Can not even begin to understand the 3 Start rating. Kicks Urbana is WAY better than that! My girls started taking classes there almost 2 years ago and it's been nothing but amazing the whole time. The staff is great, the classes are and skills are age appropriate, so my youngest has lots of fun and encouragement while my oldest daughter gets a stricter, more structured class with tons of great feedback on how to improve. She just got her purple belt and keeps saying she wants to be one of their instructors when she gets her black belt. When our younger daughter decided to stop going, there wasn't any problems, billing immediately ended. No-one pressured us to stay, they just asked a few questions about why she was stopping. They wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem with the class or instructors. There wasn't, she just wanted to go back to doing dance, and we couldn't juggle the schedule for both. They're always doing fun events for the kids, special classes around Halloween, 'Bring A Friend' classes, Ninja Nerf, Mr. Daniels Birthday Party........ My wife and I even tried their adult fitness classes for a while too, they were FANTASTIC! I wish I could have found a way to keep going, but with my work schedule it just didn't fit. I only ever got to 1 class a week. Can't recommend Kicks Karate enough! Mr. Daniel, Mr. Brandon, Ms. Christina, Mr. Tumbe (sorry, I know I spelled that SO wrong), Ms. Arianie (you too) and everyone else there are just the best. Wouldn't take my girls anywhere else. read more

The staff is really friendly. The concept is nice but they really don't hold the kids accountable. My kid has taken karate in another location who actually taught discipline and held them accountable for things like not being in proper uniform. This place is a joke. They care about the next dollar. Your typical chain organization. Corporate is rude and not comforting at all. Contract ended still charged for another month because I forgot to sign a document. Aren't giving me a refund so a waste of $134.00. Very disappointing....not recommended at all. Their true colors show when you don't want to stay! read more

Terrible business. Do not send your kid here- especially if he/she is on the fence. They charge you reoccurring payments even if you say you only want to be charged one month up front. It's very shady business. Not family friendly. Not upfront or honest. Take your money elsewhere! read more

Program was ok for a while but then there were two big problems. First was they must have went recruiting at a special needs behavior problem school because suddenly there were special needs kids in the classes with behavior problems. That's fine if the instructors know how to work with them, but, they don't. The special needs kids bothered other students and disrupted class often. I gave them 3 months notice that we were going to leave and stop going after 2 and a half months. These people basically harassed me to try to get me to keep my kid there and then they tried some real shady stuff of having a paper I needed to sign to quit and not telling me about it until 2 days before I would've been locked in for another 3 months. Very crooked considering I had told them 3 months prior that I would be quitting and we hadn't been there in a week and a half. Manager tried to tell me I told him some stuff that I never said so then since he is a liar, I tried to call Kicks corporate and they wouldn't talk to me at all. Had to make a special trip to go sign the paper after my kid had already stopped going to classes. It would've been better if we had totally avoided this place. read more

Our son has been going to Kicks Karate for over a year and we absolutely love the instructors. They are positive, respectful, and responsive to all the children. Ever class is different and our son learns something new. This is a great class to instill self confidence, discipline, and focus for a child. Highly recommend! read more

I'm a kickboxing student at this location and I have to say it's a great school with excellent, passionate instructors who will really push you. You're not just $$ to them. The whole team there, from the top down, really want you to be your best self! read more

I'm so glad our girls fell in love with this place and the people. It's been phenomenal to see them grow and learn and demonstrate discipline and respect. Our oldest just earned her black belt and we could not be more proud. Mr. Lee and Mr. London are amazing and truly care about the kids and their growth. Would recommend this place in particular to anyone. read more

I was a member of Kicks Karate since I was 4 years old and ended up receiving my black belt at 11 years old. I returned to karate at the Urbana location and have considered it my second home for a while. The management of the Urbana location is wonderful. They treated me like family and I grew as a person learning the ways of the real world. The team is extremely versatile and can gear their classes towards all types of kids. They do their best to accommodate parents, kids, adults without kids, and teenagers. I will always recommend this location to others who are interested in enrolling their children, or adults who want a way to get fit and learn to protect themselves. Great job everybody! read more

Amazing place. Truly recommend. My kid loves it. The amount of care that they put to teach the kids is one of a kind. I'm thankful for all the hard work they put on all the kids. read more

I love kickboxing at Urbana Kicks Karate! The instructors are welcoming, professional, and keep the class interesting. I have never been a gym person and after 3 years of my boys attending karate there I decided to do something for myself. Best decision I ever made. It's fun! read more

I was given two free month passes by a friend. I called to use them this week and the manager, Lee, said okay come in early and we will go over enrollment options. I asked him specifically, "Can I still use the free month?" He said "Yes, there are just a number of different ways you can use it." I arrive and there is no time to talk enrollment options, so he asked my friend and myself to sign waiver form and head into the classroom. At least I got an intense work out because the A.C. wasn't turned on until the end of class, so I was sweating so bad. There were no water break. Plus half the time the music had a slower rhythm that poorly synced with the fast paced movements that were asked to be performed. After the class, he sat down with us and mentioned that the free month is no longer valid. I mentioned this was not explained on the phone, at all. His response was, "yeah I didn't know what you were talking about, so I checked afterwards with my associate and he said this promotion isn't valid." THIS IS BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Will not be going back. read more

I hope Roger, who reviewed this place has a perfect kid cause those exist right? Kids have different attention frames not all are going to be paying attention and right on with anything. We've been taking my son here for 3 months and my son LOVES it! They are amazing teachers and he has a blast going to the Tiny Tigers class. They run obstacles, learn kicks, punches, eye contact, count in Korean (my kid is counting in Korean!!). The manager Ryan is great, he was so helpful with all of our questions. If you have a high energy child that may need some structure this is the place! Give it a good month. Also we started off through the community program 8wks at a set price so that we didn't have to sign a contract right away. After that 8 wks we signed the 6 month contract. He is still going strong and this type of discipline and structure has improved his listening & behavior skills so much. Again, all kids are up and down with their behavior and I have not seen every child be perfect. They all rotate behavior each class, the star kid will act up mid class or the next. That is how kids are and the teachers will defiantly handle them and have them sit down if they don't listen but not in a way that scares or is mean to the child at all. read more

My family an I LOVE this place . The teachers are friendly an know what they are doing . For the not so nice person that gave it 1 star ....I feel bad for you . if you can sit here an write such a negative report due to special needs children in the class . I think you should sit back an see how bad you make your self look . Everyone should be treated with respect . Almost everyone has some kid of disability of some sort . Just because a child had ADD, ADHD or Autism or anything like that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be there learning . It is good to see that parents are trying to help make these children feel like they are the same as children without special needs. So I would step back an take a long hard look at yourself . Reflect on what you have just said .Remember karma is a Bit** . The next child that you may have could be born with special needs . These teachers do the best that they can . You can't predict what children will do . I give props to all the teachers . read more

STILL CHARGING MY CREDIT CARD!! I have in writing from them that they will not be charging my credit card. But they still are. When I went to discuss, the instructor insulted me, made my kid cry and called the cops. read more

If you are even half on the fence about your kid joining a karate program, don't do it here. The management is very geared toward policies and not flexible if your child looses interest. Instruction is okay, but management not family friendly. We basically had the same experience as Roger B. They kept charging us after our child lost interest and they would not refund our money after our child had not be in their facility for 6 months. We felt very taken advantage of and they had no mind to even care. read more

We love Kicks Karate of Urbana. Both of my girls started taking classes about 4 years ago. My oldest will be taking her black belt test this weekend. The Urbana location is a bit out of our way but we would never transfer to a location closer to home because we love the staff. I'm always amazed at how the instructors know all of the kids first names, especially Master Lee. The Little Ninjas class is great for the younger kids to get the wiggles out but also learn about self-control. All of the kids have a smile on their faces and are having fun. The children's classes are more structured but the kids still have fun. They have an informational lesson or a theme for the month that teaches the children about responsibility, respect, stranger danger, bullying and so much more. I've even used some of the lessons at home when dealing with my girls. Kicks Karate and the staff have given my girls self-confidence and I'm so glad I signed them up. I'm proud to say that they can defend themselves if they need to and can also be a positive role model through the lessons they have learned. I highly recommended Kicks Karate of Urbana. read more

First of all, it is a big mistake to use their facility for a birthday party. They charge $200 for an empty room and a half an hour of instructor time to play games with the kids. They don't even provide card tables--we had to bring our own from home--and the only chairs are the benches around the edge of the room. We had to clean up by ourselves, and even feed the instructor. There are much better places locally to have parties. Given what you get for the money, it would have been far better for us to have our party at home. read more