I just finished my first week of the free two week trial period and I am STOKED!! (Attended 4 classes so far, one with no gi) I have no background in Martial Arts except for when I did Karate in Elementary School, but I don’t count that because I don’t remember shit, and I didn’t care for it at the time.
ANYWAY. I came into the academy a handful of times to observe before I started my trial to get a better idea of how classes were laid out and what I would be getting myself into (which btw they are super okay with) Each class that I have gone to, there has been at least one other female, which makes things less intimidating if you are also a newbie female. But even if there aren’t any, the guys there are friendly and available to help you out. #community
The Heroes website is super informative and a great resource. THERE’S A GLOSSARY! LINKS! VIDEOS! #visuals And practically a “syllabus” so you know what to expect to learn on any given week. (I like to do my research). This week I learned about guard passing and next week it’ll be something else! Gumby keeps the flow going and leaves room for review from the day before or even the day before that. After fundamentals/technique, there’s drills, and sparring, which helps put into practice what you just learned. It is advised you get paired up with a higher belt because they can help you out 1:1 and they can also better manage you and them (for SAFETY) if you go apeshit because you don’t know wtf you’re doing. Luckily, Gumby or someone else will match you with a good partner for you to ensure SUCCESFUL AND FUN LEARNING. BOOYAHHHHH.
P.S. GUMBY (Alan Marques) is THE MAN. He owns Heroes and he teaches many of the classes there. He is super passionate about the art which makes the learning experience #productive. How else can you expect to be jazzed about learning if your instructor/teacher/professor isn’t even that stoked to teach the subject matter?
TLDR: Great people. Great environment. Glad to be here. 