Church Street Boxing Gym

If you're in New York City and want to train at a real boxing gym. You can't get anymore better than this...Unbiased fact! They have three locations, but this one is the OG spot and makes you feel so tough. 4 floors down in a basement level with expanded ceilings and multiple levels. Love Park Place!

I recommend Head Trainer and Coach Michael Hughes for classes and private lessons. But you can also take classes from Harold, Adam, or Tony and get an amazing work out as well. All trainers are handpicked for client's different needs. Whether you want to learn self defense, get a good work out in, or are interested in becoming a fighter in the combat sports realm. I advise you to try out Church Street Boxing!

I have an unhealthy obsession with combat sports, but have never trained a day in my life because I'm really shy and don't want to get punched in the head for a hobby. Well that's not true, I took one jiu jitsu class a few years ago and it was the most unwelcoming environment I have ever been in, but that's a story for another day.

My boss, who is actually the homie, started doing Muay Thai at Church Street Boxing recently and told me to tag along for a class as I'm always shadow boxing and talking MMA with her in the office lol.

I did a free trial intro level Muay Thai class at 7am, and got there about 5 minutes before to check in and get gloves. I was instructed that the Muay Thai room is in the back.

I walked through the main boxing gym floor to the men's locker room, and I swear this place feels like it's out of a Rocky movie. It's a grungy, no frills gym with loads of character. This is not a "boxercise" class or a cardio kickboxing gym. If you want to look all cute in your boxing wraps and gloves, this isn't the place. This is a fighters gym. I was told that almost all of the coaches are active or former fighters. It would be the perfect setting to film a boxing movie in lol.

I set my stuff down and nervously walked to the Muay Thai room in the back. I saw my boss and about 7 others warming up as the teacher, Lauren, came and introduced herself and was super welcoming.

We started with 5-10 minutes of jump rope which I LOVED, I can jump rope all mf day. It's actually my party trick, I know my way around a jump rope I swear to god.

After the warm up we started shadow boxing in the mirror and I immediately reverted to my prime Conor Mcgregor/Lyoto Machida karate stance that I have been doing for YEARS as my shower is warming up ahahahaa. Light on my feet bouncing back and forth, arms out wide, settle and play baby. My shampoo bottles have seen me win so many world titles.

Lauren came over and helped me individually, teaching me a proper Muay Thai stance and basic punch and kick fundamentals. In contrast to my jiu jitsu experience all those years ago, she was extremely cognisant of it being my first ever class and it was much appreciated. She walked the fine line of being helpful without alienating me in front of the rest of the class lol.

We then paired up, one person holding pads and the other throwing combos that Lauren had just taught us. I felt like Rodtang or Charles Oliviera hitting clean combos on those pads. It was so much fun. My boss was lowkey BLASTING me with kicks though ahahaha she has some power on those. I couldn't imagine taking a head kick. It's honestly like a baseball bat coming at you.

One thing I didn't take into consideration was the class is barefoot and I have severe hyperhidrosis of the feet -- I'm sorry I know it's nasty, but it's me. I was essentially trying to throw kicks on a slip n slide due to my sweaty feet, as I just couldn't get a clean base. I'm really shy (sad face) so I felt terrible to be sweating like that on the mats haha. But, in contrast to some of these other reviews, they cleaned the mats thoroughly right after the class wrapped up.

After class in the men's locker room, there was a super nice older gentleman who was talking my ear off about the sport, tips and tricks, how long he'd been doing it, etc. After saying goodbye and asking his name he said "They call me Action Jackson, but you can just call me Action" ... I thought I was being punked ahahaha I really felt like I was in a Rocky movie after that exchange.

All in all, I would 100% be a regular here if it weren't for hyperhidrosis... hyperhidrosis stays dubbing me smh.

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The classes and the coaches are good but I stopped going there because there's no sweeping and sanitizing the mats between classes.. it is particularly hard for those sweaty Muay Thai sessions. The mat seems like not been cleaned for weeks ...
The ventilation is also a problem, especially in the heat of summer

I just started taking classes here a couple of weeks ago and have enjoyed myself very much. Classes are intense but you will feel accomplished for having just survived. Instructors all have their own style but each one took the time to support or instruct during drills which was greatly appreciated. Front desk folks have been friendly and helpful each time I have a question and all employees seem non judgmental and supportive.
Best of all it is easy to meet folks with similar interests as the classes are challenging so comradery develops organically.

It can be intimidating joining a martial arts gym but if you push yourself past that feeling you will be rewarded.

P.S : They have two locations and this review applies to both.

Took a free trial class with the Muay Thai trainer Chris (learned his name from the automated email after). I was about 15 minutes late due to going to the wrong location- I called to let them know and they gave me the okay.

Upon arriving, I was directed to the Muay Thai training class, where the trainer did not shake my hand or greet me- I stood there awkwardly for a minute until I got his attention, when he remarked how late I was- that was the extent of our conversation from the beginning to the end of the class.

I am not against "tough" gyms or environments that push people to be their absolute best. But I don't see a reason for unnecessary rudeness, especially for first-timers. Not to mention that many other people in the class barely looked like they knew what they were doing (granted I believe it was a beginner class) but they seemed to barely get any instruction either. If I hadn't come with someone or had the little experience I have with striking, I would've left early.

The impression I got from this gym was that they only care about their own that compete, and they do not care to share the love of their sport to newcomers. I'll be looking elsewhere.

Great gym. Great group of people who train there. The owner is a great guy, too. Trained there for a year and a half for 5 or 6 days a week and looked forward to it almost every day I went. Got me through the darkest and coldest months of the pandemic. Church Street was my only social outlet, more or less, for the better part of a year, and I grew to feel much closer to everyone there than I had at any fight gym I'd trained at previously. I miss the place a lot.

Training at Five Points Academy now and with the Wat in Fort Greene Park. I'm a Muay Thai guy, and the new gyms are better tailored to my needs. Church Street is a boxing gym primarily but they have a great Muay Thai program, too, and have recently hired a new BJJ instructor.

There's *so* much more that I could write, but why waste words? When I say goodbye to friends, I like to keep it short and sweet.

Even for a first timer, Danny pushed you and didn't make it an 'easy' first class, which I appreciated. Since we were all beginners, he took the time to go through everybody's techniques and pushed you each step of the way. It showed how intense the classes were and what I should expect if I wanted to continue on. The class flew by.

This gym is a no frills gym. You've got a small women's room, protected by what seemed like a shower curtain, it had bathrooms and showers, but not a lot of room to put your stuff or change. If you want to lock up your stuff, there are a few lockers outside of the women's room, just bring your own lock.

I would highly recommend bringing your own gloves and wraps, if possible.

I am definitely super sore after this class and it's a good feeling!

STAY AWAY!
Absolutely disgusting and thoughtless gym. If you're a running a Muay Thai class (required to be barefeet), at least take the time to wipe down the mat once in a while. This mat seems to not have been wiped in YEARS.
I washed my feet after class and the water was BLACK. The instructor did not take off his socks, while everyone else did. I guess he knows how disgusting it is and did not want to risk getting an infection/feet amputation.
Instructor (zev) couldn't have cared less about anyones form.
What a sorry excuse of a "Muay Thai" class.
Just don't come..... or come and experience the nightmare yourself.

If you are a ClassPass user AND you never have taken a boxing class, I don't recommend going here. I suggest signing up for a class geared towards beginners to go over technique and basic combos.

However, if you have had some experience with boxing, by all means try a class with Church Street Boxing! They do not mess around here. The first part of class was a warm up that kicked my ass: Lots of jumping jacks, burpees, high knees, fast feet, push ups, jumping squats, a couple of laps around the block, rinse and repeat. That made me regret having a late night out before taking a morning class here.

Once we finished the warm up we did punching drills individually on the bags, then got partnered up to practice punch combos/blocking. I enjoyed the latter portion since you definitely have to focus a lot more with a partner than punching a bag.

While I felt like I was gonna die during the warm up, I did feel very accomplished after the class and now motivated to take more boxing classes.

I do have to mention, the people here are friendly and not intimidating. Nico (the instructor) will work you hard and he's cool to chat with.

This is a place where you can learn how to actually box and have a good workout at the same time. EVERY staff is extremely nice and helpful. I've taken almost all the trainers classes and I absolutely loved every one of them. One on one with Scrap has been helping me build foundations and fighting skills significantly. He pushes me to work hard in every class and I LOVE it!

I saw some comments about the gym is not clean, etc. Again this is a boxing gym, where people put their sweat and hard work in, things get dirty when you fight. If you are looking for a nice place to get a regular workout then crunch at Fidi or Equinox May be a better option.

Church is more than a gym, it's a community where you get to see people with all backgrounds that come together to be better themselves.