Couldn't pass up the opportunity now having read "93 Reasons your Dojo is a McDojo" ! Also, the time between grades is too short in my opinion (6 months or so) . "You must address Students using traditional Japanese words! I've seen this scene with my eyes 2 weeks ago. Ive noticed that I have a really hard time reading my opponents movements so I tend to get hit a lot. McList on a McWebsite, get off your high horse and go do something about it - like teaching good quality alternatives to McDojos that work. HellooooooooPlease no post my email public,reason i put them is for learn martial arts but no store in my house after may be my kids.no want nothing.I try to sale all package after they no use, tournaments tropies are simple plastic, just size is the diferent, and i has to paid 55 for each division plu each person paid enter to watch them, and belt cost 40 dll or they no give to them.this is great bussines right. It is considered one of the most honorable ranks in martial arts, which everyone cannot achieve. No place to observe, free class was offered few returned. I have to agree, the only one that seems questionable to me is #84 (Kata having hidden techniques). I taught there for two years. The the name of the style you are studying has your teachers name in it. Mental strength is something that is not often trained in dojos. there are a lot of different blocks and strikes (which are often subjected to rule 13) that you can learn only if you take the next rank by paying an exams. :) Food for thought, at least! 914 Pat Booker Rd Universal City TX 78148 (210) 566-0020. Great list, and I'm glad we don't commit too many of it ;-) Yes, a standard age uke block to a bat would be bad, but that's why application of that block is not shown with a bat, not in a quality school. There are those of us who still respect the true meaning and sanctity of the martial lifestyle. And they wonder why people call them mcdojos. I learned on a mat and have done and demonstrated on concrete and pavement for fun (affter years of training). Capitalism make all of this dying.is all about money.So sad but true, Hey Jesse, just look at this shit. Let me fill you in on something. So if it really is preperation for real fights why use a sheltered environment? 1995, in my 8th grade. It's a McDojo. This way, you'll find yourself being sent to the source rather than another drive-thru McDojo. Grandmaster General Choi Hong Hi is the grandmaster of the style I am learning now the other now Eternal Grandmaster H. U. Lee impressed me with their accomplishments. Gymnastics can be great, if not mandatory.) Question: How would you find out if places that teach other martial arts (kenpo, kickboxing, MMA, aikido, taekwondo, muy thai, etc) are McDojos? Ever asked your Sensei about his fight-winning certificates, records, or evidence. Not everyone was allowed to test. And yeah, youre still teaching classes sometimes. Worse, they even determined that what I said, about him being a bully and abusive along with letting a kid tell an adult what to do, and other garbage, including nearly harming a kid, and causing one kid as of 2015, to have 2 mental breakdowns like I did in 2017, and in 2018 nearly causing a kid that is no more than about 8 years old as of 2018, to nearly have a mental break down. are you the one on America's Got Talent? As a result, they may pay for grades, whether subtly or not. Not everybody who is overweight is in "bad" shape. 80. An additional one that I know exists at a school near my home is: a Street Combat Course. Please read. Why? Either I missed something or you forgot to mention the filthy world of dojo politics. Traditional and authentic martial arts sensei, whether they teach karate, taekwondo, Kung-Fu, or Judo, have one thing in common: the ultimate devotion and love for the craft. If you allowed to test, you had already proven yourself. New students are required to show up on their first day 10 -15 minutes early so they can pay before first class. Now I'm studying Muay Thai and I'm happy with it. Though my family and I always referred to the classes as just "Martial Arts" when deciding what sessions I wanted to go to that week, it was made very clear when I first started that the martial art I was learning was Tae Kwon Doe. c) No ones seems to have ever heard of the japanese master, let alone find him d) after translating one of his 'found' Dan certificates, states nothing of the sort about the martial arts e) keeps swapping styles to earn grades Mental strength requires an entirely different type of training, which you get from frequent practice in the dojo over a period of at least a few years (for a child at least; perhaps this comes through experience of life as well, but I wouldn't know that!). But recently, I was reading some news and blogs on the topic of black belt children, out of sheer boredom. But if learning to fight is important to you, find a style and gym where you get to test your abilities in non-compliant, preferably full contact sparring. Get your black belt in a year or a year and a half, they demonise other taekwondo organisations, can't cross train, no contact sparring and finally they keep you in 1st dan for over 15 years because Grand master Rhee is scared of going the itf or making their own organisation, Rhee Tae Kwon Do is the largest martial art school in Australia and one of the largest in the world with between 900 and 1300 branches. Obviously, some kids will be talented if theyve trained for years. You really need to excel to advance from there. To me, "Flexibility" in martial arts is some supplement to kicks or for exercise (stress relief for example). As for mcdojos tho, I see them all over the place here in PA, I only took instruction like 20 years ago, living in colorado. The sensei who instructs us is a second dan black belt. Some schools teach it with a very bent arm, so that the forearm is perpendicular to the downward path of said bat. Ameri-do-te ROCKS!!! "Let me just tell you that my God guided me to this resource." The newest student had brown belt in taekwondo 15 years ago, he can keep it with a 2nd kyu rank after paying a belt transfer fee. Actually Seung Dong is legit and has been teaching for a long time. Bullmans looks quite a bit better in that the head instructor has actual fight experience. BJJ has very strong links to lineage and people dont start schools until they have been training for a long time. That's why in small cities there'll be very few people interested in a more authentic dojo. 85. I dont think that my dojo is a McDojo but still I would like to know. 4-You are the sensei's bodyguard/bully. I want to thank an awesome medical Doctor in the person of Dr Anthony Gomina, who has made my family proud in trust and urgency, he bought off one of your comment: "if you ever see students having class wearing anything but the prescribed uniform" is about disrespecting tradition or being a moron is absurd. I always called it pay-your-dough karate, lol. Some valid views but many listed contradicted each other. I live in Knoxville and Ive looked everywhere for a non chain dojo. It is a natural martial art, based in leverage and balance. ;-)) That is irresponsible and hazardous to the students health. Rhee taekwondo EX regional instructors/branch instructors But thank you for this article and it made me laugh with a the signs # 47, 30, 44, 45, and especially #49 which reminds me of the McDojo part of Napolean Dynamite where the teacher wears an american flag pants uniform that did speak that way. Picture "The Office" set in a martial arts school. I am disappointed for you and likewise wish you success and happiness." The good news is there already are a good amount of legitimate schools of all styles, you just have to know how to look for them. As seen in this interview with Philip Sahagun, martial arts should help improve your body and mind. If he claimed to master any kind of Silat, just prove it. So they do non-martial art methods and focus only on flexibility. I know of a place where the master instructor is a self declared 5th dan in a martial art he's invented, basically it looks like he's just added all his 1st dans in taekwon-do, jujitsu etc together! Reading this my dojo slips more and more to the mcdojo side every day. I'd say he was definitely more famous as an actor and philosopher than as an actual martial artist though. The instructor refuses to teach you certain techniques, because they are too deadly, 45. But it doesnt have to be that way. This is exactly as it should be. We have a gym in our town in which other people come to train for example volleyball an then after them we come an train karate and so on.Our dojo has a Facebook page which only says the style of karate (traditonal Wado Ryu) and our sensei's phone number.Only 4 people have black belts 3 of them have lower black belts like the 1st and 2nd dan and our sensei has got 6th dan (he's 50+ ). Their actions disrupt the image of real ancient Shotokan Karate when Gichin Funakoshi alive. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu uses the principles of action - reaction, leverage, and base. Also, your arm doesn't have the strength to block a bat so you wouldn't get far with that anyway. This is because the black belt is reserved for adults and has a symbolic meaning of mastery. I personally make qigong part of my training and it had really awesome results. You call the head of the dojo eternal grandmaster. 95: Bigmouthed dumbfucks get mentioned honors at the Federation The premier Martial Arts Forum on the web! See if you recognize it, you are g k r just another p r stunt pathetic That became worse after Masatoshi Nakayama death. Your sensei cant explain the meaning of any given technique. Perhaps I am a snob, I'll take that. Im not sure who to ask this but thought you could give an opinion on this. I know there's an exception to every rule, but I can't find one here. If you can close the distance, and stun them with the initial counter, they won't have the time to throw that second punch. The advice he gave us was" if your the best in the class your in the wrong class". I agree with 92 of the 93, The one I disagree with is 'camo' belt. To achieve this we follow the guidance of the Tao & Zen teachings. You know I had to put my big sister out there real quick and so did my fellow instructors (one telling her: "Now you know you just started training last month"). Today 99% of the dojo are Mac dojo. Our sensei somtimes jokes with us. Conditioning was a huge part of the class. this one applies to other martial arts as well. 86. Openly disrespecting other styles isn't cool. (Just take a look at the pics of their front line forces currently in Ukraine, enough to make you lose your appetite!) I did pretty well in sparring against others in my classes. He punched me in the chest several times, it wasnt a big thing but it left two dark marks, which did not hurt (I am, after all, a somewhat tough guy), but I had to explain it to wife, friends at the beach, and it was sincerelly annoying. Kids love the flashy techniques and love to roll around the floor, do cartwheels and other fun stuff, so at the moment, we are considering using our own coloured Doboks/Gi (in my opinion Gi's are much more durable and coloured because the white ones get dirty when they take the bike to train) and even our own belt system (but for those who want to still be able to be promoted in WT Taekwondo) as it seems that it is not Taekwondo itself that makes them come back, but the community and the pleasure that moving like a martial arts actor gives them. This can be seen with traditions such as ranked belts, bowing and chants. This a western trait of instant gratuity. And I quickly saw the difference with my previous sifu's. 94. Shouldnt martial art schools be teaching the children (and adults) these qualities of mental strength, in a perfect world? That so-called Scorpion kick is created first by such posers, claiming that this new unseen technique is "KARATE KICK!!!" However, I did start to notice later on that occasionally the instructor would refer to it as "karate". After searching through multiple McDojos, we were so fortunate to find a dojo that meets none of the McDojo requirements, and our son (now 13) has been attending 6 years - and I have since started up too. as the years passed the owner of the club startet a franchise consept with other club owner. It's what is assessed at the gradings. A "dojo" that makes other students feel like entering into a ring competition masked as "training" when going to the dojo instead of entering it to learn as much as he/she could. Almost everyone does pay 200-300 euro or dollars to hight ranks tests. -Insists on being a style of self-defense, but they do not teach you to identify and avoid situations and potentially dangerous people, 70. Obviously, this is more difficult for more popular arts such as Karate where the community is more fractured. 5 days a week you make the kids do their homework first (let's be honest, as much as I love Karate school comes first for my kids), then you have them for an hour or two for training. I started a new system altogether (Karate) And I've had no regrets on my decision. All times are GMT-7. A Dojo is a place where martial arts are taught and practiced. You can go into something thats better pressure tested. Students scream more than they bow. Email : idealmugheescompany@gmail.com Sure formal most of the time, but to think there is something wrong training is your street/work cloths is a little to unrealistic. They are a McDojo for sure! Students bow more than they punch. His other student's would teach the newbies, but because they didn't explain anything correctly, within my group of 6 students. I am NEVER wrong! They watch over all schools. (Such as studies. What part of SEA? So let me get this right, in stead of developing your own system and club you waste time wrighting this pile of shite. Once students advance to green belts, we begin sparring. Well, I'm now in JKA, since 3 years already, so I had time to notice things and form an opinion. ", "How did he pass? One place was playing the song spring in my step during Kata. the move that you repeatedly do becomes illegal. PPS. And I will bookmark this site and share it with my teacher so that he can read the 93 signs. ", Actually, when I use to train Kendo in Japan, we used as a salute just as we enter, and when we leaved the dojo as well. They punch before within their reach in competitions. However. Black Belt Factory. We compare this to the "sport" of Karate which we in the traditional way do not recognise as true karate. Ahh the mcdojo times I really wonder whatever happened to that guy. Crickets. My Soke does interm black belts too, I think it's crap but what can ya do? 80-b. Just ask him, and he doesn't understand it, he's bullshit. *You are doing kata to music. Your comment might be taken more seriously if it seemed a bit more literate. Gyms that have bad technique/training that compete will quickly be destroyed. 10. Good evening Jesse-san , I'm so happy that I am able to read about your blogs about Karate , especially about Mcdojos .. sadly I lately knew that my dojo is a Mcdojo luckily I knew about your blog so I am going to share my experience about it. Yes, and here are my adds: But, I was more the funny Senpai, smiled a lot and made my classes fun for the kids. You know in the 90's, there were companies that popped up, teaching dojo's how to have a revolving door dojo and fill your pockets at the same time. I have been trainig for a year now and I have a green belt( I skipped belts(and that's very probably not good but I knew what I needed to know for the green belt)). Were not on about private lessons too which are completely legitimate and are a good way to learn and improve. The term is a play on words of 'McDonalds', meaning that like McDonalds, a McDojo is common and isn't a good experience for its customers. >> Your dojo's main training area consists of 4 walls and a roof on top (hopefully!). We have coloured gi and our belts have stripes for progress, but you can't pay to advance or anything like that, and getting to 1st dan black belt takes about 7 years minimum. Love the article; looking forward to reading more! "Take Kwan's Dough" was a joke among the TKD instructors there.. Also called Amyy. I desperately need a sleeveless gi! If the Dojo provides unclear details about the teacher's lineage or the sensei's sensei, it's an evident red sign that the dojo is McDojo. Should I be concerned? It is my understanding that if you are not thinking about becoming a branch instructor, Rhee does not see the point in promoting you to black belt. ;). Those couples formed of instructors with a female student happens.. There are a lot of original video clips featuring Sensei Morris on the web. Therefore, the instructor effectively gets away with it by not having a legitimate martial art to be called out on. Agreed that a crescent kick could be used against a knife; but one could make a case that it's irresponsible to teach empty-hand techniques against knife-wielding attackers without a thorough discussion of why there is almost always a weapon of some sort around (chair, broom, pool cue etc) and why that might be a far better option than an empty-hand technique. Thanks! Read the Zen Master Takuan Soho and it is clear. WHY? My last two years of regular training has only blessed me with 7th kyu, so I still have at least another 3 years to get Shodan Black Belt. Fake Dojos generally avoid sparring as they want to keep the learner in a comfortable and safe zone. I somehow by accident ended up in what after lots of googling seems to be the only Dojo where you can quit any time you want and fees are not even half the price of most other dojos. All other martial arts are bull$hit. Due to the widespread popularity (watering down) and commercialization of the martial arts in the last half century, a huge percentage of McDojos have popped up in the United States, North America, and around the world. I never new they existed till today. The dojo to worry about is your own and how are you going to keep it running. After some contemplation I have come to the conclusion that I would LOVE to run a daycare dojo - can you imagine how AWESOME those kids would be if they were taught good Karate? However this just made me question the school I looked into. Otherwise judges decisions would be far too random and inconsistent to the point where luck decides the winner. The Japanese by no means fought to preserve Karates Ryukyu roots so why should others fight to preserve what the Japanese have impressed upon the beast we call Karate? Sadly, there are a few Aikido dojos out there like this. One phrase. :> While I would agree that blocking a baseball bat with your forearm isn't the best option, it is better than getting hit in the head. Rhee taekwondo is another one. -nor the laws on personal defense of your country. I have been insinuations where I fell in a workplace from dangerous heights and minimized the damage from the fall by having the ability to land correctly, or roll out of a fall.Also, a defining aspect of Korean martial arts is the kiyop, the yell. Kyu grade students are recruited to become instructors early on, and put in accelerated learning programs. Fight clubs. 1 Choose Program Adult Programs If you are looking for something that's not a . I have had a tough time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts That one made me cringe too because I love it and would use it on the 'street'. 31. YIKES!!!! McDojo Nr. And it was HUGE. Sometimes I would get to run them down the road. However, there are still a significant number of McDojos around and I have no doubt that many more will be opened in the future. Your sensei adds/changes/removes techniques when he feels like it. The term Bullshido McDojo is a demeaned form of bushido which means ways of the warriors. Who knew? You'd be telling the honest truth. About the only thing on the list I disagree with is the techniques having numbers. Sticking your arm in front of a swinging baseball bat is simply a stupid idea, no exceptions. In short, when you read about each individual gym, you should quickly realize what they involve. The vision of Premier Martial Arts School and Fitness Academy is to inspire and excite people's lives through martial arts and at the same time instill the life skills and character of a true martial artist while upholding important values like courtesy, patience, respect, self control, integrity and discipline. a 4th Dans in Rhee Tae Kwon Do have usually been training and teaching longer than many of the 6th and 7th Dans from ITF taekwondo, pretty close being a shotokan instructor having your own dojo. Wow, my first dojo was most definitely a McDojo going by this list - fortunately I left after around a year and a half. When the occupation finished circa 1950 the modifications imposed were so deeply imposed to original style they just stick with it as it was instead of "cleaning" it from the japanese influence. He is the kind of teacher who makes you repeat the same simple movement over and over until you do it perfectly right. Although do tend to block club attacks with my forearm ( i condition them) if i cant block at the wrist i think id rather have a busted forearm then head. So your sensei could be taken away from you as easily as mine. Don't fall for it, folks! I've had varying degrees of contact in class in and tournaments. (Depends on what is the goal. A McDojo is a martial arts school that has lowered its standards in favour of business practices to make as much money as possible out of teaching martial arts. This is a sure fire way of seeing what the gym has to offer. I really respect your education, training and opinions. 97: The diploma shows Japanese language that even Japanese do not understand I'd say without a doubt this is a McDojo, but whether or not it's Bullshido is not clear from the website. Its a known fact that McDojos are more inclined to increase students fitness and health rather than teaching them how to fight or defend. GIVE ME A FREE MANI PEDI NOW YOU TRASHBAG OF A MAN. That and the movie Foot Fist Way, love that movie. My point was to tell people who might not know that there are still people who teach martial arts because they have the passion, that they want to help their communities in some positive way and for the fun of it without ripping you off in the process My god, there's too many signs to spot a Mac Dojo. The students showing up and making an effort is what is important. They decided to grant me a brown sash, provisional black; they decided that my skill in kung fu was enough to warrant a black sash, but that my experience in their style was not enough to warrant a black sash in their style. Hi Jess, I just read this and got a good chuckle. Even light sparring uses quite a bit of cardio. Blocking at the wrists could cause the opponents arms to buckle at the elbows and lead to an elbow into your face or chest. I have been trainig for a year now and I have a green belt( I skipped belts(and that's very probably not good but I knew what I needed to know for the green belt)). Sadly, thats not the case with McDojos. I am from Southeast Asia. No Sparring. To All Who Read This, Now, it has to be mentioned that this is NOT a normal thing for the association. There are forbidden techniques that only certain students are taught. But they will eventually get there if they keep coming to their training. it is my understanding and experience that once you compete for your dojo then you bring more clients in! Not that they are actually hidden and only ninja can learn them, but it encourages the student to really study the Kata and the application of the moves. If you walk in there and people are visibly out of shape and dont look like martial artists then you have every right to be skeptical. I've seen 9th kup students successfully attempt board breaks, but generally breaking is not started until senior belts, 4th kup and above. There are definitely fake teachers, fraudulent martial arts, and McDojo in Japan. You must pay for an entire year up front, no refunds (long-term contracts with no termination clauses). Te, the original predecessor to Kara-Te, goes back to the 14th Century and includes many of the Kobudo arts also. Some will be terrible at Kumite, some will be incapable of memorizing even the simplest of Kata. McDojos are not only pricey and deceiving but can have adverse effects on ones mind and body. Although these are intended to create discipline and togetherness, sometimes people take this too far. I have NEVER seen a dan grade above 4th or 5th and been much impressed because at that level it's all politics and opinion, and no small measure of ego. They might have more physical strength too, but thats just a bonus. I mean, it would be an absolute nightmare to spend years learning something inauthentic or a hoax. Altough the sifu/sensei says "Our style is compact and direct and easy to learn!" My Sigung (teacher of teachers) always had a hard time keeping his kwoon afloat. And then throw up a little. The Belgian Police academy has incorporated some of Kissaki's techniques into its training manual. But the growing number of fake martial art schools is somewhat disheartening. they also use McDonalds titles like. I wouldn't say hidden I would say. unnoticedheheheh..you see what I did there? You might have seen young kids wearing black belts. When you go into shizen tai, or yoi dachi, you must scream your lungs out. I dont want to waste money if my skills arent accurate. Sparring has numerous benefits. Regarding the "high block and baseball bat" thing, I respectfully disagree. Attacks are over-committed and techniques that won't work on an MMA ring do actually work on the street. Its laughable that the guy is suited up because he offers zero resistance against the defender throughout the drill. It is a serious organisation. Perhaps he could help? I also realised that not many kids want to learn to fight, but they do want to learn to do the moves, and in my opinion, WT Taekwondo isn't really an effective martial art if you have someone capable of (street)fighting in front of you. "The grandmaster has a name/title he invented which sounds Japanese but doesn't translate into what he thinks it does". I always thought a lot gets unlocked in martial arts like karate and kungfu once you learn to harness your qi. My sensei is a bit overweight but still faster and stronger than most students. We train to better our selves and our bodies, but the study of defense and attack will only ever be "real" if you have to defend yourself or people you care about. Although not for everyone, the point of competing is to test your skills in the wild. Question for you. I honestly dont know Then its likely you've picked a wrong art. Even the mediocre ranked one could be dangerous if he was properly trained. The fact that they form little cliques and attack anyone who disagrees is exactly the kind of bullying that many of us teach our students to defend against. If not, maybe its time to go and check. It doesnt automatically make them bullshido, but they probably are. If they dropped the "self defense" marketing, no one would give them so much crap online and instead give respect like they do to other TMA styles that market the beautiful culture and art knowing it wouldnt be practical as a "self defense" in todays world. However, as hes not. That man earned everyone's respect, and clearly was a true master. However I know why they exist. I mean no offense to anyone, as this is certainly a commonly held belief in many circles. Each "stripe" is a period of 4 months. I mean specifically, the level of the students is rather low (there are exceptions though). 3RD DAN REGIONAL MANAGER: REGIONAL INSTRUCTOR KWAN JANG NIM Spell is either oss or oos and have no idea what it means or how insulting it can be the way they are using it Lee-san, that's a controversial one for sure! Im unsure if I should sign up now. And it doesn't have a few of the characteristics listed here. it has too many of them. Look in the Dojo i bring my kids, ussualy they said, for this level you has to wear this uniform, and this weapon, simple bo staff they sale 90 Dll, in store or amazon cost 20 or 30 they use excuse, them insurance require all weapons approve for the shihan,if you no buy it they look you bad, a sword for be Black belt cost 350, double sword cost 750, whattttttt!!! Only Ameri-Do-Te has techniques to defend against yourself. A sensei is keen on educating the student, so he can never miss out on the meaning behind each move, Kata and Kumite. They have a after school and summer kiddy krotty kare program. You can contact Dr.Anthony Gomina Im fairly new to owning a school, myself. You dont really know what it is, but something is definitely wrong. that is true Ive trained in some in the uk. You school sounds like one of the few gems where children actually learn martial arts!! Love my dojo and Budo. In martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you should be able to directly trace the lineage of any black belt. :). OSU is short of Oshi Shinobu (Endure under pressure) It is part of traditional dojo etiquette like Kyokushin and Shotokan and possibly other styles.