I found this place by accident. I was riding my bike on a Sunday afternoon and rode past. They were closed but I jotted down the phone number and called them the following day.
First impression about any place where you work out is cleanliness.If a place isn't clean, you question the hygiene. My first impression with Briggs was how clean the place was. Mats are clean, free of rips and tears, same with the bags, gloves and other equipment. They obviously have pride in their presentation.
They offered trial classes. Any reputable place will. Would you buy a car before test driving it? Doubtful. They offer a variety of classes from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to no gi grappling to muay thai based classes. Instruction is top notch. Classes are an hour long, you spend the first 10 minutes warming up, next 25 minutes doing a variety of technique work and the last 25 minutes live training. If it's the last class of the day, you might very well get more than 25 minutes of live training in depending on who is willing to stay.
Experience level of students is wife, you have the brand news guys, the somewhat brand new guys who have a year or two, the experienced guys with even more experience and then the purple and brown belts some of whom have 10+ years of experience. Instructors and fellow students have no issues showing you a technique that you haven't learned yet if you ask nicely.
Attitudes of organizations typically take on the attitude set by the leader. That's no exception here with Professor Briggs. He is a humble, down to earth guy who still travels to seminars around the country to hone his martial arts skills. He does this to make himself better and to make his students better. You can tell he came back from a seminar when he goes off a paper script and starts with, "this is what I learned last weekend at..."
The senior students do an awesome job of coaching and mentoring the younger students. There is no ego here in regards to people thinking they're better than others because of experience level/belt rank.
What you'll quickly find is a very family atmosphere. Coach Steve is great with the kids class. He breaks the techniques down to a step by step level with great presentation for the kids. You'll likely end up making a lot of friends here. People don't go to workout places to make friends but you won't be able to help it. There are people here from all walks of life and the sense of family, of helping one another is something not typical of many workout places.
There are very few business owners who are as approachable and open to communication as Professor Briggs is. That shows me that he cares about not just growing his business but he also cares about you as a human being.
