Thoughts on contracts

[karatekid1975]

I think that is a "good" contract, Hobbitbob. But when I wanted to break my contract with my last school, there was no "lose of insterest" thing. I had to buy it out. That stunk Good thing this school has no contracts. People stay because the instruction is great, not because they have to.

[GreenDragon]

Thank you all very much for your feedback. Let me clear up a misconception. I did not say that he would promise or guarantee an certain rank in a certain amount of time. I said that I would choose a program based on my goal and he would help me reach that goal. If the goal is green belt, etc. etc. I am quite sure that he would fail a student if they did not know the material. As a matter of fact one night while I was there about a week before a testing day he chastisied a young fella and told this kid that he clearly didn't know his hyong (forms) and that if he did not come to class every day for the rest of the week to learn them properly, he would not pass his belt test (we can attend up to 6 classes per week). I have every confidence in his ability to teach me all I would need to know in the typical time frame and in my ability to learn it slightly faster than that. I do not doubt his integrity at all, and do not believe him to be selling belts, however the fact that he calls his 1 year membership agreement a "green belt program" could certainly lead one to think that way. Probably not a good idea to call it that.

 

So what does that leave me with...the cold reality that it is just a business decision that allows him a certain level of financial security and legally binds me to a decision I had already committed to anyway. Although most gyms and many dojos/dojangs do this, it just doesn't feel right for me. Given my current job situation (unpredicatable demands for insane amounts of overtime, and the ever-present chance of being layed off) I just can not legally bind myself to continue putting food on his table should my family begin to grow hungry. I have decided to tell him that I would very much enjoy continuing to study under him, but can not sign a contract, if he is willing to make an exception for me, then I am there, if not, I will have to continue my quest.

 

Thank you again,

 

GreenDragon

[monkeygirl]

If he doesn't make an exception for you, you may want to try this route:

 

Will he allow you to make short-term contracts for, say, 3 months at a time? That doesn't mean you have to quit after 3 months, but it would make skipping out easier if times get rough.

 

Maybe you could try talking to some of the students, ask them if he has ever enforced contracts that they know of.