How to find the best martial arts classes

The best classes make for the best training

To find the best martial arts school for you, see if there is a readily available schedule of martial arts classes at the school you're visiting. The best martial arts training separates students to improve the martial arts learning environment.

Find out how the martial arts classes separated; are they separated by:

• student age?
• rank or belt level?
• subject matter (examples: forms,sparring,weapons,etc.)?
• any combination of the above?

Use our martial arts school checklist when you are searching for martial arts training. Designed by martial arts school owners, program directors, martial arts club managers, and black belt instructors with years of experience in teaching martial arts classes. Our free school checklist helps you ask the right questions before you start.

Is there enough martial arts training offered at the times you are able to attend?

The best martial arts school will change their class schedules to accommodate the changes in the number of beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. Consider that your training schedule may change as you advance. Also check to see if the adults and children train together. Many adult students may not appreciate training with children and the different maturity levels could prove distracting to both. Often the best martial arts school will offer the opportunity for the entire family to train together.

Age Specific Martial Arts Classes

All research shows that a child's development has specific characteristics at distinct ages. Age specific martial arts training programs allows students to grow at a pace comfortable for them and maximize their training. A child at twelve years old learns differently than a child does at age seven. Older children will often grow bored and disinterested with the slower learning speed of the younger children. Conversely, a younger student will often become frustrated by the quicker pace of learning by older students. Age specific martial arts training programs provide a better learning experience for both students. This is also a reason that siblings with a distinct age difference may be in different classes. A martial arts school may limit class size by belt, age, or class topic to provide the appropriate learning environment.

The Best Martial Arts Classes

Many schools utilize a belt or rank system to show the level of skill an individual has achieved. A good martial arts school will have a defined curriculum with clearly distinct skills required for advancement to each belt or rank.

Depending upon the martial art style, well-formed martial arts classes will have many of the following elements:

• self defense
• offensive martial arts skills
• defensive martial arts skills
• sparring skills
• Patterns, Forms, Hyung, Kata, or Poomse
• optional weapons
• fitness and conditioning
• focus and concentration
• social and leadership skills
• balance and flexibility
• martial arts history and philosophy

In addition to displaying skill level, a ranking system also offers students great short term goals during their training. Make sure to find out what to look for when selecting the best martial arts classes for you!