"Try Our Mixed Martial Arts Program For A Full 30 DAYS FREE!"

Lloyd Irvin’s Martial Arts Academy (LIMAA)

Most "MMA" & "Self-Defense" Schools

World Class Striking – Not just “world class” but World Championship… we’ve trained multiple World Champion and National Champion Muay Thai Kickboxers and also train one of the top Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Brandon “The Truth” Vera along with many others, both students and instructors alike. On the East Coast, Philadelphia and Washington DC are two of the “meccas” of boxing, producing many champions in the ring… and we’ve got one of the top Boxing trainers out of DC along with accomplished MMA fighter Lloyd Irvin here at our academy working with our fighters to improve their stand-up skills. All of our Boxing, Kickboxing and Muay Thai instructors have extensive training and competition experience and are able to work with both those who want to compete and those who just want to learn and have some fun. And they’ll actually train with you, not just tell you what to do.

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Mediocre Striking – Some MMA gyms have decorated and proven jiu-jitsu practitioners; however, their striking is often mediocre at best.  They spend years and years developing their submissions but just a few months to a year learning striking from a non-qualified coach... and then they pass it on to you! Beware of schools that call themselves true MMA academies but don’t have qualified boxing and kickboxing trainers with competition experience.

Warning: some schools try to fool you into thinking that they have great striking by paying money to be affiliated with a real striking team. Most times, this team is far, far away from the school but they use the team's name to appear like they have "legitimate striking" but if you dig deeper, you'll quickly discover that most of the instructors running the program have never fought themselves and even worse, most are new to striking but have paid for their affiliation... most times, when a student finds this out, it's too late, and they're"stuck" with a sub-par school that doesn't have what it takes to truly help people achieve their goals (whether they are competitive or not). Doesn't it make sense to train at a school that has accomplished MMA fighters working hard to train YOU, who are known for their striking and not just "playing pretend?"

World Class Takedowns – You will find amazing wrestlers and judo practitioners at LIMAA.  Team Lloyd Irvin is known around the country for possessing very strong takedowns and its instructors have utilized them against the world's best fighters, submission wrestlers, Judo players and BJJ’ers!  Team Lloyd Irvin Head Instructors learned to wrestle from certified wrestling coaches, Division I College Wrestlers, and Judo Black Belts… and not just learned from them, our instructors are actually doing it! Lloyd Irvin is a multiple-time Judo and Sombo National Champion (a sport that focuses on devastating throws) as well as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) World Champion and accomplished NHB fighter. Rhadi Ferguson, Lloyd’s training partner as he prepared for the 2004 Olympics, is a Judo National Champion and Olympian as well as a competitor in the Abu Dhabi (World Submission Wrestling Championships). We consistently have current and former Division 1 college wrestlers, Judo black belts and Sombo black belts (and not just practitioners, but competitors at the highest level) on the mats training and working with our athletes to improve.

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Weak Takedowns – Unfortunately, a lot of grapplers learn their takedowns from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (and any educated grappler can tell you that for the most part BJJ has weak takedowns); their specialty is once the fights hits the ground... not before!  Just watch their classes… many times even their advanced students begin all their submission matches from their knees!  This is a practice only done by beginners at LIMAA - all our students with over three months training begin from their feet. It’s sad when someone is forced to flop to their butt in a match or in training just to prevent the takedown, throw or slam – Team Lloyd Irvin students will learn how to take control of a situation and take the fight to the ground exactly how they want to. (If you check out our more advanced classes, you’ll see we make sure our athletes have good takedown and defensive skills from their feet.) And if a MMA school does have strong takedowns - sometimes they end up not having good jiu-jitsu... or bad striking. Our coaches here make sure you have the skills to dictate how they want the match to go – on your own terms.

World Class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) – Lloyd Irvin aka “The Grappling Renegade” is known throughout the world for his unique and state-of-the-art methods of training. He’s one of only 3 Americans to earn his BJJ Black Belt in less than 4 years, the other two being Mundial world champion and UFC fighter BJ Penn and Lloyd’s own student, Team Lloyd Irvin 4-year BJJ Black Belt Mike Fowler (also a 2-time National Champion at the black belt level). Team Lloyd Irvin is consistently featured in magazines such as “Grappling” and “Gracie Magazine” as well as others, winning tournaments across the nation. Our students can train both with the gi (pronounced “gee,” the standard BJJ uniform or “kimono”) or without the gi (no gi grappling or submission wrestling). Many of our students love to compete and others just want to train (whether male or female, young or old, in shape or out of shape) – either way, they’re getting to be trained by the best instructors and competitors out there in order to constantly improve, maximize your potential and achieve your personal goals! We’re also the ONLY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in the nation that provides our students will a monthly curriculum, solid class structure and PROVEN system.

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Weak Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Unfortunately many BJJ schools are just rooms with a mat and a bunch of guys “figuring stuff out” and rolling around. You’ll rarely, if ever, find some structure. In addition, many times you won’t ever find the black belts or higher ranking instructors on the mats working, drilling and training with their students. It’s sad to see a BJJ school that doesn’t have an instructor on the mats training with the students. And you’ll never find a school (except ours) with a monthly curriculum for their students and a specific Action Plan to sky-rocket their results.

World Class Ground Grappling – We have a full-blown No Gi Ground Grappling (Submission Wrestling) program here at our academy in addition to our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program. Our students can train both with the gi (pronounced “gee,” the standard BJJ uniform or “kimono”) or without the gi (no gi grappling or submission wrestling). Our instructors are highly skilled in ground grappling and have won numerous titles throughout the nation. For example, if you go to your local bookstore and look through an issue of “Grappling” magazine, you can bet you’ll find more than one mention of our team in it. Along with our submission grappling knowledge, we have Division-1 wrestlers training on our mats on a daily basis. (Wrestling is an integral part of ground grappling without the gi.) We have the #1 Grappling Competition Team in the nation, but don’t let that scare you – anyone and everyone is welcome to come learn and get in great shape with us – you’ll never be forced to compete if you don’t want to. The great thing about our program is that whether you’re an advanced competitor or just someone who wants to learn and have fun, our instructors are qualified and dedicated to getting you exactly where you want to go.

***Breaking News***
Recently, one of our students from right here in Camp Springs, Maryland went to the Abu Dhabi on 2 days notice and defeated the
legendary Renzo Gracie and submitted 6-Time Black Belt World Champion (the most in history!) Saulo Ribeiro (these two championship grapplers and true legends in the sport)... and he's been training less that 6 years!
Head Coach Lloyd Irvin is known world-wide as being an instructor who can literally transform ordinary people into extraordinary athletes at lighting speeds, using his proven "tried and tested" system of grappling. Our academy provides the necessary infrastructure that allows those who want to learn get to where they want to go as fast as possible.

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World Class Fighting – What good is knowing striking, takedowns, and ground grappling if you can't put it together?  At LIMAA, our head instructors are decorated professional fighters, local champions, national champions and world champions with titles earned in the ring or cage.  They have been hit in the face before and know what works and doesn't work in a real fight - no theories, just proven facts that they can vouch for themselves.  Our instructors can teach you what to expect as the adrenaline goes through your body and how to handle real fatigue as it sets in during a real confrontation - from their own firsthand experience. It’s crucial to know your coaches actually “practice what they preach” and are out there fighting too.

Mediocre or Non-Existent Fight Experience – If you have been reading this report, then you understand that hardly any schools are qualified in the three major areas of fighting... which means they are not fully qualified to teach true mixed martial arts or complete self defense— period.  And be careful with the instructors who possess certifications under respected fighters but have not entered the cage or ring themselves!  People like this, in my opinion, are completely nonqualified to teach MMA or self defense.  It would be like taking swimming lessons from an instructor who has never jumped in the water himself!  Knowing that this instructor was taught on a chalk board by a swimming Olympic Gold Medalist wouldn't make me feel any more comfortable about his abilities!  Furthermore, what does that tell you about his commitment to learning fighting and self defense?  Fighting and self-defense are not all about techniques - it is also very mental... and someone who has never fought is missing out on a big piece of it.  And remember, instructors with only competition grappling experience... have ZERO fight experience!  They are not the same!  They know the difference… that is why they have only competed in grappling! It’s vitally important that the instructors who are teaching you how to fight have actually fought before!

An Organized Ranking System – Lloyd Irvin's Mixed Martial Arts Academy provides an organized curriculum for both the Thai Jitsu (stand-up fighting & self-defense) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (ground fighting & self defense) programs. Testing is done on a monthly basis (not mandatory, but recommended) and testing is done separately within each program so we can focus even more on your progress in each system. (Note: some students only concentrate on striking while some concentrate only on the ground aspect and many (especially now with the rising popularity of the UFC) train want to do everything and be complete mixed martial artists.) Testing is a great way for you to track your progress and also for our instructors to see what you need to work on and what your strengths are, too (after all it’s our job to turn you into the best possible student you can be). Our ranking system is strict and only people deserving of being promoted will earn it. Team Lloyd Irvin is all about setting goals, then working as hard as possible to achieve those goals – with no excuses. We just love to see our students succeed!

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No Ranking Whatsoever – Many gyms that advertise "MMA" are Brazilian Ju-Jitsu (BJJ) schools that throw punches and kicks once in a while and promote through their kimono BJJ ranking system. The BJJ ranking system has been known for years to have a very poor wrestling and striking curriculum (a hard fact for many BJJ’ers to come to terms with, but a fact nonetheless – which is why we’ve worked so hard to improve our curriculum and bring in qualified wrestlers and strikers)... basically, a ranking in BJJ doesn’t necessarily make someone qualified to teach mixed martial arts… so if they are claiming to be qualified in MMA based solely on their BJJ rank, ask them who coached them in kickboxing, boxing or Muay Thai and what their credentials are... ask them who they learned how to wrestle from – if they say another Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ) person, this doesn't leave them off the hook! You’ve gotta know who is teaching you and what their credentials are.

A Structured “Beginners Only” Course – When you start out at LIMAA, you will be going through a special introductory course.  In this class, you will be learning from an organized curriculum that balances striking, takedowns, and ground grappling (for those in the MMA program).  The classes are designed to work at a pace that beginners can absorb. The beginner's class also takes into account that you may be totally out of shape - one of its principal designs is to get you into good shape and allow you to train harder in the next level. We want you to develop the necessary fundamental skills and conditioning in the most efficient manner possible and we’ve found that this is the best and quickest way for our students to get maximum results in minimum time.

Straight to the Wolves – Many martial arts programs mix you in with the regular class on your first day… and sometimes you’re even forced to “go live” against an advanced student without knowing what to do (many times these scenarios result in injuries)!  Just think about it... how can someone teach a class of people who have been training for two to three years... and then teach you your first class at the same time?  That is like getting a calculus and algebra class in one room and trying to teach both at the same time!  Either the advanced guys are missing out or the beginners are missing out...

Student Safety – A common misconception about MMA training is that to learn effective MMA, you have to get into wild and crazy sparring matches. FALSE. At LIMAA, most of our students have families and jobs and can't afford to leave the gym with black eyes!  The grappling and sparring that is done at LIMAA is done with utmost control and only when you are ready. You will only be allowed to spar or “roll live” in BJJ and Grappling after an instructor gives you the “OK.” For MMA, you won’t be allowed to spar until you are invited into the Combat Gold Club and we accept you into the highest-level program (that’s right, you have to get invited, fill out an application and get accepted before we even consider you sparring with us on the team). Acceptance into this more advanced program is based more on your attitude than on your skill level. But first everyone starts off on the introductory program and moves on from there. The idea is to train smart and have fun. Only our amateur and professional fighters do some hard sparring– but because they have to prepare for a cage fight. Safety is our number one concern and we want everyone to experience all the benefits of our program.

Brawling Time! – Many MMA schools have this misconception that the only way to learn how to fight is to put on boxing gloves and swing for the fences!  This is not true... and actually can be counter-productive – besides extremely dangerous. Many gyms also lack the technique to spar with control and spar hard to compensate for their lack of technique. Brawling during training proves nothing and only hinders the learning process and injuries people. If you really want to brawl, save it for the street.

30 Day Free Trial – 30 Days Free, Free T-Shirt, Free Private Lesson, Free DVD/Video, FREE Goal-Setting & Action Plan Consultation and nothing to buy or sign!  Can't beat that!

Only One Free Class – Good luck finding another quality gym willing to give you a free month, free uniform, free DVD/video, free private goal-setting & action plan consultation and free private lesson!

60-Day Money-Back Guarantee – What could be better than a 30-Day Free Trial?  How about an Iron-Clad 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee! We’re so confident in our program that if you take all our classes for a full 60 days and still don’t feel our program is what you’ve been looking for, just let us know and we’ll refund your money on the spot (but we seriously doubt you ever will).

No Guarantees – Even harder than finding a great free trial is a guarantee!  We are the ONLY gym in the country to offer a money-back guarantee!

Amazing Facility – Lloyd Irvin’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy is one of a kind.  A 10,000+ square foot facility with two large mat areas, a full size boxing ring, a cage, multiple heavy bags, men and women dressing rooms and much more!  Plus, we are the cleanest school in the MD/DC/VA Metro area - we disinfect our mats two times a day with hospital grade disinfectant to ensure our students are training in the cleanest environment possible.  We also have a cleaning crew which cleans everything every morning and night. We’re all about great service and having the cleanest and most pleasant atmosphere possible.

Inadequate or Dirty Facility – If you are going to learn self-defense or MMA, you are going to need certain things.  For instance, for striking you will need heavy bags, punch mitts, and a boxing ring or padded wall.  If there isn't a boxing ring or padded wall - then you can't properly learn how to strike.  Why?  When was the last time you got into a fight in the middle of a football field?  Where ever you fight, you will encounter boundaries - such as walls, fences, cars, and even groups of people like in a club... so you need to know how to fight with your back against a boundary.  For wrestling and grappling - you need high QUALITY mats.  Mats are usually not a problem... the problem is that most gyms don't clean them!  There are even some gyms that clean their mats only once a week with a wet towel, if at all!  The gym needs to be sanitary for your health and it also must contain the necessary training tools to give you exactly what you need.

Incredible Hours of Operation – LIMAA is open six days a week!  We are open from 10:00am to 10:00pm Monday thru Friday and from 10:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday!  We currently offer over 30 classes a week and offer both morning and evening classes. In addition, private lessons with our instructors are available by request.

We're Closed! – A lot of MMA schools only offer classes at night and only open during class hours.  Some even only teach one class per day!  And most schools are not open on Saturday and Sunday.

Great Customer Service – Above anything, this is what we take the most pride in.  Our goal is to go above and beyond what you would expect from us – to “over deliver.” We are constantly trying to find new ways to please our students.  It is hard to explain this because it is really the little things that make our customer service stand out... you will notice it just from the way our staff will greet you when you arrive! At Lloyd Irvin’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy we work hard, we’re champions and we only want to help others attain that success along with us as a TEAM. We believe that in order to get where you want to go you’ve gotta help as many people as possible get where they want to go.

Customer Service? – We didn't say "bad customer service"... We think the question mark is more fitting... because most martial arts schools don't seem to even know what customer service is!  I've walked into schools and had staff stare me down as if I was walking in to challenge someone!  Egos, bad attitudes and insecurities fuel bad customer service. After or before a hard day’s work you deserve to have an upbeat, exciting place to train and relieve stress… not a dingy, dismal dungeon.