MacDonald Academy of Martial Arts

Ive done different types of martial arts for years and its always the people that make it fun or terrible. Brian is one of the nicest people ive ever met and a great instructor. The classes are for every skill level and there is a class for every age group as well.
Even if you are even slightly interested in martial arts, i suggest you try Bran MacDonalds Academy and see how great it is.

MacDonald’s Academy shares a wall with an auto body shop right in Watertown Square, and has a large plate glass window looking into a well-​padded instruction area. This functional, open appearance is in pretty stark contrast to the myriad martial arts dojos who have dark lobbies with strange weapons hanging on the walls, and people ducking in and out in strange costumes.
When I heard they trained people in Krav Maga, however, I showed up to check the place out. It’s hard enough to find a Krav studio in the Boston area (I tried to go to one in the South End, but they had closed the week before I got there), so to have one two towns over from my house and not go would have been extremely foolish.
Brian, the owner, impressed me from the start. Far from being one of those aloof, exclusive dojo owners, or a scary, violent practitioner of vigilante justice, he was a normal, friendly, down-​to-​earth guy who just happened to own the place. He’s been practicing Kenpo karate since he was a youth himself, and chose also to train in Krav Maga due to its practical application to self-​defense and fitness. He runs his studio as a casual, family-​friendly environment in both disciplines, and teaches as head instructor more than half of the classes that I’ve seen.
Krav Maga itself is a fairly brutal, no-​nonsense system of self defense developed for the Israeli military. Its focus is on self-​preservation by whatever means necessary, and it is arguably the most useful form of martial training for a realistic street fight. Part of its utility is that the training is not just for unarmed combat; it also provides instruction for dealing with other threats such as knives, handguns, larger guns, and even grenades. (!) Training, especially at higher levels, involves simulating the stress of an unexpected encounter, or the stress of facing multiple combatants who may or may not be armed.
Because of this, it’s really nice to be able to train in a friendly, open environment with people who are genuinely nice and low-​stress. Brian and the other instructors somehow manage to teach the material without creating a hostile environment or making it unnecessaily unpleasant, which I place extremely high value on.
If you’ve thought about self-​defense for practical reasons, I encourage you to go and check it out. Krav is a far cry from the tradition-​heavy martial arts of the far east, with uniformed groups moving in unison to ancient ritual. Krav training is usually done in sweatsuits or other gym wear, with gym shoes on. There are no colored rank belts… and most of the equipment looks like it came out of a boxing gym, except for the occasional rubber gun.
Outsiders sitting in on a class is warmly encouraged, and if you complete the necessary legal paperwork they’ll probably even welcome you on to the mat for a class.
I find that it’s far more practical than my old gym membership, at about the same price, and I get a much better workout. If after the class you do have interest but aren’t ready to commit, he has an introductory rate for three months that I found very reasonable.
Brian also occasionally teaches weekend seminars just on knife or handgun defense; you do not have to be a member to attend the class, but it certainly helps since the defense work is based on the same fundamentals as the hand-​to-​hand defense classes.
So if you’re curious, I recommend it. But a word to the wise– if you’re a guy… wear a cup. Just trust me on this one.