Editorial news 
Martial-arts lessons deliver painful blow to wallet
Dear Greg: Back in December, my 5-year-old daughter attended a free martial arts class at Victory Martial Arts in Oviedo. She loved it! I loved watching her! I signed a ridiculously long contract – three years at $160 a month. I don’t know what I was thinking. My daughter no longer “loves” tae kwon do. She “loves” horseback riding. Next year, I’m sure she’ll “love” another activity. I wrote to Master Von Schmeling and asked him to please cancel the contract. I received a rather curt letter from customer-service manager Sandra Velasquez saying I should have canceled within three days of signing. My daughter has no interest in going back, and I have little hope of getting a refund for two years and four months of classes she will never attend – $4,480, which I paid in advance on a credit card. That’s a high price to pay for a 5-year-old changing her mind.
SAMANTHA HAYDEN
OVIEDO
Dear Samantha: You don’t understand – Master Von Schmeling is doing this for your daughter’s own good. “We are not going to cancel the agreement,” Sandra Velasquez told me rather curtly. “That defeats the whole purpose of the program, which is to make a commitment and stick with it. We teach life skills.” Consider this a pricey lesson in Life Skill No. 1: Never sign a long-term contract for martial-arts lessons for a whimsical 5-year-old. The motto at Victory Martial Arts is, “We are building a stronger America one black belt at a time.” To which I would add, “And teaching hard lessons at $4,480 a pop.”
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-dawson0906aug09,0,3627748.column?track=rss
Piz Doff would like to send out a congratulations to Master Von Schmeling in attaining his 7th degree black belt in ATA TKD!
Check out his site at http://www.victoryma.com/
A quick article about him with an amusing McDonalds analogy he makes himself… http://www.martialinfo.com/articles/article_view.asp?i=202
