Looking for a martial arts school in Bellevue, Washington can be a tricky proposition. I know, because I talk to people everyday who are trying to decide on a martial arts school in Bellevue. They are ether looking for instruction for themselves, their children, or the whole family.

What I have noticed in my 20 plus years of teaching, is that many people just dont know what questions to ask or what to look for when they start seriously looking for training. This article will help with picking a martial arts school in the Bellevue, Washington area.

At last count, Bellevue had over 20 martial art schools. If you visited each one, and stayed just 20 to 30 minutes you would spend over 10 hours and still not be any closer to training. Two years ago, there were only about 12 schools in Bellevue. This brings us to our first rule on picking a school:

Rule # 1 Pick a martial arts school thats been in the Bellevue area for at least 5 years.

I am not saying that new martial arts schools are all bad, in fact, some might be quite good. But statistically small businesses close their doors at the rate of 74% within the first couple of years. Martial art schools are no exception.

Next you will want a location that is less than a 15 minute drive from work or home. This just makes sense. A convenient location can make the difference in your long-term training.

Rule # 2 Pick a martial arts location that is only a 15 20 minuets commute.

Break this rule only if you are not happy with the locations near you. Its far better spending an extra ten minutes driving to get quality than quitting after only a couple of weeks because your didnt like the classes.

Rule # 3 Pick a marital arts instructor that shares the same values and goals that you do.

For example, if you want family martial arts and youre looking to get into shape while learning a little self defense, then picking a school that competes heavily in tournaments might not work for you.

Rule # 4 Know what you are looking for, so you know what you are getting.

Knowledge about knowing what you are looking for is the only way to make sure you get what you want. If you want tournaments, make sure the school does that. If you want meditation make sure they offer it. If you dont want to work out with kids make sure they have an adult program. And be sure to ask what age they consider to be adult. Some locations consider 12 an adult. The last rule is the most important and it is simply to ask questions.

Rule # 5 Ask Questions.

Dont feel intimidated to ask questions. You are the only person who knows what youre looking for. Ive talked to many people who made huge mistakes, wasted years and lots of money because they didnt know what to ask. So ask all your questions and ask some more!

If you want help knowing what questions to ask, you can use my consumer guide on How to pick a Martial Arts School. These are based on 20 years of questions from people who were looking to start martial arts training. You can go to www.martialarts-instruction.com and click on the upper left corner link that says consumer guide. I would also be happy to email the complete guide to you. It covers what I think are the most important aspects of picking a school. And its FREE.

One last thing, if you need any help or want another opinion please give us a call and any of my professional teachers would be happy to spend a few minutes educating you. We can also mail the consumer guide to you if youd like. Just call us at 800-508-6141 and ask one of our staff to please mail you the consumer guide on How to Pick a Martial Arts School.

I also would like to extend an invitation for you to come down and talk one-on-one. See for yourself why we have what we think is the number one school for marital arts in Bellevue.

If you come down, please know that in our introduction interview is solely informational. We pride ourselves on educating prospective students and letting them choose whats right for them. Our program is time tested and stands on its own. The introductory process we use works basically like this-

You call or email and set up an appointment to talk to one of our helpful staff members. At the appointment we give you a quick private tour of our school. Then we explain all the options we offer. Only if you are interested and we feel we can provide a service will the teacher setup a trial membership. This is where you get to try us out risk-free and we get to determine what program you qualify for.

So please give us a call at 800-508-6141 and let us get your marital arts training off to a good start.