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!

I don't know how else to say it, but this gym has changed my life for the better! I even sought out…read morea new job to make sure I could pay the membership--worth every penny. I started out kickboxing, and have now trained jiu jitsu for the last two years. The sport is amazing, especially for women in regards to self defense and self confidence. And the instructors are dedicated, extremely proficient, patient, motivating, and fun. As a few others have noted in their reviews--Paragon becomes family! If you've been on the fence about trying boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, or jiu jitsu (GREAT kids' classes for anti-bullying!), start a trial today. You won't regret it--believe me!

Am so happy with the results. Great program, my wife and I love it. Thank you Manny.read more

The atmosphere and leadership help make this program one if not the best programs in the 805. I…read morefeel stronger, have much more energy and think clearer. I have gained muscle mass in areas i never knew i could build. I'm only in my 3rd bootcamp and the changes are dramatic. I will post pics once the process is complete. This is life changing! Thank you Manny for changing my life and thanks to Karen to pushing me to join!

I've had some jiu jitsu experience in the past and quit training many years ago. I recently started…read moretraining jiu jitsu again as a beginner after re-gaining interest while watching my son train. The owner, Chris, was super friendly over the phone before I set foot in the building and set up my free trial. Since I began training at this facility over the past few weeks, I've had nothing but great experiences. Upon meeting the various members of the team over the course of a few sessions, I've seen and felt firsthand an entirely new jiu jitsu experience. The team was not only welcoming, but several members with colored belts from blue to black went above and beyond to help me with great attention to detail and I began to see what I needed to see in myself during drills, positional training, and sparring. After every training session, I've seen the mat thoroughly cleaned. Overall, this school is clean, welcoming, and I feel safe training and learning jiu jitsu here as a member.

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.

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.

Amazing place. My daughter will be going away to college and it's a perfect place for her to take a…read moreself defense class

Bottom Line: This is a great gym with people who actually care…read more This review is for the kids classes only as I have no knowledge of the other classes. We tried to get our son interesting or excited about a variety of group sports as well as individual sports. He just had zero interest in any of it. Something about this place has captured his attention and imagination and now he talks about it, looks forward to going and excels on a daily basis. Whereas in the past it was a struggle to get him ready to leave to go do something, he's ready to be out the door in a moment for Krav classes. As a parent it's SUCH a hard line to walk, the line between fun and discipline. This place does an amazing job allowing the kids to actually be kids but at the same time provides them with a level of discipline you would expect from a Martial Arts facility as well as instilling a work ethic. On top of that they also have fun kid events like a Halloween gathering and I've heard rumblings of a Nerf war. If you're looking for a place to go to learn some amazing self defense techniques or even a little community of people who look out for each other, this is a great place to start. I have learned a ton just from watching the kids go at it. Highly recommended.

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.

There was me, that is Lou, and an extra 30lbs of fat living on me. I join Pit.Fit to shed the…read moreweight because running, bicycling, and all the other "cardio" stuff isn't any fun! I decided on their jiu-jitsu (I always spell that wrong!) program because I looked up what would burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time, and it was very close to the top. Little did I know, the workout would fly by, unlike running where I would check my watch every 5 mins to see if I was done! My first class was with coach Fraser, and I learned very quickly that he was very good. Not only a great technician, but also a great instructor. After a few months, I dropped the 30lbs (they literally melted off) and developed a solid background in self defense (something you wont get by bicycling!). A great place to get in shape, learn self defense, meet awesome people, and have fun!

I've been working out in various forms for more than 20 years - traditional gyms, at home,…read morecrossfit, etc. The Pit cardio kickboxing classes are by far my favorite and I go every chance I get. You get an unbelievably good workout, have fun, and get to learn/practice technique at the same time. The classes never get stale as each workout is different. The instructors are very knowledgable and supportive. I highly recommend taking a free class!

Came over here about a week ago on Thursday evening to drop into a pit jiu jitsu class. I phoned…read morein earlier in the day and John himself answered the phone and welcomed me to come to the pit jiu jitsu class. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Class started with a nice warm up and some self defense before we got into some positioning drills then some rounds of rolling. Overall it was a great experience to check out The Pit. I am usually visiting the area on the weekends so I would give 6 stars if there was jiu jitsu then. Thank you John, Adrian, and the Pit crew for the hospitality! Sammy

We tried out their classes for free for a week. No one was at the front counter to greet us or help…read moreus get a waiver, explain anything to us. We waited a good while before someone greeted us but then told us that they weren't in charge. Since nothing was explained to us, we didn't know what to do or where to get supplies like gloves when all the other kida did. The teachers tried to help the kids and were involved. Overall the class was fine, but not the best fit for my kid so we ended up not registering.