Harriday's Karate - Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Choose A Martial Arts School For My Child or Me?
How Early Should You Start Your Child In The Martial Arts?
How do I choose a style?
What Kind Of Facility Should I Look For?
What Should I Do If My Child Wants To Quit?
How Can I Motivate My Child?
How Much Do Martial Arts Lessons Cost?
Do I Have To Sign A Contract?
What If The Instructor Wants Me To Pay In Advance For Lessons?
What Belt Rank Should My Instructor Be?
Should I Find A Champion Instructor?
How Long Are Classes?
How Risky are the Martial Arts?

How Do I Choose A Martial Arts School For My Child or Me?

The principles are the same for choosing a school for yourself or your child, so I will address the answer for parents, as there are a couple of special considerations when children are involved.

Step one in choosing a school is to clearly understand what you want you or your child to gain from learning the martial arts. Is it a light recreation? Then a community center program may suffice. Is it self-defense or personal development? If so, then a full-time professional school will be more suitable. Many parents view the martial arts as part of their child’s educational development. With a good professional school, this is very possible.

Step two is to recognize that choosing a school is really choosing an instructor. Be sure to visit the school and watch the instructor work with other children of the same age. Every school is very different because every instructor is different. Don’t get confused by claims of black belt degrees, tournament wins or martial art styles. The only style that matters is the teaching style of the instructor and how your child will respond to him or her.

Finally, trust your instincts. A professional school will have a family atmosphere, lots of smiles and be well kept. You’ll feel comfortable with the personnel and the facility.

While this may not end up being the closest school to your house, when it comes to your safety or the safety and education of your child, an extra ten-minute drive can make a world of difference in the outcome.

How Early Should You Start Your Child In The Martial Arts?

While the martial arts is an enjoyable and very worthwhile activity for children, it's important to recognize that progress will take consistent class attendance, some practice and support from the family (kids can’t drive themselves to class).

How early to start a child really depends on the individual child and their level of interest and maturity. Many professional schools have age specific classes and curriculum programs for children as young four, five or six years old. These programs are very popular and can be a great way for a child to learn concentration, self-control and start to develop more coordination.

Programs for children of this age usually are less demanding than mainstream martial arts programs and bypass much of the serious self-defense training in favor of more age appropriate and fun activities.

How do I choose a style?

There are many major systems of the martial arts. Some styles favor grappling others prefer to kick. Some use weapons and some focus on the martial sports such as kickboxing.

The process of choosing a style is a process of elimination. It starts with the vast universe of different styles and sub-styles that exist in the martial arts. That universe is narrowed to the schools and styles you have access to in your area. When you are comparing schools by style, it’s important to understand that what style a school teaches is totally different than how the school teaches that style.

The only style that really matters is the teaching style of the instructor. You can have two schools that teach the same system but one connects and motivates you much better than the other. His or her teaching style is the style you are really choosing.

What Kind Of Facility Should I Look For?

Here it’s important to trust your first impressions. The modern martial arts school is clean, well lit, spacious and has good family atmosphere. The mirrors are polished, the floor is clean and the facility is in good order. On the wall you might see photographs of recent school events and outings and there should definitely be an area for parents or family to sit and watch the classes.

Beware of any school that doesn’t allow you to watch the class. Particularity if you are a parent looking for school for your kids, you might have real concerns about a school that doesn’t allow you to watch them work with your child. An instructor might say that they don’t want the child to be distracted by the parents, but the truth may be that the instructor doesn’t want to be accountable to the parent.

Conversely, professional instructors will practically insist that you stay and watch. They know that once you see the positive lessons they are teaching your child, that you’ll be even more supportive of the training.

The truth is that the instructor who encourages you to take the time to watch your child in class is doing you and your child a great service. In today’s busy world, the tendency to drop off a child and not take the time to share the experience of learning a new skill is all to prevalent.

I’ve always found that the kids whose parents were in class and supportive seemed to do much better and be more well adjusted than the drop off kids. Children, more than anything else, want their parents to take an interest in them and be proud. Martial arts, taught by a professional, has a series of “victories” for each child ranging from a new belt or stripe on their belt to other forms of recognition for the child. That recognition is greatly enhanced when the parent is there to share in the pride.

Consider a professional martial arts instructor as a part of the team whose goal is to instill a strong sense of self-pride and confidence in your child. As a parent, your presence in that classroom is critical to the success of the team.

What Should I Do If My Child Wants To Quit?

There will come a time when your child says; “I’m too tired to go to class today.” This is a critical point in a child’s training. This is when you help teach them about follow-through and the never-quit attitude.

Don’t be concerned about “pushing it on your child.” Children wouldn’t go to school, brush their teeth or clean their room if you didn’t “push it on them.” There’s a big difference between helping a child follow through on a goal they agreed to and force-feeding something on a child.

One good strategy taught by the Martial Arts Teachers’ Association is to make sure your child is doing something less interesting to him/her prior to going to martial arts class. For instance, a child doing homework or chores will usually jump at the chance to leave that and go to class. On the other hand, a child playing video games may not want to stop shooting aliens on the screen to go to class.

When you begin the classes, agree with your child on some short-term goals such as green belt or brown belt with the understanding that there will be no quitting until the goal is achieved. The real goal in the training will be black belt, but until you’ve had a chance to really understand what it takes to earn a black belt, it’s best to set a more reachable initial goal. Once you’ve determined that black belt is your goal, commit to it with full enthusiasm.

However, it’s unrealistic to expect a child not to, at some point, rebel against the effort. This is natural and is part of the process of learning. Quitting can quickly become a bad habit. Facing these types of challenges is part of the training inherent in the martial arts.

How Can I Motivate My Child?

When you've been attending with the child and know exactly what's been happening in class, you can help re-motivate the child in to getting to class by reminding them of how much they enjoy the last class and that they can look forward to seeing their friends in class.

How Much Do Martial Arts Lessons Cost?

While the actual cost per month will vary widely from market to market, this question has to be approached from a slightly different perspective than money alone. In seminars around the country, I ask the black belts a simple question, “If I could give you $10,000, would you be willing to sell me back your black belt and the impact that martial arts has had on your life? Would you be willing to erase your martial arts experience from your life for $10,000? For $20,000? How about $50,000?”

In speaking with many black belts, never has someone offered to accept my hypothetical offer. The point is that whether your classes are $40, $100 or $150 a month, the value of earning a black belt far exceeds the investment. What is it worth to walk out to your car with a loved one late at night after a show and know that if something happens, you have the skill to deal with it? What is it worth to a parent to know that their child is developing the self-pride and inner confidence to avoid negative peer pressures? What is it worth to any of us in today’s violent world to provide our children with the skills to handle a confrontation?

It’s worth a lot more than it costs to gain the knowledge. With the huge variance in the instructors, facility, and atmosphere of one school to the next, you should never shop for the martial arts based upon price. Schools tend to charge what they think they are worth. If a school is charging $50-a-month, there is a reason it’s so cheap. If a school is charging $150-a-month, there is usually a reason the instructor feels it is worth more.

What’s interesting is that, in most cases, the schools that charge a little more for the quality of their instruction tend to be bigger and have many more students than the bargain-basement schools that charge apologetically. Most good schools will charge anywhere from $90-a-month and up with a registration of about $199. This registration might include your first month dues and, possibly, your uniform.

Do I Have To Sign A Contract?

This depends on the school and your situation. Many schools do not require any contract or agreement. However, signing a contract for lessons is not always a bad idea. One advantage to signing a contract is that you are locking in the tuition at the current rate and can avoid increases. The key is to not sign for more than you’re confident you can follow through on. Since earning a black belt will take four to five years, you may want to avoid any kind of long term agreements over four or five years.

However, if you know you want to earn a black belt, it makes perfect sense to lock in the lowest tuition possible for that time period. There are some additional items to consider when faced with an agreement for lessons. Check with the local Merchants Association, Better Business Bureau and Consumer’s Affairs or Consumer Protection agency to see if the school has a history of litigation or complaints.

Many schools use the agreement only as a way to clearly spell out the arrangements for the relationship between the student and the school. They will not enforce any type of hard collections that may damage your credit or harass you. On the other hand, there are certainly schools that will attempt to collect on the contract and that could be a real problem for you. Find out what the school plans to do with the paperwork before signing on the dotted line.

However, it’s perfectly reasonable for a school to employ a tuition billing company to process your payments. This is very different from selling them your contract. In this case, the third party billing company simply accepts your payments, keeps a small percentage as a fee and then sends the school the remainder. Martial artists don’t always make the best bookkeepers so it’s a good idea for them to hire the processing and posting of payments to an expert.

If you are uncomfortable signing a contract for yourself or your child, tell the school that you’re uncomfortable and seek out an alternate arrangement. Most schools will work with a student in order to provide the training. However, other schools will turn the student away if he is not willing to commit to training more than a month at a time.

Also, state laws can affect what type of arrangement a school can make, so find out ahead of time what to expect from a school.

What If The Instructor Wants Me To Pay In Advance For Lessons?

There is a big difference between being offered the option to pay in advance for a period of time for a discount; and being told that advance payments are the only option. If a school insists that you must pay for more than 30-days in advance, proceed with caution. This may be a school that has a very high drop-out rate and they know you may drop out quickly.

Most schools have a standard payment plan and then a small discount of 15% - 20% if you want to pay the full amount in advance. This is a reasonable option that simply that, an option. Many people prefer to pay in advance and that option can be a good one.

However, if you decide to pay in advance, make sure you have a written agreement that’s signed by the instructor as to what is being paid for and what would constitute cause for a refund. This is an example where signing a contract may be in your best interest. For instance, if you are in an automobile wreck or are transferred, is that cause for a refund? Your attorney would have the answer based upon the state you live in so be sure to investigate that and protect your investment before making advance payments.

Many states prohibit any advance payments for more than thirty-days, so talking with an attorney is always the prudent thing to do when it comes to advance payments.

What Belt Rank Should My Instructor Be?

In most styles of martial arts, there are ten degrees of black belt. A new black belt earns a first degree and then it works up from there to tenth. The problem is that with the lack standardization in the arts, what defines a fifth degree black belt or a seventh degree black belt varies so drastically, that the rank doesn’t really convey a meaning to the general public.

There is a saying by Joe Lewis, one of the legends of American martial arts. Lewis, when asked what degree black belt he was, would answer, “There are two types of black belts. Good ones and bad ones. I’m one of the good ones.” The point of the statement is that beyond earning a black belt, high rank does not always mean the person is a good teacher.

This is a critical point to understand. Just because someone has received a high rank within an art doesn’t make him or her, a good teacher.

It’s very hard to say what rank beyond black belt a professional martial artist should be. Clearly, a school owner or chief instructor should be a black belt or the equivalent depending on the art. Also, if your goal is to earn a black belt, then you have to have an instructor that is at least a second- or third-degree, so they promote you to first-degree black belt. A first-degree black belt cannot promote someone to first-degree black belt. In most systems you have to be one or two degrees higher to promote someone. For instance, an instructor would have to be a third degree or fourth degree to promote a student to second-degree black belt.

Beyond that, the rank of the instructor will actually mean very little to your classroom experience or the quality of your classes. What an instructor has accomplished is not as important as what he or she can do for you. That’s not as important as finding an instructor who cares about the students and makes that the focus instead of seeking all the attention himself or herself.

Should I Find A Champion Instructor?

Looking at the phone-book ads, it’s almost impossible not to find a champion. It seems harder to find an instructor that doesn’t claim to be a champion of some sort. Like rank, tournament titles mean very little if anything to your experience. Just because someone has won an event, doesn’t mean they can teach you or your child.

In fact, the hard-core competitor often has a difficult time toning the training down for the novice or for kids. For instance, Mike Tyson is a great boxer, but I don’t know if I would want him as my child’s boxing coach. That’s not to say titles are a bad thing. It’s just not an important aspect to look for or be concerned with. Since just about everyone in the phone book is a champion of some sort, simply ignore the claims and focus on what they can do for you.

Professional designations and evidence of continuing education as an instructor might be more relevant to your needs. For instance, membership in The Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (martialartsteachers.com) or the American Council on Martial Arts indicates an instructor who is making the effort to continue his or her education as an instructor.

How Long Are Classes?

This usually will depend on the age of the class. For most classes targeting 4-6-year-olds, the classes run 30-45-minutes. For classes targeting 7-12-year-olds, 45-minutes is usually about right with a one-hour class for the brown- and black-belt children. Adult beginners classes can be 45-minutes with an increase to an hour upon graduating to the next belt level.

Schools that are running two-hour classes tend to burn their students out very quickly. In today’s world, it’s just very difficult to devote more than an hour to an activity for any length of time and studies on attention spans have shown that 30-60-minutes is about the max for most people depending on their age.

How Risky are the Martial Arts?

Past insurance ratings ranked martial arts as safer than golf in the number of injury claims. That doesn’t mean you’re not going to get sore or occasionally bruised, it just means that serious injuries are not very common in the martial arts in most schools. This can be particularly true for schools belonging to a professional organization like the Martial Arts Teachers’ Association, which emphasizes the importance of safety.

Most schools are very safe and go to extreme lengths to insure the safety of its classes. Other, schools are rougher and can have a military-like atmosphere where only the strong survive. An almost exclusively adult male student body and a gym-like atmosphere can help you recognize these schools.

Any school you attend should have age-specific classes and utilize all possible safety equipment when sparring. The striking pads should be new and in good shape and the instructors should belong to an organization like MATA to insure they are receiving ongoing information in the latest methods of teaching.

While claims against schools are very rare because the training is very safe, many schools are not insured, which is a mistake. Make sure your school is insured and the instructors are attending seminars and workshops on teaching safe classes.

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