feature a boxing class, my experiences have been pretty varried in terms of what we do.

I really want to check that place out some time (and TapouT) but I can't seem to find the time in my schedule to do so.

the class was 60 min - warmup with jump rope, shadow box a few rounds (trainer focuses on each of us one at a time to watch our technique), heavy bag a few rounds, rotate in for a 1-2 rounds with the trainer on mitts. i think that's pretty standard for a "class" and i agree that classes across the board are very varied, but for me, it's not so much the structure of the class (boxing is boxing), but the level and dedication of the instructor.

 

[Gdash]

unfortunately I havent had the time to check out classes at Combat Sports but I did get to a no gi class at tapouT. It was a mid day class and there was about 8 of us, pretty wide spectrom of people from older business men to young college kids. We did a pretty intense warm up (by my standards, I'm 30 5'7 230lbs 40%body fat) that lasted about 30min. Your standard bjj warm up, hip escape, rolls, pushups, sit ups, shoulder exercises. The matted area downstairs is where the bjj classes are taught, and when doing the rolls, or the hip escapes, you feel like the room is so long you'll be hip escaping forever, case in point that area is fukcin HUUUGE. Then we partnered up and did a standing guard pass to knee on belly for a little; that lead to how to defend the pass by twisting you hips and using your feet to keep your opponent from passing. We did a really cool exercize on the wall to mimic this motion. Then the rest of class was rolling. you switched partners every round to get a different feel and body type. i left early after rolling wit two different people cuz i had to get back to work.

The instructor was John Clark, he's a black belt and a mma fighter out of Wai Kru. Dude was cool as sheeet, very laid back but pushed you. His instruction was easy to follow, and he was open answer any questions. He was on TUF 7 and has a 9-2 mma rec so dudes legit. He had another dude Junior helping him out wit showing techniques, he may be a black belt as well. Over all it was a great experiance, everyone seemed friendly, pretty ego free atmosphere. Cool thing about tapouT, this is what John was saying, it that people from a ton of different gyms in the area stop in to train so you get a lot of talent, especially the mma class. I asked what the night classes were like and he said the largest the class gets is like 18-20 people. Its only been open 4 weeks so there arent really any "regulars" yet. You cant beat the current price for Boston, $99 a month unlimited wit a sign up fee. Thats crazy cheap for the area its in, you can literly piss on the Boston Garden from their front door. I've only seen it during the day, and if there isnt a class going on its DEAD. You have a full cage, rack of bags, weights, cardio equipment, and instructors at your figertips if you go during the day, plus the day classes are borderline private cuz there's only like 8 people. the instuction is top notch, def competes wit any of the other gyms around(and there are world class mma/bjj/muay thai/boxing gyms within feet of eachother all over mass, i think its 2nd to vegas) but the facility takes a hot sheet on any other gym around. if its accesible, its a no brainer. $99 a month is a steal round boston