McMahon BJJ - Ft. Collins, CO

[Barrett]

Atmosphere: I rated this lower because of the policy of not cross training. It leads to brain washing too.

I trained for about 15 months at the Easton school in Denver. Finnie hadn't opened this school yet, but he taught in Boulder and I met him a few times. I won't comment on the rest of the scores, but I'm positive you wouldn't have ranked atmosphere so low if you'd actually spent any time with these people.

It's true that this is primarily a BJJ school, but they absolutely encourage cross training. Amal (Finnie's teacher) actually started out in Muy Thai before he ever began training BJJ. Most of the black belts under Amal actively participate in MMA as well. I wouldn't train there if you want to focus on striking, but you'll never hear them discourage any of their students from going elsewhere for it.

[kenf]

Thanks for posting the information about McMahon BJJ. I live in the area and will try to get over there and visit them at some point. I've never trained in BJJ but have been thinking about it a bit (I've been a little hesitant because I'm 51 years old and feel a little protective about my joints these days). It seems like they might be a good school at which to give it a try.

[Omega Supreme]

I trained for about 15 months at the Easton school in Denver. Finnie hadn't opened this school yet, but he taught in Boulder and I met him a few times. I won't comment on the rest of the scores, but I'm positive you wouldn't have ranked atmosphere so low if you'd actually spent any time with these people.

It's true that this is primarily a BJJ school, but they absolutely encourage cross training. Amal (Finnie's teacher) actually started out in Muy Thai before he ever began training BJJ. Most of the black belts under Amal actively participate in MMA as well. I wouldn't train there if you want to focus on striking, but you'll never hear them discourage any of their students from going elsewhere for it.

I'm going off what was said in the other room and their general policy. 7 (which I believe it should be) is still a "B" IMO. I wasn't the one who opened up this can of worms so there we go.

[JohnnyCache]

McMahon produces face beaters. Good school. The premium brand in the area from what I can tell. (my gf lives in ft. collins and I've been trying to scheme up a way down there for a while)

[FCB]

I've trained here for 6 months--I'll try to be as objective as possible. Also, this isn't a MMA school, strictly BJJ.

Aliveness:
8: Hard contact with reasonable safety gear and/or limited to one range of fighting (standup/grappling).
Dedicated time to rolling virtually every day it's open.

Equipment:
2: Bring your own.
Not much to add to this. It's not a place to train on/with gear. A few pull up bars, a punching bag, etc, but that's it.

Gym Size:
6: Actual dedicated commercial space, somewhat small but functional.
That pretty much says it all.

Instructor/Student Ratio:
6: large class but instructor is accessible and oversees most classes.
You see more purple belt level instructors teaching basic level. Once you move on to more advanced classes, the head instructor is there for most of them. Classes range in size: 5 on a slow day to sometimes as many as 20+.

Atmosphere/Attitude:
9: Open, supportive but challenging, bizarro hippy ass-beating love fest.
Amazingly cool people. Beat downs delivered with instruction.
The exclusivity/cross-training stuff from that old thread doesn't apply anymore (if it ever did). Plenty of guys go to Fort Collins judo, kickbox, etc.

Grappling Instruction:
7: Comprehensive grappling with success in local/regional competition or practical application (LEO, military).
A lot of students do very well in the regional competitions. I know there's been some success among some of the students at Pan-Ams, but we'll call it a 7.