Im heading out to Cali this spring for a bit, was thinking of dropping into Kurt's gym. I know he's had some issues but seems better now, was just curious if you think stopping in to train with him was worth it?
I trained at Ralph for 3 months in 2015 when Kurt was the head coach.
Kurt was very funny and speaks his mind with no filter. So if you are sensitive person do not go.
It terms of class it was good but nothing unique. What I liked about Kurt was he was just trying the basics and do what works. He was very strict on doing the technique right. Which was surprising considering how unserious he was. Yet when it came to technique and being in fighting shape he was very strict.
He had two types of classes:
1.) Traditional (tough) warm up, technique, specific and full sparring.
2.) Drill and kill class. you drill for a hour then you spar for 30 mins.
As a person he was friendly. If you are looking for a serious training environment I cannot recommend Kurt. He did make sure the gym was having fun and relaxed.
But if you are looking for tough technical instructions and a tough gym environment, go.
I would go back, I went as blue belt and he really made me clean up my game. Within 3 months I was much better at sparring because he was trying to always fix my game in sparring.
It was a different time for Kurt however and I think Ralph had a good balance of instructors at the time.