![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I would never have believed this if it hadn't happened to me.
No, this is not the start of a letter to Penthouse.
Labor Day weekend, we did some renovations on the dojo. We took a bunch of the old crap off the walls that had been put there by the previous owners, repainted everything, re-arranged the "visitor/office" section, got custom shelves put into the storage room. The place looks AMAZINGLY better now, and I am incredibly grateful to all of the students and other instructors who gave up part of their holiday weekend to come out and help with it.
At one point, the Wing Chun instructor asks me if we have anyone teaching classes there on Sunday nights. I figured he was looking to expand his class offerings, and told him no, it's open if he'd like it. He gets this VERY surprised look on his face and tells me that according to his second-in-command, a local martial artist known as "Quan" is teaching classes at our place. He gave me the link to the guy's web site, and sure enough, he listed us as one of his three locations around town, and there's even a photograph of him leading a class in our dojo.
Needless to say, I was both flabbergasted and infuriated! The very idea that someone would do that is completely alien to me. Not only that he would do it, but that one of the other "legitimate" instructors at our school would either provide him with a key or actively be letting him teach the class and lock up after him just made me feel ... betrayed.
I considered a number of options, from walking in the door during one of his classes, locking the door behind me, and beating the crap out of him in front of all his students, to simply calling the police and having him and possibly even his students arrested for trespassing. (The class schedule is posted on the door, so yes, I do hold the students accountable as well -- if your class is there legitimately, why isn't it on the schedule?)
After talking it over with my attorney (who also happens to be my father -- makes for much easier access to legal advice!), I decided on something closer to the latter. So I talked to the police, they told me to go by the school when his class is supposed to be in session, and if he's there I shouldn't even go inside but should simply call them.
Sadly, I think he may have gotten tipped off. He was at the school that Sunday, but only as part of the last legitimate class of the day, and when that one ended he left along with the rest of them. Since I couldn't have him arrested, I decided I was by-God going to talk to him. He assured me that what was on his web site was misleading, that he's not actively teaching there (a lie, I'm convinced but can't prove). I pointed out that he has a photograph of himself teaching classes in there, and he says that was just a seminar that [legit instructor] brought him in to do (another lie, but again one I can't prove).
I told him to take down the stuff on his site saying he's using our space, which he has done. I suspect what will happen is that he will "lay low" for a while then be back again, once he thinks he can get away with it again.
This just flies in the face of so much of what the martial arts world is supposed to be about. Quan has had a bad reputation around town for years, but I didn't think even he would stoop this low. And worse, that one of the other instructors at my school would stoop along with him.
So far, I have changed the locks and re-issued keys with "do not duplicate" stamped on them. Not a perfect solution, but a start -- at least he'll have a significantly harder time getting a key of his own. I have also had each of the "legitimate" instructors sign new contracts which acknowledge that such behavior is cause for them being tossed out on their ear (while still owing the full amount of their contract plus a further financial penalty to cover re-keying the lock again, etc). And I've got a couple of people helping me periodically "spot check" the place to make sure it isn't happening again.
It's not nearly as viscerally satisfying, I'll admit. The desire to issue a challenge is strong, but I'm trying to take the more mature (and legally sanctioned) approach.
Sigh. Sometimes being an adult sucks.
No, this is not the start of a letter to Penthouse.
Labor Day weekend, we did some renovations on the dojo. We took a bunch of the old crap off the walls that had been put there by the previous owners, repainted everything, re-arranged the "visitor/office" section, got custom shelves put into the storage room. The place looks AMAZINGLY better now, and I am incredibly grateful to all of the students and other instructors who gave up part of their holiday weekend to come out and help with it.
At one point, the Wing Chun instructor asks me if we have anyone teaching classes there on Sunday nights. I figured he was looking to expand his class offerings, and told him no, it's open if he'd like it. He gets this VERY surprised look on his face and tells me that according to his second-in-command, a local martial artist known as "Quan" is teaching classes at our place. He gave me the link to the guy's web site, and sure enough, he listed us as one of his three locations around town, and there's even a photograph of him leading a class in our dojo.
Needless to say, I was both flabbergasted and infuriated! The very idea that someone would do that is completely alien to me. Not only that he would do it, but that one of the other "legitimate" instructors at our school would either provide him with a key or actively be letting him teach the class and lock up after him just made me feel ... betrayed.
I considered a number of options, from walking in the door during one of his classes, locking the door behind me, and beating the crap out of him in front of all his students, to simply calling the police and having him and possibly even his students arrested for trespassing. (The class schedule is posted on the door, so yes, I do hold the students accountable as well -- if your class is there legitimately, why isn't it on the schedule?)
After talking it over with my attorney (who also happens to be my father -- makes for much easier access to legal advice!), I decided on something closer to the latter. So I talked to the police, they told me to go by the school when his class is supposed to be in session, and if he's there I shouldn't even go inside but should simply call them.
Sadly, I think he may have gotten tipped off. He was at the school that Sunday, but only as part of the last legitimate class of the day, and when that one ended he left along with the rest of them. Since I couldn't have him arrested, I decided I was by-God going to talk to him. He assured me that what was on his web site was misleading, that he's not actively teaching there (a lie, I'm convinced but can't prove). I pointed out that he has a photograph of himself teaching classes in there, and he says that was just a seminar that [legit instructor] brought him in to do (another lie, but again one I can't prove).
I told him to take down the stuff on his site saying he's using our space, which he has done. I suspect what will happen is that he will "lay low" for a while then be back again, once he thinks he can get away with it again.
This just flies in the face of so much of what the martial arts world is supposed to be about. Quan has had a bad reputation around town for years, but I didn't think even he would stoop this low. And worse, that one of the other instructors at my school would stoop along with him.
So far, I have changed the locks and re-issued keys with "do not duplicate" stamped on them. Not a perfect solution, but a start -- at least he'll have a significantly harder time getting a key of his own. I have also had each of the "legitimate" instructors sign new contracts which acknowledge that such behavior is cause for them being tossed out on their ear (while still owing the full amount of their contract plus a further financial penalty to cover re-keying the lock again, etc). And I've got a couple of people helping me periodically "spot check" the place to make sure it isn't happening again.
It's not nearly as viscerally satisfying, I'll admit. The desire to issue a challenge is strong, but I'm trying to take the more mature (and legally sanctioned) approach.
Sigh. Sometimes being an adult sucks.
no subject
I am glad that the matter came to an end peacefully, and hopefully without costly (to you) litigation.
no subject
So far, so good.