Is Matt Fiddes running a McDojo?

I feel like the question of business practices is a separate issue from simply being absolutely awful at martial arts. This guy has it all. I could almost forgive the business stuff. He's thriving in a capitalist economy, and that's fair enough. But he's one of the worst martial arts teachers I've seen on video, based on those two clips.

 

lol, the dude really does have no rhythm.

i have yet to see a demo video that looks good.

 

Except even in this day and age, your average joe can't distinguish a McDojo from a dojo unless they've had some experience or training, especially with the parents. Give most people an informed choice, they'd probably still tell you they'd rather cheaper, better quality training with slower progress than lots of bells 'n whistles.

This bit really sums it up for me. Fair play he's got a good business model. If he wanted to sell himself as a fitness instructor, fair enough. But when it comes to claiming to teach MA...it really grinds my gears.

 

Funnily I know Matt from when we both trained with Leigh. The big difference is that Leigh is a very talented martial artist, when I trained with him a legitimate 3rd Dan and World silver medallist, who even amongst those who abhorred his business practices was respected as a martial artist.
Whatever else he became, he started from a position of credibility.

 

Leigh fought at a clash of the titans event if memory serves? When he was with the TAGB?
Did quite well as I remember.
By comparison I've never seen Fiddles throw a decent technique.
To me he looks like someone with coordination problems.

 

I have to express some counter opinions here. First, Years ago it used to be difficult to discern solid training from lying charlatans without having some experience, or talking to someone experienced who knew the person in question. Today though, it is a relatively simple matter to research just about anyone on the internet and get a reasonable idea of their strengths, weaknesses, and background. Second, most people would tell you they want higher quality training without bells and whistles, but most people would be lying. There's a reason that the majority of students that join serious martial arts schools end up dropping out. The training is difficult and slow. The vast majority of people today do not want difficult and slow, anymore than they need effective self defense techniques. The majority of folks would rather go and do a light workout at the corner martial arts school so they can feel good about themselves. They'll likely never need to use what they are supposedly learning anyway, so feeling good about themselves is what it's about. This is why schools such as this one are so very successful, they give the people what they want.

Why is that? Are you upset that he's successful? Are you upset that all those kids are actually getting out from in front of their video games and doing something at least a little athletic? Think of all the folks on the reality shows like the Kardashians. They are successful without having any real talent other than self promotion also. Of couse, neither the reality TV folks nor the imitation martial arts instructors have anything to do with what I do, so they don't affect me. Just remember that none of the folks that are attending his classes would be interested in sticking with a real martial arts school, it's not what they're after. Therefore, unless you are interested in setting up an imitation martial arts school of your own as competition, then what he's doing should only be good for a small laugh and is definitely not worth getting upset over.

Just my thoughts on it.

 

No man, it's not allowed!

To a point I'd agree with you. Yet the vast majority of people I bump into who join onto a dojo don't sit there going "I'd really like to try a MA, now I just google what there is...now google videos of it..." or do anything like that. It tends to be they see a poster/hear word of mouth, walk in and have a nosey, then make up their minds from there. At least in my experience, they rarely have a clue what they're actually seeing and tend to be very trusting.

Yeah, that's true. I was being a little over-generous in retrospect.

Again in my eyes though, light and fun workouts are what exercise classes are for. Or at least should be. If someone (in my eyes) wants to play and have a light workout with an MA theme, then they should take up something like "boxer-cise" or that thai-workoutey-thingey that was around a while ago. Where as if someone is claiming to teach any kind of MA (especially if they put a "traditional" twist on their brand), then it really should be about the quality of the teaching as best they can.

Not that he's successful, nor that the kids are doing something. Just that he's selling himself as a MA instructor and frankly smacks of having no standards or integrity. A lot of MA's get a bad rep nowadays (especially karate and TKD) because of crap instructors teaching lazy students to a terrible standard who then delude themselves into thinking they can actually practice their MA correctly but have no clue just how bad what they're doing is. Look at "bargain basement black belts" on Youtube, it's a perfect example and one that's been posted on this forum a few times. Guys like this only bring more harm to the world of MA than they do good.

Again, if he just said that he's teaching fitness classes with an MA theme, as long as he was honest and said it wasn't true budo, then I would probably be loosely OK with that. But since he also claims he's teaching martial arts and a form of self defence...I can't swallow that.

I had to google who the Kardashians were, but I get your point. Yeeeesh.

The bold was my own emphasis, but I would disagree with that sentiment. What imitation instructors teach does affect how average joe sees different forms of MA. Sure, it doesn't stop you teaching to the best of your ability, but it does change the way prospective students see MA as a whole.

You're right, I should chuckle at it, but I just find it immensely dishonest. But I'm guessing that's more to do with my own pride than anything else.

 

That's really interesting. All I ever knew of him was that he had a school near me and appeared in a feature in MAI that set the online community foaming at the mouth when he essentially embraced the term McDojo. He actually made some of the points being made here, that most students have neither the ability nor the desire to be great martial artists, he was just giving them what they wanted. Like McDonalds, in fact.

 

I understand where you're coming from, it's just non-productive and will end up giving you ulcers. Society has always been filled with snake oil salesmen that use their personal charisma to sell their lines. You've got to understand though that most of the people who believe that stuff do so because that's what they want to believe. They don't want to work as hard as a workout class would make them. They also want to feel good about learning to be black belt karate master.

Dishonest? Oh yeah! So is most advertising though, it just doesn't usually hit so close to things we hold dear.

That's the truth really. If so many folks didn't want it, there wouldn't be so very many of them out there. I've had folks compare me to those places. I just smile and tell them that's not what I do. If they're really interested, they'll ask for clarification and we can have a nice conversation. Most people don't really care that much though, and just leave it at that.

 

I think the reason they get my goat is the false confidence issue. As has already been said, don't tell people you're teaching them self-defence when you're not. Nothing wrong at all with boxercise, nor is there anything wrong with teaching people to compete in interclubs at kata or point-stop etc., but don't tell people they can use this stuff to defend themselves if they can't. I think I have told this anecdote before, but a friend of mine when I was a teenager did a bit of training at one of these places and got himself into an altercation. He dropped into a rigid L stnce, hands down at his waist and essentially made himself look like a tit. Luckily it was only high school handbags stuff and he didn't get badly hurt, but you take my point.

 

But the thing is that the vast majority of martial artists will never need to use what they learn. I have personally talked with hundreds of martial artists in my life and, with the exception of those in law enforcement, I can count on my fingers the ones that have actually been in a serious self defense situation. These folks that attend the McDojos are mostly typical suburbanites, and aren't likely to ever have to fight to defend themselves any more than their 'instructors' ever had to fight to defend themselves.

 

As a second dan in TKD, that was embarrassing to watch.

 

I understand that sentiment, and agree with it completely. I was just pointing out that you can't let this sort of stuff upset you, it's simply not worth the irritation and stress.

I believe that folks like that should definitely be discussed in fora like these so that people that wish to research them can be informed. However, it isn't worth stressing about or letting them irritate a person. To me, they simply serve as comic relief. There's really no way to force them to change their advertising unless we're willing to allow government standards for martial arts to say what is and isn't "self-defense". Personally, I don't want the government anywhere near something as subjective as martial arts.

Not a big deal to me, just not worth the offense that a lot of people take over it.

 

I am somewhat ambivalent, for reason Smithy has outlined principally.

If it is a case of "not being good self-defense but saying they are" as a criteria then at least half the dojos/gyms currently active would have to fold. The reason Fiddes gets the extra attention is the sheer magnitude of his operation

Personally it is a bit like Gorson Ramsey targetting Mcdonalds as selling crap food....people know that yet still go; Fiddes is probably no different and him making money off it may leave a slightly bad tatse in the mouth but really and truly he is just one in a long list of problem children we have in the MA world

 

If you aren't teaching fighting or self defence skills then an instructor should at the very least provide a good workout.
Seeing as most people are more in danger from a sedentary lifestyle than they are from an attacker.
But I bet Fiddes doesn't even provide that. The McDojo crowd are far too fond of 45 minute lessons where you barely get sweaty I think.

 

Yeah, I think people are being a little too apologetic. I have no problems with classes aimed at general public hobbyists, this is an idea that's far from new. In TCMA there are the indoor students and the outdoor students, or to put it more simply as my Sifu once told me "you have many customers and some students".
However with Matt Fiddes you're not getting that, what you're getting is a martial arts themed lifestyle product, headed by someone who is a jaw droppingly poor martial artist, where the client base aren't learning much that's recognisable as martial arts, they're not getting self defence skills and they're not even getting a decent workout. It's like a martial arts cargo cult. It kinda looks like martial arts and has many of the trappings, but it's all a charade.
For those of you who teach I'd suggest talking sometime to some of your friends who've never done martial arts about what they'd look for and what would influence their decision making to find out just how poorly equipped the general public is to make good decisions about martial arts training.

 

Exactly. It's an ego trip for Fiddes. His name is on everything. "Mighty Matts".
He's selling himself or what people believe it is to be "him"
Hence all the attempts at links to Jacko, pop stardom, dancing, etc.

 

Choi Kwang Do is perpetuating the same,

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yDKqfiBJ90"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yDKqfiBJ90[/ame]

so is the WMAA

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mTtn1GjB50"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mTtn1GjB50[/ame]

and I have no idea who this berk is, but here you go anyway....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0ZWFb7UNjE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0ZWFb7UNjE[/ame]

Frankly as crap as this may be, I think there is actually WORSE out there - had he not been such a hype man we would not care

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3QFlHrSFoQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3QFlHrSFoQ[/ame]