bluetiger Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I have a difficult decision to make. My 3 boys are currently taking a Shotokan based Karate at a local school. The main reason I chose the school is because of the main instructor. However, it appears that he is happy turning his school into a McDojo. He rarely teaches anymore and belts are handed out to non deserving students every test. My wife and I joke that if your check clears the bank, you can get your next belt.It is no laughing matter. My boys are half way to black belts and are not happy. They watch the end of the class before theirs (all higher ranked belts) and are not impressed. 2 of my 3 boys will continue training at another dojo. The other one is too much in to football and will probably not take martial arts anymore.I guess my question is this: does anyone have any recommendations? I am really apprehensive about where they go from now on. I guess you can't base it off of reputation anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battousai16 Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 oh, reputations don't mean a thing anymore. there are a lot of mcdojos around here, and if there's one thing they do well it's keep their students very happy and loyal. it's good that they're happy, i suppose, but if your children aren't, i'd look elsewhere for quality instruction. "I hear you can kill 200 men and play a mean six string at the same time..."-Six String Samurai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Perhaps should try to find them another school. I'm biased, but I would suggest a Kyokushin or one of it's "offshoot" styles because most Kyokushin-related styles try very hard to teach what they feel to be "practical" karate. A website that lists all the off-shoots of Kyokushin is at: http://www.australiankyokushin.com/flavours.shtml. Of course, I'm sure that there are plenty of Shotokan, Korean, and Chinese martial arts schools that also teach very effective, practical skills. I've heard that most of the traditional Okinawa styles also try to teach serious skills, also.A web site that lists martial arts schools by zip code is at: http://www.martialinfo.com/. The zip code locator is near the bottom of the main page. I've found it to be amazingly compreshensive in listing most, if not all, of the available MA schools in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiffy Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 All you can really do is try the different dojos. Obviously, dojo's that are affiliated with a governing organisation or dojo's that have been in good standing for a long time are generally going to be more reliable, but there are still no guarantees. The mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaine Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Memphis is a very big city. There has to be a good instructor somewhere there. You just have to ask your boys if they want to take another class somewhere else. And if they say yes, im sure pay classes have a free trial class, but if you can find someone that will teach them for free, that is the best thing, because there are no strings attached, it just means the instructor is teaching for fun. But you just have to look hard. Martial arts training is 30% classroom training, 70% solo training.https://www.instagram.com/nordic_karate/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamesu Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I agree with Charlie,If its a legitimate Kyokushin dojo, then your almost assured to be getting good training (i said almost). And let me tell you, the road to a Kyokushin Black belt is definantly not an easy one, nor are they handed out to the undeserving.Osu. "We did not inherit this earth from our parents. We are borrowing it from our children." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patusai Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Shotokan is a a popular style. Are there other Shotokan schools in the area? They may welcome "transferring" students from another Shotokan school that has "changed" direction so to speak. They may be able to test to or near their present rank depending on how the instructor works this I would think. "Don't tell me the sky's the limit because I have seen footprints on the moon!" -- Paul Brandt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAnimal Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Get them into BJJ, I bet they'll love it. If it's a Gracie school I can almost garuntee it'll be worth while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairfax_Uechi Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 A web site that lists martial arts schools by zip code is at: http://www.martialinfo.com/. The zip code locator is near the bottom of the main page. I've found it to be amazingly compreshensive in listing most, if not all, of the available MA schools in the US.Maybe for commercial dojos but I didn't see many (any?) of the smaller dojos that I know of that aren't store front based. I did a quick check on several very large dojos based out of health clubs or rec centers and they weren't listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italian_guy Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 If they like the style I think they better continue with Shotokan karate, but for sure it is time to change dojo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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