Terms of service

Effective Date: September 20, 2026

These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern your use of uskuoshu.com and any page, form, or content we provide through it (the "Site"). The Site is operated by U.S. Kuo Shu Academy, a martial arts school in Maryland ("we," "us," or "our school"). Section 15 contains an arbitration agreement and a class action waiver that affect how disputes are resolved.

1. Acceptance of these terms

By visiting the Site, submitting a form, texting us from a link on the Site, or creating an account, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site. You must be at least 18, or the parent or legal guardian of a minor you are acting for, to submit information through the Site.

2. About our website and our services

The Site is an informational website for our martial arts school. It describes our kids, family, and adult kung fu programs, tai chi, meditation, our Owings Mills and Marriottsville, Maryland campuses, and how to request a lesson or contact us. Schedules, prices, programs, and promotions on the Site may change without notice and are not an offer we are obligated to honor.

Class enrollment, memberships, trial lessons, events, and private instruction are governed by the separate enrollment agreement, liability waiver, and school policies you sign at the school, which control over these Terms for anything that happens at a campus or in a class. A lesson request through the Site does not enroll you or reserve a spot; it asks us to contact you.

3. Physical activity notice

Martial arts training, tai chi, and related physical activities involve inherent risks, including injury. Content on the Site, including videos, technique descriptions, and health or wellness statements, is general information only. It is not medical advice and is no substitute for in-person instruction from a qualified teacher. Do not attempt techniques shown on the Site without supervision.

Consult a physician before beginning any exercise program, especially if you have a medical condition or injury or are pregnant. Participation in any class or event is governed by the signed waiver and release and by our safety rules, which every student and parent must follow.

4. Accounts, registrations and purchases

If we offer customer accounts, online registration, memberships, event tickets, or products through the Site, the following applies. You agree to provide accurate, complete information and keep it updated. You are responsible for your login credentials and all activity under your account, and you must tell us promptly of any unauthorized use.

Prices are in U.S. dollars and may change. We may correct pricing or description errors and cancel an order placed at an incorrect price before it is fulfilled. Payments are processed through Shopify's checkout and its payment processors under their own terms; we do not store your full card number. Refunds and cancellations follow the policy stated at the school or at checkout.

5. Acceptable use

You agree to use the Site only for lawful purposes. You may not:

• Submit false, misleading, or someone else's information, or impersonate any person.
• Use the Site to harass, threaten, or harm anyone, including our staff, students, or families.
• Upload or transmit viruses, malicious code, or anything that could damage or interfere with the Site.
• Scrape, crawl, or harvest content or personal information by automated means, other than search engine indexing.
• Attempt unauthorized access to the Site, our accounts, or our systems, or test their vulnerability without our written permission.
• Use our forms or contact numbers to send spam, sales pitches, or bulk messages.
• Frame, mirror, or embed the Site on another site without permission.
• Use the Site in any way that violates applicable law or these Terms.

We may block access to the Site and remove any submission for conduct we reasonably believe violates these Terms.

6. Intellectual property

The Site and everything on it, including the U.S. Kuo Shu Academy name and logos, the names of our schools, programs, and system (including the Tien Shan Pai system name as we use it), photographs, videos, text, curriculum and program descriptions, graphics, and page design, are owned by or licensed to us and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws.

You may view and print pages from the Site for personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, distribute, publicly display, create derivative works from, or commercially use Site content without our written permission. Other names, marks, and logos on the Site belong to their owners. These Terms grant no license to our names, marks, or content except as expressly stated.

7. User submissions and reviews

You may send us testimonials, reviews, questions, photos, videos, or other content through the Site, by email or text, or through third-party review platforms ("Submissions"). By providing a Submission, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license to use, reproduce, edit for length or clarity, publish, and display it, with your first name and last initial or as you otherwise permit, on the Site, in our social media, and in our marketing. You represent that you own or may share the Submission, that it is truthful and reflects your genuine experience, and that anyone shown in it (or a minor's parent or guardian) has consented.

We are not obligated to use any Submission and may remove one at any time. To have a Submission taken down, email info@uskuoshu.com and we will remove it from properties we control. Photos and videos of students taken at the school are governed by the media consent in the enrollment agreement, not this section.

8. Third-party links and services

The Site links to and embeds services we do not control, including Google Maps, video hosting, social media pages, a lesson request form hosted by a third-party platform, scheduling tools, and Shopify's checkout and account pages. Each has its own terms and privacy policy. We are not responsible for their content or practices, and a link is not an endorsement.

9. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through the Site, how we use and share it, the cookies and similar technologies the Site runs, and your privacy choices and rights. It is part of these Terms, and by using the Site you agree to the practices it describes.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The Site and its content are provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that content is accurate, complete, or current. Class schedules, prices, and availability may be out of date; confirm with the school before relying on them. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our school, its owners, instructors, staff, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Site, even if advised of the possibility. Our total liability for any claim arising out of or related to the Site or these Terms will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us through the Site in the 12 months before the claim arose or one hundred dollars ($100).

This section covers only the Site and these Terms. Claims relating to instruction, injuries, or events at a campus are governed by the signed waiver and enrollment agreement. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless our school, its owners, instructors, staff, and agents from any claim, loss, or expense, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of your violation of these Terms, misuse of the Site, Submissions, or violation of any law or third-party right in connection with the Site.

13. Notice and opportunity to cure before any claim

Before initiating any formal proceeding against us, you must notify us of your dispute in writing with a description of the claim and your requested resolution, using the contact information in Section 19.

A person who asserts that the Site, its content, an image, a form, its accessibility, its technical implementation, its cookies or tracking technologies, or our privacy practices are non-compliant with any law, regulation, or standard must first provide written notice identifying the affected URL, the specific issue, the requested resolution, and, when relevant, the device, browser, or assistive technology used. You must allow us 30 days after complete notice to investigate and remediate the issue before initiating a private formal proceeding. For requests for accessibility accommodations or accessibility remediation, the period is 90 days after complete notice, because such work often requires design and development changes across the Site.

Notice is complete when it contains enough information for us to locate and reproduce the issue. If we ask for reasonable clarification, the cure period runs from the date you provide it. Notices must be given in good faith, based on an actual visit to the Site and a genuine belief that a violation exists. This section does not apply where a law prohibits pre-suit notice or cure requirements, and it does not shorten any limitations period, which is tolled during the cure period.

If you need an accommodation to use the Site, tell us and we will provide the information another way, such as by phone or in person, while remediation is in progress.

14. Frivolous and bad-faith claims

Claims and demands must rest on factual information and a good-faith belief that the Site or our practices violate the law. If a court or arbitrator determines that a claim was frivolous, unfounded, or brought in bad faith, or was brought without first completing the notice and cure process in Section 13 where that process applies, the party that brought it shall pay the other party's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. This applies equally to both parties. Nothing here restricts your right to make a good-faith complaint to a government agency.

15. Dispute resolution

Informal resolution first. If a dispute is not resolved through the notice process in Section 13, you and we agree to try to resolve it informally for at least 30 days before starting arbitration or a court proceeding.

Binding individual arbitration. Except as stated below, any dispute arising out of or relating to the Site, these Terms, or our Privacy Policy that cannot be resolved informally will be resolved by binding arbitration before a single arbitrator, administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, or by another provider we both agree to in writing. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this agreement. The arbitration will be seated in Baltimore County, Maryland, and may be conducted by video or phone if the arbitrator permits. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could, and the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction. Fees are allocated under the provider's consumer rules.

Class action and jury trial waiver. You and we agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims of more than one person. If any claim proceeds in court rather than arbitration, you and we each waive any right to a jury trial.

Small claims and injunctive relief. Either of us may bring a qualifying individual claim in small claims court in Baltimore County, Maryland. Either of us may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property rights or stop unauthorized access to or misuse of the Site.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by written notice to the address in Section 19, postmarked or emailed within 30 days after you first use the Site or accept these Terms, stating your name, contact information, and that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms, including Sections 13 and 14.

Severability of this section. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court rather than arbitration, and the rest of this section still applies. Changes to this section do not apply to a dispute you gave notice of before the change.

16. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of them or the Site are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Subject to Section 15, any court proceeding will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in or serving Baltimore County, Maryland, and you consent to their jurisdiction. If you access the Site from outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with local laws.

17. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms by posting the revised Terms here and updating the Effective Date. Material changes to the dispute resolution section will be announced on the Site. Continued use of the Site after a change means you accept the revised Terms. If you do not agree, stop using the Site.

18. Severability and entire agreement

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the rest remains in full effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. These Terms, with the Privacy Policy and any policies posted on the Site, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site. They do not replace the enrollment agreement, waiver, or school policies you sign at a campus. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in a sale or reorganization of the school. Headings are for convenience only.

19. Contact

Questions about these Terms, notices under Section 13, and arbitration opt-outs:

• Email: info@uskuoshu.com (subject line "Legal Notice")
• Phone: (443) 394-9222 (Owings Mills) or (443) 545-5566 (Marriottsville); text (443) 888-2429
• Mail: U.S. Kuo Shu Academy, Attn: Legal Notices, 10999 Red Run Blvd, Suite 214, Owings Mills, MD 21117 (Marriottsville campus: 2470 Longstone Lane, Suite O, Marriottsville, MD 21104)