Dojo challenges

[Spodo Komodo]

There have been a few times when people have flung the doors open and issued a challenge to anyone willing to fight. Generally the initator has been sleeping rough for some time and has an odour so strong it is impossible to fight them. The usual response has been to call the police and social services while trying to keep them calm.

Apart from the mentally unstable there have been a few people who have come along to a training session from another school to see how things are but they have always been very amicable and resulted in a reciprocal visit to their dojo. I have never come across a serious formal challenge.

[sensei8]

I was only challenged one time, and that was by the student and not the Sensei.

He came during an intermediate class and told me that I had no right to be in that area without the written permission from his Sensei, and I need to leave asap.

"Really?" I added.

"Yes...really!" in a sarcastic tone.

As I firmly walked towards him...."Get out...and don't ever come back and more importantly, don't you ever assume a position that you don't possess." I commanded.

"If y..." he started to say.

"Get Out now...and I mean NOW!!" as I held the front door open for him.

With that he left mumbling something, but he left!

This is not that time of yesteryear!! I was befuddled at the audacity of his Sensei. For his Sensei to think that I would bow to his demands.

Other than that one time, I've not experienced this for myself.

[bushido_man96]

There have been a few times when people have flung the doors open and issued a challenge to anyone willing to fight. Generally the initator has been sleeping rough for some time and has an odour so strong it is impossible to fight them. The usual response has been to call the police and social services while trying to keep them calm.

Apart from the mentally unstable there have been a few people who have come along to a training session from another school to see how things are but they have always been very amicable and resulted in a reciprocal visit to their dojo. I have never come across a serious formal challenge.

I think this has become more the norm now than the challenges of the past. There was a time when those things could be done, but now, most cities have an ordinance in place for those types of things, and who wants to get arrested because they don't like the fact that another MA gym has moved into their demographic area?

[ShoriKid]

I was the "gate keeper" of sorts in my first dojo for several years. When someone with prior training came in and wanted to work out, they would be allowed to after signing their waivers and forms. A couple of weeks in they always wanted to spar. I was always the first person they face, regardless of the level of experience they claimed to have. Many were just looking for a good place to train. Some though, were looking to prove that they came from better training and wanted bragging rights. Those nights were...interesting.

I did issue a challenge once, in a strange way. A Chinese style instructor had moved into our area. This new instructor papered the county in his fliers, advertising that he taught every thing under the sun. Told his lead student he had trained at my old home dojo a few years back, during the time I was still active there. He claimed that he trained there for six months and during that time had sparred, handily defeated all of the students and that lastly he sparred the instructor and, in the "fight" that followed easily defeated him. Now, my feathers were ruffled and I spoke to the instructor I was assisting at the time. His answer was very simple. The dojo was mine any night I wanted or needed it. This new Chinese style instructor was training out of the same gym we were, though getting him to speak directly to any of the Japanese/Okinawan stylists was very hard. I made it readily known, through his senior student, that I had trained at the dojo he claimed to have cleaned out, at the time he claimed to have done it, and didn't recall him ever darkening the door. And that any night he wanted to, we could get together and see if he could back up the claim that the instruction there was weak and produced weak students.

The Chinese stylist folded up and left the county very shortly after this. I can't claim that I was responsible. He never darkened our door, kept the doors locked while he conducted class and still wouldn't speak to anyone. I assuming that he couldn't financially meet his obligations to rent the space and that was the cause. Oddly, he just tried to rent the space we left back in March of this year.

[Lee M]

No formal fights - just lots of guys coming along to test us out of the mats.

Plenty of boxers...I loved the challenge.

[reddyfire]

Coming from a town full of McDojo's and frauds who claim ridiculous belt levels (10th Degree black belt) and just run a dojo to make money out of people dojo storming one of them has been very tempting. Though it seems a lot of those schools took measures to prevent it or deter it.

One particular dojo that is owned by the biggest fraud in town has camera's all over the building. They only allow admitted students to walk into the place and the main instructors have holstered pistols on them when they are not training students.

[evergrey]

Have never seen a dojo storm, though I've heard of them, and have joked with friends about dojo storming some scammers. Of course I wouldn't do it- my instructors would kill me!

I know that a challenge means something different and a lot more serious to my Shihan, who is very old school, than the head instructor at my dojo, though he says instead of having them fight all the way down the line, he will instead ask them to leave, and if they do not, he will defend his students himself, because their safety is his responsibility, and he sure isn't afraid to use weapons to ensure that safety. He's a law enforcement officer, so his approach is going to perhaps be a bit different, heh!

I challenged my Sensei, before he was my Sensei. He won. A month later, I became his student.

I really didn't realize just what I was doing when I challenged him, though, haha!

OSU

[sensei8]

As far as "Dojo Storming" may be concerned, I don't truly think that this would go over to well within the laws of today.

Trespassing and the like, are just some of the laws that might be broken should one pursue any legal actions on those storming the dojo.

I was never one to storm a dojo, and neither was my Soke and/or Dai-Soke. The failed attempt to storm my dojo was thwarted because I gave no opportunity to that individual other than to leave...in other words...I didn't feed into any of his negative actions.

I gave him the door and that's all he was going to get from me.

[bassaiguy]

I've been involved in two of these situations - once on each side of the fence. As a senior student I was matched against a guy about my size who walked in off the street for a sparring match claiming to be a boxer. My sensei watched him warm-up for a bit and then had me spar him. I was an advanced green belt at the time. I worked his body a bit, he bloodied my nose and I dropped him with a spin hook kick - straight up Shotokan. He never came back.

A few years later I had moved to a new town and was looking for a place to train. I found a school and went in for a few classes. About my third class we sparred for the first time. I was wearing a white belt, but had told the teacher I had previous training. I sparred about eight matches starting with the lowest ranked person in the class up through the ranks. The last match was against the sensei. His level of contact as quite hard and it seemed obvious he was trying to "teach me a lesson" in front of his class. After he hit me in the head and knocked me down I'd had enough and really thought he was going to hurt me. I defended myself with a fairly strong kick to his ribs. He called the match at that point. I thought I was trying to train - he thought I was dojo storming. It was clear that his attitude was that he had to be the toughest dude in the room and he thought I was trying to show him up. That was not my intention.

Honestly, I don't mind a bit of dojo arashi. I think it kept the TKD daycares at bay in the 80s and 90s. However, in the age of liability today I'd be very nervous about this happening in my class.

[evergrey]

LOL, what a silly man, thinking that you, who signed up for classes and wore a white belt, were trying to dojo storm him. A dojo storm doesn't involve quietly training in three classes! Sounds like he forgot that most basic of rules in a dojo- leave your ego at the door!

Sounds really insecure for an instructor! Looks like you ran into some Ameri-Do-Te there!

OSU!