Am I the only one who notices? (Subjects of Martial Arts Discussions on Social Media)

[Furinkazan]

When on social media, and I look at postings by karate pages on Facebook and videos about karate on YouTube:

-About two-fifths of all postings are about calling out "McDojos."
-Another two-fifths of all postings are about belts.
-And the remaining fifth is actually about the teaching, the training, usage in real life scenarios, dojo politics, etc.

To an extent, I can understand the discussions about belts making up a significant fraction of the discussions.  At any given time, most mudansha are testing within the next three months, so that's where their focus is going to be.  But two-fifths seems kind of high.

The real odd one here are discussions about "McDojos."  What's the obsession?  Sure, we know they're out there.  But why are they living rent-free in our heads?  If we know our training is legit, why not focus on that and forget about McDojos?

*ends rant*

Edited Wednesday at 07:43 AM by Patrick

[DarthPenguin]

To my mind it is because people see these mcdojo's and then they lower their opinion of the traditional arts accordingly. This then has a knock on impact of lower numbers of people showing interest and declining student numbers. In the UK this is less relevant as most clubs are run in the evenings as more of a hobby so the instructor is not using it to make a living, as long as they cover their costs then it is fine. For somewhere like the USA where there are more people who make it their livelihood then that has a massive impact.

Edited Wednesday at 07:48 AM by Patrick

[camotheman]

Piggybacking off DarthPenguin here, but, in my opinion, another aspect of the McDojo side is that if the stuff they’re being taught is ineffective, it could potentially be dangerous to them. Say they get into a confrontation and try to use their magic no-touch knock out, they could get injured, or worse. I think that’s the part that really drives it home for me. Some of these people really do believe in it, and it could potentially have pretty severe consequences. I know it’s stereotypical, but I think of the kind of people who would train in these styles, and I worry for them. 

- CS

[Furinkazan]

On 4/30/2026 at 8:25 AM, DarthPenguin said:

To my mind it is because people see these mcdojo's schools and then they lower their opinion of the traditional arts accordingly. This then has a knock on impact of lower numbers of people showing interest and declining student numbers.

In my observation (mostly on the internet), it's mostly karateka that appear to be fixated on McDojos.  I don't see it happening anywhere near as much in BJJ discussions,, unless the context is them referring to all places in which TMA is taught as "McDojos."

 

On 4/30/2026 at 8:25 AM, DarthPenguin said:

In the UK this is less relevant as most clubs are run in the evenings as more of a hobby so the instructor is not using it to make a living, as long as they cover their costs then it is fine. For somewhere like the USA where there are more people who make it their livelihood then that has a massive impact.

If this is happening in the US (I'm not aware of it), I don't know what the profit margin is.  If you look at the maximum number of students that the square footage of the floor in most dojos can fit, I'm not sure the tuition is even covering the rent, much less the reinvestment into the physical dojo via the purchase and replacement of training equipment and the like.

Edited Wednesday at 07:43 AM by Patrick

[KarateKen]

To me calling out McDojo's is based on a few things.  One, calling out scammers.  Because they deserve it.  Two, letting students know red flags of McD's so they can be aware and not get scammed.  This is especially important for someone looking to join a school for the first time.  Third, scamming and belt factories devalue all martial arts.  Finally, teaching poor technique is dangerous for the students who can get hurt either by practicing the style or because of a false sense of security. 

That being said sometimes people are too quick to judge and call out a style/school without proper information.  It becomes a style debate about who can beat up who.  It is an argument that never goes away. 

[Furinkazan]

11 hours ago, KarateKen said:

To me calling out McDojo's is based on a few things.  One, calling out scammers.  Because they deserve it.

Agreed.  However, the fixation is obvious.  Even if it's not two-fifths (what I estimated based on my observation), they get way more attention than they should.

11 hours ago, KarateKen said:

Two, letting students know red flags of McD's so they can be aware and not get scammed.  This is especially important for someone looking to join a school for the first time.

This seems like good reasoning when taken at face value, but more often than not, the discussions I see on social media about McDojo's are between people who are experienced in martial arts.  Furthermore, I don't believe I've ever seen someone with zero experience and looking to train in martial arts in the comments section asking genuine questions on the posts and videos about McDojo's.  It's mostly people who've been training for awhile cosigning on it.  For example, if the video is "10 Signs Your School is a McDojo," most of the comments are something like "You forgot #11, which is..."

11 hours ago, KarateKen said:

Third, scamming and belt factories devalue all martial arts.  Finally, teaching poor technique is dangerous for the students who can get hurt either by practicing the style or because of a false sense of security.

But are we really calling out McDojo's to the extent that we are because we genuinely care about people whose names, faces, and very existences we don't know?

Or is it something else?

My thoughts are that with the rise in popularity of MMA (and the most popular arts used in MMA), the relevancy of traditional martial arts has been under scrutiny.  But rather than shrug it off and do what we do, McDojo's have become a scapegoat that karateka can point to and say "See!  That's THEM!  That's not REAL karate!"

One thing I don't believe I've ever seen is McDojo's being called out by name, unless the head instructor has gone viral.

I've never seen, for example, somebody who lives in a major metropolitan area (where, presumably, there would be number of "McDojos") post the names of the local McDojos.

I happen to live in a major metropolitan are myself.  I don't know of any McDojos in my area, but then again, I don't go looking for them.  But if I were to ever run into one, and I'm discussing McDojos, I'll gladly name names.  Right now, McDojos appear to cryptids like bigfoot and the chupacabra.  Many people have seen them, but they can't seem to show you one.  

And McDojos aren't the only scapegoats.  "Sports karate" has recently become a new scapegoat.

[Furinkazan]

This list is on the website of Jesse Enkamp (Karate Nerd)

Warning: 93 Signs Your Dojo is a McDojo

Notice how the majority of the items on this list are either exaggerations or tongue-in-cheek.  And that's probably most articles and videos I've seen on McDojos.

I have a great sense of humor like everybody else, but the exaggerations and tongue-in-cheek articles almost rule out concern for others as the motive for fixation.

[DarthPenguin]

On 5/5/2026 at 6:27 PM, Furinkazan said:

In my observation (mostly on the internet), it's mostly karateka that appear to be fixated on McDojos.  I don't see it happening anywhere near as much in BJJ discussions,, unless the context is them referring to all places in which TMA is taught as "McDojos."

 

 

it does crop up in BJJ discussions - it is one reason why people often put their lineage to avoid any issues. People pass around comments on schools that are known to be McDojos and just hand out belts - there is one in my city that is pretty well known and tbh it is a laughing stock in every other academy nearby. You do feel sorry for the students though as it was part of a well known affiliation and the head coach comes across as being legit but then folk would turn up at other schools with advanced belts and be properly humbled. A lot then end up leaving and moving to the other academies

 

On 5/5/2026 at 6:27 PM, Furinkazan said:

If this is happening in the US (I'm not aware of it), I don't know what the profit margin is.  If you look at the maximum number of students that the square footage of the floor in most dojos can fit, I'm not sure the tuition is even covering the rent, much less the reinvestment into the physical dojo via the purchase and replacement of training equipment and the like.

What i meant was in the USA martial arts academies are more likely to be someones job/livelihood than they are over here. Here it is typically a hobby or a way to make extra cash. For someone who makes their living from teaching martial arts then McDojos that make martial arts look bad may mean less interested students > less income or they may feel pressure to do the same to be competitive / make a living. Either thing being an overall negative