Belt Testing Fees

[Kilo-11]

What is your take on them as an Instructor? Do you think that they are a good idea?

 

My school has them, but we also have a low monthly tuition. We don't charge you to test again if you fail as some schools do. The testing fee is also very reasonable.

 

What is your take on it as a student?

[Shorinryu Sensei]

What is your take on them as an Instructor? Do you think that they are a good idea?

 

My school has them, but we also have a low monthly tuition. We don't charge you to test again if you fail as some schools do. The testing fee is also very reasonable.

 

What is your take on it as a student?

 

When I was a student, they charged $10 each for the first 3 colored belt tests, plus $4 for the belt itself. Testing was about every 3 months, but not set in stone.

 

The next 3 belts were $15/test, and the last 3 (brown belts) were $20 each. All of the money collected for the belt tests was sent to the head of the system in Okinawa for him to use to travel to see us periodically...which he did. Personally, I never had a problem paying the fee as I saw a reason for it.

[mattys]

I would never charge a student for testing without good reason, such as stated by Shorinryu Sensei. Otherwise, it just screams McDojo to me.

[SloMo]

We charge a very small tuition so we do charge for testing. We do not charge for re-testing. Generally it's to cover the additional expenses and it's really the only part that is profit to the school which we use for new equipment. I guess it depends on how much is charged for a test to determine if it is fair.

[Luckykboxer]

man some places is very inexpensive to train.

 

our school charges along the following structure...

 

yellow 25

 

orange 25

 

purple 25

 

blue 30

 

green 35

 

red 40

 

brown 3 50

 

brown 2 75

 

brown 1 - 100

 

black 1 - 200

[pineapple]

Our school charges

 

$20 for each test (from white to brown) This includes the belt, 2 certificates (one from the school and one from the association that it belongs to) and retesting is no additional charge.

 

$100 for black belt test and includes a custom embroidered belt with the art on one side and the person's name on the other translated into "Kanji".

[strangepair03]

Our school charges for the price of the belt only, usually 6 bucks.

[aefibird]

My karate school charges for belt testing. The money collected is used to pay for new belts, a certificate and to hire the cost of a large hall (we grade with other clubs from the same organisation). Any money left over is put into the club's bank account for purchasing equipment etc. Sometimes, if there's enough money in the account left over from testing fees, Sensei will take us all out for dinner with it.

 

I don't mind paying for belt testing, because I know that my money will be used for the benefit of the students (new belts & certificates) and for the club (new quipment from any left-over money). Plus, our testing fees are very low too - lower than most of the other karate schools in my area.

 

Testing in Wing Chun is free, but I pay more for classes.

Edited January 4, 2005 by aefibird

[nago]

In Okinawa it is pretty much standardized throughout the island with some exceptions. A Kyu test will run between $30-$60 depending on the rank. Shodan and nidan are $200 and increases by $50 for every dan above that. For example 5 dan would be $350. I have been in Okinawa/Japan for 18 years. Never heard of someone not charging a fee for a belt test.

[ninjanurse]

Personally I feel that you shouldn't charge students for testing . Advancement is something that you should pay for in sweat not cash. Monthly fees should be structured to absorb the cost of a 4 dollar belt if money is what motivates you or you can have your students buy their belts from you. In special circumstances any testing fees that are charged they should not be for profit but to cover costs only.