Re: Too much M/A?

[telsun]

Martial Arts is pretty wide spread now. There are many dojos, many "masters", many students, etc, etc.

 

Now do you think that this is a good thing? Sure it's a good thing that these things are offered to us and that information is widely available via video, books, internet.

 

But for the very many good, competent schools there are ten times as many charlitan/ Mcdojo's. I often long for the days gone by when there were few dojo's but all were good serious schools.

 

Whats your view?

[stuart]

I would agree that Martial Arts are more popular now than at any other time.

 

However I don't think that because their are more Dojo's a greater proportion of these are poor quality "McDojos's"

 

As particular styles expand, and students pass through the ranks and gain sensei status, surely the balance of good/bad Dojo's is sustained.

[Treebranch]

Personally I think we live in a time where fighting is less useful than it used to be say 100 to 200 years ago as a whole. Now days firearms are readily available to most people in most parts of the world, which greatly diminishes the real need to be highly trained. Also in those times these MA's probably used their skills more often than we do now in real situations. So I think first hand knowledge and Masters who actually faught to protect themselves were for the most part better trained than the majority of Modern practitioners. Of course, there are exceptions to everything. I'm sure there are many Modern Masters that are probably as good or better in some ways to their Ancient counterparts, but not many. Nothing can compare to real life experience, experience is the most important factor to any MA.

[aefibird]

I think that Martial Arts tend to go in waves of what is "in" and what is "out".

 

Where I live there are many TKD dojo's (4 in my small village alone!), but at one time you couldn't move round here without tripping over a judo student. Now that particular MA seems to be dropping out of fashion a little, to be replaced by other MA's.

 

I think the expansion of MA's is a good thing, although I wish that it wasn't seen as just another trend to latch on to, as shown by the worrying rise in McDojo's.

 

Its not the expansion of MA's that I find concerning, but the amount of people who are gaining black belts in an ever decreasing amount of time. At one karate school that is in the city near where I live, the average time from beginner to white belt is now only 1 &1/2 to 2 years. At one point it would take many years training to get black belt, but now it seems that at some clubs (the McDojos) you only have to turn up and be able to put your suit on and tie your belt and you get your next grade. This is all very well for those people who just want to get a black belt (and aren't bothered about if they've truly earned it or not!) but it overshadows the decent clubs with excellent sensei's who are working hard to ensure their students have a good knowledge of their MA.

[tommarker]

I think more people need to focus more on their own progress and less on what others are doing.

[Ben]

I feel that many people are taking up fighting with most arts, not actual Martial Arts...

 

Not enough people are willing to go into the mental, more philosophical side of the Arts..

 

Just my $2

[Treebranch]

I think that McDojo's are out there to make money and teaching the Art is secondary. This is very sad. I feel sorry for these BB's who are not trained very well and have this false sense of accomplishment and skills that are dubious. I personally don't care about belts at all. I'd rather not have a belt and just dedicate myself to learning the Art. I'm used to learning something that takes a lifetime to master. I have a BFA in fine art and I'll tell you that doesn't measure how good of an artist I am. That just states that I have completed a set curriculum and passed with average to high marks. After leaving school I've acquired more skill as time goes by and I've improved quite a bit. I keep improving everyday and now I feel like I'm at the level where I can teach someone else the basics and demonstrate the basics with ease. That's what a BB is or should be. If it took me 4 years of really hard work to get a bachelors degree it should at least take that long for a BB. Why don't Boxers have belt systems or Olympic wrestlers? Why? Because it doesn't really mean anything and isn't a good way to measure skill. Most schools are not taught by a Master and don't have a Grandmaster to answer to or to guide them. If you do, you are very fortunate. If you don't I hope you are lucky enough to have a honest teacher that cares more about the Art then paying the bills. Just my 2 cents, take it how ever you like.

[The Saint]

McDojos are all around everywhere....My opinion on this is before taking up the MA you should do a bit of reserch into the instructor. Obviously money is a big factor in any martial arts dojo. (everyone's gotta eat,... right) If the dojo is a well established than the instructor should be well accredited in the MA community. Chain dojo's could be bad if they are managed wrong by poor instructors. If they are run well though I don't see a probblem. I guess a little home work before you join is needed in any MA dojo.