There are two types of fee to pay at the club: your attendance fee (for attending sessions), and your annual membership fee (an annual fee that covers things like your insurance, and that entitles you to a discount on your attendance fees).
Contents
Weekly attendance fees
| RRP | Members | |
| Wednesday sessions | £15 | £13 |
| Sparring days | £15 | £13 |
Please note that beginners do need to pay for the first session. The first session is not free of charge. Please arrange this by booking in through our website so that we also have your name and email address for our records (we must keep accurate attendance and contact records, as a requirement of our insurance).
Ways to pay
Our preferred method is for you to book and pay online. This gives the instructor a better idea of how many people are likely to be there, which is helpful for planning the lesson.
You can pay by cash on the day.
You can pay by direct bank transfer if you agree this with the instructor in advance.
Monthly payments
| RRP | Members | |
| Monthly pass – just one month (a single, one-time payment) | £60 | £55 |
| Monthly pass – ongoing (a recurring payment) | £55 | £50 |
You can choose to pay monthly instead of the weekly payments for individual sessions.
Many of our members prefer to pay monthly by an automatic payment method so that they don’t have to think about it or keep track of dates! And for the club, automatic monthly payments are great, because they let us predict and manage our cashflow to keep the club’s accounts healthy.
If you have an up-to-date annual membership, then your monthly pass will also entitle you to attend the sparring day that month free of charge. However, if you do not have an up-to-date annual membership, then you will still need to pay for the sparring day and the monthly pass will not cover it.
Please note that paying by direct debit is cheaper than buying a new session pass every month in our shop! We would like to encourage more of our members to pay by direct debit as it makes the admin and accounting easier for us.
Direct debits – recommended!
Direct debits will be taken within a few days of the date when you sign up for it, and will recur every month at around that same date. We use the GoCardless service to collect direct debits so that your payments are completely secure and so that they are covered by the official Direct Debit Guarantee.
Manual payments
You are welcome to purchase a month of attendance through our online shop, which will let you attend any or all regular Wednesday sessions during the month. However, it will be slightly more expensive to buy one of these each month than it would be to choose the ongoing payment!
Other recurring payment methods
The direct debit would usually be a better option than the PayPal recurring payments for anyone with a UK bank account. Please note that you do need a PayPal account for these recurring payments.
The direct debit would usually be a better option than standing orders. However, if you would like to set up a standing order from your bank account, so that the money is transferred to us every month, please ask us for the club bank account details.
FAQ: which method is best?
We recommend the direct debit. It is the easiest method for us, it is secure, and you are covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee so that you have full control over the payments.
FAQ: how do the dates work, when does it expire?
Your monthly pass will start on the day it is purchased and will need renewing on that same day the following month.
For example, if you purchase a monthly pass on the 5th of February, it will run until the 4th of March (inclusive), and will require renewal on the 5th of March.
FAQ: are there refunds if I don’t attend sessions?
No. The discounted rate for the monthly payments is to reflect the commitment of paying monthly, regardless of whether you attend. If you are able to avail yourself of the opportunity to attend weekly then the monthly pass is a good deal. If you cannot attend often enough for the monthly payment to be good value for you, you might consider returning to the weekly rates and method.
FAQ: what about catch-up session credits?
This was an offer that we started in 2019, but we began winding it down in 2022 and it finished by the end of 2023. Unfortunately, it ended up being a huge amount of paperwork to administrate every month, and just wasn’t sustainable any more.
So from January 2024 onwards, there are no more catch-up session credits.
Annual membership
| Annual price | |
| Annual membership | £25 |
Please arrange your membership through our website. We recommend doing this after attending for three or four weeks.
All regular attendees should have an up to date membership – insurance is important, for you and for your training partners.
FAQ: what does membership include?
Annual membership includes your student public liability policy that we arrange through BMABA. It is important that you have the proper insurance for our activity – it means you will not bear the financial burden if you have a genuine accident and injure a training partner, but it also helps you to make the legal defence for carrying your training swords to and from the club (more information).
Members receive discounted rates for attendance fees and private tuition, and will also receive discounts on other purchases in our online shop.
Furthermore, annual membership entitles you to discounts when making purchases through the Academy of Historical Arts online shop.
FAQ: can I keep attending without purchasing membership?
No, unfortunately this is not really negotiable.
Insurance is an important part of what we do, and the instructors don’t want the legal liabilities that might arise from allowing someone to attend for a longer period of time without being properly insured for this activity.
Private tuition
| RRP | Members | |
| Private tuition (1 hour for, 1 or 2 people) | £50 | £40 |
You can arrange private tuition with the chief instructor, please just ask! We can discuss availability and find a day and time that is mutually convenient.
Family discounts
We are happy to offer a family discount, to make it easier and more affordable for families to come and train together at the club.
If 2 or more people from the same family are attending, and are paying together and at the same time through the website, the total attendance fee due may be discounted by 10%.
The annual membership fee can also be discounted for families. This has the same condition: the memberships must be purchased and paid for together and at the same time through the website. It is the same discount code for memberships and attendance.
If you would like to set up a monthly direct debit for your family, please contact the instructor to arrange this.
Please note that the family discount cannot be applied if you are paying separately, or if you are paying in person and not through the website. The website makes it easy to handle the discount, which is why the discount is only available for purchases through the website!