Hollywood, CA Legends MMA

[dhuynh630]

I'll try to make this short and simple, but this gym simply amazes me so I doubt that'll happen. I've been training here for roughly about 3 weeks so far (visiting L.A for the month) and the training I've recieved here has been an unbelievable experience so far. The gym is located in the heart of Hollywood, CA roughly a block away from from the famous chinese theater on Hollywood Blvb. The gym was originally the Bomb Squad Muay thai gym (if I'm correct) with Chris Reilly as the original owner of the gym until he teamed up with Bas Rutten and Randy Couture to form Legends MMA.

At first when you step in the gym you can see how amazing the gym workout areas are. There are 2 main training areas outfitted with Swain mats roughly about 1000 sq ft (don't quote me on it) the left side is open and the right side is caged in with panel fencing and matted walls in the far back are with panel mirrors. There is also a small cage (or mini octagon whichever you prefer) and a 20x20 ring and a small weight room with a squat rack, flat bench, dumbell rack and treadmills. There are about 5 100lbs thai bags, 1 180lb thai bag, 3 wall (or should I say post) mounted punching and knee blocks, 5 heavy bags, 4 teardrop bags, 2x70lb and 2x100lb ground and pound bags. All the bags are top notch brands twins, Combat Sports International, Ringside and there are plenty of accesories around like jump ropes, 2 timers, focus mitts and thai pads. There are two locker rooms 1 male and 1 female. At first the male side seems a little cramped but it also has an adjoining side with 3 showers so there is plenty of room (I'm sure the female side also has an individual shower in it also). There is also a equipment available for purchase at the gym in case you need anything extra like boxing gloves, mma gloves, shin/instep pads, handwraps, shorts, t-shirts, muay thai shorts, rashguard...ect.

Now to the training!!! The gym is open from 7am-10pm m-f, 9am-5pm on Sat and closed on Sun. There's a lot on the schedule so I'd advise going to the website to check out what classes are at what time since they teach MMA, BJJ, Muay thai and boxing everyday. The main everyday instructors are as followed. Boxing is taught by Jeremy Williams who teaches the fundamentals and footwork (he's also jacked like a truck and hits just as hard). MMA with Karo Parisyan is by far my favorite class! He goes through warm-ups and conditioning drills, then pretty much will ask the class what they wanna learn or improve on or will show a couple submissions or takedowns (MMA adapted Judo that is) and spar for usually the last 30-45 min of class (if you have seen Karo fight and not be impressed with him wait till you spar or roll live with him this guy is f@#king good). The other scheduled MMA instructors are Toby Grear, Tait Fletcher and Conner Huen. Muay Thai is Roxy Richardson, Peter Nyland and Chris Reilly. The class very structured with lots of rounds of focus mitts, pad and bag drills and sparring. BJJ is taught mainly by Eddie Bravo which from what I've seen is usually a rather large class. The class is really high tempo and the instruction is broken down but fast paced with lots of drills and live situationals and of course live rolling (lots of good BJJ guys at this class). I suggest to do some reserch on the rubber guard and start working on your flexibility before attending this class. There are also many guest instructors and pro fighters coming in all the time during class like Bas Rutten who you'll happen to see more often than other pros and he also runs the fitness class (ie the Bas Rutten Big Book of Combat exact program), Randy Couture, Mayhem Miller, Rampage, Anderson Silva, Joe Rogan, Mac Danzig and so on.

Like every good there's also a bad. With the current trainers and clientel training and teaching there you can assume it's not gonna come cheap. There are 5 different plans available (which most of the plans include some swag with them ie training gear and stuff). The VIP which I can assure you sounds and is rather pricey not really recommended unless you are gonna try and fight professionally for them. The cost is $500 first time fee and $400 monthly afterwards or can just shell out $4500.00 for the entire year, it a yearly contract btw. The Standard plan is $250 first time fee, $275 month to month or you can sigh a yearly contract for this plan which will be $245 a month or pay up front for the year@ $2695.00. That just for the unlimited MMA classes (which includes BJJ, wrestling, and boxing). The Muay Thai/Fitness plan is $200 first time, $175 month to month, $150 mo-mo yearly contract or $1650.00 year upfront. The Gym only is no first time fee and $75 a month. That's for open gym only which there are many openings for that, and access to private instructions (I have no idea what the privates cost for each individual, but I'm sure it's pricey),but the bad note on this is you can't attend the classes. There are single classes which are $30 per class, Kids classes (don't know the cost) and the out of town visitors rate (which is what I'm under and it's probaly the most reasonable plan, too bad it's for tourists like me and not the locals). You have to show a valid out of state I.D and the cost is $100 for 1 week, $175 2 weeks, or $300 for the month for unlimited MMA, BJJ, Muay thai and boxing classes 7am-10pm mon-fri and 9am-5pm sat, it's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Must be stated on how long your planning on staying and training and paid up front (not sure what what the limit is for anything past a month, just have to ask them I guess) and for military members you get a 10-15% off so if you're just gonna visit then I suggest this plan.

So all in all Legends MMA is like a said an awsome place to train at with a great training atmosphere and great instructors. I would def highly recommend it if you have the chance. Sometimes you just may have to bite the bullet and shell out the dough for world class training and instruction, but this place is by far one of the most elite MMA gyms in the U.S in my opinion. Hope this helps now TRAIN MORE AND TAP LESS!!!!

[yodaman]

The ultimate case of "You get what you pay for". I want to work out here so bad...

[new2bjj]

The only thing I wonder is, fi you should already be really good, and this will make you great, or can someone start out here? It sounds like a Grad school of MMA, i.e. your should really know what you are doing before you get there.....

[dhuynh630]

The skill level there varies from complete noob to complete bad-asses who's usually humble enough to let you learn and lots of people willing to share techniques instead of discouragingly making you feel like a complete sac. It does help to know the base, but if you don't then don't hesitate to ask questions. The training there is great and I really do feel as if my overall game has improved just by getting my ass kicked by the instructors.......oh btw ninjitsu is the secret class only offered if you are a complete BAMF at a secret time in their underground hexagon.

[Bayou]

Can you elaborate more on the BJJ classes? I'm perhaps going to train there when I move to L.A. this summer. You said the classes are huge. Are they too big to actually learn anything? How many "co-instructors" are walking around correcting you during drills?

[dhuynh630]

the BJJ classes are Mainly...ok well predominatly nogi. Eddie Bravo is the main BJJ instructor, but Scott Epstein,(assistant instructor) is usually there majority of the time training and helping out. It's not the the volume of the class is too big but the pace of the class is around the intermediate to advanced level, I mean don't get me wrong here Eddie does take the time to answer any questions that you'll have but alot of the guys who train there are pretty stand up guys for the most part and are willing to help out. I preferred the morning classes to the night classes b/c the morning classes just tended to be smallerand more instructive, but the training in the night classes were pretty intense. I really liked the structure of the classes and really enjoyed the atmosphere. My suggestion would be to go and watch the classes (day or night) and see which one would suit you the most.

[alienmuaythai]

The only thing I wonder is, fi you should already be really good, and this will make you great, or can someone start out here? It sounds like a Grad school of MMA, i.e. your should really know what you are doing before you get there.....

I would agree this is a bit like the grad school of mma, unless of course you have plenty of money to dish out, in which case this would be a great school to go to. The instruction is great, although Karo isn't there anymore, but I wouldn't pay the monthly fee unless I was already a pro fighter, or maybe for like one month of training before a fight. This is just my opinion.

[Ike]

The vibe I get from this gym is that it's a bit heavy on the flashy/glamourous side of MMA... As in they openly market the fact that D/C/B/A list celebrities and industry folk attend and invest in the gym. Not to say that Ethan Suplee or Eric Balfour aren't credible MA students, and maybe this is just my Midwestern upbringing coming out here, but how do instructors treat nobodies/industry outsiders? And does the vibe change when the cool kids are in class?

I live close enough to Hollywood, but just the website alone is off-putting to me. I'm hoping I'm wrong about it.