There are many martial art styles out there and choosing the right one for you may just be daunting and confusing. Usually which style of martial art and especially which school to choose are important decisions to make. Though there are thousands of schools that claim to provide you with world’s best training, you must be careful and practical in choosing your style and school.

In reality, the choice of "which martial art" is going to be different to person to person depending on his needs and situation. All martial arts are good –karate, kung fu, judo, kickboxing, krav maga – everything has its own goodness in it. You can train any of them, but when choosing between them you have to consider many practical aspects so that you choose the right one.

What you need to consider before choosing

1. Don’t fall a victim

There are literally many martial art schools that claim to offer the best martial arts. Well, if they were "the best", everyone would choose them. When choosing the style you have to use your commonsense to assess whether their claims is right or wrong. These schools just want business rather than properly teaching martial arts. Never fall victim to those marketing slogans that attracts you at the moment you read them. Never look for a short cut. It really takes a lot of patience and practice to master anything in the world.

2. List out your priorities

When choosing a martial art, you need to be clear of what you expect out of it. Some people train for self defense, some for competitions, some for fitness and so on. You must know why you want to start training. If you don’t know why you want to do martial arts, your endeavor is most likely going to fail.

3. Your style

As said above all martial arts are good. Though they can be performed by everyone, to get the most out of them, you need to know what the differences between them are. Do your background study and research and know more about these martial arts so that you will be in a better position to choose the best one suited for you. You should also be aware of the fact that many martial arts require formality, these include kendo, karate, kung fu etc. Some people may not be interested in these formalities.

4. Be practical

You have to be practical in certain things when choosing the right one for you. You most probably can’t choose kung fu because you like it the most but you have to travel for two hours to reach the nearest school. Look in the internet for nearest martial art schools and visit the premises, meet the instructors and people there. Talking to them will give you some idea about the place and environment.

Choosing the right style of martial art and school plays an important role in how you are going to go about it. Keep these points in mind when choosing the style and do your background-research to find the right style and school for you.