is my dojo a mcdojo

[47MartialMan]

but most of their standards are poor because they are more interested in making money and keeping a full class than in teaching people.

 

Mass Quantity

 

I good think about McDojo's is that you can eventually wear a black belt and convince other people that you are a good martial artist, this is particularly useful for attracting naive beginning hotties at the McDojo.

 

Hmmmn...something like this was discussed in another thread.

[Drunken Monkey]

little hypothetical question.

 

let's say there was a truely legit school.

 

top quality teaching.

 

top quality students.

 

but they charge a lot of money.

 

let's ignore the reasons for the high costs.

 

would that still be considered a mcdojo?

 

and even if we look at the reasons for the high costs and it does boil down to greed.

 

would that make it a mcdojo?

 

or is mcdojo more about the quality of the product?

[foreveryoung001]

is mcdojo more about the quality of the product?

 

Interesting question. One further, if a school is not charging much at all for lessons, but is turning out very poor quality students, does that fall under the lable too?

[47MartialMan]

I think someone has to post a list of "McDojo charecteristics

[foreveryoung001]

Sounds like new-topic time.

[kbgirl]

Does a McDojo school have a display counter selling items? Does a McDojo school have a Coke machine or candy machine? Does a McDojo school have a coffee/consession counter? Does a McDojo have beautiful colors all around from carpet to "stripes", or other, on the walls? Does a McDojo school have a "Black Belt Club". Such a club that "signs up" students that are "working" towards the "coveted" belt? Like a bait dangling in front of a fish. Or a apple on a string/pole dangling in front of a mule to get him to move? Does a McDojo school add "stripes" per every colored rank?

 

My kickboxing school has almost all these things. I have no problem with it. I am taught by a World Champion kickboxer who is teaching me excellent skills, helping me to keep fit, and allowing me a fun and safe environment to be social. I absolutely believe that when he tells me I am ready, and I feel it within me, that I will step into the ring and defeat my opponent.

 

We do have a coloured belt structure... we have stripes on each belt as a way of knowing what we've been tested on and what we still have to demonstrate accurately before our next belt test. Our school is full time and has a number of paid staff who run it. We have various clubs you can join (for more money) in order to learn different skills (say, weapons). We have a drink machine and sell various protein bars & whatever for those people who would simply deposit their money at the local corner store anyway, were the product not offered at the club. We have 3 training floors, one is hard wood and another is completely covered in mats, which were expensive to buy and cost a lot to keep clean. We have change rooms with showers. We have somewhere around 600 students.

 

How many of you have ever thought to yourself "wow! I wish I could spend my entire day training and teaching MA's and get paid for it?" That is achievable - but you must charge enough to grow your business. It is a business... unless, of course your school is part time and/or run by volunteers. There's nothing wrong with making it a business and earning a very nice living from it.

 

Are my skills any less valuable than someone who spends next to nothing to train in a small dojo with maybe 50-60 students, all training in the same class, 3 nights a week? I highly doubt it.

[47MartialMan]

kbgirl

 

Thats what I am trying to determine, the "classification" of McDojo. If you look at how I started...I ask the question with "DOES". This does not mean that I am stated that these ARE the guidelines.

 

And I had posted, what ever classfies as a "McDojo", does it have benefits than "book/video training", or no training at all.

 

So, if it is a McDojo, doesn't McDojos have some quality, benefits, and standards?

[dear john]

i visited a pretty decend MA school, but it costs $190 a month, if you ask me the is pretty McDojo'ish but it was still a good school. i knew the owners son, i could go for considerably less, but its too far to travel.

 

could be greed or maybe they dont want that many students. his class was really small, like only 15 students.

[47MartialMan]

How many of you have ever thought to yourself "wow! I wish I could spend my entire day training and teaching MA's and get paid for it?" That is achievable - but you must charge enough to grow your business. It is a business... unless, of course your school is part time and/or run by volunteers. There's nothing wrong with making it a business and earning a very nice living from it.

 

No, I suppose it is ok as long as the quality is there and the emphasis is not trying to "squeeze" every dime out of the students. The students are "customers" in a mass arrangement. Which brings to the next.

 

Are my skills any less valuable than someone who spends next to nothing to train in a small dojo with maybe 50-60 students, all training in the same class, 3 nights a week? I highly doubt it.

 

Could it be the "less" number of students get more instruction or better quality in whole. Somewhat like a personal "tutor". That, somehow the instructor won't look up at the clock and say "hours up", because he has another class coming in so that he can achieve financial gain by keeping the enrollment up? Or, because of the mass of students, say like in a academic/grammer public school-vs-a less amount of students in a private school. I wonder which will get the better education?