the Price of Tae Kwon Do for Kids

Two of my daughters began Tae Kwon Do classes in the fall of '07. The monthly fee was $50 for the first person, but they had a special running in which each additional person would only be $5.00 additional a month. I felt this was a very good deal. The fee allowed them to attend two classes a week. In addition to the fee, we also had to pay for their uniforms and belts. The uniforms were $65.00 and the belts were an additional $15.00. Granted, each of these were only one time costs. The uniforms themselves consist of a pair of white pants which resemble sweats, an oversized Karate-type shirt, and a plain white undershirt. The belt you receive will be a beginner belt (you have to excuse me, but I don't remember what color the starting belt is anymore) and as you progress through the belt ranks you will be given a new belt of the appropriate color without extra charge, or at least at the company I am sending my children to. This may vary from business to business so make sure that you double check. The only thing you need to be aware of is to make sure that you keep the uniforms sparkling clean. Expect to be washing them numerous times a week, so they may wear out quicker than a normal set of clothing.

The type of service you receive will be completely dependent on the teacher. If you have someone who is excited about his job then that excitement will be conveyed to the student and will make the whole experience more enjoyable. Thankfully the teacher that my daughters have is quite enthusiastic and very patient. I would imagine dealing with two dozen different children a night would force you to become more patient, though. Also, another large part of the level of quality involved in the service is dependent on the student themselves. If you go into Tae Kwon Do classes with enthusiasm and optimism you are much more likely to thoroughly enjoy yourself. If you head into the classes unaware of the level of physicality, though, you may be surprised. You are expected to be very mobile in these classes. Standing around and not participating is not tolerated, so if you experience even a slight hesitation about attending the classes it is probably best for you if you just cancel your membership immediately instead of dragging it out for a couple of months and wasting your money. Although, for the price, the service is wonderfully affordable. My daughters are also in intramural soccer and for just 4 days a month, 4 months out of the year, it costs my wife and I more for them to attend that than Tae Kwon Do classes for a year.

One of the first tips I can give you is to make sure you are thoroughly ready to attend the classes before you start. As I stated before, these classes are very physical. They are designed to not only teach you Tae Kwon Do, but to help get you into peak physical shape. If you are already in fairly good shape then this shoudn't be too much of a problem but if your lifestyle is more couch potato than karate master be prepared to be sucking wind after the first few classes. Make sure that you purchase a reusable water bottle that you can bring with you to classes. Many dojos require you to have one when you start.

Another thing you may want to look into is how often you can attend classes. Some businesses allow you to attend multiple times per week while others only allow you to come during your assigned class times. If at all possible, try to go with the dojos who allow you to attend the extra classes. This way, if you happen to miss a class for any reason you can go to a class later in the week and not feel as if you are falling behind in your learning.

One other thing you can expect from these classes, especially if it is a child attending, is for them to come home with bruises. Although the beginner levels are strictly no-contact drills, sometimes kids get a bit rambunctious and rough house a bit more than they should. The masters try to restrict this the best they can but they cannot be everywhere at once. If your child comes home with a bruise, chalk it up to being a child.