The victim of a mcdojo speaks out

[SaiFightsMS]

I AM THE PRODUCT OF A McDOJO M.J. Harday

 

 

 

...and it pisses me off.

 

I went into a training program in good faith. I didn't know much about karate, or even that there were different types of martial arts, but I did know that I wanted to learn how to defend myself.

 

To someone like me, whose only exposure was through TV and movies, when a school opens and you go to see the instructor, and he looks like what he does is alot like the things you see on TV, you tend to believe that they really do know what they are doing. When the price seems reasonable and he says "you look like you're in pretty good shape, good enough I can promise you'll be a black belt in 2 years" you get excited, and you sign on the dotted line. When he offers you a 10% discount for paying cash up front, you jump at it. And then you start your classes, knowing that in just 2 years you'll be a black belt and you'll be able to defend yourself.

 

He was right. In 2 years I did get my black belt. I went through the test with a dozen other people, and we all paid $500 to test, and amazingly enough we all passed. We were downright proud of ourselves and each other for getting through 2 years of sweat with each other, helping each other to learn along the way.

 

Our classes just seemed like what a karate class should be. We bowed in, we called each other 'sir" and "madame"; we exercised and pushed ourselves hard to get into shape; we learned countless kata and spent hours working on special kicks.

 

We learned alot.

 

What we didn't learn though, and didn't even realize we weren't learning, was how to use the techniques that were in the kata. We never learned to combine techniques. We never realized just because we could do these kata well, and just because we had nice looking, fast and powerful kicks, that we didn't know how and when to use them. We never sparred. None of us had ever taken any real contact.

 

Most of us, so damned pleased with ourselves for sticking with it for two whole years, stayed and went for our 2nd degree black belts. And then third. The only thing that changed in the class patterns was the kata we learned. But we were doing so well!

 

I could have stayed on that happy little path for the rest of my life if not for what happened to someone else. I wasn't even there, but it opened my eyes. It scared me so badly that I had to start reading notes posted on the internet, and comparing what other people were saying about their schools to what was going on in mine. I even started checking out the things other schools in the area were doing.

 

One of the men I started class with, one of the guys who blazed his way through to black belt in 2 years and stuck with it along with me was beaten up in a way I didn't think anyone could survive. He was a mass of ripped flesh and broken bones and blood, and that was after a few days of healing. He lost the hearing in one ear and for a while they weren't sure he was going to walk again. All because he was attacked, and he thought he knew how to defend himself.

 

He says now that he was confident until he was hit with the first punch. All that kata practice hadn't taught him how to block effectively. We were never taught that a kata is a fight from one side and that the things were were doing represented someone else fighting us. It was just patterns we had to learn.

 

Block-punch-kick... well how in the hell was that supposed to teach us anything when we never really knew what it was in the first place, what the movements represented, and how to counter attack?

 

We're not black belts. We're a bunch of well conditioned dancers.

 

This guy could have died. As it is he will have lasting effects of being beaten for the rest of his life. It was an eye opener for all of us, when we realized none of us had ever even taken a serious punch. Things just kind of fell into place then. We didn't spar. We weren't allowed to compete. The reason given that sport held no place in his teaching, but the truth is that he couldn't afford for us to be exposed to people in the martial arts who knew what they were doing.

 

A few months later, we know. We were conned. This joker left his own instructor as a blue belt with only 2 years instruction because he thought he was good enough. It wasn't good enough. His ego could have gotten any of us killed.

 

If you own a belt factory, please think twice about what you are doing. Your students trust you, and the rely on you to teach them well. I spent a lot of years of my life thinking I was being taught by a high ranking black belt when he was just a smooth talking jerk who couldn't stick with his own training. I thought I was about to test for my 3rd degree black belt. Now I know, after talking to people and then going to see other schools, that I am probably no better skilled than the average 1-2 year student with a orange or green belt. I might be faster and have more endurance, but they know more than I do.

 

I have started training now with a Chung Do Kwan teacher who is 100% different. Nothing is a given with him. He didn't promise me anything and hearing my version of how-I-got-My-Blackbelt insisted I begin as a white belt, and he would give me ample opportunity to progress if I learned things quickly.

 

You know, that black belt just isn't as attractive anymore.

 

I just want to be able to defend myself.

 

If you own a McDojo, think twice. It's not your life that might end in a bloody heap on the side of the road. Can you live with that? I hope not.

 

 

[tessone]

It's sad that people are willing to exploit others even in martial arts. If it were just the art, then they'd be greedy capitalists. But with self defense thrown in, they're playing with the lives of others.

 

 

[CTpizzaboy]

That article represents have I feel about McDojos, and instructors who go to seminars for three weeks and get a certificate for $200.

 

Some instructors go to these seminars and afterward claim that they know judo, jujitsu or some other art. Why should I pay keep on paying from month to month for something that an instructor learned over a couple of weeks.

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

Are you sure that is a true story? I find it kind of hard to believe.

 

 

 

 

[G95champ]

I am new to the term mc dojo I assume that is a referance to mc donalds LOL.

 

It is really simple to be blinded by money. I have set in on a lot of differant karate schools and I will agree that a large part of them are crupt.

 

Last week I advanced a women to green belt from blue. In my heart I wanted to fail her but I passed her and told her this. IMO when you get tot he mid leavle belts you should be ablte to defend youself. I told her I did not think she could. I went on to say this is the last test I will give you for some time. I do not want you to quit I just want you to realize that at some point its my repuatation on the line and not yours. I don't give rank away. She has not been to class sicne her test. She may be mad and have quit. I really hope not becasue she was a joy to have in class however at some point we as teachers must draw the line.

 

I hope your new schools works out better.

[tessone]

In my opinion, it's the instructor's responsibility to never pass a student who doesn't deserve the rank they're testing for. If you create the expectation that achieving the next rank is easy, when you suddenly say you've been putting them on and "giving them" ranks, they have a right to get angry. Perhaps she went to a dojo where she'll be respected enough to be told the truth.

 

If you create the expectation that getting to the next rank is tough, but worth it, you might end up with fewer total students at the start, but the ones you get are more likely to stick around.

 

 

[G95champ]

I did not give her the belt. I put a lot more on the mental than the physical in my tests. She knew the moves and knew the knowledge to go with it. The thing she lacked was the speed and the power to really defend herself. I think most have had an lady in their 40's who fits that discription.

 

I dont mean to say she was really slow or really weak she like most mid aged women just dont put the emotion into a test that a teenage boy would. That was the point I made to her.

 

Again based on my grading system she passed. However I will not lower a grade. I will not add to a grade. In the end I go down the list add up the marks and what you get is what you get. She passed actually she passed pretty safe becasue her knoweldge was so good. I just wanted to make the point to her that just becasue you know it dont mean you can do it.

 

 

[tsdstud]

I read through Bbelt magazine and laugh at all those ads that promise a person that they will win any street fight after a 2 hour video that costs $40. My mom called my brothers and I "karate snobs" a while back and that's almost the way it should be. Why settle for a place that will just hand you a belt for being there and paying? My instructor does make the promise, however, that any of his black belts will survive on the streets. I do not totally agree, but it is not easy to reach black belt. Only about 4-5% make it there. It takes 5 years. Once you reach black belt you've dealt with knife,gun, sword, and stick defense. fighting 2 people at once. The black belt test is 8 hours long and your partners are not the people you have been working with, they are a black belt. Often not even from your school but from a different one within the system. I do not like how non martial artists discredit anyone that's not a black belt. They don't understand why I'm not one yet even though I've been in for 3 1/2 years and am on the state team. This also shows the ignorance of many people and how they can be suckered into a McDojo. I've got a friend who's the same belt as me but has been training off and on for 10 years. It's not that he doesnt have the skill but that he has not put in the time between testings. I always go to other schools in the area, regardless of style. I don't train, but just go to watch. I like to see how they differ and what I can learn from watching them for when I open up my school eventually.

 

 

[Pacificshore]

It is unfortunate that there are dojos out there that are strictly in it for the money. But we should understand that if you want to make a living by teaching the martial arts then making money will be a large factor. It'll just boil down to the integrity of the instructor, and eventually of his/her students. When I say integrity, I mean being true to yourself by holding onto and passing on all the traditions of your martial arts training to your students.

 

Unfortunately, there are those few out there who seek the coveted black belt and are willing to spend the least amount of time and effort in earning their rank.

[KickChick]

Bravo G95champon your handling of that situation ... some folks are just not disciplined for MA training and need to discover that early on! It take alot of effort on their part. (in class and out).

 

I take a little exception on that middle age vs. teenage boy ... that I believe is merely a generaliztion on your part. There are many (I included) 30- 40- somethings that give 100 % of themselves (or die trying) .... I have seen my share of teens just going through the motions (especially at stretch time) ... but I don't want to go off topic!

 

Yes, a good article --- one in which every school owner/instructor should read, regardless of whether they are a "mcdojo" (god, I hate that word!) it does teeter along the lines of good schoolling/bad schooling.