Lawyer-fu teacher messes with me

**Mo_Fo** · Posted On: 7/21/2011 11:39am

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What town just outside of LA?

**philmgriffin** · Posted On: 7/21/2011 12:06pm

Originally Posted by deadghost

It has peacock feathers meaning they are open to challenges, and I think they must accept them all.

Simple find a Master of Kung Fu who is also a hopeless drunk then after living in the woods with him for a few months you'll be ready to return and challenge him for the club.

on a more serious note you need to see the contract, If you just stop paying he'll accuse you of being in breach of it and he'll no doubt show you which bits of the contract you are in breach of, if however he can't produce a copy of the contract with your signature on it then you should be ok.

It's more than likely this will end up in court but if he wants to prove you owe him a penny he will have to produce a contract.

Good luck and next time you sign one of these things read it through first and better yet take it home with you so you can consider it in your own time away from there pressurized sales bullshit.

**deadghost** · Posted On: 7/21/2011 8:26pm

Originally Posted by Mo_Fo

What town just outside of LA?

An hour east of Thousand Oaks.

Originally Posted by philmgriffin

Simple find a Master of Kung Fu who is also a hopeless drunk then after living in the woods with him for a few months you'll be ready to return and challenge him for the club.

I'm worried he'll make me sign an expensive three year contract to fuel his alcoholism. Sparring will probably be me defending myself from his drunken rage; granted, that's several steps up from what I've been doing. Besides, this is California, where the hell can I even find woods?

Anyways, I've sent an email requesting a copy of the contract from the instructor. It's probably >50% he'll be lazy or greedy or something and give me some bs excuse.

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 7/21/2011 11:10pm

Originally Posted by deadghost

It's a school in Southern California not too far from LA. It teaches a specific type of traditional kung fu. It has peacock feathers meaning they are open to challenges, and I think they must accept them all. I don't know if other schools of this style are any good, but this one has fallen to the way of McDojoism.

I'll release full details and my experiences there once I have this matter settled.

Open to challenges? Ew....I want the location.

Originally Posted by Mo_Fo

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What town just outside of LA?

Hey Mo Fo, want to go visit this school with me?

**shotfghter** · Posted On: 7/22/2011 1:42am

Deadghost I to have had problems with schools. I was billed about 5 months after after the contract was declared void and we had a verbal agreement to close it, it was $150 a month. I got 300 dollars back from the guy AFTER I got overdraft fees (which he didn't pay for). I also feel pretty bad about your job situation, as I've been there myself.

I've disputed claims with my credit card, they do an investigation, ask for both sides of the story, and then it gets settled. Maybe you should call your credit card company, explain the situation to them, and see what they will say to help you. Moving a certain distance from your original residence also helps, on top of you being injured. This is just out of my personal experience with Dojos/Gyms.

hope things resolve in your favor.

**diducdat?** · Posted On: 7/22/2011 7:43pm

Originally Posted by Omega Supreme

Open to challenges? Ew....I want the location.

Hey Mo Fo, want to go visit this school with me?

I will.

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 7/22/2011 7:47pm

Aren't you in Washington?

**Defense** · Posted On: 7/23/2011 8:19am

I'm an attorney as well (newly minted). If he threatened to ruin your credit, made harassing telephone calls etc., check your state's debt collection laws. Some states have statutes that prohibit certain tactics in order to collect a debt and provide for statutory damages for each violation. If your state has such a statute you could pursue a small claims action for damages or consult with an attorney and bring suit in district court. it may give you some leverage.

**kracker** · Posted On: 7/24/2011 3:53pm

Sounds like he subscribes to the Patenaude/Fanger philosophy of martial arts business management.

**deadghost** · Posted On: 7/24/2011 6:04pm

It's nowhere as bad as Fang Shen Do. It's probably closer to ATA. Rank graduations every 2-3 months where everyone passes, join for a year and you don't get to spar or train weapons while everyone does then they upsell you to the 3 year blackbelt program for an even higher price, expensive but optional seminars, full body armor for the rare light sparring session, etc, etc. I think I saw a check written for a black belt test that was over $1000, which might explain why most blackbelts I've seen were middle aged lawyers and corporate types.

Anyways, it's been three days and I still haven't received a response. I'll give it a few more days before I ask the billing company and send the school a more formal request through certified mail.