Youth Art Month on March, 2025: Martial Arts questions?

March, 2025 is Youth Art Month 2025. Youth Art Month is a month of promoting art and art education in the United States. It is observed in March, with thousands of American schools participating, often with the involvement of local art museums and civic organizations.

Youth Art Month is a month of promoting art and art education in the United States. It is observed in March, with thousands of American schools participating, often with the involvement of local art museums and civic organizations.

Tuition for martial arts varies from one area to the next. Where I live tuition is anywhere from $60 to $120 but if you live in New York or DC for example I am sure the prices will be higher. Just ask randomly how much tuition is for different schools and you will get an idea of what is "normal" in your area. Also as you can see something that is "in" right now like MMA and BJJ will be higher. Check out traditional schools too. They are not that high in demand right now and the training can be really good. Personally I now prefer traditional martial arts to the sports stuff and I did sports for years. I enjoyed it but now find that the traditional arts are so much more satisfying.

Martial arts is also a thing of maturity. While the little kids might have memorized the moves much more than just moves goes into martial arts. Think of it this way. You could teach an 8 year old how to drive a car. It is not difficult but you wouldn't dream of giving him a license to drive. Martial arts is the same way. It is also a mental thing and in that department you would be way ahead of a child. The physical part is easy to learn and you will find that if you are in a good school where they don't just pass out belts after every 3 months you will eventually surpass the kids.

No matter what class they put you in you will always start at the bottom. Martial arts classes are not a show off so being humble is the first thing you will have to do if you want to learn.

When learning martial art the style is not as important as a good teacher so you must check out the actual schools in your area. You might find that the Taek Won Do teacher is much better than the Hapkido teacher and then you should go for the Taek Won Do. A lot of teachers jump on the MMA / UFC band wagon and mix other stuff into the martial art to make it more marketable. Stay away from those. Either do MMA and UFC or stay traditional. You can not have it both ways.

Choosing a school is tedious if you are serious. You should sit and watch at least one class, take advantage of free trial classes (most schools offer them) and not just pick the first school on your block. you will find martial arts school vary from social clubs to babysitting to just passing out belts to serious training. Unfortunately the serious training is getting more and more rare.

How should an interested novice go about selecting a Martial Arts school?

Before a student ever sets foot inside a dojo/dojang/academy/gym/presbyterian youth center, they should do two things:

They should look into what's available in their area – Nothing is worse than getting your hopes up researching XYZ martial art then finding out it's not even available to you. Phone book, google, yelp, the circular... Anywhere public activities are posted. If they have no concept of what martial arts are out there, Wikipedia has a great list ordered by region:

On that note, they also need to start looking into martial arts in a very basic manner, understanding the differences in approaches, etc. Look at the book stores, and see what information they can glean from books in the martial arts section, check the library, and, again, wikipedia. These two things should go hand-in-hand – while seeing what's available, look into it and see if it interests you.

Something I do, which some instructors find insulting, but I find important: Research a technique then ask them if they'd demonstrate it. If it looks significantly different from the 10 examples you looked at, leave. Look for fluidity, relaxed power, or indications (from your research) of how a qualified instructor should move.

Start making appointments – reputable instructors will usually offer a free lesson, a consultation, something to give them an idea. DO NOT TAKE A PRIVATE LESSON IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO JOIN A CLASS. As important as the instructor's ability to teach is how you mesh with other students there. If you're a docile little lamb, signing up for the Cobra-Kai is probably not in your best interests.

Don't sign contracts – Pay month to month, or live to regret it. Be wary of credit card processors and billing agencies as well.

Look for decent answers to the question "What's the best martial art?" ( I like to toot my own horn – ) :D

If you're looking to enroll in a class (especially a children's class), do a background check on the instructor.

When in doubt, seek answers! It never hurts to ask on Y!A :)

I'll try to think of some other things later, and post them if I can.

Edit:

One addition, regarding price – There's obviously going to be a point at which a potential student is not going to be able to afford it. They should determine that price point and try to figure out what they, personally, feel the value of the class is based on what they're willing to pay. If they're willing to pay $100 a month, they should consider that to be the price that their perfect class/lesson would cost. Then, if they find one that, in their estimation, meets their desires and it's at or below that price, sign up. However, they should continuously evaluate their estimation – Place A may be $80 a month, but if it's only, in your estimation, 50% of the value of Place B, but Place B charges $100, Place B should be your choice (assuming only those two choices). This sounds like a no brainer, but there's a reason that people pay more for less, especially on impulse hobbies like martial arts.

Anyone know of any art contests??

The magazine ART CALENDAR lists contests every month or two. However, finding contests that do not restrict entrants by AGE may be a challenge.

In your area you need to see if your arts center or local art museum has any competitions/exhibitions for youth. I know our community has one every summer. Any time there is a street fair, festival, or good old fashioned county fair, there is likely to be an art exhibit that you could enter and compete in.

And keep drawing every day. . . . and you will be a winner some day!