Dojo Hopping

[AkuYuni]

Hey all, I'm from Sacramento, CA and was wondering if there are any noteable dojo's in the area that teach kung fu, ken/mpo, or other related chinese arts that you know of (preferably practice(d) at) because my year-long contract at Moore's Karate is 1/2 over and I want to see what else is out there before I even think of resigning. Any suggestions/tips are welcome and thank you for your time.

[red5angel]

one tip, don't sign a year long contract. Don't sign a 6 month contract. Don't sign any contract unless you have too. Pay per month, most respectable schools offer that.

[Kymus]

Contracts = Bull$hit (that $ is there for a reason!)

Do yourself a favor and find a better place. You should never, ever, have to sign a contract for anything, that is simply crap. No offense or anything, but generally it's a good way of telling the good schools from the bad ones..

California is filled with CMA, so if you look in the phone book under "Karate" you should find a bunch of Chinese Schools.

[Suntzu]

Contracts sometimes = necessary evil in order to keep the light on and doors open........

[GLW]

I can understand requiring a person just joining to sign up for a minimum amount of time. If you look at it, when you have people start a class, within 2 months, 50% of them quit unless you screen them out first or have a committment that prevents those not willing to stick with it from joining.

I can also understand allowing a person to pay for a certain amount of time up front or even to do a contract...provided that these are NOT required.

Giving a person a discount because they committed to paying for several months up front is good business.

However, after the initial beginner time, not having an option to go month by month tends to raise some red flags in my book.

The main things:

If a person pays for several months up front, they deserve a discount. They also should have a recourse to get some money back if they decide to quit during that time. However, it is perfectly understandable for the school to prorate the amount coming back using the non-discounted rate for usage. It is also reasonable to have a refund penalty. However, these things should be spelled out to the student up front.

If a person wants a discount type of thing but paying it out in installments, I can see a contract. They are saying they will be around for X months and so deserve a discount, but can't afford to pay for it up front to get it. So, the school can let them pay installments. These types of contracts are fine but the school needs to protect itself so the student doesn't shaft them (like having the installments be enough to cover the month by month fees ito prevent a case where they pay for half a contract but us 3/4 of the time)

However, here too, the student should be told about ways to terminate the cotnract.

If all of this is done, there is no reason NOT to use them and no reason NOT to use a collection agency if the student defaults. Similarly, there is no reason for the student NOT to sue the pants off the school if they shaft him.

[AkuYuni]

Being a student on contract is a scary thing. If for some reason, one decides they don't like their instructors, or it's just not for them, ect ect, they're stuck. I remember one month after I signed and had a really good feel for the studio, I wanted out with a passion. I felt pressured to do things that I didn't want to. Buuut, with the contract in place, I was doomed. Now I'm about 6 months into it and I'm a lot happier than I was and I'm glad I stuck this out, but feeling trapped is a bad feeling. I'd almost rather be cornered in a dark alley somewhere than in a legal situation with business lawyers.

[Shaolin Dude]

contracts are basically no refunds right?

[neit]

i think a 3 month contract is fair. my kendo school required a 4month contract, but on the other hand it worked out to $10 canadian a month. which is like $6 u.s.?

[Becca]

I have no problem signing contracts, espesially since my Sifu has always been willing to work with those who could not contunue due to finanial problems, personnal issues, or they just didn't get along with one of the instructors... So long as they are honest and up-front with him.