US Blackbelt Academy

My daughter, who just turned 8, had no previous experience and has only been attending USBA for a couple of months. Our brief time at the academy has been nothing but positive. The Kravitz’s have been very welcoming to my daughter as a new student. She is being challenged both mentally and physically and is really enjoying the classes. The only down side for us is that she plays travel club basketball, so she hasn’t been able to attend any of the camps or extra activities. I’m sure I’ll be able to elaborate more on our experiences once my daughter gets more time «under her belt». (Sorry, couldn’t resist) :)

My son is 3 years old and has been attending USBA for about 5 months. The instructors are so good with the kids. Since starting here my son is more respectful, patient, and focused. They have conversations with the kids about listening to their parents and teachers as well as the importance of doing well in school. Overall I feel very grateful to the instructors (Arnold and Freddy) for the time and effort they put into helping me instill good values and a strong sense of respect for others. Any concerns I have had about my son have always been addressed. In fact on two separate occasions I have asked the instructors to talk to my son as a result of him getting in trouble for not keeping his hands to himself at school. I was very impressed at how receptive my son was and more importantly how effective their one on one talk was. His behavior in preschool has improved dramatically! The negative reviews on here are quite surprising to me as I do not have a singe negative thing to say. In fact I too have had to cancel my membership and had no trouble at all. Rachel Kravitz (the owner) was very accommodating about our cancellation and was very understanding of our reasons. We will definitely miss going to USBA but plan on re enrolling in the future. I definitely recommend this studio!

My Son has been going to USBA in Laguna Niguel now for over 2 years — about 2.6 years. He is now a Blue Belt.
We are very happy with USBA the instructors and the Kravitz family who owns this facility. I initially joined b/​c I was having problems with my Son’s behavior. This has helped him tremendously. The owners are very receptive to feedback. I’ve talked to Rachel Kravitz about concerns with my Son and they have always addressed them with him. The Kravitz’s and their staff do work with each kid trying very hard to address their needs.
For those of you who have concerns about the billing — don’t forget this is a business. The billing takes place through a 3^rd party agency. When you sign a contract you need to read it. It is your responsibility to notify the billing agency of upcoming moves, changes, etc; NOT the business owners. Take responsibility for goodness sakes! I can’t imagine that you would tell your Landlord you were moving & then throw a fit b/​c the Landlord did not cancel your electric, gas, water & re-​hook you up! Come on now!
I am a Single Mom of 3 kids. One child has special needs. I have had invasive breast cancer twice. The second time the worst while my Son attended USBA. They were GREAT. Understanding, sympathetic, helpful.
I have another Daughter that attended class there for 10 weeks: SuperFit for Kids, as well as myself. There classes are fantastic. As an adult you get a «personal trainer» essentially in these classes. Do you have ANY IDEA what that costs you at the gym? You would spend about $ 500 a week for the SAME service the same workout,.
Thank you USBA, for your outstanding consistency and integrity with my children’s lessons, your class schedules, and your excellent staff.

USBA is great school for people who are serious about martial arts. My wife, daughter and I all attend classes here many times a week.
Master Kravitz teaches that hard work is required to achieve goals. Nothing is handed to you. If you want your butt kissed this is not where you want to go. The people that go here regularly love it and the people working here. Its a place to train and learn (and have a few laughs.)
Mr Arnold is an amazing teacher to the kids. They all respect him greatly and love his jokes! My daughter loves coming to classes here and looks forward to them every week. They set goals for them and they must EARN them.
If you are serious about learning martial arts or want to get in shape with their Superfit classes this is the school to be at. Real world training for the real world, not just the OC.

This place is absolutely awesome. I had never tried any type of martial arts but really wanted to give it a try. I spent a lot of time looking up different places. USBA had the best hours, nicest location/​facility, and was in the right price range of what I was looking for. I met with Rachel (her and her husband are the owners), took a tour, and asked a million questions, in which she answered all of them, patiently and honestly. She recommended that I watch a class to get an idea of what I’d be doing and offered to give me a private lesson. After I was pretty much in love with everything about the place, I wanted to review the Unilocal recommendations. When I did, I was disappointed, changed my mind, and decided not to bother with the free lesson. For a week I thought about everything from my initial visit there (which was great) to how I felt about the warnings in the reviews. I decided to trust my intuition and if I got screwed, it would be my own fault. I AM SOOOO GLAD I WENT WITH MY GUT !!! I can’t explain how nice, helpful, patient, and experienced these guys are. Not to mention, COMPLETELY professional. I kid you not, the amount of time they spend teaching you, making sure you’re not only understanding the moves, but helping you perfect them is just amazing. Rachel also knew that I was a little shy about being with the guys when I started so she took the class WITH me, just so we could be partners. That’s totally going above and beyond! Glad I found USBA and saw for myself what a great place it is!

What can I say… I have been at USBA for over seven years. My son started when he was 4 and went through to age 8, followed by my daughter. She is 8 and working toward her Blackbelt. She has gained focus, confidence, and perseverance. She has learned that practice is mandatory in order to learn. What an invaluable lesson. She looks forward to the jui jutsu classes because of the tech inquest she learns. The instructors put forth a ton of effort and take the time to explain the moves. She loves the instructors and wants to show the her improvement from week to week.
I myself have been in the kickboxing program for 7 years. I started out just wanting a workout and have been able to get much more than that. Throughout the years, the classes have changed, which makes it great for me, as I need a change up every once in a while. I have just started the Muay Thai kickboxing class. It is technical, slow, and still I leave feeling as if I have learned something. Plus i get a great workout. I still have a ton to learn. That is why I keep coming back. The instruction is top notch and the guest speakers are a bonus. Thanks USBA!

This place is anything but professional by the owner. I did enjoy working with some of the staff but the owner is just a dirtbag. He was constantly trying to pull me in his office upstairs to make out but I was married and not interested. He constantly crossed the line trying to grope the females. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Of course he tries to look out for his wife who also works there but mostly she wasn’t there at night so it gave him opportunity. And the sexual comments needed to stop. He even spoke to me online inappropriately in which I still keep the conversations in case he ever tries to deny it. It was an uncomfortable situation and I remember the day I told him I was leaving the gym word for word. We were doing jiu jitsu and he literally grabbed my behind and I said «get it while you can because I’m leaving this place.» He immediately got upset and accused me of being «too good» for his gym. I respoded with «yes I am!» When I went to cancel, they gave me the run around just like the other Unilocalers said. They said I had to talk to the owners wife but she was never in and the girl who helped me sign up couldn’t help me cancel. It was actually at the end of my contract too and they still did this! So I was smart and just told my bank not to let them take any money from me and that’s how I handled it. After that, the owner wanted nothing to do with me, thank god. And he’s still pretending to be my ex husband’s best pal but little does he know the truth about this guy. He’s lucky I just canceled and didn’t give him a sexual harassment lawsuit instead. Thankfully I go to a great gym now in Lake Forest and work with complete professionals who are there to teach and not take advantage of the students. If anyone is looking for a good gym with quality instruction, I can recommend Reign Training Center in Lake Forest. Best workouts I’ve even had and I feel much more confident in my skills, let alone feeling comfortable!

My son has now been going here on a weekly basis for about 4 months and he loves it. He really looks up to Sean and Mr. Arnold. I could not have asked for a better school for him to attend. my son looks forward every week, and is now studying his moves at home, even in the shower. Funny hearing him yell in the shower, jab, cross, hook, upper cut. any how ido not understand the negative reviews as when his first promotional offer was coming to an end, Mrs. Rachel went out of her way to make sure that they offered me a price that I could afford, and with that I am really appreciated of. If I could give more stars I would. thank you again for all that you guys do.

I have been in the Muay Thai Kickboxing program since 2008 (a lot of the same members are there too) I love my workouts! The price is great considering they have classes 6 days a week! morning or evening and can attend all of them. I have never been pressured to buy a thing! If you want sweat and get strong at the same time this this an amazing workout.

If I could give this place negative stars, I would. I actually signed up for Unilocal to warn people about the fine print in their ‘contracts’. When I first joined, I really enjoyed the place. Great programs & workouts. A bit pricey, but friendly staff & knowledgeable instructors. Then I became a big sales game to them. Upgrade to our full MMA program, you need new gear, you need to attend more classes, etc. If you missed a class they would hound you with calls & want to know details of why you didn’t come, etc. It became very uncomfortable. Life happens, extracurricular activities can’t always be your priority when you have work & family. They continued to harass me and try to get me to sign up for more programs and challenges. I stopped attending classes and just waited till my contract was up to end it and they still charged my credit card after I gave sufficient notice. I also received calls and letters from the third party that they used to charge ‘tuition’ for the classes. I explained that my contract was up & they needed to leave me alone. I finally had to take things up with my bank/​credit card company. If they really cared about teaching martial arts and people, the wouldn’t use a company like this or have shady contracts. I understand needing to run a business, but do it with some class & appreciation for your customers/​students. I completely understand why people on here have written the same reviews as me. Everything was peachy until you had other priorities, moved or couldn’t afford their class/​equipment charges. Wait till one of the happy reviewers has to move or is over martial arts, they might want to change the amount of stars they originally gave. It was just so disappointing when this place came so highly recommended by others… one of the good recommendations moved away and then regretted signing up as well! I would suggest finding a dojo local to you without big contracts. LA Boxing is much less expensive & offers great kickboxing classes pretty much in every city with tons of workout times. They are just as great!

Nothing but nice things to say about this place. Costs are just about the same as I paid up north. I’ve had no issues with fees, additional charges, or pressure to enroll in more classes. The instructors have helped my son with controlled behavior and confidence. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

WHile the instructors at this business are Ok, it is mainly out for your money. they push additional fee classes hard, and want you to buy sparring and other equipment from them at inflated prices. Worst if you try and quit, they have your credit card information and will keep charging it long after you are gone. I had to cancel my card to get it to stop. They preach ethics, honesty integrity. The owners have little of that. Master Kravitz needs to keep the cash coming in to pay for the M3 I suppose.

The US Blackbelt Academy in Laguna Niguel is very pleasant when signing up and while attending, but if you move or need to cancel for ANY reason, good luck! Be sure to read the fine print and be sure your child is committed and that you are not planning on moving.
They make it difficult to cancel and tell you its their billing companie’s policy or «refer to your contract». They are more concerned about charging your credit card and sticking you with auto-​renewing 6 month contracts. We are moving and had to give them 30 days notice plus we still need to provide proof of our move to their billing company in order to stop future charges and terms. Major hassle to cancel and it should be a friendly program in our community, not a racket. When we signed up we told them we may be moving and that we were concerned about the contract. They told us not to worry and just give a 30 day notice.
We recently received the following letter from their billing company:
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Educational Funding Company
4740 Chevy Chase Drive, Suite 200
Chevy Chase, MD. 20 815
Please be informed that the contract received in this offfice is with an understanding that it is non-​cancelable and non-​refundable, subject to the consumer rights. However, if you move your residence more than 25 miles away from the school facility, this membership can be transferred to any U.S. Martial Arts Center in the U.S.A. or any other school with which Educational Funding Company has an agreement, allowing transfer of students. Therefore, all payments that are due through the date of your move must be paid.
Please send us a copy of the followings indicating your new address as proof of move.
1) Copy of current Utility Bill (Gas, Electricity, Water & Telephone bill)
2) Copy of School/​College registration form or tranfer form (if applicable)
3) Copy of Drivers license issued recently after your move.
Cancellation under this clause requires 30 days payment to close as per student enrollment agreement.
If you have any questions concerning this letter or the above account, please contact this office.
Sincerely,
Contract Office
Educational Funding Company
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This place is totally just out for your money. They will promise you a thousand things in the beginning, and then never fulfill them. Help with confidence? No. Accountability for grades? No. Positive role models? No. Then they will sign you up for the Black Belt Club, charge you extra for that, and then charge you a $ 300 sneak fee when you try to drop out. Then, they will conveinently «forget» to file your disenrollment fees so that you wind up paying for another month or two (i can vouch for this, and personally give you the name of 3 other mothers that they did this too as well). Worst part is– they lie to you and they lie to the community that supports them. They are NOT in this for your children, they will NOT help you when you come to them in a time of total family crisis, they are only in it for the money. Do not go there, ever. Go anywhere else in Laguna Niguel. Just not here.