Martial arts program prices have a wide price variance. “Decent” group instruction ranges from $100.-$200.+/month and usually $100.-$200./hr./person for private lessons from a Black Belt instructor. Much more if private lessons are taken with a martial arts master or grand-master. Typically, it takes 5 years before a martial arts club will finally let someone test to obtain their Black Belt. It’s their business to deliberately stretch out your training for as long as possible. So the overall training cost can be $6,000. -$12,000., and much more if you took any private lessons; seminars; costs for all the belt exams and gas travelling to and from classes twice/week (that’s 520 trips). Martial arts courses load up the classes with as many people as they can get in. Courses are held when and where it is convenient for the instructor, most often in the evenings. Classes are usually twice/week for 1 ½ hours (that’s 780 hours over 5 years). Belt exams are usually held in groups, rather than based on individual performance. Belt exams are typically dragged out over 5 years to increase income from students. Much of the class is focused on stretching and strength and endurance exercises. The other part of your money is spent on their traditional art, which involves choreographed forms or pattern routines (kata), and their “way”. Their “way” can be grappling focused (MMA; Jujitsu) or kicking focused (Tae Kwon Do) or punching focused (boxing) or hard strikes focused (Karate) and so on. There is some cross-over like in MMA, but all are trained in a sport with referees, rules and limitations. Training against or with weapons is rare, usually provided only beyond Black Belt level with their traditional weapons. They aren’t trained for life or death encounters. CQC experts point out that martial arts training is actually counter-productive, because of the muscle-memory acquired in point fighting; traditional techniques; sparring with rules and opponents tapping out. Beyond all that, Fairbairn, an expert in various martial arts styles, was shown in brutal fashion, that martial arts and self-defense processes fail in combat. Only combatives has proven to be the most effective and efficient skillsets in life or death encounters, especially against multiple, armed attackers.