UNIVERSAL FITNESS AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

"This review was hard for us as a family just because we did make friends here but I have to share our experience here. I signed my husband up a year ago because I wanted him to have a place to destress from work and let me say he absolutely loved it here. He made great friendships here. We then added our daughters to the kids classes and they liked it. The classes were fun for the kids and my oldest absolutely loved the teen class. She even competed and Professor Julia which is one of the coaches who helped get my daughter ready for her first competition. Everything was great until one afternoon right outside the gym, one of the boys which was Professor Julia’s son was pushing my daughter to say the “N” word in-front of some other kids in the class. My daughter felt uncomfortable and insulted. My daughter also mentioned that he brought up some unnecessary banter regarding other races as well during this conversation. This was concerning to hear as any martial arts school/gym promotes discipline and respect. Now I understand that this is no fault of the gym itself but the reason I decided to make this review is the way Professor Julia handled it. My husband and I decided to come and talk to her and her husband about the comments that were said by her son. Julia decided to victimize the victim by asking my daughter angrily if she had told her son that she was insulted when she should’ve drawn that attention to her own son. She stormed out of the office after shouting at us and then her husband came in and spoke to us and was respectful about the situation and apologized for his son’s comments. We ended up cancelling our membership during this interaction and then Julia (the coach) called me twice shortly afterwards and decided to scream and cuss me out over the phone. This is very unprofessional. We were paying customers and we never once had any problems at this place. This is why I decided to make this review because this is unacceptable. Again, any martial art school/gym should be about respect, friendship, and learning how to protect yourself. The owner of the gym never called my husband to apologize for his staff member’s behavior or the situation. We are not the only multicultural family that has felt this way about this gym and about Julia. This again was a hard review just because we did make some friends here but the way this situation was handled was very unprofessional."

"This academy is very clean and very professional! Highly recommend the introduction and proper training with this gym !! We have trained and many martial arts and BJJ gyms across the county and this particular gym is as legit as they come ! Go and visit them you won’t be disappointed"

"Great gym to be a part of, everyone is willing to learn and does not have an ego which is awesome, dedicated instructors who love the art and want to teach it correctly to others! Don't be shy!"

"Update April 2023: my son still enjoys going to this gym and now his younger sister, who is 15 and too cute for her own good, has joined him and is learning to defend herself and also benefiting from the great community this business has intentionally built. We will remain customers for a long time. I literally picked this place from a Google search for my 17 year old son who wanted to get started in martial arts with no experience. It is close to the high school he will be attending in the fall. I could not be happier with our choice! After he finished his free "try it out" week, during which gym provided a free gi and belt, he wanted to sign up for the 1 year contract. He is going to classes 3-4 times a week and it is SO GOOD for him. He comes home smiling, talking about what he has learned, and sharing the positive and supportive feedback he gets from teachers and other students. He stays after class to talk with the new community he is now part of. After spending last year stuck in the house with online school and having everything that gave him structure and focus taken away in an instant, he needed something to get him out of the house and provide him with some challenge and exercise. If you are on the fence or worried about gyms with attitude, I cannot recommend Universal highly enough. The owner, Jairon, is a very friendly guy and is also a student in his own classes. He was open with me that they get rid of "mat bullies" very quickly if any show up there. I am really happy and grateful for what this gym is providing to my son."

"Fantastic gym. I wanted to get my boys into a grappling art and decided to try the gym out as it was close to us. It's been great! Myself, my wife, and my three boys (5, 8, and 11) have now been training BJJ here for a year. Prof. Lutrario is such a great teacher, and the environment and community are exactly what I was looking for - encouraging, educational, and friendly, full of people eager to help each other. There aren't a bunch of egos, just people looking to make themselves and their training partners better fighters and people. If you're looking for a BJJ gym in the Gilbert/Queen Creek area, definitely come roll with us!"