How to pick a martial art school?

Picking a martial art school isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. Initially, it would seem that there is little separating one martial art school from the other. Several factors have to be considered. Who will be the student child, teen or adult, current physical condition and the most import question to ask yourself is “WHY”. Then you have to research the schools.

Picking the right martial art school for you can be tricky. Don’t ask your friends, family, neighbors or co-workers even if they are active or retired military or law enforcement. While both law enforcement and military personal may have various degrees of combative training, the intent is not for the same purpose as a civilian self-defense.

If you are asking advice from friends, family or co-workers, as is the case more times than it isn’t, ask them to qualify their answers. Have they ever, or do they currently train? If the answer is no, just thank them and move on.

Most people take martial arts to learn self-defense, get in shape, increase mobility, and some even take it as a form of socializing while challenging themselves physically and mentally. Figure out your Why(s) and start looking around at schools in your area.

Visit the various martial art schools, read their website and go to YouTube and watch their videos. One word of caution: beware of instructors that focus on their credentials more than they focus on their students’ results, or the benefits their students receive from training. Be skeptical of schools that focus almost only on their Linage. You can easily identify these schools by their websites. They read like an exhausting essay of who’s who from the ancient martial arts history. Some instructors will take it further by adding all their impressive ranks, like Kyoshi & Hanshi, and/or enumerating their Dan ranks below 7th (Kyoshi), followed by their educational backgrounds. Obviously, the goal is to provide credibility to their claims of traditional teachings. While there is nothing wrong with doing any of these, there should be an equal about of information about how they teach, their underlying philosophy. If they are not willing to put information on social media sites like Facebook or YouTube, they may be  teaching secret martial art skills,  Only a select group may learn the secret stuff!!(sarcasm).

Visit the schools. Find out their hours and drop in and watch a class or two, ask questions. A word of caution: some schools truly believe that their teachings are secret and will not allow you to watch. If this is the case, be skeptical. Ask if you can have an introductory class. However, if they allow you, or invite you to watch, pay attention to their colored belts, not the brown or black belts, the colored belts tell the true story. When the time comes, ask open-ended questions. You are interviewing them. Don’t let them sel you by asking questions. Such as.

• How long does it take to earn a black-belt? Particularly if they have a “Black Belt club” ask them what that is.

• What does it mean to earn a black belt here?

• What is the training like between a white belt and a black belt?

• If they say they focus on Kata, ask them why kata training is important. Conversely, if they don’t focus on Kata, ask them why that is?

• Find out their sparring looks like some schools do, while others don’t. Learn why in either case.

• What level of physical interaction is there?  Do the students actually punch each other? If so, how hard? If not, do they punch to the side of the body, or do they stop midway?

Find a martial art school that meets your needs, commit to a month of training with them to test the waters. You want to see if you “Mesh” with the instructors, their culture. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, remember you are a paying customer, you are not a disciple of an ancient religious order.

Beware of Red Flags

I once meet an instructor who wanted his people to look at him as if he was Yoda and everyone was his Palawan. To such a degree, he required students to watch and write essays on star trek – I mean star wars.

If the school has a book that they require you to purchase, ask to review it first! Especially if it’s over $10, find out what the value of the book is. The SOP (Standard operating procedures) should be available online.