Your opinion on this MMA school

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 6:48am

Hi all,

This is the most famous MMA school in my area.
While I do not plan to enlist there, the gym is creating a lot of publicity (at least for German backwood country), and I wonder on how you would judge it,
based on the information given on their website.

http://www.dragon-gym.de/ (In German)

http://www.dragon-world.us/homepage.html (English version)

My personal impression is mixed: They seem to have got the best equipment in the region, the most variety of classes and the videos they show on their site show solid skills.
However, the web presentation of the school seems too boasting for my taste, and a bit too exaggerating.

The reason why I always avoided this gym is simply personal:
My friends and I repeatedly clashed with people from that school big time in our teenage days.:gaygay:

So, what would you say? - Should I send my little nephew there when he gets old enough to fit the gloves, or look for a better, albeit more backyard school?

Yours,

Rafe

**Sang** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 6:58am

Their fighter page is pretty impressive, a lot of titles. Does your nephew want to train MMA?

**Obesely** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 7:01am

Look, you can't really blame them for boisterous presentation.People go into this business to make money. That's the whole point of your ad on TV/the Yellow Pages. They need a boisterous webpage design to draw people in, I'm sure. Obviously, some things may get embellished. From the looks of things, if everything else is a 'backyard school' in your region. perhaps this will be your best bet. Just make sure that your repeated clashes in the past don't somehow end up affecting your nephew/how they treat and teach him.

**M.C.** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 7:53am

Well, I just can give you a small input, never been there, never trained with them, so those are all asumptions!
Some of my Trainers at my current MT school are WKA national and international/world champs (this is the same association their fighters fight) and they know what they are doing/teaching. Hence I would venture to say that they should know what they are doing when it comes to Kickboxing/MT (But you have to know that WKA fights everything from almost point fighting kickboxing to Fullcontact MT so you should check under which rule set they hold titles).
I can't tell anything about their MMA/(B)JJ program and since holiday season already started I don't know if I get to train before January again. If I do, I will ask my coach (he is well known around Germany and knows schools and fighters too) what he has to say about this school.

Odd thing though, I never heard about them before but this is probably due to the location of this school and my school.

**Diesel_tke** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 8:25am

I would say to send your nephew over there to train so that he can find out for himself. But if they start acting like dicks then send him somewhere else. It would suck for him not to get the opportunity just because some people where dick heads to you a few years ago.

At least this way, if he is mistreated, he will have his own experience to tell people about. No just going off what happened to you.

We have a local place with the same type of thing going on. I've given people the same advice that I just gave you. All of them had problems with the place. But that is the better way for it to happen.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 10:19am

Oh, my nephew still has some years until this will get interesting for him. The little one, who in reality is my godchild, is about one year and half old. ;)

I was really asking because in the last few months, after this "Dragon Gym" hosted a cage fight event, many of my friends who are interested in MAs have asked me if I can recommend them that place, and I really found that I had never bothered even to look at the webpage. Some of my buddies have even trained there for a time, but I haven't spoken to them since.

Now, looking at the record of the chief instructor...

Dan Tae KwonDo, 4. Dan Kickboxing, 3. Dan Kobudo, 1. Dan Jiu Jitsu, 1. Instructor Degree WingChun, 1. Instructor Degree Escrima

...I get the impression that this is a lot, even for a pro. Now, don't want to badmouth the man, he surely does an honorable work there.

Anyway, if you, c4t5, could really ask your instructors, that would be really cool. - Lately, it's like that every time word goes about MAs, somebody tells me he or she has heard... Blabla... Dragon Gym... Best thing since sliced bread.

Also, it would obviously make reconsider my own choice of a gym if I knew we really had a top place there.

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 10:32am

Originally Posted by This is Sparta!

...I get the impression that this is a lot, even for a pro. Now, don't want to badmouth the man, he surely does an honorable work there.

Depends, you'd have to see where he learned each. I worked with a guy that had 7 BBs, IIRC, by the time he was 17.

Before you say it, yes his fight quality wasn't great. Depending on age and circumstance 5 isn't that many. It may be the advertising you should research each, as ct45 suggested, then draw your conclusions.

Two of our respected staff have at least 5 BB if not more.

**M.C.** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 10:37am

I will ask if I can, my trainer said he will call me if he has time to roll/spar during holiday season.
To be honest, if you are in MA for 10-15 years it is possible, my trainer is not only a MT teacher he is also certified KB trainer, Escrima coach, 3. Dan in RSD Karate and since a few months ago a Vale Tudo instructor under Andiconda.

The record of the other guy is not that strange, if you know a few things. First you can "cross test" in several MA, meaning if you for instance have a 2nd dan or higher in TKD you can take a 1 dan test in Allkampf, you have to show the technqiues (about 250 or some) but that is not a biggy and boom you have a nother Dan. I know of programms where you can get a 1. Dan in HKD in about 6 months if you have min. of 3. dan degree in a Striking MA such as TKD/KKK/JJJ. You have to take a lot of weekend seminars and train at home but it is possible.
I know about a Bluebelt Program in BJJ that runs about 6 months (it is run under Ron Harris and he also does the Testing and since I am no rank in BJJ so far I will not judge it, though it sounds a bit strange)
Even with my few years in Allkampf+ training in HKD and my prior knowledge of other MA my trainer at JJJ suggested I should take a belt test for a higher belt, problem was at that time (and still is) I don't take any belt testings anymore and money, as usual.

So it is possible and if I would run a MA school I would do the same thing.

**Lebell** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 11:14am

what exactly is allkampf? all kampf means all fights/combats right?
is it some sort of freefighting?

**M.C.** · Posted On: 12/21/2008 11:32am

It is a system created about 30 some years ago, with the goal to be the "new system" for the police (never made it though), it was "designed" to respond to any attack while being within the law...
It is close to JJJ or German JJ and maybe HKD mixed with some TKD, shity judo and some weapon defense (some are good, most are dangerous). A lot of standing arm/wrist locks but also some nice techniques.

They could strip it down to 20-30 techniques that are good, the rest is compliant up to utterly stupid and dangerous (weapon defenses) such as bend over Xblock against a knife attack and other stuff that would get you killed. Though they have good positioning and awareness drills.

I trained it for about 3.5/4 years. I went again a few weeks ago, after training MMA and BJJ for a while and I just felt sorry for them. They have some "sparing" that is between light contact and compliant (there are schools who teach it more like MMA, with pressure testing the stuff, but they are dime a docent). I was just standing there feeling wrong and had to restrain myself during sparing, not to punch/kick for real or shoot in and GnP.