Amsterdam Gym

The bottomline, boxing, kickboxing aint a pretty sport. The owner takes great care in the gym, I see him there early and late all the time. He is always pushing his students and making sure they do it right. The guys who started it definitely know their stuff and this gym could be the next big thing with a lil extra help and care. As for now I think enrollment might be down but that is probably just our current economy kicking the crap out of us. I have seen this gym full to capacity before and my personal workouts there have been fulfilling, but let just say I’m no get sweaty, stinky, sparing workout type of person. This gym is pretty small inside but has a whole lot of heart.

Pros:
Good instruction
Authentic, old school atmosphere and style
Very easy parking
Cheap, flexible pricing
Cons:
People dont show up often
Small pool of training partners
This is a good kickboxing and boxing school that trains like an old school boxing gym. It is in a very gritty area of East Oakland, so be wary of your car. The reason why I left this gym was because a lot of people would not come very frequently so I did not have many training partners of my size. I didn’t like showing up a lot and buying sparring equipment and not having the big guys show up. The instruction is good, and because classes are often very small, you get a lot of individual attention. If you are a under 6 feet tall it should be fine, though.
I went there for many months and I never once saw the owner of the gym for some reason, just Alfredo.

Less is more, is the first thing that comes to mind when I walked into the gym for the first time. I have only gone there to get pointers on by boxing technique, but the instruction there is excelent.

Small, shabby, but complete muay thai gym. Group classes are only offered during week evenings, from 6 – 9. No weekends.
Equipment is pretty shabby. Bags are okay, but most of the pads are splitting and shower you with foam and fabric when kicked. The main instructor/​owner is almost never around because he’s in the Oakland Police Academy, so the one remaining instructor (Alfredo) is always overworked. He spends half the time directing the group classes, and half the time working with his boxing students (his background is in boxing).
Ends up being a pretty good workout and a lot of fun, but the equipment is sub-​par and the hours of availability aren’t that great.
Edit: Unless they get another instructor, then there’s basically Alfredo splitting time between the boxing kids and the kickboxing adults. Ercivan is a cop, and the only time I ever saw him in the gym was when he brought in cops to spar.
I went to Pacific Ring to check out a class, and I saw a few people from Amsterdam, so I think the writing is on the wall.