Jerry Laurita Teaching BJJ in Avondale (Phoenix), AZ

[Coach Mark]

GREAT BJJ "club"in Scottsdale
fun guys to role with very open to higher belts. $*80 per month (no contracts) white belts
blue belts pay $60 per month no contracts
purple and above pay $50 dues to help offset bills, way cool. and you are very well respected in the crew :) just a guy that loves the arts.

No Secrets its My gym we train MMA my back ground is in Karate, Judo, BJJ (5 year blue belt havnt tested in a bit) JJJ and Tomiki Akido with an emphasis on reality aka inspired by Krav, Defendo, Raw Combat cqb.

http://aztigermma.com

[jspeedy]

I can kind of understand where Coach Mark is coming from on holding out on the price. Someone new to martial arts may not know what to expect to pay for quality instruction so trying out a class first makes sense. However, as someone who has done other styles in the past I expect to pay around $100 a month for a good club or more given the credentials of the instructor and other competing students. Also, as someone who has done martial arts I have already researched a club before I go in a visit. I also know what I can afford for a class. I have a family and kids to support also and no amount of quality instruction will make the class any more affordable for me. If a school can't tell me what to expect to pay up front i'd feel a little uneasy. I still may consider the school but I would probably go check around at more up front about the pricing schools.

It's like going to a restaurant that dosen't have food prices listed. Before going to the restaurant I know the food at a particular place will be very good, but I get there and I don't know how much I'll be spending. If I ask prices the waiter acts like i'm an ass for asking about prices like I don't believe the meal will be worth the cost. I know before going out to eat how much I can afford to pay for a badass meal it's not about what I want to pay per se. On the other hand a person who eats at Applebees' and Chili's exclusively may not know what to expect to pay for a good meal so maybe it's best they don't know ahead of time. I'd rather eat somewhere where i'll know what i'm going to spend.

Hope that little diatribe makes sense.The sales tactic used by Coach Mark might be beneficial for total newbs. When I go to a place though I act like a total newb out of respect. I don't want to walk into some place and explain how i've trained (sounding like a duoche) before and how I just want to know prices so I can get to training already.

[jnp]

Jerry is the real deal, and to be honest if you have never ran a martial art studio, dont talk smack about price, its a tough job with a lot of overhead and Grass roots campaigning. The $20 isnt about taking your $20, first off, you will learn far more with that $20 than you have in a long while, second its about a commitment on your end, to weed out the users of the FREE class school hopers.(and then to get a review that is hum drum at best, bro if $20 is a big deal than don't go writing mma school reviews. To not give outstanding reviews of someone who lives and breaths this is a bit of a slap to the face) While i recommend that you train with many different arts as you can, please respect that this is how we feed our selves and family. the cost of everyday living ie. gass, food, insurance for the school, advertising, no one is getting rich and yet we bleed for our art. All of this is shared with love from an instructors point of view.
We spend enough time on people who are wishy washy (and thats part of the deal we get it.) If people flench at $20 than they are probably not long term friends or teammates. The reason we wait until after to tell price is the same in any sale, there is NO dollar value if i just go ok well its $1000 a month. whaaa? If you try a class, see and feel the level of instruction. Then theres value, at only $125 per month. im in !!!sign me up
With love include me-
-Coach Mark

Are you a student of Mr. Laurita? Did you receive your blue belt from him?

If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you're hardly in a position to offer an impartial opinion.

[Uncle Skippy]

As a formality, I wrote Joe Moreira and asked him if Mr Laurita was one of his black belts. There were issues verifying Mr Laurita's belt/lineage when the thread was started, so I figured that I'd give it a shot. I had previously contacted Mr Moreira to confirm someone else's belt and he was quick to respond then. He responded as fast this time as well.

This is his reply in regards to Mr Laurita's belt:

Hi (Uncle Skippy), thank you for ask,yes him is my black belt ,and the good one.

So, Jerry Laurita is a Black Belt under Joe Moreira.