Cost of martial arts/taekwondo classes

In My Humble Opinion
1

My six-year-old son has been asking to take taekwondo for almost a year now, but due to other activities (church choir, soccer, baseball, Tiger Cubs - not all at once), we haven’t looked at it seriously until now. One of the moms from school/church and I got to talking this week after our kids’ choir rehearsals at church on Wednesday (she plays piano for the older kids, I teach the younger kids), and she suggested the school where her three kids take classes. She highly recommends them, and also sent a card for a special deal (different from the trial on their website) to school the next day, so we could get in on the deal ASAP.

I’ve looked at the reviews for the school, and have found nothing but positive reviews on several sites. They offer a trial of four trial lessons for $20, which includes one uniform, the lessons, and the testing for a white belt. I’m going to sign my son and myself up for the trial for the family classes (and possibly my husband, since it actually fits with his work hours), but I’m a little unsure of the cost after that and how much of a time commitment it will be. I know prices vary from area to area, but I’m just looking for estimates of the monthly cost and any costs outside of the normal fees. So, for those who have experience with you and/or your kids doing taekwondo, just a few question:

  1. What’s a good amount to expect to pay monthly per person? Do most places offer discounts for more than one student per family?

  2. What sort of time commitment is typically expected of a younger elementary student? His only other activities are the kids’ group on Wednesday nights at church, and Tiger Cubs, which is about 3 times a month (Granted, I love his den and the other parents, but we are having a major crisis of conscience about keeping him in because of everything going on with the BSA.). My comfort level would be about 2 nights a week for now, especially since he’s just started first grade and has 15-30 minutes of homework every night. I also travel for work approximate twice a month for 1-2 nights at a time, but I can arrange my own schedule, as I’m a software trainer and business strategy consultant, so that’s helpful.

  3. When we go to the trial classes, what should we look for from the instructors? We definitely want him to learn discipline and self-control, and we have also told him that if he decides that he likes the trial classes and wants to continue, there will be no skipping class just because he doesn’t feel like going that night. He was born with a mild form of hypotonia, or low muscle tone/muscle tremors that are genetic, so physically, he sometimes takes a little longer to learn a skill and if he feels like he isn’t as good at something as the other kids, he gets frustrated and wants to quit - it happened with baseball, which he loved at the beginning (and he was a decent hitter, but needed some extra time to learn to catch and throw). I expect the instructors to definitely push him to do his best, but I don’t want him to be made to feel bad if it takes him a little longer to master a skill.

  4. Any other things I should look for when we attend the trial classes? If he decides to continue after the trial classes, I want to make sure we’re making the right choice since we’ll be making a long-term commitment.

Sorry for the long post - he’s really excited to try out the classes (and so am I), and I want to know what to look for and have fun with my kiddo at the same time. Thanks for any advice/answers!

2

No kids, but did the TKD thing a while back.

No idea on current prices. Do some comparison shopping. $20 including a uniform is abnormally cheap. Either you’re getting a flimsy uniform that will self-destruct after washing, or they’re expecting to make it up on future class fees. Even so, it may be worth a shot just to see if the kid is interested enough to want to keep doing it.

DO NOT sign up for long term packages. Especially with a child. They’ll give you the hard sell, but really, you have no idea how long the child will be interested in it, especially if s/he turns out to be no damned good, has problems with the instructor or other children, or just finds other things s/he is interested in. Kids are funny that way. A friend of mine’s step-son did one sport and then suddenly this year, he’s signed up for THREE.

Given what you say about your child’s limitations and frustrations, I think this goes doubly so for you. Take it slow, pay only month to month.

When evaluating the instructor, the most important thing would be to watch an actual class start to finish. Does he treat the children with patience and respect, even in the small things? A moment of frustration or a sigh isn’t necessarily a bad sign as you don’t know the kids in the class and the pre-existing headaches, but if the instructor goes through the paces like this is all a pain in the ass or he’s just marking time, he’s not someone you want to be involved with or give power over your child. Moreso if he acts like a little martinet drill instructor. (Run like hell and never look back) Hell, even I as an adult had no patience for that act. “I’m paying money, I’m your customer. Sure, you’re my instructor, but you won’t be for long if you insist on being AN ASS.”

Look at the skills of the other children in the class, especially the higher ranks. Do they show any actual skill? Do their movements look crisp and sharp? Or do you have red belts who throw lazy, weak and ineffectual back fists and front kicks? After all, if the kids aren’t actually learning adult moves and aren’t carrying them out cleanly, then they’re not actually learning anything at all and you’d be wasting your money.

3

Thanks, Chimera - really good advice! I actually emailed my friend and it looks like the cost is much more reasonable than I expected, so that was a pleasant surprise. I’m already figuring the uniform will be a little thicker than the muslin backing I use to quilt, so we’ll need to buy another one :D.

And that’s exactly my thing with my son - he wants to do EVERY extracurricular activity that comes home from school in his backpack, every sport (except soccer. One season of that, and he hates it with a red-hot passion.) or every club. I will say, this is the ONLY activity that he has not stopped asking us to do for the past year, so hopefully, the trial classes will help him figure out if it’s what he expected. Our rule is that if he signs up and doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to do it again, but he does finish the time commitment he’s already made to the activity.

The Google reviews of the instructors (there are two at this studio) are extremely positive, so I’m hopeful that we’ll like them (and now I know what to really look for, so I appreciate that!). We already ruled out the martial arts center that’s literally two minutes from home because some friends had their son enrolled there and the instructor was so degrading and bullying to him during a class that they pulled him that night (and this was a family class - his dad was taking the class with him - the instructor pinned the child down and refused to let him move until he either did or said something properly, which shook the kid up big-time). I’ve heard similar stories from other school parents, but only positive about the two instructors at the school we’re trying out. There are at least two other schools that I know of in the area, so if this one doesn’t work out, we have additional options.

And no worries, I will be taking it slow - thanks :). I’ve learned my lesson over the last four years since my diagnosis (One night of Wii Fit at a level of exercise that I’d done for years laid me up for four days. My new motto is “Slow the hell down, but at least move.”). I’m not as worried about him taking it slow, I just want him to be able to learn and know it’s okay to learn at his own pace and not get frustrated. His hypotonia is much improved from when he was an infant/toddler (we did have him in occupational and physical therapy until he was 3), and his school has worked with him so well on his fine motor skills - if I look at his handwriting from the end of kindergarten and compare it to now, three weeks into first grade, it doesn’t even look like the same kid’s writing. He’s incredibly smart and reads way above a first grade level (he started reading real chapter books, like Wayside School and Ramona, on his own over the summer), but I know he gets frustrated with the physical stuff.

I really appreciate the great advice -I’m hoping this ends up being an activity we both enjoy, especially since we’ll BOTH be learning, and it won’t just be me teaching him (I am teaching him guitar, and it’s definitely going to be time to outsource that to an outside music teacher soon - let someone else tell him that he has to learn more of the basics before he can play “Loser” :stuck_out_tongue: ).