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San Diego's Combat Sports Gym

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The Arena Usa Judo
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The Arena Programs

Welcome to The Arena, San Diego’s leading Martial Arts school and Combat Sports gym. We’re the single largest Martial Arts school in the United States, offering Beginners to Pros the best combat sports classes and training in 10 different Combat Sports, Martial Arts and Strength & Conditioning programs.

Our Combat Sports and Martial Arts classes include Boxing, Filipino Martial Arts, Grappling, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing, MMA, Muay Thai, S & C and Wrestling. This is the biggest program of its kind in the U.S. and our martial arts school and world class training is known worldwide.

Our weekly San Diego Martial Arts classes for Adulte include Boxing, Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Muay Thai, Strength & Conditioning, Submission Wrestling (No Gi Jiu Jitsu) and Wrestling. We also offer Personal Training and the best Fight Camps in San Diego.

Besides being the largest Combat Sports gym in North America, each of our programs are individually among the biggest in the USA. If you’re looking for a San Diego martial arts school, we’re the clear choice.

Training at The Arena is different than at most other Martial Arts schools in San Diego, CA. Due to our background and history, we’ve had strong ties with members of the Armed Forces since we first opened our school in 1949. This focus had led to a constant emphasis on effective training for the field, the street and in competition. Consequently, we do not (and will never) offer “Cardio” classes. Instead, we pride ourselves on offering the best martial arts school in San Diego / California / the USA.

We don’t believe in poor quality training with bad technique just to get in shape. Instead, our philosophy is to train for real while still increasing fitness. “Real” doesn’t mean getting hurt or being too aggressive, and we don’t tolerate any bad attitudes here. But it does mean doing things the right way. So if you want the best, most realistic martial arts training in San Diego, you found it.

Our Coaches comprise one of the most experienced and accomplished teams of Combat Sports and Martial Arts trainers in the world. With an average of over 25 years of experience per coach, we have a tremendous amount of knowledge and mastery to share with our students who are interested in learning combat sports or martial arts in San Diego, CA.

Founded in 1949 in San Diego CA as the Southern California School of Judo and Jujitsu, we’re the longest running Martial Arts school in North America. In 2006, we moved to our current San Diego location, updated our name to The Arena to best represent a training center for modern day warriors, and continued our mission to build the best Combat Sports gym in the world. 

If you’re looking for adult martial schools and classes “near me”, you found us. Members come from all over San Diego to train at The Arena. Our adult martial arts classes are easily accessible in Point Loma off the 8 freeway on Sports Arena Blvd. Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Bay Park, Downtown San Diego, Golden Hill, Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, North Park, South Park, La Mesa, El Cajon, Clairemont, College Area, Miramar, Kearny Mesa, Clairemont Mesa, City Heights, La Jolla, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Coronado, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach are all within easy driving distance.

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The Arena Schedule

We offer the largest Combat Sports & Martial Arts program in North America.

The Arena Coaches

The Arena Facility

27,000 square feet. San Diego’s biggest Combat Sports Gym & Martial Arts School.

The Arena Reviews

The Arena FAQ's

We are San Diego’s top Martial Arts School as well as a fight gym. So you don’t have to fight competitively to train here or have any experience. In fact, we SPECIALIZE in training beginners from the ground up, whether they plan on fighting or just want to learn to defend themselves. But, you do have to train hard and want to learn while you’re here. We’re here to teach you skills, not just get you in shape. 

Yes, you are welcome to take all the classes we offer for one flat monthly rate. We don’t restrict access to any of our classes if they are appropriate for you, no matter what membership plan you’re on at our martial arts school / fight gym.

We have a variety of membership programs. All include access to every one of the classes we offer, as well as use of all of our facilities. This includes our specialized 10,000 square foot Strength & Conditioning facility (part of our overall 27,000 sf facility) with high end shower and locker areas. This allows you to give up other gym memberships as we have everything you need all in one place, saving you money and time. 

We strongly believe we offer the best deal anywhere in the U.S. for the amount of classes, quality of training, and incredible facility we provide for martial arts and combat sports training. Just one of our programs such as Jiu Jitsu would be $200 monthly and up in another high quality gym.

The reason we’re priced so fairly is because the majority of our members are in the military and we try our best to make it affordable for them. The civilians here get to benefit from that, because we don’t believe in treating people differently by charging some more than others. Instead, everyone here at our San Diego gym becomes part of our brotherhood, where you will make friends for life.  So for the amount and quality of classes we offer, all taught in one of the largest and nicest facilities found anywhere in the world, our prices are a great deal.

Yes we can. That’s our business. If you haven’t fought before, we will start you in the Amateurs. If you are successful in the Amateurs, we will turn you Pro. And if you are a Pro already, we have everything you need to reach a world class level. 

Yes, we allow out of town drop-ins. If you are visiting San Diego, CA and looking for a place to train, free to come in. Just please contact us in advance of your arrival. 

No, we don’t. Because of our serious training environment, childen are not a good fit. However, if you have an emotionally and physically mature child age 14 or over, we may allow them if they are fully committed to learning what we offer and can participate in an Adult class. If you think they would be a good fit, please visit the gym in person with your child so we can make an evaluation.

We have female members and have trained numerous Amateur and Professional Women’s Champions such as Bellator MMA World Champions Cris Cyborg Santos and Liz Carmouche, and WBA Boxing World Champion Raquel Miller. However, since we don’t offer “Cardio Martial Arts” classes, we’re not for everyone. Our students are all treated equally. This means, among other things, you’ll be expected to fully participate in class and you will receive contact in these classes. So if you’re good with that, and you want to train for REAL, come on by.

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