COMPREHENSIVE & TRANSPARENT REVIEW OF UofGF - UofGF is owned and run by Coach Steve Patterson. My…read morefamily had over a year of experience with Coach Steve in the children's class and a few months in the adult class. The children and the adult members were all friendly and great to work with. The parents are also great & the children are delightful. The substitute coaches are all wonderful and easy to work with as well. However for the past year, we've experienced several concerns with Coach Steve's teaching style. Coach Steve has an arrogant coaching approach to both children and adults. Many children are between the ages 4 to 8, still finding confidence in themselves; building confidence is what drives many people to jiu jitsu, especially children. Coach Steve is very condescending when speaking to the younger children and will not get down to their level when talking to them. Coach Steve is also incessantly yelling during the large portion of his class preventing the children from having adequate time to execute moves without interruption. This constant yelling intimidates many of the children and appears to be the reason behind the revolving door of many child members. On April 16, 2019 Coach Steve gave a long lecture to the children about how they should NOT cry; that they should not cry ON or OFF the jiu jitsu mat; Coach Steve stated," when I was a kid I never cried on the mat or off the mat!". The young boy (around 9 years of age) whom Coach Steve was lecturing was humiliated in front of the children, with his father present. We have not seen that child nor his father since that said incident. Many of the parents discussed the occurrence with disappointment following the class. Our 6-year-old then asked us if it is ok to cry when we got home. Our response was, it is never a good idea to bottle up your emotions.

I have no martial arts experience so that made walking through the door the hardest part. However,…read moreI was immediately put at ease once Steve (the owner/instructor) introduced himself and convinced me to take the free week trial. I've been going for about 2.5 months now and am really enjoying all I've learned. Steve is a down-to-earth, modest, and friendly instructor who is very skilled and knowledgable. Steve takes pride in seeing his students learn and grow and makes every effort to make sure they succeed. I also have a great experience with the other members of the gym. They all have been very friendly and helpful. I definitely recommend attending the University of Ground Fighting and think you'll get hooked, just like I did!

We first joined ACE Taekwondo in Yorkville back in February 2021, when my daughter--then in the…read moremidst of a full-blown Naruto obsession--begged to become a "ninja". To be honest, I was hesitant at first. My daughter had tried T-ball previously and lost interest quickly, and I worried Taekwondo would be another short-lived hobby. The commitment felt long, and while the cost was reasonable for area martial arts classes, it felt like a risk if she didn't stick with it. On top of that, we were still deep in the pandemic: my daughter wore a mask to every class, and I waited outside in the car. But she loved it. Despite all the challenges, she kept showing up to class, excited and engaged. As Covid restrictions lifted, I started coming inside to watch occasionally, but mostly kept to myself--I'm not much of a "people person." Still, as the months turned into years and my daughter worked her way toward her black belt, I realized this wasn't a passing phase. Her dedication inspired me. Eventually, I started bringing my toddler to the Toddler classes and got to know Master, Instructor White, and the other instructors. When my daughter earned her deputy belt and began preparing for her black belt test, I decided to join her on the mat. I signed up for Taekwondo and, being an overachiever, added Hapkido too! A year later, my daughter and I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to South Korea with ACE for an international tournament and cultural trip. It was amazing to share this experience--and our training journey--together. If we stay on track, my daughter will earn her 2nd Dan (2nd degree black belt) on the same day I receive my 1st black belt. I can't think of a better milestone to share as a family. Now, my 4-year-old is also a Tiny Tiger at ACE. The instructors are wonderful, and the kids we've met through ACE are some of the kindest, most respectful kids I've ever known. They truly embody the tenets of Taekwondo, and ACE is helping shape future leaders in our community. I am so proud to be part of the ACE family. If you're looking for a place where your child--and your whole family--can grow in confidence, discipline, and community, I highly recommend checking out ACE Taekwondo!

I've been attending ACE (Formerly BH) for about 10 years now. I can confidently say that learning…read moremartial arts has made a significant impact on my life for the better. Learning discipline and techniques from the skilled staff has helped me grow as a person as well with being able to compete in tournaments. The people I've met have become like a second family to me, couldn't recommend this school more.

Professor Ken is wonderful with students of all ages. Not only teaching them self defense, but also…read morelife lessons on how to be the best version of yourself. He truly is an inspiration.

Hey Master Ken, I don't know if you look at these, but I couldn't find you're email, so I was…read morehoping to contact you with this. It is Lucas, one of your students, you had me from when I was 8 to 11, and then I moved to Florida now I am 14 and going to a prestigious school, I just wanted to thank you for everything, if I could add a picture to this, I would add one of my white belt, white belt with yellow stripe, orange belt, blue belt, purple belt, green belt, and green belt with black stripe, all with a green, blue, orange, yellow, red, and black stripe (except the green belt with black stripe, I only got a purple stripe on that). I miss you and hope to visit you're dojo next time I come up to Illinois with my family, Love, Lucas McElyea

I asked Brian about their cleaning procedures after two of my sons got impentigo several months…read moreapart. Brian claimed that one of my sons got it from a tournament over 20 days prior to my son showing any signs of impentigo... impentigo takes 4-10 days to manifest after exposure... my other son has never competed in a tournament. This gym is the only place they both could have gotten it. I asked again about their cleaning procedures and he still will not answer. The place is visably dirty with caked on dust where the display apparel. It looks like they are using packing tape instead of mat tape and that tape is filthy. All red flags. Oh! They also have a ridiculous superstition about not washing belts... no wonder skin infections thrive in this biohazard. Please do not support a business that doesn't take simple standard cleaning steps to protect you and will not duscl9se those steps to patrons. They are now being investigated by the health department. Aside from that, I seriously question the value of their instruction. I have seen 5 year old soccer practices run by volunteer parent coaches that appeard to be more organized than their belting ceremony...a ceeremony that should be routine... the staff did not seem to know what they were doing and the students seem to be out of control.

Great place to train Brazilian jujitsu (bjj), boxing, Muay Thai and more in Channahon Morris arearead more

TM martial arts is a SCAM!!! the front desk women was extremely rude to my husband and I when…read morepartaking in our free trial for our son and daughter. Not only were the programs outrageously expensive compared to other local taekwondo schools, but also the instructors are not qualified. The master was also very rude to not only the students, but the parents. They campaign as if they are the number one school in Will country, but I would HIGHLY disagree. I have several family friends who are heavily involved in other schools who compete and TM martial arts does not compete because they are not qualified. Not only was my experience bad but so was the attitude of the instructors, "master", and front desk women. I would never recommend someone to pay money here.

I came in for a free trial and was asked to leave when I told them I just wanted to observe. Very…read morepushy, called way too often for my liking. I would not recommend.

Very professional and super clean Jiu Jitsu gym, I bring my 8 year old for class and she loves the…read moreclasses and the professors are very helpful and professional Marcos and Edgar. You want your kids to do Jiu-Jitsu this is the place.

My daughter started classes here two months ago. She absolutely loves it. They give great…read moreindividual attention and a super flexible schedule. It is affordable and I can choose from 4 different time slots each week to bring her. A couple of weeks after she started lessons I broke my ankle and couldn't drive her to her two classes a week so she was going sporadically when my husband or father could drive her there. They have allowed us to make up the missed classes with no penalty. I highly recommend Karate for Kids to all parents!

This has been the best activity we have enrolled our son in. He has something positive in his life…read moreand looks forward to class every time. It's improved our entire family. We love it!

Dropped a star from my initial review. Still a good solid gym, but could use better upkeepread more

This is a wonderful gym! Everyone is friendly, no intimidation what-so-ever and you really feel…read morelike family at this family owned gym!