How much should I be paying for tuition fo martial Arts?

Question

I recently enrolled my son in Martial Arts. What is the going rate? The studio is charging $195.00 a month. They told me that covers 3 1 hour long group classes a week and one private hour long lesson a week? Is this a fair price?

Thank you all for the input. I was able to get out of the "contract" and I think I'll take my son and my business elsewhere. The studio was a pretty well known but now I'm hearin "franchised"...type thing. The guy called me back and offered to give me the first month free for "chrsitmas". He seems to be a nice guy but on comparison shopping with other places in my neighborhood...he is asking nearly double what the other places are charging...plus another 179$ for an enrollment fee and the "uniform". I should have knoiwn better, but I appreciate everyone's input and I feel like I made a better decision by backing out of this one. The idea of a contract should have scared me away initially...afterall if the Sensei is good.....isn't that enough to keep a student? I didn't feel this placve was honorable at all......except for the fact they let me change my mind 2 hours later. Whew!....and tY all again

Answer 1

No-one on this forum can really, effectively, answer that question for you, as there are too many factors that go into determining true value for money.

Your location and the cost of other similar instruction in the area is something you should look into and consider. Investigate the other schools in your are to find out their rates and what they offer for their fees.

Remember however, not everything is readily equatable, dollar for dollar, hour to hour. For a wonderful, competent, and experienced instructor whom your son loves, it may well be worth $50 an hour for instruction, if the benefits to your son are visible, credible, and apparent. Similarly, paying $50 a month to an instructor whom you son doesn't really like or connect with may well be a very false economy.

We all have to independently asses what value we obtain from eveything we are engaged in, whether it involves fiscal expense, cerebral expense, time expense, or other expenses. The rate you are paying may be worth every cent and then some, if you son benefits significantly and enjoys the program. That is truly a decision you and he must make between yourselves.

While many schools may charge more, and many will charge less, in the end, it comes down to what can you afford, what value do you place on the experience, and does it make sense to you. Personally, the money I paid to my instructors was a pittance ($95/month about 10-15 years ago) compared to the value I received - which is why I donated over 20 hours of my own free time to the instructor and the club each week.

I certainly hope you and your son have found a quality, competent, experienced, and incredible instructor to form a relationship with - as it can be a most valuable relationship long term for your son.

Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 2

I'll just add to Ken C's excellent answer.

The prices you are talking are almost certainly over the top, unless you are getting something like personal trainer services as part of the tuition. Sometimes high prices are used as a marketing ploy to convince students they are getting world class instruction. The truly world class coaches I know of charge about half that for unlimited or practically unlimited lessons.

As a beginner, private lessons are not particularly useful to you, as your progress is mostly practice limited. Later as you develop specialized interests then private lessons are a good investment, say three years or so into serious training.

However Ken is basically right -- for the right instructor, $195 is not too much. Here's how you figure out whether it's worth it. Considering you're talking $2340 a year for five to ten years, this is a lot like buying a car. So go around to the different schools, and look at the STUDENTS. Does the instructor have lots of advanced students? If not then either he's new, or people don't stick with him. Next, look at what those advanced students can do.

Then go back to the $195 school and look at THEIR advanced students. Based on what you've seen at other places, is it worth spending ten to twenty thousand dollars to become like them?

Answer 3

This depends entirely upon the region that you live in, cost of living and so on. You should compare some prices of other martial arts schools around your area. Moreover, you need to figure out whether or not any of the instructors are irreputable. I'm posting a link to a website that should help you in that endeavor.

Good luck.

Answer 4

i wouldint pay that much for that little... let me put it like this i paid $75 a month and i could call my instructor up on a friday night and be like "ey man you wanna get in some extra pratice" and he would be all "meet you at the dojo in five minutes" basicly extra whenever practice for no extra... just cause he loves martial arts... but normal class was 2 2 hour classes a week.. which is why i always wanted extra... just not enough time.... now if his instructor is the shizznit at what he does it would be worth it... but is he the shiznit at what he does?

Answer 5

thats a terrible price we offer 6 days a week group classes for 87 dollars a month chec us out at fmackarate.com and believe me the price has nothing to do with the quality we went to a tournament and took home 4 first place trophies a 2nd and a 3rd ans we had a fighter win his first fight.

Answer 6

I know a few school in S.Cal and nothing come close to that.
I would watch a few classes and compare with other places.
Some places charge a one time enrollment fee, but this is high.

Answer 7

the school im going to enroll in is 50 for 3 days a week and 75 for 6 days a week. and it is one of the 30 schools nation wide that qualify for the "superfoot" system which is a for kickboxing

Answer 8

Jaded, that is a ridiculous fee. Whether you are getting the free private lesson or not. One hour long classes? This guy is unethical.

I hope you didn't sign a contract... did you? Even if you did, you can get out of it.

Who is this guy anyway?

Answer 9

That's terrible. I know places in Manhattan, NYC that are cheaper, and I'm sure they have WAY more rent costs than wherever you are. Unless you are in Hong Kong or Tokyo.

And it was unlimited classes too.


Beware of the McDojo scheme. A lot of martial arts school catering to parents and their kids overcharge

Answer 10

Depends on the martial art and what the quality is...
Private lessons are not worth the money but really the price depends on the martial art and the quality.