THE ARENA | The San Diego Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, MMA & Muay Thai Gym

Positive experience: Really good gym, very nice and friendly people but as others have said they use a predatory billing company. In order to cancel your membership you have to send a certified letter via mail and pay a $50 cancellation fee.

Fantastic experience: Friendly environment easy process

Fantastic experience: Great coaches and awesome facility. Can’t go wrong signing up here.

Fantastic experience: Great talent - recruits the best of San Diego. Each roll dramatically improves your skill set

Fantastic experience: Excellent culture, great instructors, I was very impressed with the quality of instruction and comradery of everyone in the gym.

Negative experience: Had a 2 year plan contract and it rolled through month to month to ABC billings you have to mail in certified mail and the only way to cancel your membership and you have to put down a reason very predatory billing system other than that nice gym nice ppl

Negative experience: TLDR, forged my signature on a contract I had never seen and tried to send shady debt collectors after me I joined in May of 2025. I was informed by Dillon (previous front desk staff, the guy obviously got fired for a reason) that I would be paying monthly and could stop or pause my membership if I just let him know. I moved to Pennsylvania in June of 2025, and (obviously) chose to stop attending and paying. CA law permits this by the way. Don't let a gym bully you into paying if you move more than 25 miles away. Also, Kenneth (I think he tends to go by Ducky) initially lied to my face and said that you can only cancel a membership for medical or military reasons, which is not true at all. Anyways, I informed Dillon, the employee at the front desk who signed me up. I provided proof of this move: flight tickets, pay stubs, internship offer, etc. While I was in PA, I was repeatedly charged. I communicated with Dillon and Ken, and I was told that I would not be charged again, but Dillon informed me that they would be unable to issue refunds for charges that had already occurred, offering free months and private lessons instead. Lo and behold, I kept getting charged. I disputed the charges with my bank and blocked The Arena, and was issued chargebacks immediately. Fast forward a few months, and I am getting a ridiculous amount of spoof calls that my phone initially marked as spam. Turns out, this is a collections agency that The Arena is partnered with, claiming I owe over $1000. I called The Arena, and they claimed that there was a contract in my file that I had signed, which I had never received or even heard of. I have never signed a contract at The Arena. I requested a copy of this "contract" via email. The contract contains two forged signatures which don't even match. Neither are my signature. My signature is available for anyone to view on my driver's license or other official signed documents. Even the initials are just scribbled. I never filled out the form or signed the contract. My email is literally misspelled, meaning I never could have received this to sign electronically in the first place. My old address is incorrect and incomplete and incorrectly capitalised, and the zip code is literally that of the gym. There is no DOB on this "contract". You can imagine seeing this document for the first time months after signing up AND leaving was a shock. Forging a signature can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony (you bet your ass this is a felony), and sending their shady law firm to harass me is ridiculous and criminal, threatening my credit, identity, assets, and wellbeing. They and their law firm have broken all sorts of consumer protection laws, and The Arena has literally forged my signature in order to send debt collectors after me. It truly doesn't get more criminal and dishonest than this. Believe me, any student at UCSD who might have considered joining this gym has heard about this. It's absolutely comical that they think they have any cards to play in this situation. Take your business elsewhere. I paid $220 a month for an MMA gym in Pittsburgh, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Response to the incompetent person who responded to me: Are you saying every member who accesses the gym has to sign a year-long contract? I swear to God, I'll post the photos of my email exchanges with your front desk staff. If you think I was trespassing then sue me. Take me to court. I'd like to see you try. You charged my card. I was there as a paying customer. You could have just let me post my review in peace. Accusing me of lying is just going to get on my nerves even more. It's not about the money. I could and truly would have given you the $1500 and continued to train once I was back in SD. Don't get me wrong, the coaches were good. It's the predatory, disgusting, dishonest, criminal behavior at this gym that makes me write this review, because I know other students on campus who've had issues with you guys. This isn't a one-off thing. In case you try to remove your response, there's a screenshot of that too.

Fantastic experience: Great work and encouraging environment to keep pushing thru uncomfortable growth!

Fantastic experience: Very welcoming environment. Nice coaches & gym. Lots of options

Fantastic experience: Awesome place

Fantastic experience: Very helpful and welcoming environment. Trainers and staff are very attentive. Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: I came in for a trial class and everyone was really friendly and supportive. I had never done any martial arts before and am very happy to have found a supportive environment where I can practice and learn another skillset. Steven has been amazing showing me around the facility and taking me through everything I needed to know!

Fantastic experience: Great vibe, very friendly and helpful

Fantastic experience: Excellent experience!

Fantastic experience: Great front desk very easy and useful

Fantastic experience: Great gym, great staff.

Fantastic experience: Awesome gym! Steven was very detailed and knowledgeable about what the gym has to offer and it’s programs. Would recommend coming here if your looking for a gym!!!

Fantastic experience: Enjoy the arena very professional and friendly . Ken help me get sign up for my fitness journey. Good price

Fantastic experience: Great gym!

Fantastic experience: Easy check in, friendly and helpful staff. Coaches push members and the gym trains hard.

Fantastic experience: Facilities are awesome! Highly recommend

Fantastic experience: Staff were very helpful to give me information on membership.

Fantastic experience: Great place for training and great community for fighters.

Fantastic experience: the best gym ever, the coaches and people are nice and friendly

Fantastic experience: This a awesome place to learn so many new skills and has a super great gym with a lot of different options

Fantastic experience: Excellent equipment, coaches, and community. Very welcoming and knowledgeable. Gym is kept very clean as well.

Fantastic experience: Awesome gym, clean facilities, great coaches, and good culture !

Fantastic experience: You get your money’s worth here, so long as you pay, you have access to everything, which is pretty awesome.

Fantastic experience: Great place to train and get better. Have enjoyed the staff and have seen a lot of improvement from just a couple months of training

Fantastic experience: Definitely get more than what you’re paying for! The best gym I’ve gone to so far Your training with the best people in the world every day.

Fantastic experience: Great community and staff is easy to work definitely a spot to train At whether you’re beginner, intermediate or Pro

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym

Fantastic experience: Best gym ever

Fantastic experience: Amazing gym!!!

Fantastic experience: Super clean place, welcoming community, stacked facility. Would definitely recommend

Negative experience: Boxing coaches don't teach beginners. Class is 95% hitting mits Your only opportunity to learn technique is from other students if you ask nicely and/or if they're in the mood to teach you.

Fantastic experience: I’m super new to martial arts, so the first class I went to was an advanced sparring. Despite my partner and I’s lack of training, the instructors and other students went fairly easy on us and were coaching us through the same drills and gave us the tips and guidance we desperately needed. Can’t wait to start coming more! Just unlocked a new obsession

Fantastic experience: Coaches are great been going for a month now. Won’t regret if your trying to improve yourself anyway in the gym.

Fantastic experience: Mauy Thai!

Fantastic experience: The Arena has an expansive space with classes all day. Staff and Coaches are all knowledgeable and respectful. Overall a great environment.

Fantastic experience: Great vibes, very professional

Fantastic experience: Clean facilities, excellent coaches, fully equipped gym and every martial art under one roof. THE place to go if you’re serious about training in San Diego

Fantastic experience: Very helpful and professional when signing up

Fantastic experience: Great placee

Fantastic experience: Awesome place. Good people. Good weight room too.

Fantastic experience: Amazing training, adam bradley is an amazing jiu jitsu coach, i feel great every night learning and rolling hard.

Fantastic experience: Clean gym, with a variation of martial arts to choose from

Fantastic experience: Great Gym, Great Staff

Fantastic experience: Breach coaches clean gym, would recommend

Fantastic experience: Best facility I’ve ever been too, many showers and top notch instructors!

Fantastic experience: I been a member at the arena for over a year now and I can honestly say coach Joe is the best boxing coach around. Super knowledgeable and well known around the boxing community. Also all the team members are really nice and friendly and always welcoming.

Fantastic experience: Front dude desks are amazing great service

Fantastic experience: Cool place

Fantastic experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a great martial arts school!!! So many great trainers here and if you like to try new martial arts you can learn from the best.. Everyone is very friendly and its a great fit for beginners or even if you want to fight competitively

Fantastic experience: I love very intense trading very awesome stuff

Negative experience: Signed up primarily for boxing and Muay Thai. I've been to several boxing 'fundamental' classes at different times of day however they only consist of pad work after a quick warmup with no instruction or guidance (or at the bare minimum we are taught one simple combo that we drill for the entire hour). Otherwise, we are just doing random combinations without actually knowing if your technique is correct, there is 0 feedback or communication from the coaches even if the class is small. The coaches are definitely experienced but they don't seem to care about improving your skill at boxing unless you are on their boxing team. With that said, S&C and Muay Thai were excellent and the coaches were very attentive, I can't speak about the other classes as I haven't been to them. Ken and Dylan at the front desk are very friendly and welcoming, and all of the members are very patient with beginners.

Fantastic experience: The Arena is this spot! The whole vibe here is solid, Amazing staff and Coaches!

Fantastic experience: This place is great! Friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Great class, good partner work. In the zone. Workout goes quick. Thanks!

Fantastic experience: Super cool guys and a great workout. Great environment for beginners to work with good fighters. Highly recommend!

Fantastic experience: Signed up for Muay Thai along with strength and conditioning. Ken at the front office was really cool, walked me through the whole facility. Coach D was super helpful in the Muy Thai and strength and conditioning class and looking forward to future trainings. Great environment, highly recommended.

Fantastic experience: Arguably the best combat sports Gym in San Diego. Did my fair share of research and checked out multiple gyms. As brutally honest as I can be nothing comes close to the schedule, instruction, and passion at The Arena

Fantastic experience: Today was my first day and I absolutely enjoyed it I was going to join a few months back but then I got cold feet but there was nothing for me to worry about everybody was kind and professional

Fantastic experience: Best place to improve your athletic and combat performance. Has everything you need to be the best version of yourself. Staff makes you feel like family. Best Gym.

Fantastic experience: Just started boxing here. Never in my life have I trained. But this is the most fun yet super intense training. I’m happy to show up to class and not know what we will be doing that day. But since coming my punches have gotten better. Just got to practice in this foot work. Definitely recommend, staff is great and everyone is super nice. Like a big happy family.

Fantastic experience: Super awesome place, helpful staff and instructors

Fantastic experience: Good gym. Has classes all day. I love it!

Fantastic experience: I'm a first timer and thisnwas great. Good exercise, great coaches. Highly recommended!

Fantastic experience: Came to The Arena while on vacation; having experience from my own gym I didn’t know what to expect. However, the experience was pleasant and inviting to those of all skill levels and backgrounds.

Fantastic experience: Great place to get a workout in, hit the pads, make friends and encouraged to push through the pain of getting stronger

Fantastic experience: Top quality gym def recommend

Fantastic experience: Excellent gym. Was there traveling from the east coast and they were incredibly accommodating for visitors. Front desk was super friendly set me up with loaner equipment for a couple days. Massive facility, all day classes, and welcoming atmosphere with some serious talent. Stop by if your visiting from out of town.

Fantastic experience: Dylan is helpful and chill

Positive experience: Enjoyed training jiujitsu here for the past year, Adam is an awesome coach. That being said, this gym has a terrible cancellation process. I understand it is 3rd party, but it seems we could do better than paper mailing a letter in 2025 as none of my previous gyms have ever had me do anything like this. Attached is the instructions

Fantastic experience: Everyone was so friendly and professional!! Will come again (:

Fantastic experience: Dillion at the front desk was extremely helpful and welcoming. They answered all my questions patiently, and made the check-in process quick and easy. It really made a great first impression—professional and friendly service all around.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, incredible instructors without all the over the top "yes sir" bs. The community is very welcoming to new people and will make sure you are learning

Fantastic experience: The arena is an awesome place to train Muay Thai! They have a skilled attentive staff who are always willing to help you progress. They are an old school gym and they push you past your limits. Great environment and great people.

Fantastic experience: Best combat sports gym in town!

Fantastic experience: Top notch boxing coach Joe Vargas, great gym and staff. Great for all levels

Fantastic experience: Great place! Awesome staff and very knowledgeable instructors

Fantastic experience: Best first boxing lesson. Definitely signing up!

Fantastic experience: New gym, new experience. Many opportunities to become a better fighter.

Fantastic experience: Amazing facility, great vibe, and the best instructors. Shout out to Rose! Went to my first class with Rose as the instructor today and she was awesome, excited to keep going.

Fantastic experience: I’ve been training here for about a month, really enjoy the boxing and Jiu jitsu classes a lot.

Fantastic experience: Love this gym, has great coaches and everyone wants to learn to be the best.

Fantastic experience: Great gym with friendly staff. I mainly do nogi BJJ; mats are always clean and they have plenty of tape, wipes, etc at the desk. Adam is a great coach, attentive to help others and speaks clearly and concisely during instruction.

Fantastic experience: This, gym has always call me out and gave me attention. I could say that they took Me in when I’m on my lowest, and hopefully I could get to be somewhere And be someone because of this gym. It’s going to help Me to get there and heal myself. The coaches around this gym Are the best Especially Coach Steve

Fantastic experience: New to town wanted to try and take up Jiu Jitsu. I signed up online for a free class and showed up. The coach was phenomenal and understanding on my lack of experience. Great environment overall.

Fantastic experience: Love this place, coach D is great!

Fantastic experience: Great and full facility! Super welcoming and easy to work with to help with my fitness and safety goals

Fantastic experience: I really have been enjoying the coaching from Adam for jiu jitsu and I really like the friendly gym culture

Fantastic experience: Arena is really good gym. Staff is very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Great coaching and helpful stuff. Lots of spaced love the gym

Negative experience: Very poor experience as a prospective customer. False advertising, management and owner are total douchebags- details below. I signed up for their trial online that is advertised as 30 days free. I showed up on the first day and took a muay thai class, which I really enjoyed. The instructor was awesome, the curriculum was great, I liked the other students, and the facilities were nice. That night when I got home, I was so excited that I went online and ordered boxing gloves overnight shipped to my door, as well as jiujitsu rashguards and shorts. The very next day my gloves showed up and I was ready for my second class. I gathered my stuff, suited up in workout attire, and headed out the door excited to get another workout in at the Arena. When I showed up at the Arena however, the guy at the front dropped on me that I couldnt work out today unless I signed up for a 1 or 2 year commitment on the spot. This took me by complete surprise and I just wasn't in a position to make that decision on the spot. I explained that I fully intended to be a customer but I needed another day or two to think it over and would really appreciate if I could still do that day's workout. They had absolutely no flexibility whatsoever and I had to go home disappointed. This was a really poor experience as a customer. I would have almost certainly signed up with them but based on this experience, I'm definitely taking my business elsewhere.

Fantastic experience: Most impressive and expansive facilities I have seen yet. Open all day with classes every hour, The Arena features separate buildings for Jujitsu, Boxing and Muay Thai / MMA all connected on one central campus. The staff are welcoming and the coaches are knowledgeable. They have even trained Navy SEALs. Try for one day - 24 hr pass. This place is a gem - a treasure for anyone who lives in San Diego and is looking to develop themselves as a fighter or just to learn new skills and better themselves.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely amazing crew and teaching

Fantastic experience: Very friendly people, learned very fast

Fantastic experience: Pretty epic front desk dude in the afternoon

Fantastic experience: Quality