I can only review the young children's classes, but I have been impressed. My son has gone to the classes on the weekends for over 6 months now and we just renewed for another 6 months. The instructors are extraordinarily good with kids, and make the classes fun for them. They know what can be expected of each age group and adjust their approach based on each child's abilities to create a positive environment for the child to build self-esteem in addition to the skills being taught. read more

Amazing studio with a great variety of classes! Alessandra is an incredible kickboxing teacher and works well across all levels of fitness. She corrects your form as she spots mistakes and encourages everyone to push through intense cardio. Expect intense cardio, but you get what you give! Great yoga class during the week. The view makes it a super way to start the day (Broadway). Relaxing yet challenging way to pay attention to breath and tighten core through 12 vinyasa poses (or 16?). I straight up feel like I'm in a Simon and Garfunkel song leave love this location. Great Reliable studio with friendly members that make fitness fun. read more

My 9 year old daughter and I have been training with Mr Phipps at the previous location for almost 3 years. We immediately followed him to his new MMA school Valor when it opened last month. The new location is full of natural light, has a large open floor with lots of new equipment and a welcoming atmosphere. Training with Mr Phipps has truly empowered my daughter and I and we are very thankful for having the opportunity to train and learn from such a talented, driven and inspiring instructor. Having a daughter I found it so important for her to learn to defend herself and to have the confidence to get out of any situation. I have only great things to say about Mr Phipps, he sets high standards for himself and his students. My daughter and I would highly recommend his school to anyone. read more

Update: My favorite teacher is gone and the studio is filthy. The people at the desk are absent/ rude. Never again. I just came for the first time and love the yoga class I took. The teacher really focused on alignment and gave us a lot of individual attention. I left feeling lighter, taller and energized. I can't wait to read more

Review of the adult kickboxing classes (not martial arts): I've been to about 10 kickboxing classes here. I enjoy the variety of the workouts - these are **not** cardio kickboxing classes as another reviewer mentioned. Instead each class will be spent performing drills and strikes with a partner. It's a super good workout and you will learn actual technique (unlike other studios where you just hit a heavy bag the whole time). Also the studio is very nice. My only complaint is that the other students are mostly complete beginners. Beginners are dangerous to train with and if you are paired with one, your workout will also suffer. I wish they had a requirement for beginners take 5-10 "intro" classes before moving up to an "all level". But otherwise the instructors are great and I will keep coming back. read more

This establishment is so welcoming, friendly, and clearly has a great sense of community from young to old. Having just attended one class, it was a great introduction to kickboxing. The instructor made sure we kept moving and were interacting safely with the people in the class. Docking one star just for the lack of facilities - the locker room is just one bathroom stall and shower for the whole facility. In terms of the workout, cleanliness, staff, and instructors, 5 stars! read more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. The "owner" is rude and disrespectful and could not care less that his staff dropped the ball and NEVER called us back to tell my son he could return to class when the new belts were in. Even after he knew this made my 5 year old son cry. If you enjoy being disrespected by a rude "owner" who is too much of a coward to give his name over the phone, this place is TOTALLY for you!! read more

Okay so I signed up for two trial classes for $20 and I wanted to try out the martial arts class that they offer. So I went in yesterday around 7:30 although the class was at 7:45. The reason why I went 15 minutes early because it's on the website then you should come 15 minutes early so they can give you a tour of the studio and everything. So I come in and I see nobody at the front desk. I waited almost 30 minutes AND NOT A SINGLE STAFF ACKNOWLEDGED ME. I didn't want to bother the instructors because they were teaching but at least acknowledge me if you see me standing. So finally one of the staff comes in and she was a how can I help you? I told her that I'm here for a trial class. So she showed me an attitude and then she tried to charge me $20. But I told her that I already paid for the class will I need to pay again?!! So the staff tells me change your clothes and wait for the instructor to call you on the mat. If I change my clothes and I was waiting for another like 20 minutes to get acknowledged by the instructor and he did not even acknowledge me. The lady that comes out to me or why aren't you on the mat and I told her because you told me to wait for the instructor to acknowledge me. Finally she goes like you need to come back tomorrow or some other day. So yeah their customer service and their communication read more

Hands down the best studio, classes and instructors. My daughter loves it and we come from a different part of town. Mr. Phipps is so amazing - respectful, serious, talented and engaging. read more

So I tried 3 kickboxing studios on the UWS and Valor wins. Of the three studios I tried they are the only one that has classes based on levels - Beginner, Intermediate Advanced, and Mixed. The other studios throws everyone into the same class and it can be intimidating, and most of all, can lead to injury. The instructors give everyone careful attention to make sure you are doing the moves properly. Staff is friendly and helpful. There is a sense of community there also. Great exercise also! read more

Top Quality!!! My daughter is 11 and absolutely love this place. I took a self-defense class and a yoga class at Valor myself and loved it. The trainers really push and encourage and you train all of those 45 mins non-stop, not like in gymnastics kids have to wait for 10 mins when someone else is finished with gymnastic equipment or gym classes for adults where they try to accommodate everyone and go down to the beginner's level. I am thinking of canceling my gym membership and join Valor instead. Mr. Phipps is amazing teacher - it is very rare to find a place where the owner puts his heart and sole into his business with a smile and joy! The stuff is very friendly, attentive and nice. You can't find a better prices for the package they offer, seriously unlimited lessons a week for the price of one lesson of gymnastic a week? Can't beat that! I wish more business took that approach - every second kid in AMERICA is overweight. We need every kid to do at least an hour a day of Valor! I hope they will keep their prices the same at least next 5-10 years! The good positive energy in this place is SUPERB! Really Love it - A+++ Thank you Mr. Phipps for an amazing neighborhood spot where you feel you are the family! read more

My kids have been members for over a year (since before official opening day) and also went to Valors summer camp. Wife attended a Women's Empowerment seminar. Everyone loves Valor and Sensei Phipps. Highly recommend everyone at least try a free class. Wonderful community and great exercise for kids and adults. read more

I have been attending Kickboxing Foundations at Valor for about six months. I had truly enjoyed the experience, until last night. I went to the Wednesday night 6pm Kickboxing class with my spouse.The instructor told us that we could not partake in the class since we did not have hand wraps, saying that this is a policy that they have had in place for months. This was the very first time we have been told this but we both understood that it was simply a policy change and were happy to abide. We went to the front desk and were told that we must buy them for $7 each. Since we were going to workout and had pre-paid for the class, neither of us brought a wallet. The woman at the front desk and the instructor ganged up on us, loudly scolding us in front of a packed class. It was not necessary for them to be so nasty to two longish term customers. It was very shocking. We left feeling downright humiliated. My advice: take your business elsewhere! read more

My daughter has been training with the founder of Valor MMA for several years at Modern Martial Arts NYC since she was 4 years old, and where he graduated hundreds of students of all ages. Like many other parents, we have tried gymnastics, dance, soccer and other extra-curriculars, but nothing seemed to "stick" until she started training with Mr. Phipps. When he opened Valor, my daughter wanted to follow him right away. I supported her without hesitation, as I have never found a match for his unique ability to challenge each child and push her/him to their maximum individual potential, while making them want to come back to next class. Valor offers a truly unique environment: every class is extremely challenging, yet fun and rewarding. Every student gets individualized guidance and attention -- directed not only at her/his martial arts techniques -- but also helping them become more confident, well rounded individuals respectful of others. read more

We will not recommend this place to anyone even though we loved the teachers of my son. We were introduced to this place through kidpass. In Kidpass each class cost $5 (and now $10). We were first offered their monthly membership package with unlimited classes. It did not make sense for us as we could not come more than once a week. So we were offered in writing either 1 drop off class at $25, 4 class package at $95 or 10 class package at $225. We took the 10 class package, and after that we asked to buy the 4 class package we were offered in the past by them since we needed to leave New York a month after for a long time, and suddenly I was told they changed policy in this two months and my son can no longer take smaller packages but only 10,20,30 class packages. They also told me for the first time that I can no longer use kidpass as I am a member at the school after buying even one drop off class (they told me we signed a contract to this affect though they never showed us on what exactly we signed or that we signed at all). Though I was frustrated I still tried to convince them to let us take just this time fewer classes and that we will be happy to pay the higher drop off rate of $25 per class, and when we are back we will be happy to take a larger package like we did before. After a long conversation they decided "to help" us and allow us to get 6 (?) classes package for $190 (when 10 class package cost $225 and when i was offered two months before 4 classes at $95). Taking advantage of our situation presenting it as a favor after we took many classes and this deceptive behavior made us understand we should go to another place. read more

My son has been training with Phipps for about a month, and there is already a dramatic improvement to his confidence and mental acuity!

Mr. Phipps is as good as it gets if you are a beginner or an advanced student. Both of my children trained with him and he was so fantastic I decided to give it a go. Simply a great experience with him and it translated to a great bonding experience for my family, I strongly recommend that you take a class. It will change your life. read more

My son absolutely loves his little tigers class and enjoys Mr. Kevin's classes . You can really feel the instructor's enthusiasm for them. Highly recommend this martial arts studio to anyone read more

I just took Sara Neva Towber's fantastic Pilates class here and felt so great afterwards. Way to get core work and a deep release of tight muscles throughout the whole body! Although the movements seemed subtle, this class was intense and extraordinarily beneficial for strength, flexibility and focus. I felt so much stronger in my body and clearer in my mind after this, and into the following day. I look forward to training more with Sarah, what a great balance to the mixed martial arts. read more

I took this class via Classpass. I signed up for a foundations class, and was given a class taught by Alessandra. As soon as the start time rolled around, she was drilling us with exercises, no introductions or anything, all as if we're all well acquainted with the studio and routine. I was put off by this but it's not a big deal. Was taught a few boxing moves but given almost zero instruction. One or two demonstrations, and that was it, expected to know the moves already. This was all just a poor experience, and as of yet, nothing kick boxing related. But what really tops it off is when we finally go to something involving kick boxing. Every student gets paired off with another, one kicks, one holds the pad. To demonstrate the first move, Alessandra decides to have me hold the pad, while she demonstrated. She decided to do a full force martial arts kick at me, which was totally not expected, hurt like hell, and which left me with a bruised rib. This to me was especially egregious since there were other instructors participating in the class who she could've demonstrated with. To not know your own strength while conducting a beginner class is totally unacceptable. I will never recommend this studio to anyone else, as it was a waste of my classpass credits, and I'm still sore from it 1.5 weeks later. read more

Master Phipps is a dedicated and expert Martial Artist. My son and I get to train under a 2x Martial Arts Hall of Fame inductee. Need I say more?! He is dedicated and truly builds relationships and cares about the kids and people he teaches. I am happy he has started his own venture as I know it will be great and we are happy to continue to train under him. At Valor everyone is like family. We have had nothing but great positive experience knowing and training with him since 2014 which is why we followed him and happy we did. He also believes in giving back to the community, especially working with kids that didn't have a great start to life like he did. His story is heart breaking and amazing. He is helping me with reaching out to kids, from under resourced areas of the UWS and NYC and giving them the opportunity to learn MMA as an outlet for leadership, keeping them off the street, and owning a door of opportunity. He took his past and turned it to something positive and I am happy to see him living out his dream. read more