How much does it cost to become a black belt at your club?

We use the Kudo Headgear at our school! I have to say that my instructor tried a few different headgears but they all had some draw backs.

The headgear with parts cut out of the visor did distort vision somewhat and it was very easy to catch you kunckles on the plastic. (We use MMA type gloves)

The boxing headgear obstructed peripheral vision and provided no face protection against the smaller gloves. Also was susceptible to eye pokes.

The Kudo headgear was the first the he was happy with! Only drawbacks are they do steam up a bit!

If you have claustrophobia issues then that can be a problem! One of the students found this troublesome!

One thing I found was you have to adjust your distancing a little bit since the plastic visor sticks out a few inches than your face. "I found I got jabbed allot until I figured the range out.

With regards to testings! Our instructor doesn't charge for them, he awards new rank in class when he thinks your good enough.

Saying that,

I personally don't have a problem paying for testings and if my instructor said you now have to pay then I probably would. After all if it keeps the club functioning and open then its a good thing. I think though paying any more than £30 for a rank grade and £50 for a Dan grade is excessive.

 

I have a couple of these:



Eliminates the problem of the face shield steaming up. It also comes with a flap that protects the throat, though that tends to just get in the way. Suffice to say I'll be introducing them into my club when it's up and running!

 

350...450...600...800 dollars???? All these figures are absurd. It's school fees like this that contribute to the watering down of TKD as a whole. Because you can imagine how much influence paying that much money has on the instructors and the people that run the school. If I'm paying 800 dollars to be promoted to 1st Dan, I can almost guarantee that I WILL be promoted regardless of my ability. If you're in the business to make money, which is the main definition of a McDojang, how can you justify charging someone all that money and then failing them? So basically, if I pony up the dough, I'm going to pass, because to charge that much and then fail someone because of lack of ability means you risk losing them to another school.

 

What it costs!

Dear All,

So lets give a breakdown of the costs from an instructors point of view...

Kyukpa Material: $20
Kukkiwon Certificate: $70
USAT Membership: $15 (if not capable of speaking directly w. Kukkiwon)
Postage to Korea: $25 (if capable of dealing directly with Kukkiwon)
Embroidered Belt: $45
Black Vneck Tobok $13
_______________________
Total $188.00

Everything else is profit (minus the value of the instructors time). Now, lets address some of the other other charges currently being discussed in this thread!

1. Black Belt Contract: Good instructors will retain students by striving to inspire their students. If economical hardship is encountered, if the student instructor cohesion is not there, etc...the student is stuck somewhere neither the student, the parent, or the instructor need to be!

2. Black Belt Prep Classes: What has the student been doing since white belt?

Now, I agree that time is money, and the instructors time is of value, however I dont think any of you would pay hundreds of dollars an hour for private instruction, so why would you pay hundreds of dollars an hour to simply be observed?

Humble Regards,
Michael Bateman
Bateman Taekwondo Ohdokwan

 

The fees are absurd imo if they are out of whack in the area as compared to the competitors pricing & the cost of living. In some locales a home will cost 1 million USD, while in other areas it would barely be more than 100,000USD. In some places petro in upwards of 10USD while in some areas in other countries in is 2.50USD. I think an ITF I Dan BB cert has a base cost of 100USD. The examiner can deduct 20% as a fee, while the NGB can deduct 5% for processing costs. However for certain 3rd world countries the ITF has a much reduced scale based on UN monetary calculations.
So imo one can only compare with other schools in the area & then you also have to consider quality of instruction, hours trained etc to really find cross values

 

The location has no relevance on what it should cost because everything is ordered and so should cost the same no matter if you practice in Vermont or California. The material costs the same, the Kukkiwon certificate costs the same, the belt and uniform costs roughly the same depending on who you order through. The question that started this thread was "how much does it cost to test for 1st Dan?" and that does not take into account how much monthly fees you are paying to your school. If it was "how much to you pay a month at your school?" then demographics would certainly play a factor.

What it costs for the materials, certificate, uniform, belt, and what it costs to mail away for certification is all that should be charged. When you promote to 1st Dan, you as an instructor are looking to put that student in a position of authority, (i.e. moving them closer to be assistant instructor/instructor). If they have worked as long as they have to get to that point once they become an instructor they can give back to your school, so why would you want to make a profit from elevating someone to a position that will help you? So other than the aforementioned items, extra things like "Black Belt Preparation Classes" are only a ripoff to gain more money out of a student to replace the fact that they have been testing less and less often.

 

$800 is with all the fixin's. $350 is all thats required, but trust me, my instructors have no problem failing people. I was helping out with a color belt test and 10 out of the 14 people were failed. They wouldn't fail you in front of everyone at a test/graduation, they would make you hold off on testing/graduationg until you are ready.

 

Johntm

Dear Sir,

"all the fix'ns"...what exactly does that include and how does it add up to $800.00 or anywhere close where cost is concerned?

At the end of the day, I think the revenue is simply too over inflated! If you want to train under a coach that continuously creates star players, then by all means pay the money, but that is for instruction, NOT OBSERVATION, and in regards to failing students, does he charge the same fee for the re-test?

Potentially, $1600.00 for a promotion from 1st Kup to 1st Dan??? Seriously???

Regards,
Spookey

 

Please do not think that I am trying to justify ripping off or over charging students. I am not. I don't even do TKD for money. So that is not my point. I am simply saying that it doesn't make much common sense to compare just costs, without taking into consideration the cost of living in the area, the going rates in that area and what is included in those rates & the quality of the training.
Now I am not sure what the policy is in the KKW, but the ITF has had reduced fees for certificates based on UN financial scales. I am sure a poor student in an impoverished 3rd world nation could come up with the normal charge or fee for a KKW cert.
I remember getting a foot massage for 30 minutes in a the market place in a poor country for about 3USD. When it was over I gave the employee the fee & slipped a hidden 10USD tip as I felt guilty. I did it secretly as I new they may not be able to keep it. So we always have to take into consideration the cost of living.
In any event, the comparision is best made within the same geographical areas. When ever trying to do research, we must eliminate as many of the independednt variables as possible, so as not to skew the results.
FYI
I re-posted the exact intitial question at the top of this post!
Notice the inclusion of testing fees ETC.
Now what would you say of I wanted to charge you 2,000USD for your test. No hidden fees at all, 2,000 total, includes everything, even a new BB dobok, belt with your name, cert, ID card, whatever else?
Now how would you feel if I then said, the 2,000 I charged was the only money you were ever charged. I taught you for free, for years, I tested you for free for years, I gave you all the new belts you earned at no charge, the uniform you started with was free, as was all the others that I gave you at no charge when you outgrew, ripped or just needed a fresh one?
Then that same absurd 2,000 doesn't seem so bad.
To me high test fees in an area is a red flag. But what if the montlhy training tuition was very inexpensive? or vice versa, no or low test fees, but very high training tutition & numerous hidded expensive fees as well.
It is all relative imo & relative to the community or are your in & what is included in the totla package, jmo

 

My costs cover the paper and belt as well as paying for your CRB and Health and Saftey training once you reach black belt id hope to get some help in the class and on the matt at tournaments so I make sure everyone is covered and knows what they are doing!

 

(My bold.) Meh, unneccessary expenses if you ask me. Before I suspended my club due to having a hip op, I only asked my students to chip in with their (fair) share of the venue hire. Worked out to be around £2.50 max each for a two-hour session, and the club still managed to make a profit. But then, I'm not a martial businessman

 

A bit off topic BUT...Always had the feeling that if a great number of students failed their gradings..the teacher should lose his grade or stop teaching.


koyo

 

Great point Koyo. Martial arts tuition, as a profession, definitely needs more quality control though I fear that may never happen.

 

Respecfully you missed my point. It was not an upfront fee, I did everything for free for years as you progressed up, but then simply charged you the 1 time fee of 2,000 to test & throw in all the extra things into 1 price, with no hidden fees & never charing a penny again. Up front fees can also be a rip off as many never stay around to pass their break even point, making the business owner the winner. I was not talking about any up front fee, sorry for the confusion, but EVERYTHING was free for years, except that 1x test fee

 

No I see your point & understand, I only added them to make certain that no one thought there was any room to add in hidden fees or charges. My point is simply this, test fees themselves are not the best indicator to compare across locales unless one looks at the whole picture, including, but not limited to TOTAL COST & QUALITY - jmo

 

Read the original post. It includes a Kukkiwon certification, a $175 uniform (that is the highest priced of the 4 choices, you really don't even have to get one), prep classes. They wouldn't let you take the test if they knew you couldn't pass, so then you wouldn't fail.

 

Is this in response to when I said my instructor failed 10 out of 14 students in a color belt test? It's not like they didn't know the material, but they weren't giving the effort he wanted.

 

As with TKDStudent I am not saying students should be 'ripped off'. I've never paid $800 for a test. And I know shady stuff can go on like you get the head instructor for your introductory lesson then, after you sign the contract, you never are in front of him/her again (passed off to 'assistants'). All this type of stuff goes on and it isn't right.

But the lack of acknowledgment that things cost money and that even instructors should be compensated for their time is a bit disconcerting. We're always willing to help black belts get into some sort of community center program if they want it. Volunteers are few and far between (even though the community centers will pay them an hourly wage). Why don't more of them volunteer? Because it makes almost NO financial sense. The time you put in versus money out is ridiculous.

The few who do volunteer have a very high burn out rate. But they usually start out so idealistic. IE: "No. I don't need any money. I'll do this because I love it."

And we have to tell them, "Hey look. The community center is going to be making money from your work. It is only right you get some of it."

From being around martial artists my observation is that martial arts is a horrible way to make money. Absolutely terrible. I watched so many instructors fold up shop over the years. Which is why I always told myself I'd have a day job and not rely on teaching.

Personally I don't begrudge professional instructors a fair living. I definitely wouldn't want to trade places with them! It is the same as any small business and they have little financial security and plenty of risk.