Force / Balance Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Yoga

This is a nice gym. I went here for a couple months but due to my neck injury I couldn’t continue. The prices are very competitive and the people are cool.

I came here cause it was highly recommended by a friend whose 5 year old is my son’s best friend. Up front Brian Auguirre tried selling me $ 100 gis for both my son and doughter, I thought it was unnecessary since this would be their first try at jiu-​jitsu and after making it clear that I was not interested in purchasing them, Brian backed off.
My kids attended the classes on Saturdays with another instructor who is not even listed on the website as an instructor, however, he is an excellent person based on what I saw.
Once I got my credit card bill, I noticed that I was charged for two gis that I had not ordered nor received. After talking to Brian over the phone, he stated he would not reimburse the charge, but would give me credit for the month to balance off the charges. The following month, which is not supposed to be billed by force balance, was charged to my credit card. After calling Brian, again, and telling him about the issue, he gave me some BS excuse about his accounting having to split my reimbursement into two separate credits.
One month later I cancelled the account in writing. At such point $ 320 were owed back to me, and only $ 240 were returned to me by December 2014. It is now February 2015, I have yet to receive the balance of $ 80, and I just got a charge of $ 140 to my credit card as if my kids were attending force balance!
I am very disappointed that such hyped up place, which does seem to have a good program, has such poor management and dubious billing practices.
Should you choose to enroll, beware, Brian is a scoundrel who tells you, «yes yes we will take care of you», yet fails to resolve this issue. If you are willing to deal with the headaches associated with his ways, then go ahead and enroll.
Unfortunately I don’t feel I have the need to suffer headaches and have had to put Brian on notice that if he fails to resolve this issue within a resonable time, I will seek legal action against force balance.
For Brian’s behavior alone, I rate this place a one out of five.

I’ve always wanted to learn jiu jitsu after seeing all the MMA fighters that were using it to dominate a lot of fights. I went there a little nervous cause I’ve never done martial arts. I dropped in for the first free trial class and everyone was really nice and helpful. Steve (The owner/​instructor) is such a nice and positive guy. I’ve been doing it for about three months now (2x’s a week) and I’m in the best shape I’ve been in my life. I Love the excercise, Love the knowledge, and Love the people. Thanks Steve!

I just moved from the Burbank area to the SouthBay — and I honestly was so upset because it meant I had to switch schools. I wish I could stay and train with Steve Cardenas and Force/​Balance. I honestly can not say enough good things. For me, I love what Steve brings to that school. His technique is so solid — which is exactly what I was looking for when I decided to join. In the one year I got to train under Steve, my technique come so much further. The school also has an amazing fundamentals instructor — Coach Jason (a guy originally from 10^th Planet). Jason can breakdown a move in ways that just click and you understand. One of the other things worth pointing out about the school, is that Steve brings in other black belts to guest teach from time to time. And with the Paragon affiliation, you are getting world champions from Franjinha, Milton Bastos, Jeff Glover, Mike «Finom» Miller! I saw these guys come through on a regular basis. If you are in the area, definitely go check out this place!

Got nothing but good things to say about Force/​Balance. I recently trained there prior to having to move schools because of a job relocation. Coach Steve is extremely technical, descriptive, and clear in his instruction. He’s also a super cool, righteous dude. It’s evident that training under him your game would improve. In addition, Coach Jason and Mike «Finom» Miller are also solid.
What I loved the most about this gym was the vibe: everyone is super cool, friendly, and it has a real family feeling. I’ll definitely be coming back for the open mats when I’m in the area and if you’re looking for a new place to train, visit Force/​Balance!

Gym is clean with a lot of mat space. Friendly, helpful, and ego-​free environment. Level and detail instruction is very good. Plenty of classes to work with. A lot of available street parking and there’s even a shower there. I would highly recommend going there.

This place is amazing! It’s BY FAR the cleanest place I’ve been to. The yoga instructor, Michelle is very knowledgeable and helpful. You can tell she’s really dedicated to health and fitness and not just trying to be trendy. She’s always been able to answer all of my questions, not just about yoga but nutrition as well! Also, I’ve observed the kids classes and those are great! Steve the instructor really has a special way with kids. They all look like they’re having so much fun while learning some really valuable skills. I can’t wait until I have kids, I’ll be making the drive here for sure!

A new article explains this place perfectly!
Force Balance BJJ is an awesome place to train where the two core components of the organization mesh and balance out perfectly. Jiu Jitsu and Yoga all under one roof, with each discipline having it own separate classes. As a bonus, Steve Cardenas brings in a guest instructor from time to time; names like Bill Cooper, Jeff Glover, Sean Patrick Flanery, Sean Apperson and more. If anyone is looking for a solid place to train, an instructor with competition experience and a great environment, check out Force Balance BJJ in Burbank, CA. Steve is very welcoming and an awesome instructor.
Steve is a great coach, mentor and friend. He cares about every student, their progression in the sport of Jiu-​Jitsu, but more than that he connects with his students on a personal level.

I love the people at Force/​Balance. Everyone knows my name and as soon as I walk in the door, it’s so welcoming and friendly. The facility is spotless and never smells like sweaty bodies which can be an issue with other gyms.
I come here for yoga and Michelle is fantastic. If you’re new to yoga she will take the time to help you through the poses and get you comfortable with the flow. If you are more advanced she’s happy to step things up and keep you working. I always leave feeling like I had a fantastic workout and so relaxed from the flow.
I don’t really know anything about Jiu Jitsu, but it seems to me Steve runs a top notch academy. Sometimes after yoga I’ll hang around and watch a few minutes of grappling. Everyone always looks like they are learning and having a good time with it. Steve makes a point of bringing in guest instructors, some of which are big name martial arts people that even I have heard of.
Highly recommend for anyone looking for a new spot to practice yoga or Jiu Jitsu :)

For me it just doesn’t get any better.
I work as a camera operator/​photographer, sometimes I just get slammed with work and my body just aches. That is when I use the yoga side of their business. Michelle is a great instructor and she is not afraid to give direction. The yoga studio is ample sized and equipped with all the necessary accouterments. And other times I have lulls in my work schedule and I crave cardio to stay in shape. That’s when I use the BJJ side of this business. Steve (the Bjj instructor) is just awesome. He is highly technical, and one of the best teachers I have ever worked with. I seriously sweat my butt off in his class and have never had a better cardio workout.
Parking is always available and free big + for me.

Great up and coming place for Brazilian Jiujitsu. Steve Cardenas, the head Jiujitsu instructor of Force Balance BJJ, is an enthusiastic and lively individual when it comes to teaching his forte of Brazilian Jiujitsu.
The school has plenty of mat space, eager students, and parking is ample day or night. Also, since his school is a satellite of Paragon, there a plenty of good students that come through there for his classes.
Definitely a great place to get your training on.

hmmm… dunno why Unilocal filtered out *all* his reviews… some of those people are *real*! i know them! anyways, steve just opened this school so his classes are small, which is a great opportunity to learn from him since he can give u more QT :). he is a brown belt in bjj and a black belt in tkd (?) i dunno but he def kicks butt! in fact, he just kicked some butt at nationals in late sept! he is super technical with his moves and that works great for little people like me. the school is new and clean and parking is easy. he is affiliated with paragon so u get access to all the other paragon schools and students. actually, a lot of very talented paragon teachers and students (moi :)) swing by all the time to teach or train.
p. s. sorry, cant tell u anything about yoga: P

I don’t know why but Unilocal decided to filter my original review so I’ll just repost it. This is an amazing place to train. The yoga is great and the Jiu Jitsu instruction is top notch with technique that works, which is to be expected since this school is an affiliate of Paragon and HBJJ. If you want to come train at a place where the Sensei is patient, clear, and supportive then get in here. I’ll see you on the mats.
–Jon

Steve Cardenas is an incredible individual. His skills and training allow him to be a great coach and mentor. You will get excellent training in BJJ from him and his staff. If I lived closer, I’d be there daily…

An awesome place to train! Whether it’s Yoga or BJJ, the instructors are very friendly and extremely knowledgeable. They take great pride in their arts and it shows in their instruction. There is TONS of mat space and it’s always clean, I highly recommend this gym!

Tonight will be my 4^th yoga class at Force/​Balance, and I love it, I always leave feeling amazing, more connected and definitely feeling more balanced. Michelle, the instructor moves you through all the poses with such grace and helps you to stay in tune with your breath. And maybe one of these days I will take a jiu-​jitsu class:)