Allan Lawson's Fighting Arts, LLC
How to Choose a Martial Art School
Excellence in Martial Arts and Fitness Since 1999
Integrative Functional Conditioning SM ALFATM
Which is the best martial art? Wondering how to find and recognize a really good martial arts school or club? Are kung fu lessons superior to karate? What about internal styles verses external styles or hard as opposed to soft? There are four basic types of martial art schools:
- Schools offering lessons in effective self defense or combat arts,
- Schools teaching health promoting arts,
- Demonstration or theatrical arts schools which focus primarily on board or brick breaking, forms training and exhibitions, acrobatics and other stunts, and
- Those teaching sport, including Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts or UFC competition training, with rules prohibiting attacks to vulnerable areas of the body, or which can be recognized by the trophies on display at the school or by points sparring.
Once you have decided upon your personal goals and have determined which type of school will best help you reach those goals, it is time to start visiting and evaluating schools. Questions you should have in mind are:
- Is the instructor's kung fu (or other art) any good? Is there evidence that he possesses impressive skills and abilities?
- Can the instructor teach? Does he know what good martial art practice looks like, can he see what a student may be doing wrong and devise drills or exercises that will help the student confront and solve the problem? Will he be doing the teaching himself? If not, how skilled is the assistant instructor?
- Is the training both realistic and safe? A variety of drills should be used to create realistic training and compel the student to continually develop new and improved skills that will work in real life situations. This should be balanced by a controlled environment and precautions with the goal of eliminating unnecessary injuries, which in turn, interfere with training.
- What are the other students like? Are they helpful and courteous? Are they eager and ambitious? Are they making good use of the class time? Do they and will you quickly develop skills? Martial arts training takes time and effort but you should not spend years without improvement, expecting to some day suddenly possess miraculous abilities.
- Is the owner a good business person? Will he be around next year? Are his business systems and practices sound, fair and ethical?
- Do the instructors and students appear honorable and of good character? You become what you do and who you associate with. Look for honest, industrious, self-disciplined and helpful people, as well as skilled martial artists.
- Are there hidden costs such as fees for testing, certificates or belts in order to advance in rank, or additional registration or membership fees which may not be revealed up front? Be cautious about entering into long term contracts with or making large advance payments to someone you have no track record with. What is the cost of uniforms, weapons or gear you will need to purchase in order to participate, as well as the time and transportation costs involved in traveling to and from the school location.
- How many 60 minute hours per week of class time you will actually have access to? Most important of all, what will you take with you each day as you leave the class?
At Allan Lawson's Fighting Arts, LLC the primary focus is on
fighting skills development and techniques that will not fail you
when you need them, with a secondary and complimentary focus on fitness
training and your health. You will participate in training and receive
lessons in tested and proven combat arts including Kung Fu San
Soo, Jeet Kune Do, and Escrima.
With your membership at Allan Lawson's Fighting Arts, LLC
you will enjoy the following benefits:
- Fast results (with your cooperation),
- Reliable self defense skills,
- The best martial arts fitness training available,
- Stress relief,
- Optimal mental
function and capacity,
- Improved concentration and self-discipline,
- Increased confidence,
- Leadership skills development,
- Plenty of class time,
- Small group and private coaching,
- Semi-private setting,
- Individually tailored programs,
- Motivated and cooperative training partners,
- Video enhanced training,
- Adult
Training - Minimum Age 13
Why Study Martial
Arts? Seven Obstacles
to Success:
You know that you want the benefits which come from martial arts training but something keeps you from going forward. What is it? You desire to possess the confidence, self discipline and athletic prowess but you must first overcome one or more of the following obstacles:
1. I don't have time. This is currently a common limitation in most people's lives which prevents them from doing what they really want. We all have the same amount of time in our day. Whenever you add one activity you must give up another. It's a question of priorities and choices. Obviously family and work or school should be at the top of the list. If you have several additional activities that are more important to you at this time in your life than martial arts training, you probably will not contribute the time and effort required to get good results.
A tendency for some of us is to spend our time doing all the things we need to do while putting the things we want to do on the back burner. The problem is that we end up continually doing what we think we need or are required to do, but we never do get back to what we really want to do, or what can cause beneficial change in our lives. We then feel stress because we seem to have no control over our own lives. Remember that the most enriching things in our lives are the things that we passionately want to do.
Maybe your employer won't allow you the time or flexibility to have a real life on your own time, or to improve yourself. Other employers will allow you to have a balanced life and recognize that doing so results in improved performance at work as well.
How are you budgeting your time? Studies by Nielsen Media Research show that the average American spends 3 hours 43 minutes a day watching television. That amounts to 56.5 days of continuous non-stop television per year. (I personally have very little time to watch television, so that means one of you is watching 8 hours a day!). By giving up half of your cherished memories of inane programming, spectator sports and drug advertising for 3 years, you could earn a Black Belt, learn skills which will be of real value to you and have the satisfaction of being an active participant in life rather than just a spectator. Be honest with yourself. If you don't have time, its probably because you just don't want to very badly.
(Update 12-31-06 The Centers for Disease Control reports that the average American is now watching 4 1/2 hours of TV every day while rates of obesity, diabetes, etc. continue to rise... Hello?)
(Update 1-4-07 The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the average American now spends 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the internet, listening to music and reading.)
2. I can't afford it right now. How are you budgeting your money? Try keeping a record of every dollar you spend during a months time. You might be surprised to learn that a lot of your money went toward things that are not really that important, or useful to you. Are you in debt? If so, stop spending more than you make, try to increase your income and get your financial affairs in order before you start. If you can't do that you probably won't be able to budget your time and energy effectively either. What's important to you? Again, maybe you just don't want to very badly..
3. I need to get in shape first. If you are not fit it's probably because you are not motivated to become so on your own, or don't know how. Perhaps you are receiving bad advice. Conditioning is a large part of what we do at Allan Lawson's Fighting Arts, LLC. Lets get started now. Stop fooling around and wasting time. None of us is getting any younger, before we know it the time will be gone. Do you really want to do something about your limited physical capacity or not?
4. Fear of humiliation. It's true that when learning new things we make lots of mistakes and look incompetent. It's unavoidable. But by doing so, and learning from and correcting our mistakes, we progress and improve, developing confidence along the way. It's how we learn. Better to try, and look bad today but be good tomorrow, than not to have made an effort at all. There is no standing still. If we stop learning and advancing we fall further behind. Then we will look bad for sure. Then all we can say is I could have but I didn't really want to.
You will not be expected to do anything in class that you are not capable of at that moment, but you will be stretched a little. You can do this if you want to. I guarantee you will be glad you did.
5. Fear of fear. The more you run and hide from fear the more powerful and debilitating it becomes. Every time you confront it, it gets smaller and weaker, until it slinks away like the coward it is.
6. I'll probably never use it anyway. It's true that we are living in relatively stable and safe times and that most people are never victims of any sort of physical violence. However things have been known to change rapidly and they will again. When that happens it will be too late to begin making preparations.
On a smaller scale there is always a certain level of crime against people and their property. Maybe you have no enemies, don't engage in work or activities that expose you to high levels of risk, and have nothing worth taking. That still leaves cases of random violence, attacks by deranged people or those under the influence of illegal, legal or prescription substances, and cases of mistaken identity to be concerned about, not to mention the continual attempts by others to pressure or intimidate that we are all exposed to on a daily basis.
If you are content to lock yourself in your home watching television and will avoid confrontation at all cost the odds are that you may never need this training to defend yourself. I have found though, that I use my martial arts training every day because of it's life enhancing properties as well as the freedom it gives me to go where I want and do what I want, without undue fear of experiencing interference, intimidation, injury or even death. I am able to stand up for my natural right to live my life as I see fit so long as I don't interfere with the same right of others.
Perhaps you are a trusting sort of person and are counting on others to protect you in your time of need. Well, when violence occurs you will find that good people who will risk their own safety to confront aggressors who are attacking others, or who will even act as witnesses, are few and far between.
Will the police be on hand to protect you when you need them? According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the year 2000 there were 796,518 full time sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated U.S. population in the year 2005 was 296,410,404. That means that each police officer would have to protect 372 people 24 hours a day. Or, considering that there are 168 hours in a week, or 4.2 forty hour shifts, each officer would have to protect 1,562 people while on duty, without vacation, sick time or days off.
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the police have no duty to protect anyone. Their job is to investigate crimes after the fact, gather evidence, arrest suspects and assist the criminal justice system with prosecution. If they happen to be nearby when you need help and can arrive in time to prevent bad things from happening, you will be very fortunate.
7. I don't want to. The only reason. There are things in life we pretty much have to do, such as work, breathe, eat and sleep. If your only other interests are pleasure seeking and short term gratification and you lack the burning desire to take on a difficult challenge of your own choosing and have the satisfaction of excelling through spending the necessary time, and effort you will not be able to do this program.
Just do it. Now. You won't regret it.
You know that you want the benefits which come from martial arts training but something keeps you from going forward. What is it? You desire to possess the confidence, self discipline and athletic prowess but you must first overcome one or more of the following obstacles:
1. I don't have time. This is currently a common limitation in most people's lives which prevents them from doing what they really want. We all have the same amount of time in our day. Whenever you add one activity you must give up another. It's a question of priorities and choices. Obviously family and work or school should be at the top of the list. If you have several additional activities that are more important to you at this time in your life than martial arts training, you probably will not contribute the time and effort required to get good results.
A tendency for some of us is to spend our time doing all the things we need to do while putting the things we want to do on the back burner. The problem is that we end up continually doing what we think we need or are required to do, but we never do get back to what we really want to do, or what can cause beneficial change in our lives. We then feel stress because we seem to have no control over our own lives. Remember that the most enriching things in our lives are the things that we passionately want to do.
Maybe your employer won't allow you the time or flexibility to have a real life on your own time, or to improve yourself. Other employers will allow you to have a balanced life and recognize that doing so results in improved performance at work as well.
How are you budgeting your time? Studies by Nielsen Media Research show that the average American spends 3 hours 43 minutes a day watching television. That amounts to 56.5 days of continuous non-stop television per year. (I personally have very little time to watch television, so that means one of you is watching 8 hours a day!). By giving up half of your cherished memories of inane programming, spectator sports and drug advertising for 3 years, you could earn a Black Belt, learn skills which will be of real value to you and have the satisfaction of being an active participant in life rather than just a spectator. Be honest with yourself. If you don't have time, its probably because you just don't want to very badly.
(Update 12-31-06 The Centers for Disease Control reports that the average American is now watching 4 1/2 hours of TV every day while rates of obesity, diabetes, etc. continue to rise... Hello?)
(Update 1-4-07 The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the average American now spends 10 hours a day watching television, surfing the internet, listening to music and reading.)
2. I can't afford it right now. How are you budgeting your money? Try keeping a record of every dollar you spend during a months time. You might be surprised to learn that a lot of your money went toward things that are not really that important, or useful to you. Are you in debt? If so, stop spending more than you make, try to increase your income and get your financial affairs in order before you start. If you can't do that you probably won't be able to budget your time and energy effectively either. What's important to you? Again, maybe you just don't want to very badly..
3. I need to get in shape first. If you are not fit it's probably because you are not motivated to become so on your own, or don't know how. Perhaps you are receiving bad advice. Conditioning is a large part of what we do at Allan Lawson's Fighting Arts, LLC. Lets get started now. Stop fooling around and wasting time. None of us is getting any younger, before we know it the time will be gone. Do you really want to do something about your limited physical capacity or not?
4. Fear of humiliation. It's true that when learning new things we make lots of mistakes and look incompetent. It's unavoidable. But by doing so, and learning from and correcting our mistakes, we progress and improve, developing confidence along the way. It's how we learn. Better to try, and look bad today but be good tomorrow, than not to have made an effort at all. There is no standing still. If we stop learning and advancing we fall further behind. Then we will look bad for sure. Then all we can say is I could have but I didn't really want to.
You will not be expected to do anything in class that you are not capable of at that moment, but you will be stretched a little. You can do this if you want to. I guarantee you will be glad you did.
5. Fear of fear. The more you run and hide from fear the more powerful and debilitating it becomes. Every time you confront it, it gets smaller and weaker, until it slinks away like the coward it is.
6. I'll probably never use it anyway. It's true that we are living in relatively stable and safe times and that most people are never victims of any sort of physical violence. However things have been known to change rapidly and they will again. When that happens it will be too late to begin making preparations.
On a smaller scale there is always a certain level of crime against people and their property. Maybe you have no enemies, don't engage in work or activities that expose you to high levels of risk, and have nothing worth taking. That still leaves cases of random violence, attacks by deranged people or those under the influence of illegal, legal or prescription substances, and cases of mistaken identity to be concerned about, not to mention the continual attempts by others to pressure or intimidate that we are all exposed to on a daily basis.
If you are content to lock yourself in your home watching television and will avoid confrontation at all cost the odds are that you may never need this training to defend yourself. I have found though, that I use my martial arts training every day because of it's life enhancing properties as well as the freedom it gives me to go where I want and do what I want, without undue fear of experiencing interference, intimidation, injury or even death. I am able to stand up for my natural right to live my life as I see fit so long as I don't interfere with the same right of others.
Perhaps you are a trusting sort of person and are counting on others to protect you in your time of need. Well, when violence occurs you will find that good people who will risk their own safety to confront aggressors who are attacking others, or who will even act as witnesses, are few and far between.
Will the police be on hand to protect you when you need them? According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the year 2000 there were 796,518 full time sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated U.S. population in the year 2005 was 296,410,404. That means that each police officer would have to protect 372 people 24 hours a day. Or, considering that there are 168 hours in a week, or 4.2 forty hour shifts, each officer would have to protect 1,562 people while on duty, without vacation, sick time or days off.
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the police have no duty to protect anyone. Their job is to investigate crimes after the fact, gather evidence, arrest suspects and assist the criminal justice system with prosecution. If they happen to be nearby when you need help and can arrive in time to prevent bad things from happening, you will be very fortunate.
7. I don't want to. The only reason. There are things in life we pretty much have to do, such as work, breathe, eat and sleep. If your only other interests are pleasure seeking and short term gratification and you lack the burning desire to take on a difficult challenge of your own choosing and have the satisfaction of excelling through spending the necessary time, and effort you will not be able to do this program.
Just do it. Now. You won't regret it.
