How do you find a new school?

[Haakon]

When you decide you want to train somewhere else (for whatever reason, moved, changed styles, whatever) how do you go about finding where to train? Obviously if you want to train in Tae Kwon Do you can just throw a rock and hit a couple of schools, but anything else is a little harder to find. Google Maps is an Ok way to find some of what is in your area, but far from every school is listed on Google Maps in this area. A typical Google search brings up more, but still isn't going to get every option. Just drive around and see what you can see? I've stumbled across a couple of kickboxing school in industrial areas that way that didn't show up in Google or other Dojo searches.

So if you were going to look for somewhere new to train, how would you go about finding it?

 

[MJS]

When you decide you want to train somewhere else (for whatever reason, moved, changed styles, whatever) how do you go about finding where to train? Obviously if you want to train in Tae Kwon Do you can just throw a rock and hit a couple of schools, but anything else is a little harder to find. Google Maps is an Ok way to find some of what is in your area, but far from every school is listed on Google Maps in this area. A typical Google search brings up more, but still isn't going to get every option. Just drive around and see what you can see? I've stumbled across a couple of kickboxing school in industrial areas that way that didn't show up in Google or other Dojo searches.

So if you were going to look for somewhere new to train, how would you go about finding it?

Pull out the phone book, obviously you mentioned google, asking on a forum. Usually your location is a main deciding factor. Larger cities/states will probably have more options than smaller ones. Some states seem like they're the martial arts capital of the world..lol. California for example, has just about anything and everything you could want.

 

[Blindside]

When I moved a couple (4!) of years ago I used mostly google to find various martial arts schools in the area. Even if they didn't have a web presence the school would show up in online yellow pages. I also asked about the area on this forum, which really didn't get me very much. Since being here and developing a network among the other instructors in the area, I have found my initial google search was pretty good, I missed a couple of instructors that only taught privately or not-publicly, but I did hit most of them.

 

[Gentle Fist]

For judo go to either the USJA or USJF official site and browse all the Official Chartered Clubs. I wouldn't trust any Judo club not accredited by one or both.

 

[jks9199]

Word of mouth... Ask the folks you used to train with. I can reach out to contacts within my style around the country, even internationally. Even if there's not someone in my new area from my style -- there's problem a friend of a friend they can recommend. And ask on forums. Wander into a couple of tournaments.

 

[Buka]

Slowly.

You will only train within a certain, reasonable travel distance. Spend every night, for a week or two, at each and every school, watching. Then, choose.

Whether your new school provides you with your life long art, or is a step along the way, get as much out of it as you can.

 

[chinto]

find some dojo that teaches a style you might wish to train in, then go visit the dojo, observe and ask questions. if you like what you see, the answers to your questions, and the feel you get.. then try it for a month or two... go from there.

 

[Haakon]

Slowly.

You will only train within a certain, reasonable travel distance. Spend every night, for a week or two, at each and every school, watching. Then, choose.

Whether your new school provides you with your life long art, or is a step along the way, get as much out of it as you can.

find some dojo that teaches a style you might wish to train in, then go visit the dojo, observe and ask questions. if you like what you see, the answers to your questions, and the feel you get.. then try it for a month or two... go from there.

Those are good suggestions for choosing a dojo, but they happen after you find a school to visit in the first place.

 

[Gemini]

Obviously, the real commercial schools are going to make themselves pretty easy to find and you've got that covered. The only way I know you're going to find the underground schools (such as mine) is through word of mouth, on bulletin boards at your local retail shops or just pure luck if they're in a commercial area. Here, the local martial arts distributor is the only source I know of that has his finger on the pulse of the local underground network. Maybe if you have such a place, it wouldn't hurt to just ask the question. Unfortunately, sometimes what you're looking for just really isn't there. Good luck!

 

[chinto]

I would go find one of the dojo's in the aria that has a reasonable reputation and ask them who else teaches what else... where I live most of the instructors will tell you who teaches what and how to get there...