John Clark (general Manager)

1)      How do you go ahead and start this place? Did you just call up Punk Ass and Scrape and tell them you had a good idea?

No there was a guy who has a background in health clubs and fitness clubs and uh this opportunity was actually presented to him and he did some research on who was in the Boston area because he did not have an MMA background and he needed someone with an MMA background and experience, and he kind of found me. And we worked it out from there.

2)      How would you explain this place to someone who hasn’t been here

For someone who hasn’t been here, I would say that this place is a one stop shop for Martial arts, MMA and fitness. Um I would say that it is a state of the art facility. The goal of this gym here is to have everything you need to study one discipline or multiple disciplines in MMA under one roof. Including strength and conditioning. A lot if times you would have to go to a bunch of different gyms. One gym for Jiu-Jitsu, one gym for striking, one gym for strength and conditioning. So out goal here is to get you get everything under one roof here. With the best possible instruction and the best possible equipment.

3)      Who would you recommend this gym to?

Actually, I would recommend this gym to anybody. Because we have so many different programs because of the hours that we keep I mean we are open from six am to ten pm so… we have classes just for people who want to study a single discipline Ya know for guys who are just Jiu Jitsu nerds, guys who love Muay Thai, and we kind of keep guys who aren’t as interested in competition and combat a little bit separate from the guys who are interested in MMA and a little bit more intense training. Really we try not to alienate anybody here. Because of the size of the facility, and the classes we have we are able to succeed in that. It is not a place that we have two classes a day to choose from.

4)      How many people would you say come here to train for competition?

Uh, we have only been open couple months, and the only major competition that has happened since then has been the world championships the IBJJF worlds. And me and three guys here where training for that. But every night we have MMA class with like six to twelve professional MMA fighters in it. And also countless armatures.

5)      What different competitive athletes does this gym train?

We train guys for all of the combat sports: BJJ, boxing, MMA, Muay Thai. Our strength and conditioning director also trains guys for wrestling, scholastic wrestling, he has a couple of football players e works with in the off season and does strength and conditioning programs with, uh, strongman competition, also he does a lot of work with FBI, law enforcement people for SWAT competitions. U, it’s a pretty wide range of people.

6)      That percentage of people would you say come here for fitness?

I would say, probably 70% people come just for fitness and do not intend to compete. If you had asked me how many people think they are going to compete and never will, that number would probably change.

7)      TapouT is a very large, well known name… would you say that the fact that this gym started cooperate creates a different atmosphere than a gym that started small and grew?

I think it is defiantly a bit different, and it will be in the beginning for a little while here. Uh, part of it is TapouT is a very mainstream name, and people who are into a lot of the combat sports are really true to their kind of thing, ya know they are diehards. And they automatically reject things that are mainstream. The goal here is to have people look beyond the cooperate name of TapouT and take a look at the product and not just the name on the product and the instruction here is so high lever that the most hardcore guy is going to get good training. And so we kind of want people to realize that the mainstream name on the front of the gym does not mean that it is a watered down product at all. We have some pr3tty hard core instructors and training sessions here. In Vegas, at the TapouT gym in Vegas, it s one of the best gyms in Vegas in terms of learning each art and MMA so, eventually we are going to grown into that.

8)      Martin Rooney wrote in his most recent book “Ultimate Warrior Training 2” wrote in his prologue he expressed his concern that MMA gyms are popping up all over the country and they are starting a trend of gyms that have fighters training “MMA” and they replace fighters that hold an expertise in a certain area of the fight game. Would you say TapouT is doing this?

I would say that what Martin Rooney says is correct. I would say that TapouT does not fall into that category of an “MMA” gym because we have the ability and specialize in so many different programs. The gym itself does not specialize what we have done is hire individuals that specialize in areas. So we have a synergistic uh effect here. We have really really specialized Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing and kickboxing. And we have a synergistic program where people want to train in all those arts and come together, and train in MMA then yes, they would do that. I think that what Rooney is talking about there are gyms that just train “MMA” I agree with him they are taking over, and because of that the specializations in MMA are getting watered down. And people are becoming a jack of all trades. And a master of none rather then specializing at one thing, and being really dominant in one aspect of MMA, and kind of supplementing in al the other ones, which was the way that it was in the beginning, and it is going to come full circle. Ya know, people a re spending all their time training in this art and that art, and the other thing, and putting it all together. But really, sooner or later, someone like Damien Maia who is so good at Jiu Jitsu, his standup is going to get good enough to complement his Jiu Jitsu. And people will think, “oh man, Ya know you’ve got to get so good at one thing in order to beat a guy who is kind of a jack of all trades” if you have a superior skill set in just one piece of the MMA pie, and another your opponent has just average skill sets in all of them, I mean you a re probably going to win if you can put the fight where you want to. So, it is defiantly watering things down. I mean the Jiu Jitsu is not that good. I mean its also being dictated by the rules of modern MMA, I mean the unified rules are really just creating, all MMA is now is a tough man competition with takedowns. Terrible standup with good takedowns. And they don’t give Jiu Jitsu guys enough room to work on the ground, and break you off the fence in the clinch. It is because the American fan is uneducated and they boo at everything.

9)      This is a pretty big gym. Do you think that students run the risk of getting lost here?

No. although we are a bigger gym, we have many classes a day so the class sizes are actually smaller than a smaller gym that would only have one or two classes a day.

10)  What would you say TapouT brings to the table that other gyms in the Boston area can not?

First off, we have Training partners that cover every aspect of MMA. Along with some of the best strength and conditioning in the area. Second, we also have a huge facility here, there is always a pro fighter training here. Finally, we have the best instructors here all under one roof.

11)  If there was one thing that you could say to the readership of NortheastMMA.com, what would it be?

I would say that without a doubt, if you came and spent a couple of days here you will be hard pressed to find better instruction and better value. Oh, and we validate parking… seriously write that down.