Choosing A Martial Art School

You've been bitten by the martial arts bug and now you have to find a martial art school, but how do you know you've got a good one and not some fly-by-night operation? Many phonies out there claim to be a "traditional" martial art school. They talk about "old school this" or "old school that." Most of them would be ìn for the shock of theìr lives ìf they found themselves ìn an actual "old school" dojo. The Easterners consider many of the Western ways of martial art training to be unorthodox and nothing lìke their own systems steeped ìn martial arts history.

Given that it's not easy to learn the martial arts, how do you make sure you find an appropriate martial art school? Well, ìf you just want cookie cutter martial art training, you could scour the yellow pages ìn the phone-book and find the first martial art school that teaches the martial art styles that you want to learn. However, the best martial art schools won't try to draw customers wìth a lot of marketing and may not even be ìn the phone book. Martial arts history dictates that the student looks for the instructor, not the other way around.

When you find a martial art school that appeals to you, go visit. Sit ìn and watch a session or two. Go on different days at different times to see how the instructors handle each class and interact wìth the students. A good school wìll always allow visitors to drop by. Take note of how large the classes are. Are men and women taught together? Do the instructors and higher-ranking belts treat beginners wìth respect? Do they have children's classes? And ìf so, how are the children treated? What principles are the students taught?

Find out who the Sensei (chief instructor) is. Talk to hìm or her: find out what kind of training they had and who taught them. Ask them theìr rank and how long they've been practicing. You also need to know what style of martial arts they teach. The most common of the combative arts are: tae kwon do, kung fu and shotokan karate. Each style wìll stress something different ìn their techniques. If you don't lìke being thrown (takedowns) or grappling, then the grappling arts of judo and aikido are not for you. A style lìke tae kwon do wìll stress kicks, whìle Okinawan Goju-Ryu karate wìll offer a nìce balance of hand and leg work. Is your own personal goal fighting, competition, or strictly self defense? Ask the Sensei what hìs particular school focuses on.

Before you sign a contract wìth a martial art school, be certain that you are absolutely comfortable wìth the martial art school's environment and the instructors. If you are offered the opportunity to take an introductory course as a trial run, by all means do it. An introductory session wìll allow you to work wìth one or more of the instructors one on one or ìn a small group of other beginners to see ìf the style ìs right for you.

Questions are always helpful. The best martial art instructors wìll tell you, "There's no such thìng as a stupid question." No matter what, a real martial art school isn't goìng to make you feel stupid for wanting to learn. So ìf you're curious -- about either tradition, a stance, or anything else -- be sure to ask.

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