Why Ancient Ways is Right for You or Your Children

There are so many martial arts instructors and classes around these days, how do you know which one is the right one?

   Master Brown was overheard one day telling the parents of a potential new student that he felt they should visit other schools and as they watched, to ask themselves these things:

1. Watch the students and decide if they are as well trained as you would expect someone of that level to be. There are a lot of schools that provide fast progression towards Black Belt, but they lack real training. The students may have a sense of confidence, but is it a false sense of confidence?
   
   
2. Decide if there is enough discipline in the training hall. It is important that everyone is having fun, but it shouldn't resemble play, without discipline, safety is compromised.
   
   
3. Watch the instructor and ask yourself what he or she would be doing if they weren't teaching martial arts. You aren't seeking them out because they are great competitors, you are looking for someone that understands how people learn and understands how to teach. If your answer is anything other than "He or she would be teaching..." then they are not the right instructor for you or your child.
   
   
4. Examine the training hall, how professional and safe does it seem? Is all the equipment in good shape and safe? Does it feel like a place you would like to spend time?

1. "We don't progress people quickly towards Black Belt. They progress at their own rate. The reason most schools rush people through is to gain the fee for testing as well as to keep the student interested by offering the reward represented by the belt. We have 10 belts as do most modern schools but we offer other forms of reward to maintain interest such as patches, stickers and pins. Students are getting constant positive feedback on their progress and although they may earn their Black Belt in the same period of time as other schools, at Ancient Ways, they are earned and well deserved."
   
   
2. "There are many schools that rely entirely on children as their clientele and to keep things fun for them, the training may turn into something lacking discipline. Although Ancient Ways has training for children, I take pride in providing a disciplined, fun and safe environment for students of all ages."
   
   
3. "There are no requirements for teaching martial arts. There is no licensing or governing bodies so anyone can buy themselves a Black Belt and start teaching. That is uncommon, but even those that earn a Black Belt may not be suited to being an instructor. I've seen some amazing competitors win trophy after trophy but they may not have the first clue how the human species learns or how to address the various learning styles. People learn three different ways. We all learn through a combination although some learn better with different presentation styles than others. Some people learn best from seeing something, visual learners. Others find that they learn best by hearing about the subject, audible learners. Kinesthetic learning involves actually performing some action that teaches about the subject, such as performing labs or in the case of martial arts, practicing technique. I make sure that each lesson plan is provided in such a manner that all learning styles are provided for. The three primary areas where we learn are Cognitive (knowledge), Affective (emotional growth) and Psychomotor (physical ability). Many martial art schools only address one or two of these areas. Ancient Ways addresses all three. We know that to truly help people to grow, we have got to provide the best and most fully developed program we can."
   
   
4. "As for the training hall, to me it is a spiritual place where I share what I know and hopefully help people to find themselves and to grow. If it isn't a safe, fun and clean environment, then no one wants to be there. People will never notice when you give them what they expect, but they notice if you go below their expectations or above. We always strive to rise above people's expectations."

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