Anonymous
Post 08/01/2013 23:25     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

No. All I'm trying to say is that the mere fact a program is for profit does not necessarily make it a ripoff. To insist that only those who teach for the love of it are "pure" is a form of snobbery. Complain about a specific program fine but there are many good for profit studios.

I do not need to justify my choices. I have studied judo and jujitso including with a well respected teacher for years in my native Japan. The quality of the community center programs I saw was subpar in my neighborhood as compared to our tkd studio. It was an informed and educated decision. If you are ripped off you didn't do your homework.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 09:59     Subject: Re:Karate is A Rip Off

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I did TKD for about 17 years (up until about 3 years ago, when I became pregnant with DD). Never paid more than $60/month at a small club run from a community center. And rather than being all about the belts, this school was legit and it took 5-7 years for an adult to become a black belt (and no black belts under age 16).

For PP suggesting martial arts schools need to make a huge profit -- sure they do, IF THEY ARE A BUSINESS and not an art form pursued by like-minded individuals and guided by an experienced practitioner who's in it for the love of the art instead of $$$. I would never join a for-profit martial arts school.



I am the pp you are addressing. I recognize there are many cheaper options such as the one you suggest. But recognize that your experience was subsidized by taxpayers and your instructor, and your tuition did not cover the true cost of your program. And that's ok. But a "ripoff" to me is when you don't get value for your money. I'm ok with paying a for profit business if i get what I am paying for. All well and good to be a purist but I think it promotes an exclusionary culture to only deem it unacceptable those instructors who teach purely for the love. Realistically who can afford to do that around here. Maybe part time but then that is a huge sacrifice to family time. If you want to keep tkd a small exclusive club then yes you are right. I happen to disagree.


I'm not sure what you're saying here. Sounds like you agree that there's no need to pay exorbitant fees to schools because they CAN be run in churches, community centers, outdoors, etc, but that you WANT to pay more because...paying less is exclusionary?

That's the first time I've ever heard someone try to argue that a low-priced option excludes people. On the contrary, I think that requiring people to sign long-term high-cost contracts is exclusionary. There are many kids that would benefit from martial arts training whose parents can't afford to pay $150-200/month but could afford $50/month.

And guess what? Being a part-time karate instructor is a great way to exercise with your friends and family members. Most of the instructors I know (and I was an instructor from 2 dan onward) led one or two classes per week and brought kids along if it was age-appropriate for them to participate. I really don't understand this argument against. After all, someone who owns a for-profit studio will be working evenings and weekends, too, and won't be able to only do one or two classes (they'll have to do lots to make a profit), which would hurt their family time way more.

You sound like you're trying too hard to justify your choices. It's great that you like your studio. But it's not the only option, and OP should know about less profit-focused alternatives. The money-hungry martial "artists" out there are poisoning the image of martial arts for many Americans.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 09:49     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

I also think that Yelp can be misleading. We signed up per friend's recommendation and saw terrible yelp reviews but still registered. We really could not have made a better decision. I even wrote a very positive review for them but it went to filter! I felt that this was very strange and unfair for them. I am not sure how to make it to appear normally.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 09:35     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

I would never sign up for a 3 year contract for a kid, but that obviously doesn't mean every single program is a rip off.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 08:32     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

One attorney in DC j recently spoke to gave me a simple advice that parents need to be careful about contracts, use your common sense and don't rush into long term commitment at the spot where usually parents sign up just for the child to begin ASAP and then regret it.

Be careful with yelp reviews as well. Lots of them are not legitimate. Many derogatory yelp reviews are being investigated by the owners and actually submitted to lawyers.
I think that nowadays we should just use common sense and it would be silly to dismiss good providers that have bad yell reviews. These are just other people's opinions. It happened to us that the company with raving reviews was a total bummer for us, so just watch how much money you are putting at risk.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 02:59     Subject: Re:Karate is A Rip Off

First Baptist Church in Rockville (it's a Japanese church) and Shotokan in Gaithersburg do Japanese karate lessons. Most karate dojos around this area are actually Korean version, which is different from authentic Japanese karate.
Anonymous
Post 07/31/2013 00:08     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

Here's the old DCUrbanmom thread on these studios. This is exactly what happened to us. http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/126675.page#1852954
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2013 23:57     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

BTW, the martial arts class we took at our local rec center was called "Shotokan". Excellent instruction and we were on the hook for only 8 to ten week sessions, with easy make-up dates during the week. When our DC got bored with it all and interests turned elsewhere we were able to exit out easily with no great loss.
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2013 23:55     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

A friend of mine stupidly bought a three-year contract ("guarantee to make son black belt"). Fast forward. Kid went for six lessons and got bored. Mom was making payments on that contract for three f**king years - her husband wanted to kill her. Similarly, I don't frequent ballet schools that make you sign a full year contract for little ones. If the studio is not sufficiently stable to operate on a per class or ten class card system, then I am not going to sign up.
Anonymous
Post 07/30/2013 23:51     Subject: Karate is A Rip Off

Example: a studio in McLean. Ignore the first post - that's obviously a plant. REad the first review and the filtered ones. Check also with your state attorney general and consumer fraud departments. Go find the thread in D.C. Urban moms about past experiences with martial arts studios. http://www.yelp.com/biz/sh-kim-tae-kwon-do-mclean