How to Tell if a Martial Arts Instructor Is Qualified

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Michael Quebec, and today's subject matter is how to tell if an instructor is qualified or how to find a qualified martial arts instructor. Well there are several ways you can go about doing that. And keep in mind too, that there are many instructors who are very good at explaining and breaking things down, who may not be certified here, per say, but maybe certified in other country or another martial arts governing bodies. So you want to kind of keep an open mind. And there are also many instructors who maybe good, at fighting, but they may not necessarily be the best at explaining or breaking moves down or helping you with getting your strengths up while diminishing whatever obstacles you might have. So it's kind of a loaded question. Well finding a qualified instructor the most basic way is finding what certifications he has, or what governing bodies he's acquired his certifications from. I'm going to pull one out, for me I got certified in north, Body North American Sport Savate Association. This is for Savate or sport savate box Francaise which is a French kick boxing. This is the light contact French kick boxing that I got certified in. Other people lets say if they're in Tae Kwan Do, and they're teaching Tae Kwon Do, and they've got black belt status they are usually governed under the World Tae Kwon Do Federation or WTF. A while back a lot of Japanese karate black belt instructors were governed under the JKA or Japanese Karate Association. So there are, now a days because of the internet there are many ways you can check on an instructors certification or qualifications status. And of course the other way too is simply inquire from their students what the person's instructing style is like. Like I said he might be a really great fighter but he may not necessarily know how to teach it. And so you want to know what his students are like, what, where they've gone with their martial arts progress. And finally of course you want to make sure that you and your potential instructor can get along. It's like any other kind of working relationship you want to make sure that your personalities match up and gel so you may have to try out a couple of lessons in the beginning to see if you, if you gel. So a lot of schools offer a short term contract or monthly fees, that's usually the best way to go. And my name is Michael Quebec and that is how to find a qualified martial arts instructor. Thank you."