Team Bundy MMA (niles/girard OH)

[shotokanbjj]

just found out there's an area on this site to submit school reviews so i thought i'd give it a shot :) I currently go to Team Bundy MMA in niles/girard ohio (i say niles/girard because it's kind of right in the middle of both, anyone in the area though if you know where Cindys Health is, you can find Team Bundy MMA ^_^)

Anyways i will try my best to do this right, if i missed any details or need anymore info in any specific place don't hesitate to tell me, i will be happy to fill in more :)

Team Bundy MMA is where i decided to venture after my little issue at my shotokan dojo last year. I never even considered trying kick boxing (i had t3h deadly afterall with my shotokan ninja skills), boxing or GJJ (gracie jiu jitsu) prior to this, other than the fact my cousin had been going there a few months prior to me joining and talked highly of it, what i found though i was pleasantly surprised by :) It's a good mix of hard work, skill building and fun.

I love Mr. Bundys approach to gracie jiu jitsu as well, it's not just an art to him, it's a flat out way of life. His primary teacher is Tony Rinaldi (i think i spelled that correctly) who is associated under Pedro Sauer (talk about an awesome guy, one of the nicest "masters" i've ever met (he doesn't even like being called professor from what i've seen, just Pedro lol)
Aliveness:

10/10

This is the area i can definitely give a 10 in. They have weekly (soon to be even more frequent) full contact butt whoopings where people definitely get their **** rocked. They have sessions for those who want to go a little lighter as well (head gear, mouth pieces, padded mma gloves, shin guards, etc), but for those who are currently training for fights or want to go harder, they drop it down to basically your mouth pieces, your 4 ounce gloves, and shin guards, people can and do get knocked out but they keep coming back for more so meh lol.

As far as the GJJ goes, i'd give it a 10 as well. We have nightly rolls after our training where everyone can roll with everyone, chokes, subs etc happens frequently and you're welcome to go as hard as you like. If you want to try your skills and put them to the test or just get your ass kicked and learn in the process there's almost always at least one purple belt there, as well as a large host of blue belts and several white belts, there's always new students coming in as well so there's plenty of fresh faces to roll with. Sometimes the training gets a little TOO alive when it comes to a newer student, but that's to be expected, everyone panics the first few times they have someone on top of them heh. It's definitely got that vibe that you'd call alive :D

Equipment:

7/10
The equipment has seen better days in some areas, while others are alot nicer. It's definitely been used A LOT but that's part of the charm imo heh. Some of the bags need replacing (which is being worked on right now) and a few of the focus mitts are on their last leg, but overall it's all usable and safe. I'm not sure what kind of mats are there, but they're decently thick and in good shape, they work just fine for what we use them for. This is one area that could use some improvement but he's always working on replacing bags when they need to be and what not so it's all good, i think a solid 7 can go here.

Gym Size:

8/10
I think an 8 will suffice here, it's not the largest gym/dojo i've ever been in, but it's certainly not the smallest. You can generally accomodate about 20 students at once with no problems, and that's including having heavy bags out on the mats or having that same group of students rolling around. They were supposed to do an expansion this past month, i think money got a little tight or maybe the plans fell through, hopefully down the road they will do this, but if not i like the slightly smaller size of this place, i've never been stepped on while rolling heh. I don't think it fits in the 5k-10k slot but it's not THAT much smaller, maybe closer to a 7 than an 8 actually.

Instructor/Student Ratio:

8/10
The class sizes can vary depending on what day/time it is, but it's usually somewhat smaller groups (10-15 maybe) in there at a time. Mr. Bundy coaches most of the classes himself, but also has 2 very qualified assistant coaches. One is a pro fighter (Micah Bender, local fighter, had the belt, fighting his rematch qualification fight soon i believe then going for the belt again if he wins, GJJ purple belt), and the other is an amateur fighter and personal trainer as well as a GJJ blue belt (3 stripes i believe). They teach some classes and/or help him for some of them. Good quality instruction as Mr. Bundy was a fighter himself for many years, so he's able to successfully teach the MMA aspect with the help of these coaches, but he's also been doing martial arts for 24 years this year and is very capable of teaching the self defense aspect of both stand up and GJJ. At least as far as my own training has gone, he's been fully capable of taking me from a pure karateka to actually being able to learn and apply boxing and muay thai as well as recently getting my blue belt through Pedro Sauer's association. He's very good with new and old students alike.

Atmosphere/Attitude:

9/10
Overall i love it. When i first brought my fiance here to try a class (she's been a member ever since) the first thing she asked was "is this some kind of cult?!?". The fighters paint their toe nails and all have tattoos, and at least one of them is a little bit literally crazy...but that's all part of the charm :) I'd say it's honestly the thing that's kept me coming back even more than the training. You honestly do feel like part of a team here, even if you're just a twice a week student that comes in to hit the heavy bag. The coaches always put the students before them selves and their own training, there's little to no douche baggery afoot here either. On the rare occasion we do get a douche bag, they're usually sorted out rather quickly, one of which was literally floored by my coach after thinking it was a good idea to beat up on one of the females during a very light sparring day. He did not come back after the face smashing. I've never been in a group of people with so much raw skill and ability, yet have them be so humble and so easy to get along with.

Striking Instruction:

8/10
I don't think i can give this a 9-10 because i'm not sure if 1 pro fighter and several amateurs coming from the gym are enough to qualify a 9-10 (if it is i'll gladly change it) but it's absolutely at least an 8! Boxing is taught by all 3 coaches, and specialized by Bundy and Micah. I myself don't do the kick boxing specific classes but they teach them as well and if they're anything like the Boxing specific ones then they're definitely top notch. The way they break it down for beginners is amazing, it honestly feels like i'm learning how to throw jabs crosses and hooks the way i learned how to do my reverse punches and blockes, they break it down super informatively and i love it. They work on range and distancing quite a bit too, i'd say i'm learning to strike in this style faster than anything or anywhere i've trained prior, and that's with me only actually getting serious about boxing in the past month.

Grappling Instruction:

8/10
Same as above, i don't know exactly what qualifies for a 10 so i'll keep it at an 8. Bundys approach to GJJ is amazing, i can't even really explain it in words on the computer, but it honestly makes you feel completely at peace while rolling and choking the life from someone lol. We do gi and no gi, and he puts extra emphasis on how to transition from gi techniques to no gi, it's a great blend of self defense and "MMA" from the jiu jitsu standpoint. It's taken me from someone who had the mindset (if anyone ever gets on the ground with me i'll just punch them to death) to a firm believer in this systems ability to work, and having had to actually use it one time in an actual self defense situation in the past year against a very real and very angry drunken moron, i can attest to it's effectiveness. It's the thing that keeps me coming back second only to the atmosphere :)

Weapons:

0/10
The only weapons in this gym are what we turn our feet and hands into ;) lol seriously though, no weapons.

Bottom Line:

Overall 8/10

The gym is a fantastic place to train and learn, despite it being smaller than some of the other locations around here, i have yet to find better instruction from anyone even remotely as passionate about martial arts and jiu jitsu in particular as Jim Bundy. The combination of quality training, a great atmosphere and great coaches and students make it a must attend location for anyone interested in learning to defend yourself, or interested in stepping into a cage. I feel like anyone from the shy kid in high school to the tough s.o.b. who wants to eventually get paid to punch people in the face can benefit from training here.

The ONLY thing i could say that is a little eh, is the price, but then again i've never actually belonged to another MMA gym prior to starting here, so i have no idea of the overall "accepted" prices of these kind of gyms. I myself have paid $160 dollars a month since i've been a member here, i believe he's raised the prices somewhat since then, but my membership fees do not change since i've continued paying the same. This includes unlimited training for any and all classes including skill building, fitness oriented and all Jiu Jitsu based classes. I believe he has cheaper packages for those interested in doing say, all the fitness classes but not wanting to to Jiu Jitsu, but i don't bother to check because i'm not changing what i do anytime soon ^_^ I don't know if he still does this, but when i first joined the very first thing i asked is if he had a family package and at the time he did, i won't discuss that deal here but just know that it does not cost me a full 160 a month to go here ;)

Hope that was an acceptable review, please let me know if i need to change anything.

[webmindset]

Reviews like this from students are very valuable and appropriate. It looks like you really took your time and it makes sense. I've seen so many BS reviews by anonymous "people" that it started to seem like all BJJ/MMA school reviews were by the owners trying to look good... and it's back-firing.
Nicely done, amigo, yours is a winner!

[shotokanbjj]

Reviews like this from students are very valuable and appropriate. It looks like you really took your time and it makes sense. I've seen so many BS reviews by anonymous "people" that it started to seem like all BJJ/MMA school reviews were by the owners trying to look good... and it's back-firing.
Nicely done, amigo, yours is a winner!

heh well thank you sir, i tried to be as unbiased as possible while still making it sound like i honestly think it is :)

ya i read a few of those reviews you're speaking of...it's obvious which ones are legit and which ones are full on bullshido heh. Glad you like it, hopefully it'll help some people in making a decision for themselves down the line :D

[captainbirdseye]

Hmmm, am I the only person who misread the title as "Ted Bundy MMA" ?

[Kung-fu Jesus]

Hmmm, am I the only person who misread the title as "Ted Bundy MMA" ?

Nope. It had me worried for a split second too.

[shotokanbjj]

lol we actually tease bundy a lot about that, one of the songs he used to play during kick boxing was that eminem song where he references Ted Bundy ^_^

[mistafist]

Thanks for the review. I moved here kinda recently and have been looking for a gym. Had emailed your trainer looking for a price but didn't get a solid response. While I'd like to train there and it sounds good, I just can't justify that kind of price. For comparison, I used to train at team link with Gabriel Gonzaga and the price was only 100/month. What can you do I guess, shrug.