Why BJJ is so expensive
- Thread starter Kyuktooki
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This is the one thing that has always bothered me about jiujitsu. Once you get a few decent gi's, compression, rashguards you gotta pay the tuition. The tuition is the sucky part. Even in some of the small towns in armpit USA still charges a fortune to train. That said I have brown-bagged it to work and stayed home from the bars to save money for jiujitsu.
I don't get people comparing Bjj to judo, one is an Olympic sport the other is just a martial art. Even that being said there are privat judo gyms in Japan and Korea that costs around what a Bjj gym vpcharges. Compare Bjj prices to other martial arts and not an Olympic sport.
They're both martial arts; whether or not one also an Olympic sport doesn't matter. Taekwondo is also an Olympic sport and, in my experience, costs significantly more than Judo but still less than BJJ.
Where I live, you have to travel to the largest city to find BJJ. The only black-belt run school costs about $135/month. There are a number of dedicated Taekwondo, Karate, and Aikido schools, most of which cost about $70-$90/month. The only Judo instruction is a club that meets in an Aikido school and costs $30 month.
I have in the past and I am at present. Why? Because I enjoy it enough to make it worthwhile without having to be paid.
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Judo is a martial art.
Word. My boy and I do the same for wrestling and my other friend has done it for Judo. It's not that crazy.
Do you teach BJJ for free?
Umm... yes. When you said that people who complain about the cost wouldn't teach for free, and I said that I do, that's what I meant.
I think it is easier to get financial help if you run a non profit Judo club than a private BJJ club.
interesting.
can you please elaborate on how you manage to teach for free?
What about costs of running the classes (rent, mats, electricty)?
what happen when you are not free to teach? do you have another volunteers?
Currently, I'm teaching out of my house. In the past, I've used space owned by other martial arts schools and a local college. I'm currently working with students of the college to start a BJJ club. According to the rules of the college, I cannot be paid for teaching unless we hold separate fundraising, which I'm uninterested in doing.
I'm also currently testing the waters as to starting a BJJ club at a local health club at the request of a few people I know from my old school. However, with the college club possibly getting off the ground and a promotion at work that I just got (which is going to mean more hours at the office), I don't know how that is going to go.
So, in answer to your question, I've taught both BJJ and TKD for free in the past, and I am currently teaching BJJ for free.
On a side note, as I said in the "Why Don't You Train Anymore" thread, the nearest formal BJJ instruction is about an hour away. However, it seems that a local health club is going to be starting a club soon being led by a 10th Planet purple belt. So there's that. However, if their MMA class is any indication ($80/month for 1 hour of instruction per week), it'll be expensive. But I'm going to pop my head in the door tomorrow to find out.
I'm also currently testing the waters as to starting a BJJ club at a local health club at the request of a few people I know from my old school. However, with the college club possibly getting off the ground and a promotion at work that I just got (which is going to mean more hours at the office), I don't know how that is going to go.
So, in answer to your question, I've taught both BJJ and TKD for free in the past, and I am currently teaching BJJ for free.
On a side note, as I said in the "Why Don't You Train Anymore" thread, the nearest formal BJJ instruction is about an hour away. However, it seems that a local health club is going to be starting a club soon being led by a 10th Planet purple belt. So there's that. However, if their MMA class is any indication ($80/month for 1 hour of instruction per week), it'll be expensive. But I'm going to pop my head in the door tomorrow to find out.
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Fair enough. What then justifies the BJJ school being significantly more expensive than the taekwondo and karate schools in the same area, many of which have comparable facilities, schedules, and staff?
Some do, some don't. I know two TKD teachers that make their living from their schools and one that doesn't. The BJJ teacher didn't up until 2 or 3 years ago, but he did last I checked (which was in 2010).
There's a person who runs an MMA gym with the best facilities in the area and a number of staff people and charges a max of around $100/month.
It just blows my mind that the main BJJ school in the area charges significantly more than any other martial arts club, gym, or school in the area (this isn't hyperbole, I've checked the numbers) without a significantly better class schedule, facility, or teaching quality than others. Which is not to say that he should not charge what he likes; he's free to charge whatever he wants. However, I'm equally free to criticize it.
just give it a few more years and you will have more and more BJJ clubs run by volunteers.
But you always gonna get demand for expansive BJJ classes.
Well at least, you found a way to be able to teach for free by using training location at no cost.
But you always gonna get demand for expansive BJJ classes.
Well at least, you found a way to be able to teach for free by using training location at no cost.
I hope so.
I am curious what the health club's 2x/week class run by a 10th Planet purple belt is going to cost. I've met purples who are very knowledgeable and good teachers. I've also met some who trained almost entirely in a gi but didn't know how to do a cross-collar choke properly.
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I'm not going to read through the tons of replies, but I think it's simply a point of rarity.
I mean, the BJJ academy I attend is the closest to my house and it's 40-45 minutes away. I know for a fact that if I wanted to attend a karate or TKD school, there are 20+ schools in the area. Because there are so many, each karate/TKD school has to have competitive pricing (I attended a karate class for 2 years at $40/month).
However, the academy I attend is fairly priced at $100 a month for unlimited training, under two black belts, with 3+ classes every day, 6 days a week. Our instructors aren't out to make money.
But, like I said, in my opinion, I believe it's simply a point of rarity.
I mean, the BJJ academy I attend is the closest to my house and it's 40-45 minutes away. I know for a fact that if I wanted to attend a karate or TKD school, there are 20+ schools in the area. Because there are so many, each karate/TKD school has to have competitive pricing (I attended a karate class for 2 years at $40/month).
However, the academy I attend is fairly priced at $100 a month for unlimited training, under two black belts, with 3+ classes every day, 6 days a week. Our instructors aren't out to make money.
But, like I said, in my opinion, I believe it's simply a point of rarity.
If you train under a proper legit BB instructor, there is the chance that he put a decade training to have his rank. If you compare to a tkd Mcdojo, the instructor had to go through much less time and hard work to get graduated, sometimes couple of years if that much. So comparing the teaching of a someone with over a decade of grappling against almost a cardio fitness instruction for kids is as far to compare a new graduate to a phd professor in terms of instruction, even considering the classes are actually on different subjects, like grappling vs striking.
On other hand wrestling usually have different structure geared towards schools and funded by their programs. Judo is many times run as a non profit. Legit MMA may be the closest comparison cost wise to the bjj business.
To the nerds: BJJ is equivalent to Apple, Judo is Linux, and all the striking is Microsoft.
On other hand wrestling usually have different structure geared towards schools and funded by their programs. Judo is many times run as a non profit. Legit MMA may be the closest comparison cost wise to the bjj business.
To the nerds: BJJ is equivalent to Apple, Judo is Linux, and all the striking is Microsoft.
