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This place is awesome ! I trained with Jackson for years, he's the best trainer around. Extremely knowledgable about the sport, super encouraging! Jackson makes training fun, while pushing me to do my best. I highly recommend !
Coach Jackson is a great instructor who takes on friendly students who are eager to learn. At no point did I feel uncomfortable with the speed or the level of difficulty and the group of people who I am getting to know all seem to enjoy the workouts due to the positive atmosphere that Coach Jackson has created.
Starting with no martial arts experience at all, I've been training at North Star MMA for about 2 months now. It's become something i look forward to every week. Coach Jackson has a great way of describing the intricacies of muay thai in exceptionally easy to understand ways. Lots of personal instruction and the other people in the gym really help with training. I really like the skills I've picked up so far all while getting a good workout in.
North Star MMA is by far the best training I have received as well as the best MMA facility. Fantastic atmosphere to learn, try, fail and ultimately succeed.
Jackson Galka's expertise and technical instruction easily qualifies him as a "fight nerd." However Jackson's passion and wit will have you kicking, striking and probably laughing too.
Jackson does a great job of integrating all levels of training with all levels of fighters.
Doesn't matter what level you are, you will learn each and every training session.
Top notch instruction, astounding technical expertise, challenging sweat soaked training sessions and a wicked sense of humor make for an unbeatable training academy.
I moved to Philadelphia in October and did a lot of shopping around for a new gym. After checking out NorthStar MMA, I quickly knew it was a perfect fit! I didn’t have much Muay Thai or BJJ experience at the time, but I felt both programs were very welcoming for beginners. Coach Jackson and the rest of the coaching staff have been super helpful in helping me to develop my skills and reach my fitness goals. Coach Jackson has created a great sense of community within the gym and does a great job of keeping the classes interesting, fun and effective! I look forward to each class and I couldn’t be happier to call NorthStar MMA my gym home!
Me and my brother came to train at North Star MMA, and we love it. Very good exercise, really good for getting in shape. Classes are very personal and with very good instructions. I would recommend this place to anyone who is interested in learning Muy Thai, BJJ and looking to get in shape in one of the best ways. It is also a very fun environment with great people.
Jackson is a huge asset to the combat sports community with years of experience as a fighter and trainer under his belt.
Hi Parents! Coach Jackson here. Excited to see many of the students back from Summer vacation! Periods of transition are always great opportunities to hit a big reset and adjust our sails accordingly. I want to take a few moments to address some policies moving forward that will help us all have a more successful […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF AUGUST 31st, 2026 Happy Monday team! I had a blast touring the coast of California last week while visiting family and friends, but I’m excited to be back on the mats with you all. It’s hard to […]
PERSPECTIVE WEEK OF 8/31/2026 Short one for this week, partially because I’m personally dealing with a week’s backlog to catch up on, and partially because I spent a week completely removed from the day-to-day of the gym. Here’s the thing: training will never be easy. If it is, you’re doing it wrong. Because of […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: TECHNIQUE WEEK OF 08/31/2026 Welcome back, parents and students! We are excited to jump back into Jiu Jitsu this Fall. Periods of transition are always great opportunities to correct course and make much needed adjustments. All Junior Samurai students (ages 9+) will be required to know how to tie their […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF AUGUST 24th, 2026 Happy Saturday team! I’m shooting this newsletter out a few days early to make sure we get ahead of my absence this week. I’ll be in Sunny California until Saturday, the 28th, visiting family […]
HANG LOOSE WEEK OF 8/24/2026 Inspired by my trip to California this week, today’s Monday Mindset is about “Hanging Loose.” Because, you know, California, surfing, etc, right? But “hanging loose” is actually a really important physical cue in the Soviet Boxing system as well. Soviet Boxing is a comprehensive martial art — it encompasses […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF AUGUST 17th, 2026 Happy Monday team! Wow! What a weekend! Out team of six athletes put it on the line in Maryland at the WKA 2026 Team USA National Trials. Tournament fighting is its own beast — […]
THE BEST ADVICE YOU CAN TAKE WEEK OF 8/17/2026 The best advice you can take is your own. As a coach, I’m in a position where people come to me for advice. Whether this is smart on their part is up for debate (insert smiley face here) but the fact remains that I’m often […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF AUGUST 10th, 2026 Happy Monday team! August 1st marks the 1 year anniversary of moving into the Church! I’d like to give a quick but deeply heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make that transition possible. […]
HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE WEEK OF 8/10/2026 Catastrophic failures don’t happen in incremental phases. One moment, everything is fine.. and the next, a retaining wall collapses and floods the area below it. When it comes to technical growth in combat sports, a similar dynamic is often in place. It really can feel like we are just […]