Best/Worst New School visit

[AceHBK]

I know it is hard to find a school to join.
It involves a lot of research and going to many places and meeting different teachers.

So with that being said, what was the WORST experience you had while checking out perspective schools and what was the BEST experience that you had?



My worst experience was with some school (which shall remain nameless for now) here in Dallas, TX. The receptionist was a guy and was very nice to me and told me about the Sifu and the program. It was a big school with a lot of students and I was hesitant but curious. After 10 minutes I think the owner came out and saw that I was hesitant to sign a 1 year contract and therefore KICKED ME OUT OF HIS DOJO!! I was too pissed but then said to myself if that is how the owner/Sifu acts to perspective students then I want nothing to do with that school. That right there told me all he wanted was my money. Funny thing was that the receptionist at the door was very nice to me and made me actually really want to join.

Best experience happened to be where I am at now. I work out at Gold Gym and found out they had a TKD class and I said why not. Found out classes was cheap and the instructor made me feel good about the program and there was NO PRESSURE. Year and a half later I am still here faithfully and my master is like a brother.

I learned that people skills and their motivation for wanting/attracting students makes a big difference.

Oh how I want to go to a open tournament tor something and face students from that other school. I wont say the name unless someone asks...
I think it was a Kung Fu school.

 

[Kacey]

About 18 years ago, I was living in the dorm at my university. There was a TKD class on campus that held a demonstration aimed at getting new students in to the club in the main common room of the dorm I lived in. The only class members present were the instructor (who I believe was a V Dan - it was a long time ago), the assistant, who was a rank or two below his instructor, and a white belt. The demonstration was almost entirely the white belt. I was a green belt at the time, so I knew the techniques and tuls the white belt was trying to demonstrate - they were quite bad. The worst part, however, was when they decided to make the white belt break... starting with teaching him side kick during the demonstration, and then trying to get him to break with it. After about 20 tries, he finally broke it - but I think it was luck, because he certainly didn't know what he was doing. I felt sorry for the student, but I was not at all impressed with an instructor who would consider public humiliation of his student as way to gain new sutdents. I've seen other really poor demos as a means of attracting new students - but that was the worst I've ever seen.

 

[stickarts]

My worst experience was when the owner learned of my current training experience (at that time), he tried to point out as many negative things as possible about the style that i had been studying while praising his style. He would have been more effective if he just discussed what he had to offer.
My best experience was going on to open my own school! :0)

 

[Flying Crane]

years ago I walked into a school in San Francisco, just on a whim to see what they do. The sign said they teach Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Judo and Ninjutsu. I first met a student who seemed nice enough, and then the headmaster came out and asked what I wanted. He seemed like a really Old-School type from Korea, 9th degree black belt, very stern, huge forearms, etc.

I told him I was just interested in seeing what was taught in his school, and would it be OK if I watched a class? He seemed kind of put off by my request, kind of like I was invading his privacy or something. Furthermore, there was no class currently going on, and he definitely didn't invite me to stay. He also indicated that he would choose who gets to be a student in his school.

He then asked if I had any experience with Martial Arts. I mentioned Capoeira, and he wasn't sure what that was. His student then reminded him that it was "that Brazilian thing", and the headmaster brushed that off as definitely NOT a martial art.

Silly me, I thought he was perhaps just confused about what Capoeira is, so I said, "well actually, it is a martial art, you see it is..." and that was as far as I got because he promptly cut me off and stated under no uncertain terms that Capoeira definitely is NOT a martial art because it did not have the history and traditions and practices that he felt a real martial art has.

I thanked him for his time and headed for the door.

 

[Flying Crane]

My worst experience was with some school (which shall remain nameless for now) here in Dallas, TX. The receptionist was a guy and was very nice to me and told me about the Sifu and the program. It was a big school with a lot of students and I was hesitant but curious. After 10 minutes I think the owner came out and saw that I was hesitant to sign a 1 year contract and therefore KICKED ME OUT OF HIS DOJO!! I was too pissed but then said to myself if that is how the owner/Sifu acts to perspective students then I want nothing to do with that school. That right there told me all he wanted was my money. Funny thing was that the receptionist at the door was very nice to me and made me actually really want to join.

I had a similar experience with a car salesman. After negociating for a while we were still hesitant because we got a creepy vibe from them, so he started accusing us of playing games with him and wasting his time. Needless to say we bought the exact same car, for less, elsewhere.

 

[beau_safken]

DAmn I dont know if I can top that one Crane..

Lets see...

Ahh, well I guess it was another of those Teach KArate, Kung fu, taichi, ninjitsu and whatever places. Person we was going to teach me for my intro pulled one of those moves like that guy on Napoleon Dynamite. Bow to your sensei stuff... I said "I'll bow out of respect not out of demand.." He didn't like that idea. So he thought it would be a great idea to teach me grab releases...mostly so he had a excuse to throw me around. I played along and was getting tossed around a lot but just went with it. His comment to that was "Oh I thought you had some skills, show me what you got." Ding ding, in for the chest lapel grab and dropped him with the left hand, got him on the ground, pulled his belt off and tied his arm to his head.... I asked if he wanted me to stop as he didnt have hands to tap. He proceeded to start cursing and complaining about what he was gonna do when he got up. His instructor came out and was watching from behind. I then just placed my knee at his neck took the belt and began going into a seat position (IE: Choke out with his own belt). His instructor the head guy came over took hold of the belt from me and proceeded to correct his dirty mouth.

I didn't go back obviously....

 

[Flying Crane]

DAmn I dont know if I can top that one Crane..

actually, that one's pretty good.

 

[AceHBK]

I had a similar experience with a car salesman. After negociating for a while we were still hesitant because we got a creepy vibe from them, so he started accusing us of playing games with him and wasting his time. Needless to say we bought the exact same car, for less, elsewhere.

Shows that customer service is the biggest thing. If you have something of quality and have great customer service people will come back or purchase your product.

I know schools are out here to make money and I am ok with that, just dont make me feel like all you want is my money.

And with your story, to have no respect for another art shows you what type of person he is. It is one thing not to agree and it is another to disagree and be disrespectful about it.

 

[AceHBK]

DAmn I dont know if I can top that one Crane..

Lets see...

Ahh, well I guess it was another of those Teach KArate, Kung fu, taichi, ninjitsu and whatever places. Person we was going to teach me for my intro pulled one of those moves like that guy on Napoleon Dynamite. Bow to your sensei stuff... I said "I'll bow out of respect not out of demand.." He didn't like that idea. So he thought it would be a great idea to teach me grab releases...mostly so he had a excuse to throw me around. I played along and was getting tossed around a lot but just went with it. His comment to that was "Oh I thought you had some skills, show me what you got." Ding ding, in for the chest lapel grab and dropped him with the left hand, got him on the ground, pulled his belt off and tied his arm to his head.... I asked if he wanted me to stop as he didnt have hands to tap. He proceeded to start cursing and complaining about what he was gonna do when he got up. His instructor came out and was watching from behind. I then just placed my knee at his neck took the belt and began going into a seat position (IE: Choke out with his own belt). His instructor the head guy came over took hold of the belt from me and proceeded to correct his dirty mouth.

I didn't go back obviously....

LOL!!! Wow!
I would have been paid good money to see that!

 

[Flying Crane]

This is an employment story, a little off topic, but similar so I thought I'd share.

I once was approached by a man who was looking for someone to teach in a school that he owned. He owned several franchise schools in the San Francisco area that taught a Kenpo derivative, so he was interested in me due to my background in Tracy's kenpo. I was pretty skeptical, but decided to check it out for curiosity sake.

I went to his head school in Oakland and met with him and his office manager, a frail, middle aged woman in a gi and full face of makeup and long, painted fingernails. She was also a third degree blackbelt. My first thought was: "Gee, when I train, I sweat A LOT, not sure where the makeup and long nails fit in here..." Hmm...

I demonstrated my technique for them, including Long Four form. During this time I had the opportunity to speak with another instructor, a young guy about my age, who also came into this outfit from Tracy's kenpo. Since we had that common background, we talked about that a bit. He told me that I would have NO PROBLEM making the transition into their system, it was MUCH MUCH EASIER and I would be able to learn it all in no time flat. Hmm...

Saturdays were usually busy with Karate Birthday Parties for the youngest kids (about age 5 or so), so that was something to keep in mind. I know lots of people do great work with kids, but that's just not my calling. Hmm...

The head instructor informed me that he was a Seventh Degree Black Belt, so there was definitely room for me to get higher rank thru my association with him. Hmm...

After the interview was over, the Office Manager drove me back to the Public transit station. They had not demonstrated anything from their system, so I took the opportunity to ask her about it. I asked how their forms, for example, compared to the one I had demonstrated. She enthusiastically told me that they were MUCH MUCH SHORTER AND EASIER. They had nothing that approached that level of complexity at all.

The head instructor had asked me to go to the one particular school in San Francisco a couple days later where he would want me to teach. He wanted me to meet the other instructors, and watch some of the classes there. I called him up the next day and politely declined his offer.

A year or so later I noticed that his schools had started to close down.

 

[still learning]

Hello, It reminds me of a time, long ago, there was a karate school in Ewa beach area,(Island of Oahu). The Sensi had a reputation as an excellant fighter and teacher.

I sign up (month to month), very strict, everyone train together , Kids and adults. In one of our stances a kid move and he hit him in the legs and made him cry, starting yelling at the boy to be quite. It was the first time seeing the Sensi hit someone, boy look to be about 10 years old.

The training was stuff....but that was a turn off for me and I never did go back.

While in college a Karate school was starting in a commercial building near my apartment, (upper level-front street view). It advertise -Black belt in one year. The school lasted for a few years, than close. Wonder why? nah!

There was a karate class near home (Big Island), they ask what was your highest rank? (any style)...and they let you start at that? One guy was a brown belt almost 20 years ago and they let him start at brown belt.

......After reading a few of these...let the new martial artist beware. Do not sign up right away check out as many schools as you can. There is the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY. Clint Eastwood would say!

 

[Tarot]

I just went through this, having been looking for a school since last November before finding my current school. I had lots of bad experiences with owners/instructors but one of the most recent ones was the worst.

I called the school and spoke with someone about coming in and looking at the school. He told me when the best times to come in were and that yes it was fine to ask questions. I get there a few days later and no one was at the front desk so I watched a bit of the class that was currently in session. Then a guy came out to the desk, since it was obvious I was new I figured he would approach me and ask me if I needed help. After a few minutes when it was clear he had no intention of speaking with me, I approached him. I explained I was looking to join an MA school and asked him if I could speak with him about the school. He sighed and said he guessed he had a few minutes before class, making it very clear he did not want to answer my questions. When I asked him if he could please tell me a little bit about his school he became very annoyed and yelled at me saying, "I'm not going to stand here and brag about my school to you!"

Um, OK. I explained that I wasn't asking him to brag, I just wanted to know what style he taught and things of that nature. He then handed me a pamphlet and said, "This should answer all your questions." Which it didn't because I had other questions that I wanted to ask, such as, "Can students ask questions during class?". When I continued and asked him that exact question he told me that NO, students are not allowed to ask questions during class. That would be a distraction and take away valuable class time. All questions should be asked after class is over.

It was at that point I left. I thanked him for his time and was on my way. It definitly was not a school for me.

 

[Kacey]

I notice that everyone is posting 'worst school visit', even though the title is best/worst, so I thought I'd stick a best in here too.

When I started TKD, I walked into a room full of intimidating people in white pajamas (hey, that's what it looked like to me!). I was greeted, asked if I had any previous experience, and invited to take my shoes and socks off and join the class - not pressured by anyone there, but since I had come to try it (at my then-boyfriend's insistence - he'd been out for 10 years and wanted to start up again, and wanted me to come with him) I thought I might as well. People around me helped me with the warmup (stretching and calisthenics) and after that, a black belt was assigned to take me in to the back room and give me individual instruction. By the end of class, I knew 2 stances, how to punch (intellectually, at least - it took my muscles a while to catch up with all of this), how to block, and the basics of the rank system and class protocol. I was brought back into the main class to bow out; at the end of class, when announcements were made, the instructor reminded everyone to talk to the new student, introduce themselves, and answer any questions. The individual instruction continued for another 3 nights, by which time I had purchased a uniform (a hefty expense when I was in college) - but I really wanted one, even though the instructor told me that I didn't have to buy one unless I qualified to test - he wanted people to come because they wanted to, not because they wanted their money's worth out of a uniform.

That was it - I was hooked! 19 years later, I'm still with that instructor.:asian:artyon:

 

[evenflow1121]

About 20 years ago I walked into a school where the instructor claimed an 8th degree in Goju Ryu, and a 4th degree in Hapkido, Aikido, Praying Mantis, and Judo (you would think this guy had more lives than a cat). Anyway, I asked this dude to let me watch a class before I joined, not even practice one, but just watch, well the guy told me he couldnt because what they taught there was 'real secret stuff'. That was my first awakening into the world of McDojo's. There is nothing if very little that is mystical about self defense, if a school is not willing to in the least let you watch one of their classes before you commit to them, they definately are not worth my money.

Best experience was the school I attended all the way through 2nd bb.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Worst School, there were 2. 1 - a karate school that was training people to miss when they threw kicks and punches. 2 - a Hapkido school where the teacher was very well trained from Korea and was once a champion. But you could see he had just given up trying to teach anybody the correct way to do anything, It was rather sad actually. I gathered from talking to him that he once trained people hard, but had few student. His son was rather impressive, but that was it.

The best school so far also 2 was a Tai Chi/Kung Fu school outside of Boston. I was very impressed with the instructor and those he had assisting him. His attention to detail where necessary was impressive and his apparent lack of ego. The other was a Wing Chun School near me and all I have to say is if you want to learn Wing Chun that is one of the places to be.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Mine happened just a few weeks ago while looking for a place to crosstrain.

I called up this school that was pretty new in town. The instructor was very friendly on the phone. I set up an appointment to participate in his class. I show up a little ahead of time, and the school wasn't open. No biggy, just wait 15 minutes or so and he'll be there. Well, time goes by and no one shows. Before I left, I noticed on his front door there is a little box full of phamplets, so I get one. Most of it was saying how his was the only worthwile school in the area, no other school could teach you what his would, and the back page was full of quotes from the like of Wally Jay and Chuck Norris saying how good he was. No where in the phamplet was his name mentioned though.

Oh, and has anyone heard of Japanese Tai Chi? One of the things he teaches. Or maybe taught. Went past there yesterday and it looks like the building is for sale.

Jeff

 

[IcemanSK]

The best experience was when I visited a kickboxing gym that trained a lot of world class fighters. Although I had a lot of experience, I was nowhere near the caliber of these folks. Yet, I was welcomed as part of the team right away.

The worst was when a buddy of mine & I went to check out a school together, just to see what it was like. (We were both black belts & happy with our school, we were just curious). The instructor told us that we were not allowed to WATCH a class, but we were allowed to participate in class. We thought that was incredibly odd. They also had no set fee, it was based on the income of the student! We left there laughing at what a joke it was & also feeling really creeped out. A few months later, an investigative TV reporter in town did a huge investigative report on the many (8) schools in the group. Saying that it was run more like a cult than a MA school. Members were told to sell their property (boats, cars) to pay for class. And many complied!!! The reporter helped some students file a class action lawsuit against the instructor. They won. Needless to say, that school doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Hand Sword]

My worst time was When I was asked to use a credit card to get things started, while watching a class, and then refusing to do that, being asked to leave because they're not bill collectors.

My best time was being asked to work out for free, for a few weeks to try it out, no strings attached, and them accomodating my schedule to do it.

 

[Blindside]

I'll do another worst, simply because that is more fun.

I was a blue belt in kajukenbo and was looking for a place to train around Lynnwood, WA. Now I wasn't expecting much of this place, but I was picking up petfood next door, so I thought I'd drop into "Temple Kung-fu." Lots of picture of some guy in the foyer judging at tournaments and breaking ice, and faint asian muzak and incense in the background. A relatively young instructor met me (about 22, I was 24) and did an entrance interview, and wouldn't/coundn't quote me on what a monthly rate would be and also wouldn't let me watch a class. He said that my personal instructor would do an "evaluation" and quote me after my 3 intro lessons, which he give me a deal for a measly $130, fortunately that included a uniform. At that point I just started having fun, 'cause I sure as hell wasn't signing anything from him. (My kaju instructor quite literally had us toss a $1 in a bucket when we showed up to class, so I was used to the other end of the financial spectrum.) And started asking him about this style, how long he had been instructing, if they did full contact fighting, asking about the founder, how come they wore karate belts if they were "kung-fu." And basically making an *** of myself, but in the most respectful possible way. For some reason he never called me back for a follow up.

Lamont

 

[Hand Sword]

Hmmmm, I can't see why he didn't either.