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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.
A PAT ON THE BACK WEEK OF 3/23/26 Give yourself a pat on the back from time to time. We start our journeys as wide eyed beginners, wholly focused mostly on whether we can, or cannot, actually do something. That is the beginner’s burning question: “can I do this?” As we grow beyond that […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: REFLECTION WEEK OF 03/23/2026 This week’s Junior Samurai stripe challenge is BLACK for Reflection! Students can earn their stripe this week by writing a one sentence mantra specific to their jiu jitsu experience. For example, coach Coltrane’s mantra on the mats is “Get top position, keep top position”.
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF MARCH 16th, 2026 Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, Membership Updates, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom! Happy Monday Team! Writing this from the couch on Sunday morning after our first Sunday Sprint Club […]
PRACTICE WEEK OF 3/16/26 What do we do six days a week at the gym? We practice. Without thinking too much about it, we’d probably say practice is when you work on the skills for a particular sport or activity. And leave it at that. And I suppose that’s true, but it’s not entirely […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: TECHNIQUE WEEK OF 03/16/2026 This week’s Junior Samurai stripe challenge is GREEN for technique! Students can earn a green stripe this weekend by explaining/teaching the concept of pinning to a parent. What is a pin? What are the three principles of pinning?
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF MARCH 9th, 2026 Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, Membership Updates, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom! Happy Monday team! Should be an amazing day to get out of the house, get moving, and […]
SEASONS WEEK OF 3/09/26 Nearly 70 degrees over this weekend, a true messenger of Spring in the air. The seasons are changing. We accept the cycles of nature — how they effect everything from the grass on the ground, to the behavior of the birds in the sky. We don’t, however, accept very much […]
JUNIOR SAMURAI STRIPE CHALLENGE: TECHNIQUE WEEK OF 03/09/2026 This week’s Junior Samurai stripe challenge is RED for fitness! Simple and straight to the point: students can earn their red stripe this week by completing one three minute round of burpees on three separate days this week. It’s not likely they can move continuously, we just […]
THE RED CORNER NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WEEK OF MARCH 2nd, 2026 Monday Mindset, Junior Samurai Stripe Challenge, Membership Updates, and Facility FAQ Links all available at the bottom! Happy Monday team! Ah, the promise of Spring! As someone who grew up in the legendary winters […]
IT’S NOT LINEAR WEEK OF 3/02/26 Growth in the martial arts isn’t linear. This is true, despite the linear hierarchies that we often impose upon it (i.e. belt rankings). So it’s less like a race, where we run from one checkpoint to another, and more like a scavenger hunt. Certain elements needed to level […]