Episode 1047 - Finding the Right Martial Arts School
In this episode Andrew is joined by friend of the show Dennis Campo to discuss how to find the right martial arts school for someone.
Finding the Right Martial Arts School - Episode 1047
SUMMARY
In this episode, Andrew Adams and Dennis Campo discuss the essential factors to consider when searching for the right martial arts school. They explore the importance of understanding personal goals, the variety of martial arts styles available, and the significance of the school environment and instructor philosophy. The conversation emphasizes the need for prospective students to ask probing questions and to take the time to find a school that aligns with their individual needs and preferences.
TAKEAWAYS
Finding the right martial arts school requires understanding personal goals.
Different martial arts styles cater to different interests and needs.
Probing questions help clarify what a student is looking for.
Location and convenience are crucial for consistent training.
It's important to feel welcomed and supported in a martial arts school.
Students should observe classes before making a decision.
Instructors should be approachable and open to questions.
Experience level influences the type of questions asked.
Preconceived notions about martial arts styles can limit options.
The right school is one that aligns with the student's expectations and makes them happy.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
03:00 Asking Probing Questions
06:00 Finding the Why
13:28 Understanding Student Experience and Expectations
After listening to the episode, it would be exciting for us to know your thoughts about it. Don’t forget to drop them in the comment section down below!
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Andrew Adams (03:08.899)
Welcome, you're listening and or perhaps you're watching the most recent episode of Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio. And today I'm joined by my friend Dennis Campo. Dennis, how are you today?
Dennis Campo (03:20.766)
Well, my friend, I hope likewise.
Andrew Adams (03:22.455)
Yes, I got a little bit of a summer cold, but that's okay. That's right. We're gonna plug through and today we are going to discuss a topic that If you're listening to the show, I guarantee at some point in your life You've probably had this question asked of you and the question is how do I find the right martial arts school? So we're gonna discuss that in and in in depth Does that right? We're gonna we're gonna discuss this in depth. There we go
I'm gonna chuck that up to my summer cold. But before we get into the conversation, I want to make sure that everybody listening or watching knows that we do a lot here at Whistlekick. Obviously, this podcast is one part of what we do. And you can find out more information about the podcast by going to whistlekickmarshallartsradio.com. And you'll find all of the episodes that we've done.
Dennis Campo (03:51.448)
Thank you.
Andrew Adams (04:11.397)
as well as show notes and pictures and transcripts, everything you'll find there. You'll also find the subscribe button at the top to get our newsletter to hear about every episode as it comes out. But this podcast is but one small part of what we do. If you go to whistlekick.com, you'll find out everything else that we are involved with. We can sell you shirts, we can sell you books. Maybe you want a training program. Maybe you want to attend one of our events that we have throughout the country.
Maybe you want to join Whistlekick Alliance, which is our school owner program. Maybe you want to attend a training seminar that we host. All of that stuff can be find at whistlekick.com. And if you would help us make the show grow, you can do that a few ways. You can do that by telling a friend. You can leave us a review on Apple podcast. All of those things certainly help and cost you nothing. If you'd like to help financially, you can do that at patreon.com forward slash.
whistle kick and you can help us connect, educate and entertain traditional martial artists of the world. That's quite a mouthful Dennis, I gotta say. So I had this idea come about recently because I got a question that I have to imagine a lot of our listeners have gotten and I guarantee you've gotten it from someone that you know. Hey, my insert person here, brother, my sister, my nephew, my grandson.
Dennis Campo (05:19.16)
You did well, my friend.
Andrew Adams (05:39.511)
is interested in learning martial arts and where should I send them? Right, I'm sure you've gotten that question.
Dennis Campo (05:45.812)
Absolutely. Of course.
Andrew Adams (05:49.477)
And I thought, you know what, why don't we discuss this on the show? And I thought, well, you know what, I wonder if Jeremy's talked about it. And he did. And 10 years ago, actually, this is quite a coincidence. And I didn't realize this until I looked up this morning. July 28th, 2016, he released episode 105 entitled, Helping People Find the Right Martial Arts School.
So Jeremy gave his take on it, but a lot has changed since then. And it's been, you know, 10 years almost to the day. So I thought, you know what? Dennis and I, we're going to sit down and talk about this. So what's the first thing you think of when someone says, hey, Dennis, my insert person here wants to start martial arts. What school should I send them to?
Dennis Campo (06:40.609)
great question. And when I ran my school, my gut reaction was always to say, well, I run a school. But that's not the right answer. It really isn't. And it might be. But you need to probe a little bit. So the first thing that came to mind when somebody would ask, what's the right martial arts school for myself, for my child, my grandchild? Number one, what are they interested in? Because the martial arts is really a vast space. Which some folks, when they think martial arts, they
Maybe they envision Bruce Lee they think about the fast kicking and punching. But as we know, as all of our listeners know, you've got grappling arts, jiu-jitsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo. You've got all the striking arts, karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, and then so many layers of karate. And then you've got mixed. You have mixed systems, or mixed martial arts, if you will. Of course, that's high level. I think the one thing that is not the right answer is, well, this
Specific art is what you need to train in. We can't make that determination. What is your child interested in? Is it striking? Is it grappling, wrestling? Is it a mix of the two? I think that's really the first question. The second question, if they're interested in, well, they really like the idea of striking. So are they interested in something that's very formal, learning?
forms and the tradition of arts? Are they more interested in hitting pads and competing? What were the driving factors? But beyond that, are they brand new to martial arts or have they trained before? Maybe they trained for a month, maybe they trained for five years and they have an idea of what they'd like to do. Myself, as you know, and I'm sure a lot of the listeners know, I'm a striker. I like to kick and I like to punch. My youngest stepchild, though,
is studying jujitsu, loves to roll. Not my thing. I've tried it. Of course, it's a magnificent art. It's beautiful. It's just for me and my personality, where I am in my journey, that's not the place for me. But it is boarding stepchild. How about that? And that's a beautiful thing. So those are really the first types of questions, trying to get an understanding of what their interests are.
Andrew Adams (08:49.454)
Yeah.
Andrew Adams (08:55.758)
Yeah.
Andrew Adams (08:59.549)
I think the phrase that you used, which is really valuable, is probing questions, finding out what it is that this person is hoping or looking to get. Most of the listeners will know that I have studied multiple styles of karate. And if you really want to lose weight, for example, if that's your thing, like I really want to lose weight, well, martial arts can help with that.
but it's not the best thing. So finding out what they're looking to get is really important. And I think that's the answer to the question, which school is the best school for this person? There is no one single answer that you can answer right away. You really have to go a little further than that. sometimes it's the person that'll come to me like, hey, where should I go? Where should I train? And I think...
Your instinct at first, Dennis, was always, well, come to my school. Well, my school might not be right for that person, depending on what they want to get out of it. You like you said, you know, if you want to do a lot of rolling around and do some grappling and things like that, well, you know, maybe my school's not the right school. It's right for me, but it might not be right for them. So, you know, that's certainly thing. Now,
You also brought up another really good point. Have they trained before? You know, if they used to train and they don't anymore, a great question would be, why don't they continue to train at that school? You know, maybe it's just that they moved, but maybe there's a circumstance or something that happened that led them to say, I don't want to be there anymore. And so you would want to not direct that person to another school like that.
Dennis Campo (10:52.557)
Fair point.
Andrew Adams (10:53.731)
Yeah. Now the other thing I think that's important is like keeping in mind distance, location, right? Most people, I have no problem traveling a couple hours to go train with someone, but I've been involved in martial arts for years and years and years. If a brand new person is going to start training, they're likely not going to do
Dennis Campo (11:18.605)
And I'd say you and I have both traveled upwards of two hours to train with each other. So there you go. But yeah, generally speaking, I was going say, Andrew, yeah, generally speaking, if a student wants to train two, three, four times a week, you probably want to have something that's in close proximity, maybe 20 to 30 minutes probably is the cap on.
Andrew Adams (11:23.329)
Absolutely. So, I mean, I... No, no, go ahead.
Andrew Adams (11:39.715)
Yep. Yep. And I think, you know, once you determine what they're, what they're looking for, helping them guide them to the right school. Now let's talk a little bit about the differences in the schools themselves. Right. So I'm going to say person A, they want to train for these reasons and you look in their area. Cause let's say.
They're on the other side of the country and you're going to help them try and find a school that can be challenging if you can't walk in the school themselves yourself. You can't walk in and see it, but you can at least look at their websites and find out what type of training they do.
If you, if the person looking for a school is 12, I think it's important to look at what types of classes does that school offer. Maybe they don't even offer kids classes.
You know, I'm sure we both know schools that don't.
Andrew Adams (12:44.953)
So I think that's important. think it's keeping in mind, once you find the right, you ask those program questions, you find a school in their area, I think looking at what they next expect to get out of it, it can be important too. Here's a great example. I have a good friend of mine that is really nervous and shy around competition.
and doing anything competitive really, really stresses them out. Okay, well, here's a martial arts school that goes to 35 tournaments a year.
Andrew Adams (13:25.785)
That might not be the right school.
Dennis Campo (13:27.916)
Not a fit.
Andrew Adams (13:31.119)
So I think that's something to keep in mind. What else? What else can we consider here as being a factor for looking for the right school?
Dennis Campo (13:40.717)
And I think what you hit on something pretty specific right there. We need to be cognizant of the right fit for that person, not for us. We have to try to put ourselves in their shoes. Certainly when I, I always offered my school as one of the options when folks ask me what's a good school. So here's an option. And I never wanted to make them feel pressured. They would come, they'd try the class. If you like it, great. We can talk further about trying some more. If it's not the right fit, well I know.
All the other schools in the area, and we can try to find the right fit. I sent many prospective students to other, my competitors, if you will. But we're not competitors. We're doing different things. we want, if we're all doing things right, there's plenty of students for all of us. I think it's important. And if it's in our area, we could even go with the students to try to try a class or accompany them when they try a class in another school. So we get a chance to see how
how the setup is, are you made to feel welcome when you walk in, when you're there, are the students all smiling and seeming engaged, or is it kind of haphazard? Structure is important, but students should be enjoying themselves. I goodness, for the years and years that you and I have spent in this, and many of our listeners have, if we're not enjoying ourselves, what the heck are we doing with this stuff? But I think it's really important when you walk into the door, you're made to feel welcome and wanted there.
Not because you have a wallet, because the person's hungry to share what they love so deeply with you. I think that's important. I think the camaraderie around the students is important as well. Look at all the Whiskook events. think one of the biggest things, one of the biggest positive feedback we hear is just the amount of camaraderie that's created in the learning environment that we have in all of our different types of events. I think those things are important.
I think they should be, again, made feel welcome, valued, supported in their martial arts journey. And I would encourage them to talk to students that are in that school to see how their experience has been, particularly the newer students who are at a similar space as they are in their journey, again, assuming that they're a new student and not someone who's experienced.
Andrew Adams (15:59.973)
And I think you brought up a really great point, which is you said when they walk in. So it means having to go to that location. Now, how many times have you bought a car in your life, Dennis?
Dennis Campo (16:16.214)
Maybe six or seven. Yeah.
Andrew Adams (16:17.017)
Right? Did you, every single time you bought the car, did you get in the first car and buy that car?
Dennis Campo (16:24.628)
No. I know.
Andrew Adams (16:26.051)
The same can be true of most everything, right? So walk into the school, but go in with an open mind and without the decision to having said, I'm going to join this school because you know what? It might not be the right car for you. Take it for a test drive. And by that, mean, like you said, go in, talk to the instructor, see what a class is like. And I actually encourage students to go in and just.
watch a class, not actually not participate, right? Sit in and just watch the instructor teaching a class. You mentioned, you know, talking to some of the students that are currently there, you know, and I would be wary if an instructor said you're not allowed to watch class. Now, I want to caveat that with less wary if the instructor says
I don't want you watching class. Come on in. Come join. I can be okay with that. But not having an instructor not letting you be there to see what's going on would be an issue for sure. Same thing with talking to students. But go in, check it out, try one or two classes. You might not on a personal level click with the instructor. And if that's the case,
you and you decide to go there anyway, you're going to spend two, three months there and realize this isn't where you want to go. And now you've wasted time.
Dennis Campo (17:52.926)
And it may also spoil you from trying to find another school that might be the right fit. You might get that feeling like, well, this is just how martial arts is. It's not for me. And that would be incredibly unfortunate. I would much rather see a student go train with you, Andrew, because it's the right fit, than have them, let's say they've come to me and tried my class and it wasn't the right fit. I'd much rather have them go to you and try it and fall in love with martial arts than to not be a student at all.
That's the mindset I hope that most instructors have out there.
Andrew Adams (18:23.641)
Yeah. Yeah. And unfortunately, I think we both would agree there are instructors that don't have that philosophy, but the hope is that you would find one that does. And I think getting the mindset of the instructor is another really important thing. I think it's important to understand that instructors are human, capable of flaws, right? We all have flaws. I keep trying to tell my wife I don't, but she won't believe me.
Dennis Campo (18:30.037)
course.
Dennis Campo (18:50.207)
Yes, we do.
Andrew Adams (18:53.605)
But I think understanding that these are instructors who have flaws, they are not, and we've had episodes on this before, we shouldn't put them on pedestals. They're not all knowing. And so I think finding an instructor that also recognizes that they have an instructor too, which maybe that'll lead to a really good, that could be another great topic for another day.
Dennis Campo (19:16.459)
interesting.
Andrew Adams (19:16.901)
You know, think having a chat with the instructor getting their philosophy on what martial arts is like for them Seeing if it is gonna tie in with what you also are looking for You or the student that are looking for So what have we missed with a brand new student? Because I'd want to shift in a second to talk about if you're already have experience But with a new student that has never done training, what are we missing? What should we make sure to also bring up?
Dennis Campo (19:47.038)
I think we covered everything for a new student. We talked about their why, how far they're willing to travel, if they've had even just a little bit of experience. We're talking to new students, maybe tried a class or two here or there. We talked about being made to feel welcome and supported. I think, right, take it for a test drive. I think we've covered everything relevant for a new student.
Andrew Adams (20:05.039)
Take it for a test drive.
Andrew Adams (20:12.645)
All right. So let's turn the corner. We're still in the car though. The one that we were taking for a test drive. We let's say we have trained. We've got experience training, whether that is a year, whether it's 15 years, maybe. then maybe we took a break for various reasons. Maybe we moved. You probably have some preconceived notions of what you want your training already to be, but it may very well be that you.
trained in this thing that you really liked, and then you, let's say you moved five states away and what you used to train in isn't there, but there are other schools. I think a lot of the things that we talked about are still relevant. know, looking for what are you looking for, I think is important. Talking to the instructors and you're going to have, this person would have a better understanding of what they're looking for.
martial art style, so they're going to be able to ask slightly more detailed questions of the instructor. But I do think it's important to check it out, right? None of those things we talked about are not going to be relevant for the student that has experience, but it might, some things that you're looking for might be a little different.
Dennis Campo (21:31.051)
Absolutely. Yeah, like you said, they have preconceived notions of, is that the right word? They know what they enjoy. If they spent five, 10, 15 years training, they know what they enjoy and how they'd like to continue their journey. Or maybe they know specifically they're looking to switch. Maybe they've done grappling for 15 years and they want to start striking or vice versa. Or they want to continue in a very specific style or one that's close to it. They can have a very educated.
conversation with the instructor. I think it's important as they probe the different schools to see what the instructor's reaction is. The instructor seems off put by this person's experience. That's a flag. I trust that's infrequent that something like that would happen, but it's a large world out there, the martial arts, so there's all different types of reactions you'll see. I think knowing what they
know and where they want to go. It's going to make it a easier journey for them to take their test drives for the new schools.
Andrew Adams (22:33.317)
Yeah. And, and I think, you know, we, talked about this preconceived notions and as you were talking, I thought, you know what, think that is an appropriate, that can be an appropriate usage of those words. And here's why. Let's say I've trained in karate my whole life and, I'm not even going say my whole life. I've trained in karate for two, three, four years. And I have in my head that taekwondo is like this.
for whatever that is, right? It's, taekwondo is this way and I don't wanna do that. Well, I moved to a new area and there's no karate schools, but there's a taekwondo school. But in my head, all taekwondo schools are like this, but I've never done taekwondo.
Dennis Campo (23:03.466)
Mm-hmm.
Dennis Campo (23:15.146)
Right.
Andrew Adams (23:17.733)
But if I have this preconceived notion of what it is like, I don't really know. I have no idea if that's what it's like. my stepdaughter was five years old, she said she hated strawberries. Well, have you eaten a strawberry? No. Well, then how do know you hate strawberries? So having a preconceived notion of this type of this school is going to be like this, but you've never actually gone.
And I know, actually we both know a Taekwondo instructor that is here in town and had someone visit and said, wow, this is not what I expected. It's not the Taekwondo I expected to see.
So go in with an open mind and don't close yourself off to potentially what could be an amazing school for you.
Dennis Campo (24:10.154)
Absolutely. That's a great comment. Just like all the different types of karate there are, there are different versions of taekwondo. And there is going to be the right fit for you. Just might take some homework.
Andrew Adams (24:20.547)
Yep, yep, yep. I am a fan of sushi and there are two or three places here in town to get sushi. But I know which one for me is the best. all of the sushi is okay. But if I want really good sushi, I go to this place. But it's all sushi and someone else might like the sushi at some other place and that's okay. It's all sushi. There's an ex-
Dennis Campo (24:47.176)
Right. It's all subjective.
Andrew Adams (24:48.847)
There's our next Whistlekick shirt. Whistlekick, it's all sushi.
Dennis Campo (24:53.034)
I like it. I would wear that.
Andrew Adams (24:56.825)
Yeah, we totally were there. I'll talk to Jeremy. We'll get the team working on it. Any last things we want to add before we close out?
Dennis Campo (25:06.27)
I just think I want to reiterate that the right martial arts school for you is the one that makes you feel welcome, supported, and makes you feel happy to be there. That when you walk out that door, you say, dog on it, I am so glad I came to class tonight. And even though the next time you might feel tired and be dragging, you know that once you go, you're going to be really excited that you spent the time to travel there and be in class. If that's how you feel at the end of class, you're in the right place.
Andrew Adams (25:34.851)
Yeah. And if the school is giving you what you're looking for, that's the right school for you. Dennis, thank you. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey today. I really appreciate you giving your time.
Dennis Campo (25:40.702)
Absolutely.
Dennis Campo (25:46.29)
A pleasure, my friend. Thank you for asking.
Andrew Adams (25:48.139)
Absolutely. for you guys listening or watching, thank you so much. I would really appreciate if you could go to YouTube, click that like and subscribe button, that notification bell, all that, all of that stuff really helps us out. One of the things that helps us out the most actually recently I found out is giving us a review, go to Apple podcasts, leave us a review. It really, really truly helps. And it would mean a lot to us. We'd appreciate that. You can go to whistlekick.com to find out about all of the things that we do.
whistlekickmarkzallarge radio.com for this show. Until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day.
Dennis Campo (26:22.25)
Train hard, smile, and have a great day.