Gym to Avoid in China: Xi'an Black Belt MMA Academy

[waiguoren]

UPDATE: 14 January 2016

It seems the former BJJ instructor from the academy is making a series of accusations against this place:

My name is Rhuando Cavalcante Brandão
I am a black belt 2nd degree of brazilian jiu-jitsu and I am the Núcleo BJJ Team Leader. I am also responsible for Cauan Moreno Cardoso who was teaching classes at Black Belt Academy in Xian / China.

I write to you to help me disclose that the Núcleo Team is not more in Xian, due to financial problems and bad character by representatives of the Black Belt Academy (Nian Cheng and Oliver).

They were delaying payments in addition to charge unfair costs seen in the amount of 15,000.00 yuan per visa, and these costs should be obligation on the employer. They were forcing the Cauan to do things beyond the contract, such as teaching MMA at other times without payament and create a totally hostile ambience, giving hints in the classroom and in the graduate system adopted by him.

They tried to hold our passports so we do not we return to Brazil. They only returned our passports, because we threaten to call the Brazilian embassy.
ey wanted us we signed a contract where we were required to graduate 3 black belts per year (a joke) and several clauses absurd.

I apologize to our students that has nothing to do with all this confusion and advise all the communities of brazilian jiu-jitsu that we only graduate two students to Blue Belt (Dan Adamant and Chao) and we don't have no more responsible for this academy.

I put myself at your disposal to answer any questions and I would advise that you are well aware of any negotiations with those responsible for the Black Belt Academy, they are people who can not be trusted.
Thank you






-----------
May 2014

TL;DR

1. Full of unprofessional, pushy salespeople.
2. Instructor seems good and students seem dedicated.
3. Management hypocritical on issues related to membership and class payment.
4. Charged me gi rental fee for no gi class
5. Manager expelled me for insisting on a refund for a class that never happened.
6. I strongly recommend you take your MMA/Muay Thai/BJJ training elsewhere.

------------------------------
I'm in Xi'an temporarily. I started training in submission grappling back in 2006 but for a variety of reasons my training has been very inconsistent and my level is much lower than I'd like. I want to make a commitment to consistency so I thought I'd check out Xi'an Black Belt MMA Academy (西安黑帶&#39208 while I'm here. I've trained at gyms throughout North America and Asia, almost always on a short-term basis, and have never had any serious issues.

The gym is 45 minutes from where I live. I followed the course schedule on the gym website and showed up for their Saturday no gi class. The place was filled with very young employees of the gym who immediately started trying to sign me up for an annual membership. I told the salespeople I was interested in trying out the scheduled no gi class. Sorry, the instructor is on vacation, I was told. It would have been nice to see that posted on the official website, but I didn't mention it.

I asked if a free first lesson was available like in every other gym at which I've trained. I was told I'd have to pay for each lesson I take. Okay, I thought, can I at least watch a lesson? No, that's not allowed either. Oh well, I thought, I'll just pay class-by-class. I don't know how long I'll be in Xi'an, and I made that very clear to the salespeople. It just wouldn't make sense for me to pay for a season membership or a year's membership. They seemed understanding but disappointed.

A few days later I went back for a gi class. Fortunately I bumped into the instructor and he told me it was totally fine with him if I watched a lesson. The instructor's name is Manny and in my interactions with him he seemed like a very nice and reasonable guy. Also the students I met were all friendly and dedicated. The class was good so I decided to go back for a class the next time.

I paid 130 RMB for the class and rented a gi for 30 RMB. I am terrible in the gi but it's fun to learn. The training was nice. I am totally out of shape these days and got tossed around by white belts and it felt great. Manny was cool.

I decided to go back on Saturday (yesterday) for the scheduled no gi class. I paid for the class in advance. I didn't even notice that they charged me for a gi rental for the no gi class. The girl behind the counter tried to tell me I had to wear a gi into the training room but then I should take it off for training. Then another one of the salespeople decided that didn't make sense. Still they took my money for the gi. I paid by card.

I went up to the training room and found that no students were there. The instructor wasn't there. There was a woman cleaning the mats who seemed surprised that I was expecting to have a class. I told her there was a class scheduled at that time. She said she had seen the instructor leave about an hour earlier. I went back down to talk to the people at the front desk. They contacted the instructor, who said he had gone to the hospital for back pain. Class was cancelled.

I'm a pretty busy guy who values his time. I told them they might consider notifying people if class is to be cancelled on short notice. After all, this was the second time. I requested a refund for the money they had just taken. They said they couldn't do that because I had swiped my card. I protested, and they called the gym manager. The manager told me the money could be applied for future classes, but no refund could be issued. I asked him why they would charge me in the first place if the instructor wasn't even there, but he immediately told me to give the phone to the girl behind the desk. I was issued a refund and left.

I decided to go back this evening for their gi class. Once again, I planned to pay the single class fee and rent a gi. The salespeople immediately asked me if I planned to sign up for a monthly or a seasonal membership. I said no, I just wanted to pay for one class. Then they said (translated from Mandarin), "Oh. Then Manager Cheng will have to deal with this." They called the manager out. He told me I wouldn't be training at this gym anymore. I pressed him on why, and he told me he didn't think I was being reasonable about the 160 RMB refund. He tried to attack my character, saying that I'm a person who makes a big deal of little things. He said if I continued to train there, I would certainly bring more problems along with me.

 

[Dogstarman]

I'm in Xi'an temporarily. I started training in submission grappling back in 2006 but for a variety of reasons my training has been very inconsistent and my level is much lower than I'd like. I want to make a commitment to consistency so I thought I'd check out Xi'an Black Belt MMA Academy (西安黑帶&#39208 while I'm here. I've trained at gyms throughout North America and Asia, almost always on a short-term basis, and have never had any serious issues.

The gym is 45 minutes from where I live. I followed the course schedule on the gym website and showed up for their Saturday no gi class. The place was filled with very young employees of the gym who immediately started trying to sign me up for an annual membership. I told the salespeople I was interested in trying out the scheduled no gi class. Sorry, the instructor is on vacation, I was told. It would have been nice to see that posted on the official website, but I didn't mention it.

I asked if a free first lesson was available like in every other gym at which I've trained. I was told I'd have to pay for each lesson I take. Okay, I thought, can I at least watch a lesson? No, that's not allowed either. Oh well, I thought, I'll just pay class-by-class. I don't know how long I'll be in Xi'an, and I made that very clear to the salespeople. It just wouldn't make sense for me to pay for a season membership or a year's membership. They seemed understanding but disappointed.

A few days later I went back for a gi class. Fortunately I bumped into the instructor and he told me it was totally fine with him if I watched a lesson. The instructor's name is Manny and in my interactions with him he seemed like a very nice and reasonable guy. Also the students I met were all friendly and dedicated. The class was good so I decided to go back for a class the next time.

I paid 130 RMB for the class and rented a gi for 30 RMB. I am terrible in the gi but it's fun to learn. The training was nice. I am totally out of shape these days and got tossed around by white belts and it felt great. Manny was cool.

I decided to go back on Saturday (yesterday) for the scheduled no gi class. I paid for the class in advance. I didn't even notice that they charged me for a gi rental for the no gi class. The girl behind the counter tried to tell me I had to wear a gi into the training room but then I should take it off for training. Then another one of the salespeople decided that didn't make sense. Still they took my money for the gi. I paid by card.

I went up to the training room and found that no students were there. The instructor wasn't there. There was a woman cleaning the mats who seemed surprised that I was expecting to have a class. I told her there was a class scheduled at that time. She said she had seen the instructor leave about an hour earlier. I went back down to talk to the people at the front desk. They contacted the instructor, who said he had gone to the hospital for back pain. Class was cancelled.

I'm a pretty busy guy who values his time. I told them they might consider notifying people if class is to be cancelled on short notice. After all, this was the second time. I requested a refund for the money they had just taken. They said they couldn't do that because I had swiped my card. I protested, and they called the gym manager. The manager told me the money could be applied for future classes, but no refund could be issued. I asked him why they would charge me in the first place if the instructor wasn't even there, but he immediately told me to give the phone to the girl behind the desk. I was issued a refund and left.

I decided to go back this evening for their gi class. Once again, I planned to pay the single class fee and rent a gi. The salespeople immediately asked me if I planned to sign up for a monthly or a seasonal membership. I said no, I just wanted to pay for one class. Then they said (translated from Mandarin), "Oh. Then Manager Cheng will have to deal with this." They called the manager out. He told me I wouldn't be training at this gym anymore. I pressed him on why, and he told me he didn't think I was being reasonable about the 160 RMB refund. He tried to attack my character, saying that I'm a person who makes a big deal of little things. He said if I continued to train there, I would certainly bring more problems along with me.

TLDR

Wanted to train for just a few sessions before I leave the city. Full of unprofessional, pushy salespeople. In all of my years in and out of BJJ gyms, I have never encountered such an unreasonable manager. Gym manager told me I couldn't train anymore because I insisted on a refund for a class in which the instructor did not show.

I strongly recommend you take your MMA/Muay Thai/BJJ training elsewhere.

Sounds shitty. Do all gyms in china operate this way?

 

[waiguoren]

Sounds shitty. Do all gyms in china operate this way?

Not in my experience. I trained for a few months before in a gym called Alavanca in Shanghai. Everyone there was really reasonable and I can't say a bad thing about the place. I believe it's owned/operated by Japanese people.

I also trained at Andy's BJJ gym in Beijing as well as at a club at BeiShiDa (北師&#22823. Always reasonable. Dropped in at Shanghai BJJ before as well and never had any such problems.

 

[Dogstarman]

Damn. Well I doubt I'll ever be in China but that place sounds bad.

 

[Fightshopca]

That sounds awful.

 

[BareKnucklez**]

Sounds horrible. Idiots, they would probably get more customers if they weren't complete assholes.

 

[randomguy]

A lot of Chinese businesses are like this. Very near sighted, if you aren't a returning customer they will treat you like crap and try to avoid doing work.

I've had a similar experience with a water park and I had to speak on the phone with their manager for over 1 hour (in my bathing suit already) before I can enter.

 

[waiguoren]

A lot of Chinese businesses are like this. Very near sighted, if you aren't a returning customer they will treat you like crap and try to avoid doing work.

I've had a similar experience with a water park and I had to speak on the phone with their manager for over 1 hour (in my bathing suit already) before I can enter.

I would love to hear that story.

I've mostly lived in the bigger, westernized cities. Living in Xi'an has led to repeated culture shocks. People are constantly trying to rip me off. I just never expected this to happen in a BJJ academy.

 

[Rod1]

Sounds extremely difficult for so little return, get into a regular gym and do S&C so you arent out of shape next time you have the opportunity to train.

 

[Dogstarman]

I would love to hear that story.

I've mostly lived in the bigger, westernized cities. Living in Xi'an has led to repeated culture shocks. People are constantly trying to rip me off. I just never expected this to happen in a BJJ academy.

I was going to mention that. That is why I asked if you trained anywhere else. I always get that vibe, even when dealing with chinese businesses here in the states. Seems they are trying to squeeze as much money from you for short term gain. I don't know if it's because of my round eyes or what but that is the feeling I get.

 

[Ivaylo Ivanov]

I was going to mention that. That is why I asked if you trained anywhere else. I always get that vibe, even when dealing with chinese businesses here in the states. Seems they are trying to squeeze as much money from you for short term gain. I don't know if it's because of my round eyes or what but that is the feeling I get.

Yes.
Only places runned properly in China are foreign owned and sometimes even they start acting local.

 

[randomguy]

I would love to hear that story.

I've mostly lived in the bigger, westernized cities. Living in Xi'an has led to repeated culture shocks. People are constantly trying to rip me off. I just never expected this to happen in a BJJ academy.

So I was in this water park / spring resort just slightly outside of Beijing. I purchased their pass online prior to going there. I am a native Chinese speaker so I figured I wouldn't have any problems getting around especially dealing with people but boy was I wrong.

The ticket was sold in one package (both spring and water park) and I didn't really think that would be a problem. The price between buying in a package was not even 50rmb cheaper and then only reason I did so was because I wanted to go to both places and there was no time limit. But when I got there the lady stamped my ticket and told me I'd have to go to both places in a day. Now originally i planned on spending a day for each park because nowhere on the ticket says I have to use them both at once. But the lady said once the ticket is stamped, you cannot use it again. Even if it's for a separate park. I argued that I should at least get a note from them because had i known that was the case I would have purchased them separately

It is at this point when the lady at the front desk started pissing me off because she started giving me attitude and rolled her eyes when other workers walked by and asked whats going on. So I just ask her to call the other park ahead and let them know so they can let me in the next day. She told me although they are the same resort they are actually separate entities and they have no control over the other park. And she started telling me to just hurry up because I was wasting precious time to go "enjoy" the two parks for rest of that day and that I was making the rest of the customers to wait. I was pretty determined to wait because I know in china if I just left and tried to get it taken care of later, I would only be screwed later

At this point I was pissed so I called their manager and threatened to cancel the charges on the ticket and she told me she needed to call her higher ups. I went back and forth with them for a long time before they finally caved in. In the end, the lady at the desk wrote down a small note and her number on the ticket, that's all it took...

 

[400lbKneeOnFace]

I followed the course schedule on the gym website and showed up for their Saturday no gi class. The place was filled with very young employees of the gym who immediately started trying to sign me up for an annual membership.

This is the point at which I would have cut my losses.

 

[HighestHand]

Yes.
Only places runned properly in China are foreign owned and sometimes even they start acting local.

So true, I get terrible service from Chinese restaurants here in the states. I'm an American born chinese and I've been raised with both cultural values.
That and they are very non tolerant for "trouble." Any sort of "trouble" is bad fengshui. Got a leaky roof? That's bad fengshui. Got a kitchen facing your door? bad fengshui.

I think it has to do with their politics and what not as being communist or capitalistic or whatever the heck they are made them that way.

IF you're not in a big city or in an establishment that caters mostly to tourists, then chances are, they are going to be pretty darn rude. I've traveled all around China with my mom and have been to big cities like Shanghai, Guang zhou, Hong Kong, Bei jing, and rural places like Sichuan, and jiuzaigou.

I've seen good service in china and bad service. BUT even the best service of China is average in places like Japan and Korea. (we didn't speak korean and korean waiter and menu didn't speak or have english. They also didn't have pictures, so We had our tour guide book and started pointed to things and they look at you with a huge smile and shake their head saying no. ) Never had this in China and I'm sad.

TLDR version: If you go to the local places, you are probably going to get bad services. Tourist areas and big cities probably good service.

 

[Rod1]

Chinese owned restaurants have a pretty good product and they hire mexican waiters and cashiers so you get good service. Anyway, it may be different because Mexico has a way to break immigrants, maybe its the state where i live but i have yet to se someone not get broken by mexican culture.

They are really hard customers though, you mess with them you never see them again, you sell ok to them and they come back and its bargaining all over again.

Chinese run, chinese restaurant really carries some weight around here.

 

[blacjac]

I have an idea; why not avoid China? You communist asshole.

 

[lechien]

They are trying to implement how to become a mma millionaire plan.

 

[Harukaze]

Generally speaking, I don't like dealing with most Mainland Chinese folks, especially Northerners. Could be because I'm an ethnic Cantonese guy (Southerner) with Hong Kong roots though. The Cultural Revolution bullshit done fucked up Chinese culture and values on the Mainland IMHO; old-timer Pre-Communist emigrants, native Hong Kongers, and Taiwanese are much more pleasant to deal with, generally speaking.

 

[HighestHand]

I have an idea; why not avoid China? You communist asshole.

What if he wants to advocate democracy in China?!!

 

[Gomezjiujistu]

They are trying to implement how to become a mma millionaire plan.

heh