What Should I Look for When Choosing a Martial Arts Program?

Safety

Safety should come first. Most martial arts students have a life outside of martial arts. Whether you go to school, work, take care of family, or have other responsibilities an injury makes every day responsibilities, difficult or impossible. First, make sure safety is important to the instructors at the martial arts school. Ask if the instructors are first aid and CPR certified. It is imperative that whoever is in charge knows what to do in case of a medical emergency or if a student is injured. Second, look for quality safety mats. All martial arts activities you or your family take part in should be done on safety mats. These reduce injury in case of a fall and also reduces the impact of the physical activity on your joints. Take notice of the condition of all the equipment (heavy bags, focus pads, striking shields) that will be used in your martial arts training. Make sure they are in good condition and are padded. If sparring (This is where students make physical contact with the objective of using their martial arts techniques on one another.) is part of the curriculum make sure safety gear is worn. Some examples of safety gear that is often used in sparring are mouth piece, padded head gear, padded gloves, chest protector covering the ribs, face shield, shin gaurds, and padded foot gear.

Class Structure

Pay attention to how classes are divided up. Young children ages 3-5, optimally, should not be in the same class as older children. They learn differently than older children and usually flourish in a high pace environment. Additionally, young children ages 3-5 have not developed much of their physical strength yet and need to learn different self-defense techniques from older children. Dividing young children from older children also keeps older children from getting bored, because they can move at a faster pace in their martial arts training. Classes should also be divided out by rank. The fewer ranks combined in the same class the better. This allows for the students to get the most instruction on the their rank material and techniques. If there are too many ranks in one class the instructor is forced to bounce around from one rank to the other and the student does not get much instruction on their rank material. Take the opportunity to watch a class. Pay attention to how much down time there is in the class. Are students standing around and waiting to do their martial arts techniques?

Affiliation

Whatever style of martial arts you are interested in check to make sure they are affiliated with a larger organization. There are several advantages to choosing a school that is tightly affiliated with or licensed by a national or international organization. The first advantage is that you can continue your martial arts training right where you left off should you ever move to another city, state, or country. Secondly, most large organizations require that instructors be certified to teach, which should have involved special seminars on the newest and most effective instruction techniques. Some organiztions allow a student to teach as soon as they receive their black belt and give them no specialized instructor training, so be sure to ask what "certified" means in the organization you are considering. A third advantage is that large organizations usually require that their schools carry insurance and that their instructors be CPR certified. Fourthly, large organizations provide more opportunities in which students can get involved. The larger the organization the better the tournaments they can offer. Large organizations can restrict participation in the tournament to schools that are in their own organization, which means that everyone has learned and practiced by the same rules. They also provide insurance to cover the rare occasions when a participant is injured.

Style

There are many considerations when choosing the martial arts style that is best for you or your family. Are life skills like confidence, respect, self-control, and self-discipline important to you? Martial arts is an excellent medium for learning to apply important life skills in your life, but some styles neglect to incorporate them in their curriculum. Do you want full contact, controlled contact, or no contact in your martial arts training? Some styles allow full contact in which knock-outs, tap-outs, or being declared unable to continue is the goal of each "sparring" (This is where students make physical contact with the objective of using their martial arts techniques on one another.) match. Other styles use 40-50% of their power and control their techniques to keep from injuring their sparring partner. The goal of these sparring matches may be to score the most points, to get a partner to tap-out, to disarm a partner, or to get a partner to the ground. Other styles do not allow any contact to be made when sparring and practicing self-defense. Some styles do not incorporate sparring at all in their curriculum. Is self-defense important to you? Some martial arts incorporate self-defense into their curriculum and others do not. What type of physical conditioning is involved? Flexibility? Strength training? Cardiovascular exercises? Many styles incorporate one or two and some incorporate all three. Is it low impact, where movements are slow or high impact where striking and jumping is involved? What parts of the body do the techniques utilize? Some styles just use upper body striking, some just use lower body striking, some utilize the body's core strengh, some incorporate all three. What are the mental requirements? Is memorization or creativity part of the curriculum? Are written or verbal tasks required? Will there be meditation? Some martial arts style incorporate creativity, dance, and acrobatics into a martial arts activity called X-Treme Martial Arts. Do you want to be challenged? Are their physical or mental tests? Are you interested in learning how to use weapons in your martial arts training? Some styles only train with weapons and others do not train with weapons at all. Some styles teach both open hand training and weapons training.

Other Considerations

Other items to inquire about are how easy the equipment is to get and if the instructor is continuing his/her training. Can you get your uniform and training materials from the school or do you have to go on-line or search around town? Ask the instructor if he/she is continuing to train and what opportunities they have for continuing education (improving themselves and their instructional techniques). A final consideration is the instructor's rank and years in training. Theoretically, the higher his/her rank the more knowledge he/she has of the particular style they have the rank in. Each style differs in the requirements to achieve each rank, so rank can be very objective.

In conclusion, if you are unsure of the style or school that is best for you or your family, ask if you can try out a class or several classes over a few weeks. Often, schools will offer a trial special designed specifically for this purpose.