Kimling’s Academy of Martial Arts

Disorganized, mom professional, a belt factory — they just want your money! Not a school for adults. Ungrateful owners who don’t give a crap and only want your money!

As the previous review posted, be very careful when handing over your money to this program. It is owned by a husband and wife team, who feels they can keep your money, even if they have not earned it. My daughter did cheer leading at their facility. They force you to have your $ 35 payment taken directly out of your bank account each month. This payment is strictly a facility fee, and is above and beyond the lesson cost. When my daughter got injured, and could no longer cheer, her coach told her he would take care of stopping the auto pay. 8 months later, I was still being charged. When I asked for a refund, since the facility was completely aware my daughter had left, I was told that was not their policy and they would only offer me that dollar amount in classes. However, I was also told that they could not keep track of all the kids in their program, since there were so many. I would not feel comfortable trusting my child to a program that did not know which children they were in charge of. There are many martial arts programs in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano and Oakland Park, fl… Choose another…

Well…
THE GOOD: I used to live nearby and regularly went for boxing lessons. I also took one Tae Kwon Do lesson with the included uniform. I couldn’t really afford both, so I stayed with boxing, because it’s such an intense overall aerobic workout and the instructor is very dedicated and available — very cool guy. The Tae Kwon Do teachers are great too. There’s actually a female instructor who used to have really bad back problems in the past and is now, not only practicing the sport, but *teaching* it, which I thought was pretty admirable. Also, if you have kids, they have an after-​school program that is great. It’s a great gym for adults and kids alike, with an actual boxing ring, huge gymnastics area and huge, well padded Tae Kwon Do area with mirrors and well illuminated. The facilities are clean and this place is right next to a Winn-​Dixie supermarket in a strip mall with plenty of parking.
THE BAD & THE UGLY: The reason I don’t give it a higher rating is that I paid a lot of money in boxing lessons, and when I was ready to move to California, they decided they’d keep my money even if I didn’t take the lessons amidst the fact I would no longer BE in Florida… That is NOT the boxing instructor’s fault; but I think in general, if as a business you’re willing to keep a few dollars that someone else moving cross-​country needs more than you do, and have no gratitude for the business they gave you, AND not consider that it takes 1 person to discourage *at least* 1 more from trying your business, then you definitely are not an exceptional business nor deserve a 4 or 5 star review.
To top it, amidst the fact that I cancelled my membership with a bad taste in my mouth, they still kept me on their mailing list; so every now and then I have to see an e-​mail message from them in my inbox although I’m not a customer anymore. Meh…
THE SUMMARY: Great gym for kids and adults alike, but read the fine print. If you’re going to cancel your lessons, have post-​its and iPhone reminders of your deadline because they will not care if you eat canned tuna for a month as long as they get their money.