My son is 6 years old. We signed up for karate lessons this past April. As most children, lately he has decided that he doesn't want to continue the lessons as most 6 year olds won't have their attention held for very long. I've also come into some financial hardship I'm a single mom and can't afford the $150 payments each month. i called ATA corporate and they said the only way I can get out of this contract is if I move or if my son gets hurt and can no longer attend. When i went to the first day, this charming sales person made everything sound so great. The only thing he told me about was the up front fee of $150 and the monthly amount. He didn't tell me about what the cost would be every time my son got a new belt after his first 30 classes which is an extra $60. He also didn't tell me that it would be $279 to $400 for my sons equipment and he certainly didn't tell me that I was signing a 3 year commitment. When I asked him about it, he would give me the brush off. So I called corporate and they said that there is no way to let me out of the contract unless I wanted to take karate lessons, i moved or my son got hurt. How can this be legal? The day I signed the contract, I got into a huge fight with my x and I trusted Master M so when he said sign this, I did. I also didn't get a copy of my contract for a week and a half so I didn't know that I could have cancelled it three days later. I honestly thought I was only signing a one year commitment like you would at a gym or something. That's what these places do. They get someone to make everything seem wonderful then blind side you. It's a complete scam and now I'll have to take out a loan just to pay them off. I wouldn't do this again if it was the last thing to do on this earth. These companies should never make someone sign that long of a commitment for a child. Some of these parents bring in children 3 years old. Obviously they are just in it for the money because are they even that stupid to think a 3 year old or 6 year old would want to do this for 3 years? Ridiculous. Complete Scam and disappointed that compannies like this would take adavantage of families when we're all having a rough time with the economy. Total Scam...