What to ask a gym about private lessons and one on one time
Group class is the easiest part of a martial arts academy to supervise. Private lessons and one on one time are where risk concentrates, because the thing that keeps most people honest, being seen, is the thing a private lesson removes.
Why private lessons need their own policy
A group class has other students, other parents, and other coaches in the room. A private lesson, by design, does not. That is not a reason to avoid private lessons; it is a reason an academy should have a written rule for how they work, separate from its general code of conduct.
What a good policy looks like
- The lesson happens in view of others, in the main space or behind glass, not in a closed room.
- A parent is welcome to stay for the whole lesson, and the coach says so without being asked.
- Scheduling, cancellation, and payment happen through the academy's system, not a coach's personal phone or messaging app.
- A second adult, staff or another coach, is reachable in the building for the length of the lesson.
- The same coach screening and training rules apply to whoever teaches private lessons as apply to group class coaches.
What should give you pause
A closed door, a locked room, or a space with no line of sight from the lobby.
A coach who arranges lessons, times, or payment directly with your child rather than through the front desk.
An answer that a parent staying would make the child nervous, or that private lessons are simply "different" and do not follow the same rules as everything else at the academy.
No one else in the building during the scheduled time.
The question to ask
Before booking a private lesson, ask directly: "Where does this happen, and can I stay?" A good academy answers both parts without hesitation. See the full list of eight questions to ask any academy, and what certification requires of a coach before they teach anyone, in a group or alone.
What a reasonable policy allows
The aim is not to make private lessons impossible. Private lessons are how many students improve fastest, and a policy that bans them outright tends to be ignored rather than followed. A workable policy keeps the lesson visible and keeps a second adult in the building.
In practice that usually means private lessons happen during opening hours, in the main training space rather than a closed room, with a parent free to stay and watch. Communication about scheduling goes through the academy rather than between a coach and a child directly. None of that slows the lesson down, and all of it is easy to describe when a parent asks.