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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.
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 21st, 2026 Happy Monday team! Another great week of training in the books! Not much on the event calendar over the coming weeks, with the exception of an awesome guest coach session next Tuesday evening […]
BE ACCOUNTABILITY WEEK OF 9/21/2026 Short one this week. Whether you want to be accountable or not, you are. A bank account is a balance, which is simply the result of the compiled transactions over time. Deposits and withdrawals. We, too, are an account. We are the result of our own behavioral ledger. The […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: INITIATIVE WEEK OF 09/21/2026 This week’s stripe challenge is BLUE. Students can earn their stripe this week by writing a letter (doesn’t have to be long!) and sending it to a friend or family member through the snail mail — envelope and stamp!
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 14th, 2026 Happy Monday team! Big weekend for the team! Congrats to Makhi on a stellar performance, and to Gianna for defending her title. Both athletes stepped into the ring on the big stage at […]
WIN OR LEARN WEEK OF 9/14/2026 “You either win, or you learn.” This expression is so ubiquitous, it may as well end up on a piece of wall art you can buy from Target on the shelf next to “Live, Laugh, Love” or something. And there are plenty like it: “if you’re going through […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: FITNESS WEEK OF 09/14/2026 This week’s stripe challenge is RED. Students can earn their red stripe by successfully completing a workout of their choosing on three separate days. For Fit Jitsu students, this must be a minimum of 5 minutes long. For Junior Samurai students, this must be a minimum […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF AUGUST 31st, 2026 Happy Sunday team! I’m sending this newsletter out one day early to remind you that we are partially open tomorrow for Labor Day. We will hold our regularly scheduled morning classes (9am Striking All Levels […]
ACCELERATION, SPEED, MOMENTUM WEEK OF 9/7/2026 Acceleration: a change in speed (increase or decrease) Speed: rate in which an object covers distance. Momentum: the force of a moving object. Training, like physical objects, has acceleration, speed, and momentum. Of those three, acceleration is the least important, but the easiest to feel. Both momentum and […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: TECHNIQUE WEEK OF 09/07/2026 All Junior Samurai students (ages 9+) will be required to know how to tie their belt. This will not be a requirement for our Fit Jitsu program. For another week, to allow all students to catch up, we will provide a green stripe for those students […]
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 […]