Magda Institute

i started at the magda institute in the 2000 and studied martial arts there for about two years. i left and now 13 years later i have returned. they are still there! they are still concerned with the ways of bruce lee. the filipino and indonesian martial arts are amazing! the teachers are easy to follow and the curriculum is linear and practical. sifu cass is teaching and a pleasure to learn from. there’s classes almost every day which makes the $ 150/​month price soooo worth it! this is a school for those committed to self realization and/​or those who seek true self defense techniques. every class is satisfying. every class is not like the last one. youre either workin on something new or trying to master the basics. pound for pound the magda institute is the best martial arts school in america…

Hands down the most legitimate martial arts spot in Los Angeles. Great people. Excellent and knowledgable instructors teaching philosophy and tactical practice of the martial arts in JKD, Silat, Escrima, muy Thai and grappling skill development. Humble teaching approach. Practical and undeniably one of the best places to learn self defense. Great place for further self development and awareness. I look forward to training here frequently.

Great school to LEARN Martial Arts! Staff and students are very humble and down to earth. No egos just awesome people and the best system I’ve experienced.
The curriculum is very practical for real life self-​defense. The price is comparable to many other popular schools but you will learn so much and from so many styles!
Not sure if they still offer a free class for first timers so call before hand and definitely check it out.

If your looking for a place where u will learn to defend your self from anyone and any weapon this is the place for you. They offer woman, child, and adult classes. I’ve been coming to this school since I was 16 years old, this year ill be 30. I just have one things I would like to say about this school. This school and the people will become your second family. Your second family that know how to fight and will help you learn as they did before you :)

I can only speak for the Women’s Self Defense Seminar. I’ve driven 280 miles round trip to go just there twice a year. You learn techniques that are amazingly effective and that you can use right away.
Some of the moves are similar to those that you may have seen taught in other self defense classes, except that at other places you watch someone demonstrate it, practice it a couple times on a partner, then go home and forget it. At the Magda Institute they put you in real-​life situations, and you will truly surprise yourself when you are able to escape. Then there are many moves that are exclusive to the Magda Institute, developed specifically for a woman’s relative size and strength, for use in potentially dangerous situations that a woman could find herself in.
The end product of the seminar is self reliance (through a confidence in your ability to protect yourself), camaraderie (with other class participants), psychological insight (into preventing worst-​case-​scenarios), and respect (for the whole team of instructors in sharing their skills and knowledge, especially for Guru El who is constantly tweaking and refining the moves to perfection).
If you want a regimented, by-​the-​book classroom where you spar with a uniformed classmate on a mat and constantly work for material rewards, then enroll in any one of hundreds of other generic martial arts studios. If, however, you want no-​nonsense, useful and realistic skills, sign up here. Age is no boundary. You won’t be disappointed.

I was very excited when i walked into magda institute and ready to learn something new. I took the womens class and fell in love and felt so passionate about martials arts again (like i use to when i was students at age 12) However I received a phone call informing me that I will not be able to enroll in this program because i am an instructor. Yes i am a karate instructor for kids in self defense. They failed to understand that we follow a specfic book that tells us what to do each week, none of which is anything like what they teach at magda. We are not allowed to go outside of our book. I went to magda institute for myself. So that I can train for myself and find something that I can be passionate about and dedicated to. I would never disrespect an instructor or class and try to steal moves or teach something i am not trained in. I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED.

I trained here for several years. It’s a great, no-​nonsense self-​defense school that teaches JKD, Muay Thai, Silat, and Filipino stick fighting. They have a great mix of instructors. Each of them has a unique way of teaching, keeping things fresh and interesting. Both the staff and the students here create a very positive learning environment — you won’t find too much ego in this place. The training will strengthen you both physically and mentally. If you are willing to put in the effort, this is an excellent school to train at!

Friendly atmosphere and the staff is nice. If you want to learn very effective self defense this is the place to be!

Went here for a few years. Plain and Simple… if you want to learn self-defense.GO HERE. A fighter here (after a year, year and a half) will not lose on the streets. World class martial artist Cass Magda is the teacher and the staff is tops too. NO gi’s here, its sweatpants, t-​shirts and tennis shoes…(what? did you think you would be wearing a gi in your next street fight?
Here you learn three martial arts for one price
–Jeet Kune Do… serious street fighting– bruce lees system –in any event… this is the system that WORKS… half muay thai, half american kickboxing, and a few things added in between… wing chung… trap fighting…
–Kali…plain and simple stickfighting that transfers over into knife fighting
—Pencak SIlat– indonesian close combat fighting… how to describe it… think of judo that sends you opponent falling at angles that break bones…
Come on now… of course the review aint perfect, but i needed to keep it short and simple.
Kinda like a JKD fighter does
bows
Price is about average of what you would pay for top notch training.
Is there a price you can put on your personal safety.
this is LA right?