Martial Arts Mastery: A Tell-All of Tips, Tactics, and Techniques?
Deciding What You Want
If you could take lessons anywhere in the world, from anyone...alive or dead, whom would pick? Why would you choose that particular master? What does/did this person have to offer? Whether or not you have good answers to the previous questions, you should explore your goals before deciding on a school and/or teacher. To figure out your goals, you need to examine your motivation. Why are you really interested in taking lessons? Are you concerned for your safety on the streets? Are you looking for a new sport? Has anyone ever hassled you, and you've decided that you don't like the fear that you feel in your stomach and throat? Are you looking for a way to get in shape?
Note: If you are feeling that fear, and you feel that you need to gain confidence now, you should definitely read my book on Wrist Locks. If you could drop an attacker with one hand, WITHOUT hitting him (or her), you'd feel confident, wouldn't you? OK, enough advertising--I feel a touch of guilt for having inserted this little ad, but if you want to read more about Wrist Locks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert, click here now. Otherwise, let's get back to finding a great school for you.
Your true driving force should help you to decide which style to pursue. if you just want some basics, maybe a limited-time course (like eight weeks at a community center) would suffice. If you are about to embark on the journey of developing a skill that will help you for the rest of your life, then you need a more serious martial art.
Sports Competition
Are you interested in competing in a new sport? Karate, Kenpo, and Tae Kwon Do come to mind when I go to tournaments. I have also seen many competitions in Judo and Ju Jitsu. There are also some of the Kung Fu arts represented at our local exhibitions.The Progressive Styles
Even though there seem to be tournaments that would include just about every system or style, I still think that the progressive, or more eclectic, styles are too rough for tourney play. They are more concerned with actual self-defense, than a traditional sports competition.Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do and some of the Filipino arts are examples of styles that could potentially be too violent for a proper competition.The eye jabs, groin kicks, shin scrapes, choke holds, etc. are too integral to some of these styles to have them eliminated in a competition. Tournaments that rule no kicking below the waist, no hitting to the head, etc. wouldn't work for these more modern arts.
Note: the JFJKD Nucleus has talked about setting up rules and guidelines in the future for tournaments for their folk. We'll see what happens.
On the other hand, some of the competitions out there allow too much brutality to be considered a sport. Maybe I have just the right level of testosterone in my body, because I have never felt the urge to compete in a truly violent match. I have family to enjoy. I don't want to jeopardize anything by having someone rattle my brains (or my body) in the ring. For me, it's not worth it.
The Reputations of Your Possibilities
Each school carries a reputation. Personally, I don't like schools that spend a lot of time bad-mouthing other schools.Note: There is a difference between bad-mouthing and teaching tactics against a particular style. I give my students "hints" all of the time. "This is how to take a Tae Kwon Do roundhouse-kick.... Notice how this Karate style telegraphs this particular move.... " You get the idea. I'm trying to give my students an advantage. That's why they take lessons from me.
So, how do you separate gossip from the truth. This is a hard one. For example. in my city there are several very prominent Tae Kwon Do schools. One school is considered a joke by all other schools in the area, but because of its central location it gets a lot of business.
If you don't know anything about Tae Kwon Do, you'd probably have a hard time telling the schools apart. But there is a big difference in the power that the schools' students can generate with their techniques. The difference in the precision of the techniques would only be visible to the trained eye. (Maybe I should take that back; personally, I don't do or teach Tae Kwon Do, but even my lower-belted students can see something lacking from this particular school.)
Say you haven't studied with me for a year or two. You haven't learned to tell good from bad when it comes to martial arts. You feel that it's particularly hard if you're trying to compare apples with oranges--or two completely different styles. So, what do you do?
Either get someone with a trained eye to help (Note: your expert will probably have a particular bias. Keep that in mind), or research the reputation of each school on your own. Ask around. Call your local better business bureau. Watch several classes at each school. Get a feeling for what each has to offer. Go where you're comfortable.
Could you ask present students of the school? Sometimes, it's helpful to find a "lapsed" student. Find out why he or she quit. Do take what people say with a grain of salt. But also listen for similar comments. For example, if all of the students think that the teacher is way too aggressive, it may be a factor that you have to seriously consider.
Some Important considerations
While you're trying to narrow your school options, you should consider some of the following factors. They are important criteria that should affect your choice of school.Price
What's the total cost for your lessons? Does your school charge by the lesson? Does it charge by the month?To compare, you could figure out the cost per lesson. Maybe a cost per hour would be a more accurate gauge. Are you going to compare facilities? Does it matter to you whether your training area is a slick dojo or a run down garage? Or should the fee be based on the quality of the teacher?
Look at the Total Cost
Are there extra fees? Are there hidden fees? Do you have to buy a uniform? From the school? Does the school charge for promotion testing? Do they charge for the belt promotion? Is there a joining fee? Do you have to pay for lessons more than a month in advance? By the way, never expect a refund if you quit mid-month. It's just not a common practice to give partial refunds.Uniforms
I mentioned uniforms in the last paragraph. Are you impressed by a "gi"? I work out in sweat bottoms or loose jeans with a t-shirt or a sweat shirt. Do you feel that you need to be more formally dressed? Look at the way the students are dressed. Does image matter to you? Could you see yourself similarly garbed? Maybe it doesn't matter how you have to dress; you're insightful enough to see through the clothes. You'll do whatever it takes, including throwing on the particular "garb" of your potential school, if it means that you'll get the best quality instruction available.The Instructor's Personality
Does it matter whether your instructor is mean or nice? Ethical or amoral? Rude or polite? Caring for the person or greedy for the money? If you are embarking on a long-term project (it took me five years to earn my instructor's certificate), you may have to be with the same teacher for a very long time. Will you be able to stand each other?Formal vs. Casual
Do you want to bow to the senior practioner to be able to enter the dojo? Or do you want to tell dirty jokes to your classmates as you warm up for a more serious practice? There are a lot of schools that fall somewhere between the extremes of the casual and the formal . Again, my advice is to go where you are comfortable.Other Criteria
Try to consider everything that matters to you. Look at price, other students attending class, location of school, whether it's self-defense or spots/competition class, etc.... List all of your criteria. I list mine in the form of questions, where an answer of "yes" would be a response in favor of the school. I then answer each question on a scale of one through five for each school.For example, I might ask "Is this school's fee within my budget?" If one school charges $50 a month and another $75, I might give the $50 school a score of "5" on price and give the $75 school a score of "2."
If I were to have a question about the distance of the school from home, the school closest to home would get a "5," and the one furthest away a "1."
Sometimes, I assign a higher value to more important questions. For example, the choice of style is three times as important to me, as the other questions, so I would assign a maximum score of "15" to that one question.
After you answer each question for each possible school, tally up the scores. If you have a strong win, you have your school. You made a logical choice.
If some scores are close, then you have to make a decision. You could go with your gut feeling. Which of your high-scoring schools "feels right"? Where could you imagine yourself studying?
Instead of trusting your instincts, you could add more questions to your list. You might break a question into several more specific ones. You could "weight" your questions differently; assign different point values to different questions.
You could base your decision solely on one criterion. Maybe you'll go with the school that has the potential to make you the better martial artist. What criterion is important to you? What will be the deciding factor?
Did You Start with The Creative Method of Searching?
Be sure to check out the practical approach to choosing a school. The creative portion of the report, that you just read, helps you decide what you want in a style. The practical approach will teach you how to find all the schools and/or teachers in your area. Both parts of the report go hand in hand. Unless you're just gung-ho for a certain school that you find in the middle of your search (and even then, I advise that you don't give up your search too soon), you should plan on both researching all that's available AND what kind of school you really want. Only by blending the two will you really make the best choice. To go to the practical method of choosing a school, click here now.It's Time to Quit
Know when you have made a bad choice. Don't be afraid to change schools. If it's not working out, and you didn't sign a contract, maybe it's time to go somewhere else. At least that's one less school that you'll have to investigate.On the other hand, don't be a school hopper. I can almost pick the students who won't stick it out. Eventually, if you want to get good, you'll have to find somewhere where you're comfortable. How else are you going to get into the more advanced techniques?
Good Luck
I hope you find a school that meets your needs. I also hope your school will allow you to combine techniques from multiple systems. Otherwise, you may have to learn the techniques from my Wrist Lock book on the sly. Either way, knowing these techniques will give you the edge over your classmates. Who knows, if you like the techniques (and your classmates) enough, maybe you'll give the other students my contact information, so they can buy their own copies.OK, that was a blatant plug for my book. For more information on Wrist Locks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert, Click here.
Good luck finding your school! /FONT>
--Keith Pascal
