Kickboxing/karate

I loved the kick boxing classes I took. But it has been awhile, so I don't know current costs.
You could probably find a Billy Blanks dvd at the library and try it to see if you like it enough to do classes. He's the best and I got to work out with him once when he visited our church.

You will get a great workout with either type of class ... I've done both. Your arms, shoulders, legs, abs, etc., etc., will firm up from all that punching and kicking. Every gym could vary on rates so you'll have to call the center and speak to an employee on what type of fees/contract they have.

My kids kickbox and do karate and prices vary. I also live in an expensive area so keep that in mind. Around here, the strip mall studios run about $100-$120 a month. We take them to more of an old-school bare bones boxing gym and that's about $65 a month each. Most places will give you an introductory special of $99 for three months or something like that and then you can decide whether or not you like it enough to continue.

I love kickboxing. Great workout and I find at cathartic as well :) If you want a cardio /calorie burning hour then I think kickboxing would be better. I haven't taken karate though I've looked into it and I want to. Some studios offer both martial arts and kick boxing. Where I looked it was a monthly fee of about $130 month for unlimited classes and around $18 for a single class. That was in the Boston area so it may be cheaper by you. I've always done the classes at a regular gym that includes classes. I'm at sport and health right now paying $85 month (running a special) and they have all types of classes and it includes childcare's well.
Ask your health insurance company if they give discounts to certain gyms or if they reimburse gym memberships.

We just enrolled our older son and ourselves in karate. We love it! It's fun and a workout. Prices are going to depend on where you go. You can call the places and ask. A rec center will be cheaper if they have it (I think our rec center was 40/mo for only one 30min class/wk). We go to a regular karate school and for the family plan it's 250/mo. That's for 3 of us (baby is only 10mo, so too young yet-lol), 2 days a week, 40min/class. Even if the baby was old enough, our family price would be the same. I think just for our son to take it it would be 150/mo (can't remember). But we all love it and look forward to going to each class!

I kickboxed DAILY for over five years. I messed up my knee and shoulder from NOT resting but that's JUST ME.

If I could go back I would in a second but my physical therapist said if I went back he'd drop me as a client because he worked HARD to get me back to feeling "normal." He REALLY did give me my life back so now I row and treadmill run instead.

When I was going it was $119 every three months. Well worth it since I went every night and sometimes twice a day if I could squeeze it in.