CPA MMA not only has a "No Parents Allowed" policy, but they have repeatedly shown a willingness to attack and malign anyone who disagrees with them.
When we signed up, we were explicitly told that we could watch our child during classes except when they were testing. For over nine months, my wife, my mother, and I would take our child to class, and then sit in the section we'd been told we could sit at. Every time I went, I would sit quietly and read a book or work on my laptop.
I was approached twice to leave. The first time, they told me they were testing, but told me I could move to a different part of the building, out of sight of the kids. I did so willingly and without complaint.
The second time, several months later, I was told to leave. I asked why, and when they explained they were testing, I said "okay" and immediately left the building. I will fully admit I probably looked anxious. I hadn't expected to be kicked out and it caught me off guard. But I never argued and left the building without complaint.
The third time, a male instructor I'd never met before (who I now know is Ryan Gruhn), approached me and told me parents weren't allowed in the building. I was confused, because I'd never heard of the policy before (except for testing, which they weren't doing). When I questioned him about it, he told me that the next class I would have to drop my child off and leave the building. I told him we would probably cancel our membership, because it is important to us as parents that we be able to observer our children in all their activities.
If you want to find this "No Parents Allowed" policy, you have to search carefully on their website. It's not on their policy pages, nor in any of their FAQs, nor in their program descriptions (all of which we read). It's in their Announcements section (the place where they announce upcoming events and changes). However, they emailed these same Accouncements without the "No Parents Policy", so it never occurred to us that we would have to look on their website to find a policy we knew nothing of.
This is the policy I unwittingly violated for almost a year, without ever knowing it existed. I was only ever told that I couldn't be in the building during testing.
That night, I received a hostile email accusing me of repeatedly defying both staff and policy, and accused me of acting belligerent and disrespectful toward women.
I'll admit. That shook me. I don't recall ever treating anyone with disrespect, and it bothers me that may have inadvertently done so.
We cancelled our membership, and my wife wrote a balanced 3-star review (since demoted to 1-star after their response). From our point of view, we never had issues with the staff we interacted with. While we now prefer our current Martial Arts studio, we would have continued with CPAMMA were it not for their no-parents-allowed policy and their hostile emails.
In the end, it is their repeated attempts to attack my character and paint me as some kind of dangerous person that drove me to write this review. I would argue such aggressive attacks are a troubling sign. Be wary. They claim to respect others, then do everything in their power to malign those who disagree with them.
-- Update & Response --
Ignorance is not defiance, and the private emails you blasted on the internet shows I had no idea of the policy.
Both times I was asked to leave/move, I did. I never argued. I only asked why and when I was told it was due to testing, I immediately complied with their request (and the policy as I knew it). Once the full policy was clarified, I fully complied with it as well. I never confronted them or tried to intimidate anyone.
And of course I apologized for making anyone uncomfortable, even if it was unintentional. It's basic human decency to apologize for causing others discomfort, not an admission of guilt.
CPA MMA is fully willing to release private emails in an attempt to gas light someone. This is not the behavior of someone who...
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