Be safe
Many people interested in pursuing a martial art like karate or jiu jitsu are discouraged by what seems to be an overwhelming quantity of budget karate academies popping up around the Dallas area. It seems that all you need to open up martial arts schools in Dallas, Texas is a black belt and enough cash to get you through a quick do-it-yourself dojo renovation an a couple months of low revenue. That is to say, it seems that owing to the surge in popularity of martial arts – attributable in no small way to the increased popularity of UFC and mixed martial arts or MMA – a lot of rather unqualified people have gotten into the business of teaching karate – a practice that hurts students as much as it hurts the reputations of the martial arts these teachers claim to teach.
Finding a reputable karate academy in the Dallas area is daunting enough to make you want to avoid pursuing your black-belt dreams altogether. You shouldn’t be discouraged; even though there are dozens of mediocre teachers out there who want nothing more than your money, there are others still that want to see you improve – improve your self-defense skills, improve your fitness, improve your alacrity, improve your self-confidence… in short, improve your life.
Finding a good martial arts school is a lot like finding a good professor. It is important that they be extremely comfortable with the material and know it extremely well; but it is equally important that they are able to convey that knowledge to you in a way that you understand, and that they are able to motivate you not only to attend your classes several times per week, but also that they can motivate you when you’re in class to succeed.
Having detailed the right aspects of a good martial arts instructor, it seems obvious then that the best martial arts school is one that employs teachers with the most experience and has a reputation as one of the better schools. In a way, a good martial arts academy perpetuates its own success by attracting the best talent – teachers who want to work for the academy with the best teachers, much as newly doctored students all want to work at Harvard. So when looking for a place to learn martial arts, remember the three most important things about a martial arts school: experience, experience, experience!
