To keep the dues to a minimum, our chief instructor (Kyriakos Papadopoulos) and instructors have never been paid for their teaching.  As Tulane faculty, alumni, and students, they see their teaching as a gratifying service to Tulane students and to karate.  The instructors (Devin, Dimitri) are students of the advanced class and have their dues waived.  All instructors feel fortunate to teach the dedicated students of the club, and believe that the experience has improved and continues to benefit their own karate. 

For all full-time students the membership fee is $25 per semester.  Non-students fee is $50 per semester.  Those who have no membership to Reily Center also need to buy a $35-per-semester Reily pass that allows them entrance at the times of karate training. Beginners will need to purchase a karate uniform (unless they already have one), which is procured through the club at a discounted price of $25.  This is the traditional all-white two-piece Japanese Karate uniform called gi (pronounced gee; plural is written  gis and is pronounced geese).

Other Miscellaneous Fees

If you only join for a brief time and are not interested in rank advancement,  there are no additional fees.  If, however, you want to test to be promoted through the color-belt system that leads to black belt, then the fees are as follows:  Each belt test costs $18 (if you are not a student it is $35), and you must also become a member of ASKF, which has a yearly membership of $30.  So, your first test, which takes place at the end of the semester, will cost you a total of $48 (or $65 for non-students), though subsequent tests taken within the year of your valid membership will cost only $18 ($35).  The $18 test fee is a negotiated discounted price for students.  It all gets divided between the regional organization and our national organization, and is used largely to pay for regional and national team travel expenses.  The additional $17 test fee paid by the non-students goes to the club.   The color belt itself costs around $5 (unless you borrow one from the club till your next rank).  When and if, after a few years, you test for your JKA black belt, the fees are significantly higher as a lot of those dollars go to the world headquarters in Tokyo. 

Some students (a minority) also choose to attend seminars and camps, or enter tournaments, which are frequently outside of New Orleans and therefore can be expensive.  None of these are required.