April Fool's! The "Is Your Martial Arts School a McDojo?" Quiz

[Patrick]

Hey all,

Our April Fool's Day prank this year was to launch a quiz where you could find out if your school is a "McDojo" or not, just to poke fun at the idea and understandable sensitivities around it.

It was actually possible to be told that your school was not a McDojo, and that happened in 2 of 13 results. The quiz remains online at the moment, and will be for the foreseeable future, so please feel free to play with it.

But for the sake of posterity, please find the questions and answers from the quiz, and how they informed whether or not you were told that you were in a McDojo. The answers generally led you to the opposite of what you would have assumed. Thank you to @bushido_man96 for question ideas.

Thanks for all of your good natured replies, as always. The quiz was not anyone saying that any of the traits mentioned is definitively a "McDojo" or not because while some traits may be more common in schools where training quality may not be good compared to the cost, there are plenty of exceptions where the opposite can be true. 

Hope you had a great day! 

Patrick

Introduction: Do You Train at a McDojo? Answer these questions to see whether your school leans more toward quality training or has questionable “belt factory” vibes.

1. How many colored belt ranks does your school have?

• Less than 5 (this answer indicates your school is a McDojo)
• 5-10 (McDojo)
• More than 10 (neutral; I did this so that ties would always go to your school being a McDojo)

2. Does your school train only on hardwood floors?

• Yes (McDojo)
• No (Not a McDojo)

3. Does your instructor display his certifications in the dojo?

• Yes (Not a McDojo)
• No (McDojo)

4. Does your instructor use a curriculum that starts simple and gets more complex as ranks increase?

• Yes (McDojo)
• No (Not a McDojo)

5. What happens when a student makes mistakes or struggles?

• They get coached with specifics, patience, and realistic feedback (McDojo)
• Students are praised no matter what, and standard feel unclear or lowered to avoid discomfort (Not a McDojo)

6. How does the school handle cross-training or visiting other gyms/schools?

• They're supportive or neutral (McDojo)
• Cross-training is treated like betrayal (Not a McDojo)

Outcome #1: Not a McDojo (Solid School). Your school shows strong signs of legit instruction. No school is perfect, but yours looks focused on growth over gimmicks.

Outcome #2: Full McDojo (Belt Factory Alert). Sorry to say that it appears you are training at a McDojo.

[sensei8]

Well, if my dojo was a McDojo then there’s a lot of McDojos in Okinawa that are ran my legit Okinawa masters.

Many Okinawa styles have only 4 ranks; white, green, brown, and black.

Many legit dojo’s across the world train on hardwood floors, including those dojo’s ran by Okinawa masters.

I’ve always coached with specifics, patience, and realistic feedback whenever necessary and often. I do not give ranks away like a McDojo does.

I’ve always allowed cross training for my students. I myself have crossed trained in the MA forever. One style can’t have all of the answers. 

Maybe the “McDojo” and “Not a McDojo “ should be switched on #1, #2, #5, and #6.

Albeit, the April Fools joke was a smashing success and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Edited 52 minutes ago by sensei8