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I read an article a while back explaining why Brazilian Jiu-jitsu will never become popular enough to grow as an industry. The reason is simple – IT COSTS TOO MUCH!!! For the amount of money you pay to train with the top names in BJJ, you could train a professional sport that will yield 10 folds more in returns! For parents, deciding whether their child will spend $1250/week (5 days x $250/hour) on BJJ from a Gracie, Machado, etc... or tennis lessons at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where the likes of Andre Agassi and other tennis stars trained, for $930/week year-round (http://www.tennisresortsonline.com/t...sortID=345June -August, 2005), most parents will pick tennis.
All great sports like baseball, basketball and football grew slowly from pioneers who didn’t charge a whole lot of money and geniunely wanted the sport to grow. It’s called the rule of supply and demand. That’s not the case with BJJ. In BJJ, it seems the instructors just want to cash-in while they can and move on. I know there are good and honest BJJ instructors out there, I’ve known a few. But these guys aren’t producing big names, neither are they big names. For a sport to grow, influential people need to make a difference. Unfortunately, in the case of BJJ, these influential people are the guys overcharging us.
According to this thread, Renzo charges $350/month for beginners and there’s no sparring.http://www.sherdog.net/forums/archiv.../t-244137.html
I’m not sure what Rickson charges, but I’m sure it’s a lot.
The bottom line is that BJJ is a niche... It’s target market is very selective and small. The average person would be turned off by its ridiculous prices, considering supply and demand.
People would rather send their kids to TKD. It’s affordable, fun and mainstream. There aren’t people bleeding from scab wounds, or nursing a torn shoulder muscle limping around the gym. Heck, I left my first BJJ gym because there were several guys bandaged from head to toe that kept rolling with everyone, smearing blood all over the mats. Imagine what a parent would think...
All great sports like baseball, basketball and football grew slowly from pioneers who didn’t charge a whole lot of money and geniunely wanted the sport to grow. It’s called the rule of supply and demand. That’s not the case with BJJ. In BJJ, it seems the instructors just want to cash-in while they can and move on. I know there are good and honest BJJ instructors out there, I’ve known a few. But these guys aren’t producing big names, neither are they big names. For a sport to grow, influential people need to make a difference. Unfortunately, in the case of BJJ, these influential people are the guys overcharging us.
According to this thread, Renzo charges $350/month for beginners and there’s no sparring.http://www.sherdog.net/forums/archiv.../t-244137.html
I’m not sure what Rickson charges, but I’m sure it’s a lot.
The bottom line is that BJJ is a niche... It’s target market is very selective and small. The average person would be turned off by its ridiculous prices, considering supply and demand.
People would rather send their kids to TKD. It’s affordable, fun and mainstream. There aren’t people bleeding from scab wounds, or nursing a torn shoulder muscle limping around the gym. Heck, I left my first BJJ gym because there were several guys bandaged from head to toe that kept rolling with everyone, smearing blood all over the mats. Imagine what a parent would think...
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