Martial Arts contract

M

Momo2017

New Member
Jurisdiction
New Jersey
Hi,

I signed up for me, my husband and son for karate classes with a 1 year contract. We were taking classes with a respectful teacher for one month, but he left. Now the environment has changed a lot and the owner gives classes or 10 years old black belts, but he punishes children screaming, forcing them to do the training and sometimes hitting them with a bamboo stick. The training has become so stressful that we don't want to continue.

We spoke to the owner and he/she promised us that it will change and that he/she will not punish children by hitting them again, but we can't cancel. And we don't have a guarantee on when we will have another teacher again. For now it will be him/her or the young black belts.

Is there's a way to cancel this contract?

Please help.
Thanks.
 
I recommend that if you see any child being struck with a bamboo pole, immediately call "911", request EMT and the police be dispatched to the scene.

It's not hard to conjure what the end result will be, is it?
 
Momo2017 said:
I signed up for me, my husband and son for karate classes with a 1 year contract. We were taking classes with a respectful teacher for one month, but he left. Now the environment has changed a lot and the owner gives classes or 10 years old black belts, but he punishes children screaming, forcing them to do the training and sometimes hitting them with a bamboo stick. The training has become so stressful that we don't want to continue.
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Why bother to take karate classes in the first place if nobody likes the stress.

If somebody attacks you in a parking lot and tries to rape you do you think he will stop and apologize if you tell him the attack is so stressful that you don't want it to continue?

As for being hit with a bamboo stick there are martial arts where the participants do battle with bamboo sticks.

Momo2017 said:
Is there's a way to cancel this contract?
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Read the contract. I'm guessing that you can cancel whenever you want but will just have to pay a cancellation fee.
 
Thanks for your response. Martial arts it is not stressful at all when you are challenged with respect. It is actually an awesome activity to do with the family when you are in the right place. I have not learned anything about self defense since I started.

I can handle stress, I am an adult, but when your 6 years old tells you that he is afraid of his master and you see that the master punishes a yellow belt kicking her and hitting het because she don't want to run, hello, there is something wrong. I can tell the difference between sparring with a bamboo stick versus punishment.

I am paying for a service that I am not receiving. I don'the need to see children screaming or afraid, that will not show me how to defend myself from an attacker.

I just need to know, if there are any steps that I can follow to cancel these type of contract when the service is not ethic.

Thank you.
 
Momo2017 said:
I just need to know, if there are any steps that I can follow to cancel these type of contract when the service is not ethic.
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You mean getting out of the contract without paying any more money, right?

Because, other than that, you can probably cancel the contract at any time by paying the cancellation fee.

If you don't want to pay the fee and the instructor says no, your alternative is to just not show up anymore and not pay any more money. The consequences of that should be obvious. You'll either get sued or sent to collections. If you get sued you can defend based on the assault on your child. If you just get sent to collections, you'll have to file your own lawsuit ($$$) to get that reversed.
 
Momo2017 said:
Yes. I think that it is not fair, but I don't have a choice. Thank you so much for the advise.
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I hold two black belts, in two different disciplines.

If my child were being hit with bamboo sticks by a crazed lunatic, I'd contact the police, file a complaint, and the contract would take of itself.

If there are no bambooo sticks battering children, the contract will continue to reign supreme.

I suggest you Google "martial arts contract NAME OF COMPANY" to see what many of the sleazier operations do
 
Thank you so much for your help. I will file a complaint and seek for help. We found out that there is no cancelation fee. We have to pay in full $3750.

Luckily he never touched my child because we were always there doing classes with him. But there are crazy parents that leaves their children there and probably don't have a clue of what is happening or they do and they don't care.

Once again, thank you so much for your advise.
 
My apologies for not having seen this sooner. I'm actually a martial arts instructor and fourth degree black belt. I trained with a grand master 9th Dan black belt. I have had the pleasure of being associated with a number of great martial arts schools. But I have seen a good number of places where the focus is on commerce and everything else suffers. It is a very bad example that is set for what can be a tremendous and invaluable experience, one that can keep you in shape and appreciate the discipline and training.

I haven't seen what you consider harsh but what I have heard does not resemble the manner in which I have ever taught children in any way. Even our adult masters have never actually struck students. I will say that my Karate training (mostly by American instructors) was very different than my Taekwondo instruction as there was far more physicality in Karate and perhaps to an extreme. We were more embarrassed or required to perform extra push-ups, etc. and were well aware we wouldn't progress to the next belt without mastering the basics. Your child might be afraid and I can't say that what you've described is excessive since I don't know what "hit" means. Sometimes use of the stick might be "prodding" but not striking. If it was actual striking such as leaving a mark, I'd be surprised and can understand your problem with such action.

I can only wonder what is written in the contract and, as @adjusterjack mentioned above, the most direct remedies usually come from the contract. There is also the issue of having a different instructor, which can make a tremendous difference in the quality of instruction. It's why you should always check the agreement to make sure you are receiving some type of personal service contract that has an out should an instructor leave the school.

Another issue is the school's accreditation. My Taekwondo school (known as a "dojang" in Korean as opposed to a "dojo" in Japanese) is certified by the Kukkiwon which is also known as the organization associated with the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation.) There are certain similarities with Karate although not as simple (I studied Shotokan for a few years.) If they are connected with such an association you should certain feel free to inquire about the policies and mention it to the master in charge of the school. Requiring you to lose the entire investment after a month is very harsh and a poor business practice, especially if the master wishes to attract local students. Perhaps you can work it out. Let us know how things are proceeding and glad to help if we can. Good luck.
 
Thank you so much for your response and help.

After various communications with the owner and the billing agency, the owner agreed to cancel our three contracts without any charges. I will be more careful from now on before signing a contract.

Though I am searching for a new school for the three of us, due to this experience, my 7 year old son doesn't want to attend martial arts classes anymore. I will give him the time he needs to learn from these experience and start to trust a new teacher.

Thanks again for all your help.
 
I am not surprised to hear that the Sensei / martial arts school owner decided to cancel the contracts. Most important to me as a martial arts student was the instructor and a somewhat close second were the class participants. The instructor's ability to provide clear lessons that are enjoyable and an understanding of the expectations of the class, their abilities, the pace and demeanor is paramount to all. Without it you don't have a great class. And trust is implicit. I caution every potential student to investigate, ask questions and determine whether they feel that the master is honorable and trustworthy. I don't like generalizing but, as a whole, I find that Asian masters take their schools reputation more seriously. I think it also has to do with the essence of the culture where martial arts is practically embedded within the culture. You'll find tremendous respect among Koreans for Taekwondo which is very much tradition. After all, it's a precious part of the culture and they seem to convey the sense that to dishonor self and school is also dishonorable as part of a national pride. I've found more American born masters to be aware of the commercial part of running a martial arts school but this general observation is not absolute at all.

When joining a martial arts school going forward, which I hope you still choose to do, I would:

  • Determine whether you feel the owner is trustworthy, willing to answer questions and put any statements into writing.
  • Determine the length of the contract required and any refund policies. I'd choose to do a 3-6 month class to see whether you like the school, instructor and classes. Discounts for something you don't enjoy isn't a bargain. It's not unreasonable to have a 1-3 month agreement.
  • Ascertain how connected the teacher is to the school since a co-owner or vested person is less likely to leave.
  • Ascertain whether the school is accredited by a national foundation. Especially in Taekwondo, it is very important to have WTF (World Taekwondo Federation / Kukkiwon) certification. Some schools have other systems (ITF is an older system in Taekwondo, other groups exist for Karate) as issuing black belts in one school may be not recognizable in other schools, places and tournaments.
  • Ask about the makeup of the martial arts class students. Ideally you'd want to progress at a similar pace and you also should have a workout designed for your gender and age bracket.
Best of luck to you.
 

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