What is a McDojo? | ART OF ONE DOJO

What is a McDojo? This is a term that is circulating around these days as people are becoming more savvy and educated on choosing a martial arts school. A McDojo is a term to describe a school that favors quantity of students over the quality of teaching and is more concerned with making a quick buck than making sure students are learning effective material.

Whether it be Karate, Kung Fu, MMA, or any number of martial arts, this video will help you identify and recognize some common warning signs that a school might just be a McDojo. To be noted, just because a school has a few of these traits does not make them a McDojo but if you find a school exhibiting most or all of them then it's time to reevaluate the quality of that school.

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#McDojo
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[strikesyoureout]

Clearly a red flag = Dojo has a drive thru.

[BrockLee]

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

[thetruth]

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.

[natalieshannon]

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.

[carlcouture]

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.

[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.

[kirbymarchbarcena]

Their martial arts instructor is Ronald McDonald

[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.

[Clymax]

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”

[Otaku]

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...

[rlemoyne]

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.

[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....

[ponchodukeonewyork]

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.

[vulcanraisin]

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

[songoku]

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.

[baowolf]

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.

[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.

[Darkness]

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.

[kristianbowitz]

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.