Test Fees

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
1

as long as I’ve been training, pretty much all my teachers who had public schools, have charged testing fees.
In 1975, our TKD Black Belt fee was 500.00 (yikes!)
I know that it does bring in extra income to the school.
My question to the board is,
Do you charge?
How much do you charge?
When people ask why the fee, what is your answer?

I recall when I was in Tang Soo Do as well as in TKD, they charged us a membership fee. So we are “registered in Korea.”
Great. So somewhere in Korea, in an old file cabinet, or a cardboard box, there is a piece of paper with my name on it.

2

If you use that money to outfit someone with a new belt, uniform certificate, card and embed their name into the records of the system, then a nominal fee can be charged for providing those services.

the 500 bucks is a rip off clearly, but if you attach rewards and documentation, then that can be reasonably expected to cost something for someone to administer.

as well, your time in giving the tests.

3

i would be willing to pay the cost of the belt/sash/uniform and paperwork… but nothing more… i pay to learn and once ive learned who the fukc are you to charge me to have you aknowledge my hard work in learning what i already paid for… i hate for profit schools that do this… absolute bullsh1t cash grab… if you cant cut it as a teacher just on lesson fees then you either suck or you have a crap biz plan… either way, get a real job…

i went to a mcdojo that did that when i was lil… i wised up before i spent much tho… ever since ive had cheap great instruction thru good decent people who were more concerned with my progresss than their wallet… i only train under cats that respect me…

4

[QUOTE=TenTigers;1077925]as long as I’ve been training, pretty much all my teachers who had public schools, have charged testing fees.
In 1975, our TKD Black Belt fee was 500.00 (yikes!)
I know that it does bring in extra income to the south korean government.
[/QUOTE]
fixed lolol

5

When I was a kid, testing fees for my TKD school were incredibly cheap. We were mostly charged a nominal fee for the next belt and feeding the testing board lunch.

The Aikido school in Japan where I trained charged a bit more. But at every test you were guaranteed expert advice from at least 3 different master level instructors. There was also a pool of black belts that acted as ukes and randori opponents. Thus, some of the fees went to travel expenses of the testing board and as payment to the ukes.

Testing in China, for foreigners…hahaha, forget that. The amount of money one has to pay, not just for testing, but to all the other louts who want a handout, is incredible. There are also no real standards by which foreigners are judged.:frowning:

6

[QUOTE=TenTigers;1077925]as long as I’ve been training, pretty much all my teachers who had public schools, have charged testing fees.
In 1975, our TKD Black Belt fee was 500.00 (yikes!)
I know that it does bring in extra income to the school.
My question to the board is,
Do you charge?
How much do you charge?
When people ask why the fee, what is your answer?

I recall when I was in Tang Soo Do as well as in TKD, they charged us a membership fee. So we are “registered in Korea.”
Great. So somewhere in Korea, in an old file cabinet, or a cardboard box, there is a piece of paper with my name on it.[/QUOTE]

You know, the traditional kung fu schools I ahve trained at have never had exams, let alone charge for them. You were kind of “promoted” when your skills improved and you absorbed certain bit of the art.

It is my understanding that this was part and parcel of traditional kung fu training.

7

[QUOTE=Hardwork108;1077964]You know, the traditional kung fu schools I ahve trained at have never had exams, let alone charge for them. You were kind of “promoted” when your skills improved and you absorbed certain bit of the art.

It is my understanding that this was part and parcel of traditional kung fu training.[/QUOTE]

yeah… what he said…

8

Like I said-in the more public schools there are usually test fees. My teachers who teach me in the parks or in their homes don’t charge a fee.
What I am really interested in is hearing from school OWNERS. People who have real world knowledge of actually running a school.

9

so are you looking for a reason to charge fees???

i know you said you want to ask teachers, but as a consumer i can tell you i wouldnt pay much if at all… ofcourse i’d be fully willing to pay for any materials involved, even at inflated “club” prices, just cause i’d want to help out… if i have the money i’ll even donate, or pay for equipment for the kids and stuff… why not, if its somewhere u plan on sticking around, ya may as well help as much as you can… within reason ofcourse…

is anyone here actually well off from teaching??? or is it “comfortable”… i empathise because i know alot of schools dont last very long… i wish more people were interested… its tough for some people, so i can see why finding reasons to charge more money would be attractive… just be careful not to cross that line… nobody wants to be gouged…

10

[QUOTE=pazman;1077942]
Testing in China, for foreigners…hahaha, forget that. The amount of money one has to pay, not just for testing, but to all the other louts who want a handout, is incredible. There are also no real standards by which foreigners are judged.:([/QUOTE]

Sucks balls…When I lived in Singapore, it took me over one year to be able to “hang out” with the Chin Woo crowd there who wanted $300 down payment for “consideration” of me as a foreigner, while locals paid literally $15 per YEAR…

Don’t know about testing fees with CW - as I made some good friends & learned some good things eventually, but outside of the normal system.

I teach bsl in a group where there are other teachers teaching other styles. None of us charge anything for testing (I am the only one who tests anyway), but I have been toying with $ ideas for different things and changing things up (only for me) recently, so this topic is actually interesting for me.

11

A lot of people like to look down at testing fees…But what about those traditional red envelopes? Abused in the same way testing fees are. Northwids example above is another good one–testing fees arent nearly highway robbery on the same level as that.

My students pay me for my time; nothing more and nothing less. I pay my teachers for their time; nothing more and nothing less. No tests, no testing fees, no red envelopes. And as a side topic to this, my teachers have probably bought me more lunches and nights out, etc than I have bought them.

12

I’ve always charged testing fees. It pays for the time and extra effort of running a test, sashes, certificates, boards (I’ve always loved board breaking ever since my days in TKD, it makes for an exciting test, and a great motivator) membership cards, etc.
When I was in TKD, there was a sliding scale-yellow belt 40.00, green belt 45.00 etc, which I cannot agree to, so they are all the same fee.
Some schools charge more up front and do not have belt fees. We charge less, and offer unlimited classes. So I guess it evens out.
I was simply interested in how other schools do this.

13

thers no testing in kung fu man we have no belts or grades

14

[QUOTE=bawang;1077995]thers no testing in kung fu man we have no belts or grades[/QUOTE]

Even china has a duan system, and you can bet there’s money involved with that.

What about all the chores and dreary suck work you have to do for your si fu. that’s the same thing really, it just isn’t tarnslated to a dollar value until recently.

Anyway, I got nothing against it. GUys gotta keep the lights on, the water heated, the air conditioned, the rent paid the floor clean etc etc.

You want all that for nothing? I would submit that a relook is required if you think you deserve all that for nothing.

Part of it is your work and part of it is taking care of who gave you taht material to work with. In an organized and structured school institution, it makes sense to do this.

just sayin

15

u can just train at someones hourse mang it cheep

the problem with teaching for money is there is only so much you can teach until u run out of material and student gets bored. because students are thinking theyre paying you x $ per form or something. im not gonna say impossible but its hard to instill the right mindset

so wot happens is u get over fancy teaching thats design on purpose to confuse students and make them take foreever to learn and progress.

or a lot of useless forms collected. good example is hong kong hung kuen collecting mantis and bak siu lum forms

16

[QUOTE=TenTigers;1077925]I recall when I was in Tang Soo Do as well as in TKD, they charged us a membership fee. So we are “registered in Korea.”
Great. So somewhere in Korea, in an old file cabinet, or a cardboard box, there is a piece of paper with my name on it.[/QUOTE]

Lol!!!

That’s awesome. :slight_smile:

17

I agree with David on this one.

Young bucks today seem to want to get off cheap. Like the knowledge we received was so easy to get.

Some of us worked our asses off for decades to get the knowledge we now have. Back in the day you couldn’t just look in the phone book and join the nearest kwoon. Often it was by invitation only. That was my experience.

Back then, everything was still treated like it was the holy grail. You had a pretty good idea that you were being shown crap until you had earned the right to learn anything worthwhile.

Every once in a while you would meet someone who was actually willing to show you the real deal without making you kiss their ass and jump through hoops for it. Though that was very rare.

Since my wife and I both have good secular jobs, money isn’t a problem for us. And since I have no desire to teach just any clown who wants to sign up for classes, I can pick and choose who I want to teach.

Over the years I have used a number of pay scales for teaching. When I first started teaching (70s) I taught for free, but students were required to stay for a Bible study since I used teaching as a way to reaching out to inner-city kids.

Later I started charging a small fee for classes and ranks. Though at this time (80s), few schools had a structured rank system. I charged $25/month for classes and a test fee that covered the cost of the sash ($5-10).

In the 90s I decided to try something new, since I hate dealing with money. Students paid a one time fee of $250 to train with me. I didn’t matter if they stayed six weeks or six years. I also charged a one time test fee ($100) at the end of their training if they desired to teach.

A few years ago I remodeled my two car garage into a very nice training hall. It has more than enough room to train, since I never take more than five students at a time. I no longer have any overhead, so I teach most for free and again only charge a testing fee that covers the cost of the sash (less than $10). The only students I charge now are other instructors who want to add what I teach to there curriculum. So, far I have trained eight other instructors of various arts.

My students who received permission to teach, handle finances however they like. One does it as a part of his church ministry and offers free lessons as a youth outreach. Another has a school of about 80-100 students and makes a nice living by teaching martial arts. Others have jobs that support their families, while charging enough for lessons to have nice modern training facilities. I say whatever floats your boat is fine.

18

Hi Rik,

These are the fees we charge for testing at NYHG. But we don’t have to make a living off of it as you do. The fee includes the new sash and a certificate, and anyone testing has been told they are ready to go to the next rank (old school way), and that the testing is merely a formality (new school way). Everyone testing will pass unless for some reason they screw up royally.

We break the test up into 5 sections: Forms, Knowledge, self-defense, Sparring/ground fighting, and endurance.

I hope this helps.

Yui

NEW YORK HUNG GA PROMOTION TEST

Gung Ji/Fuk Fu - $35 5-Animal/Pole - $45
Fu Hok/Darn Do - $40 Jo Gow - $50

19

TT;
For public or commercial schools, test fees are not just about charging extra… Everything has a cost: Belts, Sashes, Certificates even the day itself has a cost because you could have been making other $ teaching regular classes.

People have a cost as well. When I register a student I have to use paper, computer, file cabinet etc etc which cost me money. When I send this students name to my teacher… he has costs and I also must give him a cut of the reg fee and when he sends this students info to Sigung Wing Lam… the same thing, he has costs and he wants his cut as well.

Everybody has costs involved in operating their school. I know some Karate teachers who pay the throwing dummies during Black Belt Exams. Testing fees, most commercial schools give a cut to the main GM. Everyone wants a piece of the pie so to speak.

I know there are some of you who think it’s rip off but in reality… were getting paid for a service we provide.

Test Fee = $50 each is common

Black Sash = $350 - 500

ginosifu

20

testing fees

The kwoon I am associated with here in Louisiana, from the start, has had a sliding scale for it’s testing fees, that I believe, is respectful of the students, covers the costs associated with testing, and shows gratitude to both Sifu, Si Gung, and system/style.
White, Yellow, Gold, are $ 50.00
Orange,Green are $40.00
Purple,Maroon are $ 30.00
Brown is $20.00
Black Level one is $10.00
All beyond this level are free.