Martial arts are not quickly, casually learned. Any of the various martial arts styles have a rich history and tradition, so if you really want to learn, you’ll need to make sure you get into a proper school. But how can you tell which schools are legitimate? It can be hard, with so many fly-by-night operations out there.

All of that aside, where do you start? Sure, you could browse the yellow pages and the internet to see what martial art schools are available in your area. You might run across quite a few martial art schools that cater to the masses. This is fine if you want cookie-cutter martial arts training sessions designed to appeal to the hobbyist. But if you want the type of martial arts school that has a deeper meaning, your best bet is to look for the martial arts school off the beaten path. Most dojos (martial arts schools) that are truly traditional won’t be singing it from the rooftops with fancy marketing. Humility is a big part of the martial arts tradition and the traditional instructor won’t go looking for you — you look for him.

When you find a martial art school that appeals to you, go visit. Sit in and watch a session or two. Go on different days at different times to see how the instructors handle each class and interact with the students. A good school will 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 with respect? Do they have children’s classes? And if so, how are the children treated? What principles are the students taught?

More: continue here

Quickly bookmark Finding A Martial Art School at:                                                

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Recreation & Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.