Black Belt America

Both of my sons went to Black Belt America. For my older son, the experience seemed to be positive, so after two years we enrolled our younger son as well. He began to have a very negative reaction pretty early on. After massive breakdowns on the days he would have to go to BBA we withdrew him after a couple months. 6 months later, I went in to enroll my oldest in a higher level program. As we went through the fees, I questioned why their was an equipment fee as well as a higher fee, since they had stated that the higher base fee was due to equipment needs. When I questioned the fees, the owner said that the real problem was that I was not supportive of my older son since I had pulled out my younger son months earlier. She accused me of being an absent parent because she did no often see me picking up my son because I have morning school duty in my house and commute an hour to work so pickup was often earlier than I could accomplish. I tried to explain that was not the case and that I just didn’t think my younger son reacted well to their methods. As an example, I brought up a recent example I had witnessed where the same teacher my younger son had, had forced a boy with down syndrome to redo a kick in front of all kids and parents of BBA over and over again until he was in tears simply because he was doing the kick with the wrong foot. I explained how my younger son would not react well to that kind of public humiliation and how I felt that was likely why he had such a negative reaction to attending. By the she had called in her husband and co-owner. Instead of taking the feedback about a teacher needing coaching to heart, they accused me of attacking the other boy. At that point, tears were streaming down my face. They both reacted to that sign of ‘weakness’ but increasing the level of their attack and ended up telling me my son was no longer welcome to attend. All because I asked for clarification on their fees. I have never had an experience like this with a professional organization in my life, much less one trusted with children. Ultimately I am glad in the end it occurred as it clearly showed me that my youngest was not overreacting, and ensured I got my oldest as far away from them as I could. I would not send my worst enemy to their school.

My five-year-old daughter and six-year-old son have been with black belt America for about a year now. It has been so great for both of them from a discipline standpoint, from a self-esteem standpoint, increasing focus, and just an overall great place to have fun, while working on strength and coordination.nnBBA has always been incredibly responsive to communication. My son had input regarding one of his instructors techniques... instead of taking it in a negative fashion they were very open and understood that different kids respond to different techniques. That instructor modified his teaching style when interacting with my son. That speaks volumes for me.. I was really impressed. My kids look forward to going every day, They love their instructors.❤ufe0f❤ufe0fnnI never had to Sign any sort of contract.nnTry it out it really is a great place and a great sport!!

I love this place! My son is very shy and this class has helped him a lot. a great place!

Fantastic place. Really supports the kids and the families. They have done a fantastic job during the pandemic of keeping the kids engaged and working with families. Highly recommend.

BBA has been able to adapt to the conditions of the pandemic to allow kids to continue their martial arts practice either distantly in-person or via remote sessions. That in itself is admirable, but BBA doesn't stop there! The owners have also been extremely flexible with understanding family situations and making accommodations during these uncertain times.