Common forms of martial arts classes include karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Aikido and Judo. There is little cost variance among the different types, which are often offered for both children and adults.
Typical costs:
Fees for general martial classes for adults average $50-$100 per month for studio members. The fee generally covers three classes or more per week, but some studios offer unlimited classes to members.
Some studios charge yearly membership dues as high as $100, and some require students to join a martial arts federation for an average of $60 annually.
Some studios that don't offer yearly memberships offer bundles instead, such as $200 to $250 for three months for unlimited classes.
Sessions for children costs 20 to 50 percent less than adult classes, and rates are usually set on a sliding scale based on a child's age. Classes for ages 3 to 12 average $30 to $45 per month, and those for teenagers up to 18 average $50 to $60 per month.
Some studios offer family rates of around 10 to 20 percent less for two or more members.
What should be included:
Most schools offer sessions for different experience levels. Some studios offer up to a week of free classes if you are considering a membership.
Sometimes the uniforms included with membership dues. Dojos usually provide safety gear for sparring during class.
Additional costs:
Students may buy their own uniforms, shoes and protective items. Karate Depot.com sells uniforms for $17 to $50.
Depending on size and thickness of material, Tae Kwon do uniforms cost $17 to $40. Kung Fu uniforms cost $27 to $43, with jackets and pants often sold separately. Judo uniforms cost $30 to $50.
For sparring gear, it is often less expensive to buy protective items by the set for $55 to $90, which includes headgear, gloves and leg guards and a mouthpiece.
Some dojos charge as much as $250 in promotion fees, usually highest for the top ranking of black belt.
Some branches of the YMCA offer karate classes for $50 a month or less for adult members. Contact a YMCA near you to determine whether it offers a martial arts program.
USADojo.com recommends observing a class before committing to a membership, as well as other tips on choosing a school. Beginning students should feel comfortable with the instructor's attitude and the experience levels of other students.
Once students determine what kind of class they're interested in taking, MartialSearch.com, a database powered by MartialInfo.com, offers a nationwide directory of schools.
Posted by: Grandmaster Nicholls in Port Angeles, WA.
Posted: September 27th, 2010 01:09PM
Type: taekwondo
Dojo or School: white crane martial arts
we charge $249.00 for three months unlimited classes. belt tests are $25 up to $50, graduating scale up to black belt. Uniforms are $25-$45 different sizes. Additional family members are half price and special low rates are there for those with low income. Classes through the community college are the same and cheaper by far. This is for instruction with the national Instructor of the Year in a huge facility dedicated to martial art only with up to six classes offered every day.
Reading these comments, I am very lucky to have found my martial arts school. It is taught by a brother and sister instructor who both have 5th degree black belts. The instruction is great with so much experience and they are able to offer classes Mon-Sat. They are also partnered with a hapkido school which also offeres jiu jitsu groundfighting. You can go to these classes free of charge. Testing is only $35 and they let you buy uniforms for wholesale price of $20. They also offer the traditional weapons training for bo, tonfa, sword, and short staff at no extra cost. I chose to take taekwondo instead of karate and start at a white belt instead of get my red belt back in karate simply because this school was so affordable.
fOR 130 a month my child,age 8, only gets 2 classes a week, 45 minutes long. They are usually crowded, 15 kids of various belt degrees. Also the testing is now every 2 months at a cost of 60. I heard the black belt is 500!!!
No contracts! no tests or testing fees! this is a family system I like to call it old school, you can find a Moy yat Ving Tsun school near you by a simple Google search. it's a no nonsense approach to martial arts training the cost can depend on your level of commitment and location.
I recently enrolled my 8yr.old in TKD. The price was about 140mo for 2x/wk. But I paid for the year because it was cheaper, $1,400/yr. They then offered to me the option to enroll for an additional $50/mo. It was a special offer cause I am single mom and I would have to help them with writing letters and help out to get this offer. I dont know if this truly is a GOOD deal.
My daughter started the last of June with the first month being $49 (this included full uniform). Each month after is $99. The trainers are very good with the kids & adults. My daughter got her orange belt within a month and a half and her yellow within the next month or so. Each testing costed $45. She has recently been invited to join the black belt club. This is initially $149 (includes new uniform and current weapon). The monthly cost after will be $109/per month; in which I will still have to get her ATA bag and sparring gear (they can only use ATA certified products). The training is reasonable, but they get you with the cost of gear and testing. But overall it is worth it--she loves it. Hope this helped!
Dojo or School: Imani Dragons School of Martial Arts
My son when to this school and had a great time. I never thought he would have done half of the things Master Williams taught. Before Imani Dragons my son was very shy and kept to himself. Now he's more down going and willing to do more. I can't thank master williams for he has done for my child and making self feel like family.
Every school in ATA is Independent, ATA is not franchise, and what each school has its own tuition schedule. Not influenced by ATA according to ATA in which I spoke with last week directly. It’s my experience and I have seen school pricing that’s all over the board, from school to school. Also there is no reciprocity between schools (which I find odd at best). I found a school I like however I have been asked to sign an agreement for 36 months for my family which costs over the term $13,500 (that’s for 36 months). There is no cancellation after 30 days? This system is limited to characters, so click the link to see the whole story. I would welcome your feedback.
This is one of the San Yama Bushi & Combination GoJu school is the best school's in the Washington DC metro area (DVM). The instructor is super and level of instruction is great for what you get the cost is low. This place even cares. Excellent instruction real martial arts and useful self defense training for all.
My son just finished a class run through his school ($25 for 8 weeks) and earned his white belt. The studio offers classes for $99/mo (2 classes per week is required). This is incredibly expensive for a 5-6 year old! Half that would have been more reasonable... we'll be looking around.
Very expensive, then having to pay $60 for each testing seems insane to me, especially for a 5 year old. Plus, some of the kids who belt up most certainly don't have a "black belt attitude", nor do they know their moves very well, so that's a little upsetting. The instructors are excellent though and I absolutely love the program. Just upset by the the amount of money they charge. I feel like i'm being robbed by them.
I have 2 children taking and after the 2nd child discount, we pay 85.00 for both to take per month. Testing Fees are $50.00 every 2 months for each child. So basically I pay $125.00 per month for everything. Sparring gear was about $400.00 for 2 sets. It is expensive, but for the quality of instruction at Taekwondo Plus, it is worth every penny. The only thing I don't like is that I can't buy replacements for outgrown items somewhere else for cheaper. When they out grow their uniforms, I will have to buy new patches, too. Does anyone know where you can find the jackets, or if you can somewhere else that has tiger rock equipment?
ShoDan Karate in West Warwick RI offers lessons for $99 per month which includes 3 classes per week, your first uniform and all belt testing until black belt. I have looked around and this is one of the lowest prices in the state unless you go to a YMCA or community center which rarely have the appropriate space or equipment.
Dojo or School: Focused Development Kemshichun School
i payed a 1 time fee of 300.00 and that included the uniform, and i was told includes all testing fees through Black Belt. The classes run 1 and a half hours, and i can attend 5 classes per week, but had to make a commitment to attend at least 3 classes per week, or there would of been a monthly fee.
The most impressive program I have seen and what you get is well worth the money. Occasional deals, lower rates for 2nd/3rd/and more family member. Discounts for pre-paying/paying in cash, committing to the full 'Black Belt Program'. Think of it as small group personal training with EVERY class - expensive at many gyms. Each test (every 2 - 6 months) has a $30 - $50 fee to cover the new belt, certificate of advancement, the next curriculum video, and probably the cost of the boards we break. The videos and the student manual are AWESOME components of this program!!! If you participate in tournaments (encouraged but never required) these also have some fees associated (often ~$25 per competition event, discounts for multiples). I found the tournaments and the fund raising activities to be particularly rewarding additions to the basic training program! Final Black Belt test has a $250 testing fee but you get a custom embroiderd black belt, a WTF Kukiwon membership card from Korea and the black collared uniform. I don't think that any of the fees were unreasonable for what I got but I didn't expect them when I signed up so the actual 'cost' was more than I had budgeted for initially. (Great value, no regrets, just not advertised well in advance) Similarly, the monthly fee may seem like a lot at first but is actually very reasonable for those who attend a few classes per week (I had friends who attend 6-8 classes/week) but for me and my 7 year-old daughter (7 when we started, 12 when we got our blackbelts together!) who were often able to attend only 1 - 3 times per week, it broke down to between ~10 - ~$30 per class (~$120/month / 4 weeks = $30/week @ 1 class per week = $30/class, @ 3 classes per week = $10/class) - an AWESOME value!!!
70 per month with a registration fee of $75. Included uniform, annual association membership fee, and student manual. The Columbus Dojo is a small school with only 30 or 40 students the training is kind of old schoolschool...hard contact, no tournaments, a lot of the students are police, military, etc. Sensei Parker is the head instructor and teachesall the adult students and defensive tactics classes. His wife teaches most of the children. Test fees are 30-40 and only 3 times per year. A great value for those who want to learn the traditional side of karate.
My current karate student has been at Kicks since 2009. Initial 9 month commitment, then month to month. Additional $40 for belt exams every 3 months. Uniform was included...sparring gear also additional. We purchased our own gear from ebay because it was much cheaper than what Kicks was charging. 2 classes/week on any day Mon-Sat with open schedule by belt rank. Main instructor, Mr. Brown, is 6th degree master. Mr. Nick is EXCELLENT! He is very respectful to everyone and very patient when explaining/correcting technique...can't say the same for all of the instructors.
Judo is run by the wrestling coach and a former Russian collegiate judoka. Morning classes are good for beginners. you must register with the college as a student in order to sign up for the morning class. The fee is $26 for a semester. Advanced class at night is not listed in the catalog due to budget cuts but it is at 6pm-8pm. Night class is run off of donations to the wrestling team through our coach. required donation for the night class is $60 for an entire semester. You must have prior judo experience in order to train at night. Furthermore, I advise all of you to never sign a gym contract without consulting a lawyer. I was personally locked into a bad contract a few years ago at a nearby martial arts academy that was supposed to be a one year contract. I paid for the year but to my surprise, it automatically renewed and I had lost my job 3 months after that. Since I had zero experience with gym contracts, I was dumb enough to sign without fully understanding.
Classes for age 3-10 is $36 a month 1x/wk for the little Samurai and Junior Samurai Class,and $45 age 7-up for the Big Class 2x/wk or $50 unlimited. This karate school is a family owned business. We like the family environment. My children could see other children working hard and was excited that they could practice karate. They have karate class for age 3-5 for 30 min. who want to come and learn the basics while having fun. There is age 6-10 45min. and a class for 7 and up for the younger students that want a larger challenge. All classes learn tradtional karate. There is no flashy fireworks. They excitement comes from the different drills that are used in class. The structure is great, there is no military presence, but there is great respect. The whole family teaches classes and the children are very well mannered.
Dojo or School: Midwest Judo & Jujitsu (630)915-9015
Judo Tim is an amazing instructor. He has a unique ability to connect with the children as well as adults. Talented, motivated and insightful. I have experienced many dojos and am thrilled to have finally found a school where my entire family is safe,comfortable and learns while having fun.
We were encouraged to sign a years contract. I was not comfortable with the years commitment, but after seeing how much my child enjoyed the small class, I relented and signed. I wasn't informed of the $50 fee every other month for rank promotions, nor was I informed of the $280 cost for sparring gear. I found out the hard way, that a couple of weeks after we signed the contract, the owners decided to offer an awesome deal to all new students! "No contract to sign, free lessons, and the only fee was a $75 fee for rank promotions (IF you wanted to rank promote). If you weren't interested in promoting, no problem, you just don't have to pay. All of this would have been nice to know, the two weeks prior. Very shady business practices! Also, we were given a false sense of class sizes. Once they opened the new deal to the public (which they hid from us until I "accidentally" found out 3 1/2 months later), the class sizes grew considerably. It went from 3 kids in the class to 20!
WTF style Taekwondo & sport karate. Taught the the JCC - Metairie, La. No contract to sign to take classes. Tuition is $70/month if not a member of the JCC gym, and $60/month for gym members. Advance at own pace; test after earning 32 credits and fully prepared. Test fees are $50 for color belt tests and $100 for black belt test. Tournament participation required for advancement. Private & small group tutoring available. Instructors are National and International champions in Forms & Sparringn and the kids love them.
This is a very good school in the Western Chicago suburbs. It costs $125.00 a month for classes 2x a week. If you join the "leadership program" you can attend unlimited classes per week and you also get to train weapons... this is an additional $50 a month. Uniforms are extra, $50 ea. Sparring equipment is extra, $200 for the kit which includes a uniform, sparring gear, 5 training weapons, and an equipment bag. Each test is $50 and I believe the price goes up for senior belt tests. It is certainly not cheap but a very reputable school.
They make you sign a contract. The initial one is 6 months, anything after that is usually 36 month long contract. Kids learn in the classes, however they push the purchase of really expensive weapons that must be ATA approved. This for kids as young as 3 years old. They never used the weapons when my kids were in class. They "test" the kids, which from my observation is no different from any other class. They test them for a higher level belt every 2 months and charge you $60 for the test and belt. My 3 year old was set to graduate to camo belt, but really seemed to not be any more advanced in taekwondo then when he was orange belt. This particular buisness is about the money first. Not friendly to military personell. They charged me a $100 cancellation fee when I recieved military orders forcing me to move away. They manager actually thought she was doing me a favor becuase she didn't have to "let me out" of my contract, obviously unfamiliar with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. She also thought that waiting 3 weeks to return my call only after I had an attorney call her was good, because she actually had 4-6 weeks to address my concerns, based on the "contract". I recommend that nobody sign a contract with this organization because they are only intended to trap you into paying them big bucks for the long term regardless of your personal situation.
Posted by: Disappointed MMA Student in King George, VA.
Posted: August 28th, 2012 07:08PM
Type: Karate, MMA, Boxing, Martial Arts
Dojo or School: Muhammad's
Inquired and took a few MMA classes for free at Muhammad's. The instructor was a great motivator and in very good shape. The students were awesome to get to know. All in all good place to spar but instruction was not as detail oriented as I had hoped. Given they don't advertise a MMA as a belt program I was not surprised.
When I inquired about pricing things got really weird. First, Muhammad's has not standard rate printed and it seems that the price was off the cuff $169 with a $200 sign up fee and a 12 month contract. If I signed up earlier, the rate was $149 and $99 sign up fee for a 12 month contract. I have 5 years martial arts experience and was applaud by these rates. This places screams McDojo, I strongly do not recommend practicing here. I enjoyed the MMA instructor as a sparring partner and the students but absolutely not a $149/month value.
Outreach program RRYA offers the best martial arts featuring Taekwondo. Cost is $7, $6, $5, per class, class is usually an hour long. Only offered once a week at the location we go to, but can go to other locations on different nights. They are currently looking for a building they can lease, so they can offer everyday use, cost would be $50 per month and 4 days a week use of facility. Equipment packages are insanely cheap, $140 includes chest, head, shin, arm/hand, and gym bag. Uniforms are $35 and have custom screen printing on them. Instructor is very patient and very good with the kids. If your living in the area and are interested, I would definetly go there, they have a website, www dot rrya dot info, we have been going there for over a year now, and my kids love going, they can't wait till he gets a permament location.
There is a non-refundable registration fee of $250. Every month we have to pay $150. If we can pay for 6 months there is 10% off. so I paid $720(~ $120 per month) and uniform comes free. Again we have to buy equipment which is of $280 worth. So i have to pay $1000 at once. Does it worth that much ?
A good deal for what you get. $150 sign up fee and a 12 month contract but you get uniform , sparring gear, mouth guard, patches,duffle bag. Then it is $119 a month for 3 classes a week that are 1 hr 15 min each... Awesome instructor and great classmates very happy with my investment
Hwarang Tigers Taekwondo is a perfect example of a "McDojo." McDojos are dojos that only care about the money. They hand out black belts in a short period of time for a hefty price by forcibly passing you even if you do not know any of the material. the Promotion Test for all belts before black at my dojo are $60-$100. They take advantage of the promotion test fees by making 12 belts before black The black belt exam at the dojo I go to is $550 plus a uniform of $95. This equals to $645 for a measly belt that definitely does not signify the ability to perform in a real fight. Most of the students are between the ages of 5 and 10. I have even witnessed a student starting the class at 3 years of age and receiving his black belt at 5 years old. I regret ever enrolling in this dojo although I didn't think too much at the time since I was only 10 years old. In fact, it looks like I have to regrettably pay my black belt exam fee today.
Never sign a contract. It traps you....and you almost always find a better school later on!
Amount: $140.00 per month
Posted by: Vince V. in Boca, FL.
Posted: May 12th, 2013 04:05PM
Type: JKD and Krav Maga
Dojo or School: Progressive Self Defense
You dont need uniforms, and you dont sign any contracts. It is just month to month and taught by a policeman who was voted Instructor of the year by Black Belt. Yuh think this guy teaches what works in the street? NEVER EVER SIGN A CONTRACT! It is almost a sure sign you are getting trapped into something, and/or they are afraid you will find out that the teachers arent so "wonderful and top rated" after all. $140 a month is the going rate in South Florida. If you ever have to pay more than $150 for unlimited classes per month...ask why...and then run! Im 54 and its a struggle to keep up with the younger guys, but better to struggle here than stuggle on the street. Besides, a few guys are in their 60's. The 50's are really your last chance to get back your confidence, youth and vitality.