Some good advice from Bytsi.
One "seat of the pants" assessment beyond the goals (which is the biggest question) is, when looking at a given school, class, and instructor, is "Can you imagine yourself in there" and "would you want to be in there."?
FYI, I don't, as a standard policy, offer free trials (except I do have occassional "buddy/friend" nights, and also let women bring friends when they want to try classes. My thinking is that a class, or even a week or two, is not enough time to judge something. My thinking is "Watch, want, and commit (for at least some period of time). (the whole empty cup of tea thing . . .)
Just have some fun visiting some schools, watching, and asking questions.
Oh, also, I DO guarantee black belts . . . if someone sticks around long enough to qualify for the test. . .and if, after their test, they eventually finish up the parts of the test they invariably failed.
