What is a McDojo? | ART OF ONE DOJO

[@3strikesyoureout]

Clearly a red flag = Dojo has a drive thru.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Well...yeah. You drive up to the box, tell them what art you want to rank in, drive up and give them your credit card at the first window and pick up your best at the second. Isn't that how it works?

[@aspendeslongchamps4029]

I’m dying 😂😂😂

[@begobolehsjwjangan2359]

@@ArtofOneDojo me after ordering: i know Kung Fu

[@thetruth9816]

Other warning signs: 1. The grand master is 100 pounds overweight. 2. Sparring is never allowed under any circumstances. 3. You’re required to buy a gi from the school and no where else. 4. The grand master is ALWAYS praising the female students no matter how wrong/bad their technique is.

[@alanvalencia8585]

Wait seriously that last one happens?

[@the404error7]

@@alanvalencia8585 Yes it happens

[@Froge4291]

My coach seems to do a bit of the opposite on the 4th

[@Clymax01]

Yes this is so true sadly

[@Clymax01]

@@alanvalencia8585 it sure does sadly McDojos are killing martial arts

[@carlcouture1023]

I think the biggest red flag of all should be advanced students who aren't very good. That's the only warning sign I need.

[@NostalgicTribe]

Lol yeh but I suck at everything ....

[@andrewmartinez7559]

Carl Couture fuck you bitch

[@rafly5443]

@Ja Er LARPing 😂

[@treiberTV]

@Ja Er Wich Martial Art? Wing Chun?

[@instructorlex8273]

Carl Couture this isn’t a good indicator. The first reason is that what you consoder advanced isn’t what the next guy (perhaps) considers advanced. Some arts consider black belt a 10 year venture and very advanced. Some consider it a 2 year venture and very basic in their art with a strong foundation in the basics. Also, what do you mean by “good”! Many people don’t look “good” as in talented with crisp technique and they never will, some because of a lack of athleticism and some based on age. A student can work for 1 year to make yellow belt, never look wonderful to most but certainly earned it and it would be hard to consider that a money based operation. Just a thought as a teacher. In a perfect world all my students are as good or better then me, in reality most never will be. Not because I’m so good, but because many don’t have what it takes in general. Martial arts isn’t all about looking good, it’s a way of life. It’s for the betterment of life.

[@BrockLee3]

Another sign that it's a McDojo: They ask if you want fries with that Black Belt.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

If I'm paying for a black belt, I not only want the fries, but give me that damn Happy Meal toy!

[@srami004]

@@ArtofOneDojo Good to know that you have a sense of humor.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Their martial arts instructor is Ronald McDonald

[@fussions65]

lmao.. Good one

[@rxj0765]

That's sensei Ronald McDonald to you Mr! 😂

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

and their chief instructor is the Hamburglar?

[@danielsan2397]

Don't underestimate Ronald. He's killed millions without even throwing a single punch.

[@outlawprinz]

Next one: "Black Belt Burger- King" Master of Burgerdo

[@natalieshannon7659]

In my Tang So Doo school, you had to wait forever to test. I remember being in there for 4 years and never got to test for my black belt. (I had to quit because I got into a bad car accident and got injured.) The instructor told me it wasn't a bad reflection on me, it was more for the school's reputation. My instructor hated schools who cranked out black belts. He wanted all of the students to earn the rank. We went to tournaments and our green belts beat a lot of other schools black belts.

[@100tuti001]

I only got to orange belt rank but I was better than most red or brown belts in sparring.

[@robinhoodwasasocialist.1401]

Natalie Shannon in my old capoeira class it took me 12 years to move up 4 ranks

[@arepitagrande8797]

I'm sorry to read about your car accident. The attitude of your teacher (sensei) is good. You should earn your rank. A belt should not become meaningless and the student should admit his/her weakness!

[@keltrepes2534]

I started Tang Soo Do at 11, didn't get my black belt until 18.

[@InfernalLeo777]

@@100tuti001 I was striped white belt and I was kinda bad at fighting the blue belts and then yellow belt the former blue belt could be easily overpowered and thrown back.

[@theBORGman]

I trained Kyokushin. The first thing a new student was asked when they arrived was "have you been to watch other styles?" If they answered, "No", it was strongly suggested that they "watch this evening and then spend a night or two looking at other places. If you like what they're doing, you won't like what we do here." I think it was great advice.

[@adrianoziffer9889]

I got two bruised /broken ribs in the first two months in a Kyokushin Dojo. Had I remained for two whole years I would have needed a new ribcage. Great guys, though.

[@jalenikezeue4114]

You kyokushin Practitioners Are Real Badass's I really mean that 🤘🏿⭐🤘🏿⭐🤘🏿⭐🤘🏿⭐🤘🏿⭐

[@Clymax01]

After finishing a free trial class a new student asks: “So how long does it take the average student to get a black belt?” McDojo: “Anyone can get a blackbelt in 1 or 2 years” Legit School: “The average student doesn’t get a black belt, very few students get a black belt here”

[@ArtofOneDojo]

EXCELLENT point!

[@dadbodfitness9704]

It took me about 9 years to get mine

[@jovickii7396]

Took me 10 years im still brown...

[@zio4590]

@@jovickii7396 Took me 8 years, am still blue.

[@jovickii7396]

@@zio4590 that mean you train in a real dojo not some fcking Mcdojo, respect👍

[@karieltheone]

Another sign: The sensei is clearly out of shape. Or he doesn't show any clear sign of wanting to further his own education.

[@blackpowderkun]

karieltheone what if the instructor is an old man with low methabolism that already retired from the application of the art.

[@jpsholland]

Be careful with the "out of shape" Lately, in the medical field it is discovered that an age belly for man run in the family. Its genetic. I am in my early 50tis, i run my miles on a sports bicycle, i walk a lot and i am a competition fencer. I suffer diabetes so i must eat healthy food and no alcohol to stay out of trouble and stay away from medicines. (which are not fun... i can tell you) I do sports since i was 12. Yet i do have an age belly an small man-boobs and i cant get them away. But i think you actually target the "eat at McDonalds every day" overweight.

[@bccmuse]

Be careful not to judge a book by its cover. I am 46, 6ft and weigh 300 lbs. I may not look like I am in shape on the outside, but I teach martial arts, and can go several round sparring with in shape the teenage atheletic guys and leave them drained while I am ready for the next round. It is important to see how they teach class, but how an instructor works out as well.

[@truejitsu6788]

He said "clearly out of shape" not big beast mode deebo type dudes lol this guy in the video is out of breath just talking... You can hear it. I've met some big in shape dudes and trust me it ain't no picnic grappling them but they do have some disadvantages on the bottom position and seem to fade quicker but they also have massive advantages in other ways. Like power to knock anyone out...that's a big one lol

[@oldnatty61]

jpsholland Everything "runs in the family"? That's genetics? You are lost in the high tech, pseudo-science, Madison Ave, sound bite. No man should have boobs or a belly bigger then their chest (AT ANY AGE!). I can help. Why? How? I'm 57 and in better shape then when I was in HS. I know the answer. Go to my site. Checkout my CURRENT vids. No supplements, No TRT. Just a real, common sense, understanding of what works. This shit is simple, but not easy. If what you describe above is what you're doing? You are training wrong. I can help you change your life. You want to be a bad ass, w/ a 6 pack, no boobs, and the ability to satisfy a special person? Shoot me an email. oldnatty.com

[@Otaku155]

Just to give you guys an idea here, I have been doing Iaido and Kendo for more than 20 years; my master had a grand total of THREE students, and NONE of us paid him any money. Our loyalty to him was by traditional oath alone, and we were never his meal ticket.

[@lancepabon]

When I started practicing MMA, my nephew got interested, and ask me if he could join. I said sure, come with me and try it out. He was TKD Brown belt and I had never seen him practicing before. We went to class, my teacher ask him if he had previous experience. He said yes, so he put him to kick against a muy Thai bag. His fighting stance was terrible. And his kicks sucked big time. Then he did light sparring with couple of the other students( I hurted my hip,the week before,so I couldn't participate). He moved like he was swimming in jellow, and couldn't punch either. So at the end of the class, he decided to join the school. I was surprised, since my teacher told him he had to start as a white belt. On the way home I asked him about how was his training in the other school. He told me he was about to get his black belt in three months, but for the test he had to pay $400. 00 U.S. bucks. Well,that was 4 months ago. And he hasn't said anything to me about his other school. He even participate in point karate tournament with us( my teacher also teaches shotokan karate) and couldn't score a single point. So, I guess he wasted 4 years of his life in a real macdojo...

[@InfernalLeo777]

Hurted

[@buzzardneckseahag]

3 months? Unbelievable 😳

[@bestcoffeeintown997]

There is no brown belt in TKD. At least in WTF system that i know.

[@lancepabon]

@@bestcoffeeintown997 I guess, all "macdojos" aren't the same...

[@alanvalencia8585]

@@bestcoffeeintown997 there are some schools that use brown belts kinda common actually

[@vulcanraisin8859]

Years ago I taught a karate class for a college. Well we had an instructor from the mcdojo in town taking my class. Needless to say she had a culture shock and an awakening.. she was a 2nd degree black belt in tkd. So seeing as how my class was just a basic karate class I assumed the material I was teaching would be easy for her. Red flag 1 was she was oblivious as to what an axe kick was or a crescent kick...I'm an isshinryu karate instructor even though we don't have an axe kick in isshinryu,I still use it as a stretch and a teaching tool. But she had no clue as to what they were.. red flag 2 she "earned " her tkd blackbelt in 9 months and had just received her 2nd degree black belt shortly before that semester... throughout the class she complained about the repetitive nature of kihon & contact on partner drills

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Oh man, I hate seeing stories like that. That poor girl was sold "snake oil" training. First...Getting black belt in 9 months is suspect enough, but not knowing what an Axe kick or Cresent kick even IS, mean she was robbed of a legitimate experience. Even in American Kenpo we have both of those. No excuse for a TKD black belt to know know either...it's some of their core moves. And did I read correctly that SHE was an instructor at another school? That's even worse.

[@vulcanraisin8859]

@@ArtofOneDojo you read that correctly man,and yes those kicks are the bread and butter of tkd. It's a sad sign of the times we are training in. We have these folks that don't know any better being sold rank by people that know better.

[@outlawprinz]

1:55 Jigoro Kano (Judo) I do Judo since 2004 I have to say one thing: In my Dojo, there was never one Student failed the Belt Test 'cous our Teacher won't let them do it if they are not ready to pass. And that's what a good Teacher has to be....

[@alexm.8619]

Nice to see another Judoka out there.

[@St1cKnGoJuGgAlO]

Hey hey judo guy here also.

[@palangicdino]

Hi from another judoka.

[@instructorlex8273]

Thank you for this. 100%. I fault students very very rarely because the same thing. I wouldn’t put somebody at testing that didn’t demonstrate the required techniques first. The “test” is really a demonstration in most studies and to show you can execute under some pressure.

[@squirrelbong]

I was part of a mcdojo...every month it was the same story. The gym was always a little short on rent and the instructor would ask everyone to pitch in a little extra to help out. We were always told the gym/dojo was on the verge of closing and we needed to recruit our friends and "donate" extra tuition every single month. No sparring ever in the 10+ years I was there(it was too deadly of an art!), we were also forbidden to train other styles or learn anything outside of class.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Oh yeah, those are definitely telltale signs. I hope you found something better that you love!

[@josecosta2484]

We're was that?

[@mauno7230]

And you spent more than 10 years in that "dojo"?? 🤣🤣🤣

[@chrlpolk]

I totally botched my test and they gave me my yellow belt anyway (I know, I know, how do you botch a yellow belt test? I started by running at the bag and doing a jump kick… and missed the bag. And that’s the least embarrassing part of it.). I “passed” because I was always at class and I was (my parents were) always up to date with dues, showing I had the right ambition. I quit right after that.

[@johnwarner8569]

Not to bright huh?

[@rlemoyne007]

I've seen a dojo where the instructor wrote instructions on a board and went to walk his dog while the class took place. I've also seen a place where the instructor did not show up for a class and that seemed to be okay.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Then that instructor should be ok when his students do not show up for class and go to another school then right? Yeah, that's a major sign right there that they don't care.

[@goktimusprime]

I've seen a Kung Fu school where the instructor wasn't even present in the class. He was often upstairs in his flat while students trained in his garage. And yeah, students started mixing in BJJ and Muay Thai since there was no central authority figure dictating curriculum content. But people flocked to learn from him because he's an old Chinese guy who speaks no English. He fits the stereotype. Forget the fact that he's utterly incompetent.

Omg the level of disrespect😵 Did you manage to find a good dojo eventually?

[@rlemoyne007]

@ , the one I am with is more oriented on fitness. It's mostly online. Real martial arts with sparring have been illegal for almost a year.

[@songoku9348]

Here in the U.K. The two major McDojos are Karate Leadership UK and GKR. Avoid them at all costs. My Shotokan dojo has only 3 of us, and that's what us and our sensei wants. We focus more on the fighting aspect of Shotokan and put less emphasis on kata. In other words, spar more, kata less.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Very nice. I'm currently looking into adding Shotokan to my studies, I like the historical aspect of it and the focus on the sharp, solid strikes.

[@TheAirHideous]

I trained at GKR for about a year and you're so right, I remember very little from it and doubt it would be very useful to me

[@Jaska124]

Shorinji-ryu Renshinkan Karate England is an entire network of McDojos in the U.K. Their leader doesn't know jack about karate, and hands out black belts to her students like they're presents. They even had the balls to invite us to their tournament, where they we're insanely biased against us Finns. I have no idea why our styles leadership allows Renshinkan England to exist as it does. I advice strongly against taking karate up there.

[@hilalharb714]

Our school uses kata as a introduction to application, after you'v learned the kata, you disect the moves and see what parts fit your style and what parts you can change in order for them to work.

[@hilalharb714]

we also do a lot of kumite as well

[@kristianbowitz288]

I love my dojo, you just pay for a membership (Nothing else) and then you can go to any training within youre age range and grade.

[@windtraffic2955]

Same, I dont go to a dojo but more like a gym, you pay like 50 a month and can go to crossfit, gym, jiu jitsu, kickboxing and mma.

[@ponchodukeonewyork844]

I have had an experience with a MD. The reason I joined was the distance from my home. I was even chastised for being "too good" and that I made other students uncomfortable. I was that student that spent countless hours studying the history of my art, training and self developing even branching out to tournaments as a detached competitor (a competitor without a team or coach) I've fought and placed in everything from backyard tournaments to AAU, USAT and ITF and WTF tournaments. I've seen older kids not know their requirements and just start bawling and be passed along. My first Dojo in 93 was awesome, it was small and had only one Sensai. The adults were separated from children (ages 15 and below.) It was a great school, but unfortunately closed. This was a great video, thank you, Sir.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

I'm sorry you've had the experience you had at this dojo. No instructor should EVER make you feel bad for being better than the other students. It just makes HIM look bad. I am happy to know that you took your own training into your hands and studied hard and did very well, congratulations on that :) Keep up the great work, best of luck in your training, and thank you for supporting this channel!

[@ponchodukeonewyork844]

@@ArtofOneDojo Thank you, Sir. I never gave up, now I branch from the US to the EU for a few years (work)and will continue my studies. There is no win or lose, only win and learn. May your school continue to grow and your students continue to learn, Sir.

[@baowolf0011]

As a person who crosstrained I can say there are many pros and cons to doing so. Some art styles will enhance others and can help to build your base. One things I would suggest to anyone practicing martial arts is to also study yoga. It will greatly increase your flexibility as well as your stability. However there are down sides to crosstraing. And some arts don't mesh well. I would also suggest studying Tai Chi. Though it has little practical application it will help you to stay calm in violent situations. Staying calm and not panicking will spell the difference between a win and lose or life and death. I would also suggest Boxing or MMA. Get in a ring with one or the other or both, doesn't matter. Because they will beat the holy hell out of you. This is going to teach you practical application and what it feels like to get hit, I mean really hit. Which again will aid in not panicking in a violent situation. On the topic of dating students. A friend of mine lost his dojo because of this. He started dating a student, they later got married and have 2 sons. Now he only does private instruction.

[@bastiaan0741]

My first karate dojo was a kyokushin mcdojo. The sensei was legit alright, but he divided the classes in two: real training for the brown and black belts, and fake training for anything below: those were just a money grab. I quit after three years with a 'blue belt', having never thrown a punch to a person. None of us did. I could do a flashy kata though. I was about to join another dojo, but that day, there were boxing lessons given instead. I was invited to join the training, and decided to stick with that instead. Probably the best martial arts-related decision in my life.

[@michaelmeza4111]

i am sorry about your experience with Kyokushin. I hope this doesn't ruin your Kyokushin experience in the future (if you encounter it again). I can promise you not every Kyokushin school is like that.

[@bastiaan0741]

I have the utmost respect for Kyokushin, and I mean that. In a last-ditch attempt, I entered a national competition to finally get the experience - and I did. Needless to say, I got my ass handed to me by real fighters, and finally experienced real Kyukoshin first hand. Much respect to the REAL fighters and senseis out there! In fact, after 25 years, the notion of returning to the true kyokushin still lingers, as if I want to right a wrong and add legitimacy to my 'blue belt'. However, I am now a boxing coach, 20 years in the sport, and perhaps I'm too old to try to change.

[@michaelmeza4111]

i completely understand. I am going from Blue to Yellow. Yeah, those competitions are rough. It's just horrible when they give Kyokushin a bad name. Usually Kyokushin Dojos is known for their toughness. I am glad you never lost respect for Kyokushin. I feel some dojos water the real karate down in hopes of keeping a "safe",and "injury free" environment and keeping the members. I feel those types of Dojos market Kyokushin with very little risk. It's a sad thing when that happens.

[@CernyJakub]

OSU!

[@jpsholland]

At the age of barely 12 i joined a legit Kyokushin shool. At the very first lesson we learn a basic punch and a basic kick, left and right. And we learn the defense against it. After a hard 15 minutes non-stop dril we start to do it on each other, still on the sensei's count. First kick, then punch. Another 15 minutes non stop. After every serie we chance partner. Then another 10 minutes on count, but we were free to chose the kick or the punch as we liked it. Then, sparring with this first simple techniques. One hour of Kyokushin and i already had my first battle bruises. That was my first lesson. 20 years in Kyokushin and i cant remember a single lesson without sparring our bruises. My school had 2 extra training at saturday. Each lasting 3 hours non-stop. The early one was for kata and the second one was for competition fighting/self defense. Those extra training was completely focused to only that subject. Start looking in Japan with the Kyokushin Federation and work your way back to you country. Find a legit school and try again. Oh one more thing, we always wear toques from day one, so indeed we restomped the groin.........

[@Bansheexero]

Interestingly enough, while he did not fall into any of the other categories, my instructor did marry one of his students (though I don't know if they were dating prior to that). In all fairness, the student is Philippean and had training in Eskrima. I know he did fail people during the black belt exams, though for lower belts, he would select students independently for promotions based on observed skill during classes (there still was a test, however, and when I was a kid, I almost failed some of those tests as well). My Taekwondo teacher was a former coach/trainer for the US Olympic team in 1988, so he did have credentials. Tiger Schulmann's was the most ubiquitous McDojo in the area (as a franchise). They did a demo in my high school and, hilariously, I knocked them around like ragdolls (I did all the drills they told us to do, I just did them properly. Their instructor yelled at me for making them look bad, simply because I had better technique than they did) and apparently that branch went out of business about three months later. So, I may have literally beaten a business to death with my bare hands.

[@The_saza]

Nice, I had something similar happen at my high school though I just sat back and laughed to myself.

[@Thor-Orion]

Luke Schwarz you from Jersey?

[@minauran6152]

MikeyXSuicide tiger Schulmans is a NJ school, so yeah I’d assume the dudes from jersey. Never studied at the school myself as my family left NJ when I was 4 and came to MN for my dads job, but my older brother to Tiger schullmans

[@Bansheexero]

@@Thor-Orion I am from PA, am about 90 minutes North of Philly, in Bucks county (where the movie Signs was supposedly set, despite it looking nothing like it. Sure there are a few farms, but nothing like in Signs). They had one in my town as well as in Montgomeryville, which is about 15 miles North of me. I dealt with the branch in my town. We get spillover from NJ quite a bit though. One of my former managers is from NJ. She was in the same class as Laura Prepon.

[@Darkness56]

I had a great experience with yoshinkan aikido. My sensei ended up being my training partner for a class and I kept try to keep up.with him. By the end of it I felt like my heart was trying to.pound out of my chest but I learned alot from that session with him.

[@Culvey]

They let you spar on the first couple days, knowing you have no experience, and his students feel like wet noodles, including his brown belts and black belts (that make up about 2/3 of his entire gym) Happened with me, I wrestled for 13 years but didn't know Jiu Jitsu or Judo, didn't know submissions past the RNC. I went against all 6 of his black belts on the first day, and only one of them even attempted a submission on me. I was going about 50%. Needless to say, I didn't go back.

[@Ezio999Auditore]

Yikes.

[@Ezio999Auditore]

Absolute Chad.

[@bilalgeen656]

'There is no such thing bad student. Only bad teacher." -mr miyagi

[@Grimmlocked]

the dating students killed my dojo when his wife found out. I should find some more martial arts to do

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Yep, it killed my first school too. My first instructor dated one of his students. One of his....under age students....and I found out he had a habit of this previously when he taught for other schools.

[@howtobuildadojo]

Art of One Dojo whattttt man, the drama at my old Dojo seems moot now lol

[@brianc9374]

I've never saw my first Judo Sensei fail a student. He held promotions twice a year and no one tested unless they were ready. We even had students spend a good year or two in the same rank before they were ready for testing. We did not have testing fees or even have to pay for our new belts.

[@drhkleinert8241]

In some styles you can buy your Black Belt yourself after the examination (7 € at Amazon), in other Styles you pay a bit for the examination and in that small fee the belt is included (in Modern Arnis Germany there is that Black-Red belt with embroidery on it, in Tagalog "Lakan Dalawa/ second Dan fE), but if a school takes lots of money for the BB exam, guaranteed success and lots of money for the belt, forget it...

[@georgee4810]

Wow. When it comes to martial arts training this has got to be among the top 5 most important videos on the internet.

[@randomjunk1998]

I remember I was the first “kid” to get an adult black belt when I was doing Tang Soo Do. I was 9 when I earned it but I’d been training since I was 5 and I had the living piss kicked out of me during the 3 hour test, and they did fail 2 people that test cycle. I didn’t get my 2nd degree until about 3-4 years later again. We definitely had some of these signs (main one was no cross training) but they were pretty legit with their training, they liked sparring a lot.

[@yuyukawa9104]

I cross train two martial arts and the two dojos I go to are near each other and train at the same times. So, me and my dojo went to the pub after training, and bam! my other dojo was in that pub. I introduced my instructor to my other instructor and my dojo to my other dojo. It was kinda funny since the students seemed to be interrogating each other like "hmmph, is this a mcdojo?". It's a shame a cool fight didn't break out. There is this sensei I have, he really likes the martial art he teaches (he trained in a lot of others) and he does discourage me from cross-training with the school I train with currently (due to bad experiences with my other school apparently), but he is the opposite of McDojo sensei. He gives everything out for free, gives discount lessons, gives free sparring gear, free gis, free drinks at the pub, free dojo merch. He even said if he gains any more student he will just discount the lessons further and that he doesn't like earning money from teaching because he has another job for that. He's a kind dude, one time I lost my travel card and he offered to help me get home. I feel like he really is only teaching because he likes the martial art. I think he is too generous for his own good. While the senseis in my martial art are very unMcDojo-y, I still doubt the practicality as the lower kyu grades rarely spar. McDojos aren't the only thing to watch out for imo. Almost everyone thinks their martial art is super practical and makes them able to defend themselves or do well in a fight but truth is, some arts are more practical than others whether it's a mcDojo or a great authentic dojo. Tai chi and Aikido for example, even if trained by a great sensei in a true dojo, I doubt they'd ever be practical. I've grown attached to the martial art + community as they have a very strong principles/ philosophy and are anti-earning money through teaching the art. It's more of an interesting traditional thing and I think it helps me grow as a person. This is a bit of an irrelevant ramble, but I think any martial art / dojo can do something for someone.

[@jlotus100]

I trained at a Dillman school back in the 90s for about a year. Enough said.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Did you learn how to nullify the no touch energy by moving your tongue around in your mouth? :D

[@keltrepes2534]

Were you a non believer? He couldn't knock you out if you weren't...

[@credodm1058]

You must have held your tongue in the wrong spot or had your big toes curled 😆

[@2ndcomingofFritz]

Who’s dillman?

[@Berengier817]

One thing to point out when it comes to people don't fail tests, how often do they test for example I've gone up three ranks in the past year, meanwhile this 15 year old kid who started before me has only tested once. he does not care about the class and only goes because his parents force him and his brother. however his brother absolutely loves doing karate and has gone up three ranks also. We don't get to test until the teacher says we're ready. so we put a lot of effort into the test and even before the test we have to get a review done by a senior student. If you're not ready, you won't test even if they said you were going to test. However I've yet to see someone fail a test because of this policy of making sure everything gets reviewed first before the test. They don't want to waste people's time if they're just going to fail it

[@DysmasTheGoodThief]

I’ve noticed that too where I’m observing

[@williampalminteri1727]

Excellent presentation, thank you. I practice Tai Chi Chuan, as you know, we have no belts or ranking system. That makes it a bit harder to find a teacher who actually knows what's what. A teacher can tell you anything, it's best to watch a few classes at different schools and note the differences.

[@goktimusprime]

See if the teacher can put you on your arse as a live resisting opponent. That's how I found my current Tai Chi instructor! I was initially skeptical of his techniques, so I tried to disprove him and he sent me flying backwards. I tried it again and again and each time he was just tossing me back like a rag doll. And the punches *hurt*.

[@rostam40]

I was very lucky to go to a real traditional JKA Shotokan Karate school, with a 70 year old sensei from Peru who had over 50 years of experience in Karate around the world with famous sensei's. He died last year, and I was devastated. He taught me a lot man. 7 dan black belt. People like him are rare in western world man, I wish I used it more...

[@spacecadet35]

A couple of other warning signs. There are lots of different grades between white belt and black belt. When you go white, yellow tab, yellow, yellow star, yellow two stars, green tab, etc, you might want to think again. Also if they have black belts in half a dozen different styles, that is usually a bad sign.

[@christophermccarthy884]

Another sign...Nonrefundable one year contract to start...bastard tried to send me to collections when I called him a used car salesman and quit.

[@tokenstandpoint93]

My initial school was a McDojo. They weren't a big franchise but I got 3 belts in one year, they said they where a Hybrid style but weren't clear on what the main art was, it took research at the library and going to other dojo's and temples around to find out and my instructors had bad reputations of being bad teachers. Those where just a few examples but I left in my second year. I learned from those signs and life happened till I got back to recently restart in a decent dojo.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Yeah, if they are kinda secretive about the style they teach I would be very wary about that. A good school should be proud of their system and heritage, why hide it?

[@TheJoeToe]

@@ArtofOneDojo hi

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Hi :)

[@justaregularguynamednoah1581]

You gotta be careful what questions you ask my sensei because he loves to talk about his art. So you might be expecting a short simple answer. Next thing you know he just taught you the entire history of where that move came from why it was done the way it was how it has changed over the years and now you walk away with a deeper understanding than you were expecting.

[@robertwelch3240]

Dr. Kempo PHD in kicking Ass , I'm horribly guilty if doing that. I do try to stop if I see the prospective student's eyes glazing over.😁

[@4299sarge]

This sounds like me talking to my students...

[@FolkeBernadotte2]

I was in a classical Karate school. Next door we had a Kyokushin Mcdojo. I figured it out when I visited them & discovered the following: 1- lots of "promotion" & bragging that they are the tougher Karate 2- their students level of physical fitness is way lawer than our guys 3- students with relatively high ranking belts do lot of technical mistakes as if they're white belts!

[@ChristophePeytier]

lots of good advices here. But i will even more drastic: As soon as you are asking for money to teach martial art, you are in the "McDojo" spirit. just look at martial arts masters in Japan (at least the real ones): They were fishermen, craftsman, smith or salarymen else where. The true masters DON'T MAKE MONEY from martial arts. I became aware of that , at a rather early age. I made a point to myself to never receive a single penny from teaching martial arts. I have taught seminars litterally on the five continents, to hundreds of students, I operated two schools in 2 countries. I started teaching in 1993 and I still teach today. Any financial compensation I got from teaching my seminars, i immediately gave it back as a "donation to the dojo". Why? Because as soon as money comes into play, then the mindset becomes "if I teach them this, will they like it?". As teachers, we cannot think in terms of what will please our student, and whether they will "take it" or not. Otherwise, our goal to train our students will be tainted with the need for them to stay. To summarize: Money cannot be tainting the process of teaching martial arts. So, for me, an important criteria for a McDojo: Are the fees SOLELY DESTINATED TO OPERATE THE DOJO, OR IS THE TEACHER GETTING SOME MONEY IN THE PROCESS ? If the latter, i recommend to walk away. Sooner or later, you would otherwise receive a teaching tainted by greed...

[@waliveroliver5854]

My school only has 6 students. It's really nice because the instructor gives personal advice!

[@jairajlallaramnauth8317]

I take adult classes. Only about 7 or 6 students. Our instructors correct us. They go through step from step. And you get a normal uniform. You don't have to buy a bunch of merchandise, just your gee and pants, and yes my instructor does participates in class. If you fail, you would have to wait until the next test. My head master is almost 50, and he has a 5th dan, we do Taekwondo, Karate, and Judo. If you come early you can watch the classes

[@theunfadeable60]

I agree with most of your points but I would never train at a school that doesn't spar. If you don't spar and pressure test your self defense skills in somewhat of a live realistic manner, your skills will fail you. MCDojo instructors care about money more then they care about you actually being able to defend yourself. If they don't let you spar, they lower their liability and lower their chances of being sued. Their students get a false sense of confidence and end up getting killed trying to defend themselves from violence and rape. Don't ever listen to an instructor who tells you you can become a competent martial artist without sparring early in your training and frequently. You will get your ass kicked one day.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

I agree with you completely, and I tried to imply that when I said an instructor should spar with the students. You can learn techniques all day long but if you don't get to apply them on a resisting person you won't know what really will or won't work. Plus the same techniques don't work for everyone, but Bob might be able to pull off in sparring doesn't mean Charlie will. You have to get hands on and play and make it work. McDojo instructors usually won't spar, you are correct. We were always encouraged to start sparring as early as possible so we could get the sense of being hit and into a live application.

[@darrinbragunier5483]

We spur several times a week and the last Saturday of every we have Dog Days where 6 local schools get together and we spur

[@kevingonzalez3673]

I went to a kung fu school were they taught a traditional stance. All their techniques looked spastic. When it came time to spar, all the brown and black sash guys spared like kickboxers. The bottom bitches looked like spasmatics. I come from a heavy boxing and kickboxing background. They got mad because I used what I knew vs what they were teaching. The thing is, the instructor had trained in several other arts but only uptalked kung fu. He also boxed and kickboxed. You could tell from his sparing. He was a beast. I stopped going there and went back to MMA center.

[@richmiller8615]

I couldn't agree more! Plenty of martial artists look great until somebody is put in front of them fighting back. Sparring is where one truly learns how to fight.

[@craftpaint1644]

It's a tough call to criticize whether students should be going full speed. Many gotta drive home after class and go to work the next day. Some don't have health insurance, etc. Going really slow careful is pointless but people who like full speed should just compete more. The best sparing targets are brothers and sisters, they've been fighting since they were toddlers - they just react to everything.

[@mrcrackdonald_1]

In my school they don't let you know you're being tested. Basically it'll be a normal class, except for that specific class they will push you much harder than they normally do (pairing you up with several far more advanced students for sparring for example), and if they think you did well they reveal they were testing you and promote you, but if you failed, then, you wouldn't know. Then again, that's for intermediate and beginners, for black belts or advanced belts there's an entire day dedicated to testing.

[@clantonaw]

I would also add instructors that are overly disciplinary and expect a hero-worship status. "Sensei is god" type attitude. That almost always indicates an underlying insecurity on the part of the instructor that should be avoided. Most instructors have a very humble, relaxed and welcoming demeanor. That's a good sign as well. Great series Sensei! Thank you for the straight forward guidance!

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Teaching should be a humble experience. Working with children, I am amazed at what I learn while trying to teach them. A "God-like" status should never be a part of teaching. I don't want students to idolize anything, but rather learn life skills. An instructor should ALWAYS remain a student :)

[@justaguyx9161]

If anyone in the Toms River / Brick area of New Jersey wants to avoid the McDojo, please consider Paul Predergast Karate. Their attention to each individual student is beyond fantastic, and their quality of work teaching kids to have honor, integrity, and respect is second to none.

[@eltonbandeira]

I've always have a lot of thoughs about that.. because. here in Brazil, I used to train the Songahm Taekwondo (or ATA taekwondo). And the training was really hard, nobody get a black belt before 6 to 8 years at least (going through the color belts, well.. that was easier, everybody passes the tests because they've learned the content, and the idea was to continue to improve that, a black belt HAS to know ALL the content of the other belts). But here is the thing.. I read on some coments over the internet about kid buying a black belts, and people achieving the black belt without ever spar with anyone. But this is defenitly not the case here. And also, my teacher did sparing sessions everytime with us. Of course that, on championships we had to folow the rules, such as no punching the face or throwing your partner on the ground... but at the dojo? training we did it all! The instructor was very focused on teaching us HOW TO FIGHT, as much as teaching the values and philosophy of the Songahm. If american schools are crap. To bad for them. My school in the south of Brazil was the best. I've trained other arts in my life, but nothing compared with our training back then.. Anyway.. know your dojo and your teachers. There's no better art, there are the better teachers.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Exactly right. There are bad schools all over the world but there are also really good ones. You just have to know what to look for and find them. Thank you for sharing!

[@donaldbaize7988]

More schools int the U.S. need to train like that

[@ericyoutube77]

English schools are worst than American ones

[@joshadams1439]

Also, sorry, this post will be long. Last year I worked at a martial arts school in Marietta, GA (main location on Lower 120). There were so many things wrong with that place. When I joined I was hired to be trained (within 6 to 9 months) to become a Level 3 instructor. We had 3 schools already and trying to open a 4th. Open 6 days a week, classes that ran 45 minutes long. 4 to 6 classes a night. We had adults with small children. Between all 3 schools we had over 500 active students, another 500 that would show up when they could. That was not including over 800 students at our elementary school programs we taught at as well. Last November we held a black belt test that had over 70 students in it. During that test, the students had to do grappling self-defense and a lot of other self-defense as well. Including the owners regimen of one-step sparring, 18 predetermined moves essentially. Nobody failed their tests, including the black belt tests. All tests (except black belts) were $45 a test for juniors and adults and $35 a test for Little Dragons. Juniors up to purple belt had three stages of yellow, orange and green before getting purple. But adults did not have that. Black belt fees, $125 for pre-first Dan, $200 for 1st dan, $300 for 2nd, $400 for 3rd and $600 for 4th. That's as high as you could go because the owner is (yes I said is) a Kukkiwon certified 5th Dan, but an ITF certified 6th Dan. NOBODY failed their tests. Classes went like this: 8 minute warm up, 2 minutes talking about a word of the week, 2 minutes working on forms, 2 minutes working on self-defense, 5 minutes on basics, 15 minutes on kicking drills, line up 10 minutes before class end, end 5 minutes before official end of class. 1 main instructor, a few helpers if that to teach up to 40 students a class. And self-defense was set up just like one-step sparring. Each belt level had certain moves you had to know, and certain ways of getting out of those moves. You were forbidden to teach anything else. I have 21 years of teaching and running a school and I know that one move never works for everyone. Everybody is different. Forms, call out the name of form, then start counting. Never correct a student. Basics the same way. I've got video and picture proof of the black belt test that it all looked horrible. I had parents ask me why we only spent the most time on kicks and not learning how to defend ourselves. I quit when the schools owner said all the processes would never change. Yet he changed them 7 times in 6 months. Every other Saturday would be an instructors meeting, to make sure everybody was on the same page. Never once did we work on techniques or how to teach and approach different personalities. Hell, the school owner never got on the floor and taught. He got dressed, but would stand in a corner and watch classes. Then, the one meeting I chose to quit my job on was the week after the black belt test when he complained that forms and self-defense looked horrible, yet his system is perfect. I quit when he told me I shouldn't talk to parents because I wasn't a Level 3 instructor. Then there was the contracts. The contracts were forced to make you pay monthly for a whole year. You had a 30 day period to where if you quit you wouldn't be charged 11 more months. But after that, you either gave us notice and we charged you for another 3 months, or the rest of the yearly contract. There were no free trial classes. It was $20 for 2 weeks, and if you chose to stay, a down payment of the first two months, but hey! It came with a free uniform and free pass for a Parents Night Out and free ASP (after school program if at that school). Every month had a PNO that cost students $20 each. ASP charges differed between each school as well. Ranging from $89 to $229 per child, each semester (2 per school year). I almost tested for my 3rd Dan, except for money issues and after I saw and had to process all the applications, it turned me away. Another part of the black belt tests was having to write an essay, that was never ready, I know because I saw one student copy/paste one word for 6 pages and nobody said a word. Plus the day of the technical test was a written/multiple choice exam on things that were never taught in class. For example, the meaning of Tae Kwon Do, or weight ratios in stances. The tests took place over two Saturdays, the first one being nothing but an endurance test for 4 hours, mostly doing exercises that young students and adults with health issues, well, let's just say that at the end some couldn't walk. Second Saturday was the technical test, that lasted 4 hours as well. Doing forms 10 times, self-defense at least 5 times. It was crazy. Even the parents fell asleep they became so bored. In fact a lot of students were getting hurt during self-defense because we weren't allowed to teach proper technique. Also everyday, instructors had to watch an hour's worth of videos created by the owner himself showing everything he wanted done. Teaching, the processes, even one for how to paint a wall and creating a gift bag for Christmas. Students couldn't wear regular uniforms too. Everything including sparring gear, t-shirts and hoodies had to have the school name and logo during class or while at class. Every holiday we passed out bundles of marketing cards for free classes to students to give to their friends. But guess what, it ended up turning into contract talks. And right before school started we held 9 "Focus Workshops" where we had hundreds of kids just to try and recruit new students before school started and they did other sports. Needless to say, I'm glad I quit. And got my third degree elsewhere, even though I just realized I haven't updated my profile picture on here. It's the only belt that has my name in English. Yeesh.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Wow that is horrible and I'm really sorry you encountered a school like that. Everything you said in this description is against what a reputable school should do. Black belt testing 70 students at one time??? That's insane! Forcing the branding and all the contracts definitely tells you what this school was all about. I'm really glad you were able to identify a lot of these signs and then make the decisions to leave. I sincerely hope you are much happier with your new training. Thank you for sharing your story, yours will help others recognize signs they might be missing at their own school.

[@SWEETSCIENCESPORTSMcDOJOS]

At my old school. The Instructor held belt test every 6 weeks and everybody passed. Sometime students would not show up for weeks at a time and show up right before the belt test and still get promoted. That use to upset me because I and other people were there all the time and even came before practice to get some sparring in that the instructor eventually stopped. He also claimed to be the 3rd person to be taught Jeet Kune Do and that he combines 15 different martial arts and when you get your black belt in 2 years or less you will be a black belt in 6 different martial arts. When I left as a red belt he tried to get me to come back by offering me to test for my black belt. This was a Taekwondo based school. I would also see him create locks and hold before class and teach them to us as if they were tested and proven. I left because i discovered it was a mcdojo. Awesome video!

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Wow, yea definitely sounds like a McDojo. Train for 2 years and be a black belt in 6 different arts? Yeah...no. I'm glad you were able to recognize it and leave. Have you found a better school since then to train at?

[@SWEETSCIENCESPORTSMcDOJOS]

@@ArtofOneDojo Not yet. I have moved from that area. Were I am at now there are a lot of mcdojos but I am still looking.

[@lgoachet]

It took my 16 years to get a black belt. 16 years!!!!!! I have seen kids getting a black belt after 2 years, and they can't even do a proper shining kick. Mc Dojo's are almost every where.

[@falsered13]

There is also a difference between rolling with the students and using them as punching bags

[@stevena.7022]

Defending a McDOJO lite. I spent 5 yrs at a large Tang Soo Do chain. It had some but not all of the hallmarks of a McDojo. Black belt club, school store selling kubotons, little kids with glow stick nunchakus on the webpage, Black Belt in 4. Luckily the instructors were serious and as it was a college town it attracted a lot of students. Some, like myself, had previous training. Come to find out there was a semi secret, parallel, after hours, invitation only, fight club going on every Sunday. I got the word the moment my white belt came off a learned quite a bit just sparring til we dropped every week. Monday morning we'd be in there with our black eyes and bruised shins doing staff forms again. In a way the Mc Dojo side kept the legit side going.

[@daman7129]

Rhee taekwondo in Australia is a mcdojo, they put you through belt systems so quickly, get your black belt, become an instructor and start branching out recruiting more students. It was also a bit cultish in some of its behaviours.. That being said.... I acknowledge master Chong chul Rhee to be a highly experienced master of the Korean art, he did bring it to Australia and made successful business from it. I certainly enjoyed my time there, got to black tip, would liked to have gone further but the already mentioned problems put me off. And for those who would knock taekwondo, a martial art is only as good as the work you put into it!!

[@sakispdsw]

When it comes to your last statement.Its false.There is a reason some martial arts arent used in MMA.Some simply dont work.

[@rikkicaligero1141]

@@sakispdsw exactly Capoeira is one you can find videos on youtube on it's fail as well as krav maga , and taekwondo to name a few. in .MMA if your art does not teach you so punch the face or take a punch to the face or strike with a fist or elbow or grapple effectively you will not last long in the cage

[@sakispdsw]

@Anthony Online No need to shout my friend.I never said TKD is useless but alone it is incomplete.Against an untrained fool even aikido might work but against a more complete guy i simply dont belive its enough.Also weird flex about the damage you did but ok.

[@DFsupreme]

I used to train with a martial arts school that was part of a big franchise. Looking back, I can honestly say it was a big time McDojo. I won't say the name of the organization nor will I say the type of martial arts style. But they had a instructor college program. Once you reached green belt which was like the 6th belt if I recall correctly, but they train you to be an instructor. By then you're teaching classes already while wearing a red belt as a non black belt instructor, but attending the instructor college earlier in the day. Also one thing that I notice as well which is a very common thing a lot of instructors from McDojo's do is that magic bullet concept, that idea they have an answer to every scenario without even putting their theory into practical application. Of course it always starts off with, "All you gotta do is (Insert random technique)." Making the change from McDojo to MMA has been a big culture shock to me. From McDojo instructors telling me to show them my fight stance so they can go on and on how it wouldn't work because they kick me here or punch me there, to MMA coaches letting me know to keep my guard up around my face and to keep sparring to find what works for me and develop my own comfort with stance and footwork. I can go on forever as I enjoy sharing my journey into martial arts. But in no way am I trying to promote MMA, instead I'm just sharing my experience and what I took away from it. But do I think Mcdojos are bad people? No, not at all. I've made lots of great friends and met tons of amazing people during my time. It's not an experience I regret, instead it's all part of my own personal journey.

[@thatonenerd2547]

Hey! I'm 12 and a 1st 단 black belt, I understand that I'm a junior black belt; I know you have to be 16 or over for a full BB. I love it there; I've gotten more athletic, stronger, happier in general there, meeting friends and (well) family, kinda, there. I have friends who have gone to State and national championships. It inspired me to learn Korean! So I was just wondering, is it a.. Macdojo(or is it mcdojo I don't really know)| 1 - It's $50 per test; there is : - White - Yellow - Green Stripe - Green - Blue Stripe - Blue Belt - Red Stripe - Red - Black stripe - Double Black Stripe - Black Belt So, it takes about 3-4 years (for kids, 7-12 year old) to reach Black. Slightly shorter for adults but only by a few months. There's so far been Nine teams of black belt that have tested from 2015 - 2019 (on 6 month periods, I might have gotten a number or two off) which consists of : a lot of children, some adults. The main goal of the school is family orientated, so kids get each instructor (Responsible black belts usually ages 12 - 25, knows the entire curriculum) focusing on them for 40m - 75m. I should note here nobody ever gets denied, but it's usually 3 months for lower belts to test. On higher belts, 4 or 5 and above red, 6. It can change, tho. Littler kids and kids that may have Autism, ADD, etc.. Get extra attention and take much longer. 2 - We learn all Taegeuk Forms and basic self defense for color belts, advanced for black belts. While colored may learn basic defenses from punches or kicks, black belts learn grabs and grapples. 3 - We have a demo team, doesn't do some cringe dancing to idk twice or some crap, but does do some stuff at local festivals and parades. 4 - Our primary master is a 5th degree 38 year old Korean man that won the 2008 u.s open for form (I checked on the site and he's there). He diverts a lot of attention to people, DOES *somewhat* partake in class (although he controls himself a lot, no little 6 year olds flying). There's also a 4th Degree Master who does a lot of stuff on the managing side of things, but does teach classes. Her 4th degree brother, who does constant exercises there and has won state and nationals. Also a 3rd degree 25 year old something that helps out too. It's.. Really fun. Sorry there's a bit WOT but I hope I can get some answers.. Love your content, keep it up!

[@minauran6152]

My school does something similar: we start at white belt, then gold, then gold with green stripe, solid green, green w purple stripe, solid purple, purple w blue stripe, solid blue, blue W red stripe, then solid red, which is advanced belt(one of the forms we need to get first degree is the red belt form, so that’s probably why red is advanced belt.) then it’s red with brown stripe, then solid brown. Then it’s brown belt with a black stripe, and then it’s brown belt with 2 black stripes. Then it’s first degree black belt, going up to tenth degree. From white belt to brown with a single black stripe, they give us 3 tapes: a red one for basics(I think) , a white one for self defense (I think) and a blue one for form (I think).

[@darreltyre]

I used to travel a lot for my employers and over several decades would take my gi with me, stop by an out-of-town dojo and asked to join a class. I find all of your points valid, and recognized and agree some of the 'McDojos' had a lot of the visible warning signs mentioned. Regardless, I was welcomed and never refused by any dojo, which I attribute to, it's always good to have another first dan on mat for appearances, and occasionally tested by students or instructors, but left knowing more than when I arrived. Bruises heal and blood washes. Training never ends, there's always more to learn, and even 'McDojos' have something to teach me and were receptive to what I could impart.

[@Dominator-fq8xe]

I'm a black belt but I feel like my dojo has really fluctuated between legit and McDojo status throughout the years. We have a lot of signs like in this video but overall at least in the adult class we do spar an awful lot and it's not just drills. Either way it's fun, and it's a good workout so I'll stick with it for now

[@Horus-Lupercal]

Man, I'm so grateful for this channel, especially the huge series on Kyokushin. OSU.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Thank you so much! I'm extremely grateful for people like you who make this channel worth it :)

[@LikeWaterProductions]

Wow, I've noticed a lot of this at some of the studios I've trained at, especially the rapid promotion and passing of tests. I don't think these places started out as McDojos, but when business got bad, they resorted to some of these practices to help keep the doors open. As you might have guessed, it cost them more business than it saved.

[@chriss1757]

Things that are huge red flags to me. 1. Allowing testing for multiple ranks. 2. Black Belt or other "clubs" that cost extra. 3. Kid black belts. 4. Way too much focus on sparring or forms to the point that the effectiveness of the techniques suffers badly. I like your approach. You understand that Martial Arts schools are businesses and that a lot of people take martial arts as a hobby to stay in shape, not to become a Ninja Warrior. I train at a small school where I am an assistant instructor. When we interact with other schools, it's easy to pick out the McDojos. Lots of kids in lots of fancy uniforms with lots of patches and bags, yet only a few seem to do everything.

[@JohnCMartinActor]

I believe a huge sign is their involvement,or lack thereof, in tournaments. McDojo's will often have "interschool" tournaments but never compete in outside or open torny's for fear of having their students skills put to a legitimate test and having the school scrutinized in general.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

That is an excellent point!

[@bernardortiz7351]

This is a great breakdown of the main flags of a McDojo. Thank you for being clear and concise along with enough caveats that give wiggle room for dojos to operate as they need to. Every person has a different path through the arts. Not everyone is destined for MMA greatness, and we do not generally need to defend our village against marauding tribes - so for some people, a good workout is all they really want. For them, a McDojo may be all they really want or desire. I tell people like that, "as long as you know what you're getting yourself into - basically Gold's Gym mixed with Billy Ray - and you shouldn't expect to be able to take on a street punk..." A lot of people are actually fine with this. Additionally, a good school will open the door and show you the path, but the student has to do the walk and the work to earn their rank and own the material. The school I attend does fail students - but that usually happens at the 'pre-test' level. Some of those don't come back, and some try harder.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Very well said Bernard, and I agree with this very much.

[@rikkicaligero1141]

REASONABLE ARGUMENT, BUT THE DOJO THAT LEADS YOU DOWN NO PATH LIKE AND IS ONLY A MONEY PIT AND BELT RANK MILL LEADS YOU DOWN NO PATH AT ALL. MY ADVICE/SUGGESTION TO ANY ONE WHO JUST WANTS TO IT AS A FORM OF EXCERCISE IS GO TO YOUR LOCAL GYM MANY OFFER WATERED DOWN MARTIAL ARTS CLASSES FOR THIS PURPOSE . GOING TO A MCDOJO FOR ANY REASON IS JUST A WASTE OF ONE'S MONEY AND TIME

[@NDOhioan]

@@rikkicaligero1141 WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN ALL CAPS? IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING.

[@cheyennew811]

I got into a rather tense discussion with folks from a large franchise out of Colorado because I have failed people on belt tests including my son. They were totally freaked out. My point of view was that it is a test, therefore failure is a possibility.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Right, if the student can't perform the requirements then they shouldn't pass. Much respect for you to holding even your own son to a level of quality.

[@cheyennew811]

I believed that everyone had to be held to the same standard, no matter what.

[@ShifuSage]

I think i might have accidently found the best dojo in my state, the only boxes it did tick was "dojo shirts" which isn't even a big deal because here in India, summers get toxic very quickly and not everyone can get a nice breathable T shirt, my master learnt his artforms from the instructor of the para military forces here in India, and trained under him for a very long time, everyone there in my dojo are like a 2nd family to me and they're honestly some of the best people I have ever met, I honestly love being there and they even let me sit around in the dojo and watch other batches of students and arts for HOURS and they actually praise me for it as it shows I am actually interested in learning something from there, their fees month to month and you have the option to leave anytime you want, it gets abit crowded in evening but considering my dojo is one of the best (and one of the few in my city in overall number of quantity) it ultimately is unavoidable, I go into the morning batch where most kids are either at school or at tuitions so I practice there along with my 2 best friends, 2 to 3 hours everyday and there are at least 2 instructors there even in the morning. I could honestly write over 1000 words just describing how good I feel going there everyday, there is a championship coming up in 3 weeks and I am preparing for that as we speak!

[@Docinaplane]

Good stuff, Dan! As you, I've been lucky to find some great instructors. From the beginning, I never trained at a McDojo. The term hadn't been invented yet. lol There were some bad schools, of course. When I decided to get back into the martial arts a few years ago, I looked at every school I could find in my city. I was so surprised with what the TKD schools were doing and the inferior level of training that they were selling. I did go to one and take a class, but TKD wasn't my style, even though I did have a BB in Chung Do Kwan. My style was closer to old style Tang Soo Do or Shotokan, like Chuck Norris does. I finally settled on a Renshinkan school as that was as close as I could find to the Kenpo / Karate system (Kang Duk Won) I had been taught by black belts out of San Jose, Ca. Because of things I didn't like about that school, I eventually left and went back to that "McDojo" ITF TKD school that I had taken a class at. By then I was a long way back to being my old self again. At my rank and experience, I can train myself to a point. The thing was, the head instructor and owner of that school, even though it is a McDojo because of so many child black belts, no one fails a test, and so forth, was special. I imagine, at your level of experience, you can watch someone workout hard for a minute and have a pretty good idea if they have skills. This guy had major skills. So I train with him. I learned then that he was four time Cuban National Karate champion, BB in Judo, Boxing Champion, High level Krav Maga, and to top it off, ex Cuban Special Forces Black Wasp. I rolled with him one time, and he knew how to use BBJ. I asked him, "I thought you told me you didn't do BJJ?" He said, " BBJ is a sport, I'm Special Forces." And that was that :-) I can't fight like the machine he is, but he has helped me get better so I tolerate the McDojo, stay humble, and keep the ego in check.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Exactly, as long as you can identify what is good and not gives you an advantage. And you are also correct, you can watch a person demonstrate for a few minutes to know if they have skill or not :)

[@allenjackson7054]

I have been training in over 25 years and have seen a lot of schools open and close. Especially in rural areas. I completely agree with your criteria here. I have taught for free out of a church cafeteria. I mainly started because of so many mcdojos in the area. I felt like these instructors were doing such a disservice to the people that have dedicated their lives to training. I’m not saying a style trumps another but I have seen very effective training and hybrids especially now with a wealth of knowledge and science. I also enjoy some of the traditions because in a way I feel connected to people through time. I know it’s not for everyone and that’s fine. I started teaching for free because a lot of people didn’t have money and not where they could afford these absurd fees every month and I couldn’t let them not be included because of economics. All I asked was donations, whatever they could afford and it went into a class fund to pay for supplies for our training. The way I saw it was that I would be training regardless so I wanted to help others during that time too. Also, a comment on the instructors being vague, be careful not to confuse vagueness with language barriers. I have trained with a lot of masters from Korea and I’m just using Korea as from experience. That a lot of potential students didn’t enroll because either they couldn’t deal with language barriers or didn’t understand what they meant or cultural differences. A lot of times there were instructors or black belts that would be able to help communicate ideas or answers. Most people I think would be able to tell the difference but someone new to martial arts going in with this checklist may interpret language barriers with vagueness because they are trying to be careful to not join a Mcdojo. Also be careful with asking a school about another school. I have heard so many people tell me about schools, instructors, and students lie about another to try and discredit them to gain new students or squash business competition. I was victim of it myself because I was offering it for free. Some of them were even former classmates that I trained with at some time or another. That I would have consider to be a friend prior to that. I mean absolute lies and that really hurt me. Sorry for the long comment but it really struck home how much of a problem this is.

[@ninji5226]

Another great video. I "challenged" my instructor within a couple weeks of starting. Not in a crazy way, I just got first pick of sparring with the head instructor or the higher ranking black belts. I figured if this guy is teaching me, he better smoke me, and he did. Unfortunately too many people look at a black belt like it's an end all be all thing and believe the belt is what gives you skill. My instructor always said that the vast majority of black belts in the world couldn't punch their way out of a wet paper bag, sad but true. A lot of great points here and it's so hard to know before going in, and even harder to leave once you establish relationships. I've gotten lucky twice.

[@michaelbrant1668]

I most humbly want to inform you. I teach karate, it’s not a business and I receive no payment, I do it because I enjoy it and I believe that as soon as money is involved it turns into something wrong. Pressure to award ranks etc becomes warped.

[@naturalegion]

I spent a couple years training with the American Schools of Shaolin Kempo in Oregon, founded by a former Fred Villari student. In retrospect I’m not sure if it was a McDojo but I did recognize some of the warning signs you mention (franchising, pushing students to spend a lot of money up front to join the black belt club, discouraging training in other styles or systems, and I don’t think I ever saw anyone fail a belt test, although to be fair I can only speculate as to the reasons why... perhaps the instructors were good at identifying when a student was ready). It’s been years since I’ve practiced in the martial arts and I really want to get back into it but I’m pretty cynical at this point about the prospects of finding a school that’ll provide exactly what I’m looking for. In any case thanks for the video.

[@richardthemagician8991]

I had an experience with a mcdojo. I almost signed up for it. I was younger and didn't know any better. Luckily, I also checked out Kenpo School. The mcdojo I walked into, I asked how long it takes to get a black belt. Pretty, question if you were brand new to martial arts. They said it takes about 3 years from when you sign up to get your black belt. I. That sounded pretty good. When I went into the Kenpo School I asked the same question. The instructor said it all depends on me and how quickly I learn the material. Then I asked a couple of there students how long they've been there. One of the Greenbelt said they've been training for over 4 years. I was about to walk out the door lending instructor explained why they don't put time limits on their promotions. I realize this is definitely a sign of a mcdojo. I watched many other students go in and out of the mcdojo school I went into and they were getting their black belts long before me. But when I came to knowledge and skill, they had none. So that's another warning sign. Be weary of any school that tells you how long it takes to get a black belt.

[@tempo1889]

They claim to be best friends with George Dillman.

[@Rex-golf_player810]

NOO NOT GEORGE DILLMAN ANYONE BUT HIM

[@kellycollier2026]

Who is George Dillman?

[@Arkhael666]

Plus, you have to move your tongue... Plus, you move your toes, plus...

[@SirFancyPantsMcee]

@@kellycollier2026 He believes he can knock people out with his chi. The psychic bs.

[@digby1710]

@@kellycollier2026 look him up LOL I promise you'll get a laugh

[@DudleyVGC]

The owner of the school I attended for 10 years didn't promote if you weren't remotely ready. Like through the lower ranks we let shit slide, but once you get the higher ranks failures were a common occurrence. I myself flunked my brown belt review(9 hours of forms, sparring, and a mental barrage of history and other knowledge.) Was great. Repeated it a second time and got my shit together. Now this school was a 'traditional martial art" but the owner promoted training in muy thai, judo, jui jitsu. The black belts he had were pretty on point as well. Could actually fight. Knew when to separate the fancy form for practicality.

[@AdamW-eo2yq]

I remember when I was first restarting shotokan, I went to a club and saw that there was a lot of black belts, almost the same number as white belts so I was a little suspicious. However I got talking to them and I realised that they had all joined right at the start of the school 10 years ago and just didn’t quit because it was such a good club. Well I joined it at 2nd kyu and found out they were exactly right and I have a lot of very experienced members to help me now

[@TheSonic1685]

I had an experience with a "Kyokushin" mcdojo over the phone, the instructor had no idea what kyokushin was, he wasn't a fan of people looking for full contact karate, he complained they hit him and his instructors too hard and he had to throw them out. He claimed they were scared of his "black belt instructors" when he did, and no the contradiction calling your black belt instructors scary while throwing somebody out for hitting them too hard is not lost on me. He went on about tournaments he would participate in and when I asked if they were full contact he told me to drop the idea of full contact because of previous students he had to kick out. When I told him I was not a violent person he called me a fuckwit and hung up the phone.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Wow...yea....major red flags. A Kyokushin school that will shy away from full contact is not a Kyokushin school.

[@TheSonic1685]

@@ArtofOneDojo Yeah, hope you see this reply, he also thought Kyokushin had Judo in it, I was very skeptical I told him "hmm that's interesting". The hilarious part is I train under Australian judo olympic champion Steve Brown, Brown is surprised by how far my skills are coming along at the moment it's going amazing great culture great school. Sadly I'm a yellow belt in shotokan and getting ready to make a transition over from Shotokan to Kyokushin. As my Shotokan school shy's away from free sparring until black belt and it isn't for me also the culture isn't very welcoming and the lady at the front desk has told me I hate women and treat them as an object among many other things. She found out I wasn't staying friends with an exe partner of mine and that was her reasoning. Her partner thinks he can beat me up, and nobody fails belt tests. I also had a guy who's Karate was incredibly shoddy double grade from white to red. I've not been told the reasons other than his previous martial art skills. I'm at my limit when it comes to Karate right now but I've got a Kyokushin school run by a nice guy once a week over the phone he sounded nice, he is looking for new students as he has lost them since covid. He's waiting for my call next week keep your fingers crossed for me Art of one dojo. Sorry mate don't know your name deepest apologies.

[@robertrandall3147]

My Dojung (Korean TAe Kwon Do) was a great school. They discouraged cross training until we at least got a first degree blackbelt.

[@lindseykapanak1331]

Happy that my dojang is the complete opposite of this. I trained there for about 4 years when I was younger then after a 5year break, i came back and i love it! That watching part is hilarious. My master always has the kids say “I can always learn by watching”. In my opinion, my dojang is one of the best there is

[@GutsofEclipse]

I'd add shit like "how to beat up somebody who's attacking you with a knife". I've heard of legit schools having the rubber knife as a fun exercise to prove that the only decent counter is spotting a potential aggressor and staying on the other side of the street, but nobody with any sense is going to say "Okay, so this guy pulls out his knife and gets into stance like it's an action movie..." Also, no full-contact sparring.

[@justsomeguy6545]

In my dojo once every 1-2 years we will have a 4 hour class were we go over other cools things like weapon disarms (Whitch they stress to not try in real life) basic swordsmanship and other cool stuff out side of the silibis

[@vincewhite5087]

Had a JJ school back in 90’s was awesome & they had lots of available merchandise, but no one was required to buy it, and saw very little bought by people that came to train. However, when I had some time off & wanted to come to some day classes, I saw people lining up & buying tones of merchandise. I asked Sensi were these new students when he was done. He said ‘No, they have been coming as long as you’. I asked if they came to different classes, since I never saw them. He said,’No, in fact they have never come to any classes.’ I was shocked & he told me they are long time members that show up & pay a whole year’s fees & buy any new merchandise he has ie jackets, videos etc, but always promise this year would be different & that they promise to come. But they never. I asked why doesn’t he force them to come or not take fees. He said it takes thousands of white belt fees to turn out one Black belt & he couldn’t afford the dojo if only those that actually came paid. he never forced then, just sent out reminders when dues were due if they wanted to train.

[@deafanddestructiononthepis3149]

If it says "self-defense", "enter the dragon", or "Jeet Kun Do", it is a McDojo

[@lolzfake1237]

especially if they misspell kune in "Jeet Kune Do"

[@deafanddestructiononthepis3149]

@@lolzfake1237 ah well only uber dorks care anyway ha

[@justinvillar7008]

I trained with someone, he just train at backyard or with him in his house, and was a one on one training, but everything he teaches is an absolute legit skills, he even encourage me to do live resistance, in our stick drills, if he said "I can disarm you in this posistion, I quickly change position and take away my stick quickly but end up being disarmed in other ways proves that he actually know what he is doing. In our training, he even encourage me to do live resistance. We just train in backyard or in his house, one on one and free because they want to promote the art of Balintawak Eskrima to preserve it. My trainer is just an ordinary man, no certificate and no school and dojo but his an absolute legit because he can execute his skill effectively in a live resisting opponent and even he sparr when I asked, he did fight well with exellence. He said he also trained in kickboxing before and he fought a boxer in a streetfight, the way he perform and execute you'll believe he said the truth. He's now 50 but still in a good shape and was strong.

[@TheVixen8806]

25 years of martial arts training. Karate, judo, tae kwon do, MCMAP, kali, and kung fu. All that for me to work at a McDojo. SMH! New video idea, how to open a school. Lol. *Update* I found the videos you posted a while back.

[@attritionwarrior]

26 years of training, ( base style Shotokan karate/ supplemental styles Shishikan karate/ Shishikan Kempo-jujutsu/ Nindo Ryu Kokan Ju-jutsu/ Koryu Uchinadi Kempo Ju-jutsu/ Goju-Ryu Ju-jutsu/ Tae-Kwon-Do/ Yang Tai Chi Chuan/ San-Yama-Ryu Ju-jutsu/ Amateur wrestling/ Commando Krav Maga/ Rough House Tactics/ Kobudo) I started working on a volunteer basis for my original Instructor and then after a few years I decided to teach privately on my own and then for the nycdoe sonyc programs.

[@treroney4720]

I'm a kickboxer/MMA fighter. I've been to a school where the instructor couldn't spar with me. He tried, but I was on the verge of knocking him out! Lol

[@theunfadeable60]

I've trained for 20 years off an on. The Muay Thai and BJJ were great but they were a little too close to sport fighting so I studied Kali, Systema and some of the chinese stuff. Now Im part of a multi denominational sparring club. Every once in a while we get some 5th degree McDojo grad coming through with his nose in the sky bragging about all the stripes on his blackbelt. You can tell he really believes hes about to kick some ass, correct some technique and impart some wisdom. It never works out like that.

[@adandyguyinspace5783]

Wait, wait wait, there are people out there teaching American military martial arts???? That's cool. America has its own fighting styles outside of To Shin Do etc. and I think American military arts should be taught

[@TheVixen8806]

@@adandyguyinspace5783; Army Combative, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), American Kempo, and Pit Fighting are all American martial arts apparently. Also, there are veterans that teach military martial arts but we all exclude somethings that aren't applicable.

[@blaeinger6527]

The only caveat I would have to any of what you said is the "leave your previous training outside the door." Sometimes that is a valid request, as long as they are being respectful to you. If you trained previously in a McDojo, then of course they'd want you to leave that behind. Also, some people come in to a new place, school, work, dojo, whatever, and act like they already know everything, so they are really just disruptive to the new environment. Nobody likes to here "Well at my last school/job/whatever, we did it this way and it was better." The other thing I would say is that you are at this school to learn their style, so I wouldn't say forget what you learned previously, but focus on what you are being taught in the new place and then figure out how to incorporate it into your own thinking.

[@justaregularguynamednoah1581]

My sensei encourages cross training because he cross trained. He did 6 years of jujitsu and several years of kyroshin and of course over 14 years of Kempo. And we know hes not lying because we can go down to the jujitsu school he trained at which isn't that far away from his school and you can see photos of him there.

[@jeffyoung5415]

Thank you,finally someone gets it.someone who teaches for a living is more concerned about the bills for the school.someone who has a full time job and teaches on the side does it for the love of the art!!!

[@halenball-vant1772]

I live in Australia and we wear full gi when it's forty degrees!

[@ArtofOneDojo]

I hear you! I love wearing the full Gi! Even in classes I've been to in the past where we're allowed to take them off, I keep them on. Full workout baby!

[@jasontaranto6359]

Ditto on that.

[@medullaoblongata9670]

Yup got to be the full gi or what’s the point?

[@rickyschjelde]

Same here in Vietnam. Easily reaches 34 with high humidity. "The more you sweat in training, the less you'll bleed in war."

Eyy, we do that too in Hungary. In our city, the weather is around 34-38°C at the Summer. Glad to hear that you too train in a hard condition like that, keep up the good work! ☺️

[@unclezorbak]

Best video I've seen on this so far! I think a lot of people confuse McDojos, which usually have more to do with franchises with shady business practices, with bullshido stuff of "too deadly", "pressure poins" and other nonsense. A McDojo can teach pretty legit stuff; it's just these practices you mentioned that are red flags I trained TKD at a McDojo as a kid and got discouraged because no one ever failed a belt grade. It's the biggest difference between that and my current dojang. If you're not ready, they'll just tell you hey, you'll have to wait until the next exam cycle Just an asterisk on that point, though: I think it's okay if everyone who does the exam mostly passes because the real filter is them letting you do the test in the first place. Once you're deemed ready to advance, the test itself is more of a formality

[@michaeldasalyaget7828]

I would be careful on the point about testing and no one fails. I know that it is not what you are implying, but someone could read into it the wrong way. Some schools do not have open tests, and only let people test if they feel they are ready for promotion. Clearly if the person testing is clueless as to what they are doing and they pass, it should be a case of failure, but when they mess up here and there, but they were doing well before, it could be a case of nerves. Our school always had a 100% pass rate, but you had to be given permission to test, and I was denied permission a few times, because they felt I was not ready.

[@williamw1332]

Schools need to fail students that do not perform to set standards. Additionally, teachers dictate when a student is ready to test, not the student. Otherwise they can expect to receive ridicule from the martial art community. If a student fails a test, they are usually givin another opportunity, and/or can test next testing period. Schools/dojos that do not have high quality performance testing standards are always ridiculed nowadays...and rightly so. Only arts with high standards command real/true respect from the martial arts community. Don't complain, train. Perseverance is the key.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

You have a valid point though I'd like to still group it in with the testing principles mentioned in the video. Most "McDojos" will have open testing as they often like to make a spectacle of promotion. But even if not, what you described with the instructor choosing and telling you when you can test or denying you the chance of testing...still kinda follows the point. If you were up for a test and the instructor said "no" that you weren't ready to test, you aren't "failing" but you are being denied a promotion. That is more legitimate to me because your instructor is holding the students to the integrity of the material. I can also promise you that nerves are taken into account when being tested, an instructor knows the difference of the student being nervous versus simply not knowing the material.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

A lot of schools, especially in Kenpo will hold a monthly open test for all students. Not all of them of course but many do. Ours did for many many years, we had "stripe" quizzes or intermittent tests. If you knew your material for that point in your belt level, you passed or got a stripe but if you didn't then you had to wait until the next month. For black belts tests though, we often saw 2 a year and a student wasn't even allowed to be considered for the test unless the instructor felt they were ready. We've held several kids back that were close to the time to test for their black belt but we felt their material wasn't where it should be so we'd push them to the second test of the year and make them work hard during those extra 6 months.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

You mention the "100% pass rate", but that's because your instructor has already decided who knows the material well enough or not, based on whether he'll allow you to test. This is something we do too, we've already decided if a kid is going to pass before their testing day arrives because we've worked with them for months and we know exactly where they are at. That's part of knowing where nerves come into play. The REAL test on the day of testing will test the student's resolve. Do they get tired and quit? Does their temper or frustration get the better of them? We run our kids pretty hard for their testing day, it's like 4 hours and they do all their workouts and all their techs and forms and everything and we end it with sparring. A LOT of sparring. Many times we have them exhausted and their crying during the fight, but they are still putting their 100% effort in until we call time but you can see them fighting their emotions. THAT is a student that has earned the right to test :) So if your instructor is letting you take a test, he already has in his mind that you know what you need to know :)

[@morgana2006freemail]

Same with my first school. 100% pass rate as they have let only those to participate in the exam who was well prepared. The reason they did not let the student to try out and measure: because these exams had a cost, they organized 2 exam days in a year for all levels, they rented a bigger place not where we trained, all instructors were there etc... they told us not to pay these fees if there is no guarantee to pass. If anyone wanted to know how is his performance, it was always told after each excercise. It was a bigger school with a lot of students, 3 instructors at each class, so all excercise we have done was seen and commented by an instructor.

[@DarthRudious00]

Excellent video! Another thing to think about is belt expectance from other schools. A Mcdojo I checked out would not except my belt rank from a school that taught the exact same style and forms. The school got checks for almost everything you talked about. The Head Master was so pushy he got the contract out before I could even question him about the school or attend a few practices. Later a friend explained to me the Head Master doesn’t even teach class. He makes the highest ranked student at practice teach the lesson. If you say no, he would accuse you of being disrespectful.

[@justaregularguynamednoah1581]

I once asked my sensei if he ever promoted a 5yr old to black belt. He said "yes but by the time they got thier black belt they were no longer a child" in other words he doesn't promote kids to black belt.

[@justaregularguynamednoah1581]

I think the youngest black belt he ever had was a 14 year old, but she was absolutely amazing.

[@stevenhuffman4525]

I was in a McDojo before the term was coined. I at first didn't realize it but as time went by I started catching on. I ended up quitting because I couldn't afford the classes any more. A couple months later I found a school and checked it out. Then I tried out a class. By the end or this class I felt as though I had never learned anything in the arts. And I originally started off in a good TKD school then another traditional Japanese art both before the McDojo. I though my ease of learning at the McDojo was because of all my past experience. Boy was I wrong. And this McDojo was doing all the things you listed in your video. I have a friend that has her teenage daughter in this same McDojo system and she's almost reached her black belt. I keep telling the friend that there are much better Real schools out there but they continue to waste their time and money with the McDojo.

[@belliumm]

My first martial art like many was Taekwondo. My school had a lot of McDojo elements but did a good job at teaching the fundamentals of self defense to children/teenagers. Looking back I am glad I moved on from Taekwondo as I feel kicking above the waist is a bad idea on the street unless you are able to catch your opponent off guard. Nevertheless the Friday night sparring classes we had are what made me realize that I love the competition of fighting. (safely)

[@mahneyweatherby5997]

I studied karate at10 for 6 years, kysho, old school training, in dojo,my instructor was 3rd dan black belt,in the end i was a red belt with white middle stripe with 2 black tips, i was two young at 16 too have a black belt, but i look back and proud of my ranking with all the hard work,

[@jeffpearljam1976]

My instructor is Danny Sullivan under Lee Wedlake who trained under Ed Parker himself

[@rikkicaligero1141]

ED , LEE AND DANNY ALL GREAT TEACHERS AND PRACTIONERS OF THE ARTS

[@AsherzGamingMods]

I once met an instructor whose chi knock out was so powerful that it knocked me out the door I entered in, shaking my head and wondering how people can be so gullible. Great video!

[@ArtofOneDojo]

LOL I like that! His Chi was so powerful it knocked you right out the door. Brilliant.

[@AsherzGamingMods]

@@ArtofOneDojo i went to a George Dillman seminar before he got into all that hocus pocus jedi mind tricks stuff. This was in the late 80s and early 90s.. It covered a lot of pressure points and controlling with minimum force but i don't remember anything like I seen on youtube from him. it's a shame the direction he went into because he really had a lot of good knowledge to share.

[@RabuHina]

The instructor being overweight/never even lifted a weight beforehand other than lifting a cheeseburger to their mouth

[@jlogan2228]

The only thing I'd accept on the cross training point is that the teacher doesn't discourages other styles but rather encourages the student to stick with and try to be proficient at the style being taught at that school and participate in that style during sparring. Ex. If you have a tkd school and a student wants to take boxing as well, and encourage that student to give it a try but if when they spar they are only using boxing when the other students are trying to practice tkd it can get a little frustrating having to hear the " oh sorry I'm just so used to doing xyz in boxing" Hopefully that made sense

[@ArtofOneDojo]

That is an excellent perspective and I agree. There is a difference in expecting students to focus on their current training versus forbidding them to learn anything else.

[@LimaFX]

OMG yes black belt club they kept trying to get me to join I quit after they kept annoying me so much

[@tempo1889]

My sister went through that with her two sons. I guess once you reach a certain rank then you are in the quote on quote black belt Club but not until you buy the special uniform and everything else that comes along with it. Both of my nephew's have their black belts but I don't know if they are " really black belts."

[@catherineannemccloskey-ros9500]

As these McDojo videos come up in my feed, I become sad. My last name is McCloskey and I had planned to call my martial arts school, Mac's Dojo. You have crushed my dreams. I hope you're happy!

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Crusher of dreams, that's what I do.

[@catherineannemccloskey-ros9500]

@@ArtofOneDojo and you do it well. "Green belt. do you want fries with that?"

[@ArtofOneDojo]

@@catherineannemccloskey-ros9500 I prefer brown belt...it hides the french fry finger grease better.

[@catherineannemccloskey-ros9500]

@@ArtofOneDojo I am definitely calling brown belts "gravy belts" Thanks for the idea!

[@SeabrookMartialArtsAcademy]

That was a great video. Love the comments about the no touch knockouts and young kids with full black belts on. I would also argue that some responsibility needs to be put on the instructors themselves. For instance, if a student is testing and can barely remember the required material, he/she shouldn't have been testing in the first place. Although stage fright is always a possibility for a student, I put a lot of this blame on the instructor who recommended (and likely rushed) the student to test.

[@ArtofOneDojo]

Hello Mr. Seabrook! I just realized this was you that commented. I got your book, American Kenpo Mastery, and find it contains a lot of great details to work with. I'm in a phase in my training where I am seeking deeper knowledge than I was taught and your book opened some doors for me in that regard and I just wanted to thank you for putting it out there :)

[@SeabrookMartialArtsAcademy]

@@ArtofOneDojo I am so glad you liked it my friend. I wrote it 14 years ago so, with increased knowledge and better writing quality, it definitely needs a huge update one day :)

[@musashibudo]

I'm thankful to have found my school at World Oyama. Best sensei and Shihan ever. They actually trained and taught with Mas Oyama.

[@skullman9216]

My sensei wears big red shoes and has red curly hair. And his teachings often involve a tricycle too small for his body. Should I be worried?

[@manintheline5331]

Dude you aint in a mcdojo, you enrolled in clown college

[@pastorj1983]

My son's school is most definitely a mcdojo. It's the only school in town and my son has fun. I help with their tournament classes on Mondays to make sure their form is at least up to par for tournaments so they dont embarrass themselves but they pretty much hit every check mark on the list for a mcdojo.

[@goktimusprime]

Are the kids in the class made aware that they're NOT learning self defence? I think that teaching non self defensive stuff is fine so long as the school is open and honest about it. Being a McDojo but claiming to teach self defence can build DANGEROUS self confidence because it lets people think that they can fight when they can't. So if they get attacked they may actually end up doing something that puts them in more harm than if they just reacted naturally out of fear (e.g. flinching and cowering defensively rather than attempting a bad defensive technique). Even going into foetal position is potentially better than executing bad fighting techniques.