How To Choose A Good Martial Art School ?

The endless blossoming of Fraudulent Martial Art Schools and the Intentional, Systematic and Unethical Perversion of Traditional and Mixed Martial Arts into Combat, Sport, Acrobatics/Tricking, PT, Breaking etc by people who practice them (Irrespective of the Art they claim to be teaching, be it Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido, or even Kung Fu) in the world today, is the reason why anyone who wants to Learn a Martial Art today has to think twice before joining anyone of them....

During my Dojo Hunting days, I used to visit every possible Dojo in my area and stand and spend hours and sometimes make many visits, always standing silently but observantly in a corner of the dojos, Observing :

• What the School was Focusing On? The importance it gave to Spiritual & Mental Training in addition to Physical Training?
  -> Since you are looking for a Martial Art School Its clear that the Focus Of the School must be 100% in sync with the Philosophies and Teachings of the Great Masters of the past which is to achieve "Perfection of Character" and "Mastering the Divine Art of Peace". Which is possible only if the school focuses Max on Spiritual and Mental Training. 
• What kind of techniques were being taught and how they were being taught. The Quality and Quantity of Verbal Explanations and Practical Demonstrations given by the instructor when some thing new was being taught.
  -> A Good school will be very systematic and will start with teaching Dojo Etiquette, Philosophy, History etc. and then will continue with Body Conditioning and preparing the body for Martial Art Training.
  -> A Good Teacher will start with teaching basics and will very very slowly progress to Intermediate and then to Advanced training and will never hurry no matter even if the students do not have patience.
  -> A Good Teacher will not rush teaching more and more... as a Good Teacher always focuses on Quality not Quantity.
  -> A Good Teacher will ensure that enough Description/Theory/Explanations are given in sync & relation with the Practical Training.
  -> A Good Responsible Teacher will be very responsible of who he teaches and what he teaches... He will never teach very violent Combative or Killing Techniques to any and everyone.
• Whether their focus was towards the Pure Art form or towards the Combat/Fighting, Sport Perspective of the Art.
  -> As the Philosophy of a Martial Art does NOT match/with any of these perversions, a school that teaches Excess/Only Combat/Fighting, Sport, Tricking etc generally will not and cannot teach the Pure Art form which is based on the philosophy of the Art Form....  
• The Care and Attention given to the students
  -> A Good Teacher will give ample attention to all of his students.
  -> But weakest students will always be given more attention.
• The Strength of the Class.
  -> A Good Teacher will only keep as many students as he can handle and give ample attention.
• The Discipline of the Class
  -> A good school will have strict Discipline and will ensure all students follow it by the letter.
• The Student-Teacher Relationship
  -> Avoid ones where its too Restricted, Difficult for students to Approach the Teacher OR where the Teacher is Over Friendly
  -> Many bad teachers have a habit of Exploiting their students in many ways, so be very careful.
  -> Many teachers are jealous of Students who do some things better than them.
• and finally the Ambiance of the dojo whether it was friendly or dangerously competitive etc.
  -> A good Martial Art dojo is a place where there is Love, Respect, Compassion and Brotherhood.

Another fact over the years that I have learnt is that Big Names/Brands/Labels may not guarantee that you will actually be taught Martial Art the way it is supposed to be and with proper focus on the core philosophy of Martial Art... Never forget Some or the most Authentic Teachers are almost unknown to public...

It is true that I had to do my Home work to be able to figure out what was good and what was not, but I am happy that, all the hard work finally paid off...

Note: These points are applicable for any Martial Art Style/School