A friend of mine just emailed me asking me my thoughts about him and his wife joining a judo class. I told him to go for it and that they would both enjoy it. Then he emailed me back with the price. I thought it was a little steep, $90 per person per month-- in Wisconsin.
I think that $70 per month is pushing it and I’m a believer in family discounts.
What do you guys think is a reasonable price for martial arts instruction?
I think it really depends on the quality of the instruction and your desire to learn. I would pay 90$ for a good class and a good instructor, but that is unusually steep. I pay 50$ a month and that is for three 2 hour classes a week.
Should mention this…
The reason I specified Wisconsin is because he’s from a smaller city in Wisconsin. I know that in some of the larger cities, space costs a lot and that instructors have to charge a lot just to break even. That shouldn’t be a problem where he’s located though.
90 bucks is fine for quality instruction.
I pay $130/month, but this is Manhattan.
Manhatten is expensive. I assume that a small town in Wisconsin has around the same living costs as a small town in IL so…I say that is high to the extent of being re tarded. Did they shop around first? Alot of time a guy with the mcdojo can impress people with his “professionalism” enough to get them to pay him big bucks for medium quality instruction. I’d say $50 and under a month is more right for a small city in Wisconsin if it’s anything like it’s neighbor Illinois.
Chances are that he didn’t shop around. He’s in Appleton, WI, so I don’t think that there are a lot of choices. Plus, he’s a big guy, weightlifter-former bouncer, so I can’t picture him being happy in something like tae kwon do or kung fu.
He’s got a good job, so he’ll pay that much if he really wants to take lessons.
Thanks for the input, I’ll email him and tell him that’s a little high and that he should shop around.
– The B
that sounds really high, yeah. about $60/month is pretty standard, in my experience.
I pay $80 a month for five 3 hours classes a week. Not a bad deal in my opinion.
$90 might not be that bad, it depends.
How meny classes a week, for the 90$?
I pay 80$ a month for me and my son the standard
price is 50$ but i get the family discount.
Skard1
i pay nuttin, but i teach four nights per week. if i didn’t, it’d be around $115 for unlimited training (our classes are broken up by level, and you can attend any class of a level you’ve already passed. since i just joined the advanced student class, it’s all open to me now!).
i know i’m in wee, little washington, but i study at the largest and arguably the best WT school in the united states, so the rates never bothered me before i started teaching.
I wouldn’t pay jack shet for kung fu training.
yeah. i’d just pay $34.95 for my BJJ cdrom training, and then i could compete with the mice in the kitchen that used to scare me so much in my adolescence.
jesus, don’t you have a bridge to attend to?
Depends on lots of variables
MightyB,
The cost really depends on several variables that we don’t know. Some of which have already been discussed.
Here are the other questions that need to be answered first:
As for small town Wisconsin, Appleton doesn’t quite fit that bill. I used to live in that area and the Fox River Valley is an extension of Appleton. While not a megalopolis like New York or Chicago, I would compare it to the Milwaukee area or Madison area. $90.00 might not be that extreme if the classes meet often and are 2-3 hours long each. It really comes down to the above criteria. If they feel that they are tapping a good knowledge base it is hard to put a price on it.
For a reference point, I would have him check out the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (20 min away). They had a very good Judo instructor and several other MA instructors on campus a couple of years ago. They should be able to put your friend onto the local talent pretty easily.
Hope this helps
Sho Pi
Sho Pi
Thanks
Thanks Sho Pi,
I don’t know the answers to a lot of the questions either, I’ve emailed him and I’m waiting for the reply. I think his best bet is the University. I’ve only been to Appleton twice, once for his bachelor party (Beansnappers is a great stripclub), and the second time for his wedding. It was a nice town, but I compared it’s size to Saginaw MI which may not be the right comparison after I read your post. $90 may not be that bad, but he’ll have to shop around to find out. He’s not really going to care about lineage or martial applications as long as he gets a good workout. Like me, he sees MA as a venue for competition and fitness, it’s just not normal to go around getting into street fights or basing your whole life around a worse case scenario that may never happen, and, if it does happen, it will probably involve the aggressor having a gun.
Thanks again to all who replied.
I just got my tuition raised from $100 to $120. For me, that’s a lot, especially since I spend about another $120 commuting into Chinatown to train each month. But my sifu is well worth it. If I had to, I’d pay $200 to train with him, I’d find a way. OF coarse then I would want more 1 on 1 training to cut out the fill in time for studnets who just don’t get it.
But $90 is a bargain. There are McDojo’s out here charging $150, making you sign a contract.
In the end, you’ll know how much your training is worth.
Hhmm
My experience shows me that a true Master is likely to have pay him him/her with your loyalty and energy rather than with money. There is something to be said (by a certain degree) about the cost of schools but too much is too much. I have found the highest paying schools are never really the best ones for instruction, just the biggest ones for ego. The more I have progressed the more my Master has relaxed my monetary payments. This is out of respect!
Beware of contracts. You’ll probably have one, make sure you understand it before signing up.
-FJ