The mma clinic?

[SWM]

Just wanted to see what you guy's thought of the place.

Coaches are:

Paul Hines
Ben Wood
Adrian Smith

Googled them, can't find much. Except the pancrase connection.Are they the real deal. (www.themmaclinic.com)

I train BJJ elsewhere so I only really want striking and mma sparring.I was torn between here and London Shoot, but I was worried that I might not get much coaching and attention at London shoot.

I live in SW london.

Appreciate any advice.

S

[Malcontent]

Where do you train BJJ?

Do they not do any striking at all?

[screwi]

paul's a top rate coach, really really good teacher.

don't know the other guys, they're on the boxing side of things i believe.

[madhorsebjj]

They make you pay £55 for an induction course so I'm a bit sceptical tbh as no other mma club in london makes you pay a big lump fee up front before you can train with them.

I haven't trained there but think London Shoot is good, but overcrowded so a smaller place may be better for your needs.

[Rasputin]

Whats the induction course for? Anyone else trained there was thinking of going down next week

Ras

[IceKid]

Just wanted to see what you guy's thought of the place.

Coaches are:

Paul Hines
Ben Wood
Adrian Smith

Googled them, can't find much. Except the pancrase connection.Are they the real deal. (www.themmaclinic.com)

I train BJJ elsewhere so I only really want striking and mma sparring.I was torn between here and London Shoot, but I was worried that I might not get much coaching and attention at London shoot.

I live in SW london.

Appreciate any advice.

S

i train at london shoot and its great mate, all the sparring in intense and the coaches have good credentials

[SWM]

i train at london shoot and its great mate, all the sparring in intense and the coaches have good credentials

Thanks, I went to London Shoot in the end. First session was good, back on monday.

Simon

[Malcontent]

Is london shoot as overcrowded as some say?

[SWM]

Is london shoot as overcrowded as some say?

Based on one session, I cannot honestly say. There were around 15-20 people at the boxing session.Whether thats average or not I don't know. Going to do MT on monday so i'll let you know how that compares.

[Malcontent]

Ok cheers.

How did it feel to you? Did you come away feeling that you'd gotten something worthwhile from the session?

[SWM]

I'm used to quite small classes and quite intensive instruction, so make of my opinion what you will.

I thought it was more of a cardio work out than anything. masses of skipping and bodyweight circuits. Quite a few rounds of shadow boxing. Then partner 'pad' work.

It wasn't what I was expecting tbh - I had visions of much more heavy bag work and more correction. But perhaps it's just the nature of the sport - in that the theory is simple but you just have to hit stuff all the time, i don't know.Perhaps they just expect you to get on with it without constant encouragement and help. I don't have enough experience of boxing to know what 'good' looks like or whether this kind of session is 'normal'

I'm going to try the MT tonight, although my knee kanes from wrestling, and see how that differs.

Sorry that I can't be more helpful

[Malcontent]

It sounds as though you didn't get much from it then.

I'm a relative novice in terms of MMA/BJJ/Muay Thai etc, but I have boxed for many years.

Boxing is obviously very cardio intensive, but one would hope that you'd also have gotten more feedback from the coaches about where you were going right or wrong.

I don't know how many coaches were there, but most real boxing clubs I've trained at generally have two to four coaches present, so I never had an issue with lack of correction or advice.

Conditioning is obviously vital to all fighting sports, but you can do conditioning by yourself and in your own time, what you're mostly paying for is tuition. It doesn't seem that that's what you got.

Was there any sparring at all?

Hope the Muay Thai is better.

[SWM]

It sounds as though you didn't get much from it then.

I'm a relative novice in terms of MMA/BJJ/Muay Thai etc, but I have boxed for many years.

Boxing is obviously very cardio intensive, but one would hope that you'd also have gotten more feedback from the coaches about where you were going right or wrong.

I don't know how many coaches were there, but most real boxing clubs I've trained at generally have two to four coaches present, so I never had an issue with lack of correction or advice.

Conditioning is obviously vital to all fighting sports, but you can do conditioning by yourself and in your own time, what you're mostly paying for is tuition. It doesn't seem that that's what you got.

Was there any sparring at all?

Hope the Muay Thai is better.


Yeah I was expecting a few more coaches too, and surprisingly for such a large(they have 500 members according to Alexis) club they only have 3 heavy bags.

I might try the MT tomorrow instead(beginners) since my shin is really sore from skipping and i don't fancy masses of it tonight, especially not after 2 and a bit hours of no gi. If the MT is not much better, I'll pay my fee for the session and go elsewhere (maybe trad boxing, fitzroy or somewhere like that)

FYI there did seem to be sparring, but it was after the session and a bunch of guys rocked up who weren't at the boxing. I didn't ask to stay but i wasn't invited, and most of the guys looked like pro's (just my judgement, I don't know this).

Again to speculate further, I think the guy who took the boxing session wasn't a boxer. I have only met a few pro boxers but I would guess that the guy running the session wasn't one (he definately isn't the guy on the website).

I stress that I have little experience so I don't pretend to be authoritative, assuming my shin's ok (it only hurts when skipping and running) i'll be there for the beginners MT. If you have the time come along, it's only an hour and 8 quid or something. Tbh I wouldn't mind the opinion of someone who knows what they're talking about.

[Malcontent]

I'd be very interested to see what it's like up there as I've heard such wildly differing accounts of the sessions at LS.

Unfortunately I'm under doctors orders not to train at present, and anyway, I'm an old boxer and know feck all about Muay Thai.

From what you describe the boxing sessions sound pants. Then again it isn't a boxing club so perhaps you're right, perhaps a proper boxing gym is what you need. Although I suspect that for MMA purposes a true Muay Thai gym would be even more useful?

Have you decided not to give The MMA Clinic a go? Harry, one of their coaches comes on here. His username is 'The Gimp' I think. Perhaps you may want to send him a PM to find out more about what they do?

It's a little far from you though.

[IceKid]

it may seem overcrowded at times, but thats cuz its quite small but also popular, so you know..

but in my opinion it doesnt effect how much i learn, the coaches are fair and most of the time if they are not commenting on your training its cuz your doing it right.

MT is alot better than Boxing there in my opinion, boxing is more cardio and strength building.

Andy is the MT coach and does alot more on getting technique etc perfect, which goes without saying..hes a 5 time national champion

wrestling and even more so MMA is very good aswell, Alexis and Paul have been all round the world and spent alot of time in japan and brazil and were both alternates for the olympic wrestling team.

dont give up to soon mate, keep coming, become a regular and if you have skill the coaches will pick up on it and will get you fights and give you much more of their time/respect

hope this helps

also what days you goin MT because i go tuesdays/thursdays/saturdays

my names Ryan, perhaps i'll see you there sometime

[IceKid]

also in addition to my above comment,

beginners MT may not seem very good, if you find it to easy come to the other sessions

they are alot harder and Andy shows alot more technique and the combos are better, also there is some light (leg kick and clinch) sparring, for rough MT sparring come after wednesdays session, although i wouldnt if you are a beginner, its no walk in the park.

[Malcontent]

Ryan, do you only train MT there or do you grapple also?

[IceKid]

3 times a week MT, on sundays i do MMA which at LS is mainly submissions and some take downs to get to a good position on the ground.

i have been training for almost, if not a year, and have a very strong striking base.

being only 16 i will easily build around it with BJJ and perhaps more wrestling

[Malcontent]

Ok thanks.

I've heard that the off peak sessions are better for getting more coach interaction, as it's not as busy.

[IceKid]

it depends, personally it seems random, sometimes its really busy and sometimes (though rarely) theres only 7-8 people, normally theres around 15-20 people which is why MT on tuesdays and thursdays is better because the wrestling area is used which is alot more spacious (as the geezer who made this thread would know).

but if you wanna come along feel free mate, every1 is welcome. just check out the website for the lesson timetable

www.londonshootfighters.com

[SWM]

Cheers Ryan for taking the time to do that.

I'm going to the beginners MT tonight. I don't think it will be too easy tbh, My background (apart from Grappling in recent months) is in karate and so far i'm having to unlearn bad habits (like having my guard too low etc)- I wish I had done boxing. I completely understand having to stick around to gain the respect of the coaches, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I just want to get my basics down over the next few months (which is why I care about attentive coaching- don't want to learn bad habits) and then do some sparring. I might stay away from the boxing sessions for a few weeks, since I have really sore shins (knee to shin behind bone) and skipping really doesn't help.

I am 18 with short dark hair, bout 5 10, names Simon.

[SWM]

Also If you live in West London you might want to try Carlson's for BJJ (i'm training there aswell). I say that because the unlimited fee for teenagers is 40 quid a month and they have daytime sessions. Very small classes too, if you want to tune up your grappling fast, and I notice there aren't many daytime sessions at LS.

[IceKid]

i might come and see what its like, although im focusing on gettin my striking as strong as possible atm, then at around 17 im gonna start grappling =]

yeh alot of the sessions are 5pm+ with only a few early 1s on monday and saturday.

im used to it though because of school

but not that i have finished school a few more early sessions would be great lol

[SWM]

Just to finish the thread, and in case anyone in future searches and is curious about LS from the perspective of a beginner.

I went to the MT beginners, much better than the boxing. Coach was nice guy and loads of attention on technique. Really basic combos, pretty much what it says on the tin.

Maybe the boxing coach was having an off day, who knows. Happy with what I've seen and from now on i'll train there as well as Carlson's.

Any Q's etc, pm me. Thanks for help and advice.

[Malcontent]

Thanks for the update.

I'm sure LS has such a good reputation for a reason. Good to see you're going to give it a bit longer.