Want a long term influence for you or your family? This is the place where I started training in…read moremartial arts 25 years ago, and it has been the best influence of my entire life. As a direct result of my time there, I eventually moved to Japan for years to continue martial arts training, and have dedicated my life to martial arts, now teaching at my own Dojo in Los Angeles. I can't believe how much I owe to my experience at Shodokan. Thank you for being such a wonderful influence. Thank you for being such a great inspiration. I hope many more people will have the opportunity to be a part of your Dojo.

I feel very lucky to have found this dojo, which has been in operation since 1964. This school…read moreoperates as a nonprofit school and does not pay its instructors; this shows the commitment of teachers and students to the art. New students go through a two month intro class that will allow them to join regular classes with more confidence and a good understanding of the basics of Aikido. The intro class is taught by the school's senior instructor, Sensei Mulligan, who was designated as "Shihan" or Master Teacher from Aikido World Headquarters in 2010. He has trained and inspired many students but what makes the Shodokan a special martial arts school is the energy and sense of humor from Mr. Mulligan and the teachers and students. The school also offers Judo, Karate and other arts, with instructors and students cross training in different arts. Visitors are welcome to come by and sit during class, so if you're interested, come by and check it out! Read more: Beverly master Bernie Mulligan reaches highest rank in Aikido - Beverly, MA - Beverly Citizen http://bit.ly/kTVmqI

I've trained at a few gyms due to moving out of the city and I can say I think Invictus will be my…read moreforever gym. The instruction is great, there are classes morning noon and night to accommodate any schedule and the culture is so positive and supportive. If u are new to BJJ the structured curriculum will guide u in starting the journey. If u want to start slow every roll starts with an agreement on intensity level so u wont feel like ur someones grappling dummy if u don't feel ur ready. If you've been training a while and want hard rounds we do that as well. Ask for Ryan (hard rounds with Ryan available in Gi only, for NoGi please ask for Rick).

Invictus Training Center and Nate Morrison (and the other coaches) set a gold standard for what a…read moretrue martial arts academy should be. From day one, I was blown away by the culture here. Invictus is built around learning, open-mindedness, and respect for the evolution of the sport. Nate leads by example, constantly encouraging exploration of different styles and techniques rather than forcing a "one-size-fits-all" approach while maintaining a structured class with high percentage moves. The environment strikes the perfect balance: it's competitive enough to push you to improve, but not so much that it leads to injury. As a beginner, I've never once felt out of place. The training partners here are top-tier, technical, tough, but incredibly generous with their knowledge and genuinely invested in helping each other grow. You feel like part of a team from the moment you step on the mats.

Our whole family, with two teens, has attended for the last three years and absolutely love it! We…read morestarted coming twice a week and then added a third day with sparring practice. It is excellent exercise with strength, flexibility, balance, cardio, and agility, but much more than that it helps with the development of personal character and being strong in the winds of life. Working together makes everyone feel better and helps dispel the gloom of winter or politics--or whatever is going on in your life. There is a genuine caring in the very skilled and thoughtful teaching, with some good humor mixed, in so that anyone can enjoy it from very little children (some with incredible skills) to us old parents verging on 50. You will get stronger and progress! It has been very important to us and a really fun and positive experience. This is a very well run place with many resources, skills, and years of experience. They are really good people and truly care. Don't be afraid and just contact them! You won't regret it. (Well, you might regret it in the middle of some sets, but you will be grateful afterward and feel so much better!)

I've been going here for 2.5 years and I love it! The masters (instructors) are super nice and…read moreencouraging and really great at teaching. All the other students are super nice as well, and more experienced students also help out beginners. There are students of all ages, from 6 to 60 (although not in the same class), and sometimes families (like mine) go and train together. You will get a lot fitter; learn basic kicks, punches, blocks, and so on; learn how to integrate those into forms and combinations; learn self-defense techniques; and, if you so choose, learn the sport of Taekwondo sparring. When I first started, I was at the school 2 hours a week, although that has increased to about 8 hours; you truly become part of a community that draws you in. That feeling as you get stronger and better at what you're doing, earning your next belt or scoring a point in a sparring match, that really is the best.

Do not go here. The teachers/owners are good at what they do but so strict. My daughter went here…read morefor over a year and never did they speak to me about her behavior and then she had one hard day and they kicked her out. She is a 7 year old with ADHD and this was something she looked forward to every week. I watched her each week thrive there. I agree there should be consequences and am happy for her to sit out of class when asked. This was her first time and they emailed me and told me she was no longer welcome. They wouldn't speak to me over the phone about it. My daughter is now going to internalize their rejection with zero warnings. These are children here. I would understand if monthly she was asked to sit out but this is not the case. We were completely blindsided. Please do not use this business.

It is a TRAVESTY that there aren't a million 5 star reviews of this place. Very proud to be the…read morefirst. I've only been coming here for a few weeks at this point, but as a complete beginner I couldn't be having a better time. The website advertises "no egos" which is on point. The moment I walked through the door for the first time, one of the students comes over to say hi and introduce himself because he hasn't seen me before. Everyone I've worked with so far has been really cool and the more experienced guys will take things slow and easy and even let me pull off moves on them so I can get the feel for how it's supposed to work. Don't get me wrong, every class is a challenge both physically and mentally - but it's the kind of environment where you feel comfortable really pushing yourself. The great culture starts at the top with Owner/Professor Danny Morera and Co-Owner (slash Danny's wife) Angela. Just great people - knowledgeable, welcoming, helpful, friendly, and fun. There's always a lot of smiles and laughs, but when it's instruction time, they're appropriately serious and focused on making sure people learn the techniques safely and properly. If you're interested in learning jiu-jitsu, the advice I got from some experienced friends was to opt for a school led by an IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) certified black belt, and registered with the IBJJF (you can look people and schools up on their website). There are a lot of places that would be happy to teach you "jiu-jitsu", but if you're going to put in the time and spend the money you probably want to do it right.

Beside the owner experience, there is poor gym, quality management. I went there to train but…read moreinstead I got people trying to pick on you and those people are apparently instructors hired by the gym owner. Basically they don't want you to have more experience than them. I went there to train not for drama. I got serious people and mind your own business. You there to be inspiration for others . You are not in high school.

I have been training BJJ and Judo for about 4 years. I live in St. Louis, Mo area and train at a…read moregym there. However, I work in Peabody on occasion and I have found a great place to train when I'm here. Dennis, Alan, Jessica, and Chris are all great instructors and are very welcoming to visitors. Their instruction is technical and it is done in a safe environment. DWMMA is the place I would recommend to visit or start your martial arts journey if you are up around the Salem, MA area.

I've been coming here for some time now and really enjoy the community. The instructors are…read morewonderful in how they teach and are just downright caring and dedicated to their students and their art. You're not going to find a better place in the area if you're looking for Wing Chun, Kali or Silat.

Our 7 year old sons have been attending this Judo club for 3 years. We love the community and Yigal…read moreis amazing. My favorite thing (from the parents community viewpoint) is how many countries we all represent and the diversity included. It's a mini United Nations crew every Saturday of families across the North Shore.

Awesome place for Judo. Yigal and Tim are knowledgeable instructors. I have taken karate, judo, jj…read moreand bjj. I recommend judo for all kids under 12. My son is 5 and he has tons of training partners of his age.

I've been training in the martial arts for at least half my life. Ive trained with many different…read morefighters and teachers and coaches. Without hesitation Coach Jeff Burger is one of the best. He is the real deal. He has an extensive background Karate, BJJ, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Krav Maga, RMA and more. Jeff has trained with masters in in China, Champion fighters in Thailand, competitively in the ring and for real on the streets. Burger has also written books and made numerous YouTube videos and DVDs related to fitness, self defense and the martial arts and has appeared as appeared along side martial arts greats like Rory Miller, Hock Hochheim and Tony Annesi. I met coach Jeff burger through a friend of mine a number of years back. Over the years I have had the pleasure and good fortune to become friends with, train with and attend his seminars. He is a wealth of information. His teaching methods and content is always practical, methodical and very clear. This guy is the real deal!

This morning I finished a four hour training session with Jeff Burger as the instructor. I drove…read moretwo and a half hours one way to attend and others had driven further. Everyone seemed to be having fun, training safely, and learning a lot. Most if not all were very experienced martial artists with years of training. I was very pleased. The very fact that he was invited to teach this is quite impressive and shows respect by his peers. Now normally I would never leave a Yelp review for a martial arts school based on a half day seminar (seminar was a day and a half but I missed the first day due to another commitment) but considering the very negative, one star review from someone in California, I thought I'd weigh in.