Fitness Assessments are a thing!
Before starting a fitness program, it's always advised to check with the Doc. If you've done that, the next is the fit test. Oh I know, you ran a 5k last year or you did some yoga, but throwing yourself into one of the hardest sports, that carries a 2% success rate, with 0 training is not a good idea & I feel that it is necessary to explain why. Take a look through policies and decide if you want to keep going! I'm not going to be offended if our rules don't jive with your flow!
OUR POLICIES:
YES. We're a legitimate business.
NO. I don't negotiate when it comes to our policies.
No Refunds- G*Ninja is not a non-profit. Everything we do carries a cost. My Sensei from back in the day used to say; 'I can't scoop the knowledge or lack there of, out of your head. You will use everything I give you, so you better pay attention. I had a former student ask 'why are you acting this way' It's not an act, it's a business.
They spent hours in my location and on my stuff, learned some stuff. That's like opening up a bar tab for all the drinks you want, enjoying it, and then saying eh, gimme back my $$$. Not cool.
Equipment gets depreciated and re-rigged, frequently for the safety of the G*Squad. I've been in fancy gyms where equipment is ratchet and it stinks because their funding for new stuff ran out. Or, they are waiting for someone to change it. We don't have that problem & we will never have it.
ALL Sessions are USE OR LOSE- If you know something, someone, or someplace is going to be there forever, 9 times outta 10, you won't show. Time is never coming back. The time you waste, invest, and use, goes away. Jaded students who have buyers remorse get the time #value & priorities talk. If you think catch-up games are the way to winning, you been watching too much TV or you on SM waaay too much.
Then these people come back and expect you to drop everything for them, and catch them up. Trigger warning, but I want to ask you some questions. Why does a lack of self-discipline and a pattern of inconsistency matter more than the ones who have been coming, working hard, and getting the results? People tell me excuses like I never hear it before. Are you going to throw out medical terms and self- diagnosis? Physical activity IS physical. You must be consistent for the #results and this is what I refer to as Daily Practice. Is it easier to pretend like you're doing it? TIME is the number one gym excuse. When you sign up, you need time to do it.
It's very common to be in a bubble, we all do it, so these reminders are here. All you do, is check this attitude, get back into the game and we'll be there again, but you can't start at level 10.
Show up for classes you are paying for so you can get what YOU asked for.
PT has become the discounted therapy everyone needs for mental health, but your coach needs to have a good headspace too and putting personal, financial, problems onto us can cause burn-out & nobody wants to be the client coaches roll their eyes at when they arrive.. the overload turns us off after a while. We need to do what we agreed on, and that is clock the training. I've heard; 'It HAS to be understood,' blah-blah-blah.. yeah sorry, bro, you can't MAKE people understand anything, just like I can't make anyone understand that excuses, poor time management, poor financial decisions, and inactivity are the key causes to poor health. Humans always trash the things they were given for free. Health, Mind, Body. I wouldn't say it if I hadn't been there too.
Am I MOM to be giving life coaching? No, so I ask that clients be grown and don't put me in that position of having to call you out, because I will. That's what get's results, that's what people need. If you don't like boundaries, you gonna have a really hard time because I select who I train and when I feel my time is not being respected, you will know it right away and if warnings get ignored that's your exit.
ALL Times, Rates, Locations SUBJECT TO CHANGE- We rent a few spaces and I'm mobile. The gyms we train in may have things going on, or we may go to the beach for the day, ya never know! Being in the same place, doing the same things, are not what we do! We enjoy our outings, potlucks & fundraisers by doing shows.
Late/Cancellation fees: A late fee of $80.00 will be implemented if you are late with payment. A cancellation fee of $280.00 will be implemented with no cancellation notice.
NO EXCEPTIONS-
I'm cool, but don't get it twisted. When it comes to your financial commitment, I don't mess. You don't remember the pep-talk, you don't remember the hand holding. You remember the nice little fee you got for going back on your word. Follow through in this society is very low so I don't blame you if I'm too much, but Like my favorite Hip-hop musicians say; Your word IS your bond. I clock these patterns like a cop trying give someone a speeding ticket! When the pattern of this is more than your attendance in class, we talk about an exit. Please look into activities you can afford & in my opinion, you can afford this it's just a matter of priority. Specialty equipment isn't cheap or free. You gotta put in on this! Dues reflect costs of brand new, quality equipment. I think every human being on this planet has struggled, I'm not insensitive to that, but
don't waste time with stories. Heard too many in my day, chances are, I got a better one. Your excuse, no matter how good you crafted it, won't hold much.
Let me ask you this; If I was never at the gym to meet you, and always had a story of why I stood you up, eventually you're not going to take it (I hope) and say something like; 'My time is important'.
What if I went to your job and racked up services, like; a food tab, or chose clothing and said; You got me?, kisses! You be like; WHAT?!?!?! I'm just putting it into perspective.
A MONTH'S NOTICE MUST BE GIVEN UPON CANCELLATION- Think of it like this; You're about to leave a friend's home. You've enjoyed your time there but now you must go. Would you leave your friend hanging for rent? My guess is no, of course not. We ask you be fair and give us a month, it's that easy, it's courteous & you leave right! We reserve the right to refuse service to any person, company, organization, who treats us poorly and we do not have to let them back in. We are privately owned and operated. Leaving your contract in good standing is recommended.
Legal matters- My curriculum is not for sale. You get this when you train with us, but you are not allowed to take notes or record certain things. My stuff is pretty advanced and I've seen people try to mimick what I do and almost die.
A client is not the only one who can sue. We can also open a civil case if a client tries to ruin our business, take clients & bad-mouth us. We encourage open door policy. If you are unhappy, let's get you to the next thing! Staying to make drama & trying to pull students out because you're being a brat may result in legal action, but leaving is just as well.
A lot of discipline comes from having my own training biz, what it takes to keep it going by setting boundaries, and life lessons with love. There are times when you have to leave the ones who are not ready to level up, that's just life & we wish them all a safe journey.
Respectfully, these are requirements to enter our sacred training ground. Here we learn from within.
Time
Thank you taking the time to read about the policy before the fitness assessment. Before I go into the fitness part, I must explain, there are no free trials. Personal services cost more than a drop in, & my classes are too advanced for some-timers.
Any prospect of any age, background or studio, must understand I have to make, book time & plan for them. I do not have time to wait around for business. Yes, I am afraid those rookie days and years are well past me and my experience exceeds that of the one who does so. A full hour of private, one on one training does not run cheap for any personal trainer, and we are among some of the best coaches in the state. I don't need SM to proclaim this. If I obsess over trying to become popular on the internet, my training, research & programming goes down. I devote lot of time to testing & I can't be bothered with lil miss circus queen and all her following. Hey that's great, that she made the guiness book, but really, my focus is my team & people I work with.
Most coaches want polished athletes to work with, and of course, wouldn't that be lovely? We worked with children ages six to eighteen & adults for many years, but after my grandson was born, we took child development certification course and spent 5 years in the field training babies 0-5 yrs old for gymnastics, concurrent with our Aerial program.
As a parent/guardian, you are the first example in demonstrating & coaching. Please don't sit on the couch and command orders. This does not work & actually does the opposite in their learning curve. Try some of the things your child is supposed to do at home with them & even if you can't do it all, this pulls you & your child a little closer and you're doing it together now! Healthy habits start at home. Sometimes, a recipie or fun meal planning options that are healthy is a great way to start. We have some tips and tricks for you . There are diets to try, Ratios & prep technique, but this is more like creating a flow, that works for you, not an overwhelming regimen you can't meet.
Please consider reliable transport in selecting these activities. We learned that the growth and development of a child can be hindered if parents do not see themselves taking their children to their activities. There's nothing more sad than hearing a dedicated student couldn't get a ride. All of this should be considered in choosing a sport.
Often times I heard things like; 'You need to commit', but the parent or guardian was not willing to come through for the ride part. Divorce wars make it tough on the child If the parent does not bring them and It seems so harmless, but it does damage. Child sees their parent making excuses and so they will follow suit. Then parent tries to get them back into routine, & fights start this way.
It's easy to do, because I did it too. I didn't see how I was breaking trust with my own child. It's important to share these stories because it is so beautiful to have harmony if we all try to help by communicating this. When a child is enjoying themselves because they feel confident in who supports them, that's magic!
Respectfully, Adults who want to train, please understand. Fitness in general is a very competitive field. Communicating what you need to the trainer is preferred to acting like you already know, so please take a moment and ask yourself a few of these questions;
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What is my goal?
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Am I able to make it to class?
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How serious am I?
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Can I take direction well?
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What is my discipline level when working out alone?
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Can I give this 90 days?
Prepare for the time that needs to be set aside. Assessment is NON-REFUNDABLE, no rescheduling.
Your assessment fee will be knocked off your total amount of dues should you decide to transform with us and if you decide aerial acrobatics is not the thing, it's quite alright! We are happy to have been your choice.
I like to remember that our time is never coming back. Let's make sure we don't waste a minute! Our guarantee is 90 days but most clients see gains after a few weeks.
Drills
In all my years of doing this, I notice that everyone wants to do the extreme sports, but nobody wants to train for it. A mom will come in boasting of her child's athleticism and more often than not, the child does not have the focus or the energy required to learn the tricks which take time, and that depends on the heart of the student. I've also dealt with the adults who say; 'I've done this before 'and they get pretty beat up, so the assessment is huge in determining this. We want you safe, we want you good to try all the things!
If your kids just want to play, there are other gyms that have everything. You pay $30 or so bucks and it's ruckus time! These gyms are more realistic for children who are maybe too young or just want to try & it doesn't put you out financially.
Much like your child's favorite video game, we unlock levels of technique that will serve in helping them win, but this also takes patience, dedication and lots of practice. Please don't overlap another rec sport on top of our time. It doesn't make sense to create a pattern of inconsistency. We do recitals, and attendance matters here.
Adults can go to these parkour gyms and have a blast too, don't get me wrong, we have fun but I expect progress & that's what separates us from rookie teachers who have minimal skill. My top students are better than most performers around town & my beginners will slap a rookie teacher. This is the quality of athleticism we offer, but again it depends on the heart of the student. If you are a check- a -box type person, go to the parkour gyms, then you can say you did it!
We live in a society of gimme now, achieve it now. Why not fitness and aerial too? Hahaha! I keep looking for those tricks, even 30 yrs later and there is no magic pill, hack or trick. Consistency is key. When gimme now runs your life, all I can say is flag football is probably your jam. If you're not patient with yourself and your goals, aerial is definitely going to be challenging.
I ask students all the time, 'How do you feel about the word FAIL?'. If you need to look cool right away, aerial will expose you. Cross-fitters would saunter over and would be humbled in an instant, never to return, body builders flexing muscles had no idea you had to actually use them, ballerinas & gymnasts who thought their splits were all they needed learned quickly that strength, endurance, concentration, agility, speed are applied in different ways here. The ones who claim circus, wobbled around and only knew vocabulary from another class which doesn't matter in mine because we have a whole different style.
All these athletes and sometimes non-athletes have a I -don't -need -to- warm- up or work- out- syndrome. I rock my other sports so I'm good. I'm naturally strong. Daily workouts, conditioning and lifting technique has to be done before you even get to me. When a student shows up with none of this in their body, their chances of getting hurt are greater, enjoyment for the activity goes down cause it hurts, and yes, they do look tired up there and defeated. It also happens with super-athletes, and those who work out a lot. They are so good, that when they meet the challenge of acrobatics and they have not mastered it in a day, it gets a little tense. I can see the wheels turning, like; why did I mess up? Ego may play a huge role there, but suspension techniques, aerial and acrobatics training takes dedication and is a different animal than any other sport.
Even rookie teachers won't do their own conditioning programs. Big mistake. Especially for aerial acrobatics. A lot of fine tuning goes into this and daily workouts are a must. Then you're friends are calling you a gym rat, or you're obsessed, no. You really have to work that hard, make time, and so when adults come in after missing too much class, they do conditioning until I feel like they can handle my stuff again.
This is the safest option. I really don't have time to coax anyone into this. The stuff we do is scary, advanced & athletic prowess must be built to enjoy it.
That is why this vetting process is in place. When it's time to GO, we run it, then we go on with our lives.
Gravity*Ninja strength & conditioning drills are specifically designed to see where problems are how we can fix 'em. We influence a lot of gyms we work in and see our drills all the time. Plain and simple. The formulas work.
Plan
Every team, gym, studio, person that we work with is different and have different needs. It's important that we determine those needs and come up with a solid training program to ensure success. Some of our experience includes, but is not limited to; aerial acrobatic, strength-training, muscle gain, conditioning, sculpting, body building & sport specific training.
We also have a variety of portable equipment that we can take to you if a gym setting is not where you'd like to begin, if you book a show, or group outing.
We ALWAYS start with email because we offer personal, hands on services. It's important we correspond through email to get a detailed description and also give you a detailed description of your events, or any other bookings and it makes sense to get to know you and/or company this way.
If you are from another studio:
Teacher or instructor, it doesn't matter for what, you will need to say this before we begin. Please visit tuition for pricing, dues, fees and other tuition options.
Rookie teachers have come to me to poach, & I smell it, just tell me so I can train you right or book a workshop where you & your students can learn everything you want in the comfort of your studio! We support other coaches, gyms and studios all the time, it's our thing. Instructors need to spend time on technique, some do not have time to do the conditioning portion (which is very important for something like aerial acrobatics)
Rookies waste time online trying to copy other aerialists & we just don't have to do that. We have program design for ANY sport cause Gravity*Ninja specialists have dedicated their lives to sports science and we are fluid in our practice.
Trust me, a rookie knows a rookie and a student always knows when an instructor is not on point or making up some BS.
I didn't train anyone until after my seventh year & I broke away from the aerial community after 2 years of struggling with basics because I had instructors who claimed they knew how to teach, and they were only a few steps ahead of the game.
They say you're not ready for the next level of aerial because they haven't learned it yet. The arrogance was so strong. They just assumed I was another dumb student who had never had any experience in training others. To learn more about Gravity*Ninja's backstory
Big name aerial gyms are also known for hiring inexperienced, performers & instructors. A body there is not a coach. Then you hear about them splatting their bodies cause they didn't need a mat, clips, or other safety features. Oh, and please stop equating gymnastics to aerial. It's NOT the same thing. A backflip is not aerial training. Just cause you got one on the floor, it doesn't mean you won't fall from a rope 30 feet high. I've seen level 10 gymnasts fall, slip, slide, wobble, trip, tangle, choke, and biff quite a bit and that's usually what's teaching this if you're lucky. Then you get the hippy-indie, lower level studios like; let's trade skills because I don't know anything. I can teach you how to hula hoop. Yea, that 's ok, not the same thing, value or service.
I always look for the right team. It's important that you like what we're about & the feeling must be mutual. People have thrown money at us and I've thrown it right back at them. We refuse service if we are disrespected in any way.
No drama, No problem.
PERFORMANCE RANT! I am with all the performers who are boycotting right now!
Our insurance premium is $1,000.00 to cover an injured performer, which means our base minimum cost starts here. PERIOD.
There is NO WAY, I, or my team, is breaking a neck for $100-500.00. It boggles my mind, how certain culture wants to keep this hard labor sport, where you are risking your life, as a cheap performance art & it's time to call them out about it. This ain't juggling or riding a unicycle. It's not a drag queen on stilts, trust me, we love that, it doesn't carry the same price tag, though.
What if no price tag? Ah the exposure lie.. do you believe it? Cause we don't. Exposure to what? Drunk people grabbing you? A promoter trying to sleep with you? We're good. We prefer cosplay to undressing & fight choreography to ballet, but we can pas de boullre as well, so it depends on what we're doing.
I'm here to say; You're worth more than what any bar will offer you. Even the snobby restaurant will not give you what you're worth. You're better than exposure if your heart is fully committed. A good performer on average will spend months getting ready physically, will spend money on the outfit, will go GREAT lengths to make a great show, and, what ? A $100? For 3 or more hours? Outfit alone will cost you that.
I've straight up laughed at promoters, ravers, club-owners, and leave them to scam the next starry-eyed sap, sounds harsh but these are the streets, what can I say. We don't really mess around. I ask for a deposit of %30 upfront & the rest of the money is collected when services rendered. We don't do 2 weeks or pay later. Night clubs, and party scenes are fast and also dangerous, so we expect payment then and there.
Not all venues are like this, for sure, we've done some fun stuff shows for some great people & businesses and we also roll our own shows too. I think performers should be paid well so we try for that because it makes us feel good to say thank you and paying a light bill or your car payment is better than exposure any day, feel me?
After we get to know you a bit and where you're needing support is where we determine pricing for services. We are not cheap, I'm Just getting that out of the way. A well aged steak is not a happy meal, and while both restaurants offer comfort, one offers a higher level of it than the other.
We are the top shelf because our equipment is OSHA standard & we are certified riggers, we are commercially insured to perform and teach anywhere, We design our equipment and purchase brand new equipment quarterly. Now if a cheap toy is still the goal, we suggest one of our competitors. We are not a non-profit. We do not get donations so every penny goes into this. Aerial is also considered a specialty, so prices will vary from gym to studio to home.
Knowledge
'It looks fun!' Yes, it's so much fun and you will love it, after you gain tolerance to the pain and bruising.
'You make it look easy' Thank u so much! You just did not see the millions of times I struggled and years of training to get a basic thing right. repetition is key.
'I'm naturally strong' Yes, I know! Brut strength is not technique. Class attendance matters for fluency.
It's like being given something dangerous with no precaution. There is a process, there are levels and I've run into some characters in my days trust me! I've had people come in, and say: 'I'm doing/ I do this!' Then by the end, they say: 'It's not for me!'No worries, I totally get it and now they know where they are strength wise & good for them! I am so happy to share this insight so that you can know a little bit of how our process works, you really do have to think about it and we want the best choice even it's not with G*Ninja. We really want to know our clients, businesses and families we help because you all are so special to us!
Why the word ninja? I love martial arts & yes, I used to watch Ninja Turtles. I also used to train Ninja Warrior enthusiasts. I created some hybrid programs for them & after it was a huge thing in our gym, I noticed ninja gym craze was beginning (all the foam block crap) there were gym names like RONIN, SHINOBI, SAMURAI!!!! HEI!!!!! Oh geez, give it a rest, man.. Yes, ninja is not as decorated or intimidating sounding as the others, but I went the word ninja because it implies an unidentified source. You don't know if you just got your butt kicked by a King or a peasant & you will never know. When you face a general, you already know who he is because he is ranked. How do you ID the wind? How do you see the unseen? You can't. We're everywhere and we're helping people grow in the sports that they love. I'm not afraid to say that we are Valued, Loved and Respected because we know how much happiness we can bring when we team up & support one another to achieve it.
Thanks so much, I wanted to be clear about what we do & how I feel about it too.
My sport has become my service. I want people to experience the feeling that I feel when I am whole, when I am strong, when I am in the AIR.