Choosing A Martial Arts School, 3.0: Seeking and Evaluating

At this point in the process, you should have a pretty clear idea of what you’re looking for (or at least, what you are NOT looking for). Now let’s turn to the process of seeking a coach or school that can get you where you want to go.

This is the part in the process where most people throw their hands up, honestly. Because if you want to do this right, it is not a fast process. I’m going to recommend that you put some serious time in, both online and in person, in order to settle on the best martial arts school for you. It may read like, and sound like, a lot of work. It is a lot of work.

Consider what you’re committing to. Martial arts, at their core, are about practicing how to hurt other people. And there is a possibility, when you practice it, that you will get hurt. If you are training for self-defense, you potentially literally trust your life to the teachings you decide to follow. Even if you are not interested in self-defense, the possibility for injury remains very real. Choose wisely.

Check school websites. Make phone calls. Visit places. This last one is the most important; the martial arts are not something that can be experienced online or through video. You can only truly evaluate a school by going there and experiencing it. We’ll talk about how best to do that in a bit.

For now, just remember the advice of the knight in Indiana Jones: choose wisely.

Review: Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment
by George Leonard

Dan John mentions this book in several places, so I figured it was probably worth checking out.

Turns out that it is. Not a big shock, really.

Leonard approaches the question of mastery from his perspective as a long-time practitioner of Aikido, but his insights into the quest for mastery are applicable to any endeavor. Leonard begins the book by describing three mindsets that he considers incompatible with mastery: the dabbler, the hacker, and the obsessive. He then lays out his five keys to mastery, detailing each one and how to approach it. Finally, he wraps up with some chapters on preparing for the journey of mastery.

It's a concise little book, but there is a lot of wisdom in here. The section on the dabbler, hacker, and obsessive are useful filtering tools, both for recognizing those behaviors in myself, and in people who train with me. The five keys to mastery, likewise, are pretty good sign posts, and a couple of them served as useful reminders of things I knew, but forgot again.

I confess I didn't love some of the "tools for the journey", as a lot of them were rehashed Aikido demonstrations like the "unbendable arm" (or the splayed fingers drill from the PDR system), and a few other things. I suppose if your goal is mastering Aikido, they have their use, but I'm not convinced that everyone needs to experience these drills.

Still, if you're looking for a way to focus on your goals, this is a good place to start. Lot of useful concepts in here.

Choosing A Martial Arts School 2.4: Resonance

In some ways, the idea of resonance is the most critical thing in choosing a martial arts school. In some ways, it’s the worst one.

I stole the term from Dan John.

I'd strongly suggest that you take some time to look at a bunch of different training programs to see which ones "resonate" with you. When I read the workout of the Iranian Superheavy, something in my core says, "Yes, that sounds right." When I read about the 1000 crunches a fitness model does before her one hour of cardio, my brain looks for potato chips. - Philosophy of Physical Capital

Dan is talking about strength training, but the same idea will apply to martial arts. If you are poking around, either in books, online or in person, pay attention to the things make you say "yeah, that sounds right." Pay equal attention to the things that strike you as stupid. One way I can identify things that don't resonate is I stop watching videos of them. If I have time, I'll watch a whole Muay Thai match, sometimes several times. I cannot watch more than about thirty seconds of Tae Kwon Do. Sorry TKD guys...I just can't. Brain starts looking for potato chips.

The problem with resonance is that it's subjective. I can't tell you what resonates with you, because it's all about personality. I have a friend who prefers kung fu to karate--no rationale reason why, he just does.


If an art draws you in, follow that path.






How do you know if something resonates? If you keep looking at videos of it, it might. If you find yourself intrigued, and wanting to learn more, that's a good sign. Sometimes, it's just an emotional vibe. Judo creates a vibe in me that BJJ does not. I like BJJ...but I LOVE Judo. There's no reason for it, it just is.

A couple of words of caution on this.




1. It is easy to rationalize your resonances. Some people will try to make theoretical arguments to support why their style is the best. These are almost always emotional and have little to do with the facts. Resonance doesn't have to be rationale. If you like something, just go do it, and don't worry about rationalizing why it's awesome.

2. There is a difference between finding an art that resonates with you, and being drawn in by a charlatan. There are bad guys in the martial arts, and some of them are very charming. Do not mistake charm and guile for resonance. They are not the same. (More on this later)