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I charge nothing. I should (I lose a few bucks at every promotion, for the cost of the belt, and my fees are very low), but I don't. I know a few instructors in NGA who charge a minimal fee for testing (something in the $30 range). Most charge at least $10-15 for promotion certificate and belt.What does your school charge for belt/exam fees?
And how many ranks in your school/system?
Sorry, forgot to reply to the last part. I'll give you two answers on belts, to cover what I know of NGA.What does your school charge for belt/exam fees?
And how many ranks in your school/system?
I can understand why you'd see it that way. I think some instructors see it as just a different way of billing. If I charge you $70/month and $60 once a year for a promotion, that's the same as charging you $75/month, assuming you average a promotion once a year. And since some tests require a lot of work by the instructor (time away from teaching, etc.), I can see a valid reason for those to cost a bit more. If I had to do testing outside regular class times (which I'd have to do for brown and black right now, because I have nobody else to teach classes), I'd charge something to cover that extra time. If I could do it all within normal classes, I'd be disinclined to charge extra for it.My last school, nothing. This one has actual "exams" and charge like $25 which is basically just the price of the belt. This is BJJ so adult ranks are white -> blue -> purple -> brown -> black.
I guess I wasn't paying for it back then but I think the karate school I went to as a kid had a similar model of essentially just paying for your new belt when you tested. The other martial arts I've studied haven't used belts.
This seems to be a sore topic for some but I've always seen paying for belt tested as just another way to milk more money out of students. They're already paying for their tuition, but if they want to actually advance or get recognition for the work they've put in then they need to fork over more money.
What does your school charge for belt/exam fees?
And how many ranks in your school/system?
This seems to be a sore topic for some but I've always seen paying for belt tested as just another way to milk more money out of students. They're already paying for their tuition, but if they want to actually advance or get recognition for the work they've put in then they need to fork over more money.
My School charged about 30 for the "test" from white - double tip red belt (White, yellow, orange, green, brown, red). It is the Dan test that is overly expensive. I believe my first dan test was 300.
What is sadder is that some schools have to do some commercialization to be able to stay active.Not all TKD schools are like that but its sad how its become so commercialized.
FYI - the standard in BJJ is 4 stripes in-between belts all the way up to black. In most schools, stripes are awarded on a more informal basis than belts, just as a reminder that the instructor has noticed you are progressing. Most schools don't have detailed requirements for stripes. It's not uncommon for a student to skip stripes (say, jump from 1 stripes to 3 stripes or from 2 stripes to the next belt). Some schools don't even use them at all. There are schools which have formal requirements (in terms of time in grade or demonstration of specific techniques), but they are in the minority.After you get so many stripes you go up a belt. The belt order is white, blue, purple, brown, black, and then red for the very few most elite. To go from white to blue I believe you need four stripes and I believe you need more stripes to go up a belt for the higher belts.
When you pay for a belt test you're paying for the instructors. Testing a student takes time and skill so that's what you're paying for, the instructor's time and skill. Now some schools such as the BJJ school I train at don't test and thus don't charge anything but for schools that do test, the idea of testing is that it tests the student's performance under pressure. Naturally you want to succeed when you test and so you've got that mental and psychological pressure you have to deal with. Sure, an instructor might be able to tell to some degree when a student is ready by watching them in class but how a student performs during practice when they're not being tested is different than how they preform under the pressure of being tested. That's the point of the test, to add that mental and psychological challenge.
What is sadder is that some schools have to do some commercialization to be able to stay active.
I see the reason but I just don't agree with it. If I go to a university, I don't pay extra for the "instructor's time" when it's exam time. That's just part of the tuition that I'm paying.
FYI - the standard in BJJ is 4 stripes in-between belts all the way up to black. In most schools, stripes are awarded on a more informal basis than belts, just as a reminder that the instructor has noticed you are progressing. Most schools don't have detailed requirements for stripes. It's not uncommon for a student to skip stripes (say, jump from 1 stripes to 3 stripes or from 2 stripes to the next belt). Some schools don't even use them at all. There are schools which have formal requirements (in terms of time in grade or demonstration of specific techniques), but they are in the minority.
I see the reason but I just don't agree with it. If I go to a university, I don't pay extra for the "instructor's time" when it's exam time. That's just part of the tuition that I'm paying.