OH NOES!!!111 I´ve been training at a bullshido gym!!!11ONE

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/09/2006 9:20am

I´m really not sure if this goes in bullshido, or in GB. Anyway, I´ll post this here and risk a 24h ban, because it´s about fraud and scam.

If any of you know me, and remmeber the little amount of posts I´ve done about my gym, you would know that so far I haven´t had but nice words about it. To be honest, I´ve never thought my gym was the best of all, nor even one of the very best. But it was cheap, in comparision. I payed 50€ per motnh for about 4 hours per week in kickboxing and free access to the weights room. No fees, no further payments, no giving bank data, no nothing, just cash.

At my gym we had one of the very few BJJ blackbelts in my town (Madrid, capital of Spain, in case you´re wondering, and the biggest and most populated city in the country, altrought it may seem a little village compared to the big cities in the USA). I tried the BJJ class a couple of times, but due to time schedules (I was working and studying until very recently, I´ve finished college just some months ago), I was never able to add the BJJ to my current training, altrough it would cost me just 5€ extra per month. Really cheap. Now I regret I didn´t start BJJ when I had the time for it, but I digress.

The gym was not the best of all, I may say, the equipment in the weight room was quite worn out, the trainer (who, by the way, was the owner of the gym, my kickboxing instructor and a purple BJJ belt) didn´t care too much about the people in the weight room. He hesitated a little when asked for advice, as if he´d rather be doing anything else but attend his duties. And most of the time he was. He spent most of his time watching PRIDE, UFC and grappling videos in his computer, rather than checking and helping the people in the weight room. Man, I´ve seen people lifting oddly. I wonder how many of them will have injuries in the future. When he talked to them, he was just trying to sell people things like protein shakes, L-carnitine, creatine, and the like. He even insinuated me once something about steroids.

That made me suspicious about him, but I enjoyed training there so I just didn´t pay attention to all that crap and just ignored him whenever he brought that crap up, or simply changed the subject.

Now, let´s get down to the point. Months ago I had to stop training because of lack of money and time. Qualified jobs are very hadrd to get in Spain, at least in my field (journalism) and most of the time you have to deal with unpaid overtime, or shitty time shedules, or both. But finally, I managed to get a time shedule that leaves me with plenty of time to get back to training, further my education or do whatever I want.

So this morning I went to gym again to sign up for MT (supposedly, the MT Thailand master whit whom I trained this july was still teaching there), weights and BJJ (just try to imagine how excited and illusioned I was) and it was closed. First uh-oh. Well, maybe he was just prolonging his winter holidays.

There was a lot of unpicked mail at the door. Second uh-oh. He didn´t earn enough to go anywhere on holidays.

Then, my flatmate returns from his parents´ home (he was away for the holidays). He goes to his gym (not MA in it, weight room is better, though) and when he comes back he tells me the following:

He encountered the former owner of the gym, the one who sold it to my ex-kickboxing instructor. He told my flatmate that my ex-kickboxing instructor charged everyone the fee of the last month (payments had to be done between the 1st and 7th day of the month), adn then "closed for reforms". Now, this "closed for reforms" turns out to be "closed forever".

I must say that I really wasn´t surprised the gym closed. It was so poorly managed that regular clients (inherited from said former owner, an honest guy who sold the gym because he wasn´t making enough money, and an oldschool boxing instructor) were dropping and new clients lasted less than a month, usually. A cheap gym, with a nice enough weight room and a wide selection of MA´s (kickboxing, and lately MT, Capoeira, BJJ, kung fu, Shan Shou, traditional jiu-jitsu, kempo, judo, and a class dedicated to train proffesional security guards and policemen in self defence) and all it does is lose clients one by one? How can it be? Poor management and lack of investment from the owner (you should see the poor condition of the heavy bags).

Well, at least he didn´t scam ME any money.

But now I find myself looking for gyms near my home. Most of them have no MAs or don´t have the ones I´m looking for (boxing/kickboxing/MT/KK/Sanda and BJJ), I mean, Ninjutsu?, Taichi? For christ´s sake! Or are too far for me to bother with them (if I can´t go walking to the gym, I´d probably won´t go everyday, knowing your own weakness is very important).

Not too far from my home there is this gym, in which I can train BJJ thrice a week, boxing or kickboxing thrice a week, and weights, all for 69€ per month. Now, that crossed my line for "expensive", but I think I can afford it... I guess... I hope. I´ve been told wonders about that gym. In fact, Fabrizio Werdum trained there and, from time to time, he used to give a couple of lessons. I dunno if he still trains there. The current BJJ instructor is a brazilian guy. I beleive is the same one who was at my gym when I joined the class (before the aforementioned blackbelt came, he was brazilian too, BTW). He was a purple belt at the time (about a year and half ago), so maybe he´s brown or black belt now, I don´t now. If he´s the same guy, it´s cool, because I liked very much what I saw in his class and is a very friendly cool guy. The description the clerk girl gave me matches, and the name matches too, if I recall correctly.

This very afternoon I´m checking two or three gyms more near my house. One of them has a pool too. I won´t take no less than a striking art (see above for my preferences) and a grappling art, BJJ at the top.

I hope everything turns out well for me. I want to get this issue solved today.

Wish me luck, guys, and sorry for the rant.

I also apologize to the admins and mods if this thread does not belong here, or is not pertinent.

**Phrost** · Posted On: 1/09/2006 9:24am

Nothing wrong with the thread, but your title makes me want to commit eyeball seppuku.

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/09/2006 9:26am

I made it so to lighten me up a little. My anger knows no limits.

You are, of course, free to change it to something more appropiate.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 1/09/2006 4:32pm

Well, at least in spain you get a 2 hour lunch break.

Well, look at me. No MA gyms period, at all.

Maybe it's time to train on your own for a while? You could really ramp up your cardio conditioning and strength.

**Dr._Tzun_Tzu** · Posted On: 1/09/2006 4:39pm

That sucks......but without contracts and autopay Gyms will run out of money fast. I know, I had to have several jobs to keep mine open.

I didn't want to involve people credit rateing in the fee's and relied on honesty. Especially hard was the clause, "You pay my low rate every month, wheither you make it to class or not. People think they can just show up every few months and find the gym still there. You gotta pay to play...

Not saying bad about you in particular, just expressing the fine line between having a place to train thats affordable vs having a McDojo.

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/10/2006 4:30am

I´m currently researching more what really happened. The version I was told has all odds to be true, but I´m looking for a second opinion on this.

I managed to contact an ex-comp who was trying to help the Thai instructor here, in Spain. I think he´s currently teaching at a gym not too far from my home, but far enough to use public tranportation. I´m waiting for his response.

I´ve been making some accounting and the thing is, I a have to pay a high gym fee, I´d rather keep my use of public transport to a minimun (thus, looking for a gym near my home would be the best). On the other hand, if the gym is cheap, I can afford to use it.

Dr._Tzun_Tzu

I understand what you say. "Neighbourhood gyms", as they´re called in Spain (chep and oldschool looking gyms) hardly survive in Spain nowdays. The succesful gyms are thos of big chains, like Fitness First, or Golden Gym, Fitness Place, etc. As many advantages they have, they´re still quite expensive, and usually are lacking on the MA department.

So far, my best options are the gym I mentioned on the first post, and the gym in which currently Munchai (the Thay instructor) is teaching.

And Wounded Ronin, in Spain you get a one hour lunch break at least, and , depending on the shift, maybe even no break at all.

There are people at my workplace who work 12 hours nonstpo and have to eat in front of the computer (three-day per week shifts).

There is a gym near my home (no MAs) which is quite cheap if I were to do weights and maybe an aerobic or body-pumo class. As tempting as it is joining a class where you can get lots of the malotas and chonis´ (ghetto girls) tight asses as eye candy, it´s not what I want to do right now.

I want my striknig art back and the deadly BJJ!

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/11/2006 1:48pm

Allright, I´ve just come home from checking another gym, the one in which Munchai is currently teaching MT.

The gym looks nice and the guy I talked to looked like a cool guy too.

Three MT classes per week with Munchai (somo last for an hour, some for two hours) at 40€ per month. If I want to add weights it goes to 60€ per month.

The con is that there is no BJJ, Judo or grappling art. Only Kempo-Karate.

Now, I could pay an extra 9€ at the other gym to get kickboxing, BJJ and weights. The big pro being that my transportation expenses would be lower.

At this place, however, my transportation expenses would raise, and probably I´d had to stick with just MT (no weights). But how often can you train with a former Lumpinee champion? Also, one of the other instructors is a spanish pro MT competitor.

I think I´ll have to think of this some more, I give myself until the end of this month to decide.

**DCS** · Posted On: 1/11/2006 2:17pm

If i were you i'd go Munchai.

A good instructor is priceless, and in this case you have two good instructors.

And as i told you before KB+BJJ+Pumping Iron+Work=Burnout

**Lights Out** · Posted On: 1/11/2006 3:05pm

Aye, probably I´ll go with Munchai.

The world conspires against me starting BJJ.

But wait... I think some of the former BJJers at my gym (some of them were in kickboxing and MT too) are training now with in said gym.... maybe I can talk to them and convince them to give a few classes, like a weekly throwdown between us...

I think I´ll go with Munchai.

Stay tuned for updates.