I started at Farrell's Martial Arts when I was about 14 years old. I love TKD and Master Miller is…read morethe best at what he does!! I started back up a month ago after taking 7 years off. I'm excited to have my daughter start doing TKD with me when she gets a little older!! Can't say enough good things about Farrell's Martial Arts!! I would highly recommend looking into Farrell's If you want to try TKD!!

We are in town visiting so we took our daughter and son to the kids Jiu-jitsu class today. The kids…read moreloved it. Nice facilities and outstanding instructors. Highly recommend. Thank you Iowa Martial Arts!

I've been training at this gym for a number of years now. All I can say is that training here has…read moregreatly improved my life in a number of ways. The coaches are top-notch and are willing to work with everyone. The facilities are the best in the area. There are numerous classes throughout the week to accommodate most schedules. Everyone at the gym is amazing and friendly and willing to work with new people. If you're interested in jiu-jitsu, I cannot recommend DMJJA enough. ADDITIONAL: I wanted to add that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an excellent form of exercise that also has been shown to be an effective form of self defense. The academy has adult classes every day but Thursday for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and recently increased the number of kids' classes during the week. The gym also has Muay Thai kickboxing and a modest MMA program. Yoga was also recently added to the schedule two to three times per week. The academy caters to athletes of any level, from straight-off-the-couch to expert martial artists. The academy also has a weight lifting / cardio room for members to use during the hours the academy is open. I seriously cannot recommend this gym more. It is amazing and I feel like anyone would enjoy and benefit from classes provided.

Excellent instructors and a great environment.read more

Not sure why this place doesn't have more reviews. I took an 8:30a boxing class on December 31st…read morewith my husband and a friend from of town and it was great! We were each at different points in our fitness journey but felt appropriately challenged because we could push/not push as hard as we wanted to. Daniel did a great job leading the class and helping us newbies put our wraps on. I also appreciated the service provided by the front desk attendant. She was very thorough in explaining the membership benefits and giving us a tour. I'm moving out of state next week, otherwise I would seriously consider becoming a member. Tip: they provide free 3-day passes for newbies.

One of the best boxing clubs in the Midwest. The staff is very knowledgeable and nice. Great…read moreatmosphere and activities to keep you engaged.

My family loves Sapphire. Both of my kids have been going there for years. My daughter has been…read morethere preschool through 3rd grade and my son has been there 3rd through 5th grade. They have been in basketball and climbing and swimming and soccer and track and almost every other kid sport, and gymnastics at Sapphire is by far their favorite. Whenever there is a conflict ("you have to choose between gymnastics and...") they ALWAYS choose Sapphire. Every single week, I watch my kids during their lessons, and every single week, they are BEAMING. I see huge smiles for the new thing they can do, and I also see huge smiles for the random fun stuff they do every week. My son and daughter are very different and I find it surprising that they have the same favorite sport. I think it is because the coaches do a great job of figuring out what each kid likes about the sport and making sure they get to do it. My kids have had many different instructors, ranging from good to great. No bad ones. If I had to highlight the really outstanding instructors, I would name Simon and Jenny. But there have been no bad teachers, nor even any mediocre ones. Gymnastics is purely recreation for my kids. They definitely love learning new skills and advancing to the higher class levels, but they are not wanting to go to competitions or anything. It looks like me like that advanced stuff is going on in other parts of the gym while we're there, but I've never felt any pressure to push the kids harder or "get serious" or anything like that. It seems to me that the really serious gymnasts and the recreational ones coexist very nicely. Their class registration system used to be very annoying a few years ago. I hated it. They threw it out and set up a whole new system. Now it's fantastic. It's easy to find out when the next registration period is, easy to see what classes are available, and easy to get registered. Communication is excellent. I get registration confirmations, great advance notification of when they're open and closed, etc. My only complaints are very minor. I am always jealous watching my kids have fun in the gym, and I wish they would have some kind of event where parents and kids can do gymnastics together. Also, I wish there were more seats with a good view of the whole gym. A dozen parents come in and plop down in the good seats and stare at their phones for an hour, and this leaves no good seats for the parents who are watching. Finally, the entrance to the parking lot is steep, and it's tough when there is ice. Another nice little touch is that they give out little award coins when students are helping other students work on a skill. The coins say "I caught you being good" or something like that. Over the past few years, my daughter has earned five of these. She gets INCREDIBLY excited every time. She has the coins all together, and for each one, she can tell you exactly what she was doing the night she earned it. It is such an awesome moment when she comes out of practice jumping up and down showing me that she earned another one. I could say a million nice things about Sapphire (and this review did get pretty long) but really the only one that matters to me is those smiles. Year after year, this is the sport that my kids love the most. They have crazy fun every single week.

Love this place! Full of genuinely caring people! I couldn't be happier here, and I highly…read moreencourage you check it out - open gym, recreationally, competitively, or birthday parties - whatever you try is going to be great for your kiddos!

Joyce is wondderful and great with the kids she takes her time with the kid and she is a great…read moreteacher! alot of one on one work and she lets the kids work on there on time and she has great prices!!!

Great place to take Tae Kwon Do lessons. Three if my grandkids have been taking lessons from the…read moreinstructors there for over a year. As soon as my youngest is a little older, I'll be taking him, also. Great for students of all ages. This location as well as the one on Indianola Road have both closed & they've moved to new locations. Call the owner (Mr. Breese), at 282-2040 for information, as well as to try a week free. This family business has been teachimg in Des Moines since 1986.

My son had a gym membership here for a few years. He went to cancel his membership because he…read moredoesn't work in that area anymore. He canceled in December 2024 and several months still were taking money out of my account for his membership which should have been done end of year. My son canceled it 3 times on line and said membership canceled everytime. They said he never filled out the form. Can't cancel in person had to do it online. They gave me one month refund should had three according to an email. So if you are planning on joining be aware canceling isn't easy. Son liked the gym otherwise.

Really like this gym. I was visiting from out of town and needed a place that could do a weekly…read moremembership. So many gyms are appointment-only and class-driven. I get the appeal of some of that, but for me, I just need a decent place with good equipment and I'll handle the rest. In general, people are there to work out and work out hard. Decent equipment and love their music selections. Very high energy. This gym is powerlifting-friendly and has its own area for chalk. It's nice to see a place that not only allows deadlifts, but has a platform and doesn't blink at chalk-use. Also, I love the mural on one of the main walls painted by a local artist. Very nice work. If I lived in DM, I would get a membership here.