Budderfly

The following transcript helps to paint a better picture of what a McDojo is; ******************************* A big sign greets the customers. It says "McDojo’s Over 99 Million Promotions Served!" Instructor: Welcome to McDojo’s! How may I promote you today? Customer: I would like a Black Belt, please. Super sized if possible… I've had a few too many hamburgers lately. Instructor: Would you like a stripe with that? Customer: Hmmm…sure…why not. I haven’t had one in a long time. Instructor: What about a title? Customer: Do you have any Grand Masters? Instructor: Why yes…hundreds in fact. That's our most popular title! Customer: Excellent. I will take one of those. How long will it take? Intructor: Well, it used to take a lifetime to prepare one of these, and only the most devoted could afford the sacrifice. But now we have them pre-packaged in almost every style. A few old holdouts wouldn’t give us their style's recipe. But we have some guys working on that right now. Customer: Well those three in the poster look good. I’ll take those, and don't skimp on the patches! I love pretty patches. Instructor: Ok sir…Coming right up. 5 minutes and 20 customers later... Instructor: Here you go sir. Customer: Umm…I think there is a mistake. I paid for a red stripe. That’s a white one. Instructor: The board of directors decided that the traditional red stripes reminds them too much of blood. They don’t want to project a bad image. Customer: But red is the color you have used since you opened so many years ago! Everyone I knew grew up on red stripes! It’s traditional to have them with the Grand Master Combo. Instructor: There’s nothing I can do sir…Oh sir, you owe us an extra fee for the stripe upgrade to white. Customer: Okay that’s it. Let me speak to whoever runs this place. Great Great Grand Master Pan Zie: I am the one you seek. What do you wish to know? Customer: Why can’t I get a red strip with my black belt? Great Great Grandmaster Pan Zie: Red was no longer cost effective for our traditional training paradigm. Customer: So you're saying red costs too much to make? Great Great Grandmaster Pan Zie: Your insights do you well, young Grasshopper. But you would do well to keep these secrets…secret. Customer: But you charge more for the white even though it costs less to make! Great Great Grandmaster Pan Zie: I am sorry…there are many more contracts and promotions I have to dispense. Customer: That’s it! I've had enough of you guys. I am going to take my business to Burger Kwon!

I read in a backissue of Black Belt Magazine that all white uniforms make you look "crisp" and solid, and all black uniforms make you look faster. The best way to appear both solid and fast is to wear black pants and a white top. It looks very smart too. NEVER wear black top and white pants though, it'll make you look "squashed".

Come on, who saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and thought Michaelangelo was awesome with the nunchucks? I didn't start watching Bruce Lee / Jackie Chan movies until I was 14 or something. But they influenced me as well.

besides play-fighting/wrestling with my boyfriend, no.

Feeling the love...

Hello everyone! great discussions here, I was hoping to get some good topics like the ones I've seen here in my forums, but then again, I don't have as many members. =) I train at Tong Moo Do. It is a MMA but I can debate that it isn't a McDojo. Our grandmaster's philosophy is to not create the perfect martial art, but the perfect student. Of course, perfect is impossible. You are always constantly learning and setting the bar higher. I am an assistant instructor in the Children (5-8 yrs) and Junior (9-14) Blue/Purple/Red belt classes and I am getting my brown belt in 3 months. 2 years after that, I'll earn my 1st Dan Black Belt. I have a natural ability with weapons. Probably because I used to do baton twirling for 6 years (don't laugh, my mom put me in it - I wanted to play hockey). My two favorites is the double (or single) nunchuckus and the long staff. I am proud of myself and how far I have gotten. I joined for numerous reasons. I like knowing that I can be safe, my fitness/flexability has improved and my confidence in myself has increased. I feel as if I have gained a second family. We are very close and supportive of each other. I compete now and then, but not to win medals. I go for the experience. I like sparring, but after awhile, you get to know your partners and the style is the same. At tourneys, you'll be against "fresh" martial artists from a plethora of styles. I also do forms and weapon forms too for the heck of it. Because I am female and 25, there is only a small handful of people that go in it. Sometimes there are good turnouts though. I also do photography in my spare time, and I work for a Major book publisher/distributor in Canada. I love the outdoors. I'm going River rafting in a couple weeks and camping a lot through the summer. You gotta love British Columbia. We have everything. Mountains, Forest, Oceans, Lakes, Deserts, Marshland, Trails, you name it! I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. I'm not marrried (yet) but I do have a great boyfriend. We met at Tong Moo Do. He joined 5 months before I did. He is also incredibly talented. He was pulling 540 kicks 3 months after he started! And his form is excellent. He's just amazing. He is going back to school to take philosophy. I don't have any kids, but I do have a Godson named Kai. He's 2 and a half. Funny age, that. Some people call it the "Terrible two's" but I prefer to call it the "Information Station". It's amazing watching him learn and grow. I have a website and if you want to check it out click here: https://www.budderfly.net. I have a Forum, Photo Gallery, E-mail Accounts for members and other little bells and whistles that usually go with a website. Cheers everyone! Budderfly

Our school has a Black Belt Club, but we only offer it to students who want to make the commitment. Usually we wait about a year before they can join. We don't try and offer it to get contracts and make money. Our school is all about self-improvement. Our students (kids and adult) come for different reasons. Self Defense, Fitness, Confidence etc. Agreed. Instructors should be able to lead by example. Ha ha ha. I always wondered what that belt was for.

Shotgun kicks are a good way to increase speed and form. Try kicking multiple roundhouses (for example) with one leg (don't bring it down!) and hopping/moving forward with the other. Or stand stationary and do a few sets on each side every day.

Tong Moo Do: I like how we are exposed to all styles and are open minded on new ideas and techniques.

In Tong Moo Do, we start with a plain white Dobak (Korean for uniform) with the school crest. You can get the Canada/Korea flag crest too, but it's optional. After about 1 year into the journey, and you show that you want to makw the commitment, you join the Black Belt Club. You get a new uniform of Black pants and White top. You also get a Black Belt with your name embroidered on it put on the "Wall of Goals" and it stays there until you earn it. Excellent motivation tactic. The SWAT team of instructors have Red Tops and Black Pants. The Demo team has Blue Tops (with embroidery on the back) and Black Pants. The Black Belts have a full Black dobak.

Our SWAT (Instructors) team used to use the methods of "Praise, Correct. Praise" But we replaced it with "Praise & Raise the bar". What I mean by this is if you see a student kicking average height and not pointing their toes, tell them, "That looks good, but if you want to make it better, point your toes and see if you can go higher" Our instructor's creed is: 1. I will teach this class as if it is the most important class I will ever teach. 2. I am patient and enthusiastic 3. I will lead by example.

In Tong Moo Do, it takes us about 5 years to get 1st Dan Black belt