Why BJJ is so expensive

nerraw said:
It's interesting to hear the Brazilian perspective on this.

I think the price for training at the academy is worth it since I'm there generally three times a week. I do, however, think that tournament fees are way too much. I resent paying that much to people who have a monopoly on the activity and have in no way helped me to get better at this sport.

I think as more Americans are promoted to black belt and start their own schools, the market price for lessons will drop.

Question for the Brazilians out there - I've heard that a lot of people there just train and don't compete. Is this true? Here it seems like you have to compete a lot in order to make brown or black belt. In this way the successful students are marketing the product that the instructor sells.
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There's 2 brown belts in my class who don't compete. Most guys compete but you don't have too. I actually asked them and they have never competed before either. Said they didn't have the time.
 
Nerraw (Warren?), I agree with you. I happily shell out the cash for my training, but when it comes to tournaments, I personally think it's a way for people to make money from jiu jitsu, and not with jiu jitsu. The last tournament I went to was a complete waste of time, effort, and money. Even if the planets aligned and I actually managed to win, I would still think the same. There were no real prizes other than "bragging rights", a medal, and a t-shirt that most people didn't even get, and the admittance fee itself was almost what I pay for a month of training. The event was a mess, I waited 10 fucking hours to fight, and it was all for nothing. It's a shame, and the promoter definitely made a killing that day. A fool and his money...

As for belt promoting, I'm yet to see anything much different than what you mentioned. Students who compete and win earn their belts in a much faster pace than those who don't compete, and it's the case with everywhere I see. Of course, some factors like age matter too. The older guys tend to earn their belts without competition coming into play, since not everyone after 40 is willing to go out there and risk an injury just to prove a point. But if you're good, you get promoted either way. Most people don't compete that often; competitions are expensive. The average entry fee in my area is around 30-50 reais. That's almost the price of a month of training, or a month of gym membership, so even those who can afford it usually shy away from this unless they have something to gain by competing.
 
It costs a lot to run a small business. Depending on the area, but where I live in San Diego, rent costs between $3-5 sqft/month for commercial real estate, not including NNN, which is about another $1-1.50 sq + utilities + general liability insurance, etc, etc. That means a tiny little 1000sq ft commercial space could cost between $5000-$7000/month just for the overhead. If you want something realistic like 2000 sq ft, you're easily looking at over $10k-14k/month of expenses.

And most people don't know - when you sign a commercial lease, you are personally liable for the entire lease. So if you sign a 3 year lease at $7000/month and you go out of business at year 1. You will owe the remaining balance of over $160,000 to the landlord. Of course you have the remaining 2 years to pay it, but if you don't they will come after you, your car, house, whatever. Its a huge responsibility hanging over your head.

You could go into cheaper places, like industrial/warehouse, but those have terrible visibility and practically no foot traffic, so while rent is cheaper, your enrollment is way lower.

And BJJ has far less staying power that many other sports or gyms. If you've been at your school for a while, think of how many people are still with you. Most have quit or moved. Its a revolving door and a constant battle to sustain membership numbers. That's not to say that a well run school isn't going to be a good source of income for the instructors/owners, but its not like you can just open a school, charge $200/month and just sit there and watch the money roll in.
 
If anyone is paying more than $60.00 a month for average BJJ school then you are getting ripped off. A top of the line academy is not more than $80.00 a month. I still think the MMA, BJJ schools are out of line with the pricing these days. Their is a half ass school near me that is charging people $95.00 a month. The two instructors can barely speak english and they are only there 3 days a week. These suckers are paying for 3 classes a week at a local fitness gym where they roll out the mats for a one hour class. I hope many of them go out of business with the crazy prices they are charging. McDojos, that is what they are.
 
I was paying $80 a month for martial arts classes in 2000-2001. Not Bjj, but that seemed to be the going rate for most MAs back then. I was also paying $400 a month rent for a studio. Apt in a nice part of Philly. The same apartment goes for $650-800 per month now. Bills go up, food cost goes up, everything goes up; why would martial arts be any different?
 
Not rich but you have to have some economic stability. It's not something like futball where you just need a ball and some friends. Where most of the population is concentrated (big cities like S
 
I am paying 69 reais per month in Fortaleza. It is a little bit cheaper if you sign up for extended plans. The class is offered five nights a week.
 
BJJ is the most expensive Martial Art in my area. Up to 6 times the price of Traditional Martials Arts or Boxing gyms.

Also some of the places try to trap people in contracts and then spring surprise fees.

Hope this changes someday and our sport becomes more open to everyone.
 
MARINECOP said:
If anyone is paying more than $60.00 a month for average BJJ school then you are getting ripped off. A top of the line academy is not more than $80.00 a month. I still think the MMA, BJJ schools are out of line with the pricing these days. Their is a half ass school near me that is charging people $95.00 a month. The two instructors can barely speak english and they are only there 3 days a week. These suckers are paying for 3 classes a week at a local fitness gym where they roll out the mats for a one hour class. I hope many of them go out of business with the crazy prices they are charging. McDojos, that is what they are.
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Where are you located? I would love to see pricing like this around here. I think maybe in the midwest or middle of the US that pricing would be easy to find.

What do you consider a top of the line academy? I think most "top of the line" in Northern California ie: instructors have won a major or taken gold are established bb's charge a minimum of 120/ mo (and that's for like 2 session a week)

I can't think of a single decent instructor in the Bay Area that charges less than 120/mo except for Denny @ 10th planet. [no gi only]

I'm pretty sure Ralph Gracie in SF charges 240/mo for unlimited (the last time I checked)

I'm currently paying 170 for unlimited @ Gracie Barra and have no regrets, but damn I wish I could pay half of that.
 
It's getting more accessable. 10 years ago, most people didn't have a bjj black belt in their locale (besides Cali guys). Many people began their training with a purple, or even blue belt, instructor back then.

But a bjj black belt is still a highly qualified person in the martial arts world. Earning a black belt is like earning a PHD at a university and does give the black belt the right to enjoy a good standard of living. They charge what they charge because the market allows them to, because there are enough people who can and will pay for training.
In a few more years there will be more and more black belts; then there will be cheaper places to train with black belt instructors.
 
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I wonder how many students a typical school has.
 
In my BJJ school in Paris, I pay 220€ a year. The teachers are excellent and the facilities we train at are quite nice. ^^
 
knoxpk said:
I wonder how many students a typical school has.
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Yeah that's tough to estimate because there are so many guys that try it for a week or a month or a year and then quit. The high dropout rate for BJJ makes it really hard to guess how many people are paying dues at one given time.

I wonder how much of a typical BJJ instructor's income comes from those guys who show up, sign a contract, pay for like six months of classes in advance but basically never train, and drop out.

Now I think I understand why a lot of places require contracts. It allows them to charge the loyal/regular/commited students less, by making the drop-outs pay more.
 
It's like everything. Big demand here in the UK so the clubs are expensive. Judo's cheaper and sometimes even free here. I pay
 
redaxe said:
Yeah that's tough to estimate because there are so many guys that try it for a week or a month or a year and then quit. The high dropout rate for BJJ makes it really hard to guess how many people are paying dues at one given time.

I wonder how much of a typical BJJ instructor's income comes from those guys who show up, sign a contract, pay for like six months of classes in advance but basically never train, and drop out.

Now I think I understand why a lot of places require contracts. It allows them to charge the loyal/regular/commited students less, by making the drop-outs pay more.
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I definitely find myself wondering where some people went off to. Sadly, they are often the ones that I was competitive against when rolling. :icon_sad:
 
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