When have chosen a martial art to study your next choice will be which dojo or school to train at. In most large towns and cities you will find a karate, judo and aikido club and ever increasingly a street self defence teacher. There will also probably be self defence classes for women.
Of course nowadays we can look online at our prospective martial arts clubs and teachers. This is a great first step and can tell us a lot. As well as obvious things like how often the club trains - does it fit with your lifestyle? - you will usually see biographies of the martial arts teachers at the club.
You may enter into the world of martial arts wanting to win competitions and if this is the case you will be able to see their attitude to this and level of success. Many clubs - especially aikido clubs - are more about self development and improvement.
A visit to the martial arts club is highly recommended to meet the instructors and fellow students. You should feel welcome and that the environment is friendly and co-operative. Feel free to ask questions - how often do they expect you to train, what equipment may be needed and how often they run gradings. Some martial arts, like aikido, take around 7 years to reach black belt level whereas some styles of karate may only take a few years. Don't be misled by this but bear it in mind when choosing your martial art.
Street self defence classses are increasingly common and you should be able to find a local instructor. I personally believe that street self defence is one of the few combat systems which can be learnt from books and DVDs. If you are reasonably fit and healthy you can learn self defence moves from watching DVDs and following the moves. A martial art like aikido or judo has to be learnt with a real partner and in the right enviroment so although reading some books is great you will have to find a dojo when you want to start real training.
Choosing a martial art and club can be life changing so don't rush into it! Sadly, high percentages of people give up their martial art in the first few months and if you do your research up front you should minimise the chances of this.
