The karate classes are ok. The kids learn some things, but I'm sure they can learn somewhere else without paying thousands of dollars. They will try to trick you into signing a contract. Some contracts are as long as 36 months! The small print says you can't get out of it unless you die or are severly disabled. They talk you into buying equipment (swords, etc...) Its mandatory for the leadership classes. No refunds, of course. I had a 3 year old and 5 year old in classes. They never once used that equipment! And it costs hundreds of dollars! Super expensive. If you are military they tell you with a copy of your orders they will let you out of your contract. They have made this a nightmare experience for me. After I gave them a copy of my military orders, the front desk clerk, Ms Walker tried to tell me there was an ATA location 20 miles from where we are moving to. The DC area; obviously clueless about the hours long traffic situation they tried to hold that over me, because the contract says they will only let you out of the contract if you are moving more than 25 miles away from an ATA. Then they said they require 6 weeks notice. 6 weeks of me paying my money without my kids going to class! I have also returned the equipment that my kids never once used..and so far they are refusing to give me a refund. The worst part of all is that the manager, Ms Reynolds, wont' return my phone calls. I've called them or visited them everyday demanding a refund since April 25th. And she still hasn't called me to discuss.
And another thing, although the kids learn some things, their process for graduating them to new belts is really based on time. If they've been in the class a couple of months, they charge you an extra $60 and give your kid a higher level belt. They call it ""testing"", but there is no real test. My 3 year old who mostly just played around in class was set to graduate to Camoflage belt by the time I got fed up with it. Just every couple of months when they feel like charging you $60 the kid moves up to a different color belt. Big time waste and Money Pit! Trust me, stay away from this place!!!
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