Naydenov Karate

After reading the post made by: DNZDSauer I needed to reply to his poor assessment of coach Sam. My 4 year old daughter started out at Naydenov in Sam's class and after the first day he quickly became her favorite coach. Sam has nothing but respect for the kids in his class and he has a very popular following in town. He makes the class fun with his high energy and spirit and knows how to get the best out of each child. Naydenov takes gymnastics very seriously and they not only want the kids to have fun, they want them to learn proper technique and skills. Sam has a great way with kids and he knows how to balance being gentle and fun and when to push a bit more to bring out the best in them. Sam has a strong voice in class but he never yells at kids or harasses them. Thanks to Sam my daughter has continued on with her gymnastics and is going to a team in the near future. Sam is a great coach and if you just ask around town, you'll hear nothing but high praise from many of his former students. more

Sunday night open gym...Oh my goodness, it was absolutely awful! We have younger kids so we went during the supposed 11 years and younger time. There is no way they were actually checking the kids ages. There were children there who were well beyond this age range. The employees who were ""supervising"" activities were too busy chatting it up with each other and jumping on the trampolines themselves to actually keep an eye on things. It became an unbelievably dangerous situation for kids under the age of 7 with a large group of older boys running wild with complete disregard to anyone around them. An absolute nightmare. We left after only a half hour and will NEVER go to their open gym again...EVER. Seriously you guys, get it together. more

Gymnastics classes...My daughters, ages 2 and 4, have been taking classes here for 5 months from Sam and Glendyne. They have really enjoyed coming! Sam and Glendyne are great teachers and make it fun. Sam has a no-nonsense blunt approach but in no way is he unkind. He cracks jokes constantly and makes the kids laugh. My 4 year old loves him. Glendyne's style is more gentle and perfect for the more sensitive child/parent. We love her too! As with anything it's important to find the right fit. Couldn't be happier with the teachers and facility....the other parents, that's another story. Bottom line, some people are best ignored or avoided. I did run into a situation where another parent was a bit of an annoyance but fortunately they offer so many classes, we were able to change our days/times and still keep the same teachers. Problem solved. more

In times like these often the only feedback one receives is that of the negative nature. All the more reason to take note when positive acknowledgement is earned. We wanted to express our appreciation of Naydenov Gymnastics including the club, equipment, affordable price and most of all the staff. Though most all of the coaches that have been involved with our children are worth mentioning, this letter is specifically highlighting Tamas, but what I am certain about is his contribution to Naydenov's, the other staff and especially our children. The addition of Tamas' position has added a much needed dynamic to the progression of training of the gymnast. Our children are only 4 & 6 years of age. As any involved parent knows, these ages carry with them uneasily controlled sensitivities, misunderstandings that result in tears, lack of focus, miscommunications along with many other challenges. Throughout all of these challenges Tamas has managed to keep the children focused while addressing the issues as they arose, and more times than not preventing the issues before they came to fruition. Our children speak so highly about him as we do. Along with our children, it is clear to see that all of the children in his class are benefiting from his coaching. Not only have their gymnastic skills increased and broadened, but more importantly Tamas is providing another positive role model for our children to admire and grow from. Tamas has demonstrated strong coaching skills along with creativity resulting in a great enjoyment for his students and peace of mind for us parents. Thank you for adding this position and specifically Tamas to this position. Way to keep things growing in a positive direction. How blessed we are to have this experience and these great coaches in our lives. With Great Thankfulness, Troy, Sachi, Hana & Sola more

My three boys (age 3 to 7) have attended classes at Naydenov gymnastics consistently for the last year and I am beyond pleased. The coaches (Sam, Glendyne, Helen) have challenged and encouraged the kids without being fake... and they get results! My boys have gained strength, skill, and confidence and I see their positive relationships with their coaches influencing other areas of our life. When my daughter is old enough I will enroll her as well! It's a win! more

Just finished Carly's 2nd month at Naydenov Gymnastics in Vancouver. I wish I had found this place a long time ago. Great coaches - kid friendly - A really neat place to see a variety of gymnastics from babies to young girls and boys with incredible gymnastics skills. more

Our recent experience with Naydenov Gymnastics was not what I would call a pleasant one. My only real problem with the company was one particular teacher. My youngest son had a female teacher; she was amazing, caring and fun. I would recommend her any day. My oldest son had a man named Sam and let me just say any company who deals with young children should never employee such a man. He was working with 6-10 year olds in this class and he was constantly putting them down, calling them names, yelling and making life miserable for the four weeks we were there. Sam made one boy cry and told the child “Crying like a little baby girl wont help anything.” Then he teased and poked at the kid about having a “bad attitude.” Sam put his hands on my sons shoulders and shook him while yelling at him during class. All because my son didn’t understand what Sam wanted him to do, as Sam hadn’t properly explained or showed the students what he wanted. Sam only paid real compliments to his favorites and allowed the other students to make fun of the students who weren’t doing well at the class. My son had never been to gymnastics before and Sam’s “coaching” consisted of telling them “Go do what they do.” He didn’t show them or explain it in a way that a new kid could understand and then yelled at my son when he didn’t do it perfectly. Not every child has done this before and some care has to be taken with students new to gymnastics so that they can learn the basics. We talked to the women in the front office about our concerns and her reply was “It’s a love hate relationship, some parents love him, some don’t. He’s been working here for 13 years and we’re not going to change him.” Because of that attitude I will not be re-enrolling either of my children in any of their classes from any teacher. The mission statement on their website clearly states “He designed and built the gym to facilitate students of all ages training them, for competition, while gaining self-esteem, self-discipline, strength and balance.” If someone can explain to me how yelling, name calling, teasing and harassing students instills self-esteem I would love to hear it. If you want your kids to be star athletes then this gym may work well for you. But if you want your kids to have fun, feel empowered, happy and positive when they leave, I would suggest looking elsewhere, you wont find it with this company or with Sam. more

My children recently had a bad experience at Naydenov's Parent's night out. When I called the owner to complain, he was already aware of the situation and was already addressing it. I'm pleased that he listen, cared and wanted to make things right. I could not have asked for anything more. Pros: Owner Cares Cons: Some inexperienced staff more

We had the best ever birthday party for my daughter there last week. The hostes was great with the kids and they had a blast. Thanks Naydenov Gymnastics! Pros: Fun, Great Staff, Clean, Safe, Lots of activity more

My husband and I have been taking our children to Naydenov Gymnastics for the past three years. My oldest daughter started there first in a beginning girls class and now is on the show team. My son loves going to the parent's night out on Saturday's and playing with his friends. The reception at the front desk who usually works parent's night out is very friendly but just a little hard to understand sometimes because she has an accent. Con: it can be very busy in the evening during the week and it can be difficult to park. more

This place is a total joke! My husband and I took our kids, 6 and 8, to Friday Night's parent's night out. We were so excited as it was the first time we'd been out alone in months. We had previously taken our kids to similar programs and never had problems.\r \r We paid $15 each kid and $6 for a medium pizza for them to split.\r \r About 40 minutes after we dropped them off my husband's cell phone rang. It was our daughter. She was hungry and wanted money for the vending machines. First of all, no one told us anything about no food being provided until much later, we paid for pizza! Secondly, why would anyone in a childcare facility let a kid call their parent for parent's night out for that?? We were 1/2 hour away by car.\r \r About 1/2 hour after that we received another call from a ""Coach"" advising our son was writhing in agony and holding his stomach because he was hungry. Pizza was due in 1/2 hour. Husband asked the Coach, can yougive him some crackers or something? He's dramatic. Nope, you have to come pick him up. After some verbal sparring over them not having snacks, he loaned our kid $1 to get some crackers from the machine. What if a kid was diabetic? Would they wait 1/2 hour for mom and dad to get there?\r \r We pulled up and the pizza was arriving. Both kids were having fun and were of course fine. Obviously a place that supervises kids should know that kids pull stuff to get attention. They were there just over an hour, and they refused us any refund. They offered to find their pizza and give it to us. There was no apology. My completely mild mannered husband blew up over all of this. \r \r We had already bought movie tickets, so basically we were out $56 for 40 minutes of peace and quiet. We've been trying to get ahold of the manager since, in case he's unaware of his incompetent employees, but have not yet been successful.\r \r I guess we just will have to continue taking our kids to Kids Club, where there has never been a problem. This place stinks. Pros: Kids love the zip line Cons: Incompetent, rude staff who have no idea how to deal with kids more