10 Red Flags: Gyms That Put Money Before Fighting

by A O’Toole

1. The instructor does not screen you on your goals.  It shows he doesn’t invest in the individual’s needs and purpose for joining.
2. Visitors are not welcome any time the place is open.  This tells you they only want people to see some things.  Perhaps they don’t want people to watch the laughable training.  Hiding something?  Maybe the fact that they are “bait and switching?”
3. They require you to buy their equipment only.  This is scam #1 for making extra monies.
4. They sell supplements as a side business.  Anyone who knows business, knows that it takes 100% attention.  This is why there are so many fledgling clubs and part-time trainers.
5. They rent the space for birthday parties that can close the gym at given times.  What fighter wants to attend a martial arts or boxing club where they hold kid birthday parties?
6. Dress codes.  Another part of money making and brain washing.  Buy their uniforms and be institutionalized.  “Look really professional because parents with money like that.”  Fluff that.
7. The gym advertises on an amalgam of arts of fighting that don’t mesh.  Going to an mma club that also teaches Ninjitsu?  Paintball and boxing?  JKD suspiciously changed to mma?  Whatever makes a fast buck without dedicated work for the owner, that’s what you get.
8. Pay for testing and advancement.  This is the new norm in the industry of swindlers.
9. They don’t refer people who aren’t fit for their school to other places.  They simply try to sell someone who is clearly looking for something else on being right where they stand.
10. Registration fees.  Insurance is surprisingly cheap for martial arts schools, so that’s just a big lie when they say it’s for insurance purposes.  Paying a few months upfront is understandable, but the registration thing is another industry norm, and another complete scam.