ARE YOU IN A MARTIAL ART SCHOOL, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? HOW TO BEHAVE?

How to behave in a martial art school is definitely new to many of us, looking back at the 70’s and 80’s, martial art schools were promoted as a place for those who are only talented,  or related to martial art by blood,  and mostly its a super difficult place to enter, and training is like hell on earth ?.

Certainly those false perceptions are inaccurate nor they represent the current status of martial art schools, but that doesn’t mean that entering one of them shouldn’t have certain protocols and behavior to be followed, taking into consideration that you will be meeting lots of people with different personalities and goals, then you better behave and respect the points so you won’t be lost.

Below are 8 points that you need to follow and behave while you are in a martial art school:

1. Identify your goal

Are you coming to lose weight, learn self defense, really becoming a fighter, or looking for a relationship? regardless to your goal and aim, most of the academies wont have an issue if you are looking at the first 3 categories, but if you are looking to socialize then this is not really the right place, yes we socialize and laugh but that is not our main goal nor this is what we are trying to build, most academies are aiming to 90% train and 10% to socialize, if those percentages doesn’t suits you, then you better find a different hobby.

2. Behave respectfully

Most of martial art coaches has dedicated a long period of time learning and teaching certain art, acting fool and ignoring the coach wouldn’t be a smart thing to do, if the coach starts to treat you differently always check your behavior first as there might be pretty much a reason behind it which is you, a master once said (I respect the most who respect me the most).

3. Be serious

Take your class and training as serious as possible, avoiding warm-ups and taking too many water breaks just doesn’t benefit anyone, nor it represent you properly.

4. Be honest

Be honest to your coach and to your self, don’t lie and don’t hide your mistakes by calling others as wrong or weak; certainly blaming others for your failures and lies will not escape you from your current situation, nor will make you evolve into a better future; be honest, admit your mistakes and try not to repeat them again.

5. Avoid gossip, drama, and creating negative atmosphere

Sadly martial arts are one of the hottest places of gossiping and drama, and no wonder to find all the gossiping is about the academy or the coaches as basically that’s the only common topic that all students can share. Be careful and mindful of what you hear or say. In time when you disagree with anything, immediately go and consult your coach or the academy management, they will certainly have a reason, and if it’s wrong they will definitely appreciate your feedback and fix it immediately,  but if it’s unnecessarily and not related to the core of the academy scope, then they might decline your request respectfully, and if that happen that doesn’t mean the academy is bad, they just simply do not share the same opinion as you do.

6. Mind your own business

Most academies will provide you with free trial class, this is for you to study the academy on all aspects (Read the following article “HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST BJJ ACADEMY“) that objectively should matter such as (class structure, coach explanation, how much the class is relevant to your goal, academy cleanliness, coach language during the class, coach punctuality, class seriousness); only those topics should be your guidance to judge whether this is a suitable place for you or not. Later on along the road neither the coach nor the student should start discussing (religions, relationships, financial status, friends and family, ..etc) and it’s neither party business, once we enter this road it will turn bad and uncomfortable for everyone.

7. Be consistent

Consistency is the key to anything, and it shows some level of seriousness and respect towards the academy and the instructor, whether you can make it 5 times a week, or one class every 10 days, just keep this frequency and try to improve it.

8. Don’t be a bully or judge anyone

Bullying is the last thing that would be acceptable in martial art schools, don’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want, in a different words “don’t be a coach”. Its the coach job and only the coach is responsible of the students development and motivation.

At the end be aware that you will meet all type of people in the academy with different characters, personality, goals, and attitude, don’t try to spray them with your color, nor accept them to color you, be free and objective.