BJJ Expensive

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raulz88

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I am very interested in beginning the BJJ program under Pedro Sauer in Salt Lake City. I undersand Pedro is very respected and the program is top notch, so I am excited that it is so close to where I live. I gave them a call and I wasn't prepared for the cost. At 85.00 per month with 2 sessions per week, it is going to be interesting talking my wife into letting me pursue this.

I am going to do my best to come up with the scratch to train there, but i was wondering what each of you pay for training at your respective schools, and how much training can be expected with two 1 hour classes per week. Thanks alot.
 
lol ouch but try paying $200 a month however the gym is open 4 days a week and you can go to as many classes as you wish
 
$95/month at Carlson Gracie's for 2 classes per week. $115 for 3x, $130ish for unlimited.
 
That's about average for 2x a week to train under a black belt. I pay $50 a month unlimited to train under a purple.
 
Ya I agree that is about average. However, you may find a local grappling or BJJ club at your local university that should be free or very cheap. They won't provide nearly as good instruction as training with Pedro Sauer, however, when beginning I feel it is important to get as much training as you can.
 
That's a good price. I pay about $140/month for 2x per week under Rickson in Los Angeles.

I train 2x per week. You can progress at a good rate doing it that often. You won't win the Mundials but you can certainly progress, train hard, get in good shape and learn BJJ under a very well respected BB.

Try to come up with the cash. You'll love yourself for it, I think. Consider it as payment in lieu of a gym membership.
 
raulz88 said:
At 85.00 per month with 2 sessions per week...
Click to expand...

I know that a lot of us on this forum are broke, but let's all take a good look at this money issue, because it gets brought up alot.

$85 a month for about 8 classes a month comes out to $10.63 per class. That sounds like a lot in some respects, but you could easily offset at least some of that in many ways, e.g. by packing your lunch for school/work, not buying silly little things like coffee at Starbuck's a couple of times a month, daily paper, etc. Compared to lessons in other things, $10.63 per hour class is reasonable. I used to take piano lessons as a kid a LONG time ago that cost that much, for example.

Let's look at $85 a month. People pay close to that or more for cell phone service, cable TV, or a night or 2 out with the guys shooting pool, having a few rounds of brews, maybe some wings or pizza, etc.

Don't even get me started on golf. Greens fees on a crappy municipal course can cost that much if you play every weekend...and that's without lessons and maybe not even a cart. Forget about the nicer courses, let alone lessons with the local "golf pro."

Skiing/snowboarding? $85 will probably get you 2 all-day lift tickets...learn on your own.

We can go on and on comparing $85 a month to many other things in life. Yes, it would be cheaper to play pickup basketball or ultimate frisbee with some friends or tennis or fly kites. But with BJJ you're LEARNING a sport/art that undeniably requires adequate instruction. Some would say you should be thankful to have ACCESS to Pedro Sauer-level instruction at all so close to home...there are plenty of guys all over the country who'd love to have ANYBODY close by who could teach them.

Now some would say that BJJ instructors are really taking advantage of the sport's popularity and price gouging while they can. Hey...business is business. It would be great if you could learn it with friends in a non-business club-like group. But that's often not available for lots of people. So consider at least part of that $85 a month to go towards your "overhead", which is to say that you're renting mat space and mats for $5-10 a month.

Bottom line: $85 a month is really not that much for 2x/week training. Some guys will pay more, some less. I don't necessarily believe you get what you pay for in BJJ. But I do believe that if you go a number of times, have fun, meet some OK people who share your desire to learn, and find an instructor who you feel comfortable with and respect and whose teaching style is effective for you...then you'll realize that 85, or 95, or 105, or 75, dollars a month is 100% WORTH IT.

Go for a month or two and see if you like it. The guys you'll ask on this forum who DON'T complain about monthly dues are usually the guys who realize the value of the ENTIRE EXPERIENCE of studying BJJ on a regular basis. Hopefully you'll realize the same.

If not, then find a cheaper school or try to learn BJJ on the cheap with friends or local clubs. Or just ditch BJJ altogether if you really just don't like it no matter what the cost (BJJ has a high attrition rate at ANY school). No harm, no foul.

Best of luck to you, and hope to see you back on this forum in the future.
 
Hmm youll progress fast at 2 times a week. I train almost 4 times a week and have yet to progress compared to people who come only 2x. Different strokes for different folks.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've pretty much made up my mind I'm going to do it, just formulating my plan of attack with the missus. I've got enough saved to pay for about 3 months outright, and yeah there are lots of ways to shave from other places to save some extra cash. I was also noticing that they have open mat after 8:00 so that may be a good opportunity for some extra practice and such too.
 
it's all about priorities.
a friend of mine likes to hassle me about paying so much for classes and spending money on mma/bjj dvds...yet at the same time he stops by starbucks at least once a day, has money for cigarettes and weed, and he does his fare share of eating out.

and i make shit money so i ended up picking up a second job on the weekends to provide a little bit of a financial cushion.
this is what i want to do so i make the sacrifice.
 
prices will go down in the us in the next 5 years imho. BJJ is still reletavely a "new" thing outside socal and as more and more qualified black belts are produced in the us competition will force prices down to a reasonable lvl.
 
relson's academy is $140/month for unlimited training. Not to bad at all.
 
As far as how you progress, it depends what you put into it. If you leave the acedemy, and don't do anything til you come back, you'll progress slowly. If you can find a way to train on the days you're not at the acedemy, do cardio on your own, stength training on your own, keep a notebook, etc, you could become a monster with just 2 days a week. It's kinda like the question, "How long will it take to get my black belt?" It's totally dependent on you. You have guys like BJ Penn and Mike Fowler who got it in under 4 years, but ate, breathed, and slept BJJ during that time, and you have other guys who are still plugging way after 10-15 years.
 
$152.00/ mo. for 2 of us unlimited under a Marcello Montiero brown belt. Great instruction. bjjcoach.com
 
brother shamus said:
it's all about priorities.
a friend of mine likes to hassle me about paying so much for classes and spending money on mma/bjj dvds...yet at the same time he stops by starbucks at least once a day, has money for cigarettes and weed, and he does his fare share of eating out.

and i make shit money so i ended up picking up a second job on the weekends to provide a little bit of a financial cushion.
this is what i want to do so i make the sacrifice.
Click to expand...


Same here. Instead of spending my money on a new leased car every year, big gold chains and expensive coffee I spend my money on fighting.

In the end they have a car that they don't own, teh ghey jewerly and their out of shape.
 
130 for 3x a week under Leo Dalla. Just make sure that the person youre paying to train with is actually the one doing the training. In some other schools, you pay to train with the guy who has his name on the door only to end up training with someone else that might be less qualified. Im very greatful to have such a high level of instruction adn an instructor that cares so much about his students as well as BJJ.
 
raulz88 said:
I am very interested in beginning the BJJ program under Pedro Sauer in Salt Lake City. I undersand Pedro is very respected and the program is top notch, so I am excited that it is so close to where I live. I gave them a call and I wasn't prepared for the cost. At 85.00 per month with 2 sessions per week, it is going to be interesting talking my wife into letting me pursue this.

I am going to do my best to come up with the scratch to train there, but i was wondering what each of you pay for training at your respective schools, and how much training can be expected with two 1 hour classes per week. Thanks alot.
Click to expand...

That is a reasonable price. Isn't your instructor on the cover of this month's Grappling Magazine? He is a very respectable instructor I would think under Rickson and Helio directly.
 
DMcKayBJJ said:
I know that a lot of us on this forum are broke, but let's all take a good look at this money issue, because it gets brought up alot.

$85 a month for about 8 classes a month comes out to $10.63 per class. That sounds like a lot in some respects, but you could easily offset at least some of that in many ways, e.g. by packing your lunch for school/work, not buying silly little things like coffee at Starbuck's a couple of times a month, daily paper, etc. Compared to lessons in other things, $10.63 per hour class is reasonable. I used to take piano lessons as a kid a LONG time ago that cost that much, for example.

Let's look at $85 a month. People pay close to that or more for cell phone service, cable TV, or a night or 2 out with the guys shooting pool, having a few rounds of brews, maybe some wings or pizza, etc.

Don't even get me started on golf. Greens fees on a crappy municipal course can cost that much if you play every weekend...and that's without lessons and maybe not even a cart. Forget about the nicer courses, let alone lessons with the local "golf pro."

Skiing/snowboarding? $85 will probably get you 2 all-day lift tickets...learn on your own.

We can go on and on comparing $85 a month to many other things in life. Yes, it would be cheaper to play pickup basketball or ultimate frisbee with some friends or tennis or fly kites. But with BJJ you're LEARNING a sport/art that undeniably requires adequate instruction. Some would say you should be thankful to have ACCESS to Pedro Sauer-level instruction at all so close to home...there are plenty of guys all over the country who'd love to have ANYBODY close by who could teach them.

Now some would say that BJJ instructors are really taking advantage of the sport's popularity and price gouging while they can. Hey...business is business. It would be great if you could learn it with friends in a non-business club-like group. But that's often not available for lots of people. So consider at least part of that $85 a month to go towards your "overhead", which is to say that you're renting mat space and mats for $5-10 a month.

Bottom line: $85 a month is really not that much for 2x/week training. Some guys will pay more, some less. I don't necessarily believe you get what you pay for in BJJ. But I do believe that if you go a number of times, have fun, meet some OK people who share your desire to learn, and find an instructor who you feel comfortable with and respect and whose teaching style is effective for you...then you'll realize that 85, or 95, or 105, or 75, dollars a month is 100% WORTH IT.

Go for a month or two and see if you like it. The guys you'll ask on this forum who DON'T complain about monthly dues are usually the guys who realize the value of the ENTIRE EXPERIENCE of studying BJJ on a regular basis. Hopefully you'll realize the same.

If not, then find a cheaper school or try to learn BJJ on the cheap with friends or local clubs. Or just ditch BJJ altogether if you really just don't like it no matter what the cost (BJJ has a high attrition rate at ANY school). No harm, no foul.

Best of luck to you, and hope to see you back on this forum in the future.
Click to expand...


Good post.

Yeah, I pay the unlimited price at Relson's to train. I also got my muay thai dues and gym dues. Plus a gi every year just about. Wraps. Tape. Gloves. Shin guards. Mouthpiece. Instructional books, dvds, mma events to go to or order on t.v.

So it gets costly.

I just keep my part time job working one day a week to pay for all of that and go out with friends.

If you try bjj you either love it or don't.

I love it.
 
At the place I'm gonna start training now I think it's like the equivalent of 80 bucks for one semester (6 months). Then I get to go to every session they have (4-5 BJJ, ~3 MMA and 4 thai boxing). Pretty good deal IMO.

But then, here in Sweden, not many places are run as businesses, which seems to be the case with most of the schools in the US.
 
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