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5 Rules: Picking a Martial Arts School In Bellevue

May 22, 2006

5 Rules to Picking A Martial Arts
School in Bellevue, WA

Looking for a Bellevue martial arts school can be a tricky
proposition. I know, because I talk to people everyday who
are trying to decide on a martial arts school. They are
either looking for marital arts instruction for themselves,
their children, or the whole family.

What I have noticed in my 20 plus years of teaching, is
that many people just don’t know what questions to ask or
what to look for when they start seriously looking for
marital arts training. This article will help with picking
a martial arts school in the Bellevue, Washington area.

At last count, Bellevue had over 20 martial art schools.
If you visited each one, and stayed just 20 to 30 minutes
you would spend over 10 hours and still not be any closer
to training. Two years ago, there were only about 12
schools in Bellevue. This brings us to our first rule on
picking a martial arts school:

Rule # 1 Pick a martial arts school that’s been in the
Bellevue area for at least 5 years.

I am not saying that new martial arts schools are all bad,
in fact, some might be quite good. But statistically small
businesses close their doors at the rate of 74% within the
first couple of years. Martial art schools are no
exception.

Next you will want a location that is less than a 15 minute
drive from work or home. This just makes sense. A
convenient location can make the difference in your
long-term training.

Rule # 2 Pick a martial arts location that is only a 15 –
20 minuets commute.

Break this rule only if you are not happy with the
locations near you. It’s far better spending an extra ten
minutes driving to get quality than quitting after only a
couple of weeks because you didn’t like the classes.

Rule # 3 Pick a marital arts instructor that shares the
same values and goals that you do.

For example, if you want family martial arts and you’re
looking to get into shape while learning a little self
defense, then picking a school that competes heavily in
tournaments might not work for you.

Rule # 4 Know what you are looking for, so you know what
you are getting.

Knowledge about knowing what you are looking for is the
only way to make sure you get what you want. If you want
tournaments, make sure the school does that. If you want
meditation make sure they offer it. If you don’t want to
work out with kids make sure they have an adult program.
And be sure to ask what age they consider to be adult.
Some locations consider 12 an adult. The last rule is the
most important and it is simply to ask questions.

Rule # 5 Ask Questions.

Don’t feel intimidated to ask questions. You are the only
person who knows what you’re looking for. I’ve talked to
many people who made huge mistakes, wasted years and lots
of money because they didn’t know what to ask. So ask all
your questions and ask some more!

If you want help knowing what questions to ask, you can use
my consumer guide on How to pick a Martial Arts School.
These are based on 20 years of questions from people who
were looking to start martial arts training. You can go to
www.martialarts-instruction.com and click on the upper left
corner link that says consumer guide. I would also be
happy to email the complete guide to you. It covers what I
think are the most important aspects of picking a school.
And it’s FREE.

One last thing, if you need any help or want another
opinion please give us a call and any of my professional
teachers would be happy to spend a few minutes educating
you. We can also mail the consumer guide to you if you’d
like. Just call us at 800-508-6141 and ask one of our
staff to please mail you the consumer guide on How to Pick
a Martial Arts School.

I also would like to extend an invitation for you to come
down and talk one-on-one. See for yourself why we have
what we think is the number one school for marital arts in
Bellevue.

If you come down, please know that in our introduction
interview is solely informational. We pride ourselves on
educating prospective students and letting them choose
what’s right for them. Our program is time tested and
stands on its own. The introductory process we use works
basically like this-

You call or email and set up an appointment to talk to one
of our helpful staff members. At the appointment we give
you a quick private tour of our school. Then we explain
all the options we offer. Only if you are interested and
we feel we can provide a service will the teacher setup a
trial membership. This is where you get to try us out
risk-free and we get to determine what program you qualify
for.

So please give us a call and let us get your marital arts
training off to a good start.

Robert Jones holds a 6th Degree black belt and Master rank
in Kung Fu. He also is the owner of 3 martial arts
schools. His schools are located in Bellevue, Lynnwood,
and Kent WA. He also is the author of two guides, one for
adults, and one for children, in how to choose a martial
arts school. You can get a copy of the guide at his web
site www.martialarts-instruction.com