Shop around and check all the schools and studios in your area as well as the parks and rec department and YMCA in your community. You might find an instructor and/or program that does not have to worry about the bottom line and is more concerned with the type and quality of his students and not trying to make a living at martial arts. They do exist and not everyone has forgone that for the sake of a buck and located themselves in a high rent shopping center that is freshly painted in bright colors and where they nickel and dime you to death and are more concerned about testing fees and revenue than the quality of their program and students.
I myself love to have dedicated, mature, hard working students that I do not have to babysit who want to learn martial arts at a high level and some of the other old guys in this forum will tell you the same thing. While the fluff and puff schools are fine for a child learning self-confidence and self-esteem that oftentimes comes at the expense of the quality of the program for students like yourself.
