$$$Black Belt/Poom test$$$

msmitht

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How much does your school charge? My former GM, rest his soul, used to charge 500 per belt test with the KKW cert included. Last weekend there was some talk at a tourney (in CA) about the ridiculous prices some charge. Here are a few that stood out :
1. A man has 3 sons who are all ready for their poom exam. cost :$1500 each...the week b4 Christmas!
2. A woman who is a black belt candidate (that test was 500, no cert) said she would have to pay $1000 for her "Poom"(she was around 40)test then $1500 for her Dan test next summer.
3. 2 3rd Dan instructors told me that they will be testing in Jan for their 4th Dan. They will pay $2500 each and have been 3rd dan for 5 years each!
Noticing a pattern here? Why are they charging so much? I know that some have high rent but tuition should cover that. I have a crazy idea. Lets try charging a fair price. I took my 5th Dan exam in Korea for $250 us. plus cost of travel. Total was around $1590. Difference = they don't care who you are or if you pass! If you pay someone 1500 they are not going to fail you. What is the point of testing under those circumstances? Why not just cut the check and have a nice dinner with your Sa Bum Nim while he discusses his new Mercedes?
I personally charge 250 for 1st poom/dan and add 100 per level. After 3rd Dan they must go to Korea. KKW fees are cheap. I will not list them here but both 1st and 2nd are under $100 us.
 

dortiz

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I am still disgusted by this practice. If you pay a monthly fee or a contract fee you are paying the school. Its bull crap for testing to be some additional revenue pot of gold.
Stripes or stars, then the actual ranks, its just out of hand. A test fee should cover the cost and yes maybe have some extra to make sure the school is not losing money but that should be $20-$30 at tops.
Belt $25 (embroidery $15) Total $40
Nice Uniform $100 (very generous)
KKW Cert (1st Dan is $70) YUP!!
Plaque $75 (generous)
Testing room, food etc $100

Worst case $385 tops and the next Dans will be slightly more on the KKW fee but not need a BBelt uniform so it should not change much.
Kukkiwon charges $70 for 1st dan, $90 for 2nd dan, $120 for 3rd dan, $150 for 4th dan, $300 for 5th dan, $350 for 6th dan, and $450 for 7th dan

Its the information age so if it can be googled I would suggest putting out there so no to be burned later.
 

troubleenuf

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This is one reason why my "old" organization has closed invitation only tournaments. That way the people in the organization never have contact with people who know whats going on. They charge $5000 for a 4th Dan (although I just talked with one of them that paid over $10,000). If they promote someone from 2nd poom when he/she turns 15 they promote them to 3rd Dan,,, but of course they make them pay the fees for 1st Dan, 2nd dan and 3rd Dan. They control all the information that their students have so they dont find out that 1st Dan Kukkiwon only cost $75. Almost like a cult in some respects.

How much does your school charge? My former GM, rest his soul, used to charge 500 per belt test with the KKW cert included. Last weekend there was some talk at a tourney (in CA) about the ridiculous prices some charge. Here are a few that stood out :
1. A man has 3 sons who are all ready for their poom exam. cost :$1500 each...the week b4 Christmas!
2. A woman who is a black belt candidate (that test was 500, no cert) said she would have to pay $1000 for her "Poom"(she was around 40)test then $1500 for her Dan test next summer.
3. 2 3rd Dan instructors told me that they will be testing in Jan for their 4th Dan. They will pay $2500 each and have been 3rd dan for 5 years each!
Noticing a pattern here? Why are they charging so much? I know that some have high rent but tuition should cover that. I have a crazy idea. Lets try charging a fair price. I took my 5th Dan exam in Korea for $250 us. plus cost of travel. Total was around $1590. Difference = they don't care who you are or if you pass! If you pay someone 1500 they are not going to fail you. What is the point of testing under those circumstances? Why not just cut the check and have a nice dinner with your Sa Bum Nim while he discusses his new Mercedes?
I personally charge 250 for 1st poom/dan and add 100 per level. After 3rd Dan they must go to Korea. KKW fees are cheap. I will not list them here but both 1st and 2nd are under $100 us.
 

granfire

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well, I can see a higher fee when you have to rent a facility and pay a bunch of judges to come and feed them for the day.

However...those fees are HIGH!

(and I thought the 150 the Senior master in our area was charging his students for any given BB test was steep)

No KKW certificate though....

(but with prices that high, a 2 dollar color print certificate should be a given, heck, even framed!)
 

Disco

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How much does your school charge?

I personally charge 250 for 1st poom/dan and add 100 per level. After 3rd Dan they must go to Korea. KKW fees are cheap. I will not list them here but both 1st and 2nd are under $100 us.

I'm sorry, but even your prices are too high. $70 Kukkiwon vs $250, that's a 350% markup. I realize there's overhead, but not that much. Also, why mandate that your students go to Korea to test? To me that's an unwarranted cost for a piece of paper.

Bottom line to all this nonsense is GREED. There's the old Roman saying, "Caveat Emptor" - Buyer beware!......Seems as though there's a lot of folks with plenty of money and not enough brains......:banghead:
 

dortiz

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"well, I can see a higher fee when you have to rent a facility and pay a bunch of judges to come and feed them for the day."

Here is thissue. That should be clear then up front. Oh here is the cost to train and additionally we spend some money on this special day and we do charge enough to cover.
Or, we charge you enough to pay bills, make some money and cover events that should be planned for in the operational cost.

I get when a YMCA type club has to cover all the extra expenses since they dont take in profits to begin with but if you charge for the program how can you charge extra for the diploma? And again if you do make sure you tell folks very clearly up front.
 

Cirdan

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1. A man has 3 sons who are all ready for their poom exam. cost :$1500 each...the week b4 Christmas!
2. A woman who is a black belt candidate (that test was 500, no cert) said she would have to pay $1000 for her "Poom"(she was around 40)test then $1500 for her Dan test next summer.
3. 2 3rd Dan instructors told me that they will be testing in Jan for their 4th Dan. They will pay $2500 each and have been 3rd dan for 5 years each!

:lfao:

"There are only two infinite things; the universe and stupidity. I am not sure about the first."
 

mango.man

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I personally charge 250 for 1st poom/dan and add 100 per level. After 3rd Dan they must go to Korea. KKW fees are cheap. I will not list them here but both 1st and 2nd are under $100 us.

I am just curious, why won't you list them here? I have never seen an official price sheet from KKW. I have seen prices listed on a few websites from time to time, but I don't know how up to date or accurate they are.

If you won't list the official cost that KKW charges for each poom/dan rank, will anyone?
 

Disco

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"If you won't list the official cost that KKW charges for each poom/dan rank, will anyone?"

Kukkiwon charges $70 for 1st dan, $90 for 2nd dan, $120 for 3rd dan, $150 for 4th dan, $300 for 5th dan, $350 for 6th dan, and $450 for 7th dan
 

Archtkd

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I was tested by a 7-person panel headed by a 9th Dan GM and paid $180 for my KKW 4th Dan, three years ago. The GM, who I won't name -- is Korean-American --and hated by many of his compatriots because he tends to be fair and opens doors for many people who've been locked out by Taekwondo swindlers.

Here's one of the reasons you are seeing the crazy test prices. Many dojang owners -- especially those who do long contracts or sell lifelong memberships -- are using tests for cashflow. That, I assume, is because they quickly sell those contracts, spend the money, and then have to scrounge for new sources of regular income. It could be the same reason that you are seeing a growth of ridiculous tournaments where adults are being charged $70 to participate in one round 1-minute sparring competitions.
 
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mango.man

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Kukkiwon charges $70 for 1st dan, $90 for 2nd dan, $120 for 3rd dan, $150 for 4th dan, $300 for 5th dan, $350 for 6th dan, and $450 for 7th dan

Are those listed on their website somewhere?
 

Archtkd

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Here are a few that stood out :
1. A man has 3 sons who are all ready for their poom exam. cost :$1500 each...the week b4 Christmas!
2. A woman who is a black belt candidate (that test was 500, no cert) said she would have to pay $1000 for her "Poom"(she was around 40)test then $1500 for her Dan test next summer.
3. 2 3rd Dan instructors told me that they will be testing in Jan for their 4th Dan. They will pay $2500 each and have been 3rd dan for 5 years each!.

God Bless America! If people are coughing up this sums the recession is gone. The economists where terribly wrong again. There really was no recession -- especially in California. Another terrible thought: Maybe many of us are just very lousy business people.
 

bluewaveschool

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I was tested by a 7-person panel headed by a 9th Dan GM and paid $180 for my KKW 4th Dan, three years ago. The GM, who I won't name -- is Korean-American --and hated by many of his compatriots because he tends to be fair and opens doors for many people who've been locked out by Taekwondo swindlers.

Here's one of the reasons you are seeing the crazy test prices. Many dojang owners -- especially those who do long contracts or sell lifelong memberships -- are using tests for cashflow. That, I assume, is because they quickly sell those contracts, spend the money, and then have to scrounge for new sources of regular income. It could be the same reason that you are seeing a growth of ridiculous tournaments where adults are being charged $70 to participate in one round 1-minute sparring competitions.


was this WTF or IFT style forms? you can PM if you would rather not post for the world to see
 

igillman

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That is what put me off our dojang and why I did not renew our contract when it ran out. In our classes we all did the same thing regardless of belt level. It cost $50 per test and we had stripes as well as belts. A red/black belt test was $500 and a black belt cost $1000 or $1500 (I could not get a straight answer out of anybody). I took a look around me and saw that the upper belts were no better than me anyway. I worked out that I could stay at green belt and do exactly the same things that I would if I was advancing through the ranks. I had no desire to pay over $1000 for a belt of any colour.
 

Balrog

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Our colored belt testings are $60 each for the first two family members, then $15 for subsequent members.

Black Belt tests are $100 x your current degree.
 
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msmitht

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I'm sorry, but even your prices are too high. $70 Kukkiwon vs $250, that's a 350% markup. I realize there's overhead, but not that much. Also, why mandate that your students go to Korea to test? To me that's an unwarranted cost for a piece of paper.

Bottom line to all this nonsense is GREED. There's the old Roman saying, "Caveat Emptor" - Buyer beware!......Seems as though there's a lot of folks with plenty of money and not enough brains......:banghead:[/QUOTE
70 for the cert, 30 for a nice embroidered belt, 50 for a bb uniform(adidas), 15 for breaking materials and 30 for dinner at korean restaurant after. The rest is profit.
I have sent 3 to korea to test for 4th dan. They said the experience was worth it.
 

granfire

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you buy them a uniform?

Shocking...

But that explains the fee then (and the dinner is a nice touch)
 

Disco

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"I have sent 3 to korea to test for 4th dan. They said the experience was worth it."

In my mind, it's only worth it if you can afford it and not a lot of folks can afford it or even have the time to take off to do it. I'll give you the testing fee, only because you offered extras, but IMO forcing a Korean trip is way over the top. It's your school and your students though, so they know what their in for. :asian:
 

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