We have been to one class but my son had the best time. The instructors are great at encouraging…read morethe kids and talking them through kickboxing. He already wants to try other martial arts classes. Thanks so much for a great first time experience and impression to the Paragon team

A great team! Tough training from coaches who care. Ample parking. Hot showers in a clean…read morefacility. Awesome competition team.

I've been training at Gracie Barra for the past year and its been the greatest life changing…read moreexperience. I've been training jiu jitsu on and off since I was 7 years old. I moved out to the central coast about a year and a half ago with a lot of uncertainty in my life. Let me tell yuh, the guys over at Gracie Barra Santa Barbara have been some of the coolest most influential individuals I've ever met. Professor Thiago what can I say, hes larger than life! Super thoughtful, funny, sweet guy. He has a huge heart and takes great care in his instruction. He's a world champion with the humbleness of a saint. I am extremely proud to know him! Professor Rodrigo, mastermind behind the chillest jiu jitsu scene in Santa Barbara County! He has set the stage for epic jiu jitsu sessions and unforgettable moments. An excellent instructor, shrewd businessman and great friend. I look forward to competing for and representing Professor Rodrigo Clark and Gracie Barra Santa Barbara in the future! If you have the slightest inclination toward coming over and training do it! You won't regret it!

My daughter and I found more than just an opportunity to exercise together. We discovered a quiet…read morepurpose, and dance interlaced with the essence of an honest workout. The ambiance is welcoming, a familial hearth that embraces beginners, seasoned fighters, and those simply aiming for the health benefits with the same open arms. The learning is straightforward, the progress palpable - a testament to the simple truths embedded in Muay Thai. You start as a novice, you grow strong, you become better. It's in this evolution where the artistry of the journey unfolds.

Tried to enlist in a free trial class to see if I like the gym, was told sure no problem, gave them…read moremy name email address and phone number like requested. Thorough multiple venues,( instagram , what's app, their website) Been a week with no communication, I have zero desire to join anymore being treated so poorly. While they actively post on social media. What's app said they read the messages immediately after sending them. What's weird is years ago they were very receptive to me joining I just didn't have time. Now I have little time just want to transfer here possibly but they have horrible customer service now.

Awesome gym, can come in and workout at my own pace ... one of the only 24/7 mma / boxing gyms in…read moretown. Highly recommended to anyone who is looking for a legit gym in town

I've dropped in here now about 10 times to train BJJ while visiting family in SB. This place is…read moreworld-class. I currently train at Renzo Gracie Fight Academy in Brooklyn, have trained with all sorts of elite names, and this place is right up there with them (if not better in some respects). Instructors: Top notch. I've had classes w/ Adam, Adam, and Sean. They are all very detailed oriented, but more importantly teach with concepts (on top of technique) and give feedback lots of feedback to students. Each one brings their own BJJ flavor, with wrestling concepts and techniques integrated -- a great approach to grappling. I like the approach to teaching a series of techniques built around specific positions for a couple of weeks at a time, e.g. a variety of side control escapes for a couple of weeks, then side control attacks, etc. It's a lot better than the "traditional" BJJ random-technique-of-the-day approach: "OK guys, so today we gonna cover [move you'll only see once and likely never use]" Facility: Clean and well maintained. Lots of (clean!) mat space. You won't walk away from a training session with other peoples' tiny body hairs all over you. Locker rooms are clean and spacious enough, with showers (free soap!) and water (why is this a luxury at martial arts schools?!). Also, a separate area for kickboxing so those punchy/kicky folk don't get all up mixed up with the sweaty pajama huggers. There's a ring if you're into that, along w/plenty of heavy bags and ropes for rope climbs. Also, there's a nice little strength and conditioning area with barbells, dumb bells, kettlebells, and... a freakin' Olympic weightlifting platform and bumper plates. Get your clean and jerk on. Dreamy. People: Everyone I've trained with here has been super friendly, especially the salty dogs at the noon classes. They're always happy to share techniques, show you the error of your half guard ways, and demonstrate why the chin strap is super effective at choking you, over and over again. Bottom line: this is an amazing place to train, especially within the smaller town vibes of SB. If you're looking to learn BJJ this is the place.

While visiting Santa Barbara for a week, I was fortunate enough to train at Paragon's main location…read moreand it lived up to its legendary reputation. I had the honor of taking a class with Franjinha himself, as well as one with James. Both are phenomenal instructors who teach with incredible clarity and precision. You can tell they have a deep understanding of the art. I enjoyed the more intimate classes at noon. It created a great "good vibes" atmosphere where it was easy to connect with training partners. Everyone was super friendly and eager to roll. The training was challenging and technical. It's an amazing place to learn and grow your jiu-jitsu, and I felt very welcomed as a visitor. Can't wait to come back on my next trip!

Man this place is special. Not only is coach mike a Great fighter and teacher but also a great guy!…read moreWhether you are just getting started or a veteran this place is great. expect to find a community here, a lot of guys are there often some every day and it shows. Go in trust coach, give it your all, enjoy every moment, and you will not regret any of it. Ps. Jiu jitsu guys 10th Planet santa barbara trains there goated school and goated team.

I came to Valhalla as a student in May of 2021, and am forced to leave this negative review due to…read morewhat I believe to be Mike MacDonald's abuse of the SB community and his students. The intent of this review is to leave my impression of his gym as a person who has trained at multiple gyms; I believe Mike has purposefully incurred brain damage on new students for the purpose of exacting personal revenge on them for perceived slights. I also believe that he takes efforts to evade sanctioning bodies designed to keep people who train in martial arts safe. Anyone who comes to train at Valhalla should be aware of what I believe to be Mike's views on accountability and there are photos below as evidence for my claims. I was training at Valhalla in 2021 when a new student visiting from outside the country came to the gym in October 2021 who argued with Mike about how much money he should pay to train at Valhalla. I was told by Valhalla administrators that this "low ball" attempt from the student was something that Coach Mike was not happy with. This student was very new to the sport and I believe that Coach Mike was aware that he was not skilled enough to compete in any kind of sparring tournament. Despite this, Mike allowed this new student to compete in an unsanctioned sparring tournament that occurs often at Valhalla. This student was paired up against one of Mike's star pupils, and was knocked out three times within a couple of minutes. This new student was so inexperienced, he did not even know to ask someone to be his cornerman for this event. All of this potentially because he "lowballed" Mike; This is not how new students should be treated. In the days following the tournament, I reached out to an administrator at Valhalla (Roxanna Bina) to get the contact information for this student who had taken so much damage. I was the only person to reach out to this student after the tournament to ensure he was okay. This was just one example; other examples include holding one night tournaments where some competitors will compete in multiple fights without an actual doctor present, as well as 200 lbs men being paired against much smaller women in sparring tournaments where knockouts are commonplace. Mike continues to hold this tournament without matchmakers, without medical personnel, and continues to evade letters from the CA State Athletic Commission regarding the nature of his tournament. When I told Valhalla administrators that they should have the sign up sheet for the tournament include a "cornerman" checklist so that they could make sure every single person in the competition had someone with them, I was told that this would make the tournament seem more "official" and that this would invite further scrutiny from the CA Athletic Commission. This backwards logic ultimately doesn't serve the best interests of the people competing in the tournament. There are bodies like the IKF that hold tournaments with registered nurses, multiple judges and matchmakers, and in general have some official accountability. I believe that Mike doesn't want to make the monetary investment to do these things, and would prefer to have free reign over the entire process. As someone who has trained at multiple MMA gyms, I would advise people to look into other gyms in the area for sparring purposes. I believe that Mike views new students as cannon fodder to give easy experience to his more experienced pupils and believes himself to be above the law. I believe that he will continue to allow the safety and well being of his students to take a back seat to his pride and lack of willingness to make the monetary investment to ensure that sparring tournaments held at Valhalla are safe and fair. I believe that he will remove anyone from the gym who tries to bring this to his attention. I will be contacting the CA State Athletic Commission with these same concerns and hope that they will hold him accountable for his actions. If you want to train martial arts in SB, I believe that you can do better than being taken advantage of by Mike MacDonald.

For the past year, I have been trying to find ways to be healthier but nothing stuck with me from…read morerunning to lifting. As one last attempt, my fiancé recommended trying out the women's self defense/ jiu jitsu class free week. I was a bit hesitant due to not having any background in any martial arts and being out of shape. That didn't matter, the class is well rounded with different levels of skill but everyone will help you get better weather you're just starting or want a refresher. After the first class with coach Crystal and the rest of the girls, I knew I had found what I was looking for and more. It's a safe and fun environment where everyone wants the best for you and there's no worry of looking silly if you don't know what you're doing. As well you're surrounded by strong and confident women that motivate you even in times you want to give up. I've been attending these classes since November, the level of confidence that I had then compared to now has grown exponentially. If you're looking to become a better version of yourself, Solid Foundations is the way.

The year of covid was a difficult period for everyone in multiple ways. For me personally, having…read morethe gyms shut down really impacted my mental health as it was the only real time I had to just focus on myself. I am a youth/community organizer, scholar-activist, Ph.D. student, and professor, working with gang-involved and (formerly) incarcerated boys and men in the community, and so there is a lot of pain, suffering, and trauma that I get to witness. Therefore, being active is/was such an important part of my self-care as it would help me release all the trauma I was around. However, even prior to the pandemic, I had been itching to particularly get back into boxing, as I had discovered how therapeutic the sport was for me especially in helping me cope with what I would see in my work. So I started asking around the community if anyone knew of any solid (no pun intended!) boxing coaches and everyone kept directing me to Gil, which resulted in me reaching out. I had let him know I was a student and that I wanted to get a trainer that could help me step up my self-defense game and toughen me up mentally. To do the kind of work I do requires consistency, discipline, self-motivation, and persistence and I felt at the time I was lacking a bit in that as I was exhausted from the conditions of the pandemic. I did not know that Gil had had a past with being gang-involved himself so when I found out, I felt like I could open up more to him about why I needed to learn self-defense given my line of work exposes me to situations that require self-defense. I found it so impactful how Gil used our 1-1 private boxing situations to do more than just help me improve my boxing and self-defense skills- he took it upon himself to get inside my head-ask relevant and thoughtful questions- and help me come to some insightful epiphanies about what I was truly searching for through boxing. He reminded me of the importance of not burning myself out in my line of work and creating healthy boundaries so I wouldn't give more of myself than I was in the capacity to do so. Moreover, he helped me realize that I still had some work to do in terms of overcoming some of my sexual assault experiences at the hands of men and got me comfortable with having men be in my personal space-knowing that I was picking up skillsets that could help me in adversarial situations such as that. There were so many life lessons that I took from our time together that I carry with me today. Currently, I am working with him and his amazing life and business partner Crystal, learning jiu-jitsu which has been such a therapeutic and fun experience in and of itself. I have even brought some of my youth to work with Gil and have seen the amazing impact he has had with them. Gil is one of the most inspiring people I've met here in SB because of the humility and integrity in which he carries himself and the energy he puts into what he does is unmatched. Hands down would recommend him to work with you!

I enjoy the class, learning and practicing helpful grappling techniques. The instructor and…read morestudents were friendly.

What a great place to learn and workout!…read more At first I thought Espíritu was just a place to try something new and with it being the closest school to me it was convenient. It didn't take long for me to realize how much more it really is. Not only are professor Jeremy and his team of coches professional and friendly, but they are honest when it comes helping you reach your personal goals. Looking to be a BJJ competitor? Coaches will help you focus and prep Want to get in shape by trying something new and fun? What better way than having great strength and cardio workouts with people you will come to trust and friends?! World class, honest training that will have you wondering why you didn't start sooner.

Highly recommend, very open yet competitive. With all of the experienced instructors making proper…read moreaccommodations to new students, it makes a better experience for anyone who is getting interested in the sport.

I don't review stuff very often, but I wanted to say a few words about SMBJJ and how it's changed…read moremy life, and hopefully give anyone who hasn't been to the gym a good idea of what to expect. I've been training here for about 5 months now and I've absolutely fallen in love with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I've always been kind of a skinny nerd, into computers and never did any real sports throughout my life, but I was encouraged by a close friend to come check out SMBJJ sometime and I'm glad I finally took him up on it and dragged my butt out of bed and made it here for the 5am class. I had no idea what to expect coming into this gym, but I realized right away that the camaraderie and humility demonstrated by everyone who trains here is absolutely fantastic. These guys are here to train and keep the drama out of the picture. No egos, no bullying, no BS. I've improved my BJJ game from knowing absolutely nothing to holding my own against guys almost twice my size in the matter of 5 months. Not only that, this sport has taught me discipline and given me an incredible amount of confidence that I never had before. I constantly find myself watching videos online to learn new techniques and methodologies of BJJ and I love trying and learning new things every morning. Oh, and I've never been in better shape, which is fantastic for someone almost in their 40s! Though I've only interacted with Chris a handful of times since I started here, I know he is an amazing stand-up guy who takes his gym seriously and constantly demonstrates his commitment to making every person here feel welcome and part of the SMBJJ family. He's always quick to respond if I ever need help with anything and his dedication to making sure everyone grows together here is great. I love that he puts on BBQs and does fun stuff for everyone in the gym from time to time too. I usually train with Ethan Brown in the 5am class (yes, I know that sounds way too early, but it's worth getting up for) and it has been fantastic. His dedication to the art and excellent teaching skills have can brought me to a very high level understanding of the art of BJJ in a very short time. I love how he focuses on the critical fundamentals in order to create a more effective jiu jitsu game instead of just teaching "move 1 into move 2 into move 3." He also keeps it fun by sometimes throwing in some sneaky techniques or new ways to pass guard while keeping his overall teaching method laser-focused and pushing everyone to be their best. Aside from the fantastic community, the gym itself is great- the mat area is HUGE and very high quality. Parking can be a bit crowded for some classes, but there's always a spot somewhere. There are no showers, but that's fine- I prefer to shower at home anyway. TLDR: gym is 5/5, people are 5/5, you will learn a lot very quick and it will change your life for the better! Come check it out!