2. Choosing sport or personal development

Within the two main categories of Martial Arts there are two more sub categories.

There’s ‘sport’ Martial Arts, where the focus is to train students to become ‘athletes’ or ‘fighters’. The aim of these schools is to encourage students to compete so they may win medals, trophies and titles. Then, there is ‘traditional’ Martial Arts where the focus is on personal development.

Shire Martial Arts fits into the latter category. We don’t send students off to competitions. Rather, we teach our students to compete against themselves, to reach their potential. In fact, at SMA we use Martial Arts as a vehicle for personal development.

Although our students are taught how to well and truly take care of themselves, the main outcomes we aim to instil in them are confidence, self esteem, respect, leadership, communication, resilience and responsibility.

At SMA we believe that these are the real skills that well adjusted people need to thrive in everyday life.

4. Ethical Financial Practices

It’s important that new Martial Arts students check to see if a prospective Martial Arts school has open and ethical financial practices. At first glance, when you compare Martial Arts schools on price, there can seem to be a significant difference between different schools.

The main reason for this is because some Martial Arts schools have a myriad of hidden charges that you don’t necessarily find out about until after you have joined the school.

For example, some Martial Arts schools or instructors charge their students extra for joining fees, annual fees and most commonly for ‘grading fees’. Unfortunately, these so called grading fees are a blight on our industry. This is where the instructor expects their student to pay a cash fee every time they are supposed to move up to the next belt or equivalent.

Therefore, ensure that you quiz a prospective school about their grading fees policy. If they do have them, find out exactly how much they are for all belts. Some schools even have a sliding scale where each belt is more expensive than the last. Be very wary of this practice.

Also, avoid instructors or schools who try to charge new students for a uniform. Remember, it is critical to ask a potential school what their ongoing charges are and how often do they expect you pay them. It can be astonishing how fast these extra charges can add up.

As well as this, beware of schools who have a ‘cash culture’ where they encourage their students or parents to pay their tuition fees or ‘grading fees’ in cash without issuing proper receipts.

One of the main principals of Martial Arts is about honesty and integrity. Therefore, be very wary of any school that flaunts this important tenant by taking money ‘under the table’.

Also, if you or your child should ever decide to leave the Martial Arts School, make sure that you are clear on what the ‘exit’ policy is. Unfortunately, some schools have a policy of ruthlessly locking their students into 6 or even12 month contracts with no way out.

At Shire Martial Arts we build all of the costs of training into our tuition fees. There are NO hidden costs or extra charges. This means that once you join us there is “no more to pay”. New Shire Martial Arts students are given a free uniform to begin their training. The only exception is for safety gear. Once a new student earns their first belt they do need to get some basic safety gear.

We always give out receipts for every transaction and if a student decides to leave, they only need give us one week’s notice.

6. Is there an inclusive learning environment?

The biggest fear for most new students going into a Martial Arts school is that they’ll be put up against bigger, more experienced students and get smashed!

At Shire Martial Arts our focus is on safety. We have a no contact rule (giving and receiving hits) for white belts (new students). Then as a student progresses, we gradually introduce them to drills that involve making light contact. We also ensure that students wear appropriate safety gear. Most importantly for safety sake, we ensure that all of our students are rigorously supervised. We also provide our experienced students with special advanced sparring and self defence classes. We’ve found that this helps our more advanced students fulfil their potential in an appropriate environment.

Unfortunately, there are some less professional instructors out there who tend to have their ‘favourite’ students.

At Shire Martial Arts, EVERYONE is a favourite. To facilitate this, all students are placed in one of our two ‘teams’.  Either the Red team or Blue team. The idea is that when a student shows, a) improvement in a technique, b) if they are respectful or c) do something worthy of praise, they earn points for their team rather than receiving individual glory. This encourages and highlights the importance of making a contribution to the greater good of their team. It’s also a great way to develop humility and it gives students a sense of unity with their team mates.

Most well balanced adults understand that living in community cooperatively and harmoniously improves the quality of life for everyone. We know what we stand for at Shire Martial Arts. Our ethos is summed up by the aphorism “The rising tide lifts all ships”.

At Shire Martial Arts we believe that each and every student has an inherent potential within them. It’s just waiting to be nurtured, guided and acknowledged. Due to this belief, we have systems to identify those students who need more one on one guidance to succeed. To this end we have a mentoring system in place. We also provide regular drop in tutorial classes where our students can get some one on one help at no extra cost.

Then conversely, we have another system in place for students who we recognise as needing to be challenged more. These students are invited to apply to join our accelerated learning program called the ‘Black Belt Club’ (BBC). Again, there is no extra charge for being in our BBC program, it’s all about effort, attitude and a willingness to strive for excellence.

Another thing to look out for in Martial Arts schools is to ensure that they are equally accommodating to male and female students because this is indicative about how inclusive they are.

In a traditionally male dominated environment, Shire Martial Arts strives to train and employ as many female instructors as we can. We also try to make our female students feel welcome and to let them know that they are a valuable part of our community. Our male students are also taught to be kind and respectful towards our Shire Martial Arts women and girls.

8. Is the school clean, tidy and managed well?

Professional schools have systems in place for everything, including how the premises are maintained, to how the programs are run.

You can tell a lot about a school by the way its maintained. Is there air-conditioning? Are there change areas? Check out the bathrooms, are they clean? Look at the mats, check to see if they free of dust and debris. Is there a comfortable viewing area for family members and guests? Once you get to a Martial Arts facility, take the time to check out the above details.

A lot of people pass through a successful Martial Arts school each week. So, if a school is not properly maintained, it indicates that there are not enough systems in place for the school to be run successfully. It’s important that the school you are going to join takes hygiene and safety seriously. The way a school operates on a day to day basis provides a good indication of this ethos.

The systems at Shire Martial Arts have been designed and implemented to create the best possible training experience. Our facility offers a comfortable training environment for our existing students, prospective new students and their families.

Find out for yourself. Use this link to find out more about how you or your child can enrol in our Shire Martial Arts Introductory Program today. Due to our high instructor to student ratio, places in our Intro Program are limited.

Shire Martial Arts has a lot of 5 star reviews. You can read some here.