Why BJJ is so expensive

[Crossface9]

its true, reenacting/collecting are the most expensive hobbys ive heard of depends though obviously. id say motocross and hockey are really expensive too, my buds motocross helmet is 600 dollars. saftey equipment is outragelously expensive. I'm glad for no gi the most expensive equipment ill be buying are wrestling shoes. which i should be getting a good price on.

 

[black koala]

Are you taking into account the tons of belts that you get promoted to in Judo/Taekwondo/Karate that you are paying an additional $50 or more each month? Add that into the price factor. Most BJJ academies don't buy a belt for $1.50 and then sell it to their students for $50 by way of having the "test" for it. I hear the price is much higher each month you get closer to black belt. I know for sure that the Taekwondo/Karate places promote you each month and charge you extra for the belt. So now how much are you paying per month?

Judo belts are not $50

 

[Dynassty]

as some have mentioned, its the supply and demand issue and I think I agree... thats got to be it.

I just brought this up because I was doing bjj for 2.5-3 years and I loved it, the instructor and the people there, but the prices were always going up, so I stopped and did other sports.

Then when I called my place they quoted me a price that again was higher, so I decided to check out the local boxing club and the guy was just like come by try it and then I find out its like $35 per month lol and I sign up for the year on the spot haha.

BJJ being my first martial art, I was so dazzled by the coolness of bjj, but just giving boxing a shot, I've found its just as rewarding and much less expensive. I've also decided of all the martial arts, boxing is the sexiest, I use to think BJJ was, but nothing marcelo garcia, or cobrihna, etc can do that would more amazing than RJJ or Ali or Floyd, thats my opinion.

So I just wanted to share that... and for the guys that love to train and are hard up for money, find a judo place, you might be surprised at how good your bjj will get when doing judo. The place I went, I got beat up so bad by the teenagers it wasn't humiliating cause they were amazing, but it actually was so painful getting thrown, I actually had to bow out for the night during randori, and I never did that in BJJ lol. It did really harden me up, especially since judo guys spar like jerks ie.you feel you're in a real fight- very good and different style of sparring.

Best part is, if you really love BJJ and come back, you'll be tossing everyone all over the place, great feeling!!!! I swear.

 

[Uchi Mata]

TKD and Hapkido belts were expensive. Total racket. The main guy at my university club did all of his promotions through his own federation, it was a huge Korean arts program, and my guess would be that he had a promotion 2 times a semester averaging 150 people at ~$40 a pop or so. $12000 a semester extra isn't chump change. My first, private gym was literally twice as expensive though there were fewer students, and it was a promotion every 2 months, just about 3 years to BB.

I never paid for a belt in Judo, other than I think $20 to register my BB with the USJF. I've had to spend more on promotion seminars in BJJ to get promoted than I ever had to spend on Judo.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

I've led a lucky training career, never having to pay for training or private because I've always worked in the gym.

My first gym did promotion seminars, and I never went to one so I never got promoted. I think the concept of paying for promoting is dumb, from testing to seminars. I also think gauntlets are mega dumb. You should just be handed a belt and then you wear that belt

 

[lechien]

Leave the gauntlet alone. What next! Train bjj without a gi. Jkd

 

[Dynassty]

Leave the gauntlet alone. What next! Train bjj without a gi. Jkd

lol.... I'd say most places the person has to request the gauntlet.... unless you train with wallid ismael or mario sperry, they probably do the gauntlet, set you on fire, hold your head under water lol

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

The worst is Sauer, how does allowing a grown man to collar choke you while you aren't allowed to defend, build camaraderie. Shit is dumb

 

[lechien]

lol.... I'd say most places the person has to request the gauntlet.... unless you train with wallid ismael or mario sperry, they probably do the gauntlet, set you on fire, hold your head under water lol

In my hq, we do gauntlet for everything.
Blue belt goes down and back once.
Purple do it twice
Brown three time
BB, they just tell to turtle on the floor while the higher belts just whip for thirty seconds.
Only idiots take the top off, which I did for my purple. Big mistake.

 

[Aethyr]

as some have mentioned, its the supply and demand issue and I think I agree... thats got to be it.

I just brought this up because I was doing bjj for 2.5-3 years and I loved it, the instructor and the people there, but the prices were always going up, so I stopped and did other sports.

Then when I called my place they quoted me a price that again was higher, so I decided to check out the local boxing club and the guy was just like come by try it and then I find out its like $35 per month lol and I sign up for the year on the spot haha.

BJJ being my first martial art, I was so dazzled by the coolness of bjj, but just giving boxing a shot, I've found its just as rewarding and much less expensive. I've also decided of all the martial arts, boxing is the sexiest, I use to think BJJ was, but nothing marcelo garcia, or cobrihna, etc can do that would more amazing than RJJ or Ali or Floyd, thats my opinion.

So I just wanted to share that... and for the guys that love to train and are hard up for money, find a judo place, you might be surprised at how good your bjj will get when doing judo. The place I went, I got beat up so bad by the teenagers it wasn't humiliating cause they were amazing, but it actually was so painful getting thrown, I actually had to bow out for the night during randori, and I never did that in BJJ lol. It did really harden me up, especially since judo guys spar like jerks ie.you feel you're in a real fight- very good and different style of sparring.

Best part is, if you really love BJJ and come back, you'll be tossing everyone all over the place, great feeling!!!! I swear.

It is supply and demand, but WHY is there more demand for BJJ than judo or boxing?

Its market segment and marketing. First, BJJ gets free marketing from the UFC. Royce Gracie's name is still the best known name to the general public. Even people that don't know much about MMA know that some "gracie guy" beat everyone. But even today, if someone wins with a submission, its considered a BJJ move.

So when the average joe sees an MMA fight, in his mind, the fight is divided along 2 lines, striking or grappling, and that grappling is represented as BJJ. Its not represented as judo. You hear Joe Rogan saying "world class BJJ or world class wrestler" about a good grappler, not "world class judo".

The second is market segment. Your average joe doesn't want to get punched or thrown. BJJ IS the gentler art compared to striking. So it appeals to more people, and more importantly, it appeals more to people with money, who want an effective martial art, get a good workout, but not get hurt and inhibit the performance of their profession. How many trial lawyers are doing boxing compared to BJJ?

The part about judo being more intense is not exactly accurate. Judo is a competition sport, much like wrestling. So every judo class IS a competition class. Not so in BJJ. You have normal classes for the hobbyist and much more intense competition classes for the competitors.

 

[lechien]

Judo is taught by amateurs most of the time. If if I was taught by pro. Meaning,that is how they make a living . Pretty sure it would be more expansive and they will cater for the customers that have extra cash and time to spend.

 

[lechien]

Joe rigan is a massive walk in add for BJJ. UFC in china was different. Kenny florian used judo terminology to describe the stand up grappling and that was brilliant as well.

 

[Rmbr2Breathe]

I just hate that the majority if not all the bjj schools never display how much they charge for their classes. I just started bjj so atm I do think it's sorta expensive, but I'll have to wait for a few months at least a year to determine the real value of this experience.

 

[Darth Shlong]

Brazil is the lost tribe of Israel.

 

[kintana]

There are several reasons for the higher then average prices for BJJ compared to martial arts.

1.) New sport, fewer instructors.

2.) BJJ guys compete and want to make money. Some instructors I have met use their academy to fund their training and use their training to highlight their academy.

3.) The connection between bjj to MMA is very close and lots of people will be willing to pay the extra amount to train.

4.) If your new to martial arts and want to take up BJJ, you are names gracie, garcia, galvao, bravo and think man I can actually train with those guys or academies associated with those guys. The guys at those academies who actually teach have to pay their fees to the head office. So you the student pays more because they have to pay more.

My old kung fu teacher and tae known do teacher weren't affiliated and didn't have to pay fees. Also when I started kung fu an TKD i never thought about training with the champions of the sports. I didnt even know the champions of the sport. So I was looking for instruction but for a cheap price. Well I was a kid so my parents were looking for a cheap price to save on money.

But for BJJ people want to train gracie or any of the other big names because they can. How many of us know or want to train with the best muay thai, karate, judo or wrestling guys?

Yet some BJJ people really want that BJJ/MMA legend connection. I will even admit when I started taking on bjj as a art I looked for a gracie affiliated school.

 

[td82394]

Let's not neglect the impact of tax-exempt status, which is available to registered not-for-profit companies but not for-profit companies.

Basically, it's possible to create a not-for-profit corporation to promote "sport", and become eligible for grants, fund raising incentives, and sometimes even government funding that can be used to defray costs. Grant money isn't easy to get (there's a knack to it) but it can definitely be used to pay for equipment and offset training costs so that not all the expenses are passed on to the students. That option is simply not open to a for-profit school.

Yeah, frankly, that sounds awesome. I mean, BJJ is what, three times a week, maybe an hour each class? If you have the capital, I mean, there's a cheaper way to just make the mats yourself that's better. Then all you really need to do is buy cleaning equipment and pay for rent and utilities. What other equipment do you need? It's grappling. All you really need is another partner who's ready to drill. Then, the rest of the time, you can have a day job and not be a "BJJ bum".

 

[luckyshot]

There are cheap places to train, you're just probably not going to have access to a black belt six days a week, morning and evening, if you're paying less than $100/month.

This is true. I trained with a brown belt for years for $60/month, which I consider a fair price. When he got his BB, he moved to a bigger space, all his rates went up, and I ditched.

I refuse to pay $120+ dollars per month for instruction. Maybe if it were world class instruction coming from Marcelo or John Danaher, I'd shell out that kind of cash, but I'm sure as hell not giving that kind of cash to the local Carlson Gracie BB de jour.

To me, the determining factors in how much I improve at BJJ have always been, in order:
1. The effort I put in
2. The quality and availability of my training partners
3. My instructors

I, personally think the going rate for most BJJ instruction is way too high.

 

[Aethyr]

I refuse to pay $120+ dollars per month for instruction. Maybe if it were world class instruction coming from Marcelo or John Danaher, I'd shell out that kind of cash, but I'm sure as hell not giving that kind of cash to the local Carlson Gracie BB de jour.

You do realize that Marcelo or John is closer to $200+ and not $120+.

 

[luckyshot]

You do realize that Marcelo or John is closer to $200+ and not $120+.

Yeah, I guess $120 was the common number a few years back, when I decided that was way too expensive. I know prices have gone up since then. Overall inflation has been averaged about 3% over the past five years, yet BJJ is probably up 50%.

I really have no clue why people shell out that much money to do a sport that has basically no overhead after a few mats are purchased.

 

[jclaudevandamme]

Brazil is the lost tribe of Israel.

There are, indeed, lots of jewish immigrants here. However, BJJ in the country is cheap. The reason for it being cheap here is the reason for it being expensive in the States.

You have big gyms owned by big names in the professional scene and you expect it to be cheap? Every time I hear someone commenting about some gym you americans always spite his lineage and if there isn't someone known on it you do not even seem to care if he can or not be a good instructor. You bring it all upon yourselves.