How to pick a martial arts school 2

Okay, so you've decided on hard/soft, internal/external, and competitive/cooperative.

What about:
Transparency:  Secretive vs Open

• Secretive styles are often mysterious and appealing to those seeking "forbidden knowledge", and view questions as impolite.
• Open styles are often up front about their curriculum, and are open to answering questions.

Use: Sport vs Self Defense

• Styles intended for sport are often competitive, and teach sport fighting.  Sports are filled with rules to ensure the safety of the fighters, which means that you are effectively learning to strike areas of the body which will do the least harm.
• Styles intended for self defense can be competitive or cooperative.  Self defense can be taught just as safely as a sport style, but its application can range from neutralization of a threat to outright termination.

Character:  Students & Staff
Just as you can observe the body type of the majority of consumers of various food outlets, from organic groceries to McDonald's, so too can you observe the mindset of a school's students.  Ask yourself, are these people more, or less, like how you want to be?  Are they happy?  Are they determined?  Disciplined?  Make sure that where you're going is filled with students and instructors who walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Sensei Ono, Shinka Martial Arts
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