Membership dues 2005 in UK

[Musha]

I guess for most in the UK you will be getting ready to renew your BKA membership soon. I was just checking the BKA web-site and found out the fee is £50, £70 and £80! from July :surprise:. Is it me or does the privilege of paying to go to and enter BKA events cost a little too much :cry:.

[D'Artagnan]

Personally, I think £50 is a fair price for what the BKA offers in return.

Aside from the whole insurance stuff you pay for, you get -

*the ability to assist an organisation that actively endevours to promote the Japanese sword arts in Britain
*the opportuninty to train at dozens of Kendo dojos accross the UK
*the opportunity to grade to a standard that is recognised world wide
*access to tuition from the best instructors in the UK, and some of the best instructors in the World
*Several taikai are organised for us to enter each year
*The opportunity to practice, grade and compete (to an international level) in three seperate Japanese sword arts
*a newsletter, featuring interesting arcticles and containing interviews from the most influential kendoka... see the lidstone article in this month's :cool2:
*And most importantly, the ability to safely practise Kendo.

For 50 quid, which is about what I spend on the average computer game, i find it hard to argue.

[JSchmidt]

Is it me or does the privilege of paying to go to and enter BKA events cost a little too much :cry:.
Just you :)

Jakob

[Antonin]

Well, I don't think it's too expensive, but what i wonder is why it's gone up so much this year... I would assume that it is due to the cost of insurance, but I am not sure.
of course, we get something for this money, but d'Artagnan, you should remember that for a lot of what you quote (grading, seminars, taikai) you still have to pay extra.
In the grand scheme of things anyway, at least fo me, it is practice fee and dojo registration that cost me the most!

A.

[Trout]

I'm glad I saw this post - I checked the BKA site last week at it was £30 for new membership, it's now doubled!!!

Good job I didn't send the cheque off.

Cheers

[Musha]

http://www.kendo.org.uk/dojo/bkafees.shtml

I guess compared to Karate it is cheap but what I don't understand is why the joining fee is cheaper than the renewal fee if the BKA don't have to process a membership book and it the fee gets more expensive each month.

If you did not pay in January you would have to pay �’20 more and if you only wanted to join for afew months at the end of the year �’30 more :(.

How much is membership in Japan, America and other European countries?

BTW I don't know which computer games you buy D'artagnan paying £50 for one computer game. Try E-bay and you can get it for less than 1/2 the price some times :p.

[mingshi]

Musha, you definately have a problem reading charts with numbers.

FULL new membership is GBP 60 including joining fee. It decreases in mid-year.
RENEWAL is GBP 50 but it increases if you pay late.

I wasn't about to remind you but I feel generous today. If you are a student you'll be paying the concessionary fee. For the past 3 years I only pay GBP 15. A 5-pound increase is nothing.

[Musha]

Thanks Mingshi, I think there needs to be some lines on that chart but to me it still looks like the fee grows each month if I wanted to renew my membership. Unless there is something else I could do, that is.

Full Renewal (Late fine after 31st January)
For Kendo and includes National Coaching support

Jan £50
Feb-June £70
July-Dec £80

I said joining fee is cheaper than renewal which I would not expect to include joining fees and membership book processing fees or do you get a new book each year?

I'm not a student any more :( so I can't get any discounts. I might be doing kendo in Japan next year so was wondering if I needed to join the BKA at all.

I wouldn't want to have to pay £1000s of pounds if I get injured though :D.

[JSchmidt]

If you pay your membership fee in January, you only have to pay £50, which will cover the whole of 2005.

You can(!) try to be sneaky and wait 1 month and go for a new membership, but then your grading clock is reset and if the membership secretary notices it, he might refuse it.

Finally..you shouldnt worry about *you* getting injured without insurance...you should worry about *you* injuring others. It could easily ruin you financially for the rest of your life.
Further, you are officially not allowed to practice in any BKA dojo without insurance.

As for going to Japan, you shoudl also ensure that you are a fully paid up member of an IKF recognised organisation. (ie the BKA)..if not, you can easily run into the same insurance problems as before and you will also need permission from your original organisation in order to take any gradings.

Jakob

[mingshi]

...but then your grading clock is reset ...
That reminds me of something ... Musha wasn't even graded!

[Neil Gendzwill]

CKF membership is $20/year I think (about £8.50). We don't get the insurance though, it's not so much of an issue here.

[sjp]

Eric
I would suggest the place to complain about BKA fees is at the AGM
If you are paying the Full membership rates you get a vote, use it.
This was discussed at last years AGM, see you at this years ?

Pay them in Jan and it costs you £1 per week for the year.

[Musha]

I was at the last AGM and asked Mr Howell if it would be better to have more events to supplement funding. He said some thing like there are enough already.

I'm just wondering if I need to pay or not because of what Mingshi said in her last post. I guess insurance is worth a lot more than being able to participate in shiai and grading.

[Martin (Wakey)]

I've got no problem with the cost. It's the time of the year that gets me. So much to pay out in Dec/Jan.

Oh well, who needs money when you've got Kendo?

[JSchmidt]

Let me put it this way: If you are not paying, you are seriously screwing with your and others lifes, in case of an injury!
Which dojo are training at again?

Jakob

[rckenshi]

IIRC AUSKF was about $65 last year and it includes the insurance, taikai, grading opportunities, etc. Don't know what it'll be this year.

[Kendoka]

I was at the last AGM and asked Mr Howell if it would be better to have more events to supplement funding. He said some thing like there are enough already.

I'm just wondering if I need to pay or not because of what Mingshi said in her last post. I guess insurance is worth a lot more than being able to participate in shiai and grading.

If you don't want to pay your membership, which also appears to include accident insurance, then don't.
But surely you are not serious? But I'll bite!
If you are not a member don't then expect to -
* have the privilieges and responsibility of being a BKA member,
* train with BKA members at affiliated dojos in GB or at AJKF affiliated dojos in Japan,
* be introduced to good Japanese senseis,
* attend the many events on the BKA schedule,
* be assessed for your next grade,
* have your current grade continue to be recognised.

Be a lone wolf!!

[Catherine]

My thought about membership payments is that if you don't join your national association, then the national association and the benefits it can provide for its members is weakened.

So, not only you, but potentially a whole lot of other people lose out.

Catherine

[Navyguy]

CKF membership is $20/year I think (about £8.50). We don't get the insurance though, it's not so much of an issue here.In Ontario we also have the OKF (Ontario Kendo Federation), which covers our insurance. I believe it is another $35 (Can). I also understand that the CKF would be offering insurance and removing this responsibility from their provincial counterparts, but not sure if this is fact or rumour, thus raising the CKF dues slightly, but eliminating the provincial annual fee.

[PhilMcLaughlin]

If you really did go to the AGM you will have presumably seen the accounts ?
If so youll know where the money goes

Insurance is becoming a major issue here thanks to the litigation culture we seem to be adopting from our mates over the pond :-((

Kendo for £1 a week doesnt seem expensive to me - Have you ever looked at how much it costs to join a gym ?



cheers