New Parent Question: Must purchase dojo's sparring gear?

[Judodad_karateson]

Its not out of the ordinary for a school to do this. A lot of businesses make more money selling the accessories for their products than they do their product itself. You think its REALLY that hard for a cell phone provider to use a phone from a different cell service, for example? In addition, if the school is competition focused, they make be requiring this gear for that reason, which is perfectly reasonable.

But $170 for a set for a 10 year old who just started the art? What kind of sparring gear is this? We talking chestguard, mouth guard, cup, gloves, shins, headgear, the works? We talking 2 colors for tournament reasons? Plus the insurance thing? I don't know, its not uncommon for sports to require these kinds of things,but the way you put it raises some red flags with me. I'd shop around for other schools, if they aren't too far out.

Be sure to let us know what your insurance buddies tell you about it!