That's a hell of a lot for what is presumably a first grading. I'd be expecting a month's training before I was persuaded to part with even close to that amount, and even that would be more than I would usually pay.
My school charges $20 for the yellow belt test, so to me, $80 sounds like quite a bit! But then again, it's not a Kenpo school and I dunno what the norm is for Kenpo places...
What are the other training fees like? What is your belt system? How long have you been training to grade for yellow?
Jeez thats pretty steep. I hope your not paying much more than that a month for classes. When i was training in Kenpo there were no testing fees just for the belt and the certificate if wanted one
Some questions I am not defending the fee, it reeks at first glance, but some clarification questions: What is your monthly tuition? How many (color) ranks are there at the school to black belt? Are they all $80 tests for rank, below BB? Are there stripes on color belts? Such at brown belt level, and thus additional testing fees. Finally is your kenpo school part of an affililiated organization? FWIW, rank testing fees are often high because the parent group takes a cut of that $80. That "cut" has been a prime source of many a martial arts "divorce". There has been alot of posting bandwidth on numerous boards regarding test fees across various styles; a wide range of amounts, and opinions. Sometimes, like private lessons, test fees are designed to help the instructor's cash flow - but it doesn't help your cash flow. The business phrase, "Total Cost of Ownership" maybe should be modified to "Total Cost of Study". Ranking fees, equipment purchases, and seminar attendance costs all add up to hit the home budget.
Sounds a bit much - but in my karate dojo (different style, but the grading fees still applies), we have 5 "color" tests, (yellow-brown, but we start at white, obviously - no test needed for that belt), each test costs $50 - standard. I don't know how much the black belt test is, by comparison, however.
what we charge from white to yellow! :woo: we charge $35. Covers the belts costs, and 1 hour 30 minute non stop test. Anyone charging more than say $65 for a yellow belt, can smoke themselves. :woo:
my dojang charges $40 for each belt grading, $100 for bb. $80 for a yellow seems particularly high. you should consider checking other places. you don't want to get too far in this art and feel like you have to stay simply because you've invested time in it. did you have to sign a contract?
