Step 1 of 4

How do you know which martial art is right for you?

Start with what you want out of training. Maybe you're looking for self-defense, confidence, fitness, community, cultural enrichment or competition. Or maybe you want to learn how to get good at something hard.

Then watch martial arts videos and see what you like. Maybe you get pulled into grappling matches, or you're drawn to Japanese sword kata.

The art matters less than most beginners expect. The instructor and the people you train with matter more, and most people grow into whichever art they started with.

Don’t get lost in online arguments. The internet is full of people saying one art is useless and another is the only one that works. But even “what works” depends on the situation: on the ground or on your feet, one attacker or several, empty hands or a weapon. And for many people, fighting effectiveness isn’t the main reason to train at all. Few would call Kendo a practical self-defense art, yet it’s loved and practiced by people around the world. Most people who train for years stay for other reasons: the art itself, the people, the challenge, who they become. The right art is the one that inspires you, taught well, at a school you’ll keep showing up to.

Questions to ask yourself

  • What do you want to be able to do a year from now that you can't do today?
  • How do you want to feel walking out of a class?
  • Do you want to compete, or would you rather never compete?
  • Are you drawn to grappling, striking, throwing, or working with weapons?
  • How many days a week can you get there?

The arts, in a sentence or two

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Grappling

Grappling on the ground. Position first, then control. You will spend a lot of time underneath people before you spend any on top.

  • Ground control
  • Problem solving
  • Competition

Aikido

Throws and locks

Blending with force instead of meeting it. Throws, joint locks, and a great deal of falling down and getting back up.

  • Falling safely
  • Blending
  • Joint locks

Filipino martial arts

Weapons

Also called kali, escrima or arnis. Sticks and blades first and empty hands after, with drills that build coordination quickly.

  • Sticks and blades
  • Coordination
  • Flow drills

Judo

Throws

Throws, and the art of landing. You learn to fall before you learn to throw, which is the part most people carry into the rest of their life.

  • Throws
  • Falling safely
  • Competition

Karate

Striking

Striking, stance and form. Distance and timing, repeated until they belong to you.

  • Stance and form
  • Timing
  • Competition

Kendo

Weapons

Sword work in armor, at full speed. Loud and fast, and more about timing and spirit than about strength.

  • Sword work
  • Timing
  • Competition

Boxing

Striking

Hands, head movement and footwork. Simple to describe and hard to do, and the conditioning is real from the first week.

  • Footwork
  • Head movement
  • Competition

Wrestling

Grappling

Takedowns and control at a pace that does not let up. Usually the hardest conditioning in the building.

  • Takedowns
  • Conditioning
  • Competition

Muay Thai

Striking

Fists, elbows, knees and shins, plus clinch work. Pad rounds and repetition, and you will feel it the next day.

  • Clinch work
  • Conditioning
  • Competition

Kickboxing

Striking

Punches and kicks, built on pads and bags before you work with a partner. The fitness shows up faster than the skill does.

  • Punches and kicks
  • Fitness
  • Competition

Taekwondo

Striking

Kicking, at every height and angle, plus forms and a lot of flexibility work. For many people it is the first martial art they ever try.

  • Kicking
  • Forms
  • Competition

Kung Fu

Striking

A family of hundreds of Chinese styles. Stances, forms and striking, with traditional weapons as you advance.

  • Forms
  • Stances
  • Traditional weapons

Wushu

Forms

The modern, athletic side of Chinese martial arts. Fast, acrobatic forms and weapons routines, often performed in competition.

  • Acrobatics
  • Forms
  • Competition

Krav Maga

Self-defense

A self-defense system built around real situations. Simple strikes, escapes and awareness, trained under pressure.

  • Self-defense
  • Escapes
  • Awareness

MMA

Striking and grappling

Striking and grappling together, and the work of moving between them. Expect to be a beginner at two things at once.

  • Striking
  • Transitions
  • Competition

And many more

Others

There are far more arts than we can list, from capoeira to sambo to hapkido. Use this as a starting point, and ask any school what its art is like to train.

Step 2 of 4

Find a few schools you can get to reliably

Distance is the most common reason people stop training. Look for somewhere you can get to on a normal week, at class times you can actually make: near home, near school, or along a route you already travel.

Two or three names is enough to start.

How to find them

  • Search for the specific art near you, not just “martial arts”.
  • Read the recent reviews rather than the overall rating, and look for what people say about the instructors.
  • If you know anyone who trains, ask them where they would send a friend.
  • Check the class schedule for beginner classes at times that work for you.

Step 3 of 4

Visit, watch a class, and ask questions

  • Send a short message first. Say your age, say you're new, and ask when a beginner could come and watch or try a class. How a school answers, and how quickly, tells you something already.
  • Watch a full class before you take one. Any school worth joining will say yes.
  • Bring a parent or a friend if you're under eighteen. A second set of eyes will catch things you miss.
  • Visit on a normal week, at the time you would actually train, not at a demo or an open house.
  • Visit more than one school if you can. It's easier to judge a place when you have something to compare it to.

Ask these when you visit the school

  • Who teaches the classes I would be in?
  • What does a beginner's first month look like?
  • What is the full monthly cost, and what else do I have to buy on top of it?
  • Is there a contract, how long is it, and how do I cancel?
  • Are the instructors background checked, and what is the policy for adults training with students under eighteen?
  • How many other students my age train here, and in which classes?

Get the answers about cost and contracts in writing before you sign anything.

Step 4 of 4

Watch for these signs

While you watch or try a class, notice how the school and its students treat people. One red flag on its own may not mean much. Several together usually do.

Green flags

  • Beginners are looked after, and learn and drill before they're put into hard sparring.
  • The senior students help the newer ones.
  • People seem glad to be there.
  • The place is clean.
  • You can ask questions without it being awkward.
  • Nobody pressures you on your first visit.
  • There are classes at times you can actually make.
  • Classes are co-ed, and any women's only class is taught and run by women.
  • Parents are welcome to watch any class, any day, without arranging it first.

Red flags

  • You're pushed to sign something before you've trained.
  • The cost isn't clear, or there are fees nobody mentioned up front.
  • Injuries get brushed off.
  • The instructor can't be questioned or corrected.
  • You're discouraged from training anywhere else, or visitors aren't welcome.
  • Someone is singled out or humiliated in front of the class.
  • Parents are kept out of the training area.
  • The place is dirty.
  • You leave feeling worse about yourself than when you arrived.

For students under 18

Lines a school should never cross

If you're under eighteen, these are signs to find another martial arts school. If any of them happen at your school, it is not your fault, and you should tell a parent or guardian.

  • No private lessons unless your parent or guardian is there for the whole lesson. Not nearby, not for part of it, not waiting in the car. Present, the entire time.
  • An adult instructor should not be contacting you privately. Not texts, not direct messages, not a separate account, not anything outside how the school talks to every student.
  • Contact in training is for the technique. Anything that isn't about the technique isn't training, whatever it is called.
  • Nothing about your training should be a secret from your parents. An adult who asks you to keep something from them has told you something about themselves.
  • Gifts, special status, rides alone, favors that come with strings. Those are a pattern, not kindness. Grooming is the word for it, and it usually starts with things that look generous.
  • You should not be alone with an adult behind a closed door. A good school has no reason to need that and does not arrange it.

You don't have to get it right the first time

If you try a school and it isn't for you, you can leave. Plenty of people train a few months somewhere before they find the place they stay. You don't need a school picked out before you join Budo Scholar. The choice is yours, and this guide is here to help you make it.

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