I am a 20 year Martial Arts Veteran with a 2nd degree in 5 traditional styles (shotokan, Okinawa karate, tan soo do, kempo and jujitsu) who also operated a successful dojo in California for 10 years with my father who continued to operate after my retirement and to know that Elite is all about the money is sickening and sad.I’m going to list everything that’s wrong with ELITE and if at the end you still think dropping over $300 a month is worth it, then, you is what’s wrong with today’s generation and all you want is a “day care” style karate.- the Belt : the fact that they don’t teach the importance of it, how to properly tie it or the fact that they even cut it when it’s too long at testing, instead of ordering the proper size for the student, it blows my mind. Respecting the belt is “Karate 101”.- Advancing to the next belt: you know how to stand still? Here is a stripe! You learned to do a push up? Here is a stripe! hey…you washed your uniform? Here is a stripe! Ok you now get a yellow belt! My kid got 6 stripes in about a month! Without learning how to do a proper punch, or proper stance. Pretty pathetic. They advance anyone as long as you pay the testing fee of $40! If you allow your kid to advance without learning anything then you aren’t teaching your kid anything.- Philosophy: they don’t have one nor do they teach one, so what’s the point of karate if you don’t know the history or the basics? For that, sign the kid up to MMA training or gymnastics lol 😂. Ok, I’ll give credit about the word of the week, that’s one of the few good things I’ve seen but Martial Arts is just like being a chef, you need to master it…but what do you master if you don’t learn the philosophy or basic of the art?- BBC or “Black Belt Club” : you just got fooled and made you pay more a month for teaching them what they suppose to be teaching them in the regular class! Way to rip people off that don’t know better. 15 min of weapon training? Do these kids even know how to properly punch ? Before you give them a weapon to use? Come on…the BBC is the biggest scam I’ve ever seen in martial arts. The black belts in BBC don’t even know how to tie their belt properly! I sat at one of their advance classes, my kid who’s a white belt looked more sharp than any of the “black belts”. It’s all false teachings.I have more, but i hope that this gives you an idea of the business, and that’s all it is “business” they are running here. I spoke up about my concerns and now all the Sensei’s are on high alert and threatened us with the contract, apparently we are stuck for a year plus the 2 months that we have to give of notice…moving him to a more traditional school is going to have to wait till we can resolve this issue.Parents beware. - concerned parent

Ive been so impressed with how Sensei Sean, et al manage such diverse classes while ensuring each student knows s/he belongs. In fact all the senseis take the time to speak with the kids before or after class to get to know them. In this way they let them know that theye cared for and welcome. What a wonderful gift. Maybe even the fabled working alliance?