How much for a Private Lesson?

[Harkon72]

My Association has adult karate students, many of them train together and they range in grade from 8th Kyu to 4th Dan.

Tonight, I went to the Dojo and there was only two other adults there ahead of the more popular Kickboxing Class. "Where's everyone?" I said, "They all trained last night" Said the Sensei, "Sempai Becky is taking the Kickboxers for a run, so it's just you and me Tonight Gareth San!" I paid my £4.50 fee and had my Sensei for an hour and a half on my own. It was hard, almost no breaks. The warm ups were tough and the kihon was thorough. The Kata took all my concentration as I did 6 of them twice. The Sparring took me to another level. I've heard that people can charge as much as £50 an hour for a private lesson, does anyone get such a good deal as me? I know it won't happen often, and it was only by chance tonight, but I really enjoyed it.

[Wastelander]

Our organization doesn't have requirements for that sort of thing. My dojo, specifically, has a tier structure for private lessons, ranging from $15 to $70 depending on how long you want the lesson to be and who you want to train with. A private lesson with a senior brown belt or junior black belt will cost less than a private lesson with one of the black belts, and a lesson with our head instructor will cost more than that. Those of us who help teach are compensated by discounted or free training, which also includes some private instruction every now and then.

[blacknebula]

A month or so ago I was the only one to show up for the advanced class, so I got a private lesson for no extra cost. It was totally sweet.

[CredoTe]

Unintended private lessons like that (when no one else shows for class) are usually a great boon to both the instructor and the student, as long as they only happen every once in a while. If they happened often, then the school would soon be out of business!

We only do private lessons by special appointment, and then our fees for private lessons vary depending on what the student wants out of training. Do they want the full extent of traditional Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-do? Do they just want an abbreviated version that only includes self-defense training? Etc...

...Those of us who help teach are compensated by discounted or free training, which also includes some private instruction every now and then.

Yep... Our policy is once a student becomes a Shodan, monthly fees are waived and s/he may attend class and train for free. The trade-off is s/he is required to teach / help with class.

[sensei8]

Deciding on what one should charge for private lessons can be a tricky formula, in deed.

What's too much and what's too little for private lessons. The price must satisfy both the student as well as the school.

To say it's a sensitive decision is possibly putting it mildly. However, CredoTe makes a point when he says...

Do they want the full extent of traditional Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-do? Do they just want an abbreviated version that only includes self-defense training? Etc...

Even in this formula, imho, it isn't just that easy. Why? The consumer, and our students are our consumers, make the decision as to whether they're going to accept the fees or not. Finding the neutral ground will take some trial and error hits until the fees stimulate the consumer to bite.

If a normal monthly tuition costs the practitioner $150 per month, then is $100 per hour too much? $50 per hour? Too much/little? Then again, we go right back to what CredoTe's quote from above...what does the student want.

Then, how big should the private class be? 1 on 1? 1 on 2 or 3 or 4 or 5? There are, imho, so many parameters to be concerned with because private lessons should be easy to assemble, and, imho, they are.

But two factors kill a dojo quick. One: Inexperience in conducting an effective private lesson. Two: Greed.

Don't know how to teach a private lesson. Then don't until you do. Imho, teaching private lessons is a whole new ball game then teaching a group; different stimulus...different animal.

If you charge too much, then you'll never teach one private lesson until you find the magic number that'll work in the area that your school is located.

Even then, once a price satisfies all concerned, the bad word will keep rearing up it's nagging head...CHANGE!! Lowering and raising private lesson fees is an extremely sensitive matter for all. Consumers want to know why, and you've got to have an answer that won't floor the consumer right out the door. Change is inevitable in business; don't what to change, then you're school will be closed faster than it took me to type this post, imho.

Being a name, does it make it very easy to set the prices? It might. I don't know!! The overall and general consensus of any commodity price setting is simple...the lower price is what hooks the consumer first and after all. Quality might matter, but attack their wallet, you'll see what happens.

Once all of the kinks have been worked out...have fun...EVERYONE!!

[tallgeese]

Those nights work out great. It's always a bonus when you show up and get one on one treatment.

As to the normal rate, both BJJ schools I've been at have been $80 per hour. I've trained with others that are higher, usually for very well known individuals.

Prior to that, I'd never even been in a martial arts school where privates were offered.

[Harlan]

I consider myself fortunate in that my teacher doesn't charge. Since it's just been the two of us for the past 10 years, I rather enjoy the reverse: training with his teacher. Usually $5/lesson...but these days I'm paying with a dozen eggs from my chickens.

[bushido_man96]

Lessons like that are great when they occur. I don't know that I would want privates like that all the time, but now and then would be great. I do enjoy having bigger classes, too.

[sensei8]

Have a solid syllabus in place so that their's no "Now, what do I teach?". What one would teach in a group setting isn't and shouldn't be, imho, a copy in a private lessons. Why?

One on one can cover a more detailed explanation and the like for just one technique. Whereas in the group setting, more than one technique/drill is covered. Both, however, imho, must be challenging and what one's teaching better be effective.

Private lessons for kids, again, a whole new ball game from a kids group lessons. Overdoing, if at all possible will overwhelm a student, no matter the age, and no matter if it's private or group.

Things to keep in mind when setting prices for private lessons. And if I was to list possible private lesson parameters in setting ones first time out of the box with offering private lessons, well, it would mindboggle you, as it did me when I first offered them.

If not for my Dai-Soke to teach me how to conduct private lessons, I would've failed miserably across the board. I used his price structure at first, and his syllabus at first as well, but I had to change it all because my location and my students weren't fitting into what Dai-Soke was using.

[CredoTe]

Deciding on what one should charge for private lessons can be a tricky formula, in deed.

What's too much and what's too little for private lessons. The price must satisfy both the student as well as the school.

To say it's a sensitive decision is possibly putting it mildly. However, CredoTe makes a point when he says...

Do they want the full extent of traditional Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-do? Do they just want an abbreviated version that only includes self-defense training? Etc...

Even in this formula, imho, it isn't just that easy. Why? The consumer, and our students are our consumers, make the decision as to whether they're going to accept the fees or not. Finding the neutral ground will take some trial and error hits until the fees stimulate the consumer to bite.

If a normal monthly tuition costs the practitioner $150 per month, then is $100 per hour too much? $50 per hour? Too much/little? Then again, we go right back to what CredoTe's quote from above...what does the student want.

Then, how big should the private class be? 1 on 1? 1 on 2 or 3 or 4 or 5? There are, imho, so many parameters to be concerned with because private lessons should be easy to assemble, and, imho, they are.

But two factors kill a dojo quick. One: Inexperience in conducting an effective private lesson. Two: Greed.

Don't know how to teach a private lesson. Then don't until you do. Imho, teaching private lessons is a whole new ball game then teaching a group; different stimulus...different animal.

If you charge too much, then you'll never teach one private lesson until you find the magic number that'll work in the area that your school is located.

Even then, once a price satisfies all concerned, the bad word will keep rearing up it's nagging head...CHANGE!! Lowering and raising private lesson fees is an extremely sensitive matter for all. Consumers want to know why, and you've got to have an answer that won't floor the consumer right out the door. Change is inevitable in business; don't what to change, then you're school will be closed faster than it took me to type this post, imho.

Being a name, does it make it very easy to set the prices? It might. I don't know!! The overall and general consensus of any commodity price setting is simple...the lower price is what hooks the consumer first and after all. Quality might matter, but attack their wallet, you'll see what happens.

Once all of the kinks have been worked out...have fun...EVERYONE!!

Thank you for the support / kudos Your post is very insightful; there are several good points you make that I will now keep in mind when dealing with private lessons. There's one particular point of special interest:

Don't know how to teach a private lesson. Then don't until you do. Imho, teaching private lessons is a whole new ball game then teaching a group; different stimulus...different animal.

That is 1000% true... In fact, I just started doing private lessons barely two years ago because of this. My instructor always warned that private lessons are a different animal than dojo training... I tried it once many years ago, and it didn't work out. So I waited until I knew how to handle private lessons. Even then, "knowing" how to handle them is totally different than "experiencing" them. My first few private lessons were awkward, quirky; but, once I gained some confidence in what I was / am doing, now they're no sweat (Well, they are, because we work out hard...lol )