Is It Better To Train In A Mcdojo Then Not To Train Anything At All

What is your experience in going in a McDojo, then shifting to a real serious martial arts school? What was the McDojo experience like?

The following is a very broad generalization: McDojos can be recognized by focusing on the sport aspect of the martial arts (emphasizing tournaments and other competitions) rather than practical application. This is not to say that any schol which emphasizes tournaments is a McDojo, however if they ignore practical application they might be. McDojos also attract students through aggressive and flashy marketing, applying ads which use very attractive child and adult models and use catchphrases such as "Builds Self-Confidence!" or "Get Better School Grades!" This all said, again a school using slick marketing is not necessarily a McDojo, but it does show that the owner/manager has a head for marketing and in my experience a knack for marketing is antithetical to good solid martial arts training. The biggest sin of a McDojo is this, however: they promote without enforcing standards--essentially as long as you pay the monthly fee, you get promoted. Although I did not come up through a McDojo, I have seen how the transition from one to a true "budo" school affects people.Shock that standards of curriculum, behavior, and knowledge are enforced. "Budo" schools do not shy away from failing someone during a belt test, although we do try to make every effort to set up our students for success. Still, we have standards that must be adhered to. If we allows those standards to slack then we have committed a breach of discpline which is one of our main "marketing" points, separating us from McDojos.Because of the lack of practical application in many McDojos, many transitioning students areunprepared for how much "hands-on" contact there is in a "budo" school. Indeed, this may be the reason they are transitioning, however it cam be intimidating for many a new student.Due to the sport aspect stressed at McDojos, there is little--if any--emphasis placed on precision. I teach "sniper" karate in my school. It's not about hitting as hard and as often as possible with me: rather I teach striking correctly and expending the least amount of energy possible to achieve your goal.I will not name any schools I consider McDojos as that is very unprofessional. Still, there are signs (a few of which I talked about above). One of the largest signs I can think of is when a school has "karate" or another specific art in its name but it doesn't actually teach that art (e.g., a school with "karate" in its name that actually teaches taekwondo).

What is a McDojo?

A McDojo is a place where, typically, money buys rank and skill is irrelevant.Where the instructor(s) are more interested in how long you sign up for rather than who you are and what you’re there to achieve.Where actual skill is rare and the focus is on attending seminars, camps and other money-bleeding options, learning ‘new’ kata or other exercises rather than perfecting skill.Where the students show no ability at all, or very little, and they aren’t aware of their predicament.It’s not limited to one art either - every art is represented by McDojo’s - even the blessed MMA and BJJ - there’s a McDojo for everyone and they’re not hard to find either.As the popularity of an art increases, the prevalence of McDojo’s also increases. It happened to TKD, Karate, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Boxing and it is happening to BJJ and MMA now too.God knows Ryukyu Kempo had it’s moment of infamy a’la George Dillman and friends.But - there will always be those of us out there who are trying to do the right thing. Chances are we’re making little or no money out of our schools but we’re teaching people real skill and helping them improve their lives one step at a time.

Is tiger schulmann's a mcdojo?

Tiger Schulman’s (TSMMA) can easily be misconstrued as a Mcdojo, but I assure you, it is not. I feel as though I am qualified to speak on this fact as I trained at Tiger Schulmann for over 10 years and knew many of the corporate senior staff before I even started training there. They have produced multiple UFC and Bellator fighters there. Nick Pace, Lyman Good, Jimmy Rivera, Lou Gaudinot, Uriah Hall, Carlos Brooks, Shane Burgos, Julio Arce just to name of a few. They also all compete at high levels in grappling, kickboxing, boxing and other forms of martial arts. I have been personally fortunate enough to train with nearly all of the people on the list above and they are all incredibly nice, knowledgeable, and excellent teachers and coaches in addition to fighters (this is certainly not always the case).As one of the other answers points out, they were absolutely a bit of a belt factory early on. And at some level, they still are. Not every black belt there absolutely deserves it. But it’s somewhat more noticeable at a TSMMA given their rather large population of children and parents that wouldn’t normally train if their kids weren’t there. This, to me, is a huge feather in their cap. I’m a proponent of bringing martial arts to the masses. But sometimes, when you build morale, you have to make some concessions to keep people on board. These concessions are minor and rare, but I think they are a necessity to run a good business and be able to do what TSMMA has done by having as many schools as they have open. I’m not sure how many they have now, but I know they had up to 50 at one point.If you want to learn martial arts, TSMMA is a great place. It offers a friendly environment and fantastic instruction. I’m no longer a student there (for geography reasons). But their reputation belies the true nature of the school. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

How long does it take to get a black belt in karate if I train twice a week?

In our karate kyokushinkai style dojo, the answer is “never”Training twice a week will get you past the first few belts easy enough, but is not even nearly enough to get a brown belt, and to get a black, you will need to dedicate 5–6 days with a totak of 7–8 sessions a week for a minimum of six months (six months will propably not be enough to get you skilled enough to go from brown to black).Id say..expect 2 years of 2 sessions a week, followed by 2 years of 4 sessions a week, followed by 2 years of 6 sessions a week..followed by a very intensive year, where you go for a black.This totals 7 years, altough there is a theoretical likelihood of 6 years, to black.But tons of people spens 10+ years, the best karatekas spend a long time before they go for the black…the best karatekas see the honor of the black and will not go for it untill they feel they deserve it.I have seen tons of karatekas with black belts they do not deserve..do not become one of them, who needs a black belt if he does not have the skills to repressent it?