Bro, BRO! That fancy, high priced martial arts studio you train at ain’t noth’n. The real deal is this hardcore dude, known only as “Chainz”. He only teaches in the run down, sketchy part of town in an abandoned warehouse. He only charges $5 to buy gasoline for the generator that keeps a light on for class. Yo, you won’t find this kind of martial arts anywhere else, not even on the internet, bro!

If you had any discussion about martial arts, you’ve most likely heard someone state something similar to the above. Martial arts are in stark contrast to most other services and items we purchase. Typically, a high priced or well-equipped business is perceived as a higher quality item/business. There seems to be three major reasons why this thought persists. History, perception, and justification.

Let’s start with history of martial arts, specifically as it relates to martial arts in the United States. While we have large and well-equipped martial arts studios now, where instructors can actually make a living from their teaching efforts, that hasn’t always been the case in years past. It wasn’t until post World War II that martial arts were introduced in a more mainstream way to the united states. Military personnel being a big part of brining martial arts to America. Many trained over seas and brought their
knowledge back here to the states.

Since their career was in the military, running a school full time wasn’t really an option. Many of the training locations were simply a group of military personnel and a few civilians gathering to learn in random locations, garages, or random rooms within other businesses. The desire was to learn and train, not necessarily to make money in doing so. With that said, there were a handful of schools that were established with hopes of being a career choice. However, these were few and far between.

Even as I began my martial arts career in 1993, most of the students I trained alongside and under were law enforcement and military. They were training to help their career just as much as a hobby or for self-defense. Still to this day, a vast majority of the martial arts studios I visit are side ventures. The instructor has another job for a career and teaches on the side for enjoyment.

Since the instructors don’t depend on their martial arts studio to provide income for them and their family, they usually only charge enough to pay the bills and a little pocket change. Full time studios need to charge considerably more to not only pay the bills but fund their lifestyle. If you were searching for a place to train and you stopped into the part time studio that charged very little and the full-time studio that charged a premium price, which would you choose? If they teach the same style on the same
nights, you can image that most would gravitate towards the cheaper studio.

However, as a full-time studio owner myself – albeit modest in size, I go out of my way to make sure I offer a great deal more than a part time studio. More class options, better/more equipment, online access to curriculum, access to more tournaments or seminars, and more. It’s up to me to show that the quality and content is worth the additional cost. Sometimes I’m successful in doing so, many times people hang up as soon as I give them the pricing options. Chances are, those people only searching for
the cheap classes won’t last in martial arts though. I know that when a student signs up with me, they are most likely serious about creating improvements in their life.

This leads me to the perception element of this myth. There have been numerous studies on swapping or removing labels to see if people know the difference between a high-quality item and a low quality item. One of the most common ones have been done with swapping wine labels. Many people, upon seeing the high-priced label, rated that wine as a higher quality compared to the wine with the label that was considered cheap. Essentially, the perception of quality was more important than the actual quality
in many scenarios and case studies.

What’s interesting is that this perception is the complete opposite in martial arts for some people. The dirtier, smaller, and harder to find martial arts studio that charge little to nothing is instantly perceived as, “the real deal”. Why is this the case? In most scenarios outside of martial arts, the nicer building with high price equipment is the one that everyone loves. I believe there are a few reasons for this. We, rightfully, have this perception that quality comes from passion in martial arts and not from money.

Martial arts are not alone in this aspect. Generally speaking, we see small “mom and pop” businesses care more and carry higher quality items/services than the large corporation chain stores that offer the same items. Martial arts training is a very personal service where we need to feel like training is catered to the individual. There is a lot of personal interaction between students and instructors. Therefore, seeing a large and expensive studio with a lot of students may lead some to feel like there won’t be a
personal connection.

Interesting side note to mention. When I first went full time with my studio, it was in a building that was recessed back from the street and not easy to find. I did all of the remodeling myself with friends and family. I chose the paint scheme as I like darker settings to train in. The walls were half black, half dark blue, with occasional blood red elements. It was dark and gritty. I loved it. My student base was about ninety percent adults and only ten percent youth.

When I changed locations, to a larger studio on a major street with easy visibility, I tried new colors. I changed the color scheme based on some books and articles I had read about how certain colors can draw in specific types of people and present either a sense of danger (reds and dark colors) that draw in more adults, specifically adults with no children. Whereas brighter colors such as yellows, whites and light blues are perceived as safe and warm. This color scheme tends to draw in more families and youth students. It’s of no surprise to me that my student base has flipped to about seventy five percent youth/teen and twenty five percent adults.

While there are many factors at play here, it has been very clear to me that change of location and color scheme had at least some impact on drawing in more families and youth students. One sentence that I have heard many times since moving to the new location that was never uttered at my last locations is, “I really like this set up and how clean it is”. My last studio had essentially the same cleanliness and set up, but the perception was not as such.

Lastly, and arguably the biggest factor, is the justification element. We tend to justify our decisions to protect ego or decisions that we were limited on. For instance, you want to start training in martial arts. You stop by the big studio in town that everyone knows and has all the best equipment. However, it’s out of your price range. You then stop by another school that is considerably smaller and more affordable.

You enjoy your training there and are getting what you want out of the training. Then when someone comes to you and mentions wanting to get into martial arts and are looking at joining the big studio that you couldn’t afford. You make it known that they are just out for your money. They don’t care about you. The real deal martial arts studio is the one you train at. At the core of it all, you’re just justifying your choice. You don’t know for sure that your studio is better. There is nothing wrong with justifying your decisions. It’s the degrading of other studios with no knowledge of the studio that is wrong. Yet it happens regularly.

The point is a studios size, location, and cost have nothing to do with how good the program or instruction is. I’ve seen amazing instructors teach out of their garage for free or little cost. I’ve also seen amazing instructors run giant schools with amazing staff that have a high price tag on it in order to offer such high-quality training. So how can you sift through all of your choices to find the best instructor to train from?

First and foremost, you have to realize that what’s best for you may not be what’s best for others. As mentioned above, training is quite personal. Everyone has different needs, different skill sets, and different comforts. I train and teach multiple styles at my studio. Some involve more focus on kicking and striking and keeping a distance form an attacker. Another involves being close to an attacker and grappling. Yet another that focuses on bladed weapons. When someone asks which is better for self-defense, I ask them where they feel more comfortable. Rolling around on the ground with someone and being very close, or keeping a distance? That questions usually answers things for me.

Some people prefer sport combat over self-defense training. For others, a physical activity to help with improved physical fitness is more important. Others still are looking to meet new people and enjoy a hobby. All of these interests can lead someone to different styles, schools and instructors.

Yet another thing to know about yourself is how you learn best. Do you like long lectures? Do you prefer to read about techniques and culture behind the art? Do you like when someone yells and screams at you to hit the bag harder? Or do you prefer when an instructor makes jokes during class to keep the students relaxed? There are a lot of different ways people can learn. Do you do well in small classes or large classes? You need to find what works best for you.

Once you know what you are looking for and what environment is best for you, that should heavily narrow down on the options for you. Look at the instructors’ students. Do they seem like people who you want to train with? Do the higher ranks represent what you would like to achieve? That will tell you a lot about what you will experience in your training there.

As for the instructor, talk to them for a bit and see if you can try out a free class or at least watch a class. Most will have no problem with this. Some may offer a paid trial to test classes out. Do you like the way the instructor teaches and interacts with the students? Do you feel like their teaching methods will resonate with you? Answering these questions will again narrow down your options.

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned anything about rank or how many trophies they’ve won. Not to say this doesn’t have an impact on their teaching ability, it absolutely does. I feel I am one hundred times better as a martial artists and instructor than I was when I first started my studio. However, by the time I felt ready to start my studio, the important elements were already there. How I interact with people, how much passion I have for the martial arts and teaching, how much I care about my students, so on and so forth.

Certain attributes from an instructor are always there. You have to trust that your instructor will always be on a journey to be better, and in turn, make you better. Where they teach, how much they charge, how gritty their studio is or isn’t, has virtually no impact on whether or not someone is a good instructor. The instructor(s) and students are everything, focus on them.