McDojo
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McDojo is a term used by some martial artists to describe a martial arts school where image or profit is of a higher importance than technical standards. A McDojo of Korean martial arts is usually called a McDojang.
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Introduction
McDojos are often part of a franchise (hence the name, which derives from "Mcdonald's" and "dojo"). Although not exclusive to the West, such schools tend to prey on people relatively unfamiliar with Asian (especially Confucian) culture.
Indications that a school may be a McDojo include:
- Binding contracts when you join, with high up front training fees, high testing fees and the use of collection agencies to collect any remaining fees if a student quits before the contract term is up.
- Promises of obtaining a black belt within a given timeframe.
- Very young (i.e., under fifteen-year old) black belts.
- Flashy advertising, laden with boasts about the art's "effectiveness".
- Questionable credentials of instructor:
- Not from a known school or ryū
- The instructor looks to be about 30, but claims a title of shihan, sōke (soke), hanshi, hachidan, Great Grandmaster, or other designation of senior status.
- Claims to be a synthesis of many arts (very few of these "hybrids" are legitimate); especially if one instructor claims to hold high rank in multiple arts.
A McDojo falls under the category of disreputable/dishonorable martial arts described by some as Bullshido.
Bullshido
"Bullshido" is the more general term used by some martial arts aficionados to describe what they see as outright fraud, deception, or ineptitude in the teaching of martial arts by modern instructors. The word is a portmanteau of "bushido", the samurai code of honor, and "bullshit". Bullshido is posited as the antithesis of bushido, and is applied to situations or schools where martial art instructors publish unverifiable assertions as to their lineage or training methods or emphasise what is described as blatant commercialism at the expense of substance in their training, conduct, or business dealings.
Coined by Neal "Phrost" Fletcher, the founder and site director for the Bullshido.com website, the bilingual play on words reflects an assertion by some of the martial arts community that there are those who train to learn how to fight, those who train to pretend they know how to fight, and those who claim that they can learn how to fight on the street without ever having fought in the dojo.
Formerly in East Asia, the tradition was that when an unknown (the traditional martial arts community had a system of references), fraudulent or ineffective school would open in a community, it would eventually be shut down by other schools in the neighbourhood through direct challenges before they could harm or defraud many potential students. If the established schools were impressed by the martial ability of the newcomer during the encounter, then they would, by tradition, be allowed to stay open. If the new school couldn't defend themselves effectively, they would be disgraced by being publicly defeated. This traditional political encounter between different schools became a favourite motif of martial arts movie makers. In modern, Westernized society, such practises are considered illegal and therefore generally prevent this kind of self-policing of the Martial Arts community. Consequently, almost anyone can learn a few moves and invent their own style, or claim to be the secret heir of a heretofore unknown ancient tradition going on to teach as many gullible souls as possible under the protection of local law enforcement.
Bullshido is also said, by proponents of the concept, to consist of impractical training methods if they are used out of the contexts for which they were originally intended. Noted martial artists such as Jon Bluming, Bruce Lee, along with many (though not all) members of the Bullshido.com forums have asserted that board breaking and kata (forms) are of limited benefit towards actual fighting proficiency and often used by alleged McDojos as "filler" to occupy class time. This view is very common in modern mixed martial arts or "Combat Sports" circles as well. These critics maintain that such ancillary activities often become the focus of one's martial arts training at the expense of learning how to implement the techniques in a realistic situation. They suggest that the best means to prepare to use one's skills in a realistic situation is through the use of full or hard contact, non-stop sparring with which their current skill levels can be realistically evaluated.
Belt factory
Belt factory is a derogatory term for a Martial Arts school where there are a relatively large number of grades or belt ranks for students to progress through compared to most traditional schools. Actual martial ability is not a requirement for progression through the ranks in a belt factory, only a willingness to pay the high testing, grading or grade registration fees. Chinese martial arts have until recently not awarded grades as such, but lately some schools influenced by the financial success of the Japanese martial arts' belt systems have been instituting similar programmes.
External links
- Bullshido.com: Exposing Fraud in the Martial Arts (http://www.bullshido.com) A site devoted to identifying frauds and scams in the Martial Arts community.
- Are You in A Martial Arts Cult? (http://www.furyu.com/archives/issue8/zanshin8.html) by Wayne Muromoto
- Real or Fake? Is Your Martial Arts School Legitimate? (http://www.koryu.com/library/wmuromoto4.html) by Wayne Muromoto
- The Whole Legitimacy Thing (http://www.koryu.com/library/kfriday1.html) by Karl Friday