October 2, 2026

How to Choose a School/Teacher

Pastor Jeff Durbin of Apologia Church in Arizona recently published a post on this topic. As a former martial artist and kickboxer himself, he listed a few non-negotiable items he considers paramount in finding a reputable martial art school. Here’s his list along with our thoughts in italics. They are:

1. Look at the instructors’ bios and training/competition history. It matters. A lot. Are they skillfull? Have they proven their skills and confidence in their ability to apply? How long have they been training? Many martial arts schools are nothing more than low quality or ineffective programs that receive tuition in exchange for abysmally low quality skills. The people running the classes, many times, have very little time in their own personal development and they haven’t really been tested by time, experience, or competition. And that matters. (Definitely good stuff here. Check out the instructor’s bio.)
2. Does the owner or head instructor participate in class instruction? Does he oversee student development and quality control or is he a fixture who mostly sits at a desk and controls the money? This is very common. A good program will have an emphasis on quality and have oversight of not only the students but the assistant instructors as well. This absolutely requires the regular and ongoing participation and oversight of the Master instructor. Are the Masters on the floor or only at a desk? It matters. (Oh yeah! As a pretty busy chief instructor myself, I have to be off the floor at times. Also, I try and make room for assistants and instructor-trainees to develop but that doesn’t mean staying off the floor and getting fat.)
3. Lineage. Yes. This matters. Where did the instructors learn? From whom? Is the school connected to or associated with other high quality teachers/organizations that care about the quality of their system. Martial Arts schools can be highly profitable. Some people start them for that main reason. However, they haven’t had the instruction or education of highly skilled or qualified martial artists. Where your instructors came from and who they learned from matters. (Another slam dunk. Martial arts can attract some people with bad character, so be diligent. If an instructor doesn’t have a lineage from a reputable organization, that’s a red flag. Who taught them? Where did they receive their training? If the teacher isn’t fully transparent with this there’s a good reason. Don’t just leave, run. While there can be cases of political issues within an organization that require splits, beware of the lone wolf who’s loyal only to himself..)

I knew a man who started a school with no martial arts experience. He bought a franchise, was literally handed a black belt, and opened his school in a matter of months. That really happened. I consider that theft. Taking money from someone for a service you can’t and won’t deliver. (Totally agree with Pastor Jeff on the theft issue. Listen, I’m a career martial artist. I see myself as a martial art teacher who owns a business and I think that’s the way it ought to be. Franchise systems and business men/marketing specialists who USE the martial arts I find loathsome.)

4. Competition. Does the school compete? Do not go to a school that refuses to compete. No matter what lofty excuse they give for it. If the instructors will not bring their students to compete there’s more than likely a reason: low quality. If their students saw the level of skill other schools have (that they don’t have) they would quit. Competition is a necessary part of testing our skills and advancing in them. The martial arts advance and grow with each generation because of testing that art and competing. If they give excuses for not competing, don’t buy it. A good instructor, with a quality system, will have enough confidence in his instruction and will desire for his students to have the opportunity to grow and test their skills. (Okay…this one is tough. I think what Pastor Jeff is getting at is simple: without competition, there’s no accountability. That’s absolutely true and there’s no way around it. In our case at Greenville Academy, we teach JKD and Wing Chun, which are self-defense systems. You can’t eye jab and groin kick in the ring. Ah, but we must, to be honest, acknowledge the very real problem that Jeff brings up. For this reason, we have a boxing program too. Our coaches and instructors are always sparring, though we no longer have a competition team…coach Rusty trained several amateur MMA champions and our coaches, myself included, have either moved competitively and/or brought fighters to compete. I think that matters. For a self-defense school, there’s the danger of complacency and pure theory. For the all-competition schools there’s the danger of too much sport thinking. There’s nothing perfect, so I think a balance between this and their lineage is important.)

I can’t stress this enough. Do not buy the lame excuses for not competing or interacting with other schools. It’s a necessary part of growth of the martial arts. And if your school is a quality school, you want your students to know it and prove it. Period. A school that doesn’t compete is a major red flag that the quality is low. Run. Don’t walk. Put your time and money elsewhere. (I don’t agree that all excuses for not competing are lame. In our case, it takes a lot of time and energy to train fighters to compete and that changes the focus of a school. To that I will add that many excuses are lame, though. Just not all. I know of several “self defense” instructors who have never been in a street fight. Ever. Nor have they any background in security, police work, or military. Their only exposure to violence has been within a martial arts school. That’s a red flag right there. So, to Jeff’s point, I’d again encourage parents and potential students to check the instructor’s background. A self-defense instructor who doesn’t compete isn’t an automatic no. For example, there are several good instructors whose background in law-enforcement and military more than make up for their lack of competition.)

5. Go to a school that teaches and emphasizes the martial science and martial art aspect. Avoid schools that treat it like an indoctrination center for pagan philosophy. A system created for combat and self-defense can absolutely be separated from the pagan beliefs of the originators.

Interview the school you are inquiring about. Ask these questions. You are going to put your money, time, sweat, and blood into that school. You have a right to know the answers. If they resist answering them or treat you poorly for asking them, go elsewhere. A good school will appreciate that you are asking them and will be happy and excited to tell you the answers.

As to the last point, I teach from the Christian worldview. Pertaining to self-defense that means that every single human being on the planet has the God-given right to protect themselves and property from aggression in ways commensurate with the moral law. The use of force always carries with it ethical issues, so I don’t see any honest way to avoid that subject as foundational. That said, a parent can expect their kid’s karate class to focus on the science, as Pastor Durbin says, and not the higher metaphysical issues. That’s fine. The thing is, if you’re a Buddhist or atheist, or even a Cowboy’s fan, you should be welcome in a martial arts school for the aforementioned reason: you’re an image bearer of the most High God and have a right to life. A kids’ karate class shouldn’t be taught in a manner that the parent finds objectionable. Self-defense classes can be taught to one and all. In every case, though, a true martial arts school must emphasize self-control and respect. Why? For the simple reason that it’s the lack of these things that causes violence in the first place. To omit them from the school code and teaching is like a fireman playing with matches.