Schools to Avoid
Just Say NO To PBU!
Do your research and enjoy training in the best martial arts school, not a “PBU” – avoid this type of martial arts school.
Consider the following when looking for the best martial arts school for you. These points may or may not be important to your martial arts training, but they certainly will impact your exercise and experience. The best martial art school will focus on the students, the curriculum, and the class environment. Try to avoid these issues when selecting a martial arts instructor or martial arts school.
Avoid a “McDojo” or “Pooh Bear University.”
These schools place profits over student performance and quality martial art instruction. These schools often feature a multitude of belt ranks with frequent pay for testing fees and promote paid for private lessons before testing, They may not allow their students to expose themselves to another martial arts school or style (through tournaments for example). These schools sell poor service with inadequate training, often at high prices.
The race or gender of the instructor is completely unimportant. Do not assume an Asian instructor is better than any other martial arts instructor. Also do not assume a male instructor is better than a female or vice versa. What matters is whether the martial arts instructor can instruct, commuinicate, motivate, and inspire you to personal excellence.
The appearance of a martial arts school.
You do not want to train in a dump but otherwise the appearance of the school is not that important. The best martial arts school needs a clean, safe training area, punch/kick targets, punch/kick bags, maybe some mirrors, and maybe some mats. Do not be over excited about additional unrelated stuff, that may be used just for show.
A large trophy collection.
Trophies are great for the people who earned them, but do not be too impressed by a large collection of trophies in a martial arts school.
There is no universal martial art ranking system.
There is no international governing body that assigns ranks for all martial art styles. Each major organization has its own rank structure, so it is difficult to compare ranks between them. Do not base your decision on which martial arts school to attend solely on the rank of the instructor. Without any martial arts training, a person can buy a black belt, declare that they have just created a new martial art style, and promote themselves to a 13th degree black belt without breaking any laws. Be suspicious of those claiming unusually high ranks or promote their own style.
