Northwest Fighting Arts — Local services in Portland

Stay away from this place.

I went into this gym to watch one of the beginners classes for boxing, and couldn't believe what I was seeing. First off, there were literally 40+ people in the class because the gym only offers one evening class Monday-Thursday, and no evening classes on Fridays. One would think that if there are 40+ people in the class that there must be more than one instructor, but no, there is only one instructor. It's just too much for one instructor to handle.

I've been taking boxing classes for over a year now. I trained at two gyms in Chicago and two gyms in Thailand. I'm by no means a pro seeing as I've only been doing this for a little over a year, but I feel like I at least have the basics down (stance, jabs/crosses, elbows, knees, kicks) based on the training I've gotten from nearly 20 different trainers. I would say that 90% of the people in the class had terrible/incorrect form and that's solely due to the fact that these classes are too big for one instructor. So if you're new to boxing (Western or Muay Thai), stay away. You will not learn the basics, and you need to have the fundamentals down to progress.

Honestly, to each their own. Maybe some of these people don't want to progress in boxing and just want the workout, but the main reason I point all this out is because nearly the entire class that I watched was partner drills where one person had gloves on and the other person was holding the mitts. This is a BEGINNER level class, and the instructor is having these people throw punches, elbows, and kicks at each other. Someone could get seriously hurt. Oh, and the class that I watched had zero instruction on kicking, and these people were kicking each other. I couldn't believe it.

This was all done on the main floor where there was lots of space. The equipment and ring did look nice, I will give the gym that. One disgusting thing about the facility though was that the intermediate/advanced class was being held in the basement. I went to go check out the basement after that class finished and could not go down there because the smell was so bad from the top of the stairs. There is no way I would personally be able to train down there, and I don't feel like I have a sensitive nose.

Just for fun, I went up to talk with Jeff (the owner?) about schedule and pricing. The place charges an initial sign-up fee of $500 (discounted down to $200 when I was looking), and then charges $174 per month. I've never been to a gym that charges that much. The craziest thing about it is that they only offer one boxing class per evening Monday-Thursday, and no evening classes on Friday as I mentioned before. They have one class on Saturday, and none on Sunday. They do have morning classes during the week on Tuesday and Friday, but they are at 8am. What normal working adult can make an 8am class...

To recap. You're going to pay a $500 sign-up fee and $174/month for one evening class four times per week that will have 40+ people (the majority don't do things correctly) with one instructor. This is a joke. Save your money and check out another gym. Also, reading the other one star reviews, I can completely believe them all. The owner seems crazy, and it seems like this is a sketchy business that just wants to steal your money. He calls himself a professor and says he was in the "Marine Core" (his spelling, not mine).

I can't comment on the intermediate/advanced classes or the BJJ classes, but if you're looking for a boxing gym, I'd say this isn't the...

I feel the need to write this review because I want to clear up some of the hate reviews that almost made me not want to go here. I do not understand why some people had so many problems while they were here, and not to call people liars but there is literally no way their situations played out as poorly as they have described; unless they were a lot more at fault than they led me to believe.

I told the coach when I was about to sign my contract, that I was going to be getting a surgery a few weeks in, and they had no issues with suggesting freezing my account until I was healed up. I am not sure how so many people are saying they got ripped off when they left, and that they MAGICALLY DISCOVERED they were a few thousand dollars in debt via their credit report. (especially not when they keep open text and email communications, and the company who process payments keeps contact with me.) There was a small issue with the people who charge my account, but that company sent me an email when my payment didn't process. Daniel took care of it immediately when I contacted him, and re-contacted the company to make sure they had it right this time around. There is literally no part of this business that I can see as being shady. Just calmly contact them if something is wrong, and they will make sure to fix it. I am certain everyone who blasted the trainers in their review is not perfect. People make mistakes, and if these guys were all so messed up, they wouldn't have bothered to fix it. I mean, I have already signed a contract so I am stuck for better or worse.

Ending on a positive note, these are some of the nicest people I have ever met. When I had a cold before my surgery, I was contacted via text twice asking me how I was doing, and when I would be coming back to the gym. My own family doesn't even show that much care or concern for me if I don't talk to them for a week. They ACTUALLY care about the people who are in their gym, and every person who works here is genuinely a nice, friendly, encouraging, helpful person. Don't focus on the hate reviews, because I am certain some people confused an honest mistake for something that was maliciously done, and imagined some really dramatic experience instead of looking at the situation realistically. As for how knowledgable they are on martial arts, I have no prior experience (not including the two classes I have been to) and have some troubles keeping up athletically, but they will personally come help you if it is obvious you are struggling; which happens with me a lot. The classes are small and personal, and everyone I have been teamed up with has been SUPER helpful and nice. Everyone is willing to teach you form and help you do well if the coach is not available for that second the you need him. I love the classes, and don't care about the pricey bill because it seems worth it to...

In September 2019, I signed a 3-month contract to take weekly classes at NWFA. Daniel, the instructor who signed me up, wanted me to sign a 12 month, but I was unsure since I'd never done this type of class before. My contract expired on 12/12/19. On 12/7/19, I texted him to say that I wanted my classes to end with my contract, that I'd no longer be attending classes, and to please make sure I didn't get charged the next month. Well, not only did they continue charging me through June of 2020, the price went up to $235 a month!!!! I looked back on my contract and Daniel had checked a box under "renewal terms" saying that my membership would automatically roll over when my contract ended!! Now why would a membership automatically roll over when a contract ends?? Needless to say, Daniel did NOT specify this part of the contract when he sat down to fill out and sign the form with me, going over the terms of the THREE-month membership. This is the kind of behavior I'd expect from a big corporate gym, not a small customer-service oriented, local small business. Did he check the box after I signed the contract but before he gave me the carbon? I'll never know but I do know I was passively deceived. Of course it's my responsibility to check right, but come on, YOU NEED TO GO OVER IMPORTANT INFO WITH NEW CUSTOMERS NOT SHADILY CONNING THEM OUT OF THEIR MONEY Contract fine print states requiring a 30-day notice in writing to cancel automatic membership roll-over which Daniel also did not specify to me during sign up. I am consulting an attorney because technically I did cancel in writing (via text directly to Daniel) on Dec. 7 that I wanted to cancel, so I did give 30 days notice and should not have been charged at all starting Jan 1!! Attorney says I do have a case because contract did not specify what type of writing and I still have the text, WHICH IS WRITING. Anyway, I did enjoy the classes, I just couldn't make them work with my schedule, and I was hoping to go back one day but now NO WAY....what a way to screw over potential members& your community. If you do take one of their free classes and decide to sign up, review your signed contract and carbon copy after it is handed back to you CAREFULLY because clearly NWFA is in the business of deceiving customers with omission of pointing out important information (at best) and checking boxes on signed contracts to deliberately deceive you about automatic payment charges after your contract technically...