Testing fees?

[RTKDCMB]

Last time I checked, the government wasn't ponying up any cash to pay for the cost of a martial arts program.

One of my students back in the day had epilepsy, he applied to some government funded scheme that paid his training fees for him.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Do you think that testing fees are a scam or that they are justified? The way I see it, I'm paying $99/month total (TKD & HKD school, unlimited classes). Testing fees for anything under blackbelt is $50. The way I see it, I'm paying $1,200 year to attend, I think that I should not be charged for promotions, IMO.

Scam? Not necesarilly. If he ups tuition to include testing fees his competition will appear to undercut him. So long as he isn't driving people to test frequently and/or before they're ready as I assume you alude to here,

I personally will not test until I am 100% ready, I want no McDojo promotions.

, then no, I don't see it as a scam. Now, more than fifty dollars for a colored belt test or fees from three to six hundred for a black belt test? That's insane!

What do I think personally? I teach independently and do not charge for tests. I get belts and boards at wholesale. A belt is about five bucks. An embroidered black belt can be had for anywhere from about twenty to thirty dollars depending on how many ends and columns per end you have embroidered. Most of my students are kendo students anyway, and we don't wear belts. I refer students to e-bogu.com for equipment and uniforms and keep enough shinai on hand so that a new student can join in without having to buy anything.

My fee is about sixty eight per month, which is set by the ballet studio where I teach from. My rent is roughly a hundred a month, as I rent time at the studio rather than space. Needless to say, I'm not a big commercial school.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Now, more than fifty dollars for a colored belt test or fees from three to six hundred for a black belt test? That's insane!

My fee is about sixty eight per month, which is set by the ballet studio where I teach from.

At 2 local dojangs I looked at, both were $90 for twice per week, and $600 for 1st dan. When I asked how much BB testing was, one school said "$600, the same as the other Korean masters". It sounded like they got together and agreed on pricing.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

At 2 local dojangs I looked at, both were $90 for twice per week, and $600 for 1st dan. When I asked how much BB testing was, one school said "$600, the same as the other Korean masters". It sounded like they got together and agreed on pricing.

I'm not sure where you are, but that is not uncommon around here.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I am in Toronto (Canada).

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I am in Toronto (Canada).

Seems that the practice is international.

 

[WaterGal]

At 2 local dojangs I looked at, both were $90 for twice per week, and $600 for 1st dan. When I asked how much BB testing was, one school said "$600, the same as the other Korean masters". It sounded like they got together and agreed on pricing.

Maybe. I think it's more likely that a few school owners years or decades ago started charging fees like that, and all of their students that opened schools followed suit, and it became standard business practice in the area. Where I'm at is similar, and I'm pretty sure that's how it got going.

 

[miguksaram]

Do you think that testing fees are a scam or that they are justified? The way I see it, I'm paying $99/month total (TKD & HKD school, unlimited classes). Testing fees for anything under blackbelt is $50. The way I see it, I'm paying $1,200 year to attend, I think that I should not be charged for promotions, IMO. I personally will not test until I am 100% ready, I want no McDojo promotions. What do you all think?

I do not feel, for the most part that exams are a scam. You have to look at it from a different perspective. If the instructor makes their livelihood teaching, his/her major source of income come from three different areas, tuition, equipment sales, testing fees. Some places will charge a lot, some just for a belt and a cert. Every place is different. If you do not agree with their policy then by all means leave the school, but I would not say they are scamming you.

For those that actually own/run schools I would love to hear how you break down testing fees and what the difference is in the break down between color belt and black belt testing fees.

For the first 9th-4th kyu/gup their fee is $50.00, 3rd-2nd kyu/gup is $75.00, 1st kyu/gup is $100.00, and 1st dan is $200.00. The $200.00 covers certification from the American Karate Association and KKW certification.

 

[skribs]

Coming from the world of IT Certifications, I'm used to hundreds of dollars per test to qualify. Any training material is an additional cost. (I'm also used to buying new skills every level in MMORPGs). So testing or rank-up fees are not new to me. While I would prefer an all-inclusive tuition, I know others don't test as often as I do and probably appreciate not having to pay $20/month extra in tuition to have an all-inclusive tuition fee.

 

[WaterGal]

Some of the schools I have attended charge higher testing fees with each new belt which doesn't make sense when the cost to test a white belt is the same as the cost to test a blue belt.

Yeah, the guy I trained under did this.... he's a great guy, fantastic martial artist, etc etc, but that seemed questionable to me too. We do charge testing fees, but it's the same fee for each color belt (ETA: and we're upfront about the cost). The only way I could see doing that is to spread out the higher cost of a black belt test, instead of charging it all at once.

 

[Balrog]

Do you think that testing fees are a scam or that they are justified? The way I see it, I'm paying $99/month total (TKD & HKD school, unlimited classes). Testing fees for anything under blackbelt is $50. The way I see it, I'm paying $1,200 year to attend, I think that I should not be charged for promotions, IMO. I personally will not test until I am 100% ready, I want no McDojo promotions. What do you all think?

Testing fees are how our central organization is funded. We collect the fee, keep a portion for our expenses and send the rest to HQ. I tell my students right up front what their testing fees are and no one has ever complained.