James Sheridan and I spoke recently about some writing he could do for the website, and one idea he had was going out to various schools and doing some interviews and an article about the school. He starts with Tapout Center in Boston, and if you guys like the article (and the interviews that will follow) we’ll keep this going.

TapouT center in Boston

“WORK! This is MMA class! Salsa is down the street!” John Clark reminded his class. It is Tuesday night at Boston’s new TapouT center, and general manager Clark is teaching MMA.

A few onlookers stand frozen on Canal Street. They are caught up in the spectacle of cage fighting on their way from Haymarket station to the Celtics game. The large windows create a great chance for them to look at the fighters training with anyone of TapouT’s five Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts, four standup coaches, wrestling coach, or strength and conditioning director.

With a full size octagon, 12 heavy bags, and 1800 square feet of grappling space, there certainly is a lot for them to take in.

Apparently that is exactly how Clarke wants it to be.

“The goal of this gym here is to have everything you need to study one discipline or multiple disciplines in MMA under one roof.” He said, “A lot if times you would have to go to a bunch of different gyms: one gym for Jiu-Jitsu, one gym for striking and one gym for strength and conditioning. So our goal here is to get you get everything under one roof, with the best possible instruction and the best possible equipment.”

A quick look around the center and one can tell that the equipment is certainly adequate to say the least. The wrestling room alone has six pummeling bags and a wall covered with a cage fence for fighters to practice on when the full cage is in use. The gym is even equipped with a locker room, including showers and soap. Some guys admit that the showers alone are enough to come in for.

However, firm Thai bags and non-slip mats are not enough to create a good gym.

So I sat down with one of TapouT’s BJJ coaches, Aaron MacKinnon to find out what kind of coaching TapouT has. .

“I come out of a gym with 20 black belts,” he said, giving me a bit of his history. It is immediately understood that MacKinnon knows something about good training partners and coaching. Which is why it is surprising when the next words out of his mouth are:

“What I can say is that I want for nothing here as far as training partners, Ya know? …I will be prepared to go against anyone I am going to see. Without a doubt. I have access to any knowledge I am possibly going to need.”

But he does not end there. After explaining the importance of having a good number of body types to train with, MacKinnon also mentions what he finds most important about the trainers and coaches at TapouT; they are approachable. He emphasizes this point by stating,

“He [John Clarke] is approachable, Danielle is approachable (one of the other instructors) Bruno [BJJ instructor] is approachable, I have no problem with anyone asking me any questions and I don t expect anyone to be subservient to me or anything like that. We are all training partners at the end of the day and that is why we bow and shake hands at the end of practice to remind ourselves of that. And that works.”

With a good number of instructors and a vote of confidence in their congeniality TapouT seems to be pulling all the stops to provide “the best possible instruction,” just like Clarke mentioned.  

But is there something that TapouT brings to the table that other gyms in Boston do not? If you ask John Sullivan, the answer is yes and that thing is him.

“Most gyms do not have strength and conditioning class or a strength and conditioning program.” Sullivan said, “It is not just having weights. Lots of gyms have barbells and dumbbells but it is knowing how you use those things. So we have a whole section of strength and conditioning equipment. And specifically sports training equipment. So that is the stuff that gets your muscles more functional and stronger. Faster. The way you would condition specifically for fighting.”

Sullivan talks quickly and excitedly about his position, and it is an idea that is new to at least me. With so many people stating that fighter’s where the most well conditioned athletes who thought that the game could be improved through better strength and conditioning training?

            “It is not a substitute for a technique by any means,” Sullivan said, “It adds to your technique. It is not one or the other, but rather your strength training complements your technique. The conditioning makes one able to use better technique in later rounds. So, its part of a complementary system you might say.”

A complementary system, much like what Clarke was explaining. At TapouT Boston, that is the product. A one stops shop for all your training needs. TapouT has an experienced, approachable staff with just about every accommodation that Clarke could think up. Hell, they even validate parking.