This is a school in England not USA. I wanted to start a martial art and they were handing out leaflets back in the summer. I know nothing of martial arts and wanted to do it to deal with stress and gain confidence. I started there 3 months ago and its really been about hard sell, firstly the first 6 months have cost ?600 which I thought was very expensive, then they keep trying to get me on a programme for the next 3 years which costs ?3,500 which supposedly takes me up to black belt. I was told by my instructor on first arriving that black belts usually take 3.5-4 years to attain.

Also they are doing gradings every 6 weeks. The first belt was a white/red. I was abit taken aback and actually annoyed that after 6 weeks they were asking for ?40 for a new belt. So I figure thats 4 belts in the 6 months I signed up for, so thats another ?160. I wasnt too pleased about this considering I am paying a fortune of ?600 just for 6 months. My contract runs out in 2 months and to be honest I will be relieved to get away from this organisation, I see at as a money making scheme, always trying to sell things like "hooide and t-shirt" packs with their logo on .

I want to go try Akido or Karate and I see its cost around ?5-7 per lesson. I imagine also that belts take much longer to acquire.

I wanted to learn self-defense not be given the hard sell all the time. I have read about Mcdojos, never heard of it till yesterday. I understand its a common problem in USA but sure if it could be anywhere else as well.

Also at the academy has quite a few young kids with black belts, at a guess I would say they are around 11-13 year olds. I didnt see anything wrong with this but I read also that seeing kids with black belts is a bad sign. I guess if they can earn one in 3-4 years its possible but I read that a black belt can take anything from 5-7 years to attain.

Like I say, my contract runs out in 2 months and I am glad and relieved.Also the training does focus on cardio often and at first I thought we were studying Karate but it seems we "train" in a few different styles. Not a good thing I know, better to stick at one and just learn that style throughly.

I could be wrong about this place and I hope I am but from what I have read online it sounds suspiciously like a Mcdojo. Just be glad to get out in 2 months, not happy about the expense compared to other schools in the area. Would rather spend 6 months getting my first belt and know I earned it. The belts I got graded in seem worthless now.