Why is BJJ and MMA training so expensive?

[dr.feelgood]

Good MMA gyms should naturally be more expensive due to more instructors from different arts, etc. BJJ really not so much, but hey, if people are paying why lower the price?

 

[TheJutsu]

I'm a broke college student and my solution was to train at a cheaper alternative style/gym. Judo and boxing are the obvious choices, since they're relatively easy to come by and rarely ever cost over $100 per month. At my university there's a wrestling club as well, but I don't know what the situation is in your area. If price is a major concern for you, then you're either incredibly broke or you're probably not THAT hellbent on doing MMA. If you're someone who just wants to train in some aspect of the sport, either boxing or judo would be more than enough and it won't rape your wallet.

Starting last year though I got incredibly lucky for getting connected with an Alliance black belt who was starting his own gym. We are currently training out of a small TKD school. I get BJJ or MT for $40 a month (3 times a week) or both for $60. Everyone is very laid back and I honestly feel like I'm learning from someone who's teaching it simply for the love.

But unless you're in Athens, GA right now then you should probably go with that alternative.

 

[georgejjr]

At the end of the day $200 isn't actually THAT much money if you're going fairly often. I can easily find ways to save $200. If you can't find $200/month anywhere, you're either a single parent or retarded. Get a weekend job or a night job somewhere, wait tables 2 nights/week or some shit. You're probably forking over $30-$40/month on the internet, quit paying, steal it from your neighbor and find $160 to save somewhere else. You go out to eat? spend $6-10 on lunch? Buy your own ingredients, for $20 you can have sandwiches or salads for a week for lunch.

It's pretty sickening seeing people bitch about money here and there, yeah it's a shitty economy, find a way to deal with it.

Or a university student, or a someone just starting out a family with student loans to pay back (often for both you and your wife). There's no way I could have paid $200 a month while at university, or for the first few years of marriage (kids are very expensive - something your parents tell you but you don't really believe until you have your own), and I didn't know too many people who could. Luckily wrestling at university is free, and after that judo cost almost nothing :icon_chee

And some BJJ is a lot cheaper - Frodo mentioned his club fees, and they were something like $5 a practice.

 

[kray]

You can find cheaper prices. I train with a 2 stripe black belt, 3 days a week, and it is only $85/month.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Unless you are living in Mayberry, or a haven for cheapskates (near a college campus), it is unusual to find quality training for a low cost. It's not that it doesn't exist, it's simply that for most people in major markets and their suburbs, the going rate is that set by the top gyms.

 

[TalkShowOnMute]

I don't mind, it helps to weed out those who are not fully committed to the sport and training. It's good that not every meat head and tough guy can walk in off the street and learn efficient fighting techniques IMO.

 

[THA E-NIGMA]

simple economics supply and demand currently it most areas the demand is far greater then the supply is availible

 

[Will Jacobs]

$200 a month sounds about right for BTT considering the amount of world class trainers they have there.

You get what you pay for.

 

[hayliks]

Or a university student, or a someone just starting out a family with student loans to pay back (often for both you and your wife). There's no way I could have paid $200 a month while at university, or for the first few years of marriage (kids are very expensive - something your parents tell you but you don't really believe until you have your own), and I didn't know too many people who could. Luckily wrestling at university is free, and after that judo cost almost nothing :icon_chee

And some BJJ is a lot cheaper - Frodo mentioned his club fees, and they were something like $5 a practice.

I started my own university club. Trained for free. Held 2 jobs too.

 

[platfox]

Even Freddie Roach's gym is significantly cheaper to train at then a bjj gym.

 

[ahcshon]

no idea but worth the money for good instruction

also it is a trend right now

what i am wondering is...when will the trend end?

 

[Rockomon]

I started my own university club. Trained for free. Held 2 jobs too.

yaeh i was thinking about doing something like that also in my area. perhaps organizing a myspace group. it is ridiculous to charge that much money for mma training imo, when all i need is pad holders and sparring partners. the intructions you can download for free online. :icon_chee

 

[Art Vandelay]

You're wasting your time.

Time is money.

 

[ozyabbas]

Its mainly because they can get away with it. BJJ is so addictive that you will just pay that price.

If it was cheaper it could attract a larger talent pool and give you more variety of sparring partners. The problem with that is the instructor finding it difficult to pay attention to all students.

I would say $140 is my limit, anything more and I would change full time into judo.

 

[Foppa21]

Boxing coaches make nothing. They either run non-profits, have 100 cardio women on direct billing at low cost/month, or have cheap gyms to attract thugs, who they will eventually snag 1/100 to hook themselves to and take a significant portion of their purse.

They make nothing because nobody is going to pay you $200 a month to get socked in the mouth. Most people who want to smash faces and get smashed have nothing.

BJJ attracts a lot of working professionals. Is it the price that makes the difference? These people have the cash to box, but they choose to spend more on bjj.

One huge factor is MMA, and mma athlete backgrounds. Many people who enter bjj do so because they identify with fighting and fighters. They do not identify with boxing, due to cultural, educational, ethnic and racial backgrounds.

I believe that the reason for the cost of BJJ training is partly "because they can" and partly due to the difference in structure of training. Unlike boxing, which builds a pool of varying talent into a few profitable members, bjj is more like a TMA, where there is no end big-money competition. A coach isn't likely to make any money off of his student's performance. Factor in that "they can afford it" and that it's the hot thing right now, and you have high fees.

A lot of established gyms have over 100 members paying over $100 a month. How many employees do they have? How many hours are they open? What utilities do they use? What expenses for other amenities do they have? What is their monthly rent?
A lot of these answers are not much.

I think prices will fall when the mma bubble busts, but hell, some places still pull off charging big cash for kids tma's.

So... In that case, bjj and mma are the new golf?

 

[biscuitboy]

they charge that much and many many people buy it.

so the simple answer is: cause most are willing to pay that much.

 

[Gerbiljiujitsu]

There are a lot of options right now to train MMA, it seems like many of these schools are popping up on every corner. The trick is finding a quality school and not some lame ass instruction that's going to get you injured when it's time to put up.

Now with that being said, I find that 200 dollars a month might be a little steep. I've trained at a lot of top end schools and the most expensive I've trained at is 200 bucks a month...you are paying for quality...but at the same time you're paying for the name too. ATT is one of the bigger teams and you'll have instant name recognition when you say you train there. My suggestion would be to man up and pay the 200 bucks a month and train your ass off. As long as that 200 bucks a month is unlimited classes and you can train at least 5 times a week.

 

[Scooter Brown]

I'd say because there aren't many people qualified to teach it. At least in the US. 10 years to get BB in BJJ, and few people here knew what it was before 93, or even 03. Granted you don't have to be a BB to teach but it takes time and this stuff is relatively new here.

 

[nefti]

don't train at a world famous camp if you don't want to pay out your ass. IF it's a hobby your neighborhood black belt would be good enough.

 

[Eventual]

MMA and BJJ is crazy expensive in the USA, I pay 40 euro for my BJJ class and the three instructors are all brown belts. One will be a black belt soon and then i can train 5 times a week. I pay only 20 euros for my kickboxing and mma class because i know the instructor very well, if not it was only 40 euro. I could train there 2 times muay thai and 2 times mma and if me and some other guys want to train in our free time we can. The gym is open from 8 am till 11 pm.