Karate Class prices for a 4 Year Old

adamnsu

I was trying to enrol my 4yr old into a karate class in Sutton, Surrey recently. looked up all websites of companies and they hardly publish prices.

we got a quote from a exclusive karate academy the £150(admin,insurance,kit,license?) then it's 35 a month. I found the class rates ok but wondering if the intial lumpsum sound ok?

what r other people paying for karate classes?

Zola.

Why Karate?

Just my 2 cents - Your child would be better off learning a more effective martial art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu....even Tae Kwon Do or something, even from an early age. Karate is for the most part a bit pointless and teaches you to be a robot (endless katas etc). I know this because I once did Karate. For this reason I wouldnt recommend spending that sort of money on it.

Any martial art will help to instill discipline, but BJJ would be a true winner as it will teach your child from an early age how to cope under a very real scenario (someone on top of you etc)....it is also very fun and safe and will actually be of benefit to them should they ever find themselves in a dangerous situation.

adamnsu

Thanks for the reply.

Thinking of it you just put a thought in my head. The class my son attended, 15 minutes of the 45 minutes class the kids were just running around in circles. Another 10 minutes was playing some game (non karate). The karate excercises were 15-20 minutes.

I wanted it to be a bit more karate than games, but looking at my son's enthusiasm i didnt think too much of it at first.

I might want to reconsider this particular venue.

Many thanks for your advice.

Zola.

Sounds like he was having fun! I suppose at 4 years old it has to stimulate and be mixed up to keep their attention

adamnsu

Yes he was quite happy with all that running around & shouting.

But the person who owns and runs the academy, explainded the cost structure at such a fast pace I got confused. She didnt have a print version of the pricing structure. I got dismayed that for every new belt we would have to fork out an additional £23 per grade (3 per year approx.)

Also when my wife emailed for the price structure, we got no response which makes me think that the person's intention is not make the pricing structure easy to understand.

Also on top of that the intial £150 (not including class fee) is such a big sunk cost that if our circumstances change we wont be able to get value for that.

Money_maker

Have a look at this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5382861 looks like theres lots of ripoff classes around.

My DS1 did judo and they ran it after school. Cost a few pounds per class, yes you do have to pay for kit, insurance & exams/competitions but these sports shouldn't be costing that much. You might want to look at the 'contract' first, kit and gear sounds a bit pricey.

Lu_Lu

Ours do Karate every week and it's £5 each for the hour lesson, plus 20 mins for warming up/ down and a game at the end. We didn't pay any registration fee and it's usually about £20 for grading every 6 months.

I kind of agree with the robot comment but our currently really enjoy it and it's not too expensive and helps them with balance and discipline (both boys).

Forgot to say, outfits were £23 each and our eldest has lasted him 5 years so far!

adamnsu

Money_maker wrote: »

Have a look at this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5382861 looks like theres lots of ripoff classes around.

My DS1 did judo and they ran it after school. Cost a few pounds per class, yes you do have to pay for kit, insurance & exams/competitions but these sports shouldn't be costing that much. You might want to look at the 'contract' first, kit and gear sounds a bit pricey.

Thanks for the link. I dont think this dojo is particularly a scam, however the delivery of the owner and her prices were complex and confusing & the fact is she didnt want to provide me with a proper written breakdown of prices seemed quite fish.

Going back to the £150 sunk cost: from what I gathered reading other sources: £30 (license for a 4yr old) + £30 (kit)+ £30 (insurance), so thats like £90, Im assuming the remaining £60 can only be admin fee.

If there is anything that falls under scam is there is a nice video of the class in a much bigger and well lit hall on their website, when in reality their jodo is quite small (but good enough for kids)

adamnsu

Lu_Lu wrote: »

Ours do Karate every week and it's £5 each for the hour lesson, plus 20 mins for warming up/ down and a game at the end. We didn't pay any registration fee and it's usually about £20 for grading every 6 months.

I kind of agree with the robot comment but our currently really enjoy it and it's not too expensive and helps them with balance and discipline (both boys).

Forgot to say, outfits were £23 each and our eldest has lasted him 5 years so far!

I wish I had your dojo near my area

According to the owner of this dojo, the grading which I assume involves a new belt, is extra £23. There are 3 per year.

Im looking into other cheaper alternatives in my area. Im also looking into other forms of martial arts as well.

Ms_Chocaholic

Beware of McDojos.

warehouse

My Son does Judo at a local club. It's fantastic and I'd highly recommend it when your son gets older, (I think the starting age is 7).

Anyway, price wise we get charged £3.50 per 90 minute session, if we go twice a week it's £3 per session. Great value.