Church Street Boxing Gym

Awesome old school boxing gym. You should have some knowledge of boxing, punches, footwork etc before taking a class here but when you do it will kick your ass. My class started with a decent warmup with stretching and some bodyweight exercises (burpees!) then some «cardio,» including stairs and running around the block. By this time I was already wiped but alas, there’s more! We did some combinations both on the bag and with mitts (held by the coach).
You’ll want to bring a water bottle and be ready to sweat… not just because of the workout but because this place is in the basement and could use some better ventilation. There’s a small area to lift weights and one ring. Bathrooms are pretty basic/​little outdated, toilets with showers and some lockers. No crazy amenities.
If you want an awesome workout and want to up your boxing game, and are ready to forego the bells and whistles of most NYC gyms, this is your place!

If you are a ClassPass user AND you never have taken a boxing class, I don’t recommend going here. I suggest signing up for a class geared towards beginners to go over technique and basic combos.
However, if you have had some experience with boxing, by all means try a class with Church Street Boxing! They do not mess around here. The first part of class was a warm up that kicked my ass: Lots of jumping jacks, burpees, high knees, fast feet, push ups, jumping squats, a couple of laps around the block, rinse and repeat. That made me regret having a late night out before taking a morning class here.
Once we finished the warm up we did punching drills individually on the bags, then got partnered up to practice punch combos/​blocking. I enjoyed the latter portion since you definitely have to focus a lot more with a partner than punching a bag.
While I felt like I was gonna die during the warm up, I did feel very accomplished after the class and now motivated to take more boxing classes.
I do have to mention, the people here are friendly and not intimidating. Nico (the instructor) will work you hard and he’s cool to chat with.

I took a beginner class. I wouldn’t say it is a traditional boxing gym but with so many people; it made sense to put it in a class setting. They do a ton of cardio which is good but it seems that the emphasis was on cardio over technique. Perhaps doing privates will be more suitable for someone who tends to overthink technical aspects.
This place should be good if you want to get in shape. I was looking for more correction in terms of technique and a bit of pad work along with little bit of sparring so I opted to look somewhere else.

I am a member of ClassPass and wanted to try boxing for the first time. To be completely truthful, I was very intimidated walking into the boxing gym. It’s very old school grungy look but was greeted by their friendly staff. It was my first time so the front desk had me fill out paperwork and told me about each part of the gym.
The workout started out with a TON, I repeat a TON of CARDIOOOO which I can’t complain about because it turned into a whole body work out. We did everything from jumping rope, mountain climbers, planks, squats, running in place, going up and down the stairs to running around the block 3 times.
The «boxing» part was a lot of fun and I liked the instructor a lot because he was very down to Earth.
The only «negative» side to this is since it was my first time boxing, I didn’t know how to punch properly and the instructor wasn’t helping. A fellow gym goer taught me the correct way to punch.
Word of advice– I had to learn the hard way… MAKE SURE YOU STRETCH AFTERWARDS

Solid price, solid classes, solid trainers.

The best boxing /​kickboxing gym in Tribeca. Really experienced trainers. Authentic old school style gym. You’re gonna learn how to fight here and get in shape.

Went here today for Class Pass. I was extremely intimidated as a small woman and having never tried boxing before, but Hector was very helpful! If you are going for the first time, just make sure to tell him right away and he will set you up to learn. It was a great workout and I felt like I got better already in just an hour! FYI the showers do not have soap, shampoo, or towels. I really liked my class here and would definitely go back. Ladies, do not be intimidated, go for it!

I started going to Church Street a few weeks ago. Really great experience. Extremely nice, completely understanding if you’ve never done boxing before, and a great workout. Glad I finally signed up.

Old school gym feel. Posters plastered on the wall, leaky pipes, sweat condensing, basic dumbbells and bench press, heavy bags, speed bags, mirror and requisite ring. This is the gym of the Rocky movies; the stereotypical boxing gym. This gym gives you the necessities and is for those who want to put in the physical work required for a physically fit body or for a talented boxing session. The trainers are hard nosed and do not pity those who cannot. This is a no excuse gym and is not for those who need constant praise. You workout here because you know you need to improve and need and want someone who will show no mercy.

This is my first time posting a review on Unilocal so that should speak volumes. Entire staff, from the front desk to the trainers to the owners are all a class act. This gym is not for the faint of heart. If you’re looking for some vanilla routine that you’ll fade out of in a month then don’t come here. Every session is a different change of pace. These trainers will help your results exceed expectations in half the time. If costs are an issue then wait for their generous promotional packages.

Staff is super friendly and professional. Great space for a pretty decent price. If you’re new to the sport, don’t be intimidated! Come check it out!

This place is the real deal. For MMA fighters, boxers, or those looking to get in ultimate shape. I am a novice and the trainers (no two are the same) are patient yet push you to your edge.

Go to this gym if you want to be mocked on public TV. Watch this video. It aired on cable.
Hire Eric Kelly as a trainer at your gym or as a personal trainer if you want to be associated with this. This guy wrecked himself.
I remember my welcome to Church Street, signing in at the desk on my first day, I was grilled hard by one of the trainers, Eric Kelly. I then noticed this same guy being really disrespectful to everyone. Threatening people, using profanity, well beyond anything remotely humorous. He obviously wash’t really going to do any harm but it was incredibly uncomfortable for just about everyone. Just a strange guy.
The classes are also bad. They never teach you how to box.
You punch bags with poor form for hours because no one is correcting you.
They have you crab crawl and do lunges across the floor, up and down the stairs etc.
Essentially they just make you run around a bunch and then hit bags or your partners gloves with poor form so you never improve.
I left this gym and really learned how to box elsewhere.

Church St is a great gym where I brought my fitness level up and bodyfat down to the level I now have a clear six pack. It’s a fight gym which means it’s not the gym for fancy showers and towel service. It’s gritty, not too clean and real. I have been going to Equinox and still do. Now, I go to Church St to for a hardcore workout and to Equinox across the street to shower.
Jenaro and Nicco are absolutely the best trainers. I say this with having attended Equinox and NYSC. The intensity of the Monday, Wed, Fri 7am/​8am classes is amazing. The negative reviews are because of a former trainer whose brand was to abuse members. He is no longer there so no worries.

I’ll keep this simple and quick. Church Street Boxing, is just an over priced boxing gym, near the financial district. I took a class to check it out, and didn’t like it. If you really want to learn how to box, this isn’t the place. If you want an overpriced cardio workout, this is the place!
Here are a few quotes from one of the trainers, right from youtube! (he is probably the only real person in this gym. Its definitely not Marc.(Marc say high to your mom for me.)
«training a bunch of nerds, no coordination, just not athletic people, I wish they would just forget the address to the gym, fu@king wuss’s!»
He’s right! And, «I’m cut from suede, I ride the bullet», that’s why i’ll be going to Gleason’s or Trinity Boxing.

Excellent. Work ethics and training is top notch with excellent trainers and coaches. I love this spot and has a dirty basement feel that I love.
Rates are good also and cheaper than a lot of mma places or gyms in the area.

I started boxing at this gym around 2007 and it was a different format and owner back then. Then I met my wife a year in and sad to say I gradually stopped going. I started to go for a short stint a few years later with no avail. But enough about me and lets get to the gym review!
First off I have gone to a few different boxing gyms and this might be one of the more spacious facilities. It can get a little crowded during after work hours (5:30pm onward) but that just means the gym is good and new clientele is always coming through the doors. There are classes daily on 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 I believe so you can always catch a class depending on what time you get off work. I get off work at 4pm and get there around 4:30. There are probably only about less than 10 people in there by that time. It’s always good to come a little early so you can warm up, jump rope, stretch and reserve a spot on the class just in case it gets too crowded.
*** There are also kids classes here if you are interested on getting your kids into boxing or muai thai. ***
Second, the facility has all the basic necessities of a boxing gym. From a ring, heavy bags, speed bags, double end bag. You might need to wait on the double end bag since there is technically only 1 good one in the gym but you can always do other activities. Also if you have your own speed bag, you can just attach it (just make sure you have all the hardware). There are a good amount of lockers in the gym but they are required to be rented out for about $ 25 monthly. It’s a definite plus if you don’t want to carry all your boxing gear daily and have spare clothes, wraps etc on days you want to work out on the spur of the moment.
They also have a full weights rack, bench press, squat station, 2 treadmills and a few sit up benches.
Third, the trainers, owners and faculty. These guys are amazing! I love the people who work there. They are very friendly and are always willing to give you a few pointers and advise if needed. My current trainer Jonathan is great! His style of boxing is something I want to achieve and that is one of the reasons why I chose him to be my trainer. (Just a FYI, if you are serious about boxing and want to fight. Find a trainer that fits your style of fighting and see how they interact with their clients. Not all trainers are the same and its always good to do research beforehand).
Jenaro who is one of the owners and his son Nicoo are genuinely one of the nicest people I know but you won’t know that by taking Jenaro’s classes. I feel drained just watching his class. Probably one of the best classes out there.
Jaime (front desk manager) is one cool cat, he is very helpful and I was suprised myself that he even remembered my name after years of not being there, Raj I believe is now the person on the front desk… he too is a cool guy and can help you with any information you need about the gym and membership. Got to give props for that. If you need any info about the gym he’s a go to guy (plus the other employee’s they have now in the front desk).
Now the locker room.
The locker room has been renovated and is 100x better than it was when I first started. Haven’t used the showers recently but I’m guessing it still spews water. Hehe. Now as I have said before about boxing gyms:
«If it doesnt smell bad it’s probably not a real boxing gym.»
Now this gym is more tailored to white/​blue collar clients but if you are not sweating your butt off on a boxing gym you might as well just take a class in NYSC or Bally’s. I presonally love to sweat while working out, I feel like I am accomplishing something. But smelling like a butcheek is a whole different story.
As far as prices go this place might be a little cheaper than other places. At least you can take unlimited classes for about $ 149 a month. In some places that just a gym membership, no classes, no nothing. I believe its about $ 99 a month to just use the facility monthly and that’s not bad at all if you just want to work out on your own and hit the bags/​spar.
side note:
Currently (it is 03÷28÷14) I am a month away (05÷02÷14) from my first amateur fight and I have lost over 15lbs so far since i started training over 2 – 3 months ago. I am excited! Win or lose… I couldn’t have done it with the help of my trainer and Church Street Boxing Gym. Feels good to train at a great enviroment with positive energy.

I have no previous boxing/​fighting experience except a dozen black eyes/​fat lips. Not really sure what all the negative reviews are for about this gym. I used the free trial night and enjoyed every second of it. The instructors weren’t negative at all. A little banter here and there but that’s what should get people going. The workout was very cardio driven and i definitely felt it towards the end. As for instruction, any question I had was answered. Never had to rate a gym before but after reading the negative reviews I figured I would show it’s the complete opposite. Definitely signing up next week.

I almost don’t want to write this review for fear that I will ruin Church Street Boxing Gym’s best-​kept secret: they offer 45-​minute lunchtime yoga classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I was doing a random Google search for fitness classes near my office, and lo and behold, I found out that yoga instructor Sandi Boerum teaches classes here twice a week. You don’t have to be a gym member to attend.
The yoga class took place in the private back room, and there were only a handful of attendees, so we got a lot of individual attention and helpful corrections.
Her lunchtime class was perfect — I barely broke a sweat, which was great, because of course I had to return to the office immediately afterwords. I DID leave feeling relaxed and like I got a good workout.
(Church Street Boxing Gym’s website doesn’t have a lot of information about the yoga classes, though it is mentioned on their schedule… I found the info on Sandi’s website:
)
I can’t really speak for the boxing portion of the gym, obviously. It did look a bit gritty. The guy at the front desk was very nice; he did seem a bit surprised that I was there for the yoga class. I take it they aren’t usually very well attended. Of course, that may change once everyone finds out about them!

Church Street Boxing Gym was a mixed bag for me. As background, I am a female and I have been to other boxing gyms in the City. I did not tell Church St. that I had been to other gyms or that I had every taken any lessons. I did this because I felt that my previous classes were not very good and I wanted to start from scratch. I gave this gym 2 stars, but I did debate this for a while. But for one trainer I would have given it 4 stars, but (as you will read below) one day and one person can really ruin an experience.
PROS:
Compared to other boxing gyms, Church St. is cleaner, not as smelly, and more spacious.
Compared to other boxing gyms, Church St. has a far better locker room. Granted, it’s still no spa and lockers are very small, but it is clean and nothing is growing in there.
The atmosphere at Church St. is generally friendly. I see «regulars» interacting and having a good time. Before 6:00 this is especially true. (After 6:00pm it gets more crowded)
At other boxing gyms, and here I’ll use Mendez for reference, the primary language is Spanish. At Church St. it’s English. For me, I have passing conversational Spanish, but when in a very loud and busy room with technicalities being explained, I had a very difficult time at Mendez. That was never an issue at Church St.
Again, using Mendez as an example, their training «class» is actually a circuit whereby you moved from jump rope to shadow boxing to bags, to sparring, to ab work, etc. Each station had someone who would train you, but he was generally training 4 – 5 people at once and had no idea of who you were or where you were in your skill level and after 15 minute you were shuffled off to someone else. At Church St., if you take a class you have one trainer for the duration of the class. Classes I took ranged from 2 to 6 students and personalized attention was never lacking. A trainer who I worked with twice, Jonathan, was especially good. He took time to correct our stance, to offer positive encouragement, but at the same time he pushed us to overcome our personal obstacles.
After three classes at Church St. I felt that I had my stance and punches down fairly well. (As compared to five classes at Mendez where I still felt clueless.) This is a testament to their attentiveness and ability to teach. This gym is definitely well-​suited for beginners and experienced boxers alike.
CONS:
I took great issue with one of the trainers, Eric. I enjoy being pushed, and a little «smack talk» in fun is sometimes motivational. But Eric was beyond playful to the point of rude and insulting.
Example:
When I mentioned that I owned no diamonds (weird topic, I know) he said «this is because you’re cheap. You’re tight. In fact tighter than a frog’s ass.» Excuse me? This man didn’t know me for more than 15 minutes and found this kind of talk appropriate? This continued as he referred to both me and my male classmate as «girls» in an intentionally insulting way as if to degrade his manhood and treat both of us like children. Surely this is his way to express his «authority» but really it just makes him pathetic. By the end of the class, I was fuming.
Because of the way Eric degraded his students, I will not likely return to Church St. Boxing Gym and I’m not sure I’d recommend it. This is unfortunate because the other trainer, Jonathan, was top notch. If there was a class schedule whereby you’d know who your trainer was going to be, I’d likely return and avoid Eric. Unfortunately, it’s really not set up that way and being stuck with him for another hour of my life is not worth it. The gym has a lot going for it, especially compared to other Boxing Gyms, but the way their clients are treated is a real problem.