How do i find a good place to practice martial arts?

I have just started looking into training in martial arts. i have started Ju Jutsu at a fantastic dojo, and the sensei there is great. however i want to learn kung fu also...





I have been to a few places to enquire, and only seem to meet cowboys who want my money and want to put down every other local instructor, while providing facilities that are just archaeic.





Is there any way of finding out if an instructor meets certain criteria and is genuine? One guy i met had received 5 10th dans in different unheard of martial arts. on investingating this guy had received all of his dan gradings from an american guy who has been widely discredited as a fraud in the USA!!! bearing in mind 10th dans are very hard to come by, this guy was claiming 10 of em.





So how do i know i am getting what i pay for? or that the place i am training and meets minimum service standards?

How do i find a good place to practice martial arts?
Normally I would have told you to choose another martial art, because most of the kung fu schools are really McDojos, and the teacher sucks. I would have told you to choose another martial art such as brazilian jiu jitsu, muay thai/kickboxing, kyokushin karate and some other arts, because most of the time with these arts you really get what you pay for.





But if you wanna practice kung fu, try maybe to find a school that teaches also San Shou/Da (chinese kickboxing), because most of the time when the school has also a competiting purpose, they won't teach you bullshit or else they would lose all of their match.





By the way, most of the time when a teacher has high degrees/dans in a lot of martial arts (even more when they are sorta unknown) it really calls out for a fraud.





But if you're the kind of "martial artist" who's lazy and who just wanna practice once a week and get their black belt/sash/whatever as fast as possible, having a teacher who teaches bullshit or not won't change anything. Therefore I'd suggest you to choose ballet dancing as it's an incredibly good base for future "martial" arts you'll probably practice.
Reply:In the bedroom. Oh I thought you said marital arts.
Reply:keep visiting schools most will give a few free lessons.
Reply:One of the best ways is to ask the people who actually attend martial arts schools what they think of the school and instructor, and you have to observe and participate in a free class before you join (if a school won't let you observe a class or doesn't offer a free class, they are probably a shady outfit). Ask the instructor for references and if they are associated with any national or international associations for their style. Avoid so-called "american" styles as many of these are just there to dupe you out of your money. Research the style, the school, and their associations on the internet. Most of all find a style that you like and are willing to stick with.
Reply:it's good that you're doing your homework..





the problem with chinese martial arts in america is that there isn't any nationally syndicated group or directory.. my sifu has begun efforts to create a directory of acredited chinese martial arts instructors for the southwest region of the US. He has many affilates throughout the southwest and the country. If you email him your location and what you are interested in finding out, i know he'd be more than happy to help you find an authentic chinese martial arts instructor: dug@lotusdragon.com





and to just give you an idea of his authenticity here is a graph of his lineage: http://www.lotusdragon.com/L2/LINEAGE.HT...





hope this helps!





~*good luck*~
Reply:I do Kempo at United Studios of Self Defense. We learn Karate, Jujitsu, and KungFu. There are over 170 schools in 14 states, go to www.ussd.com to see if there is one in your area. They all give you a 2 week free trail to see if you like it. All the instructors are highly trained and will treat you with respect.





Sokaku is the type of person that bashes all other styles, I would love to show him what my KungFu could do against his kick boxing. No one style is for everyone, it is important that you find the style that is right for you and respect all others, after all a true martial artist is humble.
Reply:It sounds like you're at least happy with the school you belong to now. I can understand wanting to learn other styles, as I, myself, also study two different styles at the same time. You have already started on the right path for discovering what school will be the best for you, by researching and visiting. Observe the advanced classes and see what you think. Check out their kids' classes and see what you think of their teaching style. Is discipline maintained? Is there respect between the teachers and students? Don't be discouraged if this searching takes some time. You will find the right school, the right teacher, and the right school if you look hard enough.





- Tig
Reply:Skokau is very correct about everything! He say exactly what I would have say.





Usually Kung Fu school are the first one you should take off your list of schools to check out. Most kung fu are totally out of date and heavily watered down that it's basically pretty much useless beside for show and excrises. However San Shou/Da is very modern type of kung fu but still incredible difficult to find the gym around USA.





If you are really serious about getting your moneys worth, look for school that are very into full contact competitioning such as boxing, wrestling, kick boxing, and other things. They will teach you what you're looking for.





If you're looking for some style that will turn you into next jet Li, then you may should take dancing class because in real full contact fight or competition it won't look anything like what you see in those kung fu movies. I know many kung fu students out there claim that they don't fight because they don't want all fames. However I know many of students who are poor but yet claim to be so deadly, if that's true then why didn't they go and fight for some cash? There's alway at least small percent of people who will turn against their own code or teaching. So far there have been no one who was able to proof effective of any style that don't really competition.





AS for what Tim say, that really made me laugh to tears. USSD is biggest laughingstock among martial arts community. I have seen those people and talk to them and they are one saddest people I ever seen. They rarely know what style they studies, never spar, thinking hollywood movies are something they can take serious enough to learn from, too many 4 or 5 years old black belt who cannot even throw a proper punches, and other bullsh!t. Most of all, none of them compete at all, so they know absolutely nothing!