Studio For Martial Arts Agrees To Chop Contract

What is disturbing to me about some of the responses here, is that there is a general lack of compassion for the child ( or children )involved.
When offering , and charging for a service directed at children, special consideration needs to be followed.

As I said previously, I am an experienced karate instructor , and am well aware of what goes in the industry. In addition, I have children who studied for many years, so I know both sides of the equation.

The current American Martial Arts Industry, in my opinion, is an actual disgrace to the Art.

There are exceptions, of course ,but for the most part, I stand by my opinion.

Of course, this is America, and businesses have rights in our free market system. That still doesn't make what is done ethical or provide any aura of integrity.

I feel the best martial arts schools are the ones run on a non-profit basis.

The instructor does not have to worry about attracting a large number of students, as such whatever martial art he or she teaches is not watered down to appeal to the masses, as is the apparent case with the Villari system.

This has nothing to do with the school. Both the editor and the women should stop "wineing:. You both set a bad example for not keeping your word. A contract is a contract. Stop "wineing".

This has nothing to do with the school. Both the editor and the women should stop "wineing". You both set a bad example for not keeping your word. A contract is a contract. Stop "wineing".

Stan Simpson is an idiot wrote:

George Gombossy is probably one of the most annoying people on this planet. Makes a mountain out of a molehill. A stupid woman signs a multi year contract for her child, then decides to change her mind, and wants out of the deal. This totally screws the small Karate school, which probably gave her discounted rates for the long term deal.
I highly doubt there were any "high pressure" tactics applied to this woman, and if the studio took her to court for non-payment, she would lose it 2 minutes.
Why do people wine to a person like George Gombossy, to try to get out of stupid arrangements they made. Gombossy like to stir up the pot and shame a business, that did nothing wrong, into giving a refund or free services.
George Gombossy is a joke, and is one reason the Courant is a crappy paper.

You are right. Gombossy probably did not have the balls to go to karate class and is just being a bully via the Courant. The mother in the story is like his mommy, fighting his battles for him. hehehehehehehehe

The weirdest thing I've seen in the martial arts is the learn-at-home approach, hi-tech style.

People order tapes or DVDs of a martial art, send DVDs (and a fee, naturaly) of them doing the techniques to get promoted, and get a certificate and belt through the mail.

I think Villari's does this.

It's interesting to see the availability heuristic in real life. One article in the Hartford Courant is able to convince people that the karate business, specifically Villari's, is essentially bad. First of all, karate schools are businesses and would not have their services if there was no incoming money and a karate school is only as good as the instructors are. One of these schools should not ruin the reputation for others just because an article was written about a four-year contract in one particular school. This heuristic is true in almost any news story. "A woman was shot today in x city..." A person might respond, "Oh no never go to cities!! especially x city!" This isn't a very logical response, yet is the same scenario when people respond saying that karate schools are corrupt because one school simply offered a four year contract, which a mother signed for her 9-year old, and could not immediately cancel it. Yet she WAS able to cancel it. This appears to be the first contract incident, and it is apparent that cancelling a contract in the future will be much easier at this specific school and probably other karate schools in Connecticut. If the school was money hungry as some of you insist, it's owner would have refused contract cancellation and not make this action easier in the future.

I checked out Villari on the web and don't like what see. A lot of people are complaining that they were ripped off and that Villari business practices are illegal.

unbiased wrote:

Oh and in response to the first comment, don't ever comment again unless you have something logical to say, k thanks.

We were refused numerous times in 2005.(see my earlier post). We also knew of several other families at the same time, going through the same situation.

Unbiased,
Your analogy between this situation and that of a woman being shot isn't logical at all.

In this case, there is a contract for services. A person being shot is a random act.

Nothing is " apparent" about future contracts being cancelled.

This situation is the busines model for Villari's , and many other karate schools.

I am here to say it is unethical, misleading and a disgrace to Martial Arts.

For those that have been misled by Villari's you have my sympathy. Exploiting children in this manner is the bottom of the barrel.

Maybe there should be an investigation into the whole Villari operation. Where is the money going? Who is calling the shots? I heard there were hassles in the West Hartford branch.

I hope that in the future the Hartford Courant will release customers from their advertising contracts if the customers become unhappy with the results or just lose interest.

Dan; Yes we were unhappy with the results, but it was because our son was not getting the instruction that WAS PROMISED to us when we signed the contract. The reason why we signed was because of the convincing promise given to us at the time, that our son would receive quality instruction (ended up being taught by one of the students rather than the instructor who promised he'd teach him). Our son started in a small class, but within weeks was placed in a class of 30+, being taught by a young student. If you read my earlier post, our son was completely lost, and the only way they'd help us was to pay more money. He kept graduating even though he was unable to do 75% of the "required" material. WE kept holding him out of graduations, hoping that things would change, and they never would. Villari's didn't keep their end of the contract, which is why we will pursue it. It was, and still is, a scam.

I think it is unfair to bash all of the villari schools in ct. Although most of them are in fact owned by shirley, there are other schools that he does not own and has absolutely nothing to do with (as mentioned in the article). These schools are run completely differently and i feel my children have truely gotten more than my moneys worth through their classes and other programs run at their school for no additional cost. There are always plenty of instructors who you can just see, love what they do and they love helping the students to grow as martial artists. Not only have my girls learned their rank material and actually know it, they have also learned life skills such as how to deal with bullies and how to communicate effectively with others. My girls always leave with a smile on their face and i feel this is the best gift that i could have ever given them. If you really want a great experience, i encourage all to not give up hope on villaris and to find one of these more independent schools.

In this day and age, with the amount of information available on the internet, TV and every other source, why would anyone not do their homework before agreeing to any long term commitment. The fact remains that parents have long term goals and short term demands mixed up. Regardless of whether the martial art is Krav Maga, or Karate, TKD, or jujitsu. All consumers should do their homework first, What martial art do you want to train in and why? What are your ultimate goals. If it is simply to say you're a black belt, regardless of effectiveness, then pick a TKD school that pumps out a black belts in 2-3 years, if your goal is fitness pick a school that focus on it, and make sure that you agree to their philosophy of trainig, if you don't like getting sweaty and close to someone else, BBJ or MMA is not for you, perhaps fitness kickboxing. If your goal is to teach your child to be a positive member of society then most traditional martial arts will teach them that, and what is mort important is the instructors and the atmosphere. Does it work for you?

I don't require contracts in my studio, but I offer them for students who see themselves committed to training for at least 12 months. No guarantees or even insinuation of any particular ranks be acheived in that time, but they get a discount, and the school is assured a consistent cash flow, in order to pay the bills. for the other 75% of my students, they pay month to month and every 1st of the month, let me know whether we're doing a good job.

Contracts are not evil, and people have a twisted perception of the martial arts business owner. Who is apparently expected to live in squaller, and commit themselves to teaching full time, and unlike most business, every client expects the owner to be the one to serve them for a discounted price on top of it. I can't recall the last time I went into a restaurant and demanded that the head chef or the owner, bus and serve my table, but that's what everyone wants out of their local martial arts school, and then when they get bored or realize they aren't as committed as they once thought, they want to just walk away, and expect that the master's "honor" will be such that he won't pursue them for the rest of the balance.

Remember, Decided what you want to get out of your training, ask questions, any instructor that gives away too much at the beginning may just be trying to sugar coat the required contract. Required contracts are bad either, but know what you're getting into. Talk to other students or families that have been there 6 or 9 months. ask them how they feel would they renew? Finally, know what you're getting into, if you're looking for one type of training, don't settle on the wrong thing because its closer to your house, becuase you'll quickly regret that.

Good luck.

angry wrote:

Dan; Yes we were unhappy with the results, but it was because our son was not getting the instruction that WAS PROMISED to us when we signed the contract. The reason why we signed was because of the convincing promise given to us at the time, that our son would receive quality instruction (ended up being taught by one of the students rather than the instructor who promised he'd teach him). Our son started in a small class, but within weeks was placed in a class of 30+, being taught by a young student. If you read my earlier post, our son was completely lost, and the only way they'd help us was to pay more money. He kept graduating even though he was unable to do 75% of the "required" material. WE kept holding him out of graduations, hoping that things would change, and they never would. Villari's didn't keep their end of the contract, which is why we will pursue it. It was, and still is, a scam.

If you were contractually promised a specific level of instruction and it was changed (i.e. always to be taught by a black belt or higher or an adult instructor but substitutions were made more than a few times) I would have begun by talking to them to express your concerns followed by a letter or email outlining the defaulted promises contained in your agreement. I am a school owner as well as someone who reviews and audits contracts, and you have rights if you are not being provided what you were promised - in writing. However if your promises were based on a conversation you had and no additional documentation or addendum to your contract was made, you're in the wrong. While the integrity of that school owner/manager is questionable to say the least, what is right under the law is what is is written in your agreement. The exception would be were there a number of other parents given the same promise, where a credible pattern could be detected. However, many parents assume too much when they sign these. MA studios are businesses and they have to leave themselves the opportunity to be flexible and expand. However a good studio owner will do everything to satisfy their client and avoid negative publicity as this appears to be generating.

My hope is that you and the studio are able to reach some amicable compromise.

I agree, I have been teaching the Martial Arts for 20 years now and have been in every kind of setting you can imagine. Just recently, I quit all ties with the American "commercial" industry because I was starting to see students not even have any clue of the essence of the techniques being taught or demonstrate complete lack of respect towards the art and their teachers. I find the Martial Arts teachings a transmission between teacher and student and this understanding and relationship takes time, patience, trust, and a progression of chipping away of the ego. By no means do I think a huge commercial school can offer this. I've seen it. I've experienced it. I've taught in it. Black Belts these days, and again, I agree there are exceptions, probably deserve to be just Green Belts. But! You have $2,000...and I promise you a Black Belt. Well, hell, you may as well cal Century Martial Arts right now and buy a Black Belt for $6.99. Do I sound jaded? well, maybe I am. But, I know one thing is for sure.....I have only met a handful of Martial Artists that own schools and produce Black Belts that really "get it"...it's insulting to all of us old generation BB's ...something is lost out there...technique is just technique. Anyone can do a front kick. Anyone can side kick. Where is the discipline these days? The hard work and practice? The actual in depth understanding of the true art and science behind this self-development path? Just wondering...