When is a McDojo not a McDojo?

 

This is the third in a series of blogs, starting with Kata, what is it good for?", and followed by "How do your Students grow?".   These are in response to a critique of what I have done to now, and an assertion that I was trained in a McDojo.  There seems to be a genuine difference of opinion at the base of this, which I think is worthy of some discussion.  

So lets start off with what might constitute a traditional dojo or "martial arts school", dating back to say the 1960s in origin.  

1. Introduction might be to do 40 knuckle press ups.
2. Basics only taught a lower levels.  Not learnt slowly but at the proper speed and force.   This includes kicks, blocks, strikes and above all stances.  Speed makes no difference with regard to understanding what a punch or block is.
3. When Grading take place, it is the student's choice to take them, and if not good enough they should be allowed to fail.
4. No concessions in general should be made for acknowledged medical conditions.
5. Forms or Kata not taught until a higher grade is reached.  Once the basics have been learnt to a degree, then simply linking them all together as a form or kata will not require doing things slow.
6. Kata of forms can be learnt a stage at a time but never in a slow way.  
7. No separate classes for minors in training.

Then let's take what might be commonly agreed on as signs of a McDojo.  

1. Very large classes with not enough instructors to give attention to detail for individual students.
2. Head instructors who never instruct.
3. Self defence (as  opposed to self awareness / protection) instruction that is totally non-contact.
4. Cases where all students grade at exactly the same time and nobody fails
5. Schools with 6 year old Black Belts
6. Schools promising to unlock "the hidden secrets"
7. Schools promising the ability to defeat anyone by unlocking the "power of chi energy".
8. Ultimately, schools where money is God

Any thoughts so far?  I certainly would never assert that a "traditional" school is a MacDojo, although maybe some of the teaching methods could possibly improve with the inclusion of ore modern techniques.  Then, we have the massive space of the middle ground, that could incorporate: 

1. Sports martial arts
2. "Modern" martial arts, with a more inclusive approach and perhaps less stringent teaching methods to accommodate
3. Non combative martial arts, such as Tai Chi, which concentrate more of the mental and physical health aspects
4. Genuine self awareness, protection and defence classes

Now, as far as I am, concerned, the dojo where I received my training sits firmly in the "Modern" category.   The features of that dojo include:

1. Warm up exercises are done for approximately 20 minutes prior to the lesson starting formally.  This may include traditional elements such as press ups, trunk curls, planking, squatageris, star jumps, sprints, shrimping, along with other exercises.  Varies from week to week.
2. Gradings take place regularly, but Students aren't allowed to take a Grading until the Sensei think they are ready.  
3. Kata are taught at an early stage, along with the basics.
4. Students learn the kata in chunks, at first slowly then faster as they improve their techniques and confidence.
5. Pad work solo and paired drills, light sparring are practiced.  Ground work is emphasised as well as upright techniques.  These are all set against breaking out and implementing techniques from kata.
6. Lessons often end with cool down kata.
7. Kobudo drills are taught for Bo and Nunchaku as an element of some classes, both Cadet and Adult.
8. Modifications to drills and kata maybe made for students with acknowledged medical conditions.

So, then set this against the opinion of one "traditionalist":

1. To explain what a McDojo is would take ages.  A very big subject that covers many things.  For example everyone at a McDojo club will pass their first few student grades because the instructor does not want to lose a paying customer.  A traditional old school will not do that. 
2. Some karate clubs do it <kata> slow without it being physically demanding so students don't leave.  Same with the basics.  No effort, all nice and slow.  And they say it is so students can learn things better that way.  Hence the term go slow first.
3. A McDojo class is all about keeping students and money coming in.  Hence everything is soft and slow.
4. McDojos have separate classes for younger students.

The bottom line is this is that the dojo in which I trained was judged as a McDojo against these criteria and in part at least based on what I do.  Much of the material I learnt during Covid and beyond is off my own bat, and what I use it for works for me.   In this case I would conclude that there are valid instances of what some would consider to be a McDojo to actually be the real thing.  My conclusion is that the term "McDojo" is distinctly subjective as opposed to objective on the basis of this.

This is meant to be a conversation starter, so all responses welcome.

REY 20/01/2023

How do your Students grow?

 

In my previous blog Kata, what is it Good for, I contrasted how kata are taught and used between "Traditional" and what I would call "Modern" dojos, such as the one in which I learnt.  Now I want to contrast how students develop in the different environments.

Traditional

In traditional dojos, students start off with the basics, improving their understanding of these and honing their techniques as they progress. Kata or forms are not introduced until the higher grades, when basics have been mastered.  Techniques are practiced at full speed, not slowly.

There are no separate Children's or Cadet classes, however from the age of around 8 upwards, children can take part.   They do exactly the same syllabus as the adults, and grade in exactly the same way.   Concessions are not made for the age of the student in what they have to learn.

Regular grading examinations are held, with students choosing when to participate, not instructors. Students are allowed to succeed or fail on their own merits.

Concessions are not generally made for a student's medical or physical limitations, but might be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Modern

In modern dojos, as with traditional, students start off with the basics.  However, Kata are introduced at an early stage, along with their interpretation.    Paired and solo drills, along with pad work and light sparring are also included in lessons.

There are separate Children's and Adult classes.  A typical split might be Shisa (4-6 years). Junior (7-12 years) and Senior (13 years upwards).   Where I was taught, the Shisa had grades of a kind, but these did not carry over into Junior.  The proper grades started from Junior classes onward.

As with Traditional dojos, regular grading examinations are held, but these are by invitation only, when the instructors believe you are ready to grade.

 Concessions are made for medical or physical limitations, including adaptations of drills or kata where necessary.   Some dojos run classes specifically for people with disabilities and limitations,

Since Covid-19 especially, some dojos now offer online training to students as well.  

Comparison

It can be argued that the traditional methods are more rigorous, and certainly would only allow technically proficient students to progress.  They probably produce good physical conditioning for those that stay the course, and their training methods and results will be more satisfactory to the purists of the martial arts world.  However, such dojos may not offer much in the way of financial reward to the dojo owners, and the wastage rate among students is possibly quite high, due to the demanding standards expected.

The more modern dojos tend to be more inclusive and attuned to the differing ages and level of ability of the students, if well run.  However, the risk of more dubious practices is higher than with the traditional dojos, as has been evidenced in the past with exceptionally young "black belts" being produced and more than a few, myself included, have scepticism about training that is non-contact that professes to be a form of karate for example (I personally exclude the likes of tai-chi from this categorisation where is non-contact expressly taught for physical well-being, relaxation and meditation).

That said, anyone who has seen or invested time in working with handicapped students for example, cannot doubt the efficacy of the confidence building and improvement in physical well-being that it can offer.  Here I would cite the works of John Johnston’s Adaptive Karate and Les Bubka.  But this is specifically tailored and makes no outrageous promises about what is being delivered.

In the middle of this sit most modern dojos, who offer some tailoring to meet the needs of their students and are not aggressive in their gradings.  Some traditionalists may look down on these dojos, citing their lack of rigour, and money orientation.  However, for the likes of myself, who would never have taken an interest in martial arts otherwise, they open a preciously closed door to a level of personal development we would otherwise have never experienced.

Thank you if you have taken the time to read this.

REY 29/01/2023

Shu Ha Ri

 Events towards the end of last year disheartened me somewhat, and as a result I felt little inclination to post blogs or record videos.  However, I never gave up doing the core that I use for my own purposes (relaxation, clearing the mind and breathing).  As a part of my New Year's resolution, I decided to get back to doing what I enjoy and start increasing the amount of training I do to start getting back to a healthy level of fitness.

In the first instance, I intend to do this by increasing the amount I do based around my core kata.  For those of you that are perhaps reading for the first time, these consist of Naihanchi, Sanchin and Tensho, based on the work I did for CBT to improve my mental health.

Naihanchi - (mostly Shodan, but as I increase the amount of work I do, intend to extend to Nidan and perhaps Sandan, though this isn't one of the kata I formally learned at my original dojo).  This I use for body awareness, how my body moves and the positioning of body elements during the execution of the kata.

Sanchin for body tensioning.

Tensho for deep breathing in a relaxed manner.

What persuaded me to do this was a friend who said that although still I was a novice, my use of kata for these specific purposes was something I had made my own.  As he termed it,  Shu Ha Ri, which I take as a pretty big compliment.  I still have so much to learn, and know that to advance my knowledge in a practical way, I need to return to the dojo.  Family circumstances still preclude this just now, but it is what I aim for.

In the mean-time, that somebody I respect tells me what I have done is of merit is enough for me.

REY 22/01/2023

January Covid blues

 

January Covid blues

January 2021, speaking politely was a mixed bag, especially emotionally.  Being really honest, it was pretty awful, with a struggle to find any motivation in the midst of it.  At least I had the luck of having two anchor points, my work, which was very demanding, and karate.

Given the inclement weather for training outside, work rather that karate was my "turn to" at many points, especially that month.  This was probably what resulted in all the neck issues I had around that time.  Karate usually provided a healthy counterpoint to work, but when the  balance switched, I think my body decided to tell me was being neglected. 

By this point I had effectively in lock-down for the best part of 10 months , with minimal physical interaction with anyone outside the immediate family in that time (i.e. the people in the house).   It took a toll on my mental health from the start, and I sought and found some help for that.   One of the big pluses was the advice that I should lock on to karate and keep on going.  That is what I tried to do.  

I think one of the hardest things to admit for many people is the need for a degree of separation.  In pre-Covid times, this was easy to achieve as most people who worked were separated from those at home for the duration of work and travel at least.   Working from home and being at extreme risk denied me and my family that separation.

I was not one of the gainsayers about Covid-19, it was a confirmed super-killer to anyone with my conditions, so there was no choice from my perspective other than to work from home to survive.  Some of my friends who contracted Covid gave me hope if their recoveries, but as the sole earner in my family I couldn't take many risks.  However, January 2021was probably the worst month during Covid, with respect to being able to keep home issues separate from work.

The two started to overlap and that was hard to cope with for me.   The coping mechanisms  for me cope had been a fair bit of kata and a few too many bottles of wine. The former has to be the preferred route, but becoming somewhat stale and so the second had started to come more into play; not good.   Enter PJ Broomy, with a demonstration of one of his dojo's kata.

I have suffered from stress related mental health issues, bordering on depression and have struggled at times with my temper, as well as my heart and lung conditions.  My best answer to all of those has always been to learn something new.  I think I frustrated my Sensei at times in this, as I should really have been drilling my fundamental kata.  I totally agreed with them that as only a blue belt in our discipline, I needed to practice, practice, practice. 

However, the physical needs also needed to be tempered with the mental.  Learning a new kata for me was a mental as well as physical challenge, which while I felt I was under mental siege was an important release.   I was not trying to learn different bunkai, because all I needed to know is in Naihanchi.  It's a codex for many of the brutal strikes you can make, and for a last resort, if all other things have failed, that's perfect.

PJs school of Karate, Bu-Kai is based primarily on the Goju Ryu style.  I had previously gone through the basics of Seisan with him, and this time around he was showing me the basics of Sanseru.  Both are derivative of Sanchin, the base kata of Goju-Ryu.  My interest started in this school when I was shown how to use Tensho as a kata to help with breathing.

 First of all PJ contributed to an online lesson with my own dojo during Covid, and opened the door to more kata from the same school as Tensho.  It was a door which I happily went through and have been learning from PJ ever since.  My own research has shown me that the divides between schools such as Shorin Ryu and Goju Ryo are historically artificial.

The bottom line in my mind was, I had to practice the fundamentals; my core kata and drills, but I also needed mental challenges.   This gave a focus away from home and work and in so doing, helped me create my own mental "separation", in place of the physical one that is impossible to achieve in lock-down.

The material from another school of karate provided me with just the mental stimulus I needed to  keep me challenged.

Hope this all makes sense and thank you for reading.

04-01-2021 (re-written 01/09/2023)