Worst experience we've ever had.
This place almost…read moredestroyed my kids' interest in the sport to the point where they didn't even want to try another studio afterward. First off, Nick is far too aggressive to teach children. With older teens or adults--yes--but not with young kids. This is a contact sport and naturally involves some aggression (he made that clear in his opening speech after noticing two new kids in class), but teaching skills, respect, and discipline are fundamental to martial arts. That was completely missing here.
During our trial period (which we will not be completing), Nick was teaching alone while managing large groups of children. There was no support staff, no assistants, and little to no ability for small-group or one-on-one guidance. My kids learned the "rules" by being yelled at. Our very first class happened to be promotion night, with the last 30 minutes devoted to belt testing--something we were never informed of, my son sat down during this time and Nick yelled at him that he would have "a girl kick his ass" if he sat down again during class. When my kids received instruction, it was followed by Nick yelling at them for not getting it the first time, even telling them he didn't have time to keep showing them. When we arrived for our trial, no one greeted us, introduced the studio, or explained expectations. At other studios, it's common to have helpers who work with kids individually, showing them how to properly execute and refine their moves. Here, there was none of that. (Recommend RiceBros to check out Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas as a model for an excellent children's program).
Another major issue is that Nick allows his son to train in the children's class. His son is extremely aggressive--especially against kids with only a couple of lessons. When we raised concerns, Nick immediately defended his son. Yet, multiple students and parents came up to us afterward to apologize, saying they also felt Nick was wrong. They agreed his son is too aggressive and lacks respect for both the sport and his opponents. Parent/child dynamics in coaching are always tricky, but in this case, it was handled very poorly. In my opinion, this studio needs to hire more help and establish structure before continuing to train them children.
On a side note, my fiancé tried the adult class and had a good experience (and why I provided 2 stars), which suggests Nick may be better suited for working with adults. But for kids, his temperament, lack of support, and disorganized setup make this a very poor environment.