These dudes are LEGIT. No frills, just serious training. I was pretty nervous when I tried my first (free) class with them; I’m a relatively small woman with no martial arts or fighting experience, but Krav Maga intrigued me. I checked out Fit and Fearless’ Krav Maga class first, but it seemed geared more towards general fitness rather than the actual training and just wasn’t a good fit for me. I wanted a class that focused on the training aspect rather than just doing drills with myself.
Ten minutes into my first class at Austin Self Defense and I was HOOKED. Bart, the instructor, was very patient and managed to keep a good balance between giving me pointers and not making me feel like a newbie. Everyone in the class was very friendly and welcoming. The class itself goes incredibly quickly – Bart changes things up frequently so it’s never boring, and takes extra time for corrections if you need them. Dan (the owner) is QUITE friendly and exchanged a bunch of emails and phone calls with me to answer all my dumb questions. The rates are very reasonable (around $10-$15/class depending on which package you sign up for), and despite not having a freaking water fountain (yeesh), there IS a bathroom with a sink that you can fill up your water bottle from. They warn you every way possible to bring water. Problem. Solved.
Check them out for a free class before you decide based on angry Internet folk. Chances are, your experience will be similar to mine.