How to choose a martial arts school: considerations for making the right decision
Martial Arts Houston: Choosing a Martial Arts School – Considerations for Making the Right Decision
If you are a parent who wants to enroll your child in martial arts classes or if you are interested in training, the basic principles for choosing a martial arts school are the same. You first have to decide what you want to gain by taking martial arts, and then you have to find the best school and instructor that best suits your needs. Let’s take each step one at a time.
STEP 1: CLEARLY DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT YOU OR YOUR CHILD TO GET FROM THE MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING
This is a crucial step that is sometimes overlooked. People have different but very good reasons for wanting to undertake martial arts training. There are many benefits that martial arts training has to offer, here are just a few:
- Self defense
- Develop a general sense of well-being and self-confidence.
- Lose weight
- Gain flexibility and coordination
- Acquire more discipline
- And more …
Why do you want to train in martial arts? Your reasons may include all of the above, and that’s fine, but try to find one or two reasons that are more important to you. For example, are you looking for just a little light recreation? So a community center program may be enough. However, if you want all the benefits that martial arts have to offer, such as self-defense or personal development, then you will need a full-time professional school. Deciding what you really want is a very important step in choosing the best school for you.
STEP 2: CHOOSE THE SCHOOL AND INSTRUCTOR THAT BEST SUITS YOUR NEEDS
Once you’ve decided what you want out of your training, the next step is to find the right place. There are several factors to consider when choosing a school. You will want to consider things like; finding the right instructor, cleanliness and distance from school, price of classes, finding a suitable martial art style, and safety considerations. Let’s take a closer look at each of these factors.
What is your impression of the instructor?
You must realize that an important factor in choosing the right school is choosing the right instructor. Here we are talking about the personality and teaching style of the instructor. It is difficult to make an informed judgment about a person in a short meeting, but usually you will have to trust your instincts. Intuition and first impressions, while not always correct, often turn out to be true. Be sure to visit the school, meet the instructor, and take a look.
How does the instructor greet visitors and how do they treat students?
A professional school will have a friendly atmosphere, lots of smiles, and will be well cared for. You will feel comfortable with the staff and facilities. While this may not be the closest school to your home, when it comes to your safety or the safety and education of your child, an extra ten minutes by car can make a big difference to your outcome.
How advanced should the instructor be? Should they have a lot of titles and trophies?
Contrary to popular opinion, finding the best martial arts champion does not mean that you have the best teacher. Just because an instructor has many victories in the competition does not always mean that the person is a good teacher. Similarly, just because someone has been ranked highly within an art does not make them a good teacher. This is a critical point to understand. One can be “natural” in martial arts, which means that they learn it very quickly. This type of person can become a great champion with many medals and trophies, but of course, this is by no means a guarantee that they can effectively communicate and translate to others what comes to them quite easily. There are many examples of great competitors who are actually bad teachers. Clearly, the owner of a school or the head instructor must be a black belt or its equivalent depending on the art. However, beyond that, the instructor’s rank will mean very little to your classroom experience or the quality of your classes. What an instructor has accomplished is not as important as what they can do for you. It is much more important to find an instructor who cares about the students and makes them the focal point rather than seeking all the attention for himself. Titles and trophies signify excellence in competition. So titles and trophies are great, IF that same person is also a good teacher. So if you can find an instructor with great credentials, medals, belts, etc. who ALSO cares about their students and is able to convey that information to them effectively, then you have the best of both worlds.
Is the school clean?
This is very important. Dirty gyms can transmit staph and many other nasty things that you would rather not know about. However, good gyms are vigilant about sanitizing their equipment on a regular basis. Don’t be afraid to ask how often the instructor cleans and disinfects the equipment. Sometimes you will know everything you need just by looking around you. This does not mean that the school has to be so immaculate – a little dust here or there does not hurt anything. But if you see dirty carpets or blood on the walls, it’s time to look elsewhere.
How far is the school?
The best school in the world won’t do you any good if it’s too far away for you to attend classes regularly. Also consider the traffic. It might even be a good idea to take a “test drive” during your class time. Is the class schedule adequate? Ask to see the schedule and make sure you can comfortably attend at least twice a week. Also pay attention to the duration of the classes. In today’s world, it is very difficult to spend more than an hour on one activity for any length of time, and attention span studies have shown that 30-60 minutes is about the maximum for most people.
How much should I expect to pay?
Paying for martial arts lessons is a lot like buying a car or something else. You often get what you pay for. Cleanliness, professionalism, quality, safety, and individual attention is what generally separates high-end schools from cheaper ones. Most schools charge what they think they are worth. So if you want the best instruction, you should expect the price to be higher than normal. So what is normal? In 2007, the average price in the United States for martial arts training was approximately $ 100 per month. Schools in smaller towns will charge less, and in cities where the overall cost of living is slightly higher, this will also be the case for martial arts classes. For those who want the best for themselves or their children, expect to pay around $ 120 a month or more. Just as private academic institutions and universities exist for a certain group of people who want the best academic education, similarly, these top-level martial arts programs are for those who want the safest and most professional service available to their martial arts training.
You should also be aware that offering classes with 6 or 12 month contracts is a common practice in the martial arts industry. In fact, in our experience, schools that have such agreements tend to be better maintained, better managed, and of better quality than cheaper “month-to-month” schools.
What style of martial art should I choose?
This answer here depends on what your goals are. If you just want a little light recreation, then most taekwondo schools will be fine. If you just want a cardio alternative and don’t care at all about self-defense, improving self-confidence, and the like, then a typical “cardiokickboxing” class at your local health spa might be the one for you. . . If you’re only interested in preserving an ancient oriental art form, perhaps with a bit of self-defense as a secondary consideration, then a traditional kung fu, karate, or tae kwon do school would suit you.
However, if you are really looking to increase your fitness level or get serious about self defense training, here is some advice: When it comes to serious conditioning and self defense, martial arts styles are NOT “all the same”.
This is a controversial question, and surely there will be those who disagree with what we say here, but we believe that the style or discipline that is taught matters a lot if you want serious training that can give you the best in conditioning and self defense. Perhaps the most famous martial artist of all time, Bruce Lee recognized the limitations in the more traditional forms of karate, kung fu, and tae kwon do. Lee thought that many of these arts clung to outdated and impractical training methods and techniques due to an unfounded respect for “tradition,” while ignoring the fact that there might be newer and better ways of doing things. We agree with Bruce Lee’s assessment. In our opinion, the more contemporary martial arts like Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Grappling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Boxing, and Wrestling are much better when it comes to conditioning and realistic self defense.
Is Martial Arts Training Safe?
Generally, it is, but it can vary depending on the school you choose. Most schools are very safe and go to great lengths to ensure the safety of their classes. Other schools are tougher and may have a military atmosphere where only the strong survive. An almost exclusively adult male student body and a “wrestling gym” atmosphere may help you recognize these schools. You should know that the above insurance classifications rank martial arts as safer than golf in the number of injury claims. That doesn’t mean it won’t hurt or hurt you occasionally, it just means that serious injuries aren’t very common in most martial arts schools. This can be particularly true for schools that belong to a professional organization that emphasizes the importance of safety.
Finally, while claims against schools are very rare because the training is so safe, many schools are not insured, which is a mistake. Make sure your school is insured and that instructors attend seminars and workshops on teaching safe classes.
If you’re interested in moving forward, feel free to check out the resources at www.MartialArtsDVD.com for home martial arts training programs.
