How much should my karate lessons cost?

This is a difficult question because prices vary so much from place to place. Some dojo operate commercially so their fees will likely be more than what you would pay at a non-profit club. When you find a good teacher to train with, and you have because you have been meticulously following this guide, it is not unreasonable for you to pay somewhere between $50.00 and $75.00 a month for lessons. Additional fees may be introduced for special courses. There may also be registration fees that must be paid to national or international organizations. In addition, if you attend any seminars with visiting karate teachers from Japan or other countries, or if you do participate in testing and hope to advance to the next belt level you will also probably have to pay those fees as well.

If you are sending children to the dojo there should also be a family rate. Feel free to ask for a discount. It is not a bad idea to get everything regarding fees and payment schedules in writing. That way there are no misunderstandings between the teacher and student regarding money. Now there are times when someone like a university student would like to train in karate but because of financial strains and student loans are unable to pay tuition. People in this particular situation should see if they can negotiate something else, such as cleaning the floors or doing promotional work for the dojo instead. If you cannot pay the fees offer your time. Maybe you can work for the karate club by running its web-page or hanging flyers at the university campus or manning the telephones during the day for a few hours. Many karate instructors are not unfamiliar to poverty so feel free to ask.

On a side note, if you know of a dojo that is offering a really good rate for classes be very suspicious about them. Quite often these are people who either do not have the credentials they claim, have not been certified to instruct, or simply are not offering quality instruction. This can lead to confusion, inadequate training or simply fraud in many cases. It always okay to ask about the certifications of the Sensei at the school you are interested in attending.

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