Sudden raise in karate price, upset

[Janeway]

My 14 yr old is on the last belt before black belt. And now, suddenly, the price went from $135 a month to $290 a month!!!!!  As if I needed yet another thing like this.

 

Now what do I do? Suck it up so he can get to the black belt and then have him drop out? I am definitely looking for a different place for him to go. If every place charges this much, I don't know what to do. 

 

Does anyone else do karate? How much do you pay?

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh yuck.  Does the amount of time he is there increase a lot?  Or does he get tons of one on one?  I would be baffled by that increase.  That's just too much.

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

How close is he to a black belt?  We do taekwando instead of karate, but the jump from bo-dan (the taekwando belt right before black belt) to black belt takes a year because there are credit tests required before the actual black belt test.  In that case, looking around for another dojo might be best. 

 

Did they give an explanation?  The prices here all got raised but it was because the laws changed requiring martial arts studios to pay tax that they didn't have to pay in the past. 

[Anne in CA]

As a business owner I know how this happens. You think you are keeping your books right, you think you're being careful, but all of a sudden you do all the math and go, "Crap, I'm working my butt off to lose money!" Prices go up, simple as that. With such a huge jump I think they were really underpricing. 135 a month is really, really cheap for MA.

[fdrinca]

Did the price increase because of a jump in level, or just an across-the-board price increase?

 

I'd speak to the owner of the dojo (that's what a karate school is called?) to see what's behind the increase. 

 

[happypamama]

If the regular price increased that much, I'd be livid. That's more than doubling without warning!

 

However, that might be for black belt. Black belt fees can be quite high because they include some extra stuff. Ours are built into our regular monthly fee, but our instructor says they can run around $500 per student. But you should have been told that ahead of time. That's quite a shock!

[El...]

Wow.  That is a jump.  Definitely talk to the dojo!  Ours is $100 per month, $200 for the whole family, regardless of rank, but I realize how lucky we are.

[Arcadia]

My kids don't do martial arts. However rent has tripled for where my boys have their german class and rent has gone up in that region. So the German class is moving to another location with higher rent than now, but much lower than the new rent starting in August. We are expecting a fee hike of $70 per term.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

That's a huge jump! I would ask about it. We pay $165 a month for our family of six to take 2 1.5 hour classes a week. Our school intentionally keeps prices low to make them more accessible to families. It was $165 a month when we were only doing one class a week but when I asked about the cost of adding the second class the Master said he didn't want any one family to pay more than we were already paying. I was so grateful! They give us discounts on grading too if we all make grading at the same time, even though it's only $20/person to grade.

[TianXiaXueXiao]

My 14 yr old is on the last belt before black belt. And now, suddenly, the price went from $135 a month to $290 a month!!!!! As if I needed yet another thing like this.

 

Now what do I do? Suck it up so he can get to the black belt and then have him drop out? I am definitely looking for a different place for him to go. If every place charges this much, I don't know what to do.

 

Does anyone else do karate? How much do you pay?

This is a sign you've joined a belt factory and not a traditional karate dojo. Many truly traditional karate dojos will not promote any child under 15 to black belt. What style of karate is he learning? Perhaps this is normal for his style, but it would be a signal for me to find a more traditional school and not a belt factory. Edited June 4, 2016 by TianXiaXueXiao

[Truscifi]

As a business owner I know how this happens. You think you are keeping your books right, you think you're being careful, but all of a sudden you do all the math and go, "Crap, I'm working my butt off to lose money!" Prices go up, simple as that. With such a huge jump I think they were really underpricing. 135 a month is really, really cheap for MA.

 

Not where I live. Monthly tuition runs between $80-100 for most dojos here, depending on style and frequency of classes. 

 

OP - At our dojo it takes a minimum of 6 months from brown belt to black. More if the student needs more time. And that is a very large, very sudden increase. I would definitely talk to the owner about it.

[FriedClams]

That's CRAZY. Are there other gyms that would take him in as a brown?

[TianXiaXueXiao]

This is a humorous read as well as being true. http://www.karatebyjesse.com/93-signs-of-a-mcdojo/

[TianXiaXueXiao]

As for cost: My taijiquan class is $80/mo and the traditional karate school my family is preparing to join will be $250 for all 4 of us for unlimited classes regardless of rank.

[Janeway]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

[El...]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

WOW!  Awesome outcome. 

[Seasider]

You might want to ask for a rate for an annual family "membership," many dojos offer that and it can be cost saving.

 

That said, an increase like that without warning? Not cool. The business owner had every right to do it, but should be prepared to see some of his clients walk away. He may not actually increase profits very much if he ends up losing lots of customers. A better policy would be to have the higher price apply to new students, but to offer an only slightly higher than the old rate "loyalty" price to those who have been students there for a certain length of time.

 

I would talk to the owner. I know in our shoes it would price us out of class, and I would have a disappointed upper level belt kid. Since your ds is a higher belt rank, could he perhaps barter time as a teaching assistant in exchange for a reduced rate? In any case, I would talk to the owner.

 

ETA lol I should have read through before replying!

Edited June 4, 2016 by Seasider

[OneStepAtATime]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

Thank goodness!

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

This is a humorous read as well as being true. http://www.karatebyjesse.com/93-signs-of-a-mcdojo/

This was great, Thanks! We are new to the martial arts world and had no idea what to look for. After reading that list, and our experiences, it looks like we stumbled into a good school. We were actually told when we went for our "free trial" class that getting a black belt would not be a quick process. Children and young teens don't earn black belts there as far as I've seen. And, as my kids were just reminded when none of them made the recent grading list, they also don't award promotions for attendance. They have to be earned based on skill - which requires practicing at home. We (parents) love that! We also love the low fees and no contract policy. :-)

[Arcadia]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

So it went from $135 to $145? That is not so bad a price hike. Glad it is a simple billing mistake.

[TianXiaXueXiao]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

What a relief!

[TianXiaXueXiao]

This was great, Thanks! We are new to the martial arts world and had no idea what to look for. After reading that list, and our experiences, it looks like we stumbled into a good school. We were actually told when we went for our "free trial" class that getting a black belt would not be a quick process. Children and young teens don't earn black belts there as far as I've seen. And, as my kids were just reminded when none of them made the recent grading list, they also don't award promotions for attendance. They have to be earned based on skill - which requires practicing at home. We (parents) love that! We also love the low fees and no contract policy. :-)

Oooh. I love hearing about good traditional martial arts schools. Which form/style of karate are you doing? We will be starting Shindo Jinen Ryu after many years of Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu. I'm excited to get into karate!

Edited June 5, 2016 by TianXiaXueXiao

[JadeOrchidSong]

Our monthly fee per person is $125. We choose to pay $750 for 65 classes (one hour). When a family for for two members, the rest of the whole family can join free. So we are paying $1500 for 65 classes for our family of 4. We usually go twice a week. So it comes to $190 a month for the family. Not bad, right?

[mommyoffive]

Oooh. I love hearing about good traditional martial arts schools. Which forum of karate are you doing? We will be starting Shindo Jinen Ryu after many years of Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu. I'm excited to get into karate!

 

I would love to hear about what you should be looking for in a place.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

Oooh. I love hearing about good traditional martial arts schools. Which form/style of karate are you doing? We will be starting Shindo Jinen Ryu after many years of Dan Zan Ryu Jujitsu. I'm excited to get into karate!

We do Tang Soo Do. It's Korean with Chinese (and maybe Japanese?) influences from what I understand. So maybe referring to as "karate" isn't correct? It's related to Tae Kwan Do I think. We're only a little more than a year into it and have no previous experience with martial arts/karate except what we've seen in martial arts movies (which I'm pretty sure doesn't count :-P) I still find the variations within our style quite confusing, never mind trying to understand all the different martial arts styles out there.

[TianXiaXueXiao]

I would love to hear about what you should be looking for in a place.

 

First of all, I would look for a traditional martial art and avoid anything that is mixed or a "new style" made up by the instructor. Traditional schools will have a real name for their style that one can research and learn the history of. There is no plain "Karate," "Jujitsu," or "Kungfu." There are styles within these types of martial arts. Traditional schools are usually very faithful to philosophy, meaning, ethics, and esoteric principles ; all of which often get lost in the mixed martial arts arena.

 

I would look for attitude. How does the head teacher (sensei, master, sifu, etc.) treat the students? Is it clear s/he is building a culture of mutual and shared respect or does respect only flow one direction--to the teacher?

 

Warm ups are extremely important. I would walk out of any school that gave less than 30 minutes to warming up and stretches. In the tradition I have studied the longest, there are lots of joint locks, take downs, and throws. It is simply unsafe to practice such techniques without properly warming up.

 

What is the pedigree of the teacher? How long has s/he studied and what is the larger organization that the school is affiliated with? Does this affiliation have national or international recognition and is it in good standing? For example, my jujitsu dojo is affiliated with the American Judo and Jujitsu Federation. Do not chose a school that lacks affiliation and an additional tier of accountability.

 

Is the school clean and odor free? Is all the equipment (mats, weapons, dummies, etc.) in good working order and well-maintained?  Are the students required to participate in clean up before and after class? This is a good sign.

 

What is the ranks and promotions structure? Do children receive black belts? That is a serious no-no for me. If I see children wearing black belts, I won't even stay long enough to ask questions. How long does it take for an adult (usually age 16 +) to achieve a black belt? One needs a good deal of time and practice to achieve black belt, so I wouldn't bother with a school that gives them out in less than 2 years but preferably no less than 3 years. Is there additional cost for promotions and grading? This is not traditional and a common practice among McDojos.

 

Does the head teacher provide instruction or does s/he delegate the majority of teaching to senior students? If there are a number of black belts teaching, that is fine, as long as the head teacher is also frequently on the mat with all levels of instruction. Watch out for schools that rely a lot on younger brown belts for teaching.

 

The cost should be reasonable and there should be a family discounts. There should also be scholarship or sliding scale fee options for people of lesser means. Beware of any school that is only accessible to people of wealth. Martial arts should never be elitist.

 

That's it in a nutshell. :)

 

[Tsuga]

Turns out, it was a billing mistake and we were being double charged. Phew! That was definite panic!

Yay!!!