I Fell Into A McDojo TRAP: Here's What Happened... 

I was once banned from a kickboxing gym because the instructor happened to discover that I cross train in bjj. Normally kickboxing is supposed to be one of the legit disciplines (full contact, sparring etc.) But there you have it. It really depends on the owner of the establishment at the end of the day, if they are a scumbag then it will be a mcdojo regardless of the discipline.

In the mid-nineties I joined a BJJ school run by a member of a famous Jiujitsu family. I was a brown belt in Judo but wanted to learn BJJ. The classes were 25 dollars for a half an hour lesson, and I didn’t have much money so I took a lesson every week or so when I scraped up 25 bucks. Most of my lessons were with the owner’s son. After about six months, the owner approached me and said that if I paid him three thousand dollars, I could train at the school as often as I wanted until I eventually made black belt. I seriously thought about it but declined because I didn’t have the money. The following week I showed up for a lesson and the school was shut down. I found out that the owner had taken a bunch of student’s money then left town.

I was in a college TKD club - not an actual school. Our instructor ran a school in town. But our "federation" was about ten schools in the area. Our instructor advertised himself as a "ten-time national champion" - but I later found out that was just his "federation."

The best thing is parents need to attend the classes, i did martial arts for a very long time and my son started at another club, i went and sat through a couple of classes to make sure the instructor knew what he was doing and he wasn't a scammer, he turned out to be a great guy and was a real 3rd dan. my son left after 3 years as he wanted to do grappling so we switched to judo- i've know the lineage of his judo club and there are Olympic champions and world champions there, i also know some of the guys, i sat through his first class and knew it was the judo club for him. He also does bjj and wrestling at 2 other clubs, both clubs have world class instructors and we're treated like family. There are a lot of great clubs out there, its only a few that ruin it.

My first karate instructor went to prison for child rape and the parents of the kids he was doing it to knew about it. Turned out it was a cult. Glad I only went for a month.

I had an experience like this as a kid too. Luckily my parents were too poor for the testing fees

I honestly think I may be the most fortunate person to ever have a go at martial arts. My first experience was a bs karate place, felt it straight away and in the words of an eight year old I simply told my mum, this is crap and never went back. I then did some Taekwondo, the two guys, Billy and Pat, that ran it did the traditional stuff and also taught, comp stuff and some more practical self defense too. No craziness with the fees just upfront £5 per session (early 90's). After they shut down I went to another place that was very similar, turns out those guys where taught by this guy, Ted, older dude with the same ethos and ethics. They had a falling out years before but never gave me any shit for it because it's nothing to do with me. Anyway fast forward a couple of years I joined the army. Towards the end of my time in the forces I started BJJ. My instructor, Bads, was the nicest bloke ever, purple belt at the time and we did it in work time for free, the best set up ever if you ask me 😂. We also had a black belt on camp and RAF officer that had just won the British Open Gi and no Gi, again free instruction. Down the road from us was and American air force base, that had the same thing in the evenings so I went there too. After leaving I went and joined the best gym ever, we are a family in that place. My best mate Ben introduced me and he had been to a few shit places to find it. We train very, very hard. Most of the guys compete loads and I love training. Will who runs it is super chill, there's no nonsense for turning up late because some people like me, have kids to sort out, it's just life. All he wants is to see us training and getting better. I got my blue belt a few days ago and ran the gauntlet, honestly it's one of the best days of my life, I also saw my mate Ben get his Purple. Loads of promotions, and nobody, not one of us paid any extra for it. Will has never taken extra fee's even back in the day when they had no money to run the place, they just recycled the belt for someone else on the mat and then said, right hand that back to them and when you have a few quid go get one for yourself. No judgement nothing. No he turns up with a bag full of belt hands them out and is very happy for the everyone who gets promoted. Like I said the place is like family. If you want to run a gym that's how you do it. It has it's own soul now, it's own heartbeat. If Will turns up late, we just warm up under one of the higher belts. Then start going over a couple of techniques that we have been working on recently. It's so easy to make it this way but you have to start from a place of being skint and not having much money to run it, and that's hard for some peoples ego. Anyway sorry for the war and peace, I only ever see the bad stuff on RU-vid and just wanted to show that it's not the only way, most gyms are awesome, mcdojos, thank fuck are few and far between. Thanks for the vid just subbed. 😊❤

For comparison: here is the payment process for the karate dojo where I trained. Each session cost £5, or £20 per month. Classes were three times a week, and new students didn't pay at all until they graded for their white belt. Gradings (a test for the next belt) cost £20. Gradings for 1st Dan and onwards cost £40. Each grading was always conducted by the sensei and another black belt, usually me. The sensei paid the other black belt £10 per colour grading, or £20 for per black belt grading. The black belt grading consisted of two sessions. My grading to 2nd Dan took over three hours in total, ranging from traditional sequences (kata, pairs work) to practical self-defence to kumité to teaching demonstrations and more. If the sensei was unavailable, other black belts like me would run the class. We were not paid to do this. Our equipment was cheap. We rented the space from a scout group, which is where the money went. There was no karate decoration on the walls, no hanging bags, and only cheap mats. In winter, the building had poor heating. The floor was incredibly cold to our feet. Before each session, we swept the room with brushes as the kids in the scout club often left a mess. Our one dojo, the only dojo that our sensei ran, produced multiple champions, myself included. We regularly competed against much larger professional dojos and won, both kata and kumité. We sent teams to several world championships. My point is that money and flashy decorations do not guarantee quality instruction. It's often the inverse. More, you can always tell if an instructor is genuinely passionate about what they do. I am extremely fortunate that the club I joined was the real deal. It had a huge impact on my life.

Most Mcdojo places I’ve seen do Karate, Taekwondo, Krav Maga, and now Boxing but all of them have their pros n cons

I run a martial art class, and I really appreciate you posting this! I always recommend to new students searching for a school to either sit and watch some of the classes at the place they're interested in, or participate in a few classes before committing (which should be an option at most legitimate schools). Martial Arts all have different focuses and goals, so it's important to think about your goals for why you want to join a martial art, and then make sure the style you join fits those needs.

All this mcdojo info has been really eye-opening for me. When first going into Martial Arts, I knew nothing about mcdojos or how to tell what was a good one or a bad one. My first experience with Martial Arts was joining a PMA school. (Which I know has a reputation for being pretty bad in mcdojo wise.) Luckily, the teachers were actually pretty legit, and one of them used to train Muay Thai in Thailand, which was like the real deal. Or at least all the instructors were competent enough that my technique wasn't complete trash, and then I switched to Shotokan Karate through JKA, which most of those dojos are pretty legit, some better than others. The one I joined is really good and I'm really lucky that it is run through my university, so I'm able to pay student fees which are actually really cheap. The Senseis don't get paid to teach necessarily, so they're purely doing this for the love of the sport, and it definitely shows when they teach, which makes learning even better.

I never knew about macdojos while practicing karate goju-ryu, did it for 4 years, reached brown belt, had a daily native sempai and a Japanese sensei 4th dan that i only saw 2 or 3 times a year. All was fine and dandy, i even was asked to teach the children class until the day i had to defend myself and got owned in a regular street brawl. When i asked my sempai why my karate failed so bad he repplied i needed to join special class in Japan to learn with the sensei for just 6k Euros. My dancing days were over so was my pride.Nothing hurts more than puting blood sweet and tears in a macdojo for nothing thinking you are bettering yourself.

Fun fact: Taekwondo is a Korean series of words meaning the way of the fist and the foot. By saying Taekwondo is from Asia in general is like saying Paris is the capital of Germany only because Paris is in Europe...🙂

Pretty sure a side kick was the first kick I learned on my first day of TKD

If it's a small place with a main instructor who is a blob or adolescent who talking a lot of sh*t, like stories about all the street fights they've been in or if they have zero respect for boxing, wrestling, judo, mma, kickboxing, etc, and insist that they don't compete because they are too dangerous to compete and referees are there to protect the competitors from THEM. Also, beware of fake accomplishments which are much easier to check up on these days. This is just my personal opinion, but anyone who tries to convince people, especially kids, to call them master or sensei or sifu, etc, in america is creepy. You're just a teacher, instructor, or coach.

Just a thought, but there's a ton you can learn just by having a fighter buddy you can train at the park with and youtube videos. There are amazing martial arts teachers (eg: Stephen Thompson) who come from traditional martial arts, and really focus on the effectiveness of distance control and using basics to win. I feel you were very patient with this McDojo guy.

I'm happy about my dojo and senseis. We've got a 4th Dan and if you google them they've represented England in competition. As with anywhere you go, there's a lot of kids and people that go for different reasons. I have to keep my own goals in my mind and push myself towards them.

I started kung fu at a camp at kindergarten when I was 3 and advanced quite well. Once the camp stopped, I moved to another kung fu academy in which there are no tests they just give you a belt for staying there, but prices were fair. When I moved, I found another kung fu place and I love it prices are nice with 400 dollars for 8 months training plus equipment and no testing fees and after training there for 8 years while implementing previous experience I am around 2-3 years away from my black belt as the training is tough.

There is a difference between a martial art which is flawed in that it has techniques that work but is missing others that also work and are necessary to know, and one which teaches techniques which simply don't work. Taekwondo kicks are effective. But it's just inherently limited in that you're not properly taught how to punch, grapple, or spar in any realistic way. That doesn't mean that if you roundhouse someone in the side of the neck it won't be effective and that therefore you trained at a McDojo.

There are some dojos that are non-profit. Look for those. For example, Shotokan Karate of America is non-profit everywhere in the US. There are also options with many city parks and rec centers but you need to check out the instructor's background. There are many, many instructors with a 1st degree BB who should not be teaching, except maybe for Judo or BJJ where getting a BB is actually kind of hard.

I was once in a Korean style Kung Fu school where we never sparred, never gotten into competitions. Had a yearly contract that renewed which I tried quitting a year in a half prior leaving since I didn’t have money to pay for it. Luckily I mange to quit before my contract renewed, and paid what I owed. He would often raise prices on belt testing, and special events he would create only within our school. And would always be vacationing, buying a new house, buying all sorts of new stuff for his house. I’ve only seen the grandmaster like 20 times out of the 5 years I was there. He owned the school in my town, and the main one downtown where he mostly was (though students from there barely train with the grandmaster except for the black belts). He did have 2-3 sister schools that were opened by instructors he trained around downtown which he rarely visited. Now the style did seem legit. Even the grandmasters former grandmaster who was very active during his time, and was the original owner of the main school downtown never visited the current grandmaster. (I have a feeling he knew how the current grandmaster is like) The former grandmaster actually was in Kang Duk Kwon which was one of the original 9 kwans (they eventually renamed kang duk Kwon to Taekwondo) that opened in Korea after the Japanese occupation in WW2. He came to the United States in the 1960s dropping the name Taekwondo and keeping its Kang Duk Kwon style (Thus our Korean style Kung Fu). So the style has some rich history, and seems pretty legit. It was just the current grandmaster who made it more about himself and the money. I feel bad for the former grandmaster who passed away about 10 years ago. He didn’t come all the way from Korea just to have his style become someone’s personal bank account.

im so glad i found a good dojo😭 im paying for tkd and kickboxing and both of them together are about 120somthing a month. and my teacher is a good guy, he teaches correctly and treats us right and doesnt do unnecessary fees for test like that. its so weird hearing all of your stories

Thanks for sharing. I also felt into a McDojo here in Brazil when I was younger.

I was very lucky to find my boxing gym. Traditional boxing gym. You pay your dues and you get a key. We had some good journeymen come through.

McDojo is a term invented by old school students that noticed schools don't teach the old ways and not as much "watered down from what they learned". We live in a society of less discipline (to put it nicely). Schools who teach the old way have few students or is like an exclusive club. Almost all schools are family schools, but any that try to make you feel like you are learning secret deadly arts without being old school is lying! If there are kids classes then it should be a family school or a 24 hr fitness + watered down martial arts.

This sounds crazy, I trained Many years Karate 80s/90s, monthly fee that was it … white to black was appropriately 6 years, no test fee ever… sparring was free flowing and hard …..

I first started TKD last year (34 years old) . The 4 stripes were for each section of the belt test. there's a kata/form stripe, a self defense stripe, a breaking board technique stripe, a new kicking/punching technique stripe. I needed to be competent in each stripe area before I got a stripe. This meant that the instructor had to teach me the sequences and had me drill the moves/kata for a few weeks.

Aside from my main martial art, I liked to take those weekend workshops in other martial arts, just to learn more. So when a well-known teacher advertised n all-day Saturday workshop in an art I was curious about, I jumped on it. During the workshop, he came over and told me that he was surprised at how well I did some techniques, but he didn't say it like it was a compliment. I told him I practiced a different art, but I also tried to learn whatever was available. It seemed like the wrong thing to say, but most of the martial arts teachers I'd met before had all been very open minded. During a break in the middle of the class, He launched into a long speech about how sad he was that some of the people in class had wasted their time with teacher who were NO GOOD. that most martial arts teacher were NO GOOD, and that students wasted their time with teacher who were NO GOOD had to come to him. The entire time he glared at me. The second half of the workshop was NO GOOD.

Had a similar experience with "traditional Japanese martial arts"

you were lucky, your mcdojo weeded you out. Some mcdojos will keep you on as long as you keep paying and just not advance you or teach you bull-shido, or just hold you in beginner classes indefinitely. The idea that you got in trouble for protecting your head and you weren't allowed to use any defense because you hadn't been taught is crazy.

Got taken years ago by Kenpo, in the form of T&D karate (formerly tracys). Years later punished myself with almost 4 yrs of an abusive and arrogant, bullying goju ryu teacher. After these I had some decent experiences elsewhere and even learned alot. Now I am happy retired.

I grew up in a small town, about 10k people. After Karate Kid, Sidekicks and all the other karate movies, plus the first UFC went down, Karate and Jujitsu Schools popped up all over. I was a minority there, I had been in plenty of real fights already so after a couple of classes at the Jujitsu school I knew that guy was a fake. We did have one middleaged guy that had kids I was in school with who ran a karate school that stuck around for quite some time whereas the different Kenpo, Taekwando, karate, etc schools would come and go. It was pretty plain, orthodox karate, but it got me flexible, agile, and taught me the basics. It was definitely one of those dojos that raises red flags because it had a really long name (Kamarision Ryu Zanretzuken Karate) but he didn't ask us to be secretive or anything. Thanks to my friends and myself taking initiative and practicing beyond the basics we were learning there, we were his first and only class to qualify for tournaments. He had never qualified before and not long after that they shut down the association because the popularity was starting to fizzle out in the late 90s.

Yeah , I quit my dojo because it went from high competitive martial arts karate school just basic katas and kihon stuff. No sparring , not even hitting pads. No athletic 2024 techniques, just Miyagi Do , 60s Karate and 80s video game karate champ stuff. A guy walk in one day and took over manipulating his way into my sensei brain. Now he took over the class with 1 year of experience vs me 15 years of experience and turn that into the biggest Mcdojo you can imagine. So RU-vid is my dojo now.

Man I must’ve been lucky growing up. I did Karate for a few years getting my brown belt and it was £5 (around $7.50) sparring was pretty flexible they let you do anything you knew within reason… you were even allowed to move backwards

I went to a McDojo when I was 18. This was in 2000 and I was huge into the early MMA at the time (when PrideFC was the dominant promotion). There were only 3 bjj schools in Chicago and all of them were $120/month, which was a lot for a senior in HS to pay lol. I found a school that was touted as a "Martial Arts University". This was also 2 years before Bullshido was founded (that's how I learned about the term "McDojo". This school charged me $69/mo for 1 submission wrestling class a week, and free use of the facilities, so it was right within what I could afford. They "offered" literally every martial art as well as their own "Blend" (named after the owner of the school). They told me about the owners and his a wall of certificates. He was a "black belt" in almost everything, and "black ring" in muay thai (lol), savate, boxing, etc etc. Also the guy giving me the tour told me he was a certified ninja. He was a really fat old bald white guy with a long beard. Dude looked like he had trouble walking. But I didn't know better and joined. FWIW, I only really did the muay thai classes and the submission wrestling (later I learned it was actually Catch wrestling) since those teachers were very solid. I took some of their blend classes and they were really watered down basic techniques from other arts. They also had a crazy amount of belts, and you had to pay for tests for each one.

A big warning sign for places like that are clubs within these places for high achievers like high kickers or champion sparring. I've even seen some places have black belt clubs that have a flat one time price, or pay a monthly fee. Which makes NO sense at all! I worked my way up to 4th degree black belt and compete as well. Any place that pushes you to do something you don't want to do or restricts you from doing something that you want to do, are places people need to stay away from. There's no way I would've stayed as long as you did.

I own a TKD school, and this is preposterous. Testing is mandatory? That sounds like a ponzie scheme. Luckily, my instructors and affiliate schools are run by level-headed professionals. Sorry you dealt with this. There's a Mcdojo down the street from me that is what nightmares are made of.

Sadly this happens. My dojang (SK Tae Kwon Do) actually turned into a a MC Dojang and the worst part was I paid for till I reach black belt. Years after the military I went back permanently. The new head master took my receipt and kept it. Then I put up with about a few months of this guy sabotaging EVERYTHING I did. He was forbidding other instructors and masters to talk to me. He was lying to me about opening times. If I didn't drive by, I wouldn't have known. He was lying to me about about available materials. Oh and he said I couldn't wear my brown belt and I had to wear a white belt. Which was hilarious at times because that's how I got talking to instructors. A white belt doing crazy kick combos and dual nunchaku is probably not a white belt. Then I looked at the caliber of Black Belts there and it was honestly sad. I was helping them out even though they disliked me. The people I trained before were beasts, this was sad. I saw a 7yr old who wasn't that good get a black belt. And found out the black belt curriculum got SEVERELY watered down. Eventually I just stopped going because the headmasters BS and it wasn't the same school as before. Although I should've talked to the grandmaster tbh. But I got my black belt somewhere else later on. That school stays getting bad reviews now.

If any dojo offers acceleration to black belt for giving them more money -RUN AWAY

Did I misunderstand you? You couldn't move or block kicks to your head? What, you were just supposed to stand there and take it?

Yup be careful mcdojo I’ve heard $5,000 for black belt takwondo school

Ugh, I had testing fees for Kenpo.

I try to differentiate techniques that I teach my students along the lines of "these techniques are good for olympic-style sparring" or "these work well in MMA" or "these are really only for self-defence (you know... the eye gouging or groin striking ones). I also try to make some things really clear that I can teach the basic/fundamental of some techniques, but if they would like to learn more about something then I would happily make some recommendations to the schools I think would help support them. It would actually be irresponsible for me to pretend otherwise. E.g. My TKD grandmaster was also a judo grandmaster, so our school incorporated a lot of judo - however I don't feel competent enough to break those techniques down for another person. Most of the best coaches usually haven more modern/current qualifications in sports science or teaching. Lineage is important, but it's not the be-all and end-all reason to choose a school. I also actively encourage parents to stay and watch and they can ask questions at any time.

At my club I charge £35 for tests which are every 6 months. This covers costs of hall hire, belt, certificate and to cover cost of examiners to come to the club to do the tests. What you’re describing is absolutely astounding. Why do people pay that?

Was this in Michigan???

If you find a contest form in a Chinese restaurant for a free weeks worth of training, you’re in a McDojo.

My family and I run a Taekwondo Dojang, and our standards are extremely high. We are not too fond of the sport side of Taekwondo and focus much more on the traditional side (We don't have enough students for seperate classes yet, we started a year ago). We have seen how McDojos work and we hate them. It is a strong belief of ours that one must fully understand belt's techniques before advancing. Some students take years to get no belt, and some progress quickly.

I left my previous kung fu school (though it may not be a McDojo). I think their training was inefficient. For a typical example, the instructor would stop the whole class when the kids had performed a move correctly and ask all other students to stop and watch their performance before resuming the lesson. Each lesson is only an hour, including a 15-minute warm-up, and there is only one lesson per week. Time is money, friend.

Tkd is one of the greatest martial arts if you have a good instructor i got lucky i wont do it today because i dont trust most tkd schools

I did KEMPO for 2 months and went to a tournament with my white belt and fought against green and brown belts. I ended up in 4th place. I feel i lost because i was a white belt and they couldn’t let me win only by cheating. I have no respect for kempo karate anymore. Now I do boxing and I am getting ready for my first fight. I am not playing points by referee I want the K.O!!!!!!

Asian an linage? pretty much lies to me because taekwondo born in korea and their highly influenced by taekkyeon from joseon empire for specific. I did taekwondo as long as i know and win several medal (world taekwondo federation) style and they didnt told me to stop because the move is for advance only. Side kick or dolyo chagi that you call is my first move in class back in day . Sparring is very common even in my first day. I did the kick that was only teached in their green belt while i was white belt and they didnt mad. They amazed because i learn more quickly than average student. After i learn taekwondo i learn kyokushin the kick was so well executed than i expected even the instrutor pleased by it. that was how you know you were in right place to practice. no stripes tutition , pricey things just consistency and hardship.

The instructor was a leech and should've been investigated. :(

"This version of TKD is not from Korea, it's from Asia"... 🤦‍♂🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

A classic red flag - a school wants a person to sign up for lessons without seeing a class in progress. Let the buyer beware!!!😠😠😠

It’s from ASIA! Yeah Korean territory is in Asia McDonald Dojo “Sensei”😂

If a white belt tries to heel hook me in bjj.. IN THE GI! Sheeeeeeit. In some martial arts it’s good to have forbidden moves

Did you get into a good tkd school after this?

Your instructor was charging what the market will bear. Use to be, every school assumed that if you didnn't train there, you never trained before. It was fun to act dumb, and do the techniques better than the upper belted student assigned to train me. And most karate kung fu places had this asian fetish. Everything was so great in japan korea china because..... And all asians are so disciplined....honorable....hard working....polite.....reverent..... This nonsense even happens at American companies, when discussing "quality". Well if we are going to be so Japanese, then let's have an American manager apologize for not meeting production goals like Japanese managers have to do....fat chance !

*Laughs in Kuk Sool Won

In my first karate class, I was taught how to stand, then how to breath, then how to take a single step forward, then how to take a single step backwards. Then I had to practice it over and over and over ..... Kicking??? LOL!! ... no

Don't waist your time in such a toxic environment🥋🙄 You doing much better when you improve your skills simply by watching RU-vid videos 🥋😳

Sounds like every Wing Chun Dojo on this planet

I've seen a Krav Maga school that had an entire class full of black belts with 50 inch waistlines. I didn't stay there long.

40 to 80 bucks extra a month for testing---let me guess, at least 3 stripes per kyu rank? Yeah.

U mean a mcdojang!

This sounds like a very old semi-scam variation of the license business. The host will ask you to pay money if you want to advance to the next level, and those who have paid will brag about their level to everyone around them. If this is done excessively, the organization will decline due to the high level of incompetence, so it is not normally recommended.

I go to a Boxing Gym that’s free :)

Should’ve ran at “not from Korea, it’s from Asia”.

Oh hey it's like scadutree fragments in real life.

I was about to type "When did McDojo become synonymous with a bad dojo?". But then the whole testing fee to keep learning came up, this is a totally McDojo thing, everything else is bad dojo except it supports the fee argument

The instructor told lower belts to not block or use "common sense' movement and refused to teach kicks and yet wanted people who were not allowed to use fighting moves to fight against people who were allowed to move and kick?

You're a GungFu student 🤫probably wipe out the class by yourself 😳Sensei included 😬

Terrible teaching and poor business practices are not conducive to fostering growth and self-expression. Such an environment may hinder individuals’ development, limit their potential, and potentially contribute to traumatic insecurities. This practice is not exclusive to TKD or martial arts. It's like a teacher telling a first grader off for doing long division when they're not supposed to learn it until third grade.

Yeah that's some weird stuff. Not sure if that's what a McDonald Jodo. But that's bad news. Stay away from that sort of thing

This dont sound like a McDojo trap, sounds more like a cult.

I was offered to learn Rat fight system for 20000 dollars but I declined. The instructor was a legit instructor of the Inasanto Academy of Los Angeles.

Actually,white belts arent supposed to learn side kicks,white yellow(9th gulp)basically half white and half yellow belts is where side kicks r supposed to be learned according to the tkd manual,but this is for ITF tkd so idk abt WTF,the things u said abt sparring just crosses the line COMPLETELY

Sounds like a bad instructor

A sport is not a real fight. So a sign of McDojo is not an instructor saying “this martial art is not a competition.” Any martial art instructor who talks like that is teaching you how to defend yourself from an attacker in the middle of the streets. Because you know what they say, there are no rules in a real fight, and in a real life self defence scenario there are no rules, no one has time to put on punching gloves, there is no ring or referee to call out a penalty when your opponent throws out an illegal move on your butt, your opponent could kill you IF they wanted to, therefore the stakes are high enough to consider that as a real fight. So whenever a martial arts instructor says “our martial isn’t for competition,” that means your instructor is going to teach you how to fight FOR REAL. Now am I saying the content creator should return to that Dojo? Idk, tbh, I don’t believe in martial art purity, so I personally wouldn’t attend that class. It might be a McDojo, but not because they prefer to not be associated with sports. Martial Art purity is a good way to train your students how to never adapt to a situation that is newer to them.

Ok I’ll bash it for you: TKD is a joke and a game where you earn points like pinball. People get Olympic gold medals by jumping on one foot and tapping your opponent’s chest plate or helmet with your foot.

WARNING !!! by making this video, you have violated the royal oath & pledge of this dojo & desecrated its lineage & forefathers . That will cost you a surcharge of $4.59 added onto your monthly fee if you ever choose to sign up again.

SOOOOOOOOO many years after UFC 1 put an end to all this nonsense. Humans don't learn.

thank you for not blaming tae kwon do. I have been a tae kwon do student previously where it was sparring intensive, and sparring conditional upon getting you next belt. Earliest Black Belt was 5 years.

Great video. Hope these shady business get exposed more, so that the industry benefits overall.

Yeah, that's not a McDojo - that's Bullshido. McDojo is basically a place to get belts like you were ordering burger, and fries - pay your fee, you get walked through class, get all your belts, and feel good - no focus on actually learning. Bullshido - that's when the "instructor" makes shit up, then finds excuses to not use it in competition, or at all, because what they "teach" is bullshit (hence the name).

My foundation in Martial Arts was Tae Kwon Do. Back in the early 90’s when you still had some legit schools. Me and my Brother liked it at first, we noticed there difference when we reached Black Belt level and the our former Teacher started to down grade on teaching and started saying if you want to learn more advanced techniques then you have to start paying for private lessons. He also got mad when he found out we started going to an MMA Gym and we were doing Kickboxing and Grappling. The TKD school became a Mc Dojo, plus couldn’t stand the Korean racial politics that went on in that Art. So we stuck with the MMA Gym. Best decision we made.

Takemydo

Secret techniques? Weird limitations? Hidden fees? I’m glad that you got away from that stupidity!

Mcdojo's from the original description doesn't refer to fake martial arts, or non certified or acredited instructor. It also doesn't refer to gatekeeping where they make you pay large testing fees. Mcdojo just refers to the typical Y or local school style class where just that after your 3 months you automatically earn your next belt with a bs test, and advanced to the next level. If you're there for 3ish years you'll be a black belt, or close to. What the video is describing is more of a Frank Dukes style pyramid scheme lol.

This is an amazing(and amazing told story). Thank you for sharing. It’s crazy out here.

Testing fee at my jujitsu gym is being shark tanked...

In my old taekwondo dojang, there were 12 year olds with black belts because they had already been training for 5+ years by that time. The difference was that their black belts were different than the black belt for adults. The adult black belts had a different name to the kid’s ones. Although I can’t remember the names exactly Edit: I have since searched it up online and the official term for a junior black belt is a “poom” rather than a “dan”. You can only receive your 1st dan belt once you’re 15

I am sad to hear of your experience. I did TKWD when I was 16 and 17 years old and found it to be a very enjoyable experience. I remember one of the bigger adults coming into the dojo and talking with the instructor on the place he trained prior to the class. I learned a lot from these people and hearing of how McDojos treat people makes me angry.

My first clue: If you go in and ask the instructor how long to get to black belt and he says 1-2 years…😂

I started training TKD a while ago and where I trained wasn’t necessarily a McDojo because they taught meaningful things and I learned a lot from them, but it was very overpriced at $150 a month and you were only allowed to go twice a week. After training there for about six months I started thinking TKD just wasn’t for me, and when I got a foot injury that was pushed me to stop going there for good. Now I learn BJJ from an actual MMA fighter for $100 a month and I can go every day of the week if I feel like it, with no testing fees or anything like that

This happened to me when I was training in Thailand for Muay Thai and Muay Boran. After 3 years of being there from Bangkok, Pattaya, Chaangmai, etc. I wanted to transition and explore new things. I went to train in Cambodia and Laos for Kun Khmer and Muay Lao. When I came back to Thailand I was literally shunned and kicked out of most of the gyms I went to and a lot of my krus cut it off with me just for going and learning other things. They also told me I was "giving out secrets" to other gyms. I laughed but Thai people go crazy when someone from their gym even a farang goes to learn a similar style in a neighboring country as they think Cambodia and Laos stole Muay Thai from them. It's been a huge feud and let's just say I wouldn't go that route again.

No side kick for beginners? That's one of the most basic kicks in Kung-Fu, Sport karate, and Taekwondo. White belts are expected to do side kicks. Side kicks aren't really that dangerous.

Long term contracts with no month to month option. Biiiig red flag if you see it.

😀interesting channel I subbed

As a TKD instructor myself, I have seen and visited many McDojo’s. The, not watching BB class is dead give away. Also, the forbidden technique. As someone who has studied Combat Hapkido and used it in my Security and LE days, I learned that many of those cool bone breaking or dislocating techniques are actually useless. You cannot break someone’s arm, just to get them out of the bar. Dislocating a suspects arm, while placing them in handcuffs will get you sued and fired. Too many Martial Arts school like to teach complicated and pretty techniques. I teach people what I know works. I prefer the KISS method, Keep It Simple Stupid.