In Defence of McDojos

[Dazed and Confused]

I don't know how wide the circulation is of Martial Arts Illustrated, so I don't know whether anyone outside of the UK will have seen an article in there this month by a chap who basically has made a living out of helping others set up McDojos. I don't know where I stand legally so i won't mention his name, but this is his company's website.

Basically for those of you who have read the article, what do you think of it?

I'm trying not to breech copyright or do anything else to get into trouble, but for those who haven't read it he basically makes a number of points that I found quite infuriating. He says at one point that McDojos have done for martial arts what McDonalds did for hamburgers. I think he means made them popular rather than remove all taste and compensate with excess tomato sauce.

He also claims that people shouldn't be upset at the watering down of Martial Arts by McDojos because only 10% of martial artists are any good and thats natural talent, the teacher is irrelevant.

He does make some good points- there are benefits to having full time ma schools open normal business hours and beyond, and martial arts instructors deserve to make a good living. He has however taken this to extremes- he is apparently a multi millionaire off the back of helping others create these McDojos, and is pictured with his ferrari and BMW 4x4.

So what do people think? Am I being too harsh on this chap? In the course of reading the article I realised that he helped set up a school I recently had a trial lesson at. Personally I feel I have dodged a bullet.

[Montana]

Hey, if it wasn't for McDojo's, who'd we make fun of around here?

[lordtariel]

I think he means made them popular rather than remove all taste and compensate with excess tomato sauce.

Seriously though, way back in the way back when, if a martial artist or school felt a dojo was weak, they challenged them, instant proof that a school wasn't that good, but a practice thoroughly illegal now days. So you HAD to be serious if you ran a school. Until we can find a legal alternative to challenging a dojo, these people feel free to do as they please.

[The BB of C]

Hey, if it wasn't for McDojo's, who'd we make fun of around here?

You have a point.

[bushido_man96]

I wish I could read that article. It sounds like this guy uses the term "McDojo" openly, and in a positive light. This would be the first time I have ever heard of anything like this. This is indeed not a good thing.

It sounds like this guy is proud of how he made his money, and is not concerned with the fact that he is fueling the fire in the Martial Arts community about such schools that prefer to churn out belts at the expense of good teaching, good learning, etc.

It sounds to me that someone of this nature has lost all integrity, for himself and others. Are you being too hard on him? I think not.

[Kieran-Lilith]

If he's helping make McDojos and five year old black belts-then heck no. It's people like him that make the average person see us as jokes. I suppose that could be a blessing in disguise, but it does get annoying for people to ask you if you could karate chop a table in half every time they hear you're a martial artist.

[NY_Karatedork]

Well I think this guy has basically given us something to point and laugh at I mean instead of getting angry at McDojos and their students, do this: Point, snicker, walk a ways away then fall down laughing till you can't breath.

[AngelaG]

I haven't read MAI, but I can guess who this is. I can't see that naming them as the author of an article they chose to put in the public domain would be in any way libellous.

I assume the person is question is Leigh Childs? He is justifying what he has done in order to make himself some bucks. in my opinion he has helped prostitute the MA industry, along with other large McDojo / McDojang franchises.

The problem is that money talks. People will abandon all sorts of principles in order to make a buck. They also press the buttons of the uneducated. They give people what they want, without actually supplying anything of substance. It's about instant gratification and pandering to the ego.

I truly believe (hope) that it is possible to have a successful dojo that still requires hard training, commitment and knowledge. I don't think that the world is so shallow yet that people don't want to earn what they get.

[Dazed and Confused]

you are absolutely right in your assumption AngelaG, it is indeed Leigh Childs. And annoyingly he is being interviewed in the article by a close friend, so the interviewing technique is hardly rigorous. Happily however I found an article elsewhere in the magazine by Steve Rowe that restored my faith in MAI. He absolutely eviscerates the idea of these McDojos and their ridiculous claims, so there is balance to be found in the magazine as a whole.

[RealWingChunKuen]

He says at one point that McDojos have done for martial arts what McDonalds did for hamburgers.

Does he mean that they have made martial arts uneffective, unhealthy and thus pointless?