Cheezewiz

I am overwhelmed by the number of great responses. You have all helped immensely. Thank you for taking the time to reply. You have helped me make up my mind. She can continue to take Martial Arts classes, but somewhere else. We have had several friends recommend a Ti Kwan Do (Spelling?) school that is nearby. I am going to take her over to talk and see if she can attend one class to try it. I am amazed at the number of people who used the term McDojo. As I sat watching classes at Karate America, the term McKarate kept coming into my mind. It must be the vibes or something. The person who mentioned cheap equipment was also right on. They require students to only use "Official" KA equipment, and the list of items required for the Black Belt program is about $250. (Rubber sword, rubber nung-chuck, body armor, helmet, boxing gloves, official equipment bag) Although I know nothing about typical Martial Arts equipment prices, I thought it all looked overpriced. When I was a young man, a friend was taking Judo classes, and he had a uniform that was the heaviest duty clothing I had ever seen. The jacket had welted seams on the front that had to be at least 3 layers of heavy cotton with 4 or 5 rows of stitching, and the fabric was as heavy as good work jeans. The KA uniforms are nowhere near that standard. Anyway, thank you for the sound advice. You have helped me make up my mind to do what my heart told me was the correct thing. Now I have some expert opinion to back up my case. I'll make a post in a month or so when the issue is resolved, tellng how it all worked out. Mike

I found this forum, because a writer at Site-Point, Patrick O'Keefe, listed it in his web sites. It was a lucky find because I am unsure what to do about my daughter's Karate education. I have been a long time www forum participant and realize the large amount of wisdom to be found in bb sites. I am hoping to find a bit of help here. My daughter is 9 years old, and has been taking Karate lessons at Karate America for 5 months. She loves it, but I am somewhat suspicious of the place. First, I must say, there is much to praise. I particularly like the way they require respect and good behavior, and that they actually discuss concepts like right and wrong, commitment and honor. These are ideas which have been banished from American schools since I was a student in the 50s & 60s. However, I am concerned about the actual quality of the martial arts training she is getting and their business practices and prices. I have no experience to judge them against and no idea what their reputation is. We ended up there, because they offered free after school introductory lessons at her school, and she wanted to join. The first 6 months is about up. We had to sign a contract which was $600 for the 6 months and that included a free uniform and a 20% discount for paying up front. Now, they are telling us she is really talented and "invited" her to join the Black Belt Team, which is the only option to continue there, and it costs $4500 (US) for a 30 month program. (which guarantees a Black Belt and we cannot get the money back if she quits or we don't like the instruction.) This somehow does not compute. I thought belts had to be earned by attaining a given level of skill. If a Black Belt signifies, among other things, an instructor's rating in Karate, I find it hard to believe that a 9 year old could reach that level in 3 years of 2 half hour lessons a week. I have noticed that I don't see any 12 year old instructors working there. This has set off my scam alarm big time. A second thing I have noticed is that there doesn't seem to be a strong correllation between a student's belt and how good they appear to be. My daughter gets promoted to the next belt when she has attended a set number of classes. The same is true of other students wether or not they are doing better or worse than her. I take her to classes and sit and watch each one, so I have sat through about 40 lessons so far, and have spent my time observing. I seldom see anything other than follow the leader class movement drills, and very little effort is put into correcting students who are doing a poor jodb of following along. My daughter loves Karate America and says she wants to earn her Black Belt. I am really skeptical about the place and have delayed signing the contract. I need to find out what is common practice at reputable places, what KA's reputation is, and would love suggestions as to what I should expect in terms of cost and contracts. I also would love to know what a normal progression to Black Belt would take in terms of time for an athletic and smart hard working student her age. I have promised her she can get a Black Belt if she is willing to work for it, but I need to make the right decision about schools. I will thank everyone in advance for any help or wisdom they are willing to provide. Mike mgkellner@charter.net