I recently just removed my child from DCMA. Its as bad as the reviews say. My first class that I watched my child in was less than impressive. The first thing I noticed was the higher belts had lousy form. They could hardly do the kicks properly.
Second issue, why are the students, who cant perform moves properly themselves, teaching the lower belts? I had big issues with this. On top of that, they showed the kids one time, and then they all line up and wait to try. There was no teaching of technique at all. The poor white belts were just going through the motions and had no idea if they were doing it properly. He teaches the class as a whole. Why arent the white belts and lower belts seperated to be taught basic techniques instead of throwing them in with blue, red, and black belts to perform the same moves? Dont you have to learn how to walk before you can run? Shouldnt you learn a basic kick before doing roundhouse hurricane kicks? Not so at DCMA.
I found it hilarious when Dan walked around and marked all the belts of the students for testing. Half of the white belts still dont have the slightest clue about what they are doing. I rarely ever see Dan teach. All he really does is walk around the parents, stay in his office, and only comes out to talk to the kids at the end of the class. Even at that, he talks so low that I couldnt hear him a few feet away from the stands and there is no way the poor kids in the back could hear him either.
Dan seems like a nice person and the instructors were nice but I sent my child to learn martial arts. I dont want my child to progress strictly for positive reinforcement. I want my child to progress because he deserves it and earned it. A yellow, brown, blue, red, and even black belt is simply a colored piece of fabric. Without the skills, it means nothing.