Karate price for my son. Am I being ripped off?

momoyama

exup wrote: »

from what I have been told by my brother who is an assistant instructor . if you have a black belt before 18 - you lose it when you turn 18 and have to be graded for it again anyway

That's a club or style specific rule only.

valk_scot

My daughter's karate club is run by a friend of my husband's. We were encouraged to bring the kids along for a couple of weeks first to see if they liked it before committing to anything...and commitment really only meant buying the licence, which was £15 or £20 for the year. DS didn't like it but DD has been going for two years now. We pay £3 per class on the day, the annual licence fee and the grading fees. You can buy the parent dojo (JKS Scotland) suit with embroidered logo but a plain white one is perfectly acceptable. There's a healthy trading market in outgrown kit amongst the parents and most parents just hand in unwanted outgrown kit, so that it can be passed on to new starts.

The whole thing has a nice ethos of welcoming new people into the club to learn an old and serious martial arts discipline but not just as a sports activity...as a way of thinking. I'm certain my husband's friend is not in it for the money, put it that way...he seems to give up vast amounts of his free time to the sport for only very minimal money, as do many of the other instructors. A way of life rather than a money making exercise? I know what sort of club I prefer my daughter to attend. She's learning a whole lot more than to kick and punch things effectively!

ailuro2

I do a mixed martial art called Kupso - so far it's only practised in Scotland, but the chung do kwan karate, tae kwon do and ao denkou jitsu it consists of is practised worldwide.

It started when my daughter needed a bit more presence in the playground - she was always coming home with skinned knees saying someone had knocked her over while they were running about - not malicious shoving, but I felt she needed something to help her avoid this.

Kupso has been great for her - because it's a mix of self defence work, patterns/katas/short forms (choose your own description) , pressure points, locks, throws, sparring and a little grappling, so it keeps her interested because it's different topics from week to week. They also do 'scenario' type things where the kids think about how to react to different situations - is the person coming towards them looking to mug them or just ask for directions.

While some people might criticise it because it's not taking things to a fine art form, but she's still there after 2 and 1/2 years, so I can't speak highly enough if it, because what my DD has now is a good base to get herself out of situations she might find herself faced with - from bullying to someone just having a square go, or a stranger approaching her in the street, I hope she'll walk away unscathed.

Having a black belt paid for at £79 a month would not give her that. While it is dearer than the clubs who have 30 or 40 kids a class, our instructor has small numbers so the kids can ask a question or go over something again with him whenever they need to.

We pay £3.90 for an hour for kids, £4.90 for an adult. Gradings are £25 each (the club president comes through to do these) and yearly insurance is £23
There's also a discount on Saturdays as that's normally a student'ts second class in a week, but they can just do the Saturdays if they want to at the reduced price.

Because I ended up joining after DD it's not very moneysaving for us.:o But it's a sport/hobby I enjoy, so I'm happy to spend the money.

OP - go back to the place you have signed up for, tell them you've just split up from your husband and can't afford it - see what they say - If they refuse then tell them your friend writes for the local paper and see what they think then...

you may not have much of a leg to stand on here, though, as you didn't read the form properly.
p.s. lots of MA folk wuold call this a McDojo.

mumof3kids

hi my husband is a judo coach so i know its not strictly the same but its along those lines, his club charge £3.00 for 2 nights a week, 1 and a half hour sessions.
Then grading, the british judo association only charge £5.00 each so anything over that is pure profit in the coaches pocket.
I would never sign anything in advance because you can't guarantee your child won't be ill etc.
We live in the North East and his club are quite cheap but that price sounds excessive to me, as for buying the gear from the club don't get me started!
mum of 3

PolishBigSpender

Hmm. Random question.

Do people believe that sending small children (say, under the age of 14) is effective from a self defence point of view?

I'm struggling to see how someone who might know a purely strike based art would fare in a real playground fight where there no rules or laws.

juliescot

Having seen my DS do karate he is aware of balance and body movement which would help in any confrontation station. It does not mean he can fight anyone but he can avoid, to a degree, being hit.

momoyama

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Do people believe that sending small children (say, under the age of 14) is effective from a self defence point of view?

I'm struggling to see how someone who might know a purely strike based art would fare in a real playground fight where there no rules or laws.

mmmm, contradiction there. "Self defence" / "playground fight". Maybe just perceptions of what you mean by those.


Regards selfs defence specifically:
It very much depends on what's taught and how. Yes, small children can very much learn to defend themselves effectively. You may find that concepts of "defend yourself" differ radically, though. Could a (say) 12 year old stand and fight one-and-one with a determined adult? Not likely. Could that same 12 year old learn to avoid a situation, turn the environment to their advantage and/or use technique to disengage and escape? Yes.

Regards "a purely strike based art", that's an entirely fair point which is why so many people cross-train these days. I'm not defending some of the movements in modern Martial Arts, but you almost need to be multi-black-belt graded to stay ahead. OR be lucky in finding a fairly dynamic art. They do exist.

ailuro2

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Hmm. Random question.

Do people believe that sending small children (say, under the age of 14) is effective from a self defence point of view?

I'm struggling to see how someone who might know a purely strike based art would fare in a real playground fight where there no rules or laws.

My DD was attacked by a smaller child a while back - while she didn't strike him she came away with hardly a mark on her even though the boy jumped on her fro behind and was trying to scratch her eyes out. She simply used blocks to stop him till the teacher got there.
2 years ago she wouldn't have known how to block an attack, her face would probably be in ribbons. The same boy has attacked a number of other girls before - he is not from this country and struggles to communicate was the school's excuse for not keeping him on a tighter rein.When I asked why she didn't take him down and restrain him she said she didn't think it was allowed in school on smaller kids. Bless her!

I phoned up and advised them coming up to my DD and trying to scratch her eyes out needed no translation in my book, and warned them it has now been made perfectly clear to her she should use any elements of her Kupso she chooses, no matter how small or big the attacker is.
The children are not taught deadly pressure points so she will only hurt or injure him if he tried it again, all students are taught to read situations where possible - an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. They are taught not to let strangers into their space, and to understand they should mostly run away where possible - it's the best way not to take a punch.;)

MY DH, from the man's point of view, told DD she should have punched the little boy in the nose to stop him in his tracks - but for that she'd be in real trouble with the school. With her martial arts training she could (and should imho) have taken him down into a restraint until the teacher came - it's not so hard to do when you know how and the other child doesn't, and doesn't involve any blood being spilled - it is, imho, harder to prove who hit out first if the person who started it has a burst nose and the 'victim' doesn't.:rolleyes:

I'm glad we stumbled on Kupso as our martial art- like Momoyama says, purely striking based martial arts, while fun and good exercise, they probably won't get you very far in the real world, but having something that is always developing and takes the best from different arts can be a great way to build confidence, strength and help stop kids being bullied / beaten up or worse.

perosnally, I feel the scenario work we do is invaluable - all the kids are shy at their first attempt, - it's not usual to shout at an adult and tell them off for being in your space!! They soon learn to use their voices to attract attention, and how to keep someone who has no ill intentions out of their space while they give them an answer.


As a woman of 39 years old, joining martial arts has done wonders for my self confidence - OK so maybe my forward rolls aren't so great as the kids, but mess with me or mine at your peril these days!!:p The adults get to do kali/escrima (sticks) and at higher grades we also do weapons work which adds in another element to keep it interesting.

So, polishbigspender - still wondering if the under 14s can't defend themselves?:D

Jo.G

I'm afraid I am one of those parents who signed up to an expensive pay each month karate school. Do I regret it? Absolutely not.
My eldest son started at 5 in the tots classes, which cost £40 a month for up to 3 lessons a week. We wanted to build up his confidence and make sure he could stand up for himself at school.
He then progressed to the leadership programme, £80 a month with up to 6 lessons a week.
At the age of 8 he passed his black belt graduation.
Next May he will go for his second dan at the grand old age of 10.
He is still a quiet child, but a quietly confident child.
Worth every penny.

My youngest son now attends and it costs me £100 a month for them both.
He has a completely different temperment and attitude so I dont expect him to have his black belt within 3 years, but it does intsill discipline and respect.

There are other PAYG classes closer to our home. But our kids are happy with their Martial Arts school and the full time instructors, and I cant fault how they have encouraged my eldest to achieve his balck belt. One of the proudest moments of my life and as long as my kids are happy to go, I'm happy to pay.

momoyama

Jo.G wrote: »

At the age of 8 he passed his black belt graduation.
Next May he will go for his second dan at the grand old age of 10.

:eek: Literally.


More money than sense. Deluded. Dojo is a disgrace to Martial Arts.

Sorry, harsh views I know but just honesty. Yet another argument in favour of regulation of Martial Arts, which no-one really wants.