Testing Fees

[ninjanurse]

It's all relative to the value you place on your training....nothing more (or less!).

[still kicking]

It goes up according to rank, but I don't have exact figures in my head. I paid $90 for 2nd kyu, with half going to the association and half going to our school. Belt is included. I don't know what the association does with their half. I might be mad or I might be glad if I knew, but I signed up for the whole package and that comes with. I feel good about the half that goes directly to our school, though. We are set up as a non-profit organization. All teachers work on a volunteer basis, and a lot of the "extra" money goes into a scholarship fund to help students who struggle to pay tuition, and to defray part of the travel expenses involved in black belt training and testing. It is an important value to make karate training accessible to everyone.

[conrad665]

My testing fee is about $6.00,because my dojo is in my campus,normally it is much higher in other dojos(like $40)and the charge for dan is $100,I think.

[sensei8]

My style no longer charges for testing fees. I was thinking over the breakdown of fees and I repeatedly kept asking myself the same question over and over.

WHY?

For example, if the testing fees for kyu were $40, and if going from Ikkyu to Shodan was $100. Testing duration was NEVER part of the pricing equation/matrix.

Again...WHY?

Items [basic] needed for any/every promotion:

1) Belt

2) Certification

Basically, a testing candidate that's passed gets one belt and one certificate...that's it!

How come the $60 increase from Ikkyu to Shodan? It's still one belt and one certificate. Administrative duties/fees? Ok, let's look at basic admin fees real quick.

1> Sensei contacts Hombu with Testing applications

2> Hombu OK's or Denies Testing applications

3> Testing conducted

4> Sensei sends list of all testing candidates with either "Pass" or "Fail" beside their name to the Hombu

5> Hombu places all authorization stamps onto certificates

6> Name/Rank/Title & Registration numbers applied

7> Recording certificates on file

8> Signatures/stamps applied to certificates from Hombu

9> Send completed certificates to said Sensei (If testing not being done at the Hombu)

10> Sensei signs/stamps certificates [Testing and Promotions are NOT done on the same day, not even if the testing was done at the Hombu!]

This process is no more involved than what it takes to pay bills. Fill out the check, place the bill and check in the envelope, seal the envelope, place a stamp on the envelope, fill out the envelope, and mail the envelope~~I don't get paid for doing this admin stuff!

I'm slightly perplexed and that's one of the reasons why I've eliminated testing fees altogether!

[DWx]

I'm slightly perplexed and that's one of the reasons why I've eliminated testing fees altogether!

Its great for you and your students that you can afford to do that. However I know that testing fees at our school are also partly to cover hall hire, travel costs (if we invite a an external examiner) and of course the cost of the belt itself and certificate as we get presented with both. We can also choose to pay a small amount for our instructor to get us breaking materials if we want instead of using re-breakable boards or sourcing them ourselves.

I can appreciate why people charge admin fees, if you have a very large group testing at once it is pretty strenuous trying to go through a stack of forms/certificates for like 100 students. I don't know what sort of admin you may do but for us, it involves doing a report on each candidate post test (or sometimes during) as to what the struggled with, improvements that need to be made, what was well done etc. If you are just stamping yes or no that probably doesn't take as much time. Its pretty much at least a half day's work if not the whole day. And of course paying for the examiner's time. You pay instructor's to teach you so why not the examiners? Personally I've love the times I get to sit on our panel but when you're testing students from 9 - 5 its pretty much your whole day gone.

[sensei8]

Whomever charges testing fees and whomever doesn't charge testing fees; I'm fine with either way, it's just not our choice, any longer, within the Shindokan Hombu.

My thought about testing fees is this. A school teacher teaches and in that: creates a curriculum/syllabus, assigns homework, grades papers, conducts Teacher/Parent conferences, attends staff/district meetings and the like. Guess what? This teacher does all of this without receiving any EXTRA pay aside their normal salary.

The testing/promotion board at the Shindokan Hombu doesn't just place a stamp on a certificate. The entire Shindokan Hombu as well as the testing/promotion board puts in thousands of manhour covering a myriad of things approximately 1 month before testing/promotions and 1 month after testing/promotions which includes indepth reports and the like about each and every testing candidate.

Still, we charge no testing fees anymore, and this works for us. It has to work for us because I won't allow any amendments or the like...ever! Our Hombu has other ways and means to raising/earning extra revenue; but no longer through testing fees.

It's all good!

[ShawnJ]

In my school, testing fees gradually go up according to rank.

This is Shorin-Ryu Karate USA.

Ro-Kyu (1st green tip) - $10

Go-Kyu (2nd green tip) - $20

Yon-Kyu (green belt) - $30

San-Kyu (brown tips) - $40

Ni-Kyu (brown belt) - $45

Ik-Kyu (black tips) - $50

Shodan (black belt) $100 or $150 depending on if you want the belt embroidered.

[KumitePanda]

it depends if its a dojo grading or a shihan grading.

heres the prices

Shihan grading/seminars for 2 days: $60 kyu $200 US dollar (note* when grading to 1st dan you have to hand up $220 US currency to shihan)

Dojo grading with head instructor: $20

annual fees: $100

[senseikellam]

Kyu fees are $50 (No Belt Included as some by their own) or $55.00 which includes belt

1st Dan $185.00 includes very nice certificate and a nice embroidered belt

2nd Dan $195.00

3rd Dan & Higher $295.00

[Nevinyrral]

Kyu fee is 35zl (about 12$). Dont know how much are dan fees.

And I have been grading from no kyu to 8kyu so I paid 70zl