If karate has to do with your own personal growth and development, what is the student supposedly developing? . Many instructors cite discipline. By this do we mean conformity and obedience? . This may have been regarded as a valid objective in Japan a century or two ago, but conformity and obedience aren’t generally valued…
Tag: McDojo
Do you want fries with that?
The martial arts are largely unregulated here in the US. There are seldom background checks carried out on teachers like there are in other countries. Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check or Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (UK), you don’t need anything special to open a dojo or school. . You don’t even need to…
My karate is SUPERIOR to yours.
My karate is stronger, tougher, more athletic…. it’s superior to yours! . Really? It’s superior in all things?….. . You have to define what you mean by “superior”. I’m assuming that when people say a “superior karate style”, they mean the best in terms of effectiveness and practicality…… But superior, WHERE? In the dojo? In…
You want to karate quit? Again?
You want to karate quit? Again? . How many students do you know that quit only to return for a little while and then quit again? . Here are a few reasons why people quit: They get bored with it. Financial issues. They move to a different area. They realize it requires more effort…
Today, many people are thrust into teaching…. Perhaps too soon.
You’ve just earned a black-belt and in an instant you’re teaching children and young students? Today, many people are thrust into teaching…. Perhaps too soon. . If you haven’t been guided through the process, you won’t have a clue as to what it really takes to guide others. No one learns by osmosis, no matter…
Hey… lets be careful out there.
“There is one place that you have not looked, and it is there, only there that you shall find the master.” – Quote from the Last Dragon . It’s important to recognize when something doesn’t feel right, or is killing your motivation, or making you unhappy. When you know you have tried your best and…
Are you a good role model for your students?
Anyone with any common sense (there’s not a lot of it about) knows that in self-protection, if you have to fight, you fight to flee, to escape. Not to stand there and “win”. . Just being told to “run” is not the answer, and with many instructors being extremely overweight, and many cases obese, it…
I hate the martial arts!
I hate the martial arts! . The martial arts are not for everyone. . The martial arts has always been about defense from violence, and is at the core of every martial art. It is through what we teach, and the concepts students ultimately learn, and absorb, that they develop both mentally and physically. ….
The Dojo. The place of the way.
In all professions and skills, there’s a certain point you reach after many years of work or dedicated training, when thoughts of going it alone come in to your mind. . Starting a new dojo is exhilarating. A world of possibility awaits, including the possibilities of incredible success…. or catastrophic failure. . There is…
Does every martial art teach respect and discipline?
Does every martial art teach respect and discipline? . Something that most people do not realize is that the discipline and respect that comes from martial arts, does not come from the style they train in, but the teacher they have. . In martial arts, students will develop those virtues because their teacher is good…
What motivates fake martial artists?
What motivates fake martial artists? . These so-called “instructors” earn a fair amount of money by simply lying to their students. In every class, they are selling a fake story about how great their fighting skills are, while in reality, they don’t know how to throw a punch the right way, and they move with…
Are black belts in martial arts given away too easily?
“These days too many people stop training once they pass 2nd or 3rd Dan, they don’t realise that belts are not important. Grades mean nothing; all that matters is to train hard.” (End quote) – Tatsuo Suzuki Wado-Ryu (1928-2011) . Are black belts in martial arts given away too easily? . If your black belt…