To begin, determine your goals. Rank these facets of martial arts from most important to you to least important:

• Competition. In the U.S. especially, martial arts are sports. Are you interested in competing, whether it be in sparring, grappling, forms and weapons competitions — or even in competing against yourself and your own limitations in a quest for improvement?

• Art. Some martial artists are most interested in technique — polishing a movement until it's perfect, learning the dozens of movements in kung fu or karate forms, creating musical or weapons forms, participating in public demonstrations and so on.

• Self-defense. For some, learning how to protect themselves and their families is the primary goal. Forms and competition are merely tools to perfect their ability to fend off attackers.

• Spirituality. As I mentioned before, Eastern mysticism is a large part of martial arts for many people. These martial artists are less interested in their physical skills than they are in developing what they call chi, or spiritual power.
  
  Christians don't believe in chi or Buddhism, so why am I even mentioning this? Simply because Christians can set and pursue their own spiritual goals. When Sam and I go to class or compete in tournaments, we pray together, asking God to help us glorify Him, and to remind us that we're pursuing a prize much more valuable than medals or trophies (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
  
  I said earlier that physical discipline can help increase overall self-discipline, and that includes spiritual discipline. Buddhist or Taoist martial artists meditate; Christians can pray and dedicate their art to God's glory. Instead of turning their spiritual eyes inward, Christians can invest physical discipline toward increased godliness (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).

Now that you have those ranked, review the benefits of martial arts and rank them similarly:

• Self-discipline
• Confidence
• Respect
• Fitness
• Relationship building
• Self-defense

Now that you have an idea of what you want to achieve in martial arts, you can start looking for a style and school:

• First, grab the Yellow Pages and find out what's available in your area. It won't do much good to decide that, say, Bak-Sing Choy Li Fut sounds perfect for you if the nearest school is 500 miles away. Check with your local YMCA or YWCA and community or civic centers as well; some of the best teachers around won't be in the phone book.

• Next you have several options:

  • Go to the library or get online and learn about the styles available in your area. One caveat: Schools vary as widely as their owners' personalities and teaching styles. What you read about may not be what you find, even if it has the same name.

  • Find out if there's a Christian martial arts school or affiliate near you (see more information). Some families prefer to stay in the fold, so to speak, especially if spiritual goals rank high in their priorities.

  • Solicit advice from friends who study martial arts or who have kids in martial arts. Chances are they'll recommend their own style/school, but at least you'll learn more about what's available to you.

You'll probably employ most, if not all, of these options in one order or another.

Eventually you'll want to start calling or visiting schools. Ask if you can observe a class or two. Bring the lists of priorities and goals along; talk with an instructor about them. Be sure to ask if the school teaches any religion or philosophy.

Many schools have some sort of introductory program with a few free or reduced-price lessons. Don't hesitate to take advantage of these; they know some students will try their school and decide not to sign up, just the way customers test-drive new cars.

Things to avoid:

• Videos, books or mail order. Training at home can be a good supplement to training in a school, but not a substitute for it. Without a live instructor, you'll miss out on almost all the benefits of martial arts training and you probably won't learn much.

• The hard sell. Depending on your state's law, most schools need you to sign some sort of liability paperwork. But if you visit a school and they want you to pay a hefty signup free, sign a long-term contract, pressure you to buy lots of expensive equipment or promise you your kids will be black belts in just a year or so, be suspicious. Martial artists call such schools "McDojos" — they're popular, they make lots of money and they crank out loads of belts, but the instruction is of dubious quality at best.
  
  If you feel like you're talking to a pushy used-car salesman, you probably are. Better schools tend to have nominal signup fees if they have one at all, let you pay by the month with no contract, let you buy needed equipment as you go and give you a black belt only when you've earned it.

• Killers R Us. Some schools disdain the sporting, spiritual and artistic aspects of martial arts and focus exclusively on self-defense. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, although these schools tend to attract a hard-core "Extreme Games" crowd and have lots of injuries; the training focuses on vicious, deadly hand-to-hand combat techniques. Not the kind of place you want to take your kids. Indeed, many such schools won't train anyone under 18 at all.

• Bully farms. If you've seen the movie The Karate Kid, you may remember "Cobra Kai," the brutal karate school whose students were all bullies. Unfortunately, such schools really are out there; their instructors tend to think less about character development and more about trophy acquisition. If you sense that a school has a sportsmanship-free, win-at-all-costs approach to tournaments, or see no attempt to teach responsible, appropriate public behavior to young martial artists, better cross it off your list.

• The Supreme Fighting Art. Some schools or styles say they've created the ultimate system, a collection of ancient Oriental secrets far superior to any other martial art, the newly discovered treasure that will transform you into a living weapon in no time, blah blah blah. Such hucksterism is no different than the latest diet fad or exercise machine infomercial. Different systems have different strengths and weaknesses, and anyone who tells you his style is the best style in all of history is either kidding himself or doesn't know what he's talking about.

Be patient; you may even sign up somewhere and decide you need something different in a month or so. Once you've settled on a style and school that works for you, though, stick with it. Jumping from style to style or school to school is just as tempting — and as unprofitable — as church-hopping.

— Greg Hartman