Academy of Martial Arts (AMA Santa Barbara)

[CoffeeFan]

I'm going to try to be objective about this: Give the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome. I've been training at AMA for around 5 -6 years now, mostly in SAMBO but I have dabbled in kung fu, kickboxing, and have tried out the weapons course. For the sake of this review I'm not going to talk about the weapons and striking classes, since they are not my forte and I don't have anything to really compare them too.

ALIVENESS

Generally moves and sequences are initially practiced on a non resisting opponent, then moved into a more alive manner. At the end of the class we employ sparring/ grappling in which we get to practice the moves with resistance. The only reason for giving a 9 instead of a 10 is that we don't usually practice the moves within a "street fight" type of environment, with minimal protection and rules. During the higher belt testing these are done, not generally during regular class.

EQUIPMENT

AMA has some awesome equipment! High on the list is the full MMA cage,which is the only one in the Santa Barbara area. Of course there are also heavy bags, focus mitts, thai pads, grappling dummies, kicking shields, crash mats, and anything else you need for martial arts training. Also there is a variety of exercise equipment including a treadmill, exercise bike, some kettle bells, rubber bands, and medicine balls. The only thing that keeps me from giving this a perfect 10 is the lack of weight lifting equipment in the studios.

Edit: Since my initital review the studio has gotten it's hands on a wide range of dumbells and other weight equipment. Score adjusted to a 10.

Gym Size

The studio is huge, the front room is more then enough space to have two different classes going simultaneity. Plus there is also a back room that has the cage and more mat room for another class.

Instructor/Student Ratio

There are times when we have a great ratio and everyone gets observation from the instructors. There are other times when it is up to one head instructor to run two different classes, in two different rooms, with one of the higher belts supervising. This works, but sometimes it can be frustrating when your not sure what is going to be taught in class or if you are unsure about something.

Atmosphere/Attitude

I love the studio, it's a great place to be around. Generally everyone is friendly and people have good attitudes. There isn't a lot of formality in the evening classes, it's more of people having a good time, joking around, but also learning how to hurt people. Plus Canadians are banned from entering, so thats cool. :icon_mrgr


Striking Instruction

We offer kung fu, boxing, and kickboxing. I will let another student evaluate the striking and weapons portion of the school

Grappling Instruction

We do have great grappling instruction, but I'm not sure if calling it SAMBO is correct. We do a lot of leg work and throws, however we don't wear kurkas and recently switched from part time gi to no gi. Submission wrestling? Modified SAMBO? Whatever you want to call it, we have a great grappling program that teaches legitimate techniques with an emphases on developing a game plan for each person, rather then have everyone following the same strategy.

I give it a 9 for two reasons: the termination of having gi's gives us a disadvantage when competing in BJJ or Judo schools and I think it's important to know. My second reason for the 9 is that we don't really do that well in grappling tournaments due to us not grappling by competition rule sets and employing more of a "long/slow" game. I should note, however, that we did just added a competition team/class which I think will make a great impact in this area.

Weapons Instruction

We offer staff, escrima, knife, and kenjitsu. I will allow others to rate this part.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm9YVStRwjU

[animlmthr]

Thanks a lot! I'm actually moving to that area and have been debating whether this dojo was legit. Your review nullified any hesitations I had before! Now I'm willing to do the 45min bike ride to class and know I'm not wasting my energy! Thanks again!

[Omega Supreme]

Age limit at the school? There is none. Parents come into the gym and ask what age we start them at. The answer is whenever they can follow the directions. My youngest to date is 2 years old and he's 4 now.

We have boxing classes, American Muay Thai and kickboxing classes as well as Kung-fu for the more traditionalists and Kenjitsu classes. There are actually extended classes for the kids which teach them how to ground fight, throw and do kickboxing but they must also do Kung-fu for structure purposes.

We have two levels of fight team practice beginners and Pro/Am. The only reason why I would give us a 9 in grappling is because we bring in some world level competitors to help fine tune our competitors.

Jiu Jitsu (or Jiujitus) is now being offered together with SAMBO and we now have one gi class for cool people.

[Omega Supreme]

Hey guys. New update. We are changing our name and location to down town to a ~9000 sqft facility.
4200 sqft floor
18' Octagon Cage
1400 sqft weight room

New name is Valhalla Elite Training Center.
our websites are
www.sbmartialarts.com and www.valhallaetc.com.

New facility now offers a full time Jiu Jitsu gi class and a larger weight lifting facility. New schedule will be up soon.

[Phrost]

Might as well just post a new review. Include pics too though.

[Omega Supreme]

Might as well just post a new review. Include pics too though.

Will do. As soon as we are done.