Define mcdojo

[Luther unleashed]

I'm curious as this word gets used to frequently, what is the general consensus (if there is one) as to what exact ally a McDojo is! I have been to a few schools and checked out many, in my years iv felt there were always students passing that could make your place look like a mcdojo! We have some in mine, and some with handicaps, like autism, and other mental disabilities which make it harder for the practitioner to look polished in their movements!

I have come to believe VERY MUCH that it's not who gives you a belt, or rank, it's the person who holds it, and their abilities! Any school from chuck Norris's past, or Bruce lee's past would sound like a real good school, and prolly not referred to as mcdojos, or at least more tentatively.

How do you guys feel, am I in a mcdojo because I moved through ranks quickly, does my previous experience justify this, is there no grey area? Just curious if there is a middle ground that everybody can agree on, or if the opinion about what a mcdojo is, is very different!

Should be fun working this one out

[Safroot]

My opinion is a McDojo is the dojo that is concerned only with money not the art they are teaching .. so they lock you in contracts, allow relatively young and not that experienced people to teach in order to open more dojos and collect more money, allows you to pass gradings & pay for your belts even if your performance was very poor.

That's all IMO but moving through your rank quickly is not a clear sign of it, it will rely more on how many hours you train weekly and the grading requirements, so for me I have to train for 40 hours in order to be eligible for grading !

Quickness of ranking is a relative issue

[Nidan Melbourne]

Honestly how much you train is a major factor to how often you will grade. At my old school at its hombu there were classes 6 days a week, and you can essentially do a belt every 6 weeks if you train every day and pass the tags every week.

To me a mcdojo is where they are more concerned about making money than teaching students how to effectively do martial arts. I have seen many schools that their "black" belts couldn't do the most basic of katas extremely well or explain what use that kata would have in a realistic situation.

Also since you had previous experience of martial arts you would move through the arts quickly because you already had the knowledge base.

Probably have a read of a blog called karate by jesse. It has a wide array of interesting information and has a particular blog post of what might constitute a mcdojo

[Zaine]

My opinion is a McDojo is the dojo that is concerned only with money not the art they are teaching .. so they lock you in contracts, allow relatively young and not that experienced people to teach in order to open more dojos and collect more money, allows you to pass gradings & pay for your belts even if your performance was very poor.

That's all IMO but moving through your rank quickly is not a clear sign of it, it will rely more on how many hours you train weekly and the grading requirements, so for me I have to train for 40 hours in order to be eligible for grading !

Quickness of ranking is a relative issue

SOLID POST!

I agree with this description 100%

[Wastelander]

I also like Safroot's post. A McDojo is any martial arts school that does anything it can to make money, and doesn't care about the quality of what is being taught. That said, there are also commercial schools--martial arts schools used to make a living for the instructors--that are NOT McDojos, because they keep quality up. Pretty much nothing is ever totally black and white

[bushido_man96]

Money gets mentioned a lot here. But, don't assume that just because a school makes a nice profit that it is a McDojo. If you see people passing gradings that clearly shouldn't, and things like that, it could be a clue.

What is the most important aspect of your training is if you enjoy it, and if you feel you are getting quality instruction. If that is the case, then nothing else really matters.

[Lupin1]

I would say it's being in it for the money at the expense of student progress. You can make a ton of money and not be a McDojo (you'd just be a successful business). You can even have frequent gradings and promote people who don't quite meet standards if that's what will help that student grow the most and meet his or her fullest potential (some people-- especially in the lower belts-- just need the confidence boost and promotions can always have extenuating circumstances). A McDojo, on the other hand, will set up the system just to make money even if it in no way helps the students. But as long as student well-being and learning comes before money, it's not McDojo.

[ShotokanMaster]

1st of all all mcdojo are the one who is concern with the Money and not the student and the sifu sensie or master don't teach them proper basic or the master doesn't even know what his doing

2nd they let the student pass their test with in a week or a couple of weeks without knowing the basic that will cost money caused you have to pay another money for the test

3rd they make you advance even if your a beginner that will caused you money to caused you have to pay for your belt your new GI and stuff and even if your 10 your a black belt and in the black belt club swat team etc even if your sloppy at your form technique they will steal pass you

4th you change contract every year like pay 200 every year just to pay for black belt club

In my dojo it takes 3 months to pass each belt until you get to green belt then it takes 6 month to pass it

[bushido_man96]

At my school, I am on contract.

We have a belt testing about every 2 months, except at times during the summer, when things slow down a bit.

We pay for the testings.

These things alone don't make a McDojo. Contracts don't automatically mean McDojo, either. Contracts are an easy way for an instructor to not have to be the guy who runs down checks every month from all the students. He just has to worry about teaching.

There are a lot of people who don't like contracts in the Martial Arts. For some reason, monthly services like cell phones get a pass, but not the Martial Arts. Contracts are not a bad thing. Take into account the school as a whole when considering what the school is.

[Nidan Melbourne]

My school has contracts of sorts. You make payments every month or in full. We do a direct debit for majority of students, just need 1 full months notice