Choosing a martial arts instructor for the first time can seem difficult, especially when you consider that the consequence of not choosing wisely will be months or possibly years of poor instruction and poor return on your investment of time and money. But how should you go about choosing an instructor? Well, as a matter of fact, choosing a martial arts instructor isn't difficult at all. Unfortunately, many people end up choosing an instructor based on the wrong criteria. I'll point out of a few of these common mistakes below. To put it as simply as possible, you should choose an instructor just as you would choose a babysitter, a doctor or a barber/hairdresser. In other words, with common sense. Many people make this choice much more complicated than it is, however, and they ignore their common sense altogether. You want someone you can trust. Someone who puts your needs high on their list of priorities. Someone who is friendly. That's all there is to it.
My initial recommendation is to go visit as many schools as possible. Ask to sit and watch a class session. If the instructor does not allow it, that should be your first red flag. What kind of person expects you to pay for services that you're not allowed to see beforehand? Would you trust a car dealer who did this? Of course not. So don't trust a martial arts instructor who does it either. Don't settle for the first school you visit. They may seem great, but maybe that's because you've never seen a martial arts school before. Visit lots of schools and sit in on lots of classes (as many as you have time for).
Here are three common mistakes to watch out for and what you can do to avoid these traps as you make your decision:
Mistake: Paying too much attention to the Master or instructor.
It should be easy for a black belt to 'wow' you with kicks, punches, grabs, throws, etc. Presumably, he wouldn't have a black belt if he couldn't demonstrate these things during tests. But what you really want to know is whether or not he is a good instructor? Pay attention to his students, because you might soon be one of them! Are they disciplined? Are they doing the things that you want to learn? The fact that an instructor can jump in the air and deliver two kicks simultaneously is nothing. Can he teach his students to do the same thing? Always pay attention to what the students are doing. If they're not doing things you want to be able to do, then you're not going to be able to learn them from this school.
Mistake: Believing in anything remotely magical or mysterious (about the martial arts).
There is nothing mysterious about the martial arts. They are founded on scientific principles and tested techniques that have been good enough to preserve and pass down through the ages. If an instructor claims that he can perform magical feats or claims to have any sort of 'mysterious' powers, leave that school immediately. If he tells you he can knock out a 300 pound man with a slight touch to the forearm,... well, guess what? He's lying. The martial arts may seem foreign at first, but they're not extraterrestrial. Common sense and the rules of physics still apply.
Mistake: Studying under an instructor who bad-mouths other instructors, schools or organizations.
If an instructor is pre-occupied with telling you how terrible someone else or some other school is then you should probably think twice before giving him money. I've seen lots of instructors, met lots of masters and been in plenty of schools. Legitimate instructors don't bad-mouth other people, primarily because they don't need to. They let their talents and skills speak for themselves. It's okay if an instructor tell you that his school is the best or that you won't find better instruction anywhere else in the area. These are quite normal statements for someone who wants to earn your business and retain you as a student. But if the criticisms are specific and derogatory then you should consider them unacceptable and move on. Illegitimate instructors constantly use this tactic to lure the naive into a contract or business relationship. Qualified and legitimate masters just don't talk this way to prospective students.
If you were seeking employment and were in the middle of an important job interview, you wouldn't start berating your previous employers or criticizing former co-workers, would you? If you did, then you probably wouldn't get the job. That kind of talk is just ugly no matter where you are. Is this the kind of person you want to model yourself after? Is this the person you want teaching you or your kids the martial arts? Probably not.
Again, it's best to simply relax and use your common sense. Picking an instructor is pretty much the same as picking a new friend. The relationship has to be built on trust and mutual respect. This transaction is not the same as that of a commodity that you purchase once for the cheapest price possible. The Instructor-Student relationship is one that will develop over time and you need to consider who it is that is most qualified to lead your development.
NOTE: If you plan on studying Taekwondo and are trying to sort out the differences between the ITF, WTF or some other organization as you make your decision, you may want to read this article.