The main thing about any MA school is whether you feel that you could fit in there. You'll have to watch several classes, see how the instructor(s) relate to their students, how they represent their art. If its a business, what exactly, are they selling. Any that promote a myth too fervently (or at all) are not the kind of school that I could seriously get into.
Some people want to imagine themselves the living extension of some bygone golden era. Those will not be happy with anything lacking such an atmosphere.
Other people care only about practical, street-ready, self-defense. Those will not be happy with any elements that are purely traditional.
Those are the extremes between which most people fall. I, certainly, fall between them. I like a moderately traditional MA which also allows for a margin of individual freedom when it comes ot personal repertoir. Some instructors encourage this while others are offended to their very marrow by it. I like instructors who are serious about their art but who have not imersed the whole of their identity in it, who don't pine away for having been born a couple of centuries too late. Someone who has found both value and application for MA in the real world, here and now...he or she is the type of role model I can respect best of all.
It took me a few tries to find the perfect fit. I've got two of them. One is TKD, my favorite, in which I have 1st dan. The other is Jujutsu, in which I am starting over at white. Neither instructor has yet met the other. When they do I am sure they'll both find much in common. Both center on one art primarily but have somewhat an eclectic flair. Both have well-developed senses of humor and are able to laugh at themselves. Both are very, very good at their chosen art but hold other arts too in great respect. I have met some MA instructors who have none of these qualities.
Anyway, that is what I find most important about choosing an MA school. May you too find your perfect MA school fit.
