Things to know if you are shopping
for a Martial Arts Club!
 
The Upsell, Belt Factories, Guaranteed Belts
and Lifetime Memberships!

The Upsell

Usually you are offered some great price better than any other club, $199, $399 or $599 and a free white uniform for 1 month, 2 months or 6 months! The student goes into their first class with their white uniform on and everyone else except for the new students are wearing a red, blue or black uniform. The student of course feels out of place or wonders why they don’t have one of those cool coloured uniforms. Only to find out that it is an “Exclusive Membership” called “The Black Belt Club” or something like that, that gets you the cool coloured uniform. Here comes the “Upsell”. Your child starts asking you for one of the cool uniform because theirs isn’t cool. You enquire about the cool uniform and find out that you have to upgrade your membership and it ends up costing a lot more than if you had joined any other club! Not only is the cost dramatically more but you have to sign a new contract for a year with a new start date extending your time at that club. If you don’t ask them about the “The Black Belt Club” they will certainly promote it to you by saying that you or your child is very talented and you should think about being in the “The Black Belt Club”. Remember, your child has been watching all of the student in white uniforms change to a red, blue or black uniform and being treated different/better than them! Last but not least if you try to cancel your contract there will be a cancellation fee on top of what you owe them!
One last thing, usually these clubs classes are only 30 minutes long, they may even go 45 minutes! They usually lose 10 to 15 minutes on kids leave and coming to class so how much training do they really get? That is why we have 15 minutes between all of our classes at Buick's Karate Dojo!

The Belt Factory

Definition: A Martial Arts Clubs that pushes you through a grading process of stripes and coloured belt, usually two or more stripes between every solid belt. They charge $120 or more for every change in belts. The student will becomes a "Black Belt" in two years? The youngest "Black Belt" that I ever saw was five and a half years old! The reason that I mention the two year period is that these clubs generally speaking can't hold on to their students much longer than two years. From a business perspective these clubs want to maximize their revenue at all costs. Quality of instruction is usually poor. Not to say that the instructor is poor but the club is only interested in your money. The effort is just to get the student to the next belt whether they know what they need to know or not. If the instruction is poor, what quality of Martial Arts will the student truly have? More importantly, if the instruction is poor, will the student be able to defend themselves if need be on the street or at school? 
​One last thing, usually these clubs classes are only 30 minutes long, they may even go 45 minutes! They usually lose 10 to 15 minutes on kids leave and coming to class so how much training do they really get? That is why we have 15 minutes between all of our classes at Buick's Karate Dojo!

Question:
What can you learn about Martial Arts and defending yourself in two years, let alone becoming a Black Belt?

Guaranteed Belts

These are usually offered at "Belt Factories" and consider this a sign that you are in a "Belt Factory". How can anyone guarantee a Green Belt in six months or a Black Belt in two years when you haven't even met the student yet! There are no guarantees in Martial Arts when it comes to belts. You have to work hard and earn every belt, just like in life, if you are being trained properly!
One last thing, usually these clubs classes are only 30 minutes long, they may even go 45 minutes! They usually lose 10 to 15 minutes on kids leave and coming to class so how much training do they really get? That is why we have 15 minutes between all of our classes at Buick's Karate Dojo!

What a false sense of security!
Giving you the next belt instead of earning it!

Lifetime Memberships

2, 3, 4 or 5 years memberships are not legal in the fitness industry. This is also another sign that you are in a "Belt Factory". The main reasons that these kind of memberships are offered is that the club is about to close its doors forever. It’s a great way to get a lot of your money fast and not have to return it if they close their doors! The second reason is that it locks you in to a "Belt Factory" at the point where you don't know any better. Good club, bad club, good instructor, bad instructor etc... If the dropout rate in these clubs is two year or less you just lost a lot of money. By the way there is always a maintenance fee that you get charged every year with a "Lifetime Membership"!
One last thing, usually these clubs classes are only 30 minutes long, they may even go 45 minutes! They usually lose 10 to 15 minutes on kids leave and coming to class so how much training do they really get? That is why we have 15 minutes between all of our classes at Buick's Karate Dojo!

"This is the reason the government
has made these practices illegal"

I have a number of students that have trained in other clubs. Every one of them has said that they didn’t meet the Head Instructor, let alone have the Head Instructor teaching them in their classes. Every one of the same students has said that they can't believe they are actually training with the Head Instructor at Buick`s Karate! I also know all my students names!

Important

Just to let you know, it’s impossible to earn a Black Belt in less than four to five years, even if you are training three hours a day seven days a week. I know that a lot of clubs are giving out Black Belts in two years. Remember, I didn't say buy a piece of cloth called a Black Belt I said "Earn the knowledge of a Black Belt"

Never fear a Black Belt that is just a piece of cloth. 
Always fear a person that has earned a Black Belt !
Author unknown

You earn a Black Belt by hard work, paying attention, listening, focus, patience and last but not least blood, sweat and tears! If you want to earn your Black Belt please come to Buick's Karate Dojo. If you want to buy one there are plenty of other clubs that will steal your hard earned money and let you buy a piece of material called a Black Belt!

To show you how much confidence I have in Buick's Karate Dojo as the place to train,
I make the following offer. If you are not happy where you are training,
bring me your active contract from the club you are currently training at
and I will give you one of the following:

10% off your old contract price
or my contract price whichever is less for you!

My prices are better than all the other clubs in the area based on
the quality of the training and amount
​of direct time of instruction!

Look at these young bloods doing pushups on their knuckles!