Recently I met a girl who trained eagle claw, and came from a slightly north area of Houston. When I found out she did Kung Fu, I basically bombarded her with questions. She told me a bit about her style and school, and even showed me a video.

Ok, cool. They look decent. I wont judge until I see her perform, though.

So I invite her to my school. She comes to a forms class, and does pretty decent. She lacked enthusiasm though. My Sifu said he knew her father from somewhere.

Anyway, she came back two other times...another class, and a sparring night. She fought a white sash, and our gal held her own against her. (But she beat me up, imo. lol )

Anyway, when she did fight...she would just swing her arms around. She left herself wide open a lot (she just kept punching down the middle, didnt really bring her arms back too much)...but im a nice guy, and not very aggressive at all...so I just kinda moved back and let her whack on me.

When she got hit though, she would stop, and hold her "wound". Before that she had told us to spar her like a guy...but when we barely tapped her she would get a little...whiny?

ANYWAY, im going off topic. Just trying to set the atmosphere. She was a nice girl, just high and mighty sometimes.

One day, we start talking...and she randomly brings up the fact that my instructor(s) are slightly overweight. She said she could not trust and learn from someone who looked like that.

I did a double take. "What...?"
"Yeah, if they do kung fu, they shouldnt look like that!"

Im thinking..."Wait a minute. You never saw the head instructor fight, and the teacher that did fight was beating up on your brother (who also did kung fu)...and you're telling me that you cant trust someone who is overweight?"

That just...made me feel bad. We had thought she was interested in joining, but that was an OBVIOUS NO. I personally know my instructor is a phenomenal martial artist...But shes judging by weight. When I first walked into the school for the first time, that thought never even crossed my mind.

Hey...if she would have said "Im too attached to my other school, but it was fun." or "It just didnt fit my style..." or...whatever...fine, I could understand that. But judging by appearance? Blah.

When you guys walk into a school to check it out, does the physical appearance sway your opinion of the teacher? Even if you never see them perform?