Choosing the right martial arts class for your child is difficult and one of the biggest challenges is thinking about the trade-off between convenience and quality.
Driving your kids all the way across the island and back after school or on a weekend can be a real pain and difficult to fit into busy schedules.
However, choosing a martial arts school that is not very good, but only 10 minutes away, is also a bad idea. Choosing convenience over quality is a poor trade and one that can have some pretty bad long-term consequences.
We had a mother bring her child down for a trial class, which the boy loved, and she also thought was excellent – but she did not enroll him. She said the 25-minute commute to the dojo was too far as she lived near several large malls and never went anywhere more than 10 minutes from home.
Wow. Talk about a recipe for mediocrity. No, it’s even worse than that; it’s actually an INVESTMENT in mediocrity.
Imagine you are a parent whose child does maths tuition once a week, a martial arts class once a week, Mandarin tuition once a week, swimming once a week and ballet once a week. (It sounds like a packed schedule but there are plenty of kids who do much more than that).
Now what are the odds that really high quality providers of all those services are within 15-25 minutes of where you live? Not very high. You might get lucky and have a first-rate maths tuition centre that is just down the road, but all of the other classes will be mediocre.
Is spending time and money on mediocrity really wise investment? For your child, no less.
Now, convenience IS important because we are more likely to stick at things if you can get there easily. However, convenience should be only one consideration and it definitely should not be at the top of the list.
Martial arts teach self defence, character development, anti-bullying skills and instill confidence, focus, discipline, co-ordination and much more. These are life skills and life-changing skills. Now ask yourself if your child is really going learn these things at a mediocre dojo.
If you are serious about your child reaping the many benefits of martial arts training, then find a first-rate martial arts school. Hopefully, it won’t be too far away, but at least you’ll be making a sound investment.
