Matsumotos Family Martial Arts

I don’t have to give Instructor Paul only one star because he’s well on his way of ruining his teetering, failing business on his own; but I, like many of the other reviewers who posted here, want to warn folks before signing that contract – because it is legal, it is binding, and you will have to pay to the end of the contract (that’s how such things work ;)). But, yeah, I don’t recommend Matsumoto’s House of Martial Arts (Instructor Paul) at all. The first two years of our five year stint were good. The third year, things began to change in terms of the quality of instruction. By the fourth year, we kept questioning if our daughter wanted to stay in it. At the end of the fourth year, we knew we needed to leave soon.
Maybe it started out as his dream, but he lost his passion a few years back, relied on kids/​teens (ages 12 – 17, and all males) to teach classes and run the studio. He had been great with the kids – my daughter was a top student and absolutely loved being in Instructor Paul’s class and good graces – but, his absence was obvious, his passion bled out, and the older teens running things began to move on with their lives. Also, in Instructor Paul’s absence, instruction was not good quality. When Instructor Paul was there, he was not there in energy nor in spirit. He was forgetful, removed, agitated, and completely overwhelmed. He often stayed in the office and he pretty much checked out. We saw a change in how we was with the kids – he developed quite an ego and would preach to/​lecture the kids in an unhelpful, sanctimonious manner. He also began discussing his personal/​marital problems with parents (clients) who were sitting in the studio trying to watch their children practice. It is unfortunate that he was experiencing intense and complex problems at home, but it made it really awkward and uncomfortable to hear his grievances aired so openly and publicly while he was supposed to be teaching a class and guiding junior instructors. You can probably understand why so many folks began to leave and want to break their contracts. It got pretty grim in terms of class sizes (they were much smaller), quality of instruction – and then the one really awesome junior instructor left for the service. That’s when the tiny string holding things together seemed to snap. Luckily we had put in our 6 month notice and were out.
I hope Instructor Paul can either shore it up or make a decision to move on… soon…and not at your personal expense.
Parents should also be aware of the fact that John C is Paul’s friend and former mentor.

My son had been going to «Warrior» for karate for 3 years and was a green belt. He had also been sparring for a year. My experience with Paul Matsumoto (Owner) and his Billing Company was the exact same as the first two reviews. **********PARENTS BEWARE**********