McDojo Horror Stories

As an aside SurgingShark, you'll find in academics, that MANY instructors require you to buy their book for a class that they are teaching. One way to get published... Also, check out my thread about names, how did you get yours....

 

Uh oh, I didn't learn any katas or forms at my school either. Guess I must be going to a McDojo, right guys?

 

Well, what martial art are you learning?

PL

 

he was being sarcastic...

 

Precisely. Whether or not you learn forms or katas is not the way to judge whether or not your training is good and authentic. Its whether or not the training teaches you what you want to know. If you truly just practice martial arts to learn forms/katas, then alright. But I sincerely doubt thats what (most) people here train for. They likely train with the goal of being confident in the ability to defend themselves high in mind, if not their first priority. If so, you should evaluate your training based on how it is preparing you for such a situation, not on whether or not traditional hallmarks of martial art are present. I've been through mcdojo-ish training at a summer camp, and trust me, even then when I was a naive child, my BS detector was damn near exploding, especially when they had us spar at the end of the camp session. Absolutely nothing that they had us doing was any applicable to fighting (nor were we shown how or trained in such application), and some other kid got the better of me just by continually pushing me. Because they actually had us thinking we were supposed to fight from a freaking horse stance, the shoving easily had me reeling backward and unable to do anything. That is what "McDojoish" teaching is like. Things make little sense, don't apply well to fighting at all, and if you try to make sense of it by actually asking questions, its frowned upon.

 

Yes, I figured that out, thank you. I was trying to get him to tell me what he's really trying to say.

The reason I said it was a McDojo because of forms, was because the people that had personal trainers were taugh some already. While me, in the regular youth class (with 5 year olds mind you, while I was 15), didn't learn squat. Actually, we never did a single squat, either.

When adult ("premium", since they were forced to pay more if they wanted to stay, for their personal training) classes learn something new every week or so, and I don't learn anything in a year, something's wrong.

PL

 

I've already posted there

 

Sorry Shark, sometimes I miss the posts...

 

In some MAs, the forms are an important part of the training, serving as a method of developing muscle memory, illustrating principles and providing a point of reference when explaining other techniques.

Other MAs don't. But a Martial art where the forms are important would suffer from the exclusion - hence the quality of training would degrade.

 

I agree Yukimushu, kumite is a very important sector of martial arts (in my humble opinion anyway).

 

It happens

 

I guess we can spare your life this once. Don't make that mistake again.

 

Here's one.. happened many years ago but still sticks with me.
First a little background. I started around 1974/75 in Tang So Do. Moved, had to quit. In 1978, moved to my father's house, he started teaching me TKD. In 1981 I enlisted in the Air Force. At my first duty station (Abilene, Texas) I started learning the following arts from various people: White Crane Kung Fu, Pa Kua, Judo, Boxing, Aikido, Shotokan, Isshinryu, Kempo and a few more. Now, I'm no expert, but I do know a little. In 1982 I started learning Togakure Ninpo Taijutsu (now known as the Bujinkan, encompassing 9 martial traditions). I trained with a group in Houston and went to Ohio for the first Ninja Festival (fore runner to the Tai Kai). In 1984 I was stationed in Turkey where I met the man who would be my training partner for 2 years, 4 to 7 days a week, 2 to 6 hours a day. In 1987 I was stationed at Little Rock, Arkansas. And that is where my story begins.
I had been in Little Rock less than 6 months, trying to find someone associated with the Bujinkan with whom to train and having no luck. In the meantime, I was training with a TKD BB and helping him get ready for tournaments. I was also training with a Pan Am Gold medal Judoka and taking Aikido at the university. Finally, one day I find an ad that says the school teaches ninjutsu. I ask me (ex) wife to go with me and check it out. She didn't train, but had watched me long enough.
Off we go. We arrive and right off the bat, something doesn't feel right. Maybe it's the presence of too many pictures of the instructor with action stars and famous martial artsist. Too many, like he was trying to prove something... okay... I suit up and put on my white belt. At this time, I had never been ranked in the Bujinkan but had earned a yellow belt in TKD. We go out in to the dojo and first thing is we line up. Understand, in my experience, we bowed in at the beginning of class then stood in a semi-circle or circle to watch the technique being taught. Here we stood at attention while the instructor barked out commands in KOREAN! I'm thinking wt*? After warmups and punches and kicks, we break into little groups for station training. 7 or 8 stations set up around the dojo to practice various things, heavy bag for kicking, hand held focus pads, mats for ukemi, and one step sparring. After making the rounds 2 or 3 times, I realize that the assistant instructors are trying harder and harder to hurt me. I mean HURT me. And not succeeding. I also noticed, emphasis is on strikes, no joint manipulation, no throws, nothing that I had learned up to now. After class, my ex had told me she over heard the head guy telling his assistants that I was "no f'ing white belt" and "to hurt him good". Needless to say, I never went back. I did run into student of his from time to time and showed them what they were missing out on.
I should have walked out when he first started speaking Korean, in a supposedly Japanese Martial Art class.

 

But then, you wouldn't have had the golden opportunity to hand them their own asses when they tried to hurt you

 

I think you misunderstood.. when I said show them what they where missing, I meant educated them in Taijutsu, taught them, shared. It ain't about handing them their a$$es. Only time I have done that was the wise guy that disrupted a class I was doing at the Base Gym. I was demonstrating a technique while blind folded, he wanted to show his buddies how lame I was.. and was shown that I ain't so lame after all.
I'm not going to stoop down to the level of a fraud by doing unto others... I'll educate and share then let them make up their own minds. By far a more effective method.

 

I know I was talking more about a little Karmic-ish-ey effect when they said "hurt him good" and they failed

 

Wow! That's not right. Sounds like a school with some serious ego problems. I have never heard of a school reacting that hostily toward a student.

I did have one incident while looking for some training gear. I had gone to a school because their ad mentioned they sold equipment too. This guy was looking at me like I'd just kicked open the door and shouted "I can take any of you p*****s!".

He was giving me the sideways glance stood up an advanced body turned to one side with one arm turned out at the elbow as if ready to block. All of my questions were met with very curt replies. In their defense I have to say that they were in a pretty cr**py part of town, so it wouldn't surpise me if hostile confrontations were a daily event for them.

 

I think that they may have had "challenges" before and I thought I was going to do the same. Don't know why, I never said anything along those lines. I guess I demonstrated more skill than they believed a white belt should have and thought I was a "ringer". Just goes to show, don't judge a person by the color of their belt, but rather by their skill and character.

 

I have a friend, who does Muay Thai. Sometimes we go to a gym together to lift weights and do some sparring. He is a very skilled opponent, and knows stand-up fight far better than me, despite my 6 year training in shotokan. Oh, yes, I spent those years also in a McDojo, but at the end, I could beat the Shodan and 1. kyu guys there, because I trained much harder then they did. So I thought that I am good, but this guy showed me I was wrong. I do Ju-Jitsu now, and I can beat him without gloves, doing joint-locks and throws and groundfighting etc... But we don't practice enough stand-up fight. So I decided go and learn some Muay Thai myself. I couldn't go where he trains, because its far from my home, and they train when I train Jitsu. But I found a traing place near me, and their training time was also good, and it was cheap, so I went there. You know, most people agree, that the Muay Thai is one of the hardest styles. But these guys, about 20 people, most of them steroid monsters, train NO CONTACT. At the end of practice, the insructor told me that I am too agressive and violent and it's not what Muay Thai about. I was a bit surprised, but told him, that I am sorry, and didn't want to hurt the guys, I am just used to the full contact. He said it was ok, but try no to beat them up next time. WTF, I tought, I am 80kgs, and I shouldn't hurt the Big Big 150kg Steroid Monsters. Once I saw my friend sparring with a guy who was in the army and looked like he ate only testosterone and radiatiors. He kicked my friend on the tights so hard, he couldn't get up in 5 minutes. No permanent injuries, but very hard contact. I wonder where this instructor learnt Muay Thai.

 

Disney Land?

I don't understand how you can spar without contact. We do that once in a blue moon, and it feels awkard. I suppose you're supposed to work on your technique and think about couters and combos without worrying about suddenly dropping in pain, but that's just not for me.

PL