shuri style Posted April 29, 2003 Posted April 29, 2003 What is a Mcdojo? I have never heard this before, what are the main characteristics?
G95champ Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Belts for Money and not teaching a lot. Making money and giving rank for dollars. (General George S. Patton Jr.) "It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory."
TJS Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 basically anyone can go thru the ranks..regardless of skill, improvment, fitness, etc...when you see high ranking students that would really stand no chance at all in a real fight..then you have found one.
AndrewGreen Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 basically anyone can go thru the ranks..regardless of skill, improvment, fitness, etc...when you see high ranking students that would really stand no chance at all in a real fight..then you have found one. *sits on hands* I can't resist. BULL!! That would group a whole lot of schools as McDojo's that I don't think you want to. Rank - Rank is nonsense, ignore it. I have a hard time seeing it, I think the whole idea is silly. Different schools do different things. A McDojo is a school which doesn't meet the criteria of the person calling it that. There are things that I think are wrong like long term contracts, belt testing fees and saying you provide something you don't (ex functional martial arts) Andrew Greenhttp://innovativema.ca - All the top martial arts news!
ninjanurse Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Andrew, I think you put it very well!!!!! Thanks ! "A Black Belt is only the beginning."Heidi-A student of the artsTae Kwon Do,Shotokan,Ju Jitsu,Modern Arnishttp://the100info.tumblr.com/
Withers M.A.A. Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 Basically a school that the instructor is either not skilled or just wants to make a fast buck and doesn't care much about his students progression. 2nd Degree black belt in Kenpo Karate and Tae Kwon Do. 1997 NASKA competitor-2nd place Nationally in Blackbelt American Forms. Firearms activist!
monkeygirl Posted April 30, 2003 Posted April 30, 2003 A lot of people tend to be paranoid to McDojos. They see a dojo that uses contracts or testing fees and automatically leap to a conclusion. I think that the actual number of McDojos is a bit smaller than what people first think. I've never had to deal with a McDojo, so I'm just going on speculation and logic here: IMO, a McDojo is a scam started by a con artist. This con artist might have a little bit of training...possibly even a legitimate black belt, but the fact that s/he is a con artist and is scamming people remains the same. However, it's very difficult to diagnose a McDojo. There are several factors that would seem incriminating: Contracts High prices Testing fees Ineffective Self-Defense training None of these can really make you say "oh yes, that's a McDojo for sure." It's only when these factors are in their extremes and combined that we start to see a McDojo. Making false claims is a strong sign of a McDojo. Say that they claim you will become an excellent fighter in 3 months!! If, after 3 months you're still a lame-o fighter, it could mean two things: a. You're at a McDojo. b. The instructor is terrible. It's only if the instructor is deliberately deceiving you that it becomes a McDojo. Basically, a McDojo involves: deliberately misleading people for the business owner's personal gain. Therefore, you'd have to be a mind reader to distinguish McDojo from Crappy Dojo. A Crappy Dojo could have all of the popular "signs" of a McDojo.... 4-year contracts, $300 for a yellow belt, black belt in 6 months, crappy training...it's still possible that the sensei is just a bad instructor who made some very unwise choices when running his/her business. In other words, there's really no way to tell for sure, 100%, unless you overhear the sensei saying "Oh yeah, I'm totally scamming these kids...they come in twice a week expecting to become ninjas or something. It's hilarious! *EMLOL*" But does it matter? If you're unhappy with a dojo, it shouldn't have to be a McDojo for you to leave. Again, this all just my opinion. Feel free to prove me wrong. 1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.
aznkarateboi Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 G95 , so you're saying that if they charge money for testing their a MCdojo?
SaiFightsMS Posted May 2, 2003 Posted May 2, 2003 How about if they charge money guaranteeing a certain rank? I thnk that is what most posters mean. Pay x amount of money come to x number of classes and you will be a black belt. Notice the lack of passing the test and meeting the propper standards of performance?
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