3. Other Considerations
Class schedules: Perhaps the first thing to look at is the class schedule. You can’t learn if you can’t attend the classes. Depending on the style and school size, there may be separate classes for beginner/intermediate/advanced, so be aware that the schedule may change on you as you advance.
Current Students: Talk to several students. Ask them how long they’ve studied there, what they like about it, who are their favorite instructors. Remember that they aren’t likely to say anything critical there in the school; just ask what they like about it and read between the lines the best you can.
Environment: Take special notice of the atmosphere, the attitudes of students and instructors, not just the decor. Are they friendly/respectful toward one another? After a sparring match, do they smile at each other or grit their teeth and show disdain? Ideally, the student is encouraged to compete with himself/herself, not with other students.
You MUST visit a school more than once in order to form a valid opinion. Classes vary from one to another. There are good days and bad days for everyone, even instructors. The usual instructor may be on vacation. There might even be different types of classes on different days of the week (on one day it may be weapons training, on another it may be punches and kicks, etc.). So when narrowing down your choices, the more often you visit, the better idea you’ll get of what it would be like to train there.
Enrollment: Be aware that some schools do not have continuous/open enrollment. You may have to wait until next week, next month, or even next semester (if the school meets at a college) for the next beginner’s class to start. This is pretty much par, so don’t let this offend or discourage you. Use the waiting time to do more visiting!
Ranking: Don’t be overly concerned with the rank of the instructor. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference between a 3rd degree black belt and a 9th degree black belt for a long time. You should, however, be a little suspicious of those claiming unusually high ranks. Some of the 9th dans out there are those who have quit some other school and started a school of their own, and then promoted themselves to 9th dan.
There is no universal governing body that assigns ranks to everyone. Each school assigns their own ranks as they please. You CANNOT compare ranks between different schools! A certain colored belt in one school doesn’t mean the same as the same color belt in another school. Some schools don’t even have belts. Some don’t even have ranks. Don’t let the rank game distract you from what is really important, your improvement.