Bad Wolf MMA

**annapaxis** · Posted On: 6/26/2008 1:04pm

My training partner and I had some free time and decided to visit a new school in the area, Bad Wolf MMA. We train at the largest, most prosperous MMA school in town (Nashville MMA), but thought that it would be worth it to see what was going on across town.

We arrived at 5:00 PM and the instructors, Dee Freeman and Rahman Howard, were just returning from a "Gatorade run." Dee was friendly and cordial as he gave us the tour of the facility, a smallish storefront-type space that featured a full-size octagon (which, according to Rahman, only fighters with an upcoming fight can train in), two adequately sized mat areas, and a small boxing ring. There are several bags, a changing room with showers, and a nicely appointed bathroom. We were largely left alone, as Dee and Rahman were pitching to a Mexican mom and her daughter, discussing the details of Mexican vs. American styles.

Men began to arrive and wrap their hands; on this night they sparred boxing for 30 minutes before classes began. My friend and I sat and watched patiently.

When the sparring began I was stunned. Their boxing looked absolutely terrible. Really a waste of time. They didn't hold their hands up, they just staggered around the ring, throwing (largely ineffective) body shots. The students just looked out of shape and sloppy, a round or two and these guys were gassed. Their instructors, Dee and Rahman, looked good and fit, but still, it was fairly obvious that boxing was not either one of their strong suits.

At this point the Muay Thai class began, and as bad as the boxing demonstration was, the Muay Thai class looked very sharp. The class was very active, and the drills looked excellent. Dee ran the class and seemed to know what he was doing. Some of the guys had some very good-looking kicks and knees, and the class looked like quite the workout. There were a couple of athletes in this class, but again, many of the students looked a bit soft. No tae-bo here, this was the real thing.

Up to this point, my friend and I had been watching, but now we were ready to roll. We are both competitive white belts, my friend having won several torunaments including NAGA and EGO, and myself, well, I win some and I lose some. But still, I'd like to think that we are passionate beginners, both with about 9 months under our belts.

Well, this class was all white belts, no stripes. Maybe they do colors, I don't know. They had only been open in the location since February 2008, so this was somewhat understandable. Still, it felt odd being the highest ranked student in the class, with my two stripe white belt.

The BJJ (gi) class began with bridging, elbow escape, and pummel drills. My partner and I both noticed a real lack of experience during the pummel drills on the part of the students, and my friend really frustrated another student when he kept doing duck unders during the drill. Apparently the kid had never seen a duck under before. Ironic since the first move that Rahman demonstrated was the very same move.

We then went over the Russian 2-on-1, and some triangle escapes. I must say that I found Rahman's teaching to be very good, he is obviously quite experienced and patient. The class ended without sparring, which left my friend and I a little disappointed -- we wanted to see how these guys rolled.

My partner and I rolled for a few minutes after class, talked to to the instructors for a couple of minutes, and left. They were again friendly and polite.

All in all, I had a good impression of the place. The Muay Thai and BJJ instruction appeared to be solid. And the facilites are nice. But the major weakness of the place is the lack of depth, aggression, experience and athleticism among their students. In my opinion the gym needs a couple of years to really raise up the level of their students. For someone on that side of town who wants to learn a bit, it might be a nice place. But for a serious BJJ student, Bad Wolf MMA is not there yet. Maybe in a few years they will have a solid core group of some talented folks, but that will take time. Good luck to them.

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 6/26/2008 4:25pm

Perhaps filling out the numerical ratings chart might help.

**El Zorro** · Posted On: 7/22/2008 1:38pm

I train at Bad Wolf MMA and I perfectly remember you and your training partner and Dee and Rahman’s “Gatorade run”. I got to say the review you posted is pretty fair and accurate. I’m one of those “soft, sloppy and out of shape boxers” lol! and I’m pretty sure I didn’t look too good in that body-sparring session. Boxing classes run in the mornings and Saturday afternoons at not too convenient times for most of us and I think it shows as we’re all much better Muay Thai and BJJ practitioners than boxers. Oh, and boxing is taught by another teacher you guys didn’t meet that day.

Just to complement this review and to post an opinion based on more than one afternoon, two classes and one sparring session, I’ll say that overall, us guys that train there seem to be complete beginners or with previous training experience but not 10 or 15 years… more like 1 or 2. Dee and Rahman’s excellent teaching, though, is turning us into a fairly decent group of guys that consistently train and improve every day. I know that with some more time and work we’ll become a good group to train with.
Of course, there is also a group of guys training in the morning classes and I can’t speak for how good they are, maybe some of them are more experienced than us….

Like stated on the review, the facilities are great, not too big but roomy enough and all the gear is fairly new, since the gym opened last December. Dee and Rahman are great guys and teachers and never fail to come up with great workouts and classes that challenge us and help us improve our game and fitness. Personally, I can say I’m in the best shape of my life thanks to Dee’s grueling Muay Thai classes, and being new to Jui-Jitsu, I can only say I love Rahman’s classes and teaching style though I can’t compare it to previous teachers.
I would specially talk about Dee’s Muay Thai classes, I think he’s doing a tremendous job at pushing us, always changing the drills, always keeping it challenging and always helping us to polish our technique. I can say that I’ve improved more in 4 months training with Dee than I did in two years training at the previous gym I trained at.

Overall, I love training at BW MMA, I also wish I could work with some more experienced students some times but it’s also cool to have a group of guys getting better together and challenging each other in every class. One thing’s for sure, how good or bad we are isn’t Dee and Rahman’s fault, they are sure doing a tremendous job with a bunch of inexperienced guys like us.

**El Zorro** · Posted On: 11/07/2008 4:25pm

Well, here's an update on Bad Wolf MMA. My opinion about the training hasn't changed but something happened last week that I just can't quite understand.

Let's start from the beginning. 7 months ago I started training at Bad Wolf and I signed a one-year contract with them. I started training Muay Thai only at first then I decided to train Jui-Jitsu and the MMA class.

After a few months training and many injuries while rolling or taking jiu-jitsu classes, I recently started to think that maybe grappling wasn't for me, I actually sucked, and that Muay Thai is really what I like best. I don't intend to fight so I really don't "need" the ground game, I mostly train to stay in shape and because I love martial arts training. Also, it's worth mentioning that about 95% of the students and both trainers consider Jiu-Jitsu their first art, even Dee Freeman, the Muay Thai instructor. Now, I have no complains about Dee's teachings, he's a great instructor and he knows Muay Thai for sure but because of so very few people considering Muay Thai their first art, I felt a bit alone and with not so many training partners that wanted to spar or do pad work with me outside of the normal class hours. Guys usually roll during open mat time.
We actually haven't sparred for two months now because this upcoming weekend most of the guys at the gym will compete at a grapping tournament and nobody wants to get hurt. That's perfectly understandable but at the same time it made me wonder if I was in the right place and training with the right people, because obviously, even if I decided to train Muay Thai only, the sparring wasn't there for me as often as I'd like to.

So I'd been thinking about this for a few weeks and even though I felt bad about it, I decided that I needed to be honest and ask Dee about the possibility of getting out of the contract and maybe look for another place where Muay Thai is the main art. I just didn't want to simply stop showing up and cancel my credit card payments. And of course, I figured that there was no point of looking for other places unless I knew that I would have to stick to the contract or if they would let me get out of it or even if they would make me buy it out.

So last week, I asked Dee about it and he told me two things: that he would have to ask the owner about it, which made perfect sense to me and that there was no other place in Tennessee that teaches Muay Thai, which honestly, I found a bit hard to believe. So that afternoon I went online and googled "Muay Thai Nashville" and found this other place called Tiger King Muay Thai that seems to teach only Muay Thai 6 days a week. I thought that it could be interesting to check it out, maybe it was what I was looking for. So I sent Dee an e-mail reminding him about asking the owner because I'd found this other place that may have more Muay Thai classes. I also wrote that it was nothing personal, that I really liked the gym staff and the classes and that it was basically me wondering if I could find a place with more Muay Thai classes. I also said that I would happily keep training with them if it wasn't possible to get out of the contract.

So a few days later Dee called me and told me the owner got pissed off about my e-mail, that my contract got terminated and that I'm not welcome in the gym anymore! I was in shock and tried to understand why, and Dee started to talk about loyalty and how they felt that me thinking about other places made them feel that I doubted their teaching and that they felt betrayed and that basically they kicked me out.

On top of that, apparently the guy who trained the Tiger King MT instructor used to teach at Bad Wolf and something happened that he was fired or left, I don't know.. Which of course, I wasn't aware of. He also said that basically every other school in the state but Bad Wold were "frauds".
Dee also said that they were pissed because people would train two months with them then cancel their credit card, not show up at BW again and go open another place and teach what they'd learn from them. I guess they assumed I was going to do that..? I was disappointed to see that they automatically thought I was that kind of person. I thought they knew me better than that, after 7 months dealing with me.

So basically I was kicked out of Bad Wolf just because I thought about maybe going somewhere else and was honest enough to tell them about it in advance and try to do things right with them. And the best part is that you can read the good reviews I posted here on Sherdog or the one here...

I guess, what gets to me is that they got personal and doubted my loyalty to them and the other guys training and that they said I was putting myself first before the team. I don't know, maybe if that was right in their eyes, they could've talked to me and try to understand my side of the story before attacking me personally.

Dee also told me he felt like I questioned his Muay Thai just because I told them I wanted MORE classes, not BETTER classes. Really? Is there any kind of MMA gym code going on that I'm not aware of? I mean, I would understand that kind of reaction if I'd been with them for many years and the owner and I were close friends but I don't know the guy and also, I think my training partners can do without me, I'm sure, I only trained about an hour a day.

But the best of it all is they charged me the November fee the day after I had sent the e-mail and me, thinking that it was just somebody overlooking it, asked for a refund and the owner refuses to give it to me. So basically, he got mad at me, kicked me out then took $169 from me because, according to him, the month had already started.

so there you go. Dee and Rahman do know their stuff but man, I just don't get what happened there..... and of course, be careful about giving your credit card number to the owner, he sure uses it at his discretion.

**annapaxis** · Posted On: 11/08/2008 7:22pm

Wow, that really sucks. I would really recommend checking out Nashville MMA if you haven't already. It is a very impressive gym, one of the largest in the country and maybe only one step below Extreme Couture, MFS, and ATT as a elite-level facility. If you haven't seen it, check it out. Seriously, the gym is growing and there are some very good athletes there, I can't speak to the Muay Thai program as I only do the BJJ, but I imagine that you could get what you need. Sorry you had a bad experience.

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 11/08/2008 7:46pm

If you can, make them send you a certified letter saying they terminated your contract especially, if it is attached to your credit card.

I'm not saying they are going to do anything underhanded but, it is always best to cover your bases in monetary matters.

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 11/08/2008 11:14pm

Hmph. I can sympathize with the owner, especially if you're going to a person he doesn't like. I hope you can see things from his end. Life goes on. I personally find the way you handled that a bit unnerving as you could've simply asked for more classes and maybe they would've considered it.

**Rambamatic** · Posted On: 11/09/2008 6:21pm

Originally Posted by Omega

Hmph. I can sympathize with the owner, especially if you're going to a person he doesn't like. I hope you can see things from his end. Life goes on. I personally find the way you handled that a bit unnerving as you could've simply asked for more classes and maybe they would've considered it.

Wow...this is really foolish. The poster was up front, honest, and straight up, and had no idea about whatever drama exsited between the owner and the other teacher.

In case you hadn't read the post, he did simply ask for more classes, and even stated to them that he would stay and honor his contract. It is THEIR response which is unnerving.

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 11/09/2008 8:26pm

Originally Posted by Rambamatic

Wow...this is really foolish. The poster was up front, honest, and straight up, and had no idea about whatever drama exsited between the owner and the other teacher.

In case you hadn't read the post, he did simply ask for more classes, and even stated to them that he would stay and honor his contract. It is THEIR response which is unnerving.

Hey dumbfuck here's the quote I read:

So I'd been thinking about this for a few weeks and even though I felt bad about it, I decided that I needed to be honest and ask Dee about the possibility of getting out of the contract and maybe look for another place where Muay Thai is the main art. I just didn't want to simply stop showing up and cancel my credit card payments. And of course, I figured that there was no point of looking for other places unless I knew that I would have to stick to the contract or if they would let me get out of it or even if they would make me buy it out.

So where did you go wrong in your fucking reading? Get the **** of this thread dip ****.

**Punisher** · Posted On: 11/09/2008 8:54pm

Originally Posted by Rambamatic

Wow...this is really foolish. The poster was up front, honest, and straight up, and had no idea about whatever drama exsited between the owner and the other teacher.

In case you hadn't read the post, he did simply ask for more classes, and even stated to them that he would stay and honor his contract. It is THEIR response which is unnerving.

As a school owner, I can see things from Omega's point of view. There are two sides to every story, and to up to this point we've only heard El Zorro's side. Often students hold things in way too long and then blow up in your face. El Zorro's mistake was waiting until things got so bad that the first conversation was about getting out of the contract. At the first inkling he wasn't getting the training he wanted he should have mentioned it to the instructors to see if something could be done.

School owners are not mind readers. The instructors and the owner probably felt blindsided. No matter how El Zorro phrased it, his message basically came across as "Your school is shitty, I don't value you or what you do, I don't want to pay you any more money".

As a school that just opened, BW MMA probably isn't making any money. Most businesses lose money for the first couple of years. It is quite possible that the owners and the instructors are up to their eyeballs in debt, struggling to meet obligations like rent and payroll, all while trying to make their school the very best it can be. I personally ran a school for two full years, never taking a salary for myself, often times taking my own money from my engineering job and putting into the business so I could make rent or pay my staff.

Their reaction was poor, but it basically gave El Zorro what he wanted, out of his contract. As for "kicking him out of the school" I can see their point on that one too. El Zorro had already made it clear he didn't want to be there, and no one, especially a new school owner struggling to make ends meet, needs a potential cancer breeding discontent amongst the students.

Even charging him for November wasn't all that outrageous. There likely wasn't enough time for the owner to contact his billing company and cancel the payment. Since the billing company takes a percentage of the tutition of the top, they sure as hell are not going to want to give the money back. In order for BW MMA to issue El Zorro a refund, they would still be on the hook for the billing company's cut.

This whole situation is why I don't offer long term contracts at my school, at least in the traditional sense. My contracts guarantee the student a certain level of instruction, for a set period of time, at a set monthly rate. The thing is, the last line of my contact states that EITHER PARTY can cancel the contract at anytime with 30 DAYS NOTICE.