“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…
Tag: McDojo
Karate and kobudo are difficult……
“Karate and kobudo are difficult, if you do not practice seriously with a traditional approach, you may miss the important points.” – Fumio Demura 9th dan Shito-Ryu . . The truth is to become good at karate, to get anywhere near being proficient with your techniques, drills and kata, you need to do hundreds and…
Your karate is FAKE!
It’s time to admit that the karate you are learning (teaching) is FAKE, and it doesn’t actually teach you how to fight. . Practicing karate at certain schools does NOT prepare you for an actual fight! . The real problem is that regular people are being peddled traditional karate snake oil, by fake teachers who…
How effective is karate for self-defense?
How effective is karate for self-defense? (BTW, It’s a rhetorical question) . In its pure form, karate can be incredibly effective… but in its modern incarnation most of the karate seen today is sports oriented. The majority of today’s young people have only seen karate as a sport, with its strict rules and fanciful acrobatic…
In self-defense there are NO RULES.
So you don’t compete in tournaments yet you teach tournament techniques….. as self-defense? . In self-defense there are NO RULES. If you’re in danger, in trouble, or in anyway threatened, you do anything and everything you can to ESCAPE, to get away and get to safety. . The idea behind karate for self-defense is that…
Ever had the feeling that you were being had?
Ever had the feeling that you were being had? The rise of the internet has allowed many unscrupulous people to suddenly become “experts” in a particular field and touting themselves as the perfect source of knowledge for you to follow. . If you want to, you can begin a martial arts school, or even an…
Fake black belts and McDojo’s; Should We Get Angry?
Imagine the fear. You have been training in your dojo for a few years, but a weird feeling is slowly creeping up on you, giving you that uncomfortable sensation in the pit of your stomach. . You gradually start noticing things. You start seeing stuff in a new light, and day by day you realize…
Don’t be a dimwit!
Continuing the McDojo theme…… In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task, overestimate their ability. . People believe that they are more knowledgeable and capable than they really are. Essentially, low ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their…
“The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”
“The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson . As a senior teacher, seeing this in students and instructors, going that extra distance, that extra effort, seeing the connections made and that light-bulb moment. As a teacher, it is why we teach. Seeing the extraordinary……. . (McDojo rant begins)…
“Do you want fries with that?”
“Do you want fries with that?” . There are some students after reaching the lower dan grades of karate, who believe they have enough knowledge to teach on their own, starting a dojo or school with just a fundamental knowledge of the martial arts. While there are some who can do this, unfortunately there are…