Here's an update on my review of Bad Wolf MMA. Again, here's the initial info I posted:
Name: Bad Wolf MMA
Location: Goodlettsville, TN
What they teach: Muay Thai, BJJ, Judo, Boxing
Instructors: Dee Freeman, Rahman Howard
Class information: Welcome to Bad Wolf MMA
Website link: Welcome to Bad Wolf MMA
PM me if you have any questions about the gym. Dee and Rahman are great instructors and know their stuff. It's a fairly new school and the number of students is still growing so the student/teacher ratio is great, we get lots of attention.
Now, as for the update, my opinion about the training hasn't changed but something happened last week that I just can't quite understand.
Let's start from the beginning. 7 months ago I started training at Bad Wolf and I signed a one-year contract with them. I started training Muay Thai only at first then I decided to train Jui-Jitsu and the MMA class.
After a few months training and many injuries while rolling or taking jiu-jitsu classes, I recently started to think that maybe grappling wasn't for me, I actually sucked, and that Muay Thai is really what I like best. I don't intend to fight so I really don't "need" the ground game, I mostly train to stay in shape and because I love martial arts training. Also, it's worth mentioning that about 95% of the students and both trainers consider Jiu-Jitsu their first art, even Dee Freeman, the Muay Thai instructor. Now, I have no complains about Dee's teachings, he's a great instructor and he knows Muay Thai for sure but because of so very few people considering Muay Thai their first art, I felt a bit alone and with not so many training partners that wanted to spar or do pad work with me outside of the normal class hours. Guys usually roll during open mat time.
We actually haven't sparred for two months now because this upcoming weekend most of the guys at the gym will compete at a grapping tournament and nobody wants to get hurt. That's perfectly understandable but at the same time it made me wonder if I was in the right place and training with the right people, because obviously, even if I decided to train Muay Thai only, the sparring wasn't there for me as often as I'd like to.
So I'd been thinking about this for a few weeks and even though I felt bad about it, I decided that I needed to be honest and ask Dee about the possibility of getting out of the contract and maybe look for another place where Muay Thai is the main art. I just didn't want to simply stop showing up and cancel my credit card payments. And of course, I figured that there was no point of looking for other places unless I knew that I would have to stick to the contract or if they would let me get out of it or even if they would make me buy it out.
So last week, I asked Dee about it and he told me two things: that he would have to ask the owner about it, which made perfect sense to me and that there was no other place in Tennessee that teaches Muay Thai, which honestly, I found a bit hard to believe. So that afternoon I went online and googled "Muay Thai Nashville" and found this other place called Tiger King Muay Thai that seems to teach only Muay Thai 6 days a week. I thought that it could be interesting to check it out, maybe it was what I was looking for. So I sent Dee an e-mail reminding him about asking the owner because I'd found this other place that may have more Muay Thai classes. I also wrote that it was nothing personal, that I really liked the gym staff and the classes and that it was basically me wondering if I could find a place with more Muay Thai classes. I also said that I would happily keep training with them if it wasn't possible to get out of the contract.
So a few days later Dee called me and told me the owner got pissed off about my e-mail, that my contract got terminated and that I'm not welcome in the gym anymore! I was in shock and tried to understand why, and Dee started to talk about loyalty and how they felt that me thinking about other places made them feel that I doubted their teaching and that they felt betrayed and that basically they kicked me out.
On top of that, apparently the guy who trained the Tiger King MT instructor used to teach at Bad Wolf and something happened that he was fired or left, I don't know.. Which of course, I wasn't aware of. He also said that basically every other school in the state but Bad Wold were "frauds".
Dee also said that they were pissed because people would train two months with them then cancel their credit card, not show up at BW again and go open another place and teach what they'd learn from them. I guess they assumed I was going to do that..? I was disappointed to see that they automatically thought I was that kind of person. I thought they knew me better than that, after 7 months dealing with me.
So basically I was kicked out of Bad Wolf just because I thought about maybe going somewhere else and was honest enough to tell them about it in advance and try to do things right with them. And the best part is that you can read the good reviews I posted here on Sherdog or the one here...
I guess, what gets to me is that they got personal and doubted my loyalty to them and the other guys training and that they said I was putting myself first before the team. I don't know, maybe if that was right in their eyes, they could've talked to me and try to understand my side of the story before attacking me personally.
Dee also told me he felt like I questioned his Muay Thai just because I told them I wanted MORE classes, not BETTER classes. Really? Is there any kind of MMA gym code going on that I'm not aware of? I mean, I would understand that kind of reaction if I'd been with them for many years and the owner and I were close friends but I don't know the guy and also, I think my training partners can do without me, I'm sure, I only trained about an hour a day.
But the best of it all is they charged me the November fee the day after I had sent the e-mail and me, thinking that it was just somebody overlooking it, asked for a refund and the owner refuses to give it to me. So basically, he got mad at me, kicked me out then took $169 from me because, according to him, the month had already started.
so there you go. Dee and Rahman do know their stuff but man, I just don't get what happened there..... and of course, be careful about giving your credit card number to the owner, he sure uses it at his discretion.
