Max Academy of Martial Arts - Brentwood, California

Tamara Cotter

We signed up our son in the Panda (evening) class. He attended 3 classes but unfortunately on the 4th class, he was hurt by the same kid THREE times and none of the instructors teaching the class paid attention or saw this. I had to call out to the instructor, who was supposed to be his mentor and was present, to tell her this kid was purposely hurting my child. In one of these incidents, he made my son bleed. The kid has been allowed to stay and Matt informed he he’d be talking to the parents and the kid. He said to him it didn’t appear intentional from the videos. Yet this kid made my son bleed, hurt him and ONLY him THREE times. Unfortunately my child, who just turned four, has refused to go back. Perhaps one of the first introductory lessons should be with the child and parents about respect and safety towards fellow classmates with zero tolerance for this behavior.

The only positive thing here is to say thank you to Mr. Cristian who tried his best to support our son in an attempt to help him get back to class. You are a great teacher, kind, and friendly. You, by far, showed more empathy to my son and genuine care. You will make a great sensei one day.

Kelly McCoy

We have been going here for a little over a year. We started with my son and a few weeks later my daughter joined as well. Plenty of the reviews mention the convenient schedule which is really great. My reason for the review is the absolute genuine care from everyone there. Both of my children are being mentored by instructors that I believe truly care about my kids. We are constantly impressed and love that our kids are a part of this family because it truly does feel like a family. There is humor, love, structure, and much more.

Lauren Thomson

This is my favorite business in Brentwood! The staff is incredible. I highly recommend MAX to anyone, especially parents of young children. They teach martial arts and also help build strong minds with mindset lessons ending each class. 10/10 rec?

T Brown

Had my first lesson there yesterday. I have zero martial arts experience. Very welcoming environment, great instructors. Adam and Gabe were both awesome in giving me some basics, and drilling in some motor skills. Looking forward to growing in my knowledge, and building relationships here.

Irene Ritchie

I’m so happy we found this dojo. We first found Max Academy of Martial Arts by enrolling my two young sons in classes at the Oakley community center. We were introduced to Mr. Gabe and my husband and I were immediately impressed with how well he interacted with the kids with his energetic and positive attitude and his authentic love for his craft. You can clearly see he loves teaching martial arts. We decided to join the main dojo and everyone that works there welcomed us in. Max is known for providing a family environment and I can confirm that with our experience there. Every single instructor is so good with the kids I decided to try it myself. I highly recommend taking the Max Fit classes if you’re looking to get out of the house and punch things legally. It’s equivalent to taking a CrossFit class incorporating kickboxing. I personally find it therapeutic to help manage my regular stresses of everyday life. I can’t praise this facility enough with all the wonderful instructors employed here. Thank you Renshi Matt for providing a safe and enjoyable environment for me and my family.

kena rau

Max Academy turns my bad days into good ones! I was watching “The floor is lava” on Netflix and noticed my sensei, from when I was just a little girl, was a participant. Come to find out he opened up his own academy close to home, so one random Wednesday I gave them a call and suddenly i was signed up! They were welcoming, informative, and helpful from the jump! Adult martial arts and Krav have become my favorite part of my day. Over the past 2 months I have learned so many useful defenses, made many friends, and have become more confident in my self protection! Although I partake in adult classes, I can confidently say that the instructors do AMAZING work with children! They bring enthusiasm, positive energy, and teach the children not only self defense but other important life lessons! Paying for self defense classes but getting much more out of it is why Max Academy deserves 5 stars! I would recommend to my family,friends and anybody around me in a heartbeat! Renshi Matt has truly created an amazing, welcoming and very family friendly environment! So I thank him and the team tremendously for that!

Sandra Perez

Very friendly staff! my daughter is 8 she goes about three times a week. She is loving it so far ? and I just really like how the instructors are very patient and good with the kids.

Coach Casey

Matt and his team have created such a supportive atmosphere and an incredible program for both karate and Krav. Health and safety is a priority so during this pandemic they have offered virtual, outdoor, and recently small indoor classes. Having those classes to look forward to has been the bright spot during these stressful times. I highly recommend them!