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Just thought I’d put this out there and see what comes up. If you’ve seen one or two of my posts you already know I’m a gay, non athletic, never done Martial Arts of any kind before type of guy; who has been taking a white belt class for just about three and a half months now. I of course love it. I love the way it makes me feel and the things I’m learning. However those three and a half months have cost quite a bit of money. I did’nt let it bother me at the time because I was determined to at least give it a try. Now I am at a stage where my finances are going to change even more and there will be even less than before. There is no way I can continue at this price range. I am looking in to other schools to see if there is anything more affordable in the NYC area. I’ve plans to drop my gym membership as soon as I can do so without the late fee. I’m willing to take one class every other week without buying the membership which is very affordable if you take as many classes as you can take for three months. I am just not sure if you can retain anything with just two classes a month. So any thoughts out there on how to make this more affordable and still make advances or do I have to give it up until the lotto comes in.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Basically it comes down to what your list of priorities are in life. What are you willing to give up / sacrifice to continue in your KM training? Fanatics will do just about anything, but I come from the school of having your core foundation first (i.e. shelter, food, clothes, etc.).
If you really enjoy your current KM school, then I would ask them if you can negotiate a lower monthly rate. If that doesn’t work, then obviously search around NYC for cheaper alternatives. A third option (and safest) would be to take a temporary break from your KM training until you can get back on your feet to train again. In the meantime you said you’ve already taken approx 3 months of training. Take what you have learned and practice dilligently on your own as if you were going to class. That way, you’ll keep your skills sharp and hit the ground running when you have the means to resume your KM classes.
I hope that helps. Best of luck.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
hbo boxing motivational video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtMm0swu5i8
thumbsup
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Sadly Crash20, Krav is still at the stage where its still the flavor of the month in many areas along with BJJ and Muay Thai training, so as a result schools are charging higher fees as a result. This will change over time, but not at the moment.
I totally understand where you are coming from, in Australia, the costs of doing Krav in some centres is well over double the cost of a regular taekwondo school or similar.
One thing that I would suggest is that your situation is not likely going to be long term, things always sort themselves out and giving up your gym membership may not be the best idea as strong physical fitness is a good part of Krav when training at the higher levels.
What you may have to do on a temporary basis is to look for a martial arts training centre that is “not for profit” and run by volunteers as opposed to being privately owned. These can offer traning that will keep you going in a related martial art to Krav until you can jump back into it again. – Karate tends to be popular in these centres, yet if you can find somewhere that trains in Judo or Aikido, that may be a better fit for you to use as a part of your Krav Training later on.
Good luck with it anyway mate, plenty of people have been where you are and your desire to stick at it is what counts!
Re: Krav Maga affordability
I’m lucky in the fact that my school is probably one of the least expensive options for self-defense/martial arts in the area, but even so I know that the owner is willing to work with people who have financial difficulties. I would suggest talking to the owner and seeing if an arrangement can be meet as DoubleStrike suggested.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
While it’s irrelevant how much you are paying(if it’s too expensive for you, it is what it is) how much do you pay in NYC for training? Just curious.
The video that Don shared is pretty cool, but at the end of the day, no matter how often you go to a class, you are only going to make progress if you work at it on your own time, which cost’s you nothing. I’ve had students come 8 hours a month and retain very little because they don’t put in work on their own, and I’ve had guys come in for 2 hours and can tell immediately that they are practicing on their own.
I’m one of those guys who would train and train and train, and take notes, and go over my notes and visualize attacks, defenses and other scenarios to keep myself current when I couldn’t go to a class.
Getting yourself a DVD set is another option, provided you are willing to work, then you can go to classes when you can.
Hope it works out for you.
.02
Re: Krav Maga affordability
NYC and Long Island area costs vary, but are generally in the $180-250/month range. I pay 180, which is pretty steep frankly. I understand it’s a business and the owner has to eat, but I think retention would be much higher at a lower cost.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
quote tech94:NYC and Long Island area costs vary, but are generally in the $180-250/month range. I pay 180, which is pretty steep frankly. I understand it’s a business and the owner has to eat, but I think retention would be much higher at a lower cost.Does the 180.00 allow for unlimited classes?
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Crash, where do you train? What’s your school, who’s your teacher?
Off-topic, EVERYTHING in NYC is so expensive. So much more than when I was a kid, even adjusting for inflation. Bums me out when I go back.
On-topic, that’s why Krav Maga prices are higher there. Rent, market value, etc.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Hey just wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for your replies, they have all been helpful. One of the things I’ve come to learn from my short Krav Maga journey is that I give up too easily. Learning to defend myself in a safe environment and becoming a tad more fit has become a priority to me. I’m also learning that I can’t allow my life to be about just getting to work I have to have a life. It is important to my well being and allows me to bring in more joy and spirit into my wonderful 20 year marriage. However we are not living in times where we can just ignore money issues, if we ever did. We just had a meeting yesterday at work where we we’re told there will be no pay increases in the foreseeable future. There is already talk of cutting our workweek from 40 hours to 35 hours. Two years ago we lost our holidays which were replaced with personal days, which are impossible to get. Last march I had several trips to the emergency room and as a working insured american I now owe some thousands of dollars to various health organizations that were not completely covered by the insurance that is taken out of my pay every paycheck. So we have come to the conclusion that we have to make changes one of which includes my husband returning to school and our returning to queens. I became afraid of returning to the city with all the violence in general not to mention the gay bashings and that lead to the self defense classes. The classes I take are in the flatiron district and not only are the instructions good but the people are welcoming and I feel safe and supported and pushed all at the same time. I always remember this guy in my face after about 5 classes or so saying well those kicks sucked, he then stayed with me after class and helped me break them down. So I feel that they are worth it. They are 30 dollars a class they have another school in brooklyn and they are 25 dollars a class. So far what I have found is that the slightly more affordable classes are not located in as a convenient place and offer fewer classes. My school does have a month membership for 250 and a three month for 500 and at least five classes I am allowed to take and can actually fit into my schedule. However at this point of paying off bills and going on one paycheck for the next year it is impossible to come up with that kind of money. So I will keep practicing on my own. I will convert my apartment into a gym dumbbells, burpees, push ups etc. and I will take a class here and there and when I can come up with the money and should enough come up for a membership I will reinvest. Thanks again.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Crash, sounds like you know what you need to do for the best interests of your family. Totally respect that. Not sure if you know about this but might be better than nothing.
http://www.kravmagabootcamp.com/
Ran Nakash is an Israeli boxer and legit Krav Maga instructor. The link is to his online training program. You and your husband could even train together at home. Worth a look at the very least.
Whatever you decide, best of luck with everything.
PS — Queens rocks! Food’s awesome, more space.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Maybe it’s cheaper in my area, but the membership itself isn’t all that much (about $100 a month and we have a 1 year contract). Now, adding in special classes and gear can get expensive, but that’s really kinda optional.
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Unfortunately as Metta has said before, everything in a big metropolitan area like NYC is expensive, food, rent, etc. and thus the higher membership cost. It’s great that you can train for $100! Gear is pricey, but unless you don’t take care of the gear like cleaning it after every training session, allowing it to air dry and using those glove dogs it should last you for quite some time.
To the OP, have you tried looking to see if there’s any martial arts type meet ups in your area? From where I live the nearest meetup that I’m interested in is about 40 miles away but the meetup is free, and it’s open to anybody interested in martial arts/trains in general. We spar and exchange techniques/ideas. I don’t go very often since it’s such a drive but the group is cool. Perhaps you can find one near you? I used this website http://www.meetup.com/ to help me find it. Well, Youtube/Google helped me find that site :D:
Re: Krav Maga affordability
Ok I’ve done a lot of soul searching and talking with my husband and others. There are many obstacles to training. The first few I seem to have a handle on. I no longer fear class or fitting in or learning to channel my aggression, I don’t hesitate to do my rolls no matter how badly I do them and I now know mostly do to my enthusiasm that I have the energy to get through class even after a long day of lifting 80 yr olds out of beds and wheelchairs. I know that I feel better after class and I enjoy getting out of bed in the morning thinking about practicing and improving. I beamed for two days the day my instructor pointed to one of my kicks and suggested that it was more on target than the yellow belts I was working with and let us not talk about when he used me for a demonstration. So this is a place for me. However it was our attempt to correct our financial troubles that lead us to these changes in our lives that revealed my deep seated insecurities in the first place. So I can’t allow my wants and needs to further derail us. At this moment everything is so up in the air that it is impossible to say if I could afford 100 a month or not that is if I could find it. The long and short of it is we have to pay down bills, I have to find a job in NYC that will cut down tolls and gas to my current job and allow the car to be used next year for my husband to get to school. In the mean time as depressing as it has been to think about I will have to give up classes for now. My first response as usual was to just give up on it all together which is my basic defeatist attitude. In fact my last class was last friday and I have not done a push up since or even been to the gym which is already paid for. However if i do give up then I have learned nothing from these last few months of sweating. Keep moving forward will mean nothing. Don’t give up we have only just started will mean nothing. So I will practice on my own. I will save my little change when I get it and when I save up enough to return I will or if I find something that is closer and cheaper I will join there. Maybe I will come across some seminars or maybe after the new job there will be enough money saved from ending the long commute. Thanks everyone for all of you suggestions. By the way I did talk to the manger of my school and she did agree to a lower the price but at this point as I already stated no money is no money. I will also check out the boot camp seems like that is a free online thing, only took a brief look. What is the name of the school in long island that is 180 which is still unaffordable for my situation but maybe a class every other week might work depending on their prices and schedule. It can’t be that self defense designed to be practiced by everyone is only for the rich can it?
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