Just a site for the gym.
http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/index.php?gymID=792
Hey guys...been forward deployed for some time now and could not really post. Anyways, I got a great one for you!
So I work out at this Gold's Gym in Natomas (in Sacramento). I went in one night and saw this martial arts class. So I looked in on it. It looked like a beginning Tae Kwon Do class for people with no skills...I kept an eye on the class for a few nights. Then, one evening I saw one of the participants in the class in the locker room and I struck up a conversation. I asked what they did in the class and how he liked it.
The nice gentleman's name was Scott. He is one of the senior students (blue belt). He told me that the class was taught by this "Special Forces" guy and that I ought to check it out. He is very good. As soon as he said "special forces" I knew there was a scent of bullshido in the air. I thought to myself, "let me investigate this a little further." Being a member of the SpecOps community, I despise posers.
The next night, I went into the class and introduced myself to the instructor. Martin "Jay" Main. He explained to me that he was a Special Forces medic 18D and that he saw a lot of combat and he was injured in a parachuting accident and that he was in a wheelchair for 5 years and was now getting back into teaching. I thought to myself either this guy is full of shit or this is one of the most courageous stories I have ever heard. I knew better so I knew he was full of shit.
1st sign of Bullshido = Jay is this overweight, out of shape, and older guy about 46years of age. he could not run a mile to save his life. No self respecting operator will let himself get that out of shape.
I figured I want to know more so I told him a little about myself and about my experience with martial arts (BJJ, Muay Thai, Combatives, Goju, Kenpo, Kung Fu, etc...etc...). He asked if I would like to teach the class and that he needs another black belt to help keep things in order. I thought what a way to get an insider look at a McDojo! I jumped at the chance to get involved and write an expose here! I graciously accepted a position to teach.
The next night I got my Gi and showed up to teach. I was greeted by Jay who kept saying to me what a blessing it is to have me there and the lord is looking out for him, etc...etc...He claims that he is into making this a very christian organization and that America is going to hell and that russians think americans are not god fearing people and all this other bs. I was thinking to myself..."what a fucktard!" Man, what have i gotten into here? WOW! Anyways, I asked him a little more about what he did in SF and what group he was with. He claimed to be with the 7th SFG out of Fort Sam Houston. My Bullshido detector came on again...7th Group is out of Fort Bragg. Then I asked him something in Spanish...he did not understand at all what I was saying. He was like I don't speak Spanish. Hmmm...7th group handles central and south american ops...more bullshido! 7th group has a spanish language requirement. Yet Jay does not speak Spanish!? Hmmmmm.
I inquired further about his parachute accident. I asked him if he was jumping with the MC4 or MT1X. He just replied, "you know how it is" ...I was like WTF? He had no idea what I was talking about. He did not even know what the parachute rigs are called. I knew at this point that he was full of shit!
He was also telling me about all his scuba experience. So I asked him if he could tell me the difference between the Mk25 Mod 1 and Mk 25 Mod 2? (I won't disclose the difference here)He did not have any idea. So at this point I was satisfied that he was never in the Special Forces in any capacity. I made a call to Fort Bragg and the 7th Group. They never heard of Martin "Jay" Main in the SF either.
Anyways, I let it go because I wanted to see what he was teaching these students. I assessed his students the first week. None of them could execute basic blocks. No kicks were being practiced at all. No Sparring whatsoever. No ground work. No nothing. all they were taught were these self defense moves Jay called the ABCs. A was a wrist grab and he taught the students a basic trap and joint lock from it. No student could apply the move against another student. Each time, the opposing student had to help the student applying the move in order to get them to execute the move correctly. Can you say impractical?
There was no structure to the classes at all. Jay would come in and show a bunch of really silly moves that would get you killed on the street. For example, in many of the classes, he showed a knife defense (to a bunch of beginners) where a person comes straight in with a thrust stab and he steps into the attack and executes this circular motion with his right arm twice and then gives his back to the attacker and proceeds to grab the wrist of the attacker and goes for a break. Probably one of the dumbest moves I have ever seen.
I stepped in at this point and asked jay to execute that move on me. He tried the same move on me and as soon as he gave me his back, I applied a rear naked choke and he could not get out to save his life. I said to him, "don't ever give your back to an opponent." He then told me..."you know I could have gotten out of that at any time." A student said, "I don't think so." I said, "you probably would not get out." (I was being nice) He said, "put me back in it." I'm like WOW...this guy is pretty stupid. So I put him in a nice Mata Leon. This fool tried the elbow into the ribs thing and got nowhere. I was not even squeezing at this point. He started trying to pinch me. I was like WTF? So I tightened up a bit and put my left foot into the back of his knee and took him down. I put my hooks in and it was over in about two seconds. I didn't realize that he did not even know to TAP OUT! This fool was going to sleep. Finally a student told him..."Tap Dude." And he did and I immediately let go. Students later told me that he was really about a half second from lights out.
So as the weeks go by, I see that everytime I am teaching an effective technique, this fool comes up and says..."here's another move you can do" or "let me show you something else." He has serious ego issues and feels like he has to try and one up me in class. I just laughed at this...so did his students. Especially the female students. They told me, "he is really intimidated by you isn't he?" How funny. I was just like whatever because I just wanted to expose him for the fraud he was and I think I got my point accross.
There was one really cool student..I will call him "D." D had previously trained in a little TKD and Jiu-jitsu. I feel that he really knew what I was doing (pretty sharp kid). So I told him what I was up to and he said man I knew something was always up with that guy. He says that he was always paying attention to me and that he now sees what the whole mcdojo thing was all about (I explained about McDojos and Bullshido.net to him). He will be posting on here once he gets his internet up and running.
The students were a really good bunch of guys and they really wanted to learn. But man this guy was teaching them CRAP. I tried to stay and teach them some real good stuff and I think I made them into better fighters in the process. But I could only take so much shit.
Jay main promotes people when he feels like it. For example, D was a yellow belt when I first started. He got his orange belt after teaching 10 hours (jay calls this face time) and approximately a month. Then, within two months, he is blue belt. WTF? The blue belts were promoted to green belts after about two months as well. No tests, blue belts had to only give a class on nutrition. again, WTF? nutrition class? whatever. He even tried to promote a guy from yellow to orange even though he could not execute 1 proper block or execute the most basic foot movements. I opposed this at the time and he gave the guy a stripe of electrical tape instead. Man, How McDojo is that? WOW. No tests, no mandatory self defense techniques, no real requirements, no nothing. Go figure!
Oh and I almost forgot. At the beginning of each class, he would spend time talking about himself and how the special forces are a tough breed and that they are getting one heck of a training expert in him. What a crock of shit. He tried to involve me in his bullshit too. He tried to imply that we served together. D can attest to this. I was like WTF? Anyhow, this guy is full of poo!
He even got accused of fondling one of the female students.
On another occasion, he invited all of the students to his place for a "get-together." I showed up along with some of the students and guess what? After everyone showed up, it turned out to be some psycho bible study. I felt like I got hoodwinked along with the others into a bible study (not that there is anything wrong with that). If I were told up front, I could make a decision to show up or not. But he took that choice away. I almost kicked his ass that night too! I just left and kept my cool. After I left, the students told me in the next class that they felt the same way too.
So I finally quit and am here to write my expose about Gold's Gym Mixed Martial Arts!
My conclusion = Uncertified instructor (he's no black belt), teaching bullshit techniques, students that don't know any better, plus promotions at will = McDOJO!!!!!!
Here's Jay:
http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/index.php?gymID=792
Hey guys...been forward deployed for some time now and could not really post. Anyways, I got a great one for you!
So I work out at this Gold's Gym in Natomas (in Sacramento). I went in one night and saw this martial arts class. So I looked in on it. It looked like a beginning Tae Kwon Do class for people with no skills...I kept an eye on the class for a few nights. Then, one evening I saw one of the participants in the class in the locker room and I struck up a conversation. I asked what they did in the class and how he liked it.
The nice gentleman's name was Scott. He is one of the senior students (blue belt). He told me that the class was taught by this "Special Forces" guy and that I ought to check it out. He is very good. As soon as he said "special forces" I knew there was a scent of bullshido in the air. I thought to myself, "let me investigate this a little further." Being a member of the SpecOps community, I despise posers.
The next night, I went into the class and introduced myself to the instructor. Martin "Jay" Main. He explained to me that he was a Special Forces medic 18D and that he saw a lot of combat and he was injured in a parachuting accident and that he was in a wheelchair for 5 years and was now getting back into teaching. I thought to myself either this guy is full of shit or this is one of the most courageous stories I have ever heard. I knew better so I knew he was full of shit.
1st sign of Bullshido = Jay is this overweight, out of shape, and older guy about 46years of age. he could not run a mile to save his life. No self respecting operator will let himself get that out of shape.
I figured I want to know more so I told him a little about myself and about my experience with martial arts (BJJ, Muay Thai, Combatives, Goju, Kenpo, Kung Fu, etc...etc...). He asked if I would like to teach the class and that he needs another black belt to help keep things in order. I thought what a way to get an insider look at a McDojo! I jumped at the chance to get involved and write an expose here! I graciously accepted a position to teach.
The next night I got my Gi and showed up to teach. I was greeted by Jay who kept saying to me what a blessing it is to have me there and the lord is looking out for him, etc...etc...He claims that he is into making this a very christian organization and that America is going to hell and that russians think americans are not god fearing people and all this other bs. I was thinking to myself..."what a fucktard!" Man, what have i gotten into here? WOW! Anyways, I asked him a little more about what he did in SF and what group he was with. He claimed to be with the 7th SFG out of Fort Sam Houston. My Bullshido detector came on again...7th Group is out of Fort Bragg. Then I asked him something in Spanish...he did not understand at all what I was saying. He was like I don't speak Spanish. Hmmm...7th group handles central and south american ops...more bullshido! 7th group has a spanish language requirement. Yet Jay does not speak Spanish!? Hmmmmm.
I inquired further about his parachute accident. I asked him if he was jumping with the MC4 or MT1X. He just replied, "you know how it is" ...I was like WTF? He had no idea what I was talking about. He did not even know what the parachute rigs are called. I knew at this point that he was full of shit!
He was also telling me about all his scuba experience. So I asked him if he could tell me the difference between the Mk25 Mod 1 and Mk 25 Mod 2? (I won't disclose the difference here)He did not have any idea. So at this point I was satisfied that he was never in the Special Forces in any capacity. I made a call to Fort Bragg and the 7th Group. They never heard of Martin "Jay" Main in the SF either.
Anyways, I let it go because I wanted to see what he was teaching these students. I assessed his students the first week. None of them could execute basic blocks. No kicks were being practiced at all. No Sparring whatsoever. No ground work. No nothing. all they were taught were these self defense moves Jay called the ABCs. A was a wrist grab and he taught the students a basic trap and joint lock from it. No student could apply the move against another student. Each time, the opposing student had to help the student applying the move in order to get them to execute the move correctly. Can you say impractical?
There was no structure to the classes at all. Jay would come in and show a bunch of really silly moves that would get you killed on the street. For example, in many of the classes, he showed a knife defense (to a bunch of beginners) where a person comes straight in with a thrust stab and he steps into the attack and executes this circular motion with his right arm twice and then gives his back to the attacker and proceeds to grab the wrist of the attacker and goes for a break. Probably one of the dumbest moves I have ever seen.
I stepped in at this point and asked jay to execute that move on me. He tried the same move on me and as soon as he gave me his back, I applied a rear naked choke and he could not get out to save his life. I said to him, "don't ever give your back to an opponent." He then told me..."you know I could have gotten out of that at any time." A student said, "I don't think so." I said, "you probably would not get out." (I was being nice) He said, "put me back in it." I'm like WOW...this guy is pretty stupid. So I put him in a nice Mata Leon. This fool tried the elbow into the ribs thing and got nowhere. I was not even squeezing at this point. He started trying to pinch me. I was like WTF? So I tightened up a bit and put my left foot into the back of his knee and took him down. I put my hooks in and it was over in about two seconds. I didn't realize that he did not even know to TAP OUT! This fool was going to sleep. Finally a student told him..."Tap Dude." And he did and I immediately let go. Students later told me that he was really about a half second from lights out.
So as the weeks go by, I see that everytime I am teaching an effective technique, this fool comes up and says..."here's another move you can do" or "let me show you something else." He has serious ego issues and feels like he has to try and one up me in class. I just laughed at this...so did his students. Especially the female students. They told me, "he is really intimidated by you isn't he?" How funny. I was just like whatever because I just wanted to expose him for the fraud he was and I think I got my point accross.
There was one really cool student..I will call him "D." D had previously trained in a little TKD and Jiu-jitsu. I feel that he really knew what I was doing (pretty sharp kid). So I told him what I was up to and he said man I knew something was always up with that guy. He says that he was always paying attention to me and that he now sees what the whole mcdojo thing was all about (I explained about McDojos and Bullshido.net to him). He will be posting on here once he gets his internet up and running.
The students were a really good bunch of guys and they really wanted to learn. But man this guy was teaching them CRAP. I tried to stay and teach them some real good stuff and I think I made them into better fighters in the process. But I could only take so much shit.
Jay main promotes people when he feels like it. For example, D was a yellow belt when I first started. He got his orange belt after teaching 10 hours (jay calls this face time) and approximately a month. Then, within two months, he is blue belt. WTF? The blue belts were promoted to green belts after about two months as well. No tests, blue belts had to only give a class on nutrition. again, WTF? nutrition class? whatever. He even tried to promote a guy from yellow to orange even though he could not execute 1 proper block or execute the most basic foot movements. I opposed this at the time and he gave the guy a stripe of electrical tape instead. Man, How McDojo is that? WOW. No tests, no mandatory self defense techniques, no real requirements, no nothing. Go figure!
Oh and I almost forgot. At the beginning of each class, he would spend time talking about himself and how the special forces are a tough breed and that they are getting one heck of a training expert in him. What a crock of shit. He tried to involve me in his bullshit too. He tried to imply that we served together. D can attest to this. I was like WTF? Anyhow, this guy is full of poo!
He even got accused of fondling one of the female students.
On another occasion, he invited all of the students to his place for a "get-together." I showed up along with some of the students and guess what? After everyone showed up, it turned out to be some psycho bible study. I felt like I got hoodwinked along with the others into a bible study (not that there is anything wrong with that). If I were told up front, I could make a decision to show up or not. But he took that choice away. I almost kicked his ass that night too! I just left and kept my cool. After I left, the students told me in the next class that they felt the same way too.
So I finally quit and am here to write my expose about Gold's Gym Mixed Martial Arts!
My conclusion = Uncertified instructor (he's no black belt), teaching bullshit techniques, students that don't know any better, plus promotions at will = McDOJO!!!!!!
Here's Jay:
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