Three Tip You Should Consider In Choosing A Martial Arts School

Many of the students simply do not have any idea regard to the best practices when they are trying to choose a martial arts school. Instead of thinking that almost each and every Martial Arts School is the same, you have to actually do some research.  This means looking into the pedigree of the instructors, the type of martial art taught and the overall reputation of the school within the martial arts and general community.  After all this is a business and they school should have an integrity level beyond approach when it comes to dealing with their customers.  Once you feel comfortable, completing this very basic investigation you are then ready to begin to make a decision.

There are plenty of Combat and Mixed Martial Arts academies within our area (Norther Virginia, Maryland and Delaware) but before joining any of these, we would ask you to consider the following:

Take a couple of moments either within the school or in the parking lot and talk to a couple of students.  See what they may have to say about the place.  They may be dying to get out of their mandatory contract, or they may be just ecstatic from the awesome class that the instructor just taught.  This is we believe one of the most overlooked steps that students make when choosing a School and it is one of the most important.  Each student might have a different objective of the school and for the reason they joined. While you might be joining to learn the martial arts, someone else might be joining to defend themselves, make friends, socialize, get into shape or simply just to have fun.  In essence, we think you need to take a moment to find someone who has the same or who has had the same objectives as you have in joining a martial arts school.  Keep in mind objective is your motivation and it’s the number one concern that must be met to you standard before you join.  Similarly, you should take into consideration the type of the martial arts which you’ll be learning.

The second step is to look into the people or person who is providing you the instruction.  This person is the instructor.  Are the classes taught by him?  Does the academy have junior or lower belt students, or helpers provide the majority of instruction during the classes or teach the majority of the classes? This is a problem, if when you tour the school your presented with this award-winning instructor, but when its class time he is nowhere to be seen.  We suggest checking local affiliations, they type of art the instructor is belted in and check to see if they are registered, affiliated or associated in that network. Only when your investigation is complete and your comfortable that the instructors are good enough.  This entails their instruction at the martial arts school, your ability to learn from him, the style they teach, and their use of proxy instructors, should you then and only then make your choice.  Its common sense “the school is only as good as the instructors in it.” That is why you have to do your research carefully about the instructors before taking a decision.  If you missed it, or we were not crystal clear on this subject, you should ideally be looking for a competent instructor who is experienced in martial arts as well as knowledgeable. If the instructor has a long history of participating in tournaments as well, that is an added advantage. In addition to that, you have to look at the communication skills of the instructor as well. After that, you would be able to make a proper decision as to whether the level of teaching in that particular Martial Arts School is good enough or not.

Our next suggested step is to check out the results of the current and or previous students.  If the Martial Arts School is really good, the previous students would have won tournaments and would have made a name for themselves.

The afore are just a couple of quick steps anyone can do in a couple of moments, from the connivance of a cell phone in their hand and doing some research on the internet.  Please keep in mind, that this not everything you should do, this is just a couple of quickies that can be accomplished in just a couple of quick moments, right in the lobby of the academy.  We would also suggest a google search to see if there had ever been issues legally or morally, a review of customer testimonials, even to the point of determining how many testimonials they have.  Has the school been around ten years and they only have 5 testimonials?  You remember what your mother taught you.  “If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything.”

So we think you have it.  That should be enough to get you going on your quest to join a martial arts school.  So keep in mind do your homework and remember you get what you pay for.  You are the customer and your satisfaction should be of the most importance.  You not joining a cult or the military so you should not have to put up with #$%@ and pay for it.  You have a choice be a wise consumer and do you research.  All in all a little research, and time will pay huge dividends and we are confident you will find a school that fits your needs.