Northwest Fighting Arts

These guys just sent me to collections for services never render for my 12 year old daughter. We had to move away, I had to change jobs, and they said ‘we don’t care we have a contract’ and now they sent me to collections.
This place will sell you a black belt if you sign their 2 year contract. Poor show of class I’d appreciate if they’d call me back as well.

I signed a contract in late October of 2010, went to 3 classes. I was in a serious auto accident first week of December leaving me permanently disabled. After many attempts to contact the owner Jeff Patterson. Explaining I cannot train anymore that I am permanently disabled he sent the contract to collections instead. I did agree to pay something however that wasn’t enough. So ya I guess 3 classes for $ 1,700 is a good price according to him. Although I do not and cannot train anymore. I am aware that there are many places in Portland that are much better. Nemesis, Mata Leao and 10^th Planet Jiu Jitsu to name a few. Good people who are not out to rip you off.
Side note Jeff Patterson has never competed against other Black belts rumor has it he bought his black belts. Makes sense he claims to have 6 of them yet he has never competed?! Why not compete? because he would lose and be exposed for the fraud that he is. A fraud who has been ripping people off hand over fist for many years.

I’ve been a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student at NWFA for over six years, which says a lot about the place, as I’m usually bored of any routine after six minutes!
I initially signed up for a monthly membership, since I’d had no experience with martial arts and didn’t know what to expect. I was hesitant to commit to even six months, but by the time the first month was up, I was hooked. I couldn’t shrimp in the right direction, I couldn’t escape any mounts, and I couldn’t remember any attacks, but I was really great at getting myself choked. And once you get BJJ programmed into your system, it’s always with you, and you can’t wait to come back to class and get sweaty, and stinky, and hyper-​extended, and really exhausted. So I hyper-​extended my membership to annual and have remained at NWFA ever since. Six years later and I’m now 40, very flexible, competent, self-​confident, and versatile on the mats… and I picked up a bunch of new friends along the way.
I can’t wait to walk in Monday evenings and roll around and laugh with my classmates – that’s what we’re about at Northwest Fighting Arts. This isn’t a gym where you come to lift weights for short-​term weight loss goals. This is an institution where we come to learn for the long run. We push each other to achieve that next promotion and be the best «us» we can be. We aren’t bullies (or monks), but a collection of people from all walks of life who have all enjoyed the humbling learning process that comes with solid martial arts instruction.

Great organization all around. The whole family enjoys it. Coach Brandon who teaches the Little Ninjas class is so great with all of the children. The class teaches technique with care & patience, stresses the importance of respect and discipline and does it in a fun way that keeps our son engaged. Women’s kickboxing coach is amazing! It’s a great workout while teaching technique and self-​defense tactics. Love it!

If I could take away the one star I would. I purchased kickboxing classes through a Groupon. After talking with Russell about my goals and what I wanted to accomplish in addition to some challenges I was facing. I was assured that if I signed a contract I could cancel. We discussed this at length in the office. I attended class twice — both times Mui Thai was being offered. I showed up for a third class and didn’t even bother to go in because again no kickboxing. I called to cancel the contract. No response I called and emailed again several days later finally received a terse email redirecting me to a third-​party billing agency. There was no addressing my concerns about the class that I had signed up for and the fact that it was false advertising and the classes that I wanted to participate in had yet to be presented. Contacted the third-​party company and received no response. Just about two weeks ago I received a collection notice for a years worth of dues! What. A. Scam!!! Now I’ve had to contact my lawyer and will fight this. Not only is this false advertising and despicable customer service, but now they’re trying to damage my excellent credit. These people got me for the cost of the Groupon which I didn’t fully use and then they turned around and charged me for an entire year of «dues» for classes that were not offered and I was not there once within that window of time! I’m completely disheartened by this whole experience and now I have to go through the pain and bother the fighting this when I never received what I purchased in the first place. I was deliberately lied to my face. Buyer beware!!!

This place is a mess! Their billing system is not trustworthy, they bill you double for some months and continue to bill you after you cancel your contract. They promise to refund you but never do. They don’t respond to your calls and emails. Some of the instructors are excellent, but the lack of organization not worth the headache.

the contract part is shady, but the thai-​chi instructors are cool cats, they were patient… gentlemen…the owner is a Dick… ya man you… he told me I was to old to fight and basically was an insecure douchebag all around… so I never paid, theres alot of shady stuff that goes on there yet its just not the right dojo for me… you have to check it out yourselves…

I trained here about 3 years ago and had a pleasant experience. Recently I purchased a groupon for 10 sessions to see if I wanted to return. I do not want to return. On top of the price being raised to $ 175 a month, which is a huge inflation from when I last trained here, the instructors I liked before are no longer here and they’ve been replaced by out of shape meat heads who obviously have very little experience training. Jeff and Russell still run the place and train, which is good, but most week day nights are the other guys who you will not get a good session from.
Also false advertising. You won’t be able to come here and specifically learn or hone boxing technique. It’s a gamble every time you show up whether you’re going to practice Muay Thai or western boxing or both in the same hour. I for one don’t enjoy Muay Thai and would like to focus on western boxing. So this gym is not for me.
If you want focused instructors and a fair price don’t go here. I used to have a lot of respect for Jeff and Russell but after what this gym has turned into I will be finding another fighting gym.

There are a lot of really high level gyms to train Jiu Jitsu at in Portland, this is NOT one of them.
I just moved to Portland, from Oakland, CA, and was shopping around for a new Jiu Jitsu Gym, NW Fighting Arts was close to my apartment, so I stopped in to see what it was all about, and this details my experience.
I believe the business operates somewhat fraudulently. Upon going in for a consultation, I asked about the instructor’s lineage. They said Jeff Patterson was a black belt under Rigan Machado. I proceeded to go online to check this out (
) where there was no record of a Blackbelt by that name. I then checked the IBJJF registry, again no record. Finally I contacted Rigan’s association through his website, and got a response saying that while Rigan had taught a few seminars at the school, that Jeff Patterson was not awarded a Black Belt by Rigan.
This leads me to believe that the other credentials of the school are also fabricated.
I still went in to sample a class to see if there was some misunderstanding going on, perhaps they did quality training, and I could get around this. The short answer is no, they do not.
I have trained Jiu Jitsu on and off since I was 16 years old. I started at Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu in NYC, got my elbow dislocated in my first tournament, took at 10 year hiatus, and then started again at Ralph Gracie SF (Under Kurt Osiander). I have also trained briefly under Stephan Goyne, who is 1 step removed from Gracie Humaita. In addition, my job causes me to travel a lot, and I have dropped into gyms all over the place. I know what real BJJ instruction is like, and it doesn’t take place at NW Fighting Arts. The class is structured to look like a BJJ class, but all the drills at techniques are hollow, they are done wrong, with the wrong emphasis, or just arent real, and effective techniques.
They asked if I was going to sign up for a contract, and I said no, and explained why. The sales guy, Russell just repeated the same thing over and over «I don’t care what you say.» Jeff was more gracious, and played it off like it must be a misunderstanding, and that he was gonna talk to Rigan right away.
Avoid this place at all costs.
Edit: I have since been contacted back from Mark Massey, saying «Well I received an email from Jeff Patterson who said he read all my emails to you which is fine as I gave you the info I had on him and his school via public reviews. Apparently was promoted Black Belt by Rigan several years ago but his school is not affiliated with us and therefore we cannot regulate the quality of instruction or verify what curriculums being taught. So to clear things up. He is Rigan black belt, but not affiliate of Association.»
Whether he is or isnt a true black belt, I would still advise against seeking instruction from him, the whole thing seems suspicious to me and his expertise seemed lacking to me.

I had been passing by NWFA on my way to and from work back when they were located off of Grand st. near Hawthorne blvd. around early 2004, when I decided that Id like to get back into training martial arts again. I had positive experiences with Muay Thai and JKD/​Kali in the past and so this was a no brainer I thought, with the school being on route to either work or home. I visited, and had a free lesson — all great experiences, the students were nice and the school seemed well cared for. I went back into the office and looked at their sign up options in a nutshell:
$ 50 — membership fee
$ 135 per month — month to month
$ 125 per month — 6 month contract
$ 115 per month — 1 year contract
I’m sure these prices are outdated of course…
So in short I signed up for the one year, and then I got moved involuntarily to swing shift 11 hour days at my work. I called NWFA and could not get them to help. They would just say they have no control over it because it is handled externally. So I went there in person and they gave me the number to call the external company and that company said it would take three whole months for it to take effect.
In conclusion, I wound up keeping the contract from auto renewing, but I still ended up paying for the whole contract without ever training a single class beyond the free intro class.
No complaints on the art itself because I never got to train in it, so I wouldn’t know.

Like many others are saying dont sign a contract. I lost my Job after attending 3 classes back in 2012. I owe them $ 1878 as of last month due to interest. Crazy. I didnt even want to join but was pressured by the owner Jeff… A mistake I wish I had never made. As far as the training it was alright for the 3 classes I attended. The owner Jeff is a crook, but the coaches are alright. I hope and pray they close this business down.

Northwest Fighting Arts had a booth at the Belmont Street Fair yesterday, and had a prize wheel. My 6 year old daughter won a free private lesson and a free t-​shirt on the wheel. I’m pretty sure everyone «won» the lesson, but only a few of the spots had the free t-​shirt, so she was pretty excited about it. We signed up for a lesson the very next day (today) and was told that she’d get her free t-​shirt when she showed up for the lesson. Fair enough.
So, our appointment was at 10am and we showed up at 9:45am. We sat outside until around 10:15am when the instructor finally showed up, 15 minutes late. We were right about ready to leave… no one called us to tell us the instructor would be late. Alright… dude seemed nice, so whatever.
We got a tour of the gym and then my daughter had a fun time during the lesson. She seemed to really like it, so as she was getting her sneakers back on, I asked if they had weekend lesson times. The guy told us that they did have a Sunday class in the afternoon, but the other classes were at 5pm on weekdays. I said that Sunday sounded great because my daughter goes to sleep at 6:30pm on weekdays and 5pm is her dinner time. She happens to be one of those kids who needs 12 hours of sleep to function, and there’s nothing I can do about that. The guy seemed to lose his enthusiasm at this point, but took us upstairs.
He told us that there was no option for taking the Sunday class unless we also took a weekday class. I again told him that the weekday class was not an option unless something earlier opened up, like 4pm or so. He said that may happen in the future, so I suggested emailing me when that does happen because my daughter seemed to enjoy the class. The look on his face changed, and it was obvious that he felt we wasted his time.
I mentioned the free t-​shirt my daughter won and he said coldly, «That’s only for new members.» I reminded him that my daughter spun the wheel to win the shirt and was told she’d receive it when she showed up. He just said, «Sorry.»
Seriously?! You’re going to promise a prize to a 6 year old child and not deliver because you’re pissed that she needs an early bedtime and you have ONE time option for weekday classes (and no flexibility?) Everyone here was a small child at some point. Everyone knows how exciting it is to spin a wheel and win a prize. I had to tell her that she was lied to.
It’s obviously not about the shirt… it’s the principle. You do not promise a prize to a kid and then turn back on it. That’s so awful! Not to mention I had every intention of signing her up for classes if it fit our schedule. Now that I’m reading all of the other horrible reviews about their billing practices, I’m glad the company showed their true colours *before* I signed anything. I feel so lucky for that. I’m glad my daughter enjoyed the class, but sad she had to witness shady business practices. I’m going to give her some ice cream now to make up for it.

The atmosphere is very positive — Russell is a great motivator, and there’s a noticeable lack of the meatheads/​wanna be badboys that seem to be present at almost every martial arts gym/​dojo. Going to boxing twice a week has really improved my conditioning, and i was already in pretty good shape. I always look forward to class, and have met some great people there — all the instructors are very friendly.
That being said, when my contract is up (in about 3 months) I plan on looking elsewhere. I also go to an Aikido dojo for ¹⁄₃ the cost of NWFA. There I can go six days a week, and the instructors have a lot of experience (in the case of the Sensei, 35 years). At NWFA, I’m limited to 2 days a week, which I don’t feel is enough — I’d like to go 4 days at least, and I’d like to train more realistically (i.e. sparring) when practical. As far as I know, the only way to do this at NWFA is to pay even more per month (after passing a test). That’s just too much money.

Looking through the negative reviews you can see that the vast majority of the complaints stem from the contract obligations that the reviewers are trying to go back on. I have been coming to this gym for over a year now, and I have had nothing but a great experience. The coaches are helpful and knowledgable and genuinely want the members to meet their goals. I have been studying in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the most part but I have also trained in Muay Thai, and in both instances the environment is warm and inviting to both experienced and inexperienced members.
I am not only getting a great workout at NWFA, but I am also learning value skills and arts that I carry with me throughout my day. NWFA and the coaches there a instill a level of respect to the arts and to each member’s peers that has helped me in my personal life as well as my training.

The instructors know what they’re doing… martial arts wise and business wise. They do get people to sign contracts that are impossible to break and a mite expensive.
«Get someone to sign a contract? We get lots more money that way!»
Make sure you’re able to pay for it before you sign up… there is no mercy for those who lose jobs, have medical problems, etc. The instructors are quality, the students are friendly, and you’ll learn a lot. Just make sure you can pay for it and can attend 4+ times a week. I recommend doing the month-​to-​month to avoid getting caught in a contract.
I have learned a lot here… including not to sign a contract with death listed as the only option to getting out of it. I don’t know if there are better gyms or cheaper gyms in town, but I’ll be looking for them when my membership is up in January.
Also…the billing company is the one you have to call to get out of your renewal policy. The number is at the bottom of the contract you sign. They were very friendly and helpful and it took me about 2 minutes to send in an email to give them written notice and receive a receipt that my contract would not slide into auto-​renewal. (They sign you up for auto-​renewal even if you don’t ask for it… so watch out)
Fun place, will kick your butt, but I’m not too thrilled about being stuck in an expensive contract. But that’s my bad… and I know better now.

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR A CONTRACT HERE!!!
After signing up for a year’s contract, I got a job in Texas. I told them this in July and here it is October and still taking money out of my bank account. They said I had to give a bill showing the new address which I provided them and they responded it wasn’t good enough. Then they quit responding to my emails when I provided more documentation.
I wondered why there weren’t many people in the classes and yet they seem to still be open and now I know why. They rip people off at every turn and have qualms about it. Do not sign up for this place, they don’t care about you, they only want to take your money without earning it.

My other half signed up for this place several years ago. Fast forward to the present and NWFA still comes to mind every time the subject of «deceptive and craptastical contract bs» or «ultimate douchebaggery» comes up.
I just don’t have anything nice to say about the attitude and conduct of the people who run this place.
Feel free to check it out if you want to witness a little sales pitch that involves a hyped-​up meathead who can «kill a man with this pen!»

My son has been in their youth program for the last two and a half years. We have had nothing but positive experiences with this program. When he started taking the classes he had a hard time controlling his body, and focusing his energy. And over the years, he has grown into quite a little martial artist. The character development component of the youth program has change many kids in the class’ attitude and disposition towards each other, and it has been a pleasure watching them grow. They have given my son not only guidance in developing his skills as a martial artist, but also how to handle situations in his personal life, including bullying and begin more self-​reliant and responsible.
I see a lot of negative reviews about the contracts with the gym and I just have to say, they have been always up front with us about our contractual obligations and responsibilities as well as their own. We have been in a six month, one year and are now in a two year contract and we have had no issues. I would advise those who have a tenuous grip on their finances, and even those who don’t, to take care when signing financial contractual obligations of any kind. I would hope after this whole realestate crash and lending debacle we all have learned that lesson.
Jesse D.

Wow, I wish I had read the reviews on Unilocal before signing up here. I was transferred to another city for work, and Jeff the owner first would not respond to my inquiries about cancelling my contract, then he said he would refund the last 2 months of payments, then he wrote me yesterday saying that he would not. My only recourse is small claims court.
I certainly had a few good classes here, but would not recommend giving them your business due to their shady business practices.
There are way too many other kickboxing schools around PDX. Go somewhere else.
And Jeff, if you’re bummed about all the negative press, you earned it buddy.

The only reason I am giving this place one star is because there is not an option for no stars. That being said, here’s the unfortunate truth about this place:
I hastily signed a contract several months ago thinking I had a job lined up. When I was not hired and knew I would be unable to pay the monthly dues I called and asked to be let out of the contract due to being unemployed. The response– the owner/​manager refused.
He «helped me out» and «put off» the payments for a few months, then said he no longer could and would start charging me. Last month, as a result, I nearly missed my rent payment and had to go a week without groceries.
Beware– there seems to be one very valuable lesson you will not be taught here, and that is compassion. Life happens, so if you are looking for flexibility steer clear. I recently found a review of this place on another site written by a person who was not let out of their contract even after being transferred to another city for work.
My advice– find somewhere else… anywhere else.