If you treat martial arts like an industry, then like in any other industry, you will find unscrupulous, negligent, or even downright dangerous people. I've written before about news cases where martial arts instructors didn't think as carefully as they should. Here are some excerpts from a couple of recent articles where you see more of these types of behavior...
October 30, 2008 SAN DIEGO – ...co-owner of a Ramona martial arts studio pleaded guilty Thursday in in federal court to possession of child pornography ... William Joseph Hazlitt entered the guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge William McCurine Jr. Hazlitt, a 27-year-old karate instructor, was arrested in September by FBI agents and sheriff's deputies … the defendant admitted having a computer containing more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts...could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing hearing … scheduled for Jan. 20, 2009..NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- Parents are angry with a martial arts business they said owes them thousands of dollars after several schools closed. [These parents apparently purchased a $3600 lifetime membership for their 4-year old child, complete with all the uniforms, equipment, etc... that the child would need for his lifetime practice.] …but the center closed in September. Another studio in Zionsville also closed, as did one in Carmel with no explanation... In 2006, the Indiana Attorney General's Office accused Champion Martial Arts owner Johnathon Stowe of deceiving and misleading customers in northern Indiana. Stowe agreed to a court order and made $20,000 in refunds in that incident. More than a dozen new families said they are out tens of thousands of dollars. "These are new situations, so we're investigating those and we hope they'll be forthcoming and remedy these things for consumers," said Attorney General Steve Carter. "If not, they will likely face a lawsuit by the attorney general's office."
so the moral of the story is... be careful who you entrust your child to.
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