Secure your spot and get started today with our EXCLUSIVE offer!
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.
CASTING SPELLS WEEK OF 2/3/25 Wizards, dragons, magic spells. The stuff of Fantasy, right? And an appropriate topic now that the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to debut this year on HBO (a fantastic companion piece to the A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin). Previously […]
NEVER LOSE YOUR TEMPER WEEK OF 1/27/25 Conversational phrases often pull from the martial arts’ vernacular. Things like “roll with the punches,” “take it on the chin,” and “don’t lose your temper.” As it pertains to the last phrase, tempering is a process used by bladesmiths to add some durability to the blade, so […]
INVITATION WEEK OF 1/20/25 You don’t need an invitation to sit at the table. You just need to walk through the door and take your seat. You don’t need an invitation to go to bed earlier. You don’t need an invitation to train more. You don’t need an invitation to practice better habits. So, […]
PRE-PARATION WEEK OF 1/13/24 There are many lenses through which we can understand our human experience. Some of these are in the fossil record, others are in written history, and others are through the myths and legends that are passed down through the ages. But one that I particularly find useful is in the […]
CARDIO ISN’T “PROGRESS” WEEK OF 12/30/24 …And being out of shape doesn’t mean you “fell behind.” This is the time of year when many of us are steeling our minds for the challenge of getting back into the groove of things. A big part of that is anticipating some difficulty in “knocking off the […]
CYCLES WEEK OF 12/30/24 Everything is a cycle; everything has a rhythm. From the beat of our heart, to the respiration of our lungs, to the path of the sun, to the changing of the seasons, to the orbit of our planet. And on and on in both larger and smaller scales. Training, too, […]
YOU’LL NEVER USE TRIGONOMETRY AGAIN WEEK OF 12/23/24 Let’s jump into the Way-Back machine and sit at our old desk in high school Geometry class. The teacher is going on and on about sines, cosines, and tangents. We’ve all heard it – heck, we’ve probably all said it. Somebody (maybe you?) raises their hand: […]
THE GAP WEEK OF 12/16/24 Between your actions, and the results you want to cultivate, there is always a gap. Sadly, we are conditioned to expect that results and gratification should be nearly instantaneous. Want a pizza? Open up your phone, it’s at your door in 45 minutes. Want a game? Download it. Want a […]
A NEW NORMAL WEEK OF 12/9/24 A new normal. That’s kind of what we’re all looking to create with our work, right? To create a new normal state of improved health, wealth, and happiness? But what happens when we start to achieve a new normal in our lives? Do we recognize and appreciate it, […]
AUTHORITY WEEK OF 12/2/24 “History is written by the winners.” You may have heard that expression before. Winners decide how the past is remembered. They have the authority to dictate – they are the authors of history. If we want to achieve high levels of success in whatever goal we’re pursuing, we must establish […]
Happy Monday Team! My day-to-day teaching schedule is such journey between extremes. On one end, I teach the littlest students (ages 5+) and on the other I’m working with seasoned fighters. And, obviously, everything in between. As adults we can often be looking too far ahead into the future. To some distant time when everything […]
THE RED CORNER 02.05.24 NEWS AND UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR ACADEMY Happy Monday Team! We are back from a quick trip down South for Gianna’s MMA debut. We didn’t pick up that Hollywood ending but in these combat sports, you go out there and play your hand and sometimes come up short. […]
Z THE RED CORNER RETURNS ON MONDAY! CLASS REGISTRATION AND ATTENDANCE TO BEGIN ON FEBRUARY 1ST Hey Team! Coach Jackson here — Wanted to give you all a few quick updates on what we’ve been cooking up in the back room (or, more appropriately, how we’ve been putting out the kitchen fires for […]
FINDING THE RIGHT MMA GYM FOR YOU HOW YOU SHOULD PRIORITIZE THE QUALITIES OF EACH MMA SCHOOL NEAR YOU TO PICK THE PLACE THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU As a gym owner, I’m forced to be somewhat capable in all areas — of course, being a black belt in BJJ and a retired professional […]
THE RED CORNER || 10.02.23 || UPDATES FROM THE NORTH STAR MMA ACADEMY IN PHILADELPHIA Happy Monday Team! Hard to believe we’re already in Spooky Season, aka October! It’s my favorite time of the month (largely due to Halloween and a much-needed break from the hot weather), and also one of my favorite times on the mats. People are […]
Monday Mindset: The Power of Self-Belief Earlier last week, I remarked how spectacularly Sean Strickland would likely fail on Saturday against the incumbent UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya. And I wasn’t alone — Vegas odds had Strickland over +400 and the MMA community largely regarded this as a “shoe-in” for The Stylebender. Well, wouldn’t you […]