CT/RI schools?

J

jjanders

Guest
I recently moved to southeast CT and was wondering if anyone trained at any of the following schools, they are the closest ones to me, interested in any thoughts/opinions.

1. Strikezone MMA - New London, CT

2. Borrelli MMA - West Kingston, RI

3. Team Santos - Cranston, RI

4. Battleground Training Center - East Greenwich, RI

There is also a place in North Providence but it's a tad far.

Thanks.
 
I've heard good things about this school and Matt -

Team Santos - Cranston, RI
 
I have trained at both Santos' and Borrelli's, and I have been to battlegrounds once.

Santos' is a very good school. Awesome BJJ instruction and really good MMA classes. Santos is primarily a grappling school, they offer both gi and no-gi classes. Matt Santos is a really nice guy too. I highly recommend this school.

Borrelli's will actually be moving a town over from there current location to Wakefield, RI next week. Borrelli's isn't a bad school. It is pretty new and not yet established much of a reputation. I would say its more of a striking oriented school. They also offer Krav Maga which is cool, not many places offer that. Currently they offer only no-gi BJJ classes, but I believe Dave is thinking about starting gi classes in the near future. Dave is a good guy. I recommend you check this school out, especially if you want to learn striking.

Battlegrounds from what I can tell is not the best school. It is primarily a stand up school, and even then the quality of instructors is questionable. Damon is their BJJ instructor and he is really good. Damon is a really nice guy, very knowledgeable. I don't like to talk shit about schools, but lets just say I'm not about to go sign up and train at battlegrounds. Especially with Santos, Borrelli, and Tim Burrill in the surrounding area.

I'm guessing your most interested in grappling, since you posted in the grappling forum. If this is the case I would recommend Santos fight academy. Santos in my opinion is the best fight school in RI. Give Borrelli's a try too, especially if you are more interested in striking. If you will be in the Providence area I would also recommend you check out Tim Burrill. He is a top notch instructor, very good. Santos actually trains under him, so definetely check him out. That covers the RI schools, let me know if you have any more questions.
 
Well, the guy above me got it covered pretty well, but I'll add some things. I train at Santos' and it is a fantastic school. Mostly nogi grappling, but there is MMA and Muay Thai also. I would probably recommend it above Borelli and Battleground, but I am no authority and also biased. Additionally, the school in North Providence you are probably talking about is Tim Burrill. He is a black belt and that is another awesome school. Mat Santos is a brown belt under Tim and trains there. It actually isn't much further north than Santos, maybe another 10 minutes, so you might want to add that one into your considerations also.
 
jjanders said:
I recently moved to southeast CT and was wondering if anyone trained at any of the following schools, they are the closest ones to me, interested in any thoughts/opinions.

1. Strikezone MMA - New London, CT

2. Borrelli MMA - West Kingston, RI

3. Team Santos - Cranston, RI

4. Battleground Training Center - East Greenwich, RI

There is also a place in North Providence but it's a tad far.

Thanks.
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Matt Santos from Team Santos trains at Tim Burrill's BJJ in North Providence. I've trained with Matt there and he is quite a grappling technician. I thoroughly enjoyed training at Tim Burrill's.
 
I used to train at Santos' and now I'm at BMMA.

Love both places, but Santos' definetly has better grappling/grapplers.

This is Denis (tall ass flexi ginger), do I know any of you guys? Do you know Micro (Dan ***gella)?
 
Haha Denis whats up man? Micro is my homeboy. Its Drew. (tall unflexible stockyish non-ginger)
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I actually work in West Kingston like a mile from BMMA so that would be very convenient, but someone said they're moving to Wakefield...good to know. The only thing I don't like about them (at least from the website) is they don't have any Friday or Saturday classes, for $120/month I'd hope to go more than 2-3 times a week, but maybe they have plans to add more classes (seems they are somewhat new).

For people who train/have trained at Santos, what is the monthly cost? Also, could anyone post the schedule? I only see a Myspace page for them and I can't access that at work...

For those that train at either Santos or BMMA, how do you like it? What is the atmosphere like? I trained BJJ for about 2 years where I lived previously and was close to my blue belt, but I've been out of it for about 8 months, I am definitely looking for a place that is laid back, friendly, and good for people who aren't elite grapplers.
 
I'd say go to BMMA then, its closer and you'll learn alot.

All the people there are very friendly just like Santos'. Btw, BMMA is only moving like 10 minutes away from where it is now.
 
dfownz said:
I'd say go to BMMA then, its closer and you'll learn alot.

All the people there are very friendly just like Santos'. Btw, BMMA is only moving like 10 minutes away from where it is now.
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Thanks. I will definitely stop in at some point and watch a class.

What are the muay thai classes like? I haven't done much striking, but would like to start...I assume the grappling classes are typical as far as warm up, drill technique, spar/open mat, are the striking classes similar?
 
jjanders said:
Thanks. I will definitely stop in at some point and watch a class.

What are the muay thai classes like? I haven't done much striking, but would like to start...I assume the grappling classes are typical as far as warm up, drill technique, spar/open mat, are the striking classes similar?
Click to expand...

Striking is really what BMMA is good at. First off Dave's style of kick boxing is a little different from the traditional muay thai style. He describes it as a hybrid style. You kind of have to see it, to understand, I don't want to write a page about the differences. But its good, definetely check out a class. The classes are run pretty standard, warm up, drill, spar.

The BJJ classes are run pretty much like any other BJJ class, like you said. I'm pretty sure the schedule on the website is wrong. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, BJJ from 5-6 PM, MMA from 6-7 PM, and then BJJ from 7-8 PM. Then I'm not sure about the Monday Wednesday schedule, but on those days I think its Krav Maga and Muay Thai, but I'm not sure of the times. There is also open mat on Sundays from 12-3 PM, I'm not entirely sure that the open mat will continue after URI's spring semester ends or not, I don't see why it would, but I'll have to ask Dan about that. Dan is a really good Blue belt who trains under Santos (he is good enough to be a purple). Dan runs the 5-6 BJJ class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as the open mat on Sundays.

Borrelli's I think is $130 a month for everything. I believe Santos is the same price, but I haven't been up to Santos in a little while so i may be wrong. I would suggest trying both Santos and Borrelli's before making a decision. They both have completely different styles of fighting and rolling. See which style fits your preference first.
 
Here is Santos schedule, etc.

Class Schedule & Rates -


530 Wellington Ave
Cranston, RI 02910
(401)578-4847

Click Here for Driving Directions


Monday
(Gi Jiu-Jitsu) 9:30am - 11:00am
(Kids Class) 5:00pm - 6:00pm
(Gi Jiu-Jitsu) 6:30pm - 8:00pm
(MMA) 8:00pm - 9:00pm

Tuesday
(Takedowns, No Gi) 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Wednesday
(Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi) 9:30am - 11:00am
(Kids Class) 5:00pm - 6:00pm
(Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi) 6:30pm - 8:00pm
(MMA) 8:00pm - 9:00pm

Thursday
(Gi Jiu-Jitsu, Beginner) 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Friday
(Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi) 9:30am - 11:00am
(Kids Class) 5:00pm - 6:00pm
(Open Mat) 6:30pm - 9:00pm

Saturday
(Kids Class) 9:30am - 11:00am
(Jiu-Jitsu, No-Gi) 11:00am - 1:00pm
Head Instructor - Mat Santos
Instructor (Saturday) - Keith Doherty
Instructor (Tues) - Jason Giroux
Instructor (Thurs), team Myspace - Nick Lu
Instructor (Kids Classes) - Candace Levesque


Unlimited JiuJitsu & Muay Thai classes - $125 per month
Per class mat fee (first class free) - $20
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And Dan (Micro) is a good friend of mine and a phenomenal grappler. I would definitely suggest trying both and seeing what you like better. I'm also not sure if Borelli's does gi or not, but Santos does it once a week and Tim Burrill more often than that, so that might be something to consider, depending on your preferences. Let me know if you have any other questions, I think we're pretty lucky in RI that you really can't go wrong.
 
I met a couple of guys from Strikezone and they seemed really cool. They have some really good striking instructors there, mostly boxing oriented. I don't know much about their grappling school though.
 
UltimateTapout said:
I live in RI, I'd love to train...
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Where in Rhode Island? What schools are you thinking about? Some things have changed since this post was made. BMMA no longer exists and now Dan (Micro) runs a small school out of Wakefield, RI called Omoplata. Mat Santos now has his Black Belt. Prices have also changed at some places.
 
I'm another Santos disciple. You can't go wrong with Santos if you want BJJ/MMA. The guys are cool, the atmosphere is laid back, and the instruction is top notch. I've been training there for over 2.5 years and I don't see myself ever changing schools unless I move out of driving range. It's well worth the 125/mo.

Santos' instructor, Tim Burrill, runs a school on Charles Street in Providence, (kind of near club Pearl), that school is also awesome. The main difference between Burrill and Santos is that Santos emphasizes no-gi and Burrill emphasizes gi. I also do not think Burrill's school does MMA, but I could be mistaken. Burrill is well worth his asking price too, 150/mo last time I checked.

Lastly there is OMOPLATA in Wakefield which is run by Dan "Micro" ***gella, he's a student of Mat Santos. I haven't attended his new school so I can't comment on his teaching ability but, the kid is insanely passionate about grappling, grappling theory, and basically all things BJJ. If you lived in South County, it wouldn't hurt to check him out.

I live in Pawtucket, so both Burrill's and Santos' schools are easy drives for me.
 
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