I thought I’d throw out my list of questions to help anyone that is trying to figure out what sort of questions they should ask when looking at any martial arts school. I hope they help someone:
- How would you describe the attitude of the students at this dojo?. What are the expectations on student interaction?
- How are classes structured?
- Does the school have any open mat times?
- What is the average age of your adult students if you don’t mind my asking?
- how do instructors divide time between students? How do they keep in contact? What teaching styles are used? How do drills work here? Sparring? Testing?
- why do they teach? what are the objectives? What are their backgrounds?
- How much focus do you put on training for competition vs self-defense vs fitness?
- How is safety addressed here? What are your thoughts on sparring in relation to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE, see link: http://www.grapplearts.com/does-mma-make-you-stupid-impact-concussions-and-brain-damage-in-mixed-martial-arts/)
- How is gym hygiene dealt with?
- What is involved with warmup and/or cooldown sessions? Is anything else done to help reduce injuries?
- How does the school keep in touch with students? Are there any additional resources provided to learn?
- What are the guiding philosophies of this school?
- What are your thoughts on incorporating bits and pieces of other martial art disciplines?
- Why the name of the school? Tell me more about the history.
- How many classes per week can a student attend? Costs?
- What are the cancellation policies? If moving away?
lionwolfbird 