Ljubljana has many martial arts schools and some very good ones among them. This piece is not an advert for us - it is a list of questions to use everywhere, including here.
You get all the answers in one hour, if you know what to look at.
1. Who taught the teacher, and where?
A good school answers this in two sentences, with names and years. A bad one answers with tradition, lineage or the name of a place.
Invoking Shaolin, China or an “ancient line” tells you nothing by itself. The name of a teacher and the place where someone trained for ten years tells you everything.
2. Can I watch, or come to one class?
The answer has to be yes. A school that does not allow a visit without payment or enrolment has a reason, and the reason is not in your interest.
It is also a bad sign if a first visit depends on signing a year’s contract first.
3. Who is in the group?
The most honest information available, and you get it without asking - just look.
If everyone is the same age, the same size and in the same condition, the school is narrow. If the same line holds someone in their twenties and someone in their sixties, the training allows adaptation - which is what you will need yourself in five years.
4. What happens when somebody is in pain?
Watch what the teacher does when a student says something hurts. Adapt the drill? Ask more? Or just tell them to rest?
It is the only question that predicts what will happen when you are injured one day. And you will be - everyone is at some point.
5. How much breath, how much intensity?
An hour that is intense from beginning to end looks good and transfers badly to the long run. An hour with room for a warm-up, technique and settling is less exciting and more sustainable.
Ask yourself a simple question: could I do this twice a week for five years?
6. What do they promise?
Red flags that apply anywhere:
- self-defence in six weeks or any similar deadline,
- belts or grades tied to attendance counts or extra payments,
- one- or two-year contracts with notice periods,
- guaranteed results,
- disparaging talk about other schools.
The last is the most reliable. A school that has to talk about its competitors does not have enough to say about itself.
7. How do you feel after one hour?
Not how sore you are or how tired. Do you look forward to going again?
It is the only question that means anything in the long run, and the only one nobody but you can answer.
It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.
What does not matter
How nice the space is. Some of the best schools train in old gyms.
The number of medals on the wall. Competitive results tell you about a teacher’s past, not about how they teach.
The name of the style. For a beginner the difference between styles is far smaller than the difference between teachers.
Price. Within a reasonable range it predicts quality in neither direction.
Use this on us as well
We train at Ziherlova 44 in Ljubljana, mornings and afternoons, for adults and children. A single visit is enough to start, and there is no contract.
Sign up, ask all seven, and decide on what you see - even if you decide on another school.
