Traditional Martial Arts practice is a way to achieve “mind over matter” and purify yourself of negative attributes that create poor mental and physical health. If you select a proper school, you’ll be able to quickly improve your skill and ability, your health, and set a foundation for longevity.
Here are some things to keep in mind.
Look for Skill and Ability
Many people can talk, but martial arts has always been about what you can do, not say. As you review a school, watch demonstrations, view videos or look for other evidence that instructors within the school carry the visible benefits of martial arts training. If you can’t find evidence of martial arts skills, move on – you will not attain what your instructors do not have.
Determine the Lineage
You want to be connected to a living, growing school, where the instructors are not only teaching but learning. The school should have clear signs of a lineage and be connected to a Martial Arts Master. If a school does not have a connection to a Traditional Martial Arts Master it cannot teach traditional martial arts properly.
Personalized Training
Does the school offer personalized training for a student’s level of physical ability and development? Traditional martial arts carries benefits for all age ranges and skill levels. An instructor who carries the knowledge to develop students far beyond their current abilities will adapt training techniques to the student.
What Does the School Emphasize?
Does the training offered in the school emphasize physical, mental, and spiritual development, and not merely exercise and basic self-defense technique. If you choose a proper school, you can quickly get in shape and develop self-defense, but you will also attain much deeper benefit that will impact your daily life. If you choose a school that focuses on exercise and self-defense, you will be limited. It’s also common to injure oneself at such schools because the movement taught is not proper.
Prioritize Finding a School, and Get Started!
All too often people have a hope of developing mind and body but get sidetracked by daily tasks, schedule complications, or other roadblocks. Find a way to give martial arts training a try for one month, and see how you feel. If you decide not to continue, you’ll have gained a months worth of self-knowledge and techniques to improve. If you are astounded by the benefits, as many have been, you’ll have found something meaningful – a way to improve your mind and body, which impacts every aspect of your life.
and then