Best jiu jitsu academy in Santa Barbara by far, good coaches, and students that are really…read moresupportive .

First off I should give reference that I'm Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and have traveled and…read moretrained Jiu Jitsu around the world for over a decade. 10th Planet Santa Barbara is a world class Jiu Jitsu academy. I've trained with the head instructor Jeremiah Vance for many years now. I can tell you there are few instructors in the world with as much knowledge and teaching abilities as Jeremiah. He coaches UFC champions, Jiu Jitsu World Champions and at the same time beginners with zero experience. It doesnt matter if your out of shape and never done a sport in your life, Jeremiah will help you. If your looking to get started, look no further!

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!

This place is so awesome to learn martial arts! My daughter (8) and I (45) train here twice a week…read moreand are amazed at the family friendly vibes. Thank you for teaching us hapkido in such a fun way, Master Austin!

I did the 6 week Kut challenge and I feel so much better than I did 6 weeks ago. They give you all…read morethe tools you need to succeed. I was able to go to so many classes and I feel much stronger for it. The nutrition guide was a bit difficult for me because I am a pescatarian and it is very meat heavy, but they had seafood options, it was just repetitive, and I'm not much of a cook (even though they give you a foolproof guide). Therefore, I had a little trouble and veered a few times, and I am sure if I didn't I would have had even better progress. You get what you put into the challenge. All the instructors are super nice and helpful. They will come up to you during class to correct technique and make it a point to have contact with you at every class you attend. They are also great about reaching out and asking if you need any help with nutrition or classes. I was suppose to receive weekly emails, but the program head had some personal matters arise and a few things fell through on that end, but the classes were always available and it was a lot of self accountability. If you can commit to 6 weeks of trying to better yourself, this is the place you want to go to!

This is one of the best Martial Arts schools in DFW! Nathaniel is very knowledgeable about the…read moreactual "Art" within Martial Arts, and teaches it in a way that is both motivating and understanding. This school covers everything from stand up striking, clinch work, to ground fighting. Definitely the place you want go if you are interesting in learning the traditional martial arts along with the evolution of fighting as a whole. Plus this school is blessed with an experienced and great instructor.

From the owner: Integral Martial Arts, Leadership Coaching, "The Work" of Byron Katie, Mindfulness Meditationread more

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.

I've been with Lydia Kitahara for sometime. She is a dedicated professional. For me, it was the 1…read moreon 1 that made my journey a success. I was tired of not looking the healthy. Reason being was for business, if I didn't look like I could take care of physique, how could I take care of my clients needs. I lost 70 lbs and 2 years later, did not gain it back.

As a former Division 1 athlete, I've been in and out of more gyms and weight rooms than I can…read morecount, but the only place I always come back to is SB training. You walk in the door at SBT and no matter the time of day or who's working, they know where you're at in your training and what you're training for. My physical strength has always out weighed my aerobic strength and I wanted to change that. In the last year the SBT team has taken me from dreading running the mile, to participating in a 65 mile relay race, finishing the long course SB Triathalon ( 1 mile ocean swim, 35mile bike, 10 mile run) and finishing the SB half marathon. The wisdoms and support from the trainers in unparalleled anywhere in town. To anyone who wants to train in a fun, friendly, and competitive environment, SB Training is the place.

My big kids did 10 years of karate when we lived down in San Diego; so, I am no stranger to the…read moredojo. After trials and tribulations at other locations here in SB, I finally found the perfect professional karate environment for my six year old. I look forward to many prosperous years at Koei Kan Karate-Santa Barbara

I highly recommend this Academy for your kiddos, my wife and I are super happy for bringing our son…read moreto be part of this good group of people in our community! My son is learning a lot! Tony and Miguel are a great persons and senseis! Good job guys!!

I highly recommend Peter and the team at Prevail Conditioning. Prior to discovering Prevail, I had…read morebeen a part of a couple CrossFit experiences followed by a short stint at a gym that was high cardio. I was missing the strength & conditioning and this class is just what I was looking for. Peter and his team are highly qualified/trained/certified and it shows pretty much immediately. They are very engaged and constantly correcting and reinforcing proper movements versus being left to our own devices or learning bad habits. The location is perfect for me as well as the class time and frequency for my schedule and goals. The class size does not exceed 12 and we have formed a nice camaraderie, I was welcomed from Day 1. There is also nice variety in programming, it's not the same workout every time. -Kyle Opdyke

I can't recommend Prevail enough. I spent a year and a half working out here after a sedentary…read morelife, and they've changed me for the better. When I first joined, I was weak and recovering from back surgery. The whole team made me feel welcome and comfortable in the gym despite plenty of self-doubt. They worked with me to focus on my core and help me get back to a baseline fitness level and then exceed it. THe Prevail approach focuses on the whole person. Weak or strong, old or young, small or large, they will customize a workout for you and make you feel welcome and like you can achieve anything. I worked with Chris P. and Kyle during the 18 months or so I spent at the gym and cannot recommend them highly enough. Both trainers were amazing and pushed me when I needed to be pushed, but never harder than I could handle. I am in their debt. Peter, the owner, is very hands on and clearly cares about the results of each and every client. The whole team is beyond anything I could have imagined. If you're wondering if this is the right gym for you, I can assure you that it is. I've had a chance to work with almost everyone on staff and they're all wonderful. The only reason I don't train here anymore is because I've moved out of state. I miss them dearly.