After locating a school that interests you, visit it and look around. Ask whether you can watch a class. If the instructor says "No" or asks you to pay for watching, that's a bad sign. Watching is the only way to tell what you are getting into, and most good teachers want you to do that before you sign up. A few teachers even require prospective students to watch a class or two before enrolling in their schools. The feeling of the dojo is very important. Sit down and look around. Do you feel comfortable? Do you want to stay or to get up and leave? Are you edgy? Does the place feel hostile? In the West, we tend to dismiss considerations of these sorts, but they are probably the most important. Search for the proper feeling rather than for fancy furnishings. Watching a class, your attention will probably go first to the teacher. But it is also important to look carefully at the students. It's important to ask yourself whether its students are people you like being around. Do you feel welcome in the dojo? Do the students smile? Do they help one another? Are they willing to talk to you? The answers to these questions can tell you a lot about a school. Look at the students and see how many seem injured. See if there are an unusual number of braced knees, taped toes, and bound wrists. Injuries sometime occur in the finest Aikido classes, as they do in all classes involving physical activity. A few braces or bandages are to be expected. But, if everyone in the room is wearing a brace of some sort and the practice seems rough, think carefully about joining the dojo. It may be that the people in the group practice recklessly. Ask yourself whether the students in the dojo seem to be flourishing. Do the advanced students seem stable, confident, happy, and humble? Are they at least striving to develop these qualities through their training?