how much do you pay for open mat?

Toothless King

Toothless King

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$20 for sunday open mat is reasonable?
no class, just straight rollin' for about an hour
location is southern california
not a big name famous school
 
That's pretty standard. A lot of places will quote $20 then not charge on arrival in my experience. The $20 is to keep people from just free loading on open mats
 
Ice 9 Cobra said:
That's pretty standard. A lot of places will quote $20 then not charge on arrival in my experience. The $20 is to keep people from just free loading on open mats
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So what is the cutoff between free loading and just coming?
 
Whether or not you live in town from what I've experienced lol
 
If it's going to be a charge, I am not usually interested in going.

BJJ is expensive enough as it is. I am not willing to pay much on top of what I already pay in regular tuition.

I like to imagine myself as adding some value to most places when I drop in. If a gym sees me as a burden to charge, I'd rather just spare them that burden. It usually takes more effort for me to visit a gym than for a gym to have me as a visitor.

I have a regular place to train that I am very happy with, so if there's not mutual goodwill and friendship being exchanged, there is no reason for me to go anywhere else. That being said, I have found a lot of places do offer that goodwill and friendship, so I like to participate in that community building from time to time when I get the chance.
 
I don't pay for open mats. If you come to my gym for one class, you won't be charged and that's true of every gym I've ever trained at. I get it if you're the Mendes Bros and you need some way to control crowds, but in general I'm against it.
 
Unless you are at a high profile gym and need to control an influx of individuals then open mat is just open mat.

Where i train we have a completely free open mat and we put forward that invitation to basically anyone even people from other martial arts.
 
Agree with the other posters, I've never once paid for a weekend open mat and I don't reckon I ever will. I think the closest I've done is a $5 charge for marathon rolls at Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu in San Jose.

At an old gym of mine, we had a few guys that would just come in for open mats and never for classes and it was never an issue. There is no instruction, just rolling, so it's a matter of opening things up and getting experience with different games.
 
I had an interesting experience in Miami.

Awesome school, but not a big name school. I was visiting for about 3 weeks.
They let me train for free as many times I wanted during that time period, but always charged visitors $20 for open mat.

Not sure what the rationale was for setting it up that way, but I was more than happy to pay for open mat every saturday while I was there given how well the school had been treating me.
 
Same as others... I wouldn't pay $$ for an open mat. Definitely not $20.
 
It depends how you view services at a club. If you look at it as property usage, then yeah it makes sense to charge. If you look at it as for instruction only, then it makes sense not to charge.

It also makes sense for places operating at or near capacity to charge. If you can only accommodate 45 people on the mat and can come close to capacity with just members then it makes sense to charge to make sure the may is available for paying members.
 
If a school doesn't charge a drop-in fee I usually try to buy a shirt or something to support it.

Even without instruction, somebody has to pay the lease for a space, paid for the mats, is spending their time to open the gym for an open mat.

I don't think a drop-in fee for an open mat should be as substantial as for taking a class, but I don't think it is unreasonable to charge something.
 
I've never had to pay for it. I would't think it's unreasonable, but I'd pause a little simply because I'm not used to it.
 
Rod1 said:
Unless you are at a high profile gym and need to control an influx of individuals then open mat is just open mat.

Where i train we have a completely free open mat and we put forward that invitation to basically anyone even people from other martial arts.
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In some academies, open mats means the instructor is not teaching. But it does not mean it is open to outsiders. Usually open mats means sparring.

I do not offer open mats (but attend an affiliate open mats).

If you come for a trial class, it is free.

If you come in as you are visiting my city, I will charge you $15 and will buy you a beer after training (or soft drink).

I do not have club members on contract, my fees are cheap but I have to pay rent.
 
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lechien said:
In some academies, open mats means the instructor is not teaching. But it does not mean it is open to outsiders. Usually open mats means sparring.

I do not offer open mats.

If you come for a trial class, it is free.

If you come in as you are visiting my city, I will charge you $15 and will buy you a beer after training (or soft drink).

I do not have club members on contract, my fees are cheap but I have to pay rent.
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Its not about business is about having the most possible variety so that your members have the chance to roll with people they are not used to, or people from different schools/arts.
 
Rod1 said:
Its not about business is about having the most possible variety so that your members have the chance to roll with people they are not used to, or people from different schools/arts.
Click to expand...

I never seen this so called open mats as a way to open your doors to outsiders.

I always saw it as the day off when the instructor does not work.

In Judo, it is different Judokas go and train at each others dojos.

But in BJJ, it always has been a taboo subject.
 
I'd never attend one that charged. My instructor sees it as an opportunity for us to learn from others outside of our academy. A chance to share our jiu jitsu and learn from others. Maybe if I were accustomed to paying I would see it differently, but I've never been to a school that charges for weekend open mats. Drop-in fees are different.
 
We have a 2 hour open mat every Sunday.

We never charge and openly invite anyone regardless of affiliation or experience.

It has been a great way to get new students and give our current students a chance to roll with people from other schools.
 
Depends on what level you are at. The gym manager at where I was tried to charge a BB who came in to roll with me and the owner found out and was super embarrassed and apologetic. I would guess if you are purple or above, they wouldnt even care.
 
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