How McDojos Get Away With Being FRAUDS
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- Опубликовано: 3 сен 2020
- Everyone by now has heard of a McDojo.. we all have access to the internet and to awesome youtube channels and bounds of information about what works, how to defend yourself, what martial arts styles are best, how mma proves what works in the streets, how krav maga is only good as its instructor, etc. SOOOOO.. How are there still McDojos around? Well its simple... The McDojo fail compilations are filled with highly manipulative instructors that prey on students with dreams of grandeur and are searching for an easy way to fight, an easy way to defend themselves, a way to believe in something... supernatural? McDojos are the "get rich quick" scams of the Martial Arts World, with the intent of tricking people to either grow a following, gain wealth, or simply to manipulate and feel they are empowered. Here's a sentence where I talk about McDojo Fails, McDojo vs Fighter, McDojo vs Real Fighter, McDojo Joe Rogan, and more McDojo stuff!
#mcdojo #fakemartialarts #bullshido
If you want to learn more about McDojos, check out McDojoLife here!
/ @mcdojolife
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What Makes a McDojo in YOUR opinion??
Mislabeling is a big one. Dont call it something its not. Also pay as you go belt mills.
- Excessive fees (I know we have to make a living, im an instructor too, but charge reasonable fees, especially testing fees)
- Realistic approach. I stay away from the schools with the "we don't spar because we train to kill" attitude.
-Belt factories.
They claim to teach you how to fight but never actually spar
Oooh, okay
@@SenseiSeth actually happened to me once
The reality is a lot of people, parents in particular, just don't care. They think Karate is joke/game anyway, as long as their kid is breaking a sweat and being babysat for an hour and half, it doesn't matter. I hate it, but that's how it is.
Not terribly incorrect
This is just bad…
I mean, if the parents don't care so much that might be a good thing for a *good* teacher. Kinda sucks for the kids stuck in a McDojo that are kind of living a lie cause their parents don't care. But if the parents are happy to drop off the kid and disappear rather than being hover moms they also won't interfere with a *good* instructor teaching good technique. It can kinda go both ways.
McDojo = babysitting = parents have 30-60 minutes of free time
i had a parent pick her kids up an hour late from class and had the nerve to tell me " well you have nothing else to do"
I also think if a Instructor says "this style can beat any style", you might be at a McDojo.
Fair point
@Kevin Pope I hope you start fights in the butt scooter position! Lols. BJJ is awesome if you have good takedowns. Falling to your guard in a real fight is pretty dumb in my opinion.
💯
@@allistar420 I think a lot of Jiu Jitsu gyms incorporate some Judo for that reason.
or a bjj gym (jk)
As to pedophilia. Our instructors have to have a background check including live scan, cpr certified and parents are always welcome to watch. If this isn't the case with your dojo go elsewhere.
That's not bad advice. IMO, of you're a professional of any sort, you should be a first responder. What's the use being called a doctor if you can't be a first responder? I'm a doctor of education, but I can save a life. We should all be trained that way, IMO
In the few dojos in which I trained as a youngster my father was always training with me.
A bit much. Pedo check, for sure. Cpr, a basic first aid class wouldn't hurt.
Not being certified wouldn't not make me want to train..
Live scan? Like a brain scan? Lol. Not sure what you ment there.
Parents should always be there if they want.
@@CartoonWeasel Live scan is finger print and criminal background check including sexual predator list.
@@timlinator that is done during the background check, making the scan redundant. (Where i live you get all that info when doing a background check. Maybe in the usa its different.)
One thing I've noticed about McDojos - the instructor(s) and senior student(s) are rarely very friendly, basically like they're always trying to 'act tough'. Whereas in classes with quality instructors, basically the opposite, because they have absolutely zero to prove. In addition, they're often holding the classes out of their love for their art, rather than 'money' per se - the exact opposite, of course, to the McDojo.
So true, my experience too, no matter the style. My tma teacher always said : punching is the best defence, if you want to "street fight/self defense" go boxing first or judo than come back to him. My TMA teacher was a boxer,judoka ec but decided to teach the history AikiJutjitsu (the base of all Japan martial Arts) while always saying "keep distance, punch, evade, technique, run" if can't do any of these " run "
Exactly this. Is somebody in my dojo is ill or in the hospital for whatever reason, he will always either try to visit if possible, if he cant its just a few phone calls.
Just a friendly humble guy overall.
This is so not true. Strict teachers are the best. Mcdojos are nicer cause they are forgiving of all mistakes and they lowered the standards.
I mean do you see military instructors being nice to new recruits? No. They always yell at the young trainees and make them do difficult things.
@@ilovepudding7873
This is so not true. Strict teachers are the best. Mcdojos are nicer cause they are forgiving of all mistakes and they lowered the standards.
I mean do you see military instructors being nice to new recruits? No. They always yell at the young trainees and make them do difficult things.
●●●●●●●●
@@claymoonrise131 Well, it was just an observation based on my experiences. I'm not claiming it to be some universal truth.
All places that doesn't have master ken there are mcdojos
TRUTH
Ameri-do-te is all you need to learn.
EXCELLENT
😂😂😂😂😂
But: your groin *may* be safe(r)
There is a martial art that will often allow you to stop an attacker without touching them. But it is only really applicable in America
😬😬
Technically countries that allow pepper spray also count ;)
Haha this reminds of a video a guy strips naked and the guy who was gonna fight ran away haha
Gun-fu?
@@Itemtotem It's Gun Kata (film: Equillibrium)
I loved jujitsu when I was in high school. When I first went to college the only "dojo" in this little town was a knock off Kung Fu studio. I figured that I'd try a class, because I just wanted to keep in shape. Day one, the sifu legitimately starts class by talking about how to hide dead bodies in the woods, because his style is so deadly. He then starts to rag on other styles and says, "If you're on the ground, you've lost the fight". I'm 20, no HR training yet, so I say "If I'm on the ground, you've lost the fight". I don't know if he was drinking his own kool-aide, because I wound up "sparring" with one of his upper level students; quick takedown, arm triangle choke, done. I left and that was that. If your first lesson is how to hide a body, you're either a McDojo or... in need of some real life help.
Lmao
Yea fake martial artist almost get an erection talking about how deadly they are and hkw dangerous their stuff is.
When you teach useful and effective stuff you never have to guess if it works or not, youll know pretty quick why your instructors tell you to be careful
I was fooled by a Mcdojo up in the mountains once they made us swim against river streams, shoulder press big as rocks over our heads and sometimes even wrestle with bears it was awful smh.
@@israelvaldivia2686 khabib?
@@donnyg4022 🤣🤣🤣😹😹🤣😹🤣
I did wing Chun for 5 years without ever pressure testing, then I did a sparring friendly match with a woman who did Muay Thai for 6 months, got the shit beaten out of That's when I learned what pressure testing was lol
Berengier817 did u marry that woman too lol jokes I’ve seen it happen lol
@@carllubrin8518 NAh wasn't my type.
Pressure testing is the truth .
Wing Chun is terrible against serious competitive combat sports like MT, but for simple self-defense it’s fine. Even against much bigger opponents. This is a clip of my old Sifu when he was challenged. ruclips.net/video/3BH4QMLzqHM/видео.html I don’t do Wing Chun anymore since I didn’t “agree with the art”, but I still got huge respect for my old instructor.
@@ricksterdrummer2170 Sorry to inform you but that's not a challenger that intents to hurt the other guy, every untrained challenger goes really aggressive, the other guy probably paid him to act it out, but it looks so bad and obviously fake.
“Looking at you mr Lawrence” got a cobra Kai add on this video
Hahaha that’s so sick
Johnny Lawrence has disliked the video
Actually his martial art is legit. What they are teaching these actors is legit. But they are actors and not professional fighters.
@@hwansobedi668 the karate is legit karate, yes. But the training practices shown are extreme and potentially dangerous.
Lol, now I want Sensei Seth to make a cameo in Cobra Kai to have him accuse Johnny (or Kreese) of running a McDojo!!!!
There's a famous event where a karate instructor molested a young boy. As he was being led out of court, a man on a pay phone in the lobby turned and fired 3 times, killing the man. He immediately dropped the gun and assumed compliance position for the police.
It was the boy's father. He explained that he did not think he could beat the black belt in a fight and so he shot him.
The man was NOT charged with murder. That case set a legal precedent that "all people are capable of temporary insanity"
"..because he did not think he could beat him in a fight"... hmmm you got me thinking...
@@valerierodger7700 no prosecutor wants to try a father for shooting the pedophile who molested his child.
I am willing to argue that the case could have been handled differently, but I get why they didn't go after the guy for major prosecution.
@@hariman7727 - Bad precedent to set. The guy hadn't been found guilty and was executed. That father probobly hurt his kid by murdering the guy that he ran off with.
Some of the greatest footage ever captured.
On a similar note James Hydrick was a weird one as well. The best footage of him is when Jamea Randi humiliated him on TV.
@@AJ-rg4nt ran off with ? dude that kid was molested smh
My master says hes to dangerous to fight in the UFC.
He is way to dangerous I best not think of him
There is actually a small factor of truth to that. MMA fighters that train for the ring or octagon are training for a sport. Meaning there are rules. But there are no rules in the street. Long story short I once participated in an MMA sparring in order to test my martial arts skills. Even knowing the rules I felt I would be ok in limiting some of my knowledge since my skill was in self-defense training. First thing that happened was I got into a standing guillotine choke and the way I knew how to get out of it involved illegal moves according to the sport so I was forced to tap since I was not trained to escape that choke in a sport friendly method. Next round of sparring the guy put me against the cage attempting a takedown, his entire backside was exposed, I saw many targets open to strike but once again in the ring there are rules so I could not strike his kidneys or his spine so we ended up just “trading punches” so to speak for the remainder of the round. The point is that if you learn self-defense then it is for the streets don’t try to take it to a sport fight. If you want to fight sport then learn sport fighting. I AM NOT SAYING MMA IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THE STREETS. I’m saying that self-defense is not applicable to the sport and likewise sport fighting does not take into consideration all the factors that exist in the streets.
CrimsonYT I agree. That’s why I stated in all caps that “I’m not saying MMA is not applicable in the streets” I was just saying that self defense is not applicable in the ring and likewise MMA does not take into consideration all of the factors in the streets i.e. multiple attackers, weapons, sneak attacks, multiple attackers with weapons etc. I never discount MMA because I feel there are a lot of good aspects about it but nothing is perfect.
EP FITNESS916 there’s absolutely no truth to it
Skinny P , hell yeah it’s dangerous, it’s dangerous to play in the nfl as well , there pro sports
no one with an older brother falls for no touch knock out BS for long if the older brother isn't part of the cult too lol
hahaha
I could knock somone out without touching them. Simply apply a baseball bat to their head. Very lethal mystical technique
Or anyone with a younger brother.
@@lunaticfae4415 Pfft amateur. I can flat line people without touching them... its called using a gun nicknamed chi.
😏 Older brother gang checking in
"A belt is for holding up pants."
... belts are for western people... especially in the 'states.
@@tomrumler3577 yes because a belt stifles digestion which leads to intestinal blockages and obesity.
The belts are not FOR fat, they are actually for making fat. Poor digestion leads to lethargy and causes depression which means they will take prescription medication. That's the truth
@@tomrumler3577 Not really. It was fist seen in Japan in Judo. And then was also Heavily adopted in Karate Particrly when Japan started to use Karate as a national fitness routine. After all. Its MUCH easier to have a Formal Rank system when trying to do these things on mass. Plus Class and Social standing have ALWAYS been a huge element in Japan. Once that happened a lot of other styles. started to use the system mainly because of the Wide spread Japanese expansion in the late 1880's. Parts of China. Okinawa. And others.
THUS before Karate ever came to USA officially the belt system was firmly in place.
@@tomrumler3577 incorrect. The belt system was introduced first by Jigoro Kano the founder of judo. Gichin Funokoshi, who is the founder of
shotokan karate was Kano’s good friend. He liked the idea and introduced it to karate too. It is Japanese in its origin and was used for a long time before westerners even knew what judo and karate was.
The moment you mentioned unsafe practices the first thing I thought of was Cobra Kai. Then you got to badass sensei, face conditioning, and unpaused sparring, I was like “is he talking about cobra Kai? Then you said the kids in the cement truck thing and mr Lawrence and that was the nail in the coffin for me 😂
Hahahaha heckkk yes
I want someone to edit the scene when he’s watching RUclips videos, and it’s Seth dogging on him about the cement truck.
Best line is Demetri's!
When he says "Who pays to get beaten up?"
@@dirgniflesuoh7950 true
Unsafe yeah but they were effective as fights in real life are not safe unless in a ring with rules
Martial artists, at least Karate, Taekwondo, and Jiu Jitsu practicioners, wear belts because our gi jackets look silly and unfinished without them.
😂😂
Haha that's good
Not gonna lie I wear a belt cause I did teakwando for 5 years still do but I just like the belt on my waste
Also because we can't be fit all the time and beer belly really ruins the looks if it's untied.
@@Tentacl that’s true. If I need to try to get fit but if ur like un fit like January for example I can’t blame you much but if u have continually been unfit since March to August that’s ur fault u should at least try to get fit
This is very good advice for people looking to start training. I am 62 years old and have been training 55 years, and I have seen TONS of these shite schools over the years! Believe me, it was WAY worse back in the "old days" because the poor unsuspecting beginner only had the movies and non-contact competitions to use as a benchmark. Now people are wiser and less likely to believe charlatans, however, sadly, crooks in the martial arts still exist. My advice to beginners, is please check the history of the instructor.
Hopefully it helps somebody 🙏
@@SenseiSeth I am sure it does :)
🙏🙏🙏
@@SenseiSeth Even though I am an old git, I have been following your channel with interest. I consider myself to be a "traditional martial artist", although I try to stay current. I believe there is much to be learned from the traditional arts but, sadly, they are lathered in bullshit and it is important that we all do our best to represent our respective approaches to the martial arts with honour.
I bet you're right. I grew up back in the '80s. The only reason I suspected the teaching of traditional martial arts might be flawed was, we had a crazy Baptist preacher in town who fronted as some kind of "nth degree black belt Grand Master." Two of the kids who really believed in this clown and took lessons from him got their asses kicked by long-haired, dope smoking, heavy metal t-shirt types who had no formal training in anything.
When I was 12 I joined a mcdojo called purple dragon don jitsu ryu. I realized it was fake news when I won a lower belts sparring tournament as the greenest person there, and luckily in my teens I got super into MMA/MT/BJJ circa 2008. Then I would have a great time "baptizing" other prominent martial arts kids in the city that went to mcdojos by schooling them in sparring. One kid I did this to, switched to my MMA gym and ended up having a bunch of kickboxing matches and MMA fights. He's really good now. Fun showing people the light 😂.
Nice!! I bet he's happy that happens haha
@Ryan Ong the rice bowl 😂
Don Jitsu from Trinidad? I've had family members attend there.....I stuck with Shotokan Karate.
@@sesimie yep that's the one. it's not as bad as aikedo but it's just family oriented watered down stuff. Seems similar to what japanese jiu jitsu is/family Karate. One time the instructor was telling this 50 year old 110lb mom that she could knock someone out with a backfist. Not spinning - a regular backfist in a self defence scenario. In hindsight it's just like....what guys?!
@@benweir8478 Indeed...i know the school for many years but never attended. It's a commercial thing. Big business. I've seen some of the Purple Dragon Don jitsu demos live ( 1990s) with Wally Jay (look him up) and that introduced me to jiu jitsu which imho is a must nowadays with all the armbars and RNC's on the street due to MMA watching.
I agree with you on belts, My first instructor was world renowned he was very strict about kata, I left him as a green belt, I attended other schools the same set of katas weren’t taught until black belt, I also trained at a McDojo and I quickly realized the skills just weren’t there in the black belts and even the sparring wasn’t up to par. Great video.✌️
Thanks Daniel!
Sensei Seth Yw between you, wonderboy and few others I’ve had to dust of my Gi 😂
Haha that’s awesome!!
Same here. I spent 4 years at a McDojo as a teenager, learned the hard way that it wasn't good for self defense when I got absolutely wrecked a bully in the hallway at school.
I'm grateful that my Sensei embedded the idea in me that just because I take karate, it does nothing to -guarantee- that'd make me invincible in the streets.
I am posting this sacrifice to appease the gods of the YT algorithm
All hail the mighty Algorithm. Praise it, for it is good.
Your work is seen
I was in a Bjj McDojo there was only 1 instructor and like 30-35 students in one class. I ones saw the instructor stare at a kid do an arm bar completely wrong and, he didn’t tell him anything that he was doing it wrong. And said good job! There was $300 for a month and promised us belts. Never let us try a class only had us pay then do a class. And if you didn’t know anyone there you couldn’t watch a class either. I was in there for a bout a year.
So much money.. how was the contract? Had to sign up for 1 year immidiately?
Sensei Seth I dunno bro. I didn’t see it it was a while back my dad paid it. Lol I was like 9 I’m only a teen right now lol.
taekwondo wt taekwondo itf that’s not to bad bro
Oh I gotcha!
Sensei Seth yeah but I was told by my dad when I first signed up that... “you better go every day I paid $400 and I’m gonna have to pay 300” I also herd him and my mom get in a number of fights saying YOU PAY $300 FOR JIUJITSU this and that this and that
Yes, especially parents please keep an eye on your child's sensei, I personally never experienced anything thank goodness, but had a couple friends at another dojo that were put in shady positions, and didn't know it was shady until they started telling other people
That’s so tough 😞
Yea i was in a mcdojo as a kid, ended up leaving. Looking back, tons of red flags...
I was unfortunately involved in a McDojo for too many years. Was an instructor there for the last few years even. I had come up in very traditional Korean schools where we did hard training and hard sparring. When I was teaching at the McDojo I was having an adult beginners class kicking pads as part of a drill. I was pulled aside by the owner and told not to let them kick pads at white and yellow belt level because “they might hurt their foot and won’t come back”. There was a joke among the older instructors that at this school you could go from white belt to black belt and never have to wash your uniform. (We didn’t do anything hard enough to sweat). It wasn’t until I started Krav Maga about 10 years ago that I finally realized that I didn’t know shit about defending myself against a committed attacker.
I loved they included the Ego, "masculinity" and cult-like behaviour. That's the first thing I thought about these fake, overblown gyms with "alpha" attitude. That's a huge red flag for a toxic training environment. Pride comes before the fall.
SUGONDESE
As an artist, and twenty-six year karate instructor, I've always understood the distinction between art and commerce. Naturally, it's great if you can derive sustainable income from your craft, but the temptation is always there to make compromises in order to increase revenue. I think most McDojo's are the result of the fundamental decision to "create a business" by "teaching martial arts." Prime objective: maximize your profits. So, rather than maintaining the integrity of a workable martial art, and teaching in a straightforward and honorable way (all the while hoping to be able to cover the overhead!), play to the ignorance and wishful thinking of the naive consumer. Some warning signs:
- a rainbow of belt ranks; very frequent charged-for tests; black belt in two years
- no contact-sparring or other forms of physical engagement: "you'll learn everything you need with forms and visualization"
- Americanized style - a little of this, a little of that - with little connection to a traditional and proven practical/philosophical foundation
- cult of personality - respect is one thing; adulation quite something else. If your sensei has magical powers, it's only in his ability to fool you.
All that said, I do have a no-touch knock-out. It's called chloroform.
I will say that mma fits the Americanized one to some extent. Gotta be careful with that one
@@senseihidaoshi3565 been thinking of learning mma. Theres an mma school near me but from the info Ive gotten they have a ranking system in their mma program. Would that be a red flag for an mma mcdojo?
One thing I never understood is that in the vast majority of the no touch knockout videos I’ve seen, when the dude gets “knocked out” everyone quickly sits him up and starts slapping him, which is the literal opposite of what ur supposed to do if someone gets actually knocked out.
I trained HKD for years at a TKD dojo in a very traditional setting. When I went off to the PD, my master bought a McDojo and started giving black belts to 9 year olds. Covid happened and they started zoom sparring... Needless to say I never went back.
Zoom sparring seems a bit weird to me tbh
How tf do you zoom spar
_incoming spinning back hook kick!_
None of you blocked, so I took all 3 of you down.
Flawless victory to ME!
So sorry to hear this. I also do traditional tkd and I'd be devastated to lose the school that trained me, since I've never been able to find another like it. I hope you're able to find a new place to train that is as dedicated to the dignity of the art as you are.
After all these years, the term 'McDojo'is still funny as shit to me. 😂
Lolol
It's amusing, but I find calling Tae Kwon Do 'Safespace Karate' a lot more hilarious.
same i also love how people say they teach Bullshido
The taekwondo dojang I went to was an oddity. It was a mcdojo for the kids and teens, but the adults got the legitimate training and could fail a test. Should be all ages get the same legit training.
Nah, let's be honest here. An 8 year old really doesn't need to be sparring and pressure testing this stuff. I'd say that I would teach them the moves, teach them the kata and what not, let them get the physical benefits of it, then about 15 or 16 I'd kick their training up a notch and start them in on actual application.
it call trying to keep incomes flowing
Same, it's like you got to age 14-15 at brown belt and they went ok, time to refine technique and do hard sparring, no pads or protection. Then to go from 1st to 2nd dan took years when before it was like 6 months before a promotion test. Think I was McDojoed to black belt at age 15, then to go up to 2nd dan took me till I was 20-21. Been years but even then for the younger kids it became even more McDojo-like. Non-contact sparring for belts. That was years ago, dropped it.
That´s just kid´s training. I started karate with a very legit master (his dad brought the Uechi Ryu style over from Okinawa, this guy competed in contact competitions internationally), but it was an after school activity in my school. My school was kind of hippie and pacifist so the version he taught us was very light. After about two years of basically repeating technique and some very light drills he suggested I start to train under one of his students outside of the school. That's when the pressure began, and I was 17 so I don't know if it should begin much earlier than that. Also, by the time the pressure began, I was technically quite advanced, it was more of a matter of understanding timing and distance, as I could kick and punch quite well by then. As a dad I can tell you I don't want my children involved in bloodsport, and they will start training as soon as they turn three and can join the little dragons program in my local MMA school.
Blackbelt for kids is useless.. However.. Do you want the kids to be a better human being, to keep in the style, eventually become a real "martial artist" ? You have to keep the kid around... kids are the most "get quick rich scheme / get validation fast" in the universe (so yeah adults are kids now) lol. The importance for a kid is to learn health(cardio/shape), form(technique) , discipline which leads to confidence. So you get him a strong base
I’m a Krav Maga student/kids instructor and I love the insight here. Glad I found your channel! I’m excited to go through your catalog of videos.
I walked into a McDojo , and when I applied a little resistance to the teacher in his demo , I just dropped my weight a little so he couldn’t man handle me ,he got mad and hit me in the temple with his fingertips, it was a demo ,not sparring so he struck me unexpectedly and I didn’t block it he was very fast and very angry I left in a hurry. I didn’t know at the time I had entered a mcdojo
Yea that’s pretty sketchy
I personally do not think it was a Mcdojo based on your description..
Kaito Kurahama , it was sketchy he claimed 8 styles taught as one with over 2000 techniques, however the instructor was very fit and he was definitely game to fight me there and I didn’t feel like getting beat up in his gym . 😫🥊
I would need more specifics on your experience because I’ve been an instructor myself before and part of showing “demonstrations” (key word there) is having a good partner that allows you to actually conduct the demonstration (it’s just a demo it’s not supposed to be a “this is the way” answer). Think about it like this. If I’m trying to show you that 2+2=4 but while I’m showing you 2+2 you decide to add a 3. The obvious response is to change the answer because it will no longer equal 4. Likewise if I’m trying to demonstrate a technique against a tackle but you throw a punch at me before a tackle my response would change and you would get hurt because the point was to demonstrate a technique against a tackle not a punch. That unexpected attack would provoke a very real response on my end. You have to first understand that there is a difference between a demonstration and an actual situation. Now on the other hand, had you told the instructor “well what if I did this?” (Insert added move or resistance) then the instructor should have an answer and say “well then you should immediately graft into this maneuver”. However if you ask that question and they get mad then they have no real knowledge. But also if you personally just try to mess up the instructors demonstration then that makes you an asshole because you’re not trying to learn you’re trying to challenge. If you want to learn ask a question. If you want to challenge then be prepared to get hit. It’s all about the approach. On both sides.
I mean if it's a demo and he's trying to show mechanics of a technique and you're sabotaging it just to try to "add resistance" that's kind of a dick move imo bc the instructor is trying to demonstrate step by step usually not even really applying the technique fully which of course when they are going half speed or little force and you know what's coming it's easy to sandbag
I'm not accusing you of this but honestly your description makes you sound kind of like one of those dudes who comes in to "test" the instructors when they aren't trying to spar but demonstrate and ass you mentioned he gave you a warning tap that you're being an asshole and that he COULD end you if he wanted to
My fathers brother is a retired successful businessman who still own a supermarket chain. He said "people want to be cheated". And i think he is right.
He always used his (really happened) "apple" example. He managed to buy a large quantity of a certain popular, expensive brand of apples for quite a bargain. So he sold them for a low price. But he sold nothing after a few days. The apples went back in the fridge, he took out the ones who started to turn brown, Waited 2 days and put them back in the supermarket with a big sign "they are back, the brand XXX apples". But this time he prized them more expensive then usual.
Guess what: sold out the same day in all of his supermarkets.
I think this work in martial arts too. People want to believe te impossible. They dont know about martial arts. Often people start on impuls, he, let we do that, fun. They see a demo with all that mysterious things and impressive moves, and then all that sounds they make. So they want that too. People love mysterious things, thats also the succes of mediums, religious healers, fortune tellers. They are all shrouded in mystery, never wearing normal clothes. (hence, a lot of fake masters are dressed in very nice looking suits covered in colorful badges)
On top of that, its human nature to want the most, the easy way and the fast way. And again on top of that, real martial art fights look utterly boring for those who are not in to it.
People want to be cheated.....
I think it's just easier to sell people a dream than reality. Tell someone it takes 12 years of *hard work* to earn a black belt and be a competent fighter and you'll never get a student. Tell them they can master your art in a year, and you hold the secret of the two strike five finger death punch that's only reserved for the most dedicated of students passed down in Okinawa from Master to pupil for a thousand generations and people will line up.
Considering the tik tok cheats codes that idiots claim control reality I think you and you’re dad are right
All they Mcwant is Mcmoney
McMe too but McRespectfully and with McHonor lol
@@SenseiSeth McK
I really really enjoyed this clip. I was 14 (1992)when I entered my first dojo. I was watching movies like Bloodsport and the Perfect Weapon and was like sign me up. Thankfully, I entered an American Freestyle school that was very real in their approach where I had to fight constantly and our self defense strategies were very effective to the point to where they were easy to carry out without a lot of thought. I quickly learned the difference between movies and reality. Several things were at work though, such as the UFC coming out in 93 and having huge impact on both of my instructors. They already had Muay Thai instruction incorporated for green belts and above, but after UFC came out, we started boxing, wrestling and jujutsu. Looking back, it was a great school and I learned a ton. It later closed but has left a long lasting impact on my life and although I didnt go the path of fighting, I have stayed connected to the art and the training. To be honest though, my sparring was a bit of a struggle until I got introduced to boxing. It was a game changer. I know there are different opinions on this but I prefer boxing and muay Thai ( as far as stand up fighting is concerned) but karate is where its at for quick effective self defense. Truthfully, people either have fight or they don't. Some things just can't be taught. I respect everyone's opinion though because we all work differently. Great work bro!
If the "master" always picks the same volunteers, it's a mcdojo.
Volunteers to show the technique everyone is about to do?
@@ashtar3876 woosh
I had an instructor who achieved a 10th degree black belt and started his own "ryu" in record time, like 10 years. Yet all of his students who trained under him 20-30 years were still no where near his level. I'm not sure it was a McDojo but it had a cult atmosphere. He had his "lineages" posted on the wall, multiple ones leading back to just about every famous martial arts master in history all the way back to Bodhidharma. He had awards all over his wall that his ex wife ended up telling us he nominated himself for. It had a religious component to it so his dojo was listed as a 501c charity. His rates were low but he pressured his black belts to make large "donations". It was weird.
@@craigjones8518 kind of yeah.
I think that McDojos are increasing because in today's society everyone is a winner.
I mean, you get a belt a month later for doing nothing.
I've been practicing BJJ for a year and I barely have 1 stripe and even though I practice (and spar) every day, my teacher has told me that I'm not ready for another stripe, or belt. And that's good because I don't want any fake confidence.
I was very careful in selecting my karate dojo. They definitely don’t rush you through belts there. Been there 2.5 years and only in my 3rd belt (no tips til later). Black belt is like a decade away at least. We do live sparring every week. Very contact oriented and pressure tested.
I am yet to receive my fifth belt after 5 years of Kickboxing training with WAKO(thanks, Rona). 9w/3L in regional trials, full contact, LHW. But i live in Eu so it's very different here. We don't have that "participation trophy" culture. So every time you finally get that belt it MEANS something to you, it has value. But nothing compares to bringing your club's colors to the top of the podium.
That's KINDA it. But not really. To most McDojo's Members are a pay check. Remember a LOT of these dojos do not really care as long as you pay. So you there long enough and Pay. (Some times not haveing to show up all the time) You get your belt. Regardless of how you preform.
We dont do that. For ours its a set Test. twice a year we have belt tests at certain times. Everyone is allowed (and Encouraged) to test. But about 1/4th to 1/3rd usually do not progress to the next rank.
Its pretty Brutal. Usually about 3-4 hours. Starting with at least an Hour of Just workouts. Running, Push ups. Sit ups. Jumping jacks. All at fast pace. One year not long after a surgery I had we did Planks while Sensie gave a Lecture and asked questions. (We also get judged on history knowledge and at some ranks how much Japanese we know. Counting is where we start. But we have a lot of Academic things we have to learn as well. For instance for a Black belt you have to name most the muscle groups involved in throwing a punch. And be able to name them right after the 4-8 mile run) Then once we are all worn out. We spar. Then we run through all our Katas together (If you get to the last you know in that time. You start over and do the ones you know till EVERYONE is done). Usually have Rolling in there for about 30 + Min. Then After ALL that. We demonstrate our Belt requirements. The minimum standards. Once we are tired. Exhausted. And been given a drill Sargent treatment. (Sensei is usually a great guy even on the mat. But on tests his Marine Officer comes out. But much Calmer.) Thats our test. Once while he was finishing up the kids test and giveing awards he simply had the Adults rotate through Front kicks. Back kicks and Side kicks till he was done. (Course he took his time :D ) Though to be fair. Its pretty much known that they KNOW who is passing and who is not based on how you do in class every day. The test is a way to give that last PUSH to show you earn the belt. Always people who do not pass. But its fine cause they are just told to keep at it and told what they need for next time.
We do not do tips. Just the 10 Q ranks. White, Orange, Gold, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, And 3 levels of Brown. Once you pass your second Brown. You no longer test with the rest of the class and you will be told when they think your ready to test. Can be any time. 3 months. or 2 years. Same for the Black belt test. How long it takes you to progress is up to you. How dedicated you are. How you naturally pick it up. And how you study. Usually for most its 4-7 years for Back belt. Because if you have Other styles you are profecient in you may get to by pass whte Orange and Gold. (Those are MOSTLY focused on the basics of the basics. How to throw kicks. Stances. edicate, And the basic Kogekis and movements. My self and my friend because we studied before were allowed to go from white to yellow. Yellow is where you start learning Other Katas. Self Defences. Locks. And where we start on ShintoYoshin as well. Since we do both Shuri-Ryu Karate and Shinto Yoshin Jujitsu. But for most its at least a Year before you even move past the basics.
In a McDojo. They want that money. That 200 Dollars for the belt and they need to make you think your progressing so you stick around. Pay those memberships. Pay those fees.
(One reason I like our Dojo is that our Sensie is a retired Sherriff who still does work with the Marshals. Our Dojo is in his Familey own Skating rink. Small off shoot. He LITTERALLY only takes in enough to pay for the Dojo. 50 bucks a month per student. No contract. And even then if you cant pay. Hes open to work with you. Since he does not really care about the money. It really helps Since I have a seasonal Work schedule that keeps me out of class months on end. His advice. If I dont go to class that month. Just dont pay that month.)
Not really. From what I understand, McDojos have been a thing in the United States for decades, first growing in popularity as eastern martial arts started to become more prevalent in US culture.
My dojo does exams every 6 months. It puts you up 1, 2 or sometimes even 3 stripes up depending on how well you did, and usually belts only are done after brown stripes so usually it takes a year or longer to get a yellow belt.
Really great video. Super good - I whole-heartedly agree.
I just want to add that sometimes someone comes to a gym looking for something fast not because they're looking for a short-cut, but because they have an immediate problem. The younger people being bullied. A person that's moving somewhere for a job or another reason and are nervous (had a person going to Egypt for 6 months that really wanted to ramp up ASAP). The person that was faced with something unforeseen (had a woman that told me her ex was getting out of prison soon and needed to feel more capable).
So, your video is incredibly valuable. You show what many, many legit martial arts look like when done combatively, which should be very helpful for people looking to get started. But sometimes you run across a person that has a tightened time frame that's 100% legit.
I took Wing Chun for 2 yrs which was decent but when I asked my almighty master what should I do if I fall down? He said " don'' t fall down" and I ran to Muay Thai and BJJ, can't top this combo if you can find a school that teaches both.
First Lesson! Learn to take a fall!
-Johnny Lawrence
I belive the first thing you should clarify with the instructor when you start in a dojo is the expectatives you can have with what you are training. I personaly train in Kick-Boxing, mostly point-fighting, semi-contact and full-contact. The first thing my instructor told me is that this is a sport. If you try in a street fight you might win (you learn how to hit people after all) but there is no guarantee, specially if you are outnumbered. We don't train that, so of course we would get the shit kicked out of us if we are outnumbered. Same if they take us to the ground.
If you are practicing a martial art to keep you safe, make sure the instructor knows that. Most people who practise martial arts do so as a sport, to keep themselves fit or to compete. Maybe even get some advantages like a scholarship or extra points for a job in public service, if your sport is federated. Some are just trying to keep themselves fit and flexible. Make sure your instructor understands why you are there, and don't go complaining after the fact that a fighting system designed to work 1vs1 with a certain set of rules didn't work agains a couple of thugs in the streets.
Also, most martial arts for fighting sports are designed to be as efficient as possible withing their rule system, so if you are going to fight with different rules make sure to know the holes in your style and fill them before the fight. And that goes for every single martial art. The fact that you have learned to punch as a kickboxer doesn't mean you know how to box against a boxer. The rules are different and so are the tecniques.
Same here, I was in a TMA you could say the style wouldn't work in a fight. However, I have 100% love for them although I moved to kickboxing and judo. Why? The TMA actually worked 5 times in the street... 2 fights, 3 falls (due to pothole, accidents) also my teacher always thought : "we here to have fun, know the best self defense is 1) not fight 2) punch 3) run" . They were experienced teachers of a family of martial Arts who did boxing,kickboxing,aikido,judo and they did compete.. Etc. They were not delusion but they did allow mcdojo teacher to rent space. Everyone has to pay bills. That TMA school brought me love to martial Arts and hopefully one day I'll be back to it (now it's distance issues.. And I have world-class kickboxing/judo/bjj next door). My rant over.. No matter your style, a street fight isn't a gym fight and you have no gloves. At least sport martial Arts teach you to handle adrenaline, be fit .. Which is +++ in the street. Lastly, in a "street fight" or competition you have so much stress/adrenaline that most your stuff gets forgotten and you left with the easy,simple,direct.. Practiced 1000 times moves
This is great insight! So often people find out my rank/competition status and ask things like "could you beat me up? could you beat him up? so you could beat x in a fight huh?" and I always try to give this explanation. The art that I practice was originally intended for military use, but I practice the patterns and the sparring techniques. As a small woman, I cannot make the most of the art's moveset because I must find ways to score points within the ruleset applied to sparring (and it is only because of this ruleset that I can "win" against opponents larger or stronger than me). If I had to have a real fight I would use the cardiovascular strength I have from training heavily to run away, because even an untrained man need only wildly swing his arm at me faster than I can strike his solar plexus, and I will lose.
No matter how good your technique is, it cannot overcome everything. I feel that learning martial arts should be a deeply humbling process, as you learn just how much you are limited regardless of your efforts. At the same time it is a rewarding process of striving to reach and stretch those limits to reach the maximum possible potential for yourself. And someone who wants self defense or to be a streetfighter would never be satisified with me as an instructor because of this (I am only an assistant instructor to be clear, but this philosophy comes from the instructor under whom I assist as well). I could teach them basics of technique, but they would be better served elsewhere.
Oof.. rule number 1 caught me of guard.. luckily i had enough Chi in my tank to push it off
😂😂😂
Great video. Incredible that people sign up to these schools. I study Shito-kai from a local instructor. I have no disillusions that it makes me invincible, but the training is genuine, and it might... one day, give me an advantage in a defensive situation. I still enjoy training and learning, but you never really know for sure what help your training is until a situation finds you.
This is where it breaks down for me, A buddy of mine has been practicing Kung Fu for years. And he says that MMA largely doesn't work on the streets. He says his Sifu says that if someone gets you in a rear naked choke, you immediately dig your thumb into their eyes. Now, as someone who has seen nearly every MMA fight on fightpass over the last several years, I know this isn't going to work. It only takes seconds to fully go out from a tight choke, and you might not even find someones eyes in those seconds, not to mention, you're relying on them being in so much pain to let go of the choke, youre not actually physically defending the choke, youre just hoping the pain makes them let it go... so the problem is, we are at this point where neither of us are willing to test this to prove the other wrong lol I'm not willing to possibly lose an eye to strangle my friend to death... lol
12:38 my sensei is super careful about this stuff trying to limit the contact with the kids to the bare minimum. I´ve been in places that teach legit stuff but they still perpetuate the cult like menthality that McDojos do. So i try to take the knowledge without the BS in those cases. Still sucks sometimes to be in that enviroment because well i just want to improve my martial arts skills and knowledge not to be part of a cult.
Thats a fair point. BJJ is very cult-y lol
At least u have the right attitude
I think it would be hilarious if you and IcyMike did a parody of some of the mcdojos. I appreciate both you guys for your realistic and honest nature and it seems like you both would have a fun time making that.
You are correct, I personally know many people that will never under any circumstances admit when they are wrong, these people are not martial artist, but they fit into the mindset you are talking about. These people will avoid anyone that might correct they just so they can continue to believe they are right, and if you are never wrong, you never learn anything from anyone else because you are always right! Very good explanation of how these frauds think.
I would like to point out that if everyone believed in touchless knockouts, the world would be a far less violent place.
I believe... breathe
Feel the energy
Thank you for not mentioning qi. And distinguishing to no touch knockouts. Qi is not used that way. It’s training is for health, healing and strength of mind.
In my experience, what brings someone into a McDojo is that the instructor knows just enough to bring you in.
When I was young I was in a DKI school. The instructor knew of one awesome joint lock out of Naihanchi and his bunkai brought me in. But three months later he hadn't shown us much else and I noticed every time we had a new student he would teach that one move. He also demanded cult-like obedience. I was just old enough to know that I was paying him, so if he wants my money he should quit expecting me to treat him like a God. Big difference between respect and worship. I didn't stay long and he let me out of my contact after he tried to bully me into staying.
I had honestly never heard of a McDojo before I spotted this video a few weeks ago. Thanks for the information
Things are very strict in Canada. And any school I go to . Everyone better have their paperwork in order. This is a very Important video. Thank you for shedding light on this.
Bro! You deserve way more subs then you got. I clicked on the video with no expectations and this video was super informative and interesting. Definitely made me hit the sub button.
Ah man that’s awesome. Thanks a ton!
The cult-like conditions really got me. There was a Chung Moo Quan school near where I was growing up years ago. Did the free lesson but never went back because it just felt off. A decade later, I wondered what happened to that school. So I looked online and found some articles on a cult research site. Real glad I dodged that bullet.
id never thought about some of this, but your spot on. interesting how we need to settle this with information and not technique. lifes ironic like that
I love that you put the woonderboy kick to your head as part of your intro :D
"Dojo storming" is a thing? Omg my dad accidently did this in Bermuda once lmfao he walked into a Taekwondo school and he had to fight the entire school cuz they didn't believe his claim he was experienced 💀
How many went to that school? Your dad must be pretty bad ass😂
@@unknownplayer2075 idk how big the school was he never said, but there was a few black belts. Although he said the reason he won so easily is cuz they were all afraid of sparring with him so it's less his skill and more his confidence that made him win
... I was in a very good school in Dallas Tx , run by a female champion ( USA , 5 yrs ) , and we got ' dojo stormed ' at least 3 different times.. we always cleaned the other school's clocks.
Man my gym has storming about once a week because it is in a city(an hour away from me because I live in the middle of nowhere.) I had to wrestle a damn d1 wrestler because no one trusted his story. I held my own but man I got taken on a ride.
I hope that this is still a thing man
When I count how many fights I've been in, I will also include the more serious fights I was in during school.
3 wins 11 losses if im being honest with myself. Numerous other times ended before it started. Once i was knocked out,, others I just got beat up. All of my wins were taking the other other person to and making them uncomfortable until someone separated us.
Learning Martial arts (or at least the very basics) was a way to deal with bullies.
0 and 0 in real life, but I feel safe with my own ability over the past few years.
Imagine a town with ten thousand people and only one dojo yea it started out with like 20 people and last time i heard about my old class there is only three people left that attend the classes its honestly so true how you are right about these things its sad in a way too because there is noting in our town that is postive for the younger generation. Btw Im a new sub you do some pretty good work keep it up Sensei.
Very good breakdown S. Seth. My instructor was very good, high skills (TKD). But he did not like any of the students bringing in their ideas. I mentioned 'jogging to class' and he got mad that I was jogging. When he sparred me, he would stand close to the mirrors and therefore I was concerned I'd break a mirror if I missed a kick. He spent a lot of time talking to me about 'how to get more students'. Still a great practitioner, and as of 2019 was a multimillionaire with many studios.
I understand the first point especially. I hate hurting people, which is why I had a particular interest in stuff like aikido, only to realize that in the end the only way your gonna get out of a self defense situation without hurting the other person or getting hurt is if you avoid the situation entirely.
Aikido is more about spiritual cultivation than anything. If you can turn yourself into a more peaceful person, it can usually resonate when confrontation occurs.
You might be at a McDojo if 98% of the students are toddlers and kids.
Kids make a gym go sometimes. I wouldn't automatically discount a gym if they have a lot of kids classes. I would still go and look at the highest ranking, or most advanced class they have and watch. Might be a diamond in the rough.
Yea thats hard when youre finding a new dojo is to find one with people who Arent kids and teenagers practicing.
This is the dumbest comment on this thread.
eh depends. taekwondo just has a tendency to give black belts to newborns
@@theginjreaper I never said it was a bad thing. It just is what it is.
Love the Fringe box-set, keep up the good work!
7:53 what was that? You had me at, "putting kids in a cement truck" 😂
Hello seth
Can u pls make a vdo on self defense .....how to learn SD
If it is overly commercial or over promises skills or a promotion-factory or has instructors who are not really trained (but act as if they are) look for the Golden Arches out front. A McDojo is a kind of defrauding for money; over nearly 4 decades of training I've seen various methods. I introduced the term into Beijing about 2005 (when I arrived) regarding my favorite McDojo there, an Aikido school, that took promotional photos of ladies in keiko-gi (judo gear) with their top-shelf nearly on display, holding samurai swords and jo and hires sexy 3rd rate "stars" to pose for action-ads (the implicit suggestion being you'll meet such women if you join), promises promotions within a flash ... all for the reasonable price of !!!? Long term contracts is another warning sign. But what can you do? Seth Sensei is right 道場荒し (dojo ara-she) 、道場破り (dojo ya-bu-rree) (basically dojo busting; there are more names for it) is a bad idea. You look like a dick, legal problems, escalation, etc. Who cares? Find your own Way. Don't get swept up in the nihilism of the age. Bad for your health. Just go find someone / some place good. But if the the McStudents come to you at a seminar or tournament? Eat their happy meal and take the toy.
aikido is a mcdojo art
This was very informative. Thank you!
When I was a lad I joined the only studio I found in the San Joaquin Valley, a supposed Chinese Kempo style that I have never heard of before nor after. I learned floating flower blocks and lots of useless stuff. I was fortunate that they hired Black Belts from other styles and taught them the strange forms. I got an instructor that quietly included real 'classical Karate' with the other crap. That is, a solid foundation that emphasized conditioning and basics rather than stuff for the next belt stripe or whatever. I abandoned that style long ago but was surprised to find they are still a thing there in some cities. I can't imagine how they survived. I really was horrible stuff.
I had a work colleague, a good friend, constantly critique my membership of a MMA club: ''I can grab your kick and stamp on your standing instep'' ...''there is no need to spar when you train in illegal,lethal techniques...'' He was a member of a McDojo that gave him a black belt even though he was undergoing re-hab for a hip replacement. I kid you not. He made the mistake of visiting our club on his 'black-belt-world tour.' We let our raw rookies ( 3 months experienced) take him on. It was horrible to see the realisation in his eyes of 6 years wasted. But hey, he's got several grading certificates in a glass case with many coloured belts adorning his garage wall. Ultimately, I blame Hollywood for the 'Westernisation' of martial arts...there's no Eastern mystique...just hard work/training, and gross motor actions.
YOU: How many bones have you broken?
THEM: 212
YOU: 🤔
THEM: Yea 3 of them were mine!
😆That part cracked me up! 👊🏻
I've broken my toes. (Bagwork) 🤷♂️
Many McDojo's teach a strange style called Akufu and the only good thing about it, involves the stench clearing the McDojo out.- thank you, Sensei Seth for this great video, keep them coming..
One thing I think should warn anyone about a bad dojo, is how to leave or de-escalate a situation. Yes, they are trying to teach you how to defend yourself, but learning when not to be aggressive is also important
I've found community colleges usually offer good quality, legitimate martial arts training.
I remember in high school I knew a guy that "learned" Systema by watching videos on Rutube. I started wrestling at 5 and boxing at 14. He invited me over one night to "spar" but his idea of sparring was me standing perfectly still in one position while he tried to do some nonsense he saw in a video. He got so mad at me because every time he tried a move, I'd grab his wrist and submit him or grab and toss him or strike him in the neck when he completely dropped his guard. I've never seen a McDojo, but I imagine the quality of training is about as effective as what happened that night.
and as an aside. I've been in more than 200 "street fights" but I don't brag about that shit. I got bullied a lot moving from school to school and had some bad luck getting falsely accused of a violent crime against a woman, so I had to fight a lot. If anyone says they've fought that much and never lost, they're either lying or picking fights with people much smaller and weaker than themselves.
Probably an accurate description of the skill level.
If people could learn how to perform techniques with needed speed and precision on reflexes after watching some moving pictures... Man, that would be heaven.
All yot gotta do is to watch Olympic gold medalist and boom, now you're at Olympic level in that discipline😂😂😂
Strangely enough no one claims they learned how to wrestle by watching Olympics, but some sure do claim they learned self defense/or anything martial via RUclips. Or via watching a "master" do it a couple times in slow motion against nonresisting opponent. What a world we live in.
@@user-un-known I watched a Mike Tyson fight, which means I'm basically now heavyweight boxing champion of the world!
I think you sum it up well... just like diet, exercise, get rich, etc.. anything that is market as "get there fast & easy" will attrack more people than when you say is a long, hard and painful road. I remember in the past when i started it was supposed to be rough and painful, none complains, actually people complained when the class was too soft. But those were other times.
New to channel, any videos on finding a non McDojo for Karate? I have a MT background but would enjoy learning some different stuff.
Sensei Seth vs Prime Johnny Lawrence who will win
Depends on the type of fight, but as long as it’s not that tournament, I get the Dub
What If it was a drinking contest?
@@SenseiSeth Obviously prime Johnny, Sensei Seth is good looking but the babes all want the bad boy lmao
I thought we were talking about who would win in getting the girls digits.
Oh boy, there’s some crazy stuff out there.
I had a teacher who:
1. Told us never to spar because the art was too dangerous.
2. Wouldn’t let us train outside because the wind would make us sick.
3. Wouldn’t let us lift weights or stretch. Cause those are bad for you, you should only “elongate” your muscles whatever that means.
4. You shouldn’t do basic martial arts exercises cause they don’t work. Only practice this one qigong routine that he didn’t really understand.
5. Attempted no touch knockouts.
6. Disregarded all other styles and teachers.
7. Claimed he knew secret Chinese healing arts but never taught any of that.
8. Claimed to use muscle testing to check for covid. And that if you’re Qi was strong enough you wouldn’t get sick.
I don’t train with him anymore. Stay safe guys.
Well-principled in a vast domain.
Thought or instruction based solely on the devotion of heartfelt disciples or the obnoxiousness of challengers fail to self-legitimize.
Whether such schools *ought* be taught is reflected by those points: "Does this endanger", + "Does this entrap / enable abuse" ?
That the "value" of the schools is harder to verify than to market is a difficult statement to accept.
Even were each participant or guardian to attend + sign a log vouching for the school, that sort of mechanism must be an ongoing investment.
Then, we've repeated the matter of the devoted disciples; who stays complacent in a broken system if not its victims? 🐲
MacDojo sensei needs three things: 1) Be very large, 2) Story about his military experience and what exotic country where he was stationed and where he learned an exotic martial art, 3)Story about how the exotic martial was used during the sensei's service as a cop, bouncer, professional fighter or all of the above.
Got scammed by a McDojo hard during high school. My friend joined and, kinda like Cobra Kai, a few of my high school friends and I joined. Head instructor was way too drunk off his own hype and the fake lineage (claimed Shaolin vía some obviously white dude with the ethnically ambiguous last name Lee) was hilarious now that the Shaolin-Disciple-Turned-RUclipsr has explained that you can pay for certificates from Shaolin. Anyways, the prices for this place were insane, and you couldn’t spar until 3 years in, and only then it was Boxing. When I finally started training Shotokan in college, I realized how stupid this McDojo was and how bad my mom and I had been swindled.
That being said, I did need the martial arts at that point in my life for the community, physical exercise and disciple; and I developed great fundamentals that helped me excel at traditional karate. But, it was useless for self-defense and taught me nothing about overcoming fear in combat. I sometime pass by on my bike and chuckle to myself.
I remember being at a party and hearing some guy bragging about how hard-core his gym was. How they show up and beat the shit out of each other every day. Going full force bashing each other's faces in every day and breaking each other's limbs.
I was instantly like "this guy's gym ain't shit". He was going around trying to bet guys 50 bucks that he could jump up and put you in a standing armbar in under 5 seconds with you knowing it's coming.
What happened next?
Nice video
This might sound dumb but How do we tell that the stuff that we are learning could be useful In Real life?
Would it be through sparring or how could we tell.
Thanks for the video again, I’ve just started karate. 👍👍👍
Sparring is helpful!
It surprised me to learn that this video is 3 years old! Hope it spreads!
At the end of the day, you are the master of your martial arts journey. You may have many teachers, senseis, and coaches throughout the journey but it's your body, your mind, and your art. It's most important to be real to yourself and to lie to yourself
Well, you can still be lied to and not know it
It isn't a lie if YOU believe it!
I think the major reason that it's still possible is that the informations about McDojos aren't really wide spread. You got to be an absolute martial arts nerd to really hear about this. The martial arts RUclips/reddit community seems big, but it really is an absolute niche thing. Most people know about martial arts because they saw it in movies/shows or because they saw some boxing or MMA fights. And that's basically it. They know who Jackie Chan is. "He's that funny Karate guy. Yeah, would be cool do be able to do that." So they just go to the next place that teaches martial arts without any background info. And if there's already people training there, it must be worth something right? And even people who actually practice martial arts often aren't involved enough to know about this issue. If you're Joe Schmoe and do Judo, Karate, Boxing, etc once or twice a week, because it's fun and keeps you fit and don't put much more focus on it, you probably won't know about it.
I was into taekwondo, from my experience there it was definitely a mcdojo but the teacher was actually a bad ass...let me explain...the school was setup mostly for kids and teens so you could get a black belt in two years with heavy training and testing...having said that....the master was definitely not someone you'd just simply want to street fight, this guy is the fastest kicker I've ever seen in my life no matter what gym I went to, next, this guy ran marathons like I watched Netflix.....he could literally dance around you for as long as he wanted to and simply gas you the hell out before you could even catch him....lastly, and this is the one that really convinced me....this guy took me, a 250 pound athlete & lifted me up on his back and squatted me, my dead weight, 10 times EASILY....having said all this id like to find everyone he was 60 years old....I'd definitely put him up against anyone's 60 year old trainer any day of week no matter the discipline....you see this guy had been trained the old fashioned military taekwondo way so he was no bullshit except for his classes for kids, I naturally took private classes and learned things never seen in normal classes and with a green belt I could easily whoop a 3rd degree black belt...I wish I had stuck with him & kept my bjj classes up
2:50 "Man, It sounds like the book 1984" and them you just point the example that the book uses lol
Scary stuff, huh?
Look up the Jim Carrey karate instructor skit from In Living Color. Hilarious parody of this subject.
I just stumbled upon this video, appreciate the content. Is there a way to get a hold of you, would like to get your thoughts on Online martial Arts courses... But the question is a little more complicated than just that.
Like ur Chanel and master ken awesome what do u think of sikaran arnis ?
Me and a friend dojo stormed ONE time. I got talked into it bc he was a Karate nerd and read lots of comics, played video games etc. He was pretty tough though. So we went to a Wing Chung school unannounced at a community center in a basketball court. We then light "flow sparred" with them and of course made them look bad. Honestly, it was socially awkward and weird and I was uncomfortable with it but we talked to the students in the parking lot to encourage them to train realistic too and spar more. But the Sifu guy was not happy, and he somehow knew this Karate friend of mine from other palces. So weird. Dojo storming is so weird. It is better to just talk to an instructor or individuals after a class and show them stuff. You end up looking like a bully and many people will not wake up because they view you as negative and bad person and still will train in a fraud or weak system.
Props to you for discussing this. In my own experience, I believe ATA (American Taekwondo Association) is a McDojo. I was with them for years and even became an Instructor before I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was AAAALLLLLLLLL about the Benjamins with ATA.
10 week testing cycles, I mean, “Graduation” ceremonies. Whether you actually know and can demonstrate the material or not. As long as you paid your Graduation fee, you’re good to go and you got your next belt.
Special Clubs within the school…. Black Belt Club, Master Club, Junior Leadership Club, Instructor Trainee Club, Demo (XMA) Team, etc. Btw, you have to pay extra to be in each club and may require a Special Gi that you must buy!
Must purchase ATA pads, even though other companies (Macho and Century, for example) make the exact same pads. Yours must have the ATA logo on it.
Create ATA foam weapons (that you must buy) that are required for testing, *ahem, “Graduation”. Also requiring certain seminars (that you must pay for to attend) for said weapons.
Guaranteed Black Belt in 2 years! (That’s IF you join the Black Belt Club).
I just couldn’t take advantage of people like this. I did not agree to this practice so I left the school and left ATA for good.
I trained in GoShinKan, a traditional Okinawa hard style. We had an ATA academy in my hometown. They invited our class and one of our purple belts sparred a black belt. They uninvited us very quickly. Full speed kumite was our norm and we never wore protective gear, or separated the men, women and children. Fast forward, the ATA academy owners son has his black belt and is teaching many classes by 12 years old. I never got "point sparring" anyway.
That’s not normal for ata. I go to an ata school and have seen people fail belt tests pretty often. My school never requires you to pay to be in any of the extra classes or what you call clubs. You never have to pay for any of the weapons you train with nor do you have to buy any extra uniforms. It sounds like your owner was just a piece of shit. All of the others I know who go to ata schools have the same experience as me.
@@MrJacobrezac I trained under Master (now Grand Master I believe) William Clark in Jacksonville in the 90’s. Back then, in our weekly business meetings, he would say “If your school isn’t bringing in $60,000 a month, you are doing something wrong”. That was A LOT of $$$ and that statement stuck with me because it blew my mind.
If you really found a school as you described, that’s pretty awesome and your instructor got it right!
Other then those beefs that I mentioned before, I loved ATA. The forms were great and really showcased techniques. I loved the tournaments and would compete every chance I got. I’m and old man now but I still do the forms every once in a while to keep sharp.
@@youmadbro7733 gotcha I didn’t realize it was the 90s. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how stuff was back then because I remember my instructor saying something about how I’m the early 2000’s when the newest head of ata came in, they really changed a lot of the way things were being run. I only started one year ago and I really like it but I’m sure things are different now than they were, and I’m sure there are probably still some school owners who try to take advantage of people.
I was extremely nervous when I was looking for a dojo to learn Taekwondo because I didn’t want to end up in a fraud dojo. Thank god I found an amazing dojo with an amazing instructor who is hilarious while also being able to drop you in a heartbeat 😂
My my experience from traveling and training with many schools, masters, seminars etc... a lot of it honestly feels like 1 of 2 things. 1) Easy job with easy money and very little cares. But more importantly 2) Telephone game full of ignorance and narcissism. Its slightly bad teaching, either from ignorance or just forgetting steps/details, also going easier from laziness, or just the instructor being tired of it. Over time this bad management trickles down and the next generation does the same. Over the years 10-20yrs the owner/Master just lets it go, recycling instructions over and over again and they just get burned out. It all settles into something bad and sadly many times they make classes for fun or perceived better when really they are not. Then you add in the narcissism that many years long training people get and it can make a terrible place to learn from.
From my knowledge its far more rare for a school to be a "kiai jistu" or "No touch knockout" type of school, or any other crazy school than it is just apathy and honest depression. So many masters/owners while many do love it also just don't want to deal with the small things anymore, letting things slide, don't want to rehire and reteach another instructor, etc... mix with unchecked narcissism.
I like your shirt Sensei XD
Me too.
haha thanks guys!
Sensei Seth np
😂😂😂
@@SenseiSeth If you don't mind my asking, where did you get the shirt?
that wonderboy hook kick on the intro always gets me
Hahaha thanks!
It got Seth too
Hahahahaha
@Sensei Seth I need you help with something, I've been training martial arts for 8 years now but I've change several martial arts in these years (4 year wing chun, 1 year kickboxing and boxing and for the last 3 year i've trained ninjutsu).
I chose to stick with ninjutsu because its the only martial art in my county that trains weapons but there is the problem of not sparring enough (4:40) , i have even talk to my sensei about this but nothing changed, we still do the "throw me a punch and freeze there so i can do my technique", what shall i do?
I wanna change to MMA because of the sparring they do there but my only problem is that i want to train weapons too, can you help me please ?
Oh my gawd i was crying @7:11 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣 my sensei is so.... sick!!! Lmaooooo
Seth how do you keep getting away with producing so much good content?
I pay the law