James W.

Been thinking about this all week. Good to see it getting traction here.

the coaching credential thing is SO important. my kid was at a club where the coach was a "wrestling enthusiast" who learned from YouTube. we switched to a club with a former D1 wrestler and the technique improvement was immediate

Dodie's is Rowlett even if the address says Rockwall. I will die on this hill. The fried catfish basket with a view of the lake is peak DFW dining.

Following this thread. Want to hear more takes.

i trained at a "muay thai" gym for a year before visiting an authentic gym and realized i had learned basically kickboxing with no elbows no knees and no clinch. wasted a year of my life. do your research before signing up

half point scoring would be revolutionary. right now a round where one fighter barely edges it scores the same as a round where one fighter dominates but doesnt get a finish. 10-9 for both makes no sense

Anytime Fitness needs a third squat rack. Two racks for the whole gym is criminal. I've started going at 5:30am just to guarantee one is open.

Garland ISD gets a bad reputation but Lakeview Centennial and Naaman Forest are legitimately good high schools. People lump all of GISD together and that is unfair.

Bayside Dental is the only dentist my 7-year-old doesn't scream about. Dr. Hanson has the patience of a saint.

The PGBT bridge at golden hour is incredible when photographed from the right angle. I got a shot last November that looked like something from a travel magazine. The cables glowing in sunset light against a purple sky.

This hits different if you've been in DFW for 10+ years.

Can someone from the north side weigh in? Curious if it's the same up there.

The CoyoteVest sounds ridiculous until you see a coyote in your backyard. Bought one for my Yorkie and I feel 100% better about walks at dusk. The spikes and whiskers actually work as a deterrent.

Used Ownwell for the first time this year because I didn't have time to do it myself. They got my appraisal reduced by $42K. I paid them $280. Easiest money I've ever saved.

Interesting perspective. I see it differently from the Fort Worth side.

Real talk right here. No sugarcoating.

as someone who transferred from an independent gym to Octagon — the business operations are so much better. online scheduling, clean facilities, professional front desk. the independent gym was run by a black belt who was a terrible business owner and it showed

as a TKD black belt who later switched to muay thai — the kicking flexibility from TKD is an asset but the hand skills were nonexistent. if youre going to do TKD, supplement with boxing or you will have zero punching ability

home watch party gang. 8 friends, everyone brings food, split the PPV. best way to watch. you can actually hear the commentary and pause to rewatch replays

this is the BJJ struggle. the sport is addictive and taking time off feels like you are falling behind. but training injured is how you turn minor injuries into chronic problems. take it from a 40 year old purple belt with a shoulder that clicks every time i raise my arm

ive been training 6 years and the hardest skill in jiu jitsu is not any submission — its knowing when to rest. i lost 4 months to a shoulder injury that would have been 3 weeks if i had just stopped when it first happened

the etiquette section is important. nothing worse than a visitor who comes in and tries to smash everyone to prove their gym is better. chill out, flow, learn, be cool

Lovato BJJ open mat is a pilgrimage every BJJ player in DFW should make at least once. rolling in the same room as Rafael Lovato Jr is surreal

the DFW scene is definitely nogi-heavy now. even Gracie Barra which is the most gi-traditional organization has added more nogi classes because students demanded it

the real answer is train whatever you enjoy more because youll actually show up. i know guys who quit because they were forced to train gi when they wanted nogi. just train