I have seen a positive change in both of my kids since they started taking karate here. The instructors are great with the kids, and it is always a fun and safe learning environment. I really like the emphasis on first time listening and self control. read more

Kicks is what a kids activity should be: Positive, encouraging and goal oriented. The staff at this location is very good, with lots of personal attention. It is a year long commitment after a trial period. It is worth the money. My son has been very happy in this program for several years. read more

Awesome staff, friendly, professional, always efficient and on time. No complaints. A fantastic place.

Genuinely caring staff that is incredibly skilled with kids, having fun, getting them to focus, in a positive environment. Has been really good for my kid. read more

This place changed my son's life. Mr Ricky and the instructors provide fantastic instruction, but also great peptalks on bullying, accepting challenge, listening to your parents, and more. My son just got his black belt and the ceremony was amazing. He was at another dojo before. Just can't compare. Trust me on this. read more

If I could give this business negative stars, I would. First, a few facts, yes you sign a contract for nine months. I knew this going in, I read the fine print and knew we could stick it out for the nine months. What I DID NOT REMEMBER ALMOST A YEAR later is that they automatically renew you (with no notice) and that once you go month to month, you cannot simply end the contract, you have to give a 90 day notice. So you have to pay for an additional 90 days, regardless of if you choose to go or not. Is this fair? Is this all in their contract that you read when you sign up? Of course it is. Did I remember that there is a 90 day cancellation fee? Of course not. I assumed once I went month to month, that it was exactly that, month to month. Is the contract on their web site? NO. Other complaints? 1) They let my 8 year old son wander around the Safeway one day after taking him out of a class that he had previously attended. They didn't call me, they offered no explanations. My son was in tears by the time I found him. 2) They have new teachers every couple of months. 3) The classes are over subscribed, there are usually 8-10 kids waiting in the lines to do their "kick". 4) When my son graduated from the 5-7 y.o class to the 8-12 y.o. class he was also demoted in belts and started over with the yellow belt, so the $120 I had paid for the belts over the previous 9 months was completely wasted. Oh wait, I was reminded of the great "sense of accomplishment" my son had by "earning" those $40 belts. 5) The final straw was when we decided to leave, the owner wanted to talk to my son, to try and manipulate him into staying. That's right, give the hard sell to the 8 year old. Bottom line: This business uses underhanded, unethical business tactics so be aware of the financial commitment you are about make. read more

I never post, but my experience with Kicks has been so bad, I feel the need to warn others. Please beware of the contract that you sign. There is a 90 day notice of termination provision that they do not tell you about. When we tried to provide notice in writing via email in late August, they said it had to be a letter (not an email), nor would they take notice in person at the Sangamore location (I tried!). After we wrote the letter, they said that the 90 period had started and our last charges would be for the month of November. November came and went and THEY KEPT CHARGING US! When I noticed this, I filed a dispute with the credit card to refuse to pay the charges. They emailed us and apologized for the mistake, acknowledging that charges shold have ceased in November. I thought all was resolved. Then AMEX wrote me to say that Kicks was continuing to charge us through March!!! I can't believe this. Over $1050.00 in charges for months where my son has not even darkened their door. Either they are incredibly poorly run or dishonest. STAY AWAY!!! read more

Anyone planning on signing their kids up here should be aware that their contracts operate like adult gym contracts, which is very unusual in my experience for kids activities. For example, I signed a four month contract and it auto renewed without any notice to the customer. That in and of itself isn't so bad, but this company requires 60 days notice to cancel even during the auto renewal period (30 days during the pandemic)! So a kid would need to make a decision about canceling a contract two months into the four month contract in order to not be charged extra renewal months. No other kids activity operates like this as far as I am aware. So naturally I forgot about the end of the term and ended up paying for months of auto renewal that my child did not use. This company not only did not give me a credit to use in the future for the extra auto renewal months that I paid (and did not use their service) but I called them to sort this out and they had the nerve to charge me an extra month going forward because the contract now requires advance notice to cancel the auto renewal. Also, a petty point but when I finally did sign the cancellation paperwork the forms they sent me said "[name of child] QUITTING" all over it. Nice touch kicks karate! read more

Kicks Karate has been a positive life change for my family and I. My kids have developed self confidence, listening skills, discipline and made friends through the program. I myself have also been training which has helped keep me physically fit. Instructor Ricky has helped my children overcome challenges out of the karate school such as bullying and test anxiety. Because Kicks has a program that allows your kids to grow up here, we will be lifelong students. read more

We love kicks karate! The teachers and support staff are wonderful--- they took great care in acclimating my preschooler to the school and it's expectations. After just a few months this place feels like a second home. The families are great, sweet kids, and I feel confident that my child is safe and well taken care of the minute I drop him off. Anyone who reviews this place negatively should have read the contract more closely and took the time to ask questions. It was very clear to me what I was signing up for and for how long. Martial arts isn't just an after school activity for a season.... If that's what you're looking for go somewhere else. read more

I signed my boys up at Kicks Karate a year ago and attend twice a week. Mr Ricky and his staff are superb. They offer just the right balance of fun and discipline and provide such a positive learning environment for their karate kids. Mr RIcky and his staff are a gift to this community . I can't rate them highly enough . read more

My daughter has been taking karate classes for a couple months now and its great to see how quickly she has caught on. She recently had a belt exam and it was the cutest thing ever. We used this opportunity to instill that you need to work very hard if you want to achieve something. She is 4! The instructors there are amazing and very good with the kids. They make an effort to get to know the children and their names. Mr.Ricky - Director is awesome as well. Very outgoing and personable. I am very happy with the school and will continue to send my daughter there for classes. I just wish the classes were 45 minutes/1 hour, but we only live across the street so its convenient to go twice a week for 30 minutes. read more

I have had nothing but positive experiences at Kicks Karate on Sangamore Rd. The staff is professional, attentive and they truely care about their students. Some of the classes can be a little crowded but it doesnt disrupt the lesson, the staff really have great control over the kids and the kids LOVE it. It surprises me to read the negative review as the reviewer seems to be very angry about paying for 90 days after you give notice to quit. On the contract, it is bolded in a box that you need to initial. Nothing much different than any other gym. I highly recommend this school. read more

The other reviews here say it all. Too many kids and a ridiculous cancellation policy (somehow I missed the 90 day cancellation policy when registering -- they certainly did not go out of their way to point it out and it probably just never occurred to me that they could have such a thing. In my experience, when a kid is done with something, he or she is done. Kids don't give 90 day notice and so parents end out paying hundreds of dollars for a lot of time not used. When I complained, the manager actually tried to convince me that it was a benefit they offer to parents since many kids mistakenly think they want to quit based on one bad day but the 90 day thing forces them to rethink their decision and many end up staying with the program. Ridiculous! Again, they definitely were not talking up that great "benefit" at registration). I also agree with the other reviewer that they will try to talk directly with your kid to convince him or her to stay with the program (which is highly inappropriate unless a parent specifically asks them to do so) and one time the manager actually ran down the sidewalk to catch up with us after a session to compliment my son on his progress which seemed nice at the time but i suspect that my son's obvious waning enthusiasm for the program and the presence of his 2 older brothers (i.e. prospective clients!) had a lot to do with it. The actual instruction was fine, but nothing exceptional. We have done other programs and the instruction at Kick's was no different (which is actually what helped to pull my rating up from 1 star to 2 -- if the instruction was as bad as the administrative stuff, this place would definitely be a 1 star value for the money) read more

The people who have complained about the contract here are 100% off base. When you sign up they make it very clear the purpose of the policy and why it is in place. My son thought about quitting when he was 7, but we encouraged him to give it a little longer and with a little help from the instructors he was able to turn it around and now is totally focused on obtaining his black belt. I am also in the adult class which is a great way to challenge yourself mentally and physically as an adult. I am guessing that those who complained about the policy just didn't pay attention when they signed up. Calling something a scam just because you didn't like it isn't fair. Its a scam if people lie to you and take advantage of you, but that doesn't happen here. Every instructor is passionate about martial arts and cares about the kids, and takes it very personally that they succeed not only in karate but they also teach life lessons along the way. Can't recommend this place more. And sure, know that if you want to leave you have to give 90 day's notice. Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of life! read more

I will mirror the same thing that many others have said about the contract. It is a total scam from the moment you walk in. It's expensive, sure but we were ok with that. I will say the instructors were generally very good and we were willing to deal with the expense and the extra "nickel and diming" of $80 every 3 months (on top of the $300/month) for the 2 kids to stay "motivated" and move through the belt tests. My child committed to this at 5 years old and stuck with it for 4 years. When she decided she wanted to try something different, we were stuck with paying an additional 3 months from the time we gave notice to quit! She hasn't attended at all in at least 6 weeks, she no longer enjoyed it and wasn't happy, but when she made the final decision and we cancelled we were still held to the additional 60 day cancellation policy (which is not clear at all in the contract) plus an additional month because even though we gave verbal notice before the beginning of the following month, we didn't sign the paperwork until 4 days later so that month "didn't count" (this was only because this was when we finally got a call back to tell us that's what we needed to do to cancel). It's such a shame bc I think the majority of the staff actually do care about the kids, but when I get fed garbage like "the 60 day cancellation policy is to keep the kids motivated" I really get offended! It's really disgraceful that a company that's supposed to be about motivating and encouraging kids feels ok with this policy of ripping off the parents! Shame on Kicks and Mr. Ricky for trying to feed the parents this garbage! It makes me really question his integrity as well. read more