So what is a fare price to par for class fees and are people bothered if its monthly fees or pay as you go ?

I wouldn't pay monthly as you can't guarantee attending every session.
PAYG is better.

We pay £3.50 per session for the lad and I think this is average for the area.

Agree with DON, due to family I can't always get to a class as often as I would like.
As for fees, no problems there, they seem more or less what the other clubs charge.

The club (as do others) does a pay £xx and train as many times for that month as you like. I would do this if I knew I was free all month to do it. However, I would not touch those that demand monthly DD as standard, due to the above reasons.

We charge between £3 and £4 dependent on class length.

If I knew I would be training enough to warrant monthly fee I'd be quite happy. It could also act as in incentive to help on those 'cant be arsed' evenings. However it would have to represent a significant saving on PAYG sessions.

At the uni club I teach at we charge £2 a go. I don't get paid as a coach.

At another club I visited last night (so I could train instead of teach) it was £3.60.

We'd prefer payg, our daughter had started at castle bba for a £400 life membership, which amazingly finished after 6 months ( Completely mis sold to us ) they then tried to sting us for a further £4000, i pretty much laughed in his face...Its a shame though as she was very good at it. We will be looking to put her into a pay as you go course soon.

Hi Dave
Are you setting up a club in Sheffield?

i would like to get a class going in sheffield but finding time and a room cheep to rent is another thing lol

all my classes are in well just outside worksop.
and i charge monthy but its because the peole that train with me wanted it that way if it ment i keep the classes to no more than 10 people in a class. mind in my studio i can only fit about 6 / 8 people Comfortably lol


so would you pay monthly if say you saved on class fees and if it was ongoing ? ie say a Kids fees £12 month or £3.50per class ???

So what is a fare price to par for class fees and are people bothered if its monthly fees or pay as you go ?

I charge £5 per lesson for kickboxing classes.
Unlike a lot of martial arts clubs we dont overcrowd our classes and there are normally between 8 and 14 in a class ( that is all we can fit in the gym LOL)

All the students get a good workout and they all get more one on one time than at many of the other clubs.
As a result i can get someone to a decent standard within 6 months.
I have people who have been training a year or so who i would happily put in the ring with some of these local instructors and am confident of victory :D

Our club has a central location , near the old niche nightclub on sidney street and decathlon sports shop.
Unit 3 , 77 Sidney street

Times for classes:
Monday/Thursday= 830-930pm = Complete beginners.
Tuesday= 730-830pm = mixed ability group , 830-9pm = optional extra sparring/bagwork for anyone who wants to get "more for their money"

Friday = 7-830pm = mixed ability group ( will be harder on the fitness than tuesdays mixed group )

Monday 630-830pm = FIGHTERS only class. Anyone below fighters standard can enter at their own risk !

Womens only beginners class= Thursday 730-930pm

Any questions, Ring 07775 914155

www.sheffieldkickboxingclub.com

was it £400 or £4000 castle bba ???
and was that a year on 6 month ???

I go to Wicker Camp Thaiboxing Gym ( www.wickercamp.co.uk ) and now that I've been there a while I just pay for the whole year in advance - £330. But there are lots of different ways, you can pay for each individual class, there's a different rate for unemployed/low waged students, or you can pay monthly, which saves you money if you go twice a week or more, you can set up a direct debit to pay monthly if you want.
If you pay monthly you become a member, and can attend any class your grade qualifies you for, and use the weights room - paying for the whole year as I do also includes my licence, which otherwise would be £15 per year.
I think it's good to have flexibility like this in the payment methods, everybody's in a different situation financially.
Another good thing at Wicker Camp is that your first lesson is free, so anyone can come and try it out - you can come and watch classes too to see what goes on before you commit to anything.
I have heard some horror stories about this castle bba place, a couple of friends who recently moved to Sheffield went in there just to have a look round and ask some questions, and got railroaded by some salesman into paying hundreds of pounds for some course which doesn't sound very good, also some places insist that you buy your equipment from them (Wicker Camp doesn't do this) - it seems that there are lots of so-called martial arts schools which are in fact just moneymaking enterprises run by salesmen.
Good luck setting up your school :thumbsup:

£400 to get to yellow belt ( 6 months ) then you have to commit to 3 more years at a cost of £4000 to get to black belt.

£400 to get to yellow belt ( 6 months ) then you have to commit to 3 more years at a cost of £4000 to get to black belt.

£400 to Yellow belt?! :shocked:

4 Grand to Black belt?! WTF?! I don't know what Planet this instructor's on but it sure ain't Earth charging those prices!

Heard the same thing about castle from a mate the other day.He went to have a look and was told it would be £500 or if he signed up then £400 and they would even chuck in a free suit.Surprised nothings been mentioned on these before.

It has, do a search.

It has, do a search.

Found the big one on it which I did read for the first few pages when it was originally posted.For some reason I didn't take in that it was Castle when I first read it.

Going by the amount of MA threads on here I would have thought it would come up more often though.

so its about £110 per month then ?
thats more than i thought lol

There is a lot said about direct debits and monthly fees etc, but I do think it depends on what you get. I was down in birmingham the other week with work so went to a club in the evenings. There monthly fees were £90 which at first I thought was quite high. But you get unlimited bjj classes monday 2 saturday (available during the day as well as the evening), You all so have use of the gym upstairs which is a proper body building type place so loads of wieghts and plenty of cardio machines as well. They also have muay thai classes (not sure how often as i did'nt ask).
So if you add up what you pay a month,
Gym memeber ship £44
Thai classes at the wicker £48(private group classes £6 per class)
Bjj £51 (£5 per class 0r £51 for 12 classes use anytime so does'nt matter if you miss 1 or 12!)

all of a sudden £90 direct debit sounds great!!

How many people can take advantage of that though?

The majority of people that I know train 2, maybe 3 times a week, some also go to the gym on top of that, but it's rare.

Just to add, the fee's for my university club are £2.50/2 hr session. We offered an option to pay for a term at a discount, some people take it up but it's not wildly popular.

Going by the amount of MA threads on here I would have thought it would come up more often though.
Perhaps we all ought to stick CASTLE BLACK BELT IS CRAP in our signatures? :|

perhaps we all better quit bashing clubs.

What people need to understand i think is that although there are some clubs that are run by guys that do it as a hobby (I coach, but its for fun) there are others that do it full time. These places have bills to pay for the club as well as the home ones.

What is really the difference between paying for an MA class monthly and just a normal gym membership monthly?? I train weights at Quirkes and pay weekly, however if i went to Virgin i'd have to pay monthly to stand there while some fat bird reads heat magazine on the treadmill AND it'd cost me more for the pleasure.

Think about it, if it was your club and you did it professionally full time, you'd want commitment from your students. Unfortunately you can't tell the electricity board or gas board you can't pay them their money this month as 15 people told you they were gonna come train and didn't so you can't afford it.

perhaps we all better quit bashing clubs.

What people need to understand i think is that although there are some clubs that are run by guys that do it as a hobby (I coach, but its for fun) there are others that do it full time. These places have bills to pay for the club as well as the home ones.

What is really the difference between paying for an MA class monthly and just a normal gym membership monthly?? I train weights at Quirkes and pay weekly, however if i went to Virgin i'd have to pay monthly to stand there while some fat bird reads heat magazine on the treadmill AND it'd cost me more for the pleasure.

Think about it, if it was your club and you did it professionally full time, you'd want commitment from your students. Unfortunately you can't tell the electricity board or gas board you can't pay them their money this month as 15 people told you they were gonna come train and didn't so you can't afford it.

The thread from which this one sprang is here-

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=321368&page=1

and i think one of the points covered there is very relevant, as it addresses the view that running a full-time club requires students to pay in advance.

There are several full time clubs which allow both options (pay-as-you-go or monthly in advance).

Same with commitment- there are many, many clubs that are happy to accpet PAYG, which also have commited students who excell in their art (Wicker Muay Thai camp being one obvious example).

Taking into account the point that disallowing PAYG, will actually stop some potential students from training at such clubs, i see no evidence that, overall, disallowing PAYG has any real benefits, either for the club or the students.

What is also apparent from that thread, is that some (not all) of the instructors who disallow PAYG, actively promote the view that clubs who do allow it, especially small local clubs, are of inferior quality- that, to me, is out-of-order, as well as totally untrue.

I'm glad you mentioned gyms, as they also cropped up in that thread, especially the big commercial gyms which disallow PAYG and get a lot of their fees from people they've duped into paying up to a years fees in advance, who stop training well before that year is up.

Back to martial arts and, looking at the organisations that are out-and-out scam operations, such as Castle, and you'll see that they all have one thing in common- they disallow PAYG.

It's obvious why- with PAYG, students can, if they don't like the training, simply leave- allowing PAYG is a pretty good indication that the club is not a scam, cos it can't really be a successful scam if the students can walk away without losing money they've paid in advance.

(That's not to say that all groups who disallow PAYG are scammers- just that all scammers disallow PAYG)

There are plenty of circumstances in which paying monthly is appropriate, one example given was small groups where the students want more individual attention and are happy to pay in advance to cover the cost of hall and tuition fees.

But that's a big difference from the growing number of dodgy clubs who are actively fleecing members of the public who don't know any better.

But that's a big difference from the growing number of dodgy clubs who are actively fleecing members of the public





Very poor..........

perhaps we all better quit bashing clubs.

What people need to understand i think is that although there are some clubs that are run by guys that do it as a hobby (I coach, but its for fun) there are others that do it full time. These places have bills to pay for the club as well as the home ones.

What is really the difference between paying for an MA class monthly and just a normal gym membership monthly?? I train weights at Quirkes and pay weekly, however if i went to Virgin i'd have to pay monthly to stand there while some fat bird reads heat magazine on the treadmill AND it'd cost me more for the pleasure.

Think about it, if it was your club and you did it professionally full time, you'd want commitment from your students. Unfortunately you can't tell the electricity board or gas board you can't pay them their money this month as 15 people told you they were gonna come train and didn't so you can't afford it.

I think CBB is a special case that deserves bashing. It's not just the monthly payments, it's the hard sell they give which gives MA a bad name in general.

cbba are very underhand, they give free taster lessons in primary schools, so your kids get all excited..." i want to be a blackbelt dad " then they mis-sell a life membership for £400, then once they near yellow belt and you've encouraged your kids into having a black belt attituide they tell you the original £400 was a 6 month membership and try to sting you for a further £4000, at which point if you dont pay it's goodbye.

cbba are very underhand, they give free taster lessons in primary schools, so your kids get all excited..." i want to be a blackbelt dad " then they mis-sell a life membership for £400, then once they near yellow belt and you've encouraged your kids into having a black belt attituide they tell you the original £400 was a 6 month membership and try to sting you for a further £4000, at which point if you dont pay it's goodbye.

They only target primary schools in 'well off' areas. You don't see them going to Parsons Cross, Shiregreen or the Manor to offer a free session. They are a business I agree and have costs, but their costs are very minimal.

I pay monthly Dave as you know by DD at CPFT & I’ve noted that there have been a few knockers to this payment method etc on a previous thread. :loopy: :help: :suspect:

Why??? :huh: As it works out for me £1.67 PH with me going 4 times per week. :thumbsup:

That surly got to be good deal, plus you can come 6 days a week if you so wish to a well run professional academy where friends & family matter! :bigsmile: :clap:

I pay monthly Dave as you know by DD at CPFT & I’ve noted that there have been a few knockers to this payment method etc on a previous thread. :loopy: :help: :suspect:

Why??? :huh: As it works out for me £1.67 PH with me going 4 times per week. :thumbsup:

That surly got to be good deal, plus you can come 6 days a week if you so wish to a well run professional academy where friends & family matter! :bigsmile: :clap:

So you are only paying £26.72 per month for your training ?

I pay monthly Dave as you know by DD at CPFT & I’ve noted that there have been a few knockers to this payment method etc on a previous thread. :loopy: :help: :suspect:

Why??? :huh: As it works out for me £1.67 PH with me going 4 times per week. :thumbsup:

That surly got to be good deal, plus you can come 6 days a week if you so wish to a well run professional academy where friends & family matter! :bigsmile: :clap:

If a club offers the options to PAYG or, pay monthly, then, as far as I'm concerned, that's great.

By paying monthly in advance, you generally get a good discount and, the club is assured of fees in advance- everybody benefits.

But, personally, if a club only allows pay-per-month and dissallows PAYG- then, that's the clubs decision and the clubs got every right to do things that way, but, sorry, I'm not going to train there.

I'll choose a club that allows PAYG instead.

So you are only paying £26.72 per month for your training ?

No 'Mastertkd' I'm paying the standard £40 PM for adults, but I make it work for me! :bigsmile:

I.e. I normally get 6 hours training in per week (mixed between Taekwondo & Korean Kickboxing), so that's 24 hrs per month, divide the 24 into the £40 I pay DD per month & that finally equals the £1.67 PH I put in my previous message. :roll:

I hope that clears things up for you my friend? :wink:

hey yorkie.

yes that does work out :-)
in your previous post you stated you trained 4 times per week !
£1.67 is extremely cheap for a training session. in fact it seems too cheap !

hey yorkie.

yes that does work out :-)
in your previous post you stated you trained 4 times per week !
£1.67 is extremely cheap for a training session. in fact it seems too cheap !

Hello again Mastertkd- let me clear things up for you= I still only train 4 times a week, which I correctly put in my previous message, & if you look I put £1.67 per hour not per session. As I do 1 hour training Tues & Thurs, but 2 hrs on Wed & Sat, that why it works out at £1.67 PH my friend! :D

And yes I agree with you that it is cheap because (like I’ve said before) I make it work for me by going regularly, like most serious Martial Artists do. :headbang:

But saying that if I was only attending one hour a week, due to work commitments etc, (bearing in mind that we’re open 6 day a week) then I’d be better off with a flexible block-blocking, which is also an option open to any member. :thumbsup:

I hope this finally answers your questions Mastertkd & now you fully understand the concept of it? :? :wink:

so if you are to charge per month how much would you charge ?

People pay what the hell they want to.
Its a buyers market anyhow.
I charge £5 per session. If they want to pay £5 theyll stay, if they want to pay more theyll go to one of those expensive posher clubs. If they want to pay less my attitude is "bye bye" go down the street. I refuse to charge less than £5 on principle.
I used to charge £4 until i found out people were charging more. So i immediately brought up the price.
No one complains unless theyre from the amatuer boxing.
Amateur boxing clubs are registered charities and charge very little just to pay for rent ,heating , lighting and equipment. The coaches are voluntary.

i must say well said chefkicker.

People pay what the hell they want to.
Its a buyers market anyhow.
I charge £5 per session. If they want to pay £5 theyll stay, if they want to pay more theyll go to one of those expensive posher clubs. If they want to pay less my attitude is "bye bye" go down the street. I refuse to charge less than £5 on principle.
What principle exactly?
I used to charge £4 until i found out people were charging more. So i immediately brought up the price.
Well... okay, you're running a business, but don't try to make out that £5 is some sort of special price point.
No one complains unless theyre from the amatuer boxing.
Amateur boxing clubs are registered charities and charge very little just to pay for rent ,heating , lighting and equipment. The coaches are voluntary.

I doubt anyone does complain, no one complains about something they think costs too much, they simply don't use the service, you only get complaints when they have no choice.

Mod note: Discuss fees and the thread will stay open. Repeat the insults and arguing and it won't. The choice is yours.

lets get togeather right now.................and live in sweet harmoney,

I enjoy ma as much as everone who posts on the ma threds. The thing I enjoy most is getting out doors with my mates and trainnig in a park. In my back garden. In the house and the cost - Free! Brilliant.

I run a Taekwondo School which will be opening a full time dojang soon. The prices for that will be £3.50 per session or you can buy 10 for £30. This wont include grading fees. Once all the time slots are running you can also take the option of paying £35 per month which will include grading fees.
The venue will have 150 meters of training space, Martial arts shop and coffe area.

£400 to get to yellow belt ( 6 months ) then you have to commit to 3 more years at a cost of £4000 to get to black belt.

Plus £25 per grading and equipment at CBB prices.

With those costs at CBB my place is looking better and better. Keep it up CBB.

With those costs at CBB my place is looking better and better. Keep it up CBB.

We charge £5 per session each time you come and we guarantee correct technique taught and that you are taught by actual kickboxers with proper ring experience.
We refuse point blank to charge any less than £5 what ever people say.
My attitude is that it is a buyers market.
You choose where to want to train and if you like where you are you pay what is asked without question.
If people arent happy with the price they can go elsewhere.
Im confident that im teaching GOOD technique. Also we dont give belts away like sweets. See my students for themselves and youll see what i mean.

Beginners classes :

Monday / Thursday 830-930pm
Tuesday 730pm

All welcome

KNOX Boxing gym , 77 sidney street in sheffield town centre near decathlon.

Gracie Barra Sheffield charges £5 for a two hour lesson, but you can pay in advance to get a dicount,

New class price structure for training:-
£5 for 1 class
£18 for 4 classes
£51 for 12 classes

so you get free classes by buying more.... this is for lessons not per month so if you dont make it you dont loose your lesson.

[QUOTE=chefkicker;3630352]We charge £5 per session each time you come
QUOTE]


Thats not a bad price. If they train twice a week thats £10 round about £45 per month. Thats for not bad for a full time place

[QUOTE=chefkicker;3630352]We charge £5 per session each time you come
QUOTE]


Thats not a bad price. If they train twice a week thats £10 round about £45 per month. Thats for not bad for a full time place

I go a step better than that. If someone pays in advance for a month, they can pay £40 for the whole month.
they then get the following classes:

Monday = 630-830= fighters class, 830-930= beginners class. (some stay and end up doing both!!!)
Tuesday = 730-830pm = Technical session suitable for beginners and advanced. This session is all about the grading syllabus.

Friday= 7-830pm = mixed ability class. The half hour at the end is optional sparring practise (if you dont want to spar just use the bags)

When a fight is coming up, the fighters get an extra session in on either sunday or wednesday (which is included into the package)

i think martial arts classes are real expensive

My fees are one monthly payment of £40.00 and you get unlimited training. If there is a session for you, then you can train. That could mean upto 12 times per week. There are some places (remain un-named) that charge a lot more than this and only let the student train twice a week!!!!! If you are lucky enough to get some fully dedicated students who want to train 4-even 5 times a week don't hold them back through limted trainig and don't over charge them. My personal view is that if you pay a membership fee then you are a member. If you pay a part time membership then have limited training surely?

for the fees I mentioned before a student would be able to train at any of our sessions which are one and a half hours long, 6 days a week (Sundays is for seminars with leading Masters). all of them after School hours. out side of these hours, if an instrctor is present they can come in and use the equipment. £40 is not bad if you are offering 12 lessons that everyone can train at. I may even put my price up

Why can't there be a mixture? Why not have a kind of 'loyalty/commitment' reward? just thought this up so bare with me!

so it's £x a month for membership....if you goto less than 4 lessons a month you get a discount on your next month or money back?, a free 1 on 1 session or something along them lines?

I don't think a month payment is that bad as long as its just a month and not a yearly payment broken down to create this 'monthly' cost. I've trained at Castle Black Belt and 3 or 4 Different Gyms, was never unhappy with the payment terms...I read the terms and had my eyes wide open.....the service, instructors and people who run the places are a different matter not for this thread.

We've changed our structure this academic year. £2/Wed and Thu, but if you do both then Sat is free. That's a loyalty bonus. Also grades >purple get both sessions half price, again a bonus for sticking with us.

There is a new training time table in place with effect from 1st of August; this is to offer greater training opportunities and flexibility.

Monday 5:30-6:15 Kids BJJ
6:30-8:00 Adult Gi Class
8:00-9:30 Adult No Gi Class

Wednesday 5:30-6:15 Kids BJJ
6:30-8:00 Adult Gi Class
8:00-9:30 Adult No Gi Class

Friday 5:30-6:15 Kids BJJ
6:30-8:00 Adult Gi Class
8:00-9:30 Adult No Gi Class

Sunday 11:00-12:30 Adult Gi Class
12:30-2:00 Adult No Gi Class

As you can see we now offer an adult up to 8 classes a week, you can choose to do just Gi or just No Gi or even both.

For this Adult Fees will be £40 per month, with a small charge of an extra £5 per Black Belt Class attended, For £40 you can train every class if you want.

Private lessons are available with a purple belt instructor for £20 per hour, Kids classes are £3.50.
Any questions please contact John Goldson Tel: 07738588925
Email: info@theforge-ma.co.uk

Thank you

i think martial arts classes are real expensive

Go on then badzy,I'll bite.Why do you think Martial Arts classes are real expensive? Who have you been to? What have they not taught to make you have that opinion? :thumbsup: