Modern Martial Arts

This place is amazing! Great teachers, and front desk staff. Good deal for the price. The first time your child goes they get to break s board! They had a super fun Halloween party, all the staff dressed up like Peter Pan and they have a huge bounce house. I’m really happy to be part of their community.

Great classes for the kids! The instructors are excellent and keep the students focused, calling them out when needed and recognizing excellence as well.
Mr. Bergos has been a great inspiration for my son, showing him that strong men aren’t bullies, hard work pays off and helping him with both physical strength and mental focus.
True, the junior classes (up to age 7) reward based on number of classes attended, but provide the physical exercise and framework for respect that will serve as a foundation.

My son has been doing the Little Champs mixed martial arts classes here for a year and a half. WE LOVE IT! I truly cannot say enough good things about their dedicated staff, led by Mr. Phipps, and the positive changes that this has brought about in our child’s ability to focus, his strength, coordination, respect for others, and his discipline. I highly recommend their program for any parent looking to challenge their little girl or boy in an upbeat environment.

Staff is extremely rude. Classes are always overbooked and they won’t let you book more than one class a week. I ended up taking one class every two weeks and it’s not worth it.

This place is not worth going to. The kickboxing classes are always overbooked and there is not enough room for everyone to fit let alone get a proper workout. The classes are generally disorganized and as a result there are a ton of idle lapses in the class. «Locker room» is cramped and makeshift. Instructors are friendly but staff EXTREMELY rude. Cannot stress this enough. That alone makes this place not worth stepping foot into. Bought a package of classes at the beginning but letting them expire because of how rude and disrespectful staff has been every step of the way. There are so many better places, stay away from this one.

You will get one hell of a workout here. They have very dedicated instructors who will provide individual attention if needed. Facilities are small but well-​kept and clean, and the classes are not too crowded. I highly recommend this location for kickboxing classes.

I can’t say enough good things about MMA or the experience our son has had under the direction of Mr. Phipps, who is both an incredible mentor and role model for every child that attends his classes. This guy is an Incredible instructor and this place blends the perfect amount of discipline and skill with fun and encouragement. Belt graduation ceremonies cost $ 50 on top of the tuition, but anyone thaat’s done their homework knows that’s how all martial arts studios operate, especially in NYC. MR. Phipps goes above and beyond for the children, and is genuinely dedicated to mentoring and educating them. He teaches them to respect each other, work hard, and always do their best. He is patient yet firm, charismatic, funny, fair and honest– on any given day you can see him follow up with parents and caregivers about each child’s struggles and progress, and you’ll hear nothing but things like, ‘this guy is awesome,’ ‘love this guy,’ ‘how does he do it?!’ ‘he’s so great with these kids!’ from the parents and caregivers watching each class. The time he takes to help focus kids with attention issues/​disorders, as well as his close personal relationships with many of the parents, tell me this man has the utmost integrity and a deep sense of responsibility for kids in his class. I personally know 6 different families that have kids who all attend these classes and not one has a bad word to say about it. If you want to know the truth about the studio and Mr. Phipps, just sit in on any one of his classes and it’ll be clear within a few seconds why this guy is the heart and soul of this place, and why he deserves nothing but our gratitude and respect for all he does.

MMA is a great place for kids to learn about respect, integrity and focus. Mr. Phipps is absoutley great with the kids — my 6 year old absolutley loves him. Mr. Phipps is «tough» to the right point without coming across as mean in the kids (and the parents’) eyes. He stimulates the kids by pushing them to go the extra mile and try harder, consistent with how we are raising our children. Keep it up MMA and thank you Mr. Phipps!

Parents seeking bragging rights through false accolades, instead of encouraging genuine achievement, give opportunist like Mario Guerrero, owner of Modern Martial Arts, a chance to take financial advantage of their vanity. Last Sept. there was a man outside of our 7 year old son’s school soliciting students for afterschool program at Modern Martial Arts. He went for trial class & we initially signed him for trial package. With few students there was a push for membership,$ 995 for 6 months unlimited classes, vacation freezes & uniform included. On 10÷7÷11, we agreed to sign, for start date 11÷1÷11. The contract was very short & just protects the owner for getting his money. We asked that everything be in writing. Just 2 ½ weeks after starting class, we received letter stating our child was going to be tested for his first belt advancement. The letter stated, «The Belt Test fee is $ 50. Test fees MUST be paid in full, and time slot assigned no later than November 22 in order to insure proper belt order. If you sign up after the assigned date, the test fee will increase to $ 60.» We were shocked! First, he just started & only attended a few classes, so how could he advancing? Second, no additional fees were disclosed at time of membership pitch or contract signing. The letter was supposedly from Darryl Phipps, my sons instructor. I wrote to him stating, «To charge for belt testing seems very unethical to me. It sends out the clear message that the children are given belts for the financial gain of the school. Of course, all children want to get belts. Belts should not be available for a fee but ONLY for hard work, dedication & skill.» Mr. Phipps puts on a good show, commanding respect & ordering“YES SIR!”, responses from kids. He in fact lacks integrity & is the front man for the owner of these 4 Modern Martial Arts studios & is making a mint off of children’s families with hidden fees. The owner fills each studio 4 times a year with what he calls, «Graduation», where each family pays $ 50-​$ 60 for their child to get their next belt (which RETAILS for $ 3)& no test is involved. It’s a FAKE, a FRAUD, a SCAM! We explained this to our son & he understood. We told him to do his exercises & ignore the belt nonsense. He was dedicated & good at it. In order to save face in front of the others that were blindly paying, Mr. Phipps gave our son a yellow belt, an orange belt,& then 3 strips on the orange (which meant he was going getting a purple belt). Mr. Phipps made this“advancement”, verbally clear to my son & others (I have video). My son had 2 weeks left on his membership, the owner told Phipps NOT to give our son the belt this time, and to claim poor attendance. It was a retaliatory attempt to hurt & humiliate our child before he left. It was a poorly thought out as our son attended classes 3 – 4 x a week, while some others come 1x per week. Even with vacation time, his attendance was above others. Phipps only had the“I just work here“excuse. Also, refer back to when our son first started at Modern Martial Arts & was advanced to new belt after just a few classes. People that train at ethical martial arts schools do not advance even 1 belt for a year or more, & when they do there are no extra hidden fees. What our son really cared about was that the instructor he respected, Darryl Phipps, was a sell-​out & threw him under the train to cover his own butt. At the last 2 classes he tried to humiliate my son in front of other children, by making others believe that he had somehow failed at earning his belt when the rest of them succeeded. Reality being that their parents bought them belts while we refused to be fleeced by the owner of this business. After the last class, Phipps looked frightened that I was going to say something about their scam in front of others. Instead, my son politely said goodbye to the instructor that he respects NO MORE and never wishes to lay eyes on again. The rip off artist/​owner, Mario Guerrero, avoids any communication about his slimy business practices, & has Darryl Phipps & others, do his dirty work. Exception was in March 2012 when, after we tried again to reason with his people, he emailed writing he wanted to“end the relationship”. Only half of the membership had passed & he offered us $ 207 from the $ 995 we paid?! We refused that horrible offer. He then wrote, «You are correct, every policy we have is not detailed in our membership agreement. Our policy to require kids to wear protective gear when sparring in not in there, our policy that kids don’t share sparring gear is not in there, our policy that kids should not be left with us unattended is not there, our policy that kids buy and wear cups, mouth guards, and head gear when sparring are not there, our Parents Night Out cost and fees are not there, etc… I think you get the point.»
Yes, we got the point. It was to rip us off!
P.S.
Owner comment NOT by owner, unknowns FALSE HEARSAY. 2 FAKE 5 star reviews posted to counter, ⁷⁄₁₇ & ⁷⁄₂₆ (removed by Unilocal

I highly recommend Saturday kickboxing box led by the instructor Phips. He’s really serious about you doing things properly, at the same time, he’s kind and constantly gives you encouragement and tips.
Saturday yoga class led by Hannah is also superb. Hannah is like the most trusting yoga instructor I’ve ever seen, and her voice is just adorable.
The yoga mats here are free, yet, not all are clean.
Same applies to the kickboxing gloves.

Great place! Very supportive people! I just finished my first class yesterday and it whipped me good. I couldn’t get to the actual kickboxing part. The warm up/​workout before we got there got me good. At least, I can say I made it through the hardest part of the class. I will keep you all posted as to how my remaining 9 classes go. (Purchased Groupon for 10 classes)
Extremely encouraging staff and students. It was great to know that this school really works you and other students have had similar experiences. I’m going back on Friday, I know it will be better.