When I was 11 my parents put me in one of the hardest Judo dojo in Italy. I back in the day had really too much confidence in myself. The first lessons the master used me to explain the exercise to the others, and when we had to fight each other in the early days he always put me with the strongest people of the dojo. I asked the master why he put me with the strongest people even though I had just entered, and his answer was: the thing that distinguishes a good athlete from a mediocre one is the simple fact that the former recognizes that there are people stronger than him and tries to improve to be able to beat them, the second lives in the illusion of being the strongest of all. In these workouts I have provided you with the most important teaching. Humility. 3 years later I almost win the Italian National tournament, second place against one of my same Dojo.
Some of the students from the mcdojos look like they're putting real spirit into their movements. It's too bad their instructors didn't give them proper guidance.
Something that stuck with me back when I did taekwondo when I was younger, was when my grand master overheard a new first dan who started to become full of himself. Instead of scolding him, he simply took off his belt and put on a white belt nearby and said. “The color of this belt brings no shame, but the lack of willingness to grow in knowledge befits shame of the highest degree.”
That's the mark of a good teacher. Being humbled sticks with you a lot longer than just being yelled at. My father had a similar experience, but he's a master mechanic rather than fighter. He passed the lesson down. One of the few tests he ever failed was when he was instructed to fix some headlights that didn't work. Dad spent two hours going through all the wiring and electricals, only for the teacher to fail him and reveal that he pulled a fuse. He put the fuse back and it worked, took less than a minute. Dad was upset since he was and is a certifiable genius and has forgotten more about cars than most will learn in a lifetime, so needless to say he had an almost 100% success rate. He cited there was no reason to assume it was something so simple since it wouldn't be a test for him. That was the point. The teacher told him that because he thought he was "too good" for such a simple job, he wasted hours of labor and tore the car apart looking for a problem that could have been fixed in less than five minutes. Humility and mindfulness really are invaluable no matter your expertise.
@@leiderhosen7110 That is the reason why his lesson had such an impact on me, and probably did the same thing for your father. That is why I never settle on something I perceive myself as being good at.
@@59fiftycap It's an Olympic sport, it's a great way to build character and a fun contact sport. There's no need to bring its usefulness or lack thereof in a real fight. No one here said it was.
@@59fiftycap compared to what? A trained MMA fighter? A big, muscly guy who gets into brawls every week? An angry girl? Your average 5'10, Joe Shmo who hasn't exercised since highschool, and doesn't realize that was 15 years ago? Fitness, discipline, respect and humility will get you much further in life than precisely how efficiently you can do violence.
I feel so bad for people who get swindled into joining McDojos. They honestly don't know any better. While we can find amusement in the terrible technique and training in these videos, we need to be sure to not make fun of the students. It's the instructors, alone, who deserve our ridicule.
These are capable people who have a job, a mortgage and other stuff, they are not innocents kidnapped from the streets by the evil instructors, these dojos are a very efficient con, because they can't be regulated, you can't go and ask for your money back if you get the shit kicked out of you (if you practice karate or taekwondo chances are you will) If you ever been to a mcdojo, the are likely bitter and angry if confronted with their bullshit, they know they suck, but they want to walk around saying "i'm a karate(tk or insert bullshito here) black belt" and pull rank in class and fancy themselves dangerous. Adult women never fight, they sit it out, eating and feeding their children, many times black belts themselves, because family groups bring a lot of money to the instructor so he hands out high ranks like candy in order to keep them around.
@@kylieminou7775 : Even intelligent and successful people can be swindled. Why wouldn't you have sympathy for them? Do you mock the elderly for getting taken by scammers, too?
I'm not a martial arts practitioner yet (want to get into ITF Teakwondo), but these McDojos break my hearth. Martial arts those who seriously practice them have all my faith and respect. Seeing these McScumbags making a joke of martial arts is just painful.
@@Digitalcataloghub krav maga was intended to be fought on the modern battlefield, so if you have a good instructor it's certainly useful. But very violent, lots of eye gouging, nut crushing, weapons techniques etc.
@@Digitalcataloghub yeah that's the thing, Id say check to make sure your instructor was trained by the Israeli army, because they're the ones who really utilise it. Although if you wanna learn to fight Id say train MMA or Kickboxing/Muay Tai and then check out Krav Maga and train it on the side to add to your arsenal, learning to fight hand to hand with Krav Maga is a bit difficult because it's intended for war, so a lot of the techniques don't apply to unarmed combat. Either way just take your time to find a qualified instructor :) cheers
I'd see some of the moves of these guys and think "hey there not horrible they look like maybe a yellow or white belt" then i'd realize they're wearing a black belt
I was an amateur kickboxer many years ago, and we'd regularly have karate guys come in and spar with us, they were no joke! Full contact! They were extremely skilled and hard arses, very few karate dojos train like that, took them 8 years approx to get to black belt. Unfortunately not many karate dojos are like that
Yeah people group shitty black belts in bad dojos to great dojos with proficient training it just depends on how hard the individual trained and worked in order to get to a certain level of fighting prowess
@@memeneuver8821 it's not bs, those are just people who were actually trained in proper practical kombat in karate. Like any kind of martial arts, even the obviously practical ones like boxing, muay thai etc. Wouldn't mean sh* if you actually don't train yourself to put it into practically.
4:47 reminds me of military marching drills. Everyone moves and steps at the EXACT same time and its so precise that all of their actions have one big sound, not multiple little ones.
Humility is when, after many years of hard training, pain, blood, and injuries, you earn your black belt, and understand that it’s nothing more than passing a driving test, and that you are still a beginner!
I started when I was 13 in 1968, stopped in 2015 after double hip replacements. Same Japanese instructor the whole time. Purely traditional. No talking in class. Only enough heat in winter so pipes would not freeze, no air conditioning summer, wooden plank floors. People would come to take classes and he turned many away after talking to them. When class started doors to dojo floor closed, only time non students allowed to watch were at tournaments. This instruction saved me from injury and worse working as a cop and on psychiatric inpatient unit.
I've had the depressing task of retraining former Mcdojo students. It's much harder to learn that you've never done something you thought were you far down the road in right. Most don't get far and all have been quickly surpassed by fresh students. It's heartbreaking for them. Many hold their training against them when the fault truly belongs to whoever trained them that way.
i personally cant blame them. A lot of their first experiences with any martial arts would was probably a mcdojo. So whatever happens there is highly influencial. Somene there says your a black belt, and theyd believe it, because they dont have experience. so being told that the accomplishment you achieved was a lie has got to be crushing
Yep, it's probably hard to disabuse them of the notion that they're "masters". That psychological ego defence mechanism is quite a bitch. Not all can overcome their pride, so that's why it's easier to work with, if you will, blank slates.
@@WickedParanoid Even more basic than that, they've built up all this muscle memory that's just wrong. So even with some of them the ego isn't stopping them, but it's just hard undoing bad habits you spent hours upon hours instilling into yourself.
McDojo; "The greatest self defense you can have is [insert mcstyle here]" Actual Dojo; "Greatest self defense you can have is a 100 meter sprint, after 100 m, either they caught you or you got away"
@@MrFlamingJester even then, my a good dojo would tell you to de escalate first and have actual fighting be a last resort. Ive been training for 10 years. Getting punched in the face still hurts like motherfucker.
@@BaldKiwi117 Yeah, I think the issue here is that she's a black belt. I black belt doesn't necessarily mean that you're a good fighter, but it should mean you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. Those strikes weren't really black belt crisp. Also, just to add, those were thick boards. Those quarter inch boards in the second clip will break on a sneeze, but those ones in the first clip looked solid.
I used to be friends with this McDojo Warrior. He had a "Black Belt" and would always boast about his fighting skill. He would show us "Techniques" that he learned all the time. Then one day, we added a new friend to our social circle who didn't have a "belt" or a specific ranking. He just explained that he was involved in a martial arts training program. The "Black belt" friend insisted multiple times that they spar or fight to demonstrate who was better... Well, one day they did and it was awkward as hell. The real martial artist was immediately apparent. My "black belt" friend was immediately humbled that day, and my other friend used it as an opportunity to teach humility and the virtues of athleticism.
Im glad I don't know anyone who is a mcdojo "black belt" I don't want to say Im a great martial artist but I train in Jeet Kune Do and we dont have any Belts or anything we just train. Ive been doing it for 2 years and Ive learned great techniques and even greater life lessons every day I step foot in there. I would never and have never asked someone to spar with me so I can show Im better or some stupid reason like that. Especially because back when I had just started, this mma student who was a mutual friend of mine suggested it for the same reason as ur "black belt" friend. MMA is actually really effective and I had no experience or technique since I was just starting out. The guy gave me a bloody nose and called me a baby when I wanted to stop. After that I wasnt enthusiastic about training anymore and was half assing it. My teacher noticed and consulted me after class. He gave me great advice and even showed me how to not be like him, and I lost my anger for the dude and I really dont care for a rematch either despite me believing I could match him. I just think of it as a learning experience and to use it as an example of a martial artist I dont want to become.
Guess what. There's a reason "artist" is part of the phrase martial artist. It's because there are no "real" ones. It's a mindset of discipline. The only way you stop being a martial artist is that you stop seeing yourself as one. :)
There are degrees to be sure though. Even when talking about systems where belts are still pretty strict like jujitsu there is gonna be a difference between some instructors and students. Not every black belt has a shot verses Gary Tonon or Gordon Ryan.
@@jaredrussell5980 you right but in jiu jitsu you would never and i mean never gonna see a white belt defeating a female black belt in a roll, and here it just took one semidecent punch
This is my favorite Mcdojo video so far . Shows the difference between thousands of hours of practice and dozens of hours of practice and quality instruction.
This has actually made me more confident in my martial arts training as it has affirmed to me that i didn not, in fact, go to a "McDojo" but an actually compitent martial arts program. Thanks a bunch! Too much time on the internet started to make me doubt martial arts in general
I met a dude once who was middle-aged, meek and weak and weighed like 120 lb. He stated telling me about his Aikido dojo. He claimed his instructor, a woman, could throw people without touching them, and claimed he now felt like he could defend himself in a bad situation. I've taken a ton of martial arts, including Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, BJJ, Muay Thai, and MMA. I've been in real fights, including being jumped outside of bars. I was genuinely afraid this guy might get himself killed. I patiently explained to the him that it isn't possible to throw someone without touching them, and that it's like a martial arts myth. I very gently informed him that he was being fed a crock of shit. This was years ago. I can't remember whether I convinced him or not.
NO TOUCH.. It's 100% real! My ex could send kids flying to their room, no touch, just a look. That same face sent me into the arms of a kinder woman Her face was so miserable most times.. it almost killed me. She must've studied from her mother who even more powerful and was able to drain opponents life force with her voice. I was beaten worse by these two women than any Black Belt from any Dojo ever could.
Exactly, Understanding basic submissions etc for self defense situations are not rocket science.Jujitsu is overrated alot of those techniques you will never use and will get you razor cut and stab in a self defense situation rolling around.The major goal is to escape the violent situation with maximum damage in minimum effort.I will rather condition myself to deliver deadly knife stikes and with three submissions techniques and basic muay thai strikes and boxing than to spend 10 years training for a blackbelt in jujitsu.i will rather keep that 18 thousand dollars in my bank account.
That and I have never seen so many black belts in one class before! It was a sea of black belts. In one of the clips I think the lone white belt was doing a better job on Kata.
Lack of strength and flexibility. I did a lot of tkd. This was de koryo poomsae, the most badass pommsae, and this man make it look like it was some of this bulshido steven seagal movements
He's figuring it out without being taught, so fair play to him. He's far away from being an actual black belt, but he has the right attitude, at least.
@@Jon-yo4wj if they are a yellow ir green belt at a real dojo thats just sad dude like the standerds being that low for a green belt at a real dojo is sad
I was lucky enough to be taught in taekwondo by a Korean master from Korea who previously taught in back in the country. He was strict yet constructive, was thorough and precise and never lacked in making sure we were progressing and making sure we were getting techniques right before moving on to the next part of the lesson. I'm more confident in my skill and abilities as a martial artist because of instructors like those. the ones who made sure to properly train us and not just train us to bleed money from us
Jeffster with that kind of thinking, you belong in a mcdojo. Seeking a place of wimps just to be on top leads to arrogance which is a severe weakness. It's far better morally and practically to seek people stronger than you to boost your progress. Don't think about being better than anyone. Just focus on being a better you continually like Goku does.
Turned to??? Some of them mcdojo videos look like 90’s vhs 🤣 So we’re takking about adults who we’re probably born in the 70’s If anything the real dojo videos look more recent and with a younger crowd.
Nah its still like this. Just cuz thw video footage is older doesnt mean mcdojos arent around. There are plenty of mcdojos. That is martial arts turned to.
Yeah, including PC (political correctness) you can't say something towards someone that is true, since people feel pain when they receive criticism that they don't like, but being criticized isn't bad, it just shows one's flaws and using the info that the criticism to fix yourself.
@@CarlosG2288 That's true if you cherry pick videos from both sides. Besides, 90s isn't that long ago but there's still been a notable increase of this "everyone gets a participation prize" mentality the past 10 years. It's true not just for martial art dojos but also for anything you can think of. Even professional careers, 2 out of 100 engineers that get out of university with their "professional" title are competent, the rest have no clue at all, they got the title because the standards are so low. Even videogames which are just hobbies and leisure got their standards lowered, now they gotta have "anti frustration" mechanics in them, if they lose they get a reward, if something is "too hard" they gotta remove it. It got to that point, even leisure has to have participation trophies. It's like spoiling a kid, in the long run it does more damage than good. It's not like "Back in my day! we were tough!", the thing is that no matter how much they lower the standards competitive/hard working people are still going to exist in real life no matter what, sometimes competition is unavoidable specially in the real world, when these spoiled people grow up and get forced to compete in the real world they will simply get destroyed in their career, job, whatever they are doing. It must be disheartening to be told "You're so good!" for so long that you believe it, only to realize that you have been mediocre this whole time in comparison to people who actually earned being proficient at something. It's not just about martial arts, that mentality carries over to your other aspects of your life and that's the dangerous part. It's very underrated how much that can destroy a life.
Yeah seriously, I met a young 12 year old Chidokai karateka from Tokyo who had already been 5 times kata champion for his age group. Was already technique wise like a 3rd dan JKA level. Met him again about 5 years later and the kid was about 100kg of pure talent and muscle - very scary but always smiling
I would be fine with most McDojo's if they made it more clear that's it's mostly a Martial Arts themed "Fitness & Well-being" class. In both cases these students are doing an activity to better themselves which is great. The McDojo students just shouldn't be led to believe they're now self-defense superheroes (the dangerous part). Otherwise, Martial Arts are, as the name implies, an art. Some people take a painting class('s) to master their craft, others do it because they needed a productive hobby.
I like this comment, and I agree. It's clear there is an appetite for a place to put one's kids (usually it seems to be kids) where they have to learn (in theory) a little bit of respect, some discipline, and get to feel like they are being cool at the same time. Parents who know it's not going to teach their kids fighting skills would still buy into it and pay the crazy prices. Many kids don't really want to learn how to beat up other kids, or how to be violent, a lot are just going for the socialization, the fun, a way to expel energy and the new experience. Even grownups sometimes join these knowing they aren't going to learn anything - a friend of mine is a "black belt" in a system not exactly well-respected by most martial artists, and she has an absolute blast with it even though she knows it won't save her life in an actual combat situation and is highly expensive. I can respect that, as long as the place isn't misrepresenting itself. So I don't necessarily object to the concept, as long as they aren't also staining the reputation of the more serious Dojos/gyms. It's the ones that misrepresent, lie to students, teach in a way that endangers the students unnecessarily and/or pointlessly, or as you said, filling their students' heads with nonsense about being invincible.
exactly, when i was young i did kung-fu and most part of the time it was training and learn respect and thing like that, obviously i learned how to take/give a punch an kicks but it wasn't like the main part of that
When I think about McDojos, I feel that it’s more a tragedy than anything else. So many people are manipulated in them to think they are learning “self defense.” The quality standard at McDojos basically don’t exist. Very sad to see.
Sorry buddy, but Real dojo would not provide 'self-defense'. The "enemies" would not fight one to one in real situation. They are at least two, and probably three. And they also have a bat or a knife(If they are criminals or really really hate and want you to die or severely insured). Most effective way to Self defence? Call the cop imo. If you can have a proper weapon, then of course a story is different. But which nation would allow that kind of thing easily, and how you will look like to others?
@@nepu47 I never said a real dojo would provide self-defense training. I said that people are manipulated into thinking they are learning self-defense at mcdojos. These are two different statements. Either way, you are incorrect. Enemies do come in pairs, that is true. However, there are ways to increase your survivability in that scenario. There are ways to defend against bats and knives. If someone is coming up to you to beat the shit out of you, the cops aren’t coming for 5 minutes at the VERY minimum.
@@shoeman6966 What is different with real dojo and mcdojo, then? I dare to say that a proper and honest instructor of real dojo would say that "Evade that kind of situation at first place, and do minimize to contact with them and run away". At least The instructors who I met said in that way. And you talk like you can do 'self-defece' in real fight, who will swing a bat to a head and chew your bodies or kick your genitals, put a dirt to your eyes TO BEAT YOU. That is a 'real situation'. And your talking is same level of delusion with mcDojo imo.
I remember going to a McDojo when I was 13. Not for myself; my friend and his little sister were in it and I tagged along. It seemed more like a recess class. It was two hours long and most were just hanging out, running around, and lying around. Even the "instructors" were just sitting at a desk and talking about their week. I believe only three people out of everyone were actually coaching each other and training.
EX gf worked at a place that had a great instructor but he knew hard training didn't produce profits, so if someone stood out they'd get better instruction or moved into advanced and/or one on one training. Otherwise it was fitness TKD/Kickboxing. It was also a "McDaycare" "McDojocare". Wherein my gf was burning a movie to bring for the kids or little dragons or whatever to watch. At a dojo. IDC if they're 5, train them in something, no Goddamn movies. I can't believe that's what the parents paid for ...
Felt that. I remember going to my first adult class at 15 and hearing my instructor swear for the first time, and also give me such a hard time. Like master chef jr to master chef Gordon Ramsey
Bats exist wooden planks exist (these can be used as weapons.)(breaking a board wont help but track strength progress and hardness ur feet hands fuse etc.)
There were two Dojos in college, Taekwondo and Judo. Everyone who was doing Taekwondo was being gassed up by their teacher thinking they could take on everyone even though their kicks are like love taps. I trained in the Judo class, our sensei is the president of the Judo Association of my homecountry. Boy did I fucking learn humility in that place. He was old school Kodokan Judo too, meaning you'll be eating drills and cardio for 1 hour BEFORE you get your ass whacked around like a ragdoll by these thick palmed, cauliflower eared varsity players who are at least 20lbs heavier that you. Our sensei taught us a lot of practical techniques from throws to takedowns, even had days where we didn't wear a Gi and told us to figure out how to take down opponents without a lapel to grip on(Hip Throws, Body Drops, Double arm takedowns, fireman throws, or techs that BJJ would call "Pulling Guard" are very effective). That Judo Dojo produced 3 SEA Games Gold Medalists. While the Taekwondo team only produced braggarts that got their asses handed to them everytime they tried training in Judo.
I've never trained in either, but I'd take a Judo class way before taking a taekwondo class. I talked to a couple of taekwondo school in highschool. For whatever reason i never attended one. I guess i felt like something was off? I did begin training in juijitsu after i graduated.
Taekwondo is an art that is sacred and shouldnt have such a reputation,the school was most likely a bad one which did not teach respect humility,and the ideology that no matter where you are in the world there is always one better than you,this making you stay forever humble
@@jamesfowler5100 that was a spinning hook kick. Similar to a spinning heel/wheel kick, but hooking the leg at the end to add another level of power. She hit with the heel. It looks like she broke them, but its hard to see. It was a good kick though. Knockout power at least. But ya, I hope nobody was in the line of fire.
The first time a real dojo played with that girl I almost wanted to cry. There was such passion and discipline, so much training and time went into that.
I studied at one of the most prestigious Kyukushin karate schools in Poland growing up from 6-12 then when my dad was transferred to Kyoto I studied at the brother school from 12-16. My schools produced world champion kickboxers and even a few MMA champions. Breaking real bats. Real bricks, none of this balsa wood crap to ego boost. When we moved back to the US I joined a local school just to stay in shape and make friends, well after 2 weeks I was politely asked to go elsewhere as the instructor put it "my level was too advanced and I my presence was negatively affecting the school's black belts, since I was a brown belt and comparing my kata's to theirs was like toddlers vs adults." So instead of working harder they just kicked me out, all good after graduation I moved to a city with a proper school went to Kyoto to get my proper black belt. McDojo's man.
@@leonardojuniorlaplana7530 Well the levels were completely different, I was used to heavy sparring and intense kata's. They didn't compete and the entire school was mostly just pseudo hippie zen bullshit, while my previous schools were more like "if bone ain't showing you're fine" kind of mentality. Like, if you wanna be straight karate okay but why the fuck would you name yourself a Kyoukushin karate school if you're training a buncha limp wristed wimps? Also their advertisement said "full contact spars" but they'd get mad when their guys would fold after an exchange.
To be fair, it sounds like the Sensei of that local dojo was self aware enough to admit your skill was greater than what he could teach, in which case you staying their doesn't benefit you, and only benefits his students if you teach them which would mean you'd take his job. I probably would have done the same tbh, haha, and most mcdojo instructors would have made up some bull about your attitude or something to avoid recognizing your skill.
@@somethindarker, lol, the difference in attitude and mentality was the main reason why, while stationed at Osan Air Base, I chose to take Tang Soo Do off post rather than on post. It didn't matter to me that the instructor on post was a higher ranking black belt than the one off post, even though they were both native Korean masters. It also disappointed me tremendously at how the US Army was paying a lot to Tae Kwon Do masters to instruct army personnel on post while I was stationed at Camp Casey. Some students promoted to black belts were impressive (most likely because they trained in martial arts before) but the majority were complete garbage. The fact they got promoted from white to black belt within a year should say everything.
When I was a kid our school asked an active duty police captain to give the kids martial arts classes every Friday, he didn't have a fancy dojo, outfits or style naming. He developed his own MA by combining year of experience working as an officer, training other officers and police CQC, he realized that there is no way he should teach us (around 8yr old) to actually fight so he actually gave us training in reflex, stability, endurance, balance and breathing techniques. Thanks to him I actually have pretty good body strength, can move my body efficiently with great reflex, can regulate my breathing through quick meditation and have muscular dummy thicc thighs.
"Getting your black belt doesn't mean you've finished learning, it means you're ready to start learning." - Master Parker; my old Tang Soo Do instructor.
In my karate dojo, we would practice our katas until we heard the gi snap, that's when we knew we got the right speed and motion. And yes, synchronization is very important to us.
I remember the sounds of those uniforms in the 1970s. Today I cringe if I throw a hard sidekick and lock out like that. 60 year old joints are not 16 year old joints.
When I was a kid I did 10 years of "kung fu" and earned a "black belt." Never once in that time did I do any real sparring. Most of my belt tests were sequences like these, with no real requirements on the precision of movement, as long as I remembered the sequence correctly. I think we trusted that what we were learning was real because the instructor seemed to know how to fight and had what seemed like a real martial arts resume. I've done BJJ for a little over 2 years, have a blue belt, and could destroy any of those black belts I trained with.
You dont do sparring in kung fu? I do shaolin kung fu and have done it for just about over 2 years, and you dont do sparring. You may learn applications though, but never real sparring. Its just about what martial art you do
From ages 5 to 15, Shotokan Karate was a significant facet of my life. I trained diligently in a traditional dojo, with my commitment ramping up around graduation times. During these periods, I would partake in frequent training sessions and join preparatory camps alongside my Karate peers. The proud moment of earning my first black-belt, under the skilled guidance and examination of Hirokazu Kanazawa, was not without its share of trepidation, as anxiety of performing has always been a part of my nature. Soon after earning my black-belt, I stopped training and haven't returned since. I'm not entirely sure why, and there are times when I feel a tinge of regret about it. Now, as a 32-year-old father with my active training days in the past, I occasionally contemplate a return to the dojo. However, my reticence stems from a lack of enthusiasm for Kata and graduations, coupled with a preference for training partners whose company I enjoy and with whom I have a mutual respect and understanding. I often found myself questioning the limitations inherent in Shotokan Karate, particularly the inability to engage at full strength without risking injury. While the introduction of gloves and protective gear provided a level of safety, it shifted the dynamics of the 'empty-hand' style - creating a paradox that was fun, but somewhat discordant with the original principles of the style. Although Shotokan Karate isn't traditionally tailored towards street-fighting, I often find myself pondering - could this discipline be adapted for such purposes? Recently, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has sparked my interest. It seems both enjoyable and intriguing, yet I'm ambivalent. Would it be a good fit for me, or might my longstanding ties to Shotokan lure me back? The path forward remains to be seen. While I appreciate a degree of discipline and respect for traditions, I believe a fresh start would need to be in a more relaxed environment. The constant seriousness can become taxing, particularly for an activity meant to unwind after work. Beyond the practice itself, there should be room for smiles and laughter - because ultimately, it should be an enjoyable journey. I'm uncertain if I'll ever step back into the dojo. Sedentary habits creep in effortlessly, especially with the many joys of being a dad and having a fulfilling job. Yet, I recognize that being humbled through martial arts, both physically and psychologically, could provide me with an essential balance - a balance that I once knew in my youth. It's a balance I've almost forgotten or willingly relinquished, but when I reflect on my past, I take pride in what I achieved and who I became through Karate. In many ways, I yearn to rediscover that part of myself. The question is, can I muster the necessary courage, strength and time to make that leap again?
@@davidlloyd1526 I appreciate your comment and, to be honest, you might be right. I am genuinely interested in both BJJ and Karate and have a deep respect for both disciplines, as evidenced by my prior experience. However, I've been wrestling with some uncertainties about returning to practice. It's not a question of interest, but of finding the right timing and fit for my current lifestyle and commitments. I'm sure many can relate to such a dilemma in various aspects of life. Thank you for offering a perspective that has made me reflect more deeply on this.
i mean, if you want to know some takedowns and ground game, go for BJJ! Very good art, takes a lot of effort so be prepared. Also, not every word has to be long. you can get a simple point across with simple words.
@@Contradel traditional Karate, I don't think what you learn has to only belong from the dojo. I think what inspires me to learn everything is assuming that I'll be a step closer to being an MMA fighter, without any particular interest in joining MMA tournaments at the moment.
try a jiu jitsu class if you have a free day and see if its something you want to pursue if you don't feel enough of a need to change your schedule then don't. But remember it is important to take a chance when you are young then realize 20 years from now and say "I wish I started sooner" since most people at my gym think that they wished they started sooner even my coaches coach who is a world champion that started at like 10 or so wishes he started sooner
I love how usually McDojo styles are just about doing slow karate-like movements really fast, while actual karate is about being really fast yet still taking your time.
What? No. You do it as slow as you can, while doing it perfect. Being fast is a consequence of seeking perfection in stance and movement, not the actual goal.
I did karate when I was younger for about 4-5 years. While some of my friends went to McDojo's and got black belts within 3 years I barely got to green level 1 in 5 years before I quit having promotions only once a year if I even passed. It was never fun and was actual hardwork and pain which is why I know it was legit. Plus it was 1/3rd the price of the other mcdojo's. Good hardworking sensei's there and I will always remember the fundamentals taught in case ill ever need it in a fighting scenario.
I feel ya. The dojo i went to was kinda wishy washy, but not quite a mcdojo. It was like a mcdojo with really good sensei that would actually teach you if you put in the work. I may not be very good at throwing hands, but i still know how to effectively block punches and kicks.
those Mc dojos made me cringe.. especially when i took Taekwondo for 20yrs, Master Kim would never let that happen. My he rest in peace knowing he thought me how to grow and be a man.
Same here, my taekwondo club is not a big club, but the instructor is very strict with wobble punch or kick, he really Will not teach new move if the person cant do a move right, not just right but the power behind that move was also important for him, there no point if your move don't pack a power same goes with the speed, it takes me entire 2 month to get the permission for getting the yellow belt test. But sadly i need leave from the club because when u turn into 18 years its mean u need to find a job and its your turn to take care the family.
Im a taekwondo athlete, same like my master, master umar would never let us join a competition if we cant master a certain kick, he says “you,re good as dead when you cant do that shit “
Man I'll never forget one moment from pretty early on in my Taekwondo training. Our instructor dangled a black belt in front of us and said that we'd take minute-long turns trying to land a hit on him. If we could even touch him, we'd get a black belt. Now, we weren't like, little kids. We were all teenagers and a good chunk of us were both bigger and taller than the instructor, myself included. None of us even got close.
I’d be so embarrassed to be the teachers of a mcdojo.. how can they proudly stand there in front of an audience to showcase a “black belt” who can’t kick better than a true yellow belt.
@@davidecamurani7389 How are you not a white belt yet? Its literally the first belt. You get it automatically with the uniform. In 30 years of martial arts (karate, jujitsu and jiu-jitsu) I've never heard of someone earning a white belt.
@@barrettokarate when I asked my sensei he told me that I should consider the white belt I was given with the karategi just a part of the uniform to hold together the clothes as I am a beginner practitioner. After learning the basic footwork, stance and kihon, I will be formally given the white belt to signify I'm a full fledged karateka that started his journey on the way of karate. I think it makes sense to give a deeper meaning to the white belt, not just something that everyone gets by default at his first lesson.
@@barrettokarate back in the 90s I had an instructor that made you earn your gi. He gave you a piece of rope until you earned your white belt. Every grade included all the normal requirements, plus having to defeat two other students that were trying to get promoted. He didn't give a crap about gender, weight, or size. Your matches were luck of the draw.
My dad joined us up with a mcdojo when I was 9 or 10. We ended up getting kicked out because we were all too competitive and were "ruining the environment" for other students.
@@airborne9534 yes - my dad, brother and I were starting to sweep local competitions and were bringing back the trophies instead of the black belts. I will say there were a select few black belts that were actually very good but the majority were unathletic bums with fragile egos.
I remembered practicing taekwondo because of this. The difficulty of kicking straight up is so difficult because of the balance, but it was useful for me because I'm short. This also made me hate pants that are restricting my movements greatly.
Dude basically what it is; is mothers bring their kids into a dojo and say "I want my son to get a black belt but I don't want him to get a black eye" and then there was My Sensei who said: "The more blood on the mat, the more you bless the mat"
Most people are not looking to be a fighting expert, they just want to have something in case they need it. They got a lot of other things they have to put their energy into, their job, their family, etc... Of course they are not looking to be as good as people who put a lot of time into it to train their body. Most of them don't even have that much time or energy left.
@@natsudragneel-ir7sr Then those people should attend a self defense seminar at the Ymca..Martial Arts is a way of life, Combat, Philosophy, Psychology, nutrition, mind/body connection, neuro-linguistic programming, etc. Martial Arts is applicable in all facets of life.This aspect of it should be explained to a Novice who enters a Dojo interested in just " self Defense ".
I remember I used to do karate, my instructor was two times world kata champion. I spared with his youngest son ( same age as me) and even though we started training the same time he tore me apart, years of just watching his dad ( and older brother) sparing and doing kata made his form and striking so good. Was like a volley of punches that completely overwhelmed me 😂 Dudes a doctor now but I reckon he could still take me down even though I'm now used to people attacking me from my work.
as someone who has trained at a McDojo for 2 years of my childhood, LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING.... So once in a while every dojo gets a student and maybe their friend who actually want to take TKD, (or whatever your martial art is), super seriously, this was the case for me and my middle school buddy. We started when we were 13 and both did soccer together so we came from some athletic background. We took what we were being taught seriously and after just a month of time, all of the "yellow belts" under 18y/o could not keep up with us in sparring. Needless to say we received belts rather quickly by just being athletic and actually practicing outside of the dojo. Fast forward a year and we were were both senior blue belts, who were utterly humiliating "black belts". Long story short by the time we became Jr Black belts, it felt like our "sensei" was relying on us to teach his classes. We were fucking 14 and some changes, helping teach peers who were either, 1: more than twice our age, OR 2: our age or younger who just started training because of a movie they watched. I'm going to be honest with you, we did feel like baddasses, right until we entered into a tournament and got our asses handed to us. Not because we we bad, we were probably true purple belts at the time, but up against REAL Jr Black belts no shot in hell did we score many points against people who have been training for YEARSS. We quit the dojo afterwords, we felt scammed and both he and I completely stopped training in any martial art. I recently started up BJJ and oh my god I'm so sad that a McDojo was where I started my martial arts journey. I traded what could've been a fake back belt for this white belt that I am proud to own.
Look at the bright side, at least you knew then and you know now that you can indeed kick people’s asses, not to mention while you still went to a McDojo, it was your start. There is no shame in starting in a McDojo, it’s only a problem if you settle for just the McDojo, which, you didn’t and was hungry for more, which in my book? That’s a winner’s mentality.
I knew that I was in a mcdojo, but it was the only affordable option at the time so I gave it a try. I took it super-seriously, and the sensei (who was actually very skilled, trained abroad, all that good shit) took me aside, gave me a few books to read, and told me to reconsider, and either find a different dojo or take some private lessons with him on the cheap. He told me that he couldn't run the place like a real dojo because everyone was too soft, and just wanted to *feel* like they were learning something. Turns out he tried a few years before, but he couldn't attract many students (we live in the midwest) and sadly parents didn't want their kids to learn full-contact very often, they just want to get them out of the house-and kids was where the money was at. Dude was a real one, gave me some free individual lessons after I told him I couldn't pay. It was a whole different environment. Pretty much everybody in that dojo was a white-belt, and he wouldn't budge on that unless they actually applied themselves, which was sadly rare. I guess it technically wasn't a McDojo because he had no problem reminding people they were novices, dude was just trying to make a living lol.
@@frostiestark9533 that's what people forget, mcdojos exist because 95% of people aren't going to put in the work it takes to actually learn how to fight. You have to be athletic, flexible and have good coordination to actually train real karate. Most young kids won't stick with a tough training schedule and adults don't have to the time. Mcdojos come around to cater to the amateurs.
@@jeffgayzose8129 See, and all I had was spunk-I was a very tubby boi lol I am still a very self-taught amateur; used to spar with my friend who is a legit black-belt, but sadly the schedule just doesn't pan out anymore, and I haven't gotten any less poor :(
The Karate School I attended as a kid was a bizarre mix of McDojo and real dojo. On one hand, it was full of kids running around and going crazy. Nobody called you out for not taking it seriously and you could easily get away with half-assing everything. But at the same time, I did it for 5 years and only got to blue belt, half way up the chain to black. I didn't fail any tests either, it just took a long time to promote. They actually didn't let you test for red belt until you were 13, and I think brown belt was similarly age gated to 16 or something like that. Basically, there was no chance you were getting a black belt until you were over 18 and proved that you deserved it. Some kids were legitimately really good, my dad kept in touch with another kids dad and apparently he not only had to test extensively for his black belt, but he also had to write a long ass essay about why karate was important to him. He may have even visited Japan at some point, but not sure if that was before or after his black belt. Anyway, the school's Shihan, Fumio Demura, was the real deal. For those who don't know, he was the body double for Pat Morita in the Karate Kid movies. He came over once or twice a year and was genuinely a nice guy. He kept it fun for the kids, but all the adults put on their best behavior probably out of fear. Most of the McDojo energy came from the head instructor who was kinda lazy and let a lot of things slide, but his assistant instructors were incredibly enthusiastic and were much better teachers tbh.
Fumio Demura IS the real deal! A lot of serious dojos run a kids level "daycare" type class to pay the rent but their "advanced" classes are only for real students.
mine is also like that!!, i had a great yoth at it, and now im getting more serious (im now 16, started age 4) its so much fun cuz they teach awesome stuff that i can actually use and the sparring is fun and gives me confidence, so its helped me in tons of ways.
As sad as it is mc dojo funds the real dojo. Very few people actually are ready to experience pain, certainly not enough to fund the place. Those fat lazy assess pay the rent for hardcore guys
In our dojo we would literally get hit with a branch if we unsynchronised in a form And now it makes me very nervous to see how out of time the fake dojo guys are
Man don't get me started on stretches. If we didn't split low enough, the damn instructer would physically push our bodies lower to the ground. I screamed like a bitch, but after watching these, I feel less like one 😂
@@jimster805 well hitting your students because they are unsynchronised... I dont Think its the best thing to do? Who gains something from just hurting them? Would make them do the thing they cant do again multiple times or extra training be better? It would still be a punishment, but u can really increase your skillz by doing something again or train more.
@@sophiebell4758 well i don't agree with hitting students when they screw up. what i was trying to say was, schools can't be hurting students physically or mentally because they will lose students
@@theredneckbuddha2763 Well the sign of a good instructor isn't one that's just cruel. Flexibility isn't something you can force. Say if you pulled or tore something, you can't train for weeks. You need a mix of kind and cruel
Pretty sure I was part of a McDojo when I was in taekwondo as a kid, but it still changed my life for the better. I’m better disciplined, I’m better in my way of thinking, I’m an overall better person for having joined and stuck with for a few years in my youth. Would I have loved to be part of a real dojo? In theory, sure. Options were limited where I was though, but I’m also not sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. The head of my school wouldn’t take any shit from anybody, and genuinely tried, but he was flexible and caring to us. Especially during demonstrations, really allowed us to work in the things we really wanted too, and my greatest honour at that point was he chose me, and my desire to demonstrate with the Bostaff, to not only headline the demo team representing our school, but also wanted to Joint Demo with me as part of a duo. I’ll forever be grateful for that opportunity.
10 years of blood sweat and tears in a REAL Dojo and Im finally at Preliminary BlackBelt.. McDojo in the next town I would be a grandmaster at their school LOLOLOL
Cool to hear. It was always weird to me seeing other martial arts schools where KIDS have b l a c k b e l t s after just a few years, while it can take a decade + to achieve it in the system I practice.
Dear god, I actually recognize the kata at 1:50. Seems like it's supposed to be kanku dai. It's a pretty advanced kata that we didn't start learning in my shotokan dojo until 1st kyu brown belt (the belt before 1st dan black) for the simple reason that it's incredibly long and technically challenging. To see them butcher it like this is... well to be honest I would be horrified if this level of sloppy technique was shown in heian shodan, much less kanku dai.
It is amazing how many okinawan/mainland Japan based kata get completely butchered in these mcdojo schools The worse case I ever saw was a TKD mcdojo version of Naihanchi/Tekki Nidan I legit couldn't believe what I was seeing
Heian shodan is incredible good to train, he is like the core of the system. This guys want to show they know some advanced kata, but the essence of Karate is to make it simpler as possible, thats why heian shodan is so graceful.
Omg....I just thought it was a terrible kata the instructor made until you pointed it out! It really is Kankū Dai that they're 'attempting' to do! Omg I wanna cryyyyyy 😭😭😭
Personally, Kanku dai is one of the most physically challenging katas to perfrom. It's the very long (for a shotokan kata) and requires a lot of power. Performing this in a grading examination is very hard, especially for sho-dan and ni-dan as their kihons also require a lot of physical effort and stamina.
I know right, I died every time this f**ing music was playing, looking at the stiff dudes trying to throw hands and kicks and looking like automatons 😂
I am so grateful that you put an actual video of Koryo after that McDojo shitshow so that the image of people fucking up Koryo to that degree was chased out of my brain
The belt system of karate originates, by legend, as follows: when you start your belt is white and unworn. Over time it becomes yellow from bleaching and sweat from all the training. It becomes orange/red with the blood that's been shead. This also becomes brown over time with constant wore and finally black as all of the blood and dirt blackens the outer layer of the belt. Finally over the years the outer layer wears out and you're left with a white belt, symbolising that you never mastered karate but are merely a student of it
My Kali instructor said a similar thing in that: If you imagine an army, the white belts are the privates, those going off into combat. They become yellow belts once they are in the thick of it. The red shirts are those that ended up surviving and are coming back with the blood of their enemies covering them and the black belts are the generals/veterans guiding them (you can think of it also like the blood you've attained becomes black and hard over time too).
Pure legend, the real reason is when Martial arts became mainstream and marketable in the 70's and 80's they needed a system to keep track of what student was at what training level. it's purely administration based.
I live in a small town in Germany but let me tell ya. The oldtimers are nuts. Their kicks would send the padded mitt flying through the dojo and turn my hand red like a lobster lol. Our trainer honestly looked like he would belong in a McDojo but he was quicker than teenager me tbh. At my school you could do at most two belt tests a year, so it would take at least 4 years to get to red-black. Most people took their time though, and you couldn't rush the dan test anyway. I think for many it was about 6-8 years to the first dan, and there was always somebody higher up in the TKD association supervising the tests. I have seen people fail even lower belts a few times
Dude, agree, remind me when i was in highschool, my teacher ask to handshake 🤝, its fucxing martialart Lock Technique, damn, he didn't let go for 30 minutes, my arm go Numb, it was a painful handshake
The Director of our school was a 50 plus guy with a bulging stomach and never wore the karate outfit, but his hands looked and felt like hard rubber The callouses had literally gone smooth over the years. He died of an heart attack unfortunately, and the school standards just plummeted (or so I've heard. I couldn't keep up and left after just 2 years with only the second belt in hand. But I can still punch better than my brother who started 7 years after I'd left the school and magically became a brown belt in 2 years).
I used to be part of a class that became a McDojo shortly after the head instructor died. His black belts all but gave up and lost sight of what martial arts are supposed to be. Two years ago I got my black belt through them and that moment was the eye opener. I didn't break a sweat during testing and to this day I don't see it as a challenge which makes the belt feel illegitimate. However, after the test I poured myself into martial arts. I'm still trying to perfect my kata, but I also began learning MMA in order to better suit real life encounters. Now, while preparing to test for my second dan, I can with confidence say I deserve my rank and am working to bring the focus of martial arts back to my class
@@macaron24 He/she literally just said their school became like this and they've been trying to rectify the errors in their training and fix their school.
@@macaron24 he didn't mention where he was training to get his second dan. Judging by the fact he's training hard I'm presuming not at the McDojo although it does sound like he wants to go back and fix its reputation.
Part of the problem is the public misconception of what a black belt means. Maybe BJJ is different, but in taekwondo it's not supposed to mean 'master'. You should view it as your driver's licence, your permit to start serious training. The black belt lets you fight in the open division in full contact tournaments. The other colours are just there to stop beginners getting hurt. Everyone knows there's a huge difference in fighting skills amongst black belts.
That's a load of bullshit to make you go through 10 gradings and pay dojo fees for no less than 3 years if you want to get to first dan blackbelt and all that just to prove you can safely enter the glorified sparring of TKD tournaments lol.
A friend of mine is green belt in ITF and she is allowed to be part of the national team. She can participate in both tul and fighting competitions. PS: every contestant must wear a black belt for the tournament (it doesn't matter if he's green or black belt).
@@dimitarbetsov1253 Yeah, I was talking about my WTF experience. I've fought some ITF too, but didn't realise the rules for belt levels were different.
When I was a kid I learned karate at my school from an instructor who gave off serious "mc dojo" vibes. I honestly learned more from my older brother who had trained somewhere else and sparred with me all the time. When I went to the dojo he trained at it was completely different. The instructor would also train airforce pilots how to defend themselves in the event of a plane crash since you wouldn't be very well armed in combat zone as a pilot. I learned so much there. In hindsight it might have been ok to go to a "Mc Dojo" because if your a kid you can learn the basics of conditioning and movements but it is a really bad idea if you actually want to defend yourself as an adult. Now that I am in college I am with other experienced martial artists. The great thing about actual martial arts training is you learn the important lesson that there is always someone bigger, stronger, and more skilled than you. If your not struggling every time your not learning anything.
I always spar the biggest dudes I can find in my dojo. Newer people get a little shocked when they see me going to spar the biggest and strongest people. It's the only way to get better imo.
@@arandomdogecoin Unfortunately I'm 6'5 so there aren't that many guys bigger than me. I have the same mentality though and tend to target either the most skilled, jacked, or tallest guys.
"If you're not struggling every time, you're not learning anything." I'm going slightly off topic here, but. . . This is something that Disney is failing at with Star Wars and Marvel.
@@scotttrail522 Great point. It sucks that female characters are relegated toward being invincible without have to work for it. Luke sucked initially but had to train for years to become the strongest despite his talent and genetics. They could have done the same thing with Rei but chose to go down the easy story telling route. I think Star Wars could have been more successful if they used hero's journey architypes like the original trilogy while also riding off the hype.
Its ok, if the training has this playful component like in a dance. If you're scared of hard hits, you dont try new things! On the other hand you need also hard sparring sessions to learn controlling yourself under heavy pressure. Thats why a really good dojo or gym mixes up dancing like soft sparring with brawl like hard sparring sessions!
Even the festival dances in highschool here were a lot more synchronised and practiced than whatever these McChumps are doing. And half of us aren't even motivated.
@@Wisstihrwas Really good dojo does not practice "dancing". Good martial arts clubs only practice moves and techniques and do sparrings. Nothing else. If you are scared of hard hits, you simply should not do martial arts.
Fun fact: the woods that are used in most places are already semi split in the middle to be reused, that's why most of the times the split is so clean in the middle, with that being said you can still break the wood and it looks way more satisfying because it splintered much more
They're mostly plastic made to look like wood. There are different stiffness levels on the locking mechanism so that you can start off barely having to touch them and progress to really tough ones - but that doesn't matter a damn if you have no technique! 😆
Yeah. That's what I mostly heard. Still, there's a satisfaction on breaking them. Now then, if you know that and still, you're not able to break it, either those are other kind of planks, or you are just not even trying like you should.
@@NightmareZV yeah breaking them sounds impressive to people who don't know what they are but it is extremely easy if you hit the center, if you hit too far off the center it gets harder obviously but you can still break it completely
Why would you need pre semi-split boards? Breaking a regular board isn't that hard, especially with basic but powerful techniques like a side kick or hammer fist. If people need these pre-broken boards, they're doing something drastically wrong.
It took me about 5 years before I could take my black belt test. The test itself cost 300$ and I was gonna quit after so I just never took it. I wanna say my dojang (korean dojo) was legit but it did have separate classes for... less capable people.
I dont know but...i think tht seems preety less time to get the black belt 😅 Its like all the other authenthic martial arts dojo and stuff had guys train for years on end and still couldnt get the black belt yet an lower rank belt would wipe the floor with someone who got black belt way early....
I joined a hard taekwondo dojo. It is free (not a commercial dojo) and the workouts are intense it reminded me of my physical labor days in Madagascar. I'm used to working out with 30 second rests in between sets. This one was like 40 minutes of no-rest continuous sit ups, followed by 40 minutes of an intense mix of pushups, v ups, splits etc. and that's just the warmup. I couldn't realistically do 40 minutes of no-rest sit ups at first but I'm getting better now and catching up to the masters. Every friend I brought to the dojo quit but I know it's good for me in the long run. Ever since I moved to the United States I've become weakened by the convenience culture, but this discipline is what I needed
@@americandissident9062 I agree partially. I see too many tkd dojos that advertise quick black belts etc. here in America without any value to it. This dojo is different. We have a girl that's been here for five years and is still a blue belt, because the master really wants everyone to perfect their form etc. before advancing. It's 100% free because it's more of a passion-based thing passed down from the Korean grandmaster we had, and the training is really hard. If I had to change a few things, it would be these: I don't know how long workout and stretches are for other dojos, but we train and and pushups and stretches non-stop for the first hour. I think it's a little too extreme and is driving a lot of beginners away. We also train "aggressive" taekwondo (using parts of the feet that inflict damage vs. using the insteps), and I wish we trained both so we can also participate in tournaments and not just train for fighting. I also wish we trained for longer than 2 hours per session as I feel like a lot of the sessions are eaten up by the workout section.
@@StevenDoesStuff I have my “black belt” in TKD, a blue belt in BJJ, I’ve trained a little Judo, currently doing MMA and freestyle wrestling, and some Muay Thai. My advice: Get out of that dumpster fire and go find some Muay Thai training, if striking is your game. And stop calling people “master”. I understand tradition has its place but calling people “master” is rightfully cringey AF. I’m willing to bet I could take your master to the ground and drag my balls across his forehead.
McDojo : You earn Blackbelts easily, for bragging rights Real Dojo : You learn to fight to protect yourself and others. Nothing is bed of roses, you face challenges to make yourself stronger.
When you leave a McDojo you feel like you can take on the world. When you leave a real dojo you feel like the world took you on.
Someone knows what it feels like leaving the real dojo haha.
If you still feel like you can do shit after, the workout wasn't good.
Yeah I’ve been doing BJJ for a couple months now and every time I get absolutely dominated
@@teddykara8628 lol same, sometimes my coach do those sneaky wrist locks
Hit the nail on the head with that one.
The McDojo clips gave me confidence and the real dojo’s gave me motivation
What a wise word
The Ols sure
Bread Man yes Brother. Finally we have reunited after all these years
@Bread Man Owu what a coincidence
The 2 for 1 combo
When I was 11 my parents put me in one of the hardest Judo dojo in Italy. I back in the day had really too much confidence in myself. The first lessons the master used me to explain the exercise to the others, and when we had to fight each other in the early days he always put me with the strongest people of the dojo. I asked the master why he put me with the strongest people even though I had just entered, and his answer was: the thing that distinguishes a good athlete from a mediocre one is the simple fact that the former recognizes that there are people stronger than him and tries to improve to be able to beat them, the second lives in the illusion of being the strongest of all. In these workouts I have provided you with the most important teaching. Humility. 3 years later I almost win the Italian National tournament, second place against one of my same Dojo.
Cool story bro, really!
I'm thinking of entering a Kickbox club or something.
Go for it man it's absolutely worth it
Just to check on, could we know the name of this dojo?
fake and gay
Some of the students from the mcdojos look like they're putting real spirit into their movements. It's too bad their instructors didn't give them proper guidance.
The really sad thing is, I might actually lose in a fight to some of the McDojo guys, just due to sheer mass.
fat people with karate black belts... interesting
Size means nothing. Learn Kung Fu not this crap..
@Аякс Нгуен Ян Haha I'm just joking about that dude....although size doesn't matter that much....it's alllllll in your head
@@MrPmenendez bro have you tried any sport?
What's wrong with you guys, size doesn't matter in a fight, just how your brain work in a fight
Something that stuck with me back when I did taekwondo when I was younger, was when my grand master overheard a new first dan who started to become full of himself. Instead of scolding him, he simply took off his belt and put on a white belt nearby and said. “The color of this belt brings no shame, but the lack of willingness to grow in knowledge befits shame of the highest degree.”
That's the mark of a good teacher. Being humbled sticks with you a lot longer than just being yelled at.
My father had a similar experience, but he's a master mechanic rather than fighter. He passed the lesson down. One of the few tests he ever failed was when he was instructed to fix some headlights that didn't work.
Dad spent two hours going through all the wiring and electricals, only for the teacher to fail him and reveal that he pulled a fuse. He put the fuse back and it worked, took less than a minute.
Dad was upset since he was and is a certifiable genius and has forgotten more about cars than most will learn in a lifetime, so needless to say he had an almost 100% success rate. He cited there was no reason to assume it was something so simple since it wouldn't be a test for him.
That was the point. The teacher told him that because he thought he was "too good" for such a simple job, he wasted hours of labor and tore the car apart looking for a problem that could have been fixed in less than five minutes. Humility and mindfulness really are invaluable no matter your expertise.
@@leiderhosen7110 That is the reason why his lesson had such an impact on me, and probably did the same thing for your father. That is why I never settle on something I perceive myself as being good at.
taekwondo is useless in a real fight.
@@59fiftycap It's an Olympic sport, it's a great way to build character and a fun contact sport.
There's no need to bring its usefulness or lack thereof in a real fight. No one here said it was.
@@59fiftycap compared to what? A trained MMA fighter? A big, muscly guy who gets into brawls every week? An angry girl? Your average 5'10, Joe Shmo who hasn't exercised since highschool, and doesn't realize that was 15 years ago?
Fitness, discipline, respect and humility will get you much further in life than precisely how efficiently you can do violence.
I feel so bad for people who get swindled into joining McDojos. They honestly don't know any better. While we can find amusement in the terrible technique and training in these videos, we need to be sure to not make fun of the students. It's the instructors, alone, who deserve our ridicule.
These are capable people who have a job, a mortgage and other stuff, they are not innocents kidnapped from the streets by the evil instructors, these dojos are a very efficient con, because they can't be regulated, you can't go and ask for your money back if you get the shit kicked out of you (if you practice karate or taekwondo chances are you will) If you ever been to a mcdojo, the are likely bitter and angry if confronted with their bullshit, they know they suck, but they want to walk around saying "i'm a karate(tk or insert bullshito here) black belt" and pull rank in class and fancy themselves dangerous. Adult women never fight, they sit it out, eating and feeding their children, many times black belts themselves, because family groups bring a lot of money to the instructor so he hands out high ranks like candy in order to keep them around.
You probably never did a push up
@@thomasbeall9069 ; Hahahahaha! You're funny. Very much so.
@@kylieminou7775 : Even intelligent and successful people can be swindled. Why wouldn't you have sympathy for them? Do you mock the elderly for getting taken by scammers, too?
@Hunter Hall : You do realize that very intelligent people get taken in by cults and grifters all the time, right? McDojos are very much the same.
The fear of joining a McDojo without knowing
it is one
Idk about america , but here it's pretty expensive. An expensive mistake
Ask a lot of questions and watch the classes as much as possible before joining.
It is easy. Look at the ears of the trainer and his hands. If it looks new. Go away
This is funny, but equally heartbreaking for those who practice Martial Arts.
Especially the mcfights where they don't stop spamming absolutely useless kicks. Like what the hell? It looks like they think martial arts are a joke
@@Digitalcataloghub As for someone who is in Krav Maga my instructors train with the IDF and have proof of it
I'm not a martial arts practitioner yet (want to get into ITF Teakwondo), but these McDojos break my hearth. Martial arts those who seriously practice them have all my faith and respect. Seeing these McScumbags making a joke of martial arts is just painful.
@@Digitalcataloghub krav maga was intended to be fought on the modern battlefield, so if you have a good instructor it's certainly useful. But very violent, lots of eye gouging, nut crushing, weapons techniques etc.
@@Digitalcataloghub yeah that's the thing, Id say check to make sure your instructor was trained by the Israeli army, because they're the ones who really utilise it.
Although if you wanna learn to fight Id say train MMA or Kickboxing/Muay Tai and then check out Krav Maga and train it on the side to add to your arsenal, learning to fight hand to hand with Krav Maga is a bit difficult because it's intended for war, so a lot of the techniques don't apply to unarmed combat.
Either way just take your time to find a qualified instructor :) cheers
If it takes you less than a year to become a black belt, then that's a McDojo
No shit.
*CITATIONS NEEDED*
Not even McDojos give out black belts in 1 year, wtf are you on about
@@srb__ Oh god, I think I found something worse than a McDojo!
Try 3 to 4 years lol.
As a very very wise lunatic said to his longtime superhero crush : "If everyone is a black belt...no one is"
The incredibles
You are so F. cking wright!!!
Yeah but everyone in 5:10 is a black belt and they look pretty official to me!!👏
@@warpeace4058 your logic has no flaw
@@fortnex9972 Thank you sifu!🙏🏻
I'd see some of the moves of these guys and think "hey there not horrible they look like maybe a yellow or white belt" then i'd realize they're wearing a black belt
lmao
Me when I watched the first clip, how you a black belt yet need like 20 tries to break a little wooden block
I don't think it took me that many times on my first time breaking, sheesh
The lady in the first clip.🤣🤣🤣🤣👌
It's pretty horrible. Not even I was that bad! And to think that I don't pass and ended up only at brown belt.
When it takes 5 tries to break the board. You have to admit the board won
This comment is just perfect dude
Let's give credit where credit is due. The board may have been doing some training as well.
@@sweetjohnny8211 Wise words!
And boards don't even hit back
that board is strong as hell, great training and conditioning I suppose
I was an amateur kickboxer many years ago, and we'd regularly have karate guys come in and spar with us, they were no joke! Full contact! They were extremely skilled and hard arses, very few karate dojos train like that, took them 8 years approx to get to black belt. Unfortunately not many karate dojos are like that
Yeah people group shitty black belts in bad dojos to great dojos with proficient training it just depends on how hard the individual trained and worked in order to get to a certain level of fighting prowess
Bs. All they know is dance and hit precut sticks lol
Maybe that's kyokushin guys you met
@@riski8349 im not sure mate, quite possibly, they were conditioned for fighting and weren't shy to mix it up and get hit
@@memeneuver8821 it's not bs, those are just people who were actually trained in proper practical kombat in karate. Like any kind of martial arts, even the obviously practical ones like boxing, muay thai etc. Wouldn't mean sh* if you actually don't train yourself to put it into practically.
"Can you break a log like that?"
"Don't know. Never been attacked by tree."
RIP Miyagi
What about being attacked by Groot?
😄😄😄😄
If that movie was made today: Even a baby could break that log, I can, you can, everyone can break it! We’re all winners!
@@InvincibleRage hahahaahahhahaha
4:47 reminds me of military marching drills.
Everyone moves and steps at the EXACT same time and its so precise that all of their actions have one big sound, not multiple little ones.
That's how it's done, almost quiet
@@a.r.r.i.9841 all you hear is the snap from the gi when its done right
MARTIAL art. Search the word 😏
@@hshneo search military code. You'll get something similar.
It's all about discipline.
My military march was so fucked tho, just like the Belgian meme haha. But when I was Blue belt in taekwondo it was closer to that.
McDojo = An exercise class with lots of shouting and fancy coloured belts.
Real Dojo = Where you learn actual martial arts.
AND exercise.
The real answer is that both are frauds
mcdojo seems like a fun and relaxing place where you don't need to worry about anything. sign me up!
@@haingis what's the point of training then 💀
@@Akaeru He wants to train on how to get beat in 10 seconds
Humility is when, after many years of hard training, pain, blood, and injuries, you earn your black belt, and understand that it’s nothing more than passing a driving test, and that you are still a beginner!
Facts!
Black belt means that
"I can destroys this guy's face/neck if we were in a 1v1 without weapons"
Yes, relating to this one.
Yes! Just because you have black belt doesn’t mean you stop learning!
It almost felt like I started learning when I got my black belt, because I understood just how much there is to learn.
“There are no bad students, just bad teachers” I don’t remember who said that
Mr. miyagi !!!! Only bad teachaaaa
Probably a good teacher
I think it form karate kid movie
On the other hand, "you can take a horse to water...'.
@@allantheliang how to sell drugs online fast ?
I started when I was 13 in 1968, stopped in 2015 after double hip replacements. Same Japanese instructor the whole time. Purely traditional. No talking in class. Only enough heat in winter so pipes would not freeze, no air conditioning summer, wooden plank floors. People would come to take classes and he turned many away after talking to them. When class started doors to dojo floor closed, only time non students allowed to watch were at tournaments. This instruction saved me from injury and worse working as a cop and on psychiatric inpatient unit.
Dang so you’re like the veteran?
Made me realize we humans clap for just about everything.
Like trained seals man...
Then everyone clapped
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Pathetic humans
There's a difference, though, between a golf clap and a Beethoven clap.
I've had the depressing task of retraining former Mcdojo students. It's much harder to learn that you've never done something you thought were you far down the road in right. Most don't get far and all have been quickly surpassed by fresh students. It's heartbreaking for them. Many hold their training against them when the fault truly belongs to whoever trained them that way.
i personally cant blame them. A lot of their first experiences with any martial arts would was probably a mcdojo. So whatever happens there is highly influencial. Somene there says your a black belt, and theyd believe it, because they dont have experience.
so being told that the accomplishment you achieved was a lie has got to be crushing
Yep, it's probably hard to disabuse them of the notion that they're "masters". That psychological ego defence mechanism is quite a bitch. Not all can overcome their pride, so that's why it's easier to work with, if you will, blank slates.
@@squishy1523 Black belt... My sensei always told me that a belt is only made to close a kimono.
You’re the mcdojo
@@WickedParanoid Even more basic than that, they've built up all this muscle memory that's just wrong. So even with some of them the ego isn't stopping them, but it's just hard undoing bad habits you spent hours upon hours instilling into yourself.
McDojo; "The greatest self defense you can have is [insert mcstyle here]"
Actual Dojo; "Greatest self defense you can have is a 100 meter sprint, after 100 m, either they caught you or you got away"
and you leave your wife and kids behind to get shot and robbed. LUL.
@@changen4125 obviously
@@changen4125 better to be batman than your son be batman
@@changen4125 keyword was self in self-defense. When you’re defending others it becomes another story.
@@MrFlamingJester even then, my a good dojo would tell you to de escalate first and have actual fighting be a last resort.
Ive been training for 10 years. Getting punched in the face still hurts like motherfucker.
Might be a mcdojo but gotta admire the First Lady’s perseverance 😂
Yeah she's got heart. Might actually be able to learn something at a real school lol
@@BaldKiwi117 Yeah, I think the issue here is that she's a black belt. I black belt doesn't necessarily mean that you're a good fighter, but it should mean you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals. Those strikes weren't really black belt crisp.
Also, just to add, those were thick boards. Those quarter inch boards in the second clip will break on a sneeze, but those ones in the first clip looked solid.
Liars tend to persevere in their lies, too. What you said , you said for nothing.
@@yoooo790 what?
@@yoooo790 what?
Ive never heard of the term "mcdojo" and now im laughing so much, i just imagine some Dojo which is also a McDonalds at part time
Ngl i thought it was an actual dojo owned by a McDonald's franchise
That first guy sure likes McDonalds
I was thinking of a Tacobell-Kfc deal, where theres a mcdonalds combined with the dojo.
I think it means something like cheap ass dojo
It's the way Americans call fake market-oriented Dojos.
I used to be friends with this McDojo Warrior. He had a "Black Belt" and would always boast about his fighting skill. He would show us "Techniques" that he learned all the time. Then one day, we added a new friend to our social circle who didn't have a "belt" or a specific ranking. He just explained that he was involved in a martial arts training program. The "Black belt" friend insisted multiple times that they spar or fight to demonstrate who was better... Well, one day they did and it was awkward as hell. The real martial artist was immediately apparent. My "black belt" friend was immediately humbled that day, and my other friend used it as an opportunity to teach humility and the virtues of athleticism.
Im glad I don't know anyone who is a mcdojo "black belt" I don't want to say Im a great martial artist but I train in Jeet Kune Do and we dont have any Belts or anything we just train. Ive been doing it for 2 years and Ive learned great techniques and even greater life lessons every day I step foot in there. I would never and have never asked someone to spar with me so I can show Im better or some stupid reason like that. Especially because back when I had just started, this mma student who was a mutual friend of mine suggested it for the same reason as ur "black belt" friend. MMA is actually really effective and I had no experience or technique since I was just starting out. The guy gave me a bloody nose and called me a baby when I wanted to stop. After that I wasnt enthusiastic about training anymore and was half assing it. My teacher noticed and consulted me after class. He gave me great advice and even showed me how to not be like him, and I lost my anger for the dude and I really dont care for a rematch either despite me believing I could match him. I just think of it as a learning experience and to use it as an example of a martial artist I dont want to become.
@@Supuri_ jeet kune do has a lot of mcdojo’s. It can be either great or useless all depends on the coach hopefully u have a decent one
@@CactusBrannigan usually the training in Kung Pao is a de giveaway
Moral of the story, how do you tell the difference between a Mc and a real blackbelt?
One boasts about it.
Guess what. There's a reason "artist" is part of the phrase martial artist. It's because there are no "real" ones.
It's a mindset of discipline. The only way you stop being a martial artist is that you stop seeing yourself as one. :)
First in thought: “That’s not fair. He’s just comparing beginners to experts” ... till I discovered the “beginners were supposed to be black belts ...
There are degrees to be sure though. Even when talking about systems where belts are still pretty strict like jujitsu there is gonna be a difference between some instructors and students. Not every black belt has a shot verses Gary Tonon or Gordon Ryan.
@@jaredrussell5980 you right but in jiu jitsu you would never and i mean never gonna see a white belt defeating a female black belt in a roll, and here it just took one semidecent punch
Mood. Poor woman in the first video has zero form. I feel like that her teachers failed her big time
@@ryn8613 lmfao right that was embarrassing
Exactly!
at 4:48, all of the students being so in synch is just so aesthetically pleasing and it makes them look so powerful and strong too
4:46 is so impressive. The way you can hear each movement PERFECTLY matching.
Incredible
I need the original video
@@AVGyerra22 I second this. Video is insane, anyone who knows, please link it. Also, is that Taekwondo?
@@AVGyerra22 ua-cam.com/video/-HG9vve0Tqo/v-deo.html&ab_channel=K-TigersTV
@@sabreburst ua-cam.com/video/-HG9vve0Tqo/v-deo.html&ab_channel=K-TigersTV
@@sabreburst it’s Taekwondo
This is my favorite Mcdojo video so far . Shows the difference between thousands of hours of practice and dozens of hours of practice and quality instruction.
How would you like it? I cant believe i found you Lonnie
This is mike by they way
Hahaha that's awesome.
@@banishedfromars Wtf, how did you guys know each other
We went to school together and lived 2 blocks from each other. Mike now lives in a different country.
“Boards don’t hit back”
-Bruce Lee
Yeah............ that's perfect
Maybe you got brains yesterday
....until they do.
Yeah, sure, heavybags either, so nobody use them
@@carlosandres1835 Difference is in boxing they dont use a bag to upgrade you to some higher belt... Its for training purposes only
Say that to a bat and a plank of wood
This has actually made me more confident in my martial arts training as it has affirmed to me that i didn not, in fact, go to a "McDojo" but an actually compitent martial arts program. Thanks a bunch! Too much time on the internet started to make me doubt martial arts in general
Proper martial arts are always great workout even if you never use the self defence aspect
What makes mcdojos even more hilarious is that at least half of the students look like they’ve been eating nothing but McDonalds their whole life 😂
I was just saying, you can tell the difference by the guts.
That's just mean. Funny and accurate, but mean.
The first one was painful to watch. And that shit happens everywhere. Mailed in black belts smh
I thought the same thing lol they show no discipline eating like that
Funny, but also really sad my friend
I met a dude once who was middle-aged, meek and weak and weighed like 120 lb. He stated telling me about his Aikido dojo. He claimed his instructor, a woman, could throw people without touching them, and claimed he now felt like he could defend himself in a bad situation. I've taken a ton of martial arts, including Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, BJJ, Muay Thai, and MMA. I've been in real fights, including being jumped outside of bars. I was genuinely afraid this guy might get himself killed. I patiently explained to the him that it isn't possible to throw someone without touching them, and that it's like a martial arts myth. I very gently informed him that he was being fed a crock of shit. This was years ago. I can't remember whether I convinced him or not.
NO TOUCH.. It's 100% real!
My ex could send kids flying to their room, no touch, just a look.
That same face sent me into the arms of a kinder woman
Her face was so miserable most times.. it almost killed me.
She must've studied from her mother who even more powerful and was able to drain opponents life force with her voice.
I was beaten worse by these two women than any Black Belt from any Dojo ever could.
@@ronelljenkins9712Lol 😂😂
@@ronelljenkins9712 I hope you're doing good now brother.
That is a lot of martial arts man 👍
That guy was in cult
I’ve found that a good indicator of the skill of the dojo is how well the white belts understand the basics
This made me realize that im not in a mc dojo lol
Exactly, Understanding basic submissions etc for self defense situations are not rocket science.Jujitsu is overrated alot of those techniques you will never use and will get you razor cut and stab in a self defense situation rolling around.The major goal is to escape the violent situation with maximum damage in minimum effort.I will rather condition myself to deliver deadly knife stikes and with three submissions techniques and basic muay thai strikes and boxing than to spend 10 years training for a blackbelt in jujitsu.i will rather keep that 18 thousand dollars in my bank account.
That and I have never seen so many black belts in one class before! It was a sea of black belts. In one of the clips I think the lone white belt was doing a better job on Kata.
@@razorsharplifestyle101hard9 Even mma doesnt deal with knife defense necessarily
@@mimszanadunstedt441 Exactly,Knife striking etc is a more important instinct of self discipline to develop.Because the streets ain't fair.
At least the guy at the very front of 3:50 honestly wasn’t too horrible. If only he had chosen the right dojo.
Lack of strength and flexibility. I did a lot of tkd. This was de koryo poomsae, the most badass pommsae, and this man make it look like it was some of this bulshido steven seagal movements
He's figuring it out without being taught, so fair play to him. He's far away from being an actual black belt, but he has the right attitude, at least.
youre right he was CRAP
@@Jon-yo4wj if they are a yellow ir green belt at a real dojo thats just sad dude like the standerds being that low for a green belt at a real dojo is sad
@@bedlesspanda9902 Your grammar standards are sad.
I was lucky enough to be taught in taekwondo by a Korean master from Korea who previously taught in back in the country. He was strict yet constructive, was thorough and precise and never lacked in making sure we were progressing and making sure we were getting techniques right before moving on to the next part of the lesson. I'm more confident in my skill and abilities as a martial artist because of instructors like those. the ones who made sure to properly train us and not just train us to bleed money from us
A korean master from korean who was korean because he was from korea
And nice for you, i hope more people find more masters like your
same.
It’s still bullshido
Hworang?
I want to join a McDojo after watching this just so that I can be top of the class.
😂😂😂
Expensive though, and you learn nothing.
Nah you learn to become how to be a better actor
@@thelagginggamer1309 😄🤣
Jeffster with that kind of thinking, you belong in a mcdojo. Seeking a place of wimps just to be on top leads to arrogance which is a severe weakness. It's far better morally and practically to seek people stronger than you to boost your progress. Don't think about being better than anyone. Just focus on being a better you continually like Goku does.
This is what the world has turned into, lowering the standards so people don't feel bad
Turned to??? Some of them mcdojo videos look like 90’s vhs 🤣
So we’re takking about adults who we’re probably born in the 70’s
If anything the real dojo videos look more recent and with a younger crowd.
Nah its still like this. Just cuz thw video footage is older doesnt mean mcdojos arent around. There are plenty of mcdojos. That is martial arts turned to.
Yeah, including PC (political correctness) you can't say something towards someone that is true, since people feel pain when they receive criticism that they don't like, but being criticized isn't bad, it just shows one's flaws and using the info that the criticism to fix yourself.
@@CarlosG2288 That's true if you cherry pick videos from both sides.
Besides, 90s isn't that long ago but there's still been a notable increase of this "everyone gets a participation prize" mentality the past 10 years.
It's true not just for martial art dojos but also for anything you can think of.
Even professional careers, 2 out of 100 engineers that get out of university with their "professional" title are competent, the rest have no clue at all, they got the title because the standards are so low.
Even videogames which are just hobbies and leisure got their standards lowered, now they gotta have "anti frustration" mechanics in them, if they lose they get a reward, if something is "too hard" they gotta remove it.
It got to that point, even leisure has to have participation trophies.
It's like spoiling a kid, in the long run it does more damage than good.
It's not like "Back in my day! we were tough!", the thing is that no matter how much they lower the standards competitive/hard working people are still going to exist in real life no matter what, sometimes competition is unavoidable specially in the real world, when these spoiled people grow up and get forced to compete in the real world they will simply get destroyed in their career, job, whatever they are doing.
It must be disheartening to be told "You're so good!" for so long that you believe it, only to realize that you have been mediocre this whole time in comparison to people who actually earned being proficient at something.
It's not just about martial arts, that mentality carries over to your other aspects of your life and that's the dangerous part.
It's very underrated how much that can destroy a life.
And changing basic english so people somehow can be "themselves "
You know its a McDojo when there’s a 7 yr old black belt and a 6 yr old brown belt
Edit : apparently not
No not actually... In Japan they have those but usually these are little killer machines.
@@Wooden_wheel Yeah, I realized that like 5 months after making this comment
Yeah seriously, I met a young 12 year old Chidokai karateka from Tokyo who had already been 5 times kata champion for his age group. Was already technique wise like a 3rd dan JKA level. Met him again about 5 years later and the kid was about 100kg of pure talent and muscle - very scary but always smiling
I would be fine with most McDojo's if they made it more clear that's it's mostly a Martial Arts themed "Fitness & Well-being" class. In both cases these students are doing an activity to better themselves which is great. The McDojo students just shouldn't be led to believe they're now self-defense superheroes (the dangerous part). Otherwise, Martial Arts are, as the name implies, an art. Some people take a painting class('s) to master their craft, others do it because they needed a productive hobby.
I like this comment, and I agree. It's clear there is an appetite for a place to put one's kids (usually it seems to be kids) where they have to learn (in theory) a little bit of respect, some discipline, and get to feel like they are being cool at the same time. Parents who know it's not going to teach their kids fighting skills would still buy into it and pay the crazy prices. Many kids don't really want to learn how to beat up other kids, or how to be violent, a lot are just going for the socialization, the fun, a way to expel energy and the new experience. Even grownups sometimes join these knowing they aren't going to learn anything - a friend of mine is a "black belt" in a system not exactly well-respected by most martial artists, and she has an absolute blast with it even though she knows it won't save her life in an actual combat situation and is highly expensive. I can respect that, as long as the place isn't misrepresenting itself. So I don't necessarily object to the concept, as long as they aren't also staining the reputation of the more serious Dojos/gyms. It's the ones that misrepresent, lie to students, teach in a way that endangers the students unnecessarily and/or pointlessly, or as you said, filling their students' heads with nonsense about being invincible.
I feel like this comment resonates a lot with king fu as in it's good for fitness and well being as opposed to it being an efficient fighting style
exactly, when i was young i did kung-fu and most part of the time it was training and learn respect and thing like that, obviously i learned how to take/give a punch an kicks but it wasn't like the main part of that
I went to a McDojo called "Eat all you can"
Yeh something like boxercise
When I think about McDojos, I feel that it’s more a tragedy than anything else. So many people are manipulated in them to think they are learning “self defense.” The quality standard at McDojos basically don’t exist. Very sad to see.
You're right! It's dangerous for this people to have a false sense of trust in techniques that they have not really achieved
McDojos are glorified white people reunions like idk, cookouts
Sorry buddy, but Real dojo would not provide 'self-defense'. The "enemies" would not fight one to one in real situation. They are at least two, and probably three. And they also have a bat or a knife(If they are criminals or really really hate and want you to die or severely insured). Most effective way to Self defence? Call the cop imo.
If you can have a proper weapon, then of course a story is different. But which nation would allow that kind of thing easily, and how you will look like to others?
@@nepu47 I never said a real dojo would provide self-defense training. I said that people are manipulated into thinking they are learning self-defense at mcdojos. These are two different statements.
Either way, you are incorrect. Enemies do come in pairs, that is true. However, there are ways to increase your survivability in that scenario. There are ways to defend against bats and knives. If someone is coming up to you to beat the shit out of you, the cops aren’t coming for 5 minutes at the VERY minimum.
@@shoeman6966 What is different with real dojo and mcdojo, then? I dare to say that a proper and honest instructor of real dojo would say that "Evade that kind of situation at first place, and do minimize to contact with them and run away".
At least The instructors who I met said in that way. And you talk like you can do 'self-defece' in real fight, who will swing a bat to a head and chew your bodies or kick your genitals, put a dirt to your eyes TO BEAT YOU. That is a 'real situation'. And your talking is same level of delusion with mcDojo imo.
I remember going to a McDojo when I was 13. Not for myself; my friend and his little sister were in it and I tagged along. It seemed more like a recess class. It was two hours long and most were just hanging out, running around, and lying around. Even the "instructors" were just sitting at a desk and talking about their week. I believe only three people out of everyone were actually coaching each other and training.
EX gf worked at a place that had a great instructor but he knew hard training didn't produce profits, so if someone stood out they'd get better instruction or moved into advanced and/or one on one training. Otherwise it was fitness TKD/Kickboxing. It was also a "McDaycare" "McDojocare". Wherein my gf was burning a movie to bring for the kids or little dragons or whatever to watch. At a dojo. IDC if they're 5, train them in something, no Goddamn movies. I can't believe that's what the parents paid for ...
@@HeartlessKnave The parents paid for the time off from the kids.
lol
I can't even imagine paying for that
Hell no... 😬🙏🥋
My school was half McDojo, half legit. The kids’ classes were complete bullshit, but the adult classes were actually legit.
Felt that. I remember going to my first adult class at 15 and hearing my instructor swear for the first time, and also give me such a hard time. Like master chef jr to master chef Gordon Ramsey
I remember being told by my Kenpo instructor that he would teach how to break a board as soon as one of us got attacked by a board.
And it suck having to glue them together
Good teacher
Bats exist wooden planks exist (these can be used as weapons.)(breaking a board wont help but track strength progress and hardness ur feet hands fuse etc.)
🤣🤣🤣 real board breaking helps you know you have the capacity to Use proper technique/speed/balance/power.
@@TSH425 that wont help you if someone attacks you with a bat dawg even someone who hasn't touched a ring knows what a faint is
There were two Dojos in college, Taekwondo and Judo. Everyone who was doing Taekwondo was being gassed up by their teacher thinking they could take on everyone even though their kicks are like love taps.
I trained in the Judo class, our sensei is the president of the Judo Association of my homecountry. Boy did I fucking learn humility in that place. He was old school Kodokan Judo too, meaning you'll be eating drills and cardio for 1 hour BEFORE you get your ass whacked around like a ragdoll by these thick palmed, cauliflower eared varsity players who are at least 20lbs heavier that you. Our sensei taught us a lot of practical techniques from throws to takedowns, even had days where we didn't wear a Gi and told us to figure out how to take down opponents without a lapel to grip on(Hip Throws, Body Drops, Double arm takedowns, fireman throws, or techs that BJJ would call "Pulling Guard" are very effective). That Judo Dojo produced 3 SEA Games Gold Medalists. While the Taekwondo team only produced braggarts that got their asses handed to them everytime they tried training in Judo.
I've never trained in either, but I'd take a Judo class way before taking a taekwondo class. I talked to a couple of taekwondo school in highschool. For whatever reason i never attended one. I guess i felt like something was off? I did begin training in juijitsu after i graduated.
those guys were probably lousy at taekwondo, don't think that all students are that stupid
and I just want to point out the difference here is not in the style, but the location. Trust me, there are tough dojangs out there.
Dismissing a martial art entirely as love taps doesnt display much humility i think.
Taekwondo is an art that is sacred and shouldnt have such a reputation,the school was most likely a bad one which did not teach respect humility,and the ideology that no matter where you are in the world there is always one better than you,this making you stay forever humble
Imagine being in the crowd and getting hit by the bricks that she sent flying.
Worst.
Gallagher.
Show.
EVAR!
Free souvenir
If he dies, he dies
Did she hit the breaks with her heel or her toes. In other words, did she break them or push them?
@@jamesfowler5100 that was a spinning hook kick. Similar to a spinning heel/wheel kick, but hooking the leg at the end to add another level of power. She hit with the heel. It looks like she broke them, but its hard to see. It was a good kick though. Knockout power at least. But ya, I hope nobody was in the line of fire.
The first time a real dojo played with that girl I almost wanted to cry. There was such passion and discipline, so much training and time went into that.
I studied at one of the most prestigious Kyukushin karate schools in Poland growing up from 6-12 then when my dad was transferred to Kyoto I studied at the brother school from 12-16. My schools produced world champion kickboxers and even a few MMA champions. Breaking real bats. Real bricks, none of this balsa wood crap to ego boost. When we moved back to the US I joined a local school just to stay in shape and make friends, well after 2 weeks I was politely asked to go elsewhere as the instructor put it "my level was too advanced and I my presence was negatively affecting the school's black belts, since I was a brown belt and comparing my kata's to theirs was like toddlers vs adults." So instead of working harder they just kicked me out, all good after graduation I moved to a city with a proper school went to Kyoto to get my proper black belt. McDojo's man.
Geeeezzz…. 😂🤣🤣🤣😯😯😯😯😯😯
you getting kicked out being too advanced has almost the same vibe as being so good at a game you get accused of cheating
@@leonardojuniorlaplana7530 Well the levels were completely different, I was used to heavy sparring and intense kata's. They didn't compete and the entire school was mostly just pseudo hippie zen bullshit, while my previous schools were more like "if bone ain't showing you're fine" kind of mentality. Like, if you wanna be straight karate okay but why the fuck would you name yourself a Kyoukushin karate school if you're training a buncha limp wristed wimps? Also their advertisement said "full contact spars" but they'd get mad when their guys would fold after an exchange.
To be fair, it sounds like the Sensei of that local dojo was self aware enough to admit your skill was greater than what he could teach, in which case you staying their doesn't benefit you, and only benefits his students if you teach them which would mean you'd take his job.
I probably would have done the same tbh, haha, and most mcdojo instructors would have made up some bull about your attitude or something to avoid recognizing your skill.
@@somethindarker, lol, the difference in attitude and mentality was the main reason why, while stationed at Osan Air Base, I chose to take Tang Soo Do off post rather than on post. It didn't matter to me that the instructor on post was a higher ranking black belt than the one off post, even though they were both native Korean masters. It also disappointed me tremendously at how the US Army was paying a lot to Tae Kwon Do masters to instruct army personnel on post while I was stationed at Camp Casey. Some students promoted to black belts were impressive (most likely because they trained in martial arts before) but the majority were complete garbage. The fact they got promoted from white to black belt within a year should say everything.
When I was a kid our school asked an active duty police captain to give the kids martial arts classes every Friday, he didn't have a fancy dojo, outfits or style naming. He developed his own MA by combining year of experience working as an officer, training other officers and police CQC, he realized that there is no way he should teach us (around 8yr old) to actually fight so he actually gave us training in reflex, stability, endurance, balance and breathing techniques. Thanks to him I actually have pretty good body strength, can move my body efficiently with great reflex, can regulate my breathing through quick meditation and have muscular dummy thicc thighs.
Thats a good all around basic phisycal
Woah thighs
Man thighs😳
kinda sus
I need me to get some of them dummy thicc thighs 💦💦
I knew my judo dojo was real when the highest belt in the junior class was an orange belt, and the senior class had a 60 year old black belt
@Yote Lometo depends on the martial art some have red below black some have red above black
@@joaqincastro5613 no
@@pp-zu2tv Joaqin is correct
@@tiaapplejuice7435 but for judo isn't red the highest?
@@zeno9580 Joaqin stated that it depends on the martial art of whether or not red is below or above black which is a true statement
the way the real dojo students are in sync is so satisfying
"It's easy to get a black belt, but it's hard to be a black belt"
Someone said that but I forgot nvm
"Getting your black belt doesn't mean you've finished learning, it means you're ready to start learning." - Master Parker; my old Tang Soo Do instructor.
Me who got a TKD black belt when I was six and quitted soon after...
Anyway I'm thinking of starting muay thai or something next year
@@mistycrom just buy a black belt on the street
Taraktakdung 2020🔥
- Albert Einstein
The founder of Apple
The way the uniform snaps are in perfect unison with the real dojo forms is astonishing
In my karate dojo, we would practice our katas until we heard the gi snap, that's when we knew we got the right speed and motion. And yes, synchronization is very important to us.
It gave me chills man, such an amazing performance
My TKD teacher always used to say this, if the dobok didn't snap, we weren't doing it right
4:50 the sound of their uniforms are so satisfying
I remember the sounds of those uniforms in the 1970s. Today I cringe if I throw a hard sidekick and lock out like that. 60 year old joints are not 16 year old joints.
That was one of the first black belt forms I learned in Taekwondo
In karate the sound name is "Kime", in tkd i dont know
@@rodrigoduarte8453 My instructor simply refers to it as the "snap" of the sleeves.
@@kykaibetts yes, but the tradicional name is kime
You know it's a MCdojo when the Artists don't look the part
You walk out of a McDojo feeling like a master.
You walk out of a real dojo realizing how much farther you have to go.
form execution..
dojo: very syncronize and harmonized
mcdojo: mashed up dubstep
Mashed up dubstep 🤣🤣
Heeey i Iove Dubstep
Probably starts out as mage dubstep before a real dojo sells them into shape
*messed up
Comparing a local youth club to an Olympic team
When I was a kid I did 10 years of "kung fu" and earned a "black belt." Never once in that time did I do any real sparring. Most of my belt tests were sequences like these, with no real requirements on the precision of movement, as long as I remembered the sequence correctly. I think we trusted that what we were learning was real because the instructor seemed to know how to fight and had what seemed like a real martial arts resume.
I've done BJJ for a little over 2 years, have a blue belt, and could destroy any of those black belts I trained with.
I also do bjj boxing as well I've been doing boxing for a long time but I am new to bjj any advice for a white belt
You dont do sparring in kung fu? I do shaolin kung fu and have done it for just about over 2 years, and you dont do sparring. You may learn applications though, but never real sparring. Its just about what martial art you do
Can you give me kung fu lessons? 🤡 lol
@@figgeriksson8538 any martial art that doesn't entail some form of sparring is useless.
and if you told your old instructors that, I bet they would reply that it's thanks to those 10 years with them that you mastered bjj so quickly
From ages 5 to 15, Shotokan Karate was a significant facet of my life. I trained diligently in a traditional dojo, with my commitment ramping up around graduation times. During these periods, I would partake in frequent training sessions and join preparatory camps alongside my Karate peers.
The proud moment of earning my first black-belt, under the skilled guidance and examination of Hirokazu Kanazawa, was not without its share of trepidation, as anxiety of performing has always been a part of my nature.
Soon after earning my black-belt, I stopped training and haven't returned since. I'm not entirely sure why, and there are times when I feel a tinge of regret about it.
Now, as a 32-year-old father with my active training days in the past, I occasionally contemplate a return to the dojo. However, my reticence stems from a lack of enthusiasm for Kata and graduations, coupled with a preference for training partners whose company I enjoy and with whom I have a mutual respect and understanding.
I often found myself questioning the limitations inherent in Shotokan Karate, particularly the inability to engage at full strength without risking injury. While the introduction of gloves and protective gear provided a level of safety, it shifted the dynamics of the 'empty-hand' style - creating a paradox that was fun, but somewhat discordant with the original principles of the style.
Although Shotokan Karate isn't traditionally tailored towards street-fighting, I often find myself pondering - could this discipline be adapted for such purposes?
Recently, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has sparked my interest. It seems both enjoyable and intriguing, yet I'm ambivalent. Would it be a good fit for me, or might my longstanding ties to Shotokan lure me back? The path forward remains to be seen.
While I appreciate a degree of discipline and respect for traditions, I believe a fresh start would need to be in a more relaxed environment. The constant seriousness can become taxing, particularly for an activity meant to unwind after work. Beyond the practice itself, there should be room for smiles and laughter - because ultimately, it should be an enjoyable journey.
I'm uncertain if I'll ever step back into the dojo. Sedentary habits creep in effortlessly, especially with the many joys of being a dad and having a fulfilling job. Yet, I recognize that being humbled through martial arts, both physically and psychologically, could provide me with an essential balance - a balance that I once knew in my youth. It's a balance I've almost forgotten or willingly relinquished, but when I reflect on my past, I take pride in what I achieved and who I became through Karate.
In many ways, I yearn to rediscover that part of myself. The question is, can I muster the necessary courage, strength and time to make that leap again?
Your problem isn't choosing between BJJ and Karate. You have just no interest in either of them.
@@davidlloyd1526 I appreciate your comment and, to be honest, you might be right. I am genuinely interested in both BJJ and Karate and have a deep respect for both disciplines, as evidenced by my prior experience. However, I've been wrestling with some uncertainties about returning to practice. It's not a question of interest, but of finding the right timing and fit for my current lifestyle and commitments. I'm sure many can relate to such a dilemma in various aspects of life. Thank you for offering a perspective that has made me reflect more deeply on this.
i mean, if you want to know some takedowns and ground game, go for BJJ! Very good art, takes a lot of effort so be prepared. Also, not every word has to be long. you can get a simple point across with simple words.
@@Contradel traditional Karate, I don't think what you learn has to only belong from the dojo. I think what inspires me to learn everything is assuming that I'll be a step closer to being an MMA fighter, without any particular interest in joining MMA tournaments at the moment.
try a jiu jitsu class if you have a free day and see if its something you want to pursue if you don't feel enough of a need to change your schedule then don't. But remember it is important to take a chance when you are young then realize 20 years from now and say "I wish I started sooner" since most people at my gym think that they wished they started sooner even my coaches coach who is a world champion that started at like 10 or so wishes he started sooner
I love how usually McDojo styles are just about doing slow karate-like movements really fast, while actual karate is about being really fast yet still taking your time.
What? No. You do it as slow as you can, while doing it perfect. Being fast is a consequence of seeking perfection in stance and movement, not the actual goal.
An average mma fighter would destroy both dojos
@@brockrock2359 at least the real dojo can put up a fight
All karate style is all about hitting a pre cut brick and screaming their lungs out like an retard
I was taught: "slow is smooth, smooth is fast."
I did karate when I was younger for about 4-5 years. While some of my friends went to McDojo's and got black belts within 3 years I barely got to green level 1 in 5 years before I quit having promotions only once a year if I even passed. It was never fun and was actual hardwork and pain which is why I know it was legit. Plus it was 1/3rd the price of the other mcdojo's. Good hardworking sensei's there and I will always remember the fundamentals taught in case ill ever need it in a fighting scenario.
I feel ya.
The dojo i went to was kinda wishy washy, but not quite a mcdojo. It was like a mcdojo with really good sensei that would actually teach you if you put in the work.
I may not be very good at throwing hands, but i still know how to effectively block punches and kicks.
What type of karate you did?
@@______9344 Shōrinjiryū Kenkōkan Karate
@@admiralaokiji7889 do you meet Gōjū Ryū?
No fun? I hope you enjoyed it or got some satisfaction, couldnt imagine training if there wasnt some personal payout in addition to self defense
those Mc dojos made me cringe.. especially when i took Taekwondo for 20yrs, Master Kim would never let that happen. My he rest in peace knowing he thought me how to grow and be a man.
Same here, my taekwondo club is not a big club, but the instructor is very strict with wobble punch or kick, he really Will not teach new move if the person cant do a move right, not just right but the power behind that move was also important for him, there no point if your move don't pack a power same goes with the speed, it takes me entire 2 month to get the permission for getting the yellow belt test.
But sadly i need leave from the club because when u turn into 18 years its mean u need to find a job and its your turn to take care the family.
Was his name Kim Khapwan?
Im a taekwondo athlete, same like my master, master umar would never let us join a competition if we cant master a certain kick, he says “you,re good as dead when you cant do that shit “
@@platoonicdot4178 Kudos to your teacher. Fundamentals/basics are vital. Especially if you want to mix it with other styles.
@@raihanalwaritzu9530 same here, I joined aikido when I was 8 and in currently 16
Man I'll never forget one moment from pretty early on in my Taekwondo training. Our instructor dangled a black belt in front of us and said that we'd take minute-long turns trying to land a hit on him. If we could even touch him, we'd get a black belt. Now, we weren't like, little kids. We were all teenagers and a good chunk of us were both bigger and taller than the instructor, myself included.
None of us even got close.
6:40 me and my friend playing tekken for the first time
so true, just spamming one button lmaoo
Or, me when playing hwoarang
😂😂😂
Expert spammer here :D
He fell tho 😂😂😂😂
I’d be so embarrassed to be the teachers of a mcdojo.. how can they proudly stand there in front of an audience to showcase a “black belt” who can’t kick better than a true yellow belt.
I'm at my 10th karate lesson, not yet a white belt and I'm pretty sure my mae-geri and mawashi-geri are better than those 'black belts' 😂
miguel cruz I'm even an orange belt but even my kata's are better than the black belters of the McDojo's.
@@davidecamurani7389 How are you not a white belt yet? Its literally the first belt. You get it automatically with the uniform. In 30 years of martial arts (karate, jujitsu and jiu-jitsu) I've never heard of someone earning a white belt.
@@barrettokarate when I asked my sensei he told me that I should consider the white belt I was given with the karategi just a part of the uniform to hold together the clothes as I am a beginner practitioner. After learning the basic footwork, stance and kihon, I will be formally given the white belt to signify I'm a full fledged karateka that started his journey on the way of karate.
I think it makes sense to give a deeper meaning to the white belt, not just something that everyone gets by default at his first lesson.
@@barrettokarate back in the 90s I had an instructor that made you earn your gi. He gave you a piece of rope until you earned your white belt. Every grade included all the normal requirements, plus having to defeat two other students that were trying to get promoted. He didn't give a crap about gender, weight, or size. Your matches were luck of the draw.
My dad joined us up with a mcdojo when I was 9 or 10. We ended up getting kicked out because we were all too competitive and were "ruining the environment" for other students.
Thats the best compliment u can get. With almost every sport
did you beat the black belts?
In other words, you were too good for them.
@@airborne9534 they probably did
@@airborne9534 yes - my dad, brother and I were starting to sweep local competitions and were bringing back the trophies instead of the black belts.
I will say there were a select few black belts that were actually very good but the majority were unathletic bums with fragile egos.
Whats sad is when you get someone who tries to turn a real school into a mcdojo...
4:50 holy crap the sounds are so satisfying!
I honestly thought I was the only one who thought that
Yea sounds like an army marching....
Their flexibility and balance are insane.
When their feet slide on the mat...
I remembered practicing taekwondo because of this. The difficulty of kicking straight up is so difficult because of the balance, but it was useful for me because I'm short. This also made me hate pants that are restricting my movements greatly.
I've found the more realistic I've taught,the less people want to learn.
They aren't there to learn how to fight, it's all ego boost.
Your a rare breed.
Dude basically what it is; is mothers bring their kids into a dojo and say "I want my son to get a black belt but I don't want him to get a black eye" and then there was My Sensei who said: "The more blood on the mat, the more you bless the mat"
Most people are not looking to be a fighting expert, they just want to have something in case they need it. They got a lot of other things they have to put their energy into, their job, their family, etc... Of course they are not looking to be as good as people who put a lot of time into it to train their body. Most of them don't even have that much time or energy left.
@@natsudragneel-ir7sr Then those people should attend a self defense seminar at the Ymca..Martial Arts is a way of life, Combat, Philosophy, Psychology, nutrition, mind/body connection, neuro-linguistic programming, etc. Martial Arts is applicable in all facets of life.This aspect of it should be explained to a Novice who enters a Dojo interested in just " self Defense ".
I remember I used to do karate, my instructor was two times world kata champion. I spared with his youngest son ( same age as me) and even though we started training the same time he tore me apart, years of just watching his dad ( and older brother) sparing and doing kata made his form and striking so good. Was like a volley of punches that completely overwhelmed me 😂
Dudes a doctor now but I reckon he could still take me down even though I'm now used to people attacking me from my work.
woah. where do ya work?
@@cekaton9757 Use to work in psychiatric high dependency. People were a bit fighty. 😂
He’s a doctor so now he really knows all the vital points of the human body
@@Billy82605 A karate master who's a doctor is the most dangerous mf you could ever come across
Wonder what drives MA to take medicine careers. I kid you not about 40% the adults at the dojo I practiced all were involved in medicine.
In defence of the first woman , they where 2 18 mm thick planks, while the second only had one
The belts McDojo's award indicate current mastery of self-deception.
The eight knot black belt participation trophy.
"Bro this is a cool quote"
Bruce Lee
"be healthy, my friend"
Broco Lee.
"Move like water or something" - Watersports Bruce Lee
"Float like a butterfly, sting like bee, but bees die when they sting lmao"
Muhammad Ali
"Do or do not, there is no try" - Master Oogway, Middle Earth 3rd Age
"Who killed Captain Alex?"
Ugandan Bruce Lee, Bruce U.
as someone who has trained at a McDojo for 2 years of my childhood, LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING....
So once in a while every dojo gets a student and maybe their friend who actually want to take TKD, (or whatever your martial art is), super seriously, this was the case for me and my middle school buddy. We started when we were 13 and both did soccer together so we came from some athletic background. We took what we were being taught seriously and after just a month of time, all of the "yellow belts" under 18y/o could not keep up with us in sparring. Needless to say we received belts rather quickly by just being athletic and actually practicing outside of the dojo. Fast forward a year and we were were both senior blue belts, who were utterly humiliating "black belts". Long story short by the time we became Jr Black belts, it felt like our "sensei" was relying on us to teach his classes. We were fucking 14 and some changes, helping teach peers who were either, 1: more than twice our age, OR 2: our age or younger who just started training because of a movie they watched. I'm going to be honest with you, we did feel like baddasses, right until we entered into a tournament and got our asses handed to us. Not because we we bad, we were probably true purple belts at the time, but up against REAL Jr Black belts no shot in hell did we score many points against people who have been training for YEARSS. We quit the dojo afterwords, we felt scammed and both he and I completely stopped training in any martial art.
I recently started up BJJ and oh my god I'm so sad that a McDojo was where I started my martial arts journey. I traded what could've been a fake back belt for this white belt that I am proud to own.
Look at the bright side, at least you knew then and you know now that you can indeed kick people’s asses, not to mention while you still went to a McDojo, it was your start. There is no shame in starting in a McDojo, it’s only a problem if you settle for just the McDojo, which, you didn’t and was hungry for more, which in my book? That’s a winner’s mentality.
It's always better to start a true journey than to never embark on one.
I knew that I was in a mcdojo, but it was the only affordable option at the time so I gave it a try. I took it super-seriously, and the sensei (who was actually very skilled, trained abroad, all that good shit) took me aside, gave me a few books to read, and told me to reconsider, and either find a different dojo or take some private lessons with him on the cheap. He told me that he couldn't run the place like a real dojo because everyone was too soft, and just wanted to *feel* like they were learning something. Turns out he tried a few years before, but he couldn't attract many students (we live in the midwest) and sadly parents didn't want their kids to learn full-contact very often, they just want to get them out of the house-and kids was where the money was at. Dude was a real one, gave me some free individual lessons after I told him I couldn't pay. It was a whole different environment.
Pretty much everybody in that dojo was a white-belt, and he wouldn't budge on that unless they actually applied themselves, which was sadly rare. I guess it technically wasn't a McDojo because he had no problem reminding people they were novices, dude was just trying to make a living lol.
@@frostiestark9533 that's what people forget, mcdojos exist because 95% of people aren't going to put in the work it takes to actually learn how to fight. You have to be athletic, flexible and have good coordination to actually train real karate. Most young kids won't stick with a tough training schedule and adults don't have to the time. Mcdojos come around to cater to the amateurs.
@@jeffgayzose8129 See, and all I had was spunk-I was a very tubby boi lol
I am still a very self-taught amateur; used to spar with my friend who is a legit black-belt, but sadly the schedule just doesn't pan out anymore, and I haven't gotten any less poor :(
I was gonna say if the comparisons aren’t fair but then I thought about how these fake dojos stealing peoples money wasn’t fair either
The Karate School I attended as a kid was a bizarre mix of McDojo and real dojo. On one hand, it was full of kids running around and going crazy. Nobody called you out for not taking it seriously and you could easily get away with half-assing everything. But at the same time, I did it for 5 years and only got to blue belt, half way up the chain to black. I didn't fail any tests either, it just took a long time to promote. They actually didn't let you test for red belt until you were 13, and I think brown belt was similarly age gated to 16 or something like that. Basically, there was no chance you were getting a black belt until you were over 18 and proved that you deserved it. Some kids were legitimately really good, my dad kept in touch with another kids dad and apparently he not only had to test extensively for his black belt, but he also had to write a long ass essay about why karate was important to him. He may have even visited Japan at some point, but not sure if that was before or after his black belt. Anyway, the school's Shihan, Fumio Demura, was the real deal. For those who don't know, he was the body double for Pat Morita in the Karate Kid movies. He came over once or twice a year and was genuinely a nice guy. He kept it fun for the kids, but all the adults put on their best behavior probably out of fear. Most of the McDojo energy came from the head instructor who was kinda lazy and let a lot of things slide, but his assistant instructors were incredibly enthusiastic and were much better teachers tbh.
Fumio Demura IS the real deal! A lot of serious dojos run a kids level "daycare" type class to pay the rent but their "advanced" classes are only for real students.
mine is also like that!!, i had a great yoth at it, and now im getting more serious (im now 16, started age 4) its so much fun cuz they teach awesome stuff that i can actually use and the sparring is fun and gives me confidence, so its helped me in tons of ways.
As sad as it is mc dojo funds the real dojo. Very few people actually are ready to experience pain, certainly not enough to fund the place. Those fat lazy assess pay the rent for hardcore guys
The McDojo I went to is the POLAR OPPOSITE of the one you went to
An essay? wtf Sounds like something I'd BS. Well no point worrying about it now lol
In our dojo we would literally get hit with a branch if we unsynchronised in a form And now it makes me very nervous to see how out of time the fake dojo guys are
Man don't get me started on stretches. If we didn't split low enough, the damn instructer would physically push our bodies lower to the ground. I screamed like a bitch, but after watching these, I feel less like one 😂
if you want to keep students......you'll have to be nice now :(
@@jimster805 well hitting your students because they are unsynchronised... I dont Think its the best thing to do? Who gains something from just hurting them?
Would make them do the thing they cant do again multiple times or extra training be better? It would still be a punishment, but u can really increase your skillz by doing something again or train more.
@@sophiebell4758 well i don't agree with hitting students when they screw up. what i was trying to say was, schools can't be hurting students physically or mentally because they will lose students
@@theredneckbuddha2763 Well the sign of a good instructor isn't one that's just cruel.
Flexibility isn't something you can force. Say if you pulled or tore something, you can't train for weeks.
You need a mix of kind and cruel
*Mcdojos:* "Buy me a Coffee and I'll promote you to Black Belt"
“Real” dojo’s...let’s precisely choreograph moves like ballerinas, and call it martial arts.
@@onerider808 I don’t think you know too much about ballet huh?
@@onerider808 ah yes the "that wouldn't work I have zero experiences in martial arts but I know what I'm talking about" syndrome
@@aaronjacobamadorsalazar1934 ok
@@onerider808 oh look a keyboarder that has literally no idea about martial arts
Pretty sure I was part of a McDojo when I was in taekwondo as a kid, but it still changed my life for the better. I’m better disciplined, I’m better in my way of thinking, I’m an overall better person for having joined and stuck with for a few years in my youth.
Would I have loved to be part of a real dojo? In theory, sure. Options were limited where I was though, but I’m also not sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. The head of my school wouldn’t take any shit from anybody, and genuinely tried, but he was flexible and caring to us. Especially during demonstrations, really allowed us to work in the things we really wanted too, and my greatest honour at that point was he chose me, and my desire to demonstrate with the Bostaff, to not only headline the demo team representing our school, but also wanted to Joint Demo with me as part of a duo. I’ll forever be grateful for that opportunity.
10 years of blood sweat and tears in a REAL Dojo and Im finally at Preliminary BlackBelt.. McDojo in the next town I would be a grandmaster at their school LOLOLOL
How old are you? Because 10 years is alot so you must be a veteran in fighting
@@josiahlalrineng4010 idk,but avg they're mid 20 to 30 yo
@@wickywuth6976 Or in 18s or above
Cool to hear. It was always weird to me seeing other martial arts schools where KIDS have b l a c k b e l t s after just a few years, while it can take a decade + to achieve it in the system I practice.
Yeah but are this traditional like karate martial arts as good as like box or mma?
Dear god, I actually recognize the kata at 1:50. Seems like it's supposed to be kanku dai. It's a pretty advanced kata that we didn't start learning in my shotokan dojo until 1st kyu brown belt (the belt before 1st dan black) for the simple reason that it's incredibly long and technically challenging. To see them butcher it like this is... well to be honest I would be horrified if this level of sloppy technique was shown in heian shodan, much less kanku dai.
view from instructor mind
`WTf did i watching right now?....
It is amazing how many okinawan/mainland Japan based kata get completely butchered in these mcdojo schools
The worse case I ever saw was a TKD mcdojo version of Naihanchi/Tekki Nidan
I legit couldn't believe what I was seeing
Heian shodan is incredible good to train, he is like the core of the system. This guys want to show they know some advanced kata, but the essence of Karate is to make it simpler as possible, thats why heian shodan is so graceful.
Omg....I just thought it was a terrible kata the instructor made until you pointed it out!
It really is Kankū Dai that they're 'attempting' to do!
Omg I wanna cryyyyyy 😭😭😭
Personally, Kanku dai is one of the most physically challenging katas to perfrom.
It's the very long (for a shotokan kata) and requires a lot of power. Performing this in a grading examination is very hard, especially for sho-dan and ni-dan as their kihons also require a lot of physical effort and stamina.
The McDojo sparring with the 80s arcade music killed me 🤣 abrupt intensity and abrupt stopping, constant sloppy sidekick spamming. Classic 😂🤣😂
It's actually from street fighter 2....so it's 1991
I know right, I died every time this f**ing music was playing, looking at the stiff dudes trying to throw hands and kicks and looking like automatons 😂
The song is Ken's theme from Street Fighter 2 if any one is wondering.
I am so grateful that you put an actual video of Koryo after that McDojo shitshow so that the image of people fucking up Koryo to that degree was chased out of my brain
The belt system of karate originates, by legend, as follows: when you start your belt is white and unworn. Over time it becomes yellow from bleaching and sweat from all the training. It becomes orange/red with the blood that's been shead. This also becomes brown over time with constant wore and finally black as all of the blood and dirt blackens the outer layer of the belt. Finally over the years the outer layer wears out and you're left with a white belt, symbolising that you never mastered karate but are merely a student of it
Yup, I learned that from Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. It's really cool.
My Kali instructor said a similar thing in that: If you imagine an army, the white belts are the privates, those going off into combat. They become yellow belts once they are in the thick of it. The red shirts are those that ended up surviving and are coming back with the blood of their enemies covering them and the black belts are the generals/veterans guiding them (you can think of it also like the blood you've attained becomes black and hard over time too).
@@xDinomanx Yhat's cool, the concept behind the martial art belts are so interesting.
Black belts (that haven't been dirtied like that) also will turn into white belts by themselves
Pure legend, the real reason is when Martial arts became mainstream and marketable in the 70's and 80's they needed a system to keep track of what student was at what training level. it's purely administration based.
I live in a small town in Germany but let me tell ya. The oldtimers are nuts. Their kicks would send the padded mitt flying through the dojo and turn my hand red like a lobster lol. Our trainer honestly looked like he would belong in a McDojo but he was quicker than teenager me tbh. At my school you could do at most two belt tests a year, so it would take at least 4 years to get to red-black. Most people took their time though, and you couldn't rush the dan test anyway. I think for many it was about 6-8 years to the first dan, and there was always somebody higher up in the TKD association supervising the tests. I have seen people fail even lower belts a few times
Dude, agree, remind me when i was in highschool, my teacher ask to handshake 🤝, its fucxing martialart Lock Technique, damn, he didn't let go for 30 minutes, my arm go Numb, it was a painful handshake
The Director of our school was a 50 plus guy with a bulging stomach and never wore the karate outfit, but his hands looked and felt like hard rubber The callouses had literally gone smooth over the years. He died of an heart attack unfortunately, and the school standards just plummeted (or so I've heard. I couldn't keep up and left after just 2 years with only the second belt in hand. But I can still punch better than my brother who started 7 years after I'd left the school and magically became a brown belt in 2 years).
What do the tests consist of?
Deutschland :D
@@darylwasauchimmer6507 Ja DEUTSCHLAND
I used to be part of a class that became a McDojo shortly after the head instructor died. His black belts all but gave up and lost sight of what martial arts are supposed to be. Two years ago I got my black belt through them and that moment was the eye opener. I didn't break a sweat during testing and to this day I don't see it as a challenge which makes the belt feel illegitimate. However, after the test I poured myself into martial arts. I'm still trying to perfect my kata, but I also began learning MMA in order to better suit real life encounters. Now, while preparing to test for my second dan, I can with confidence say I deserve my rank and am working to bring the focus of martial arts back to my class
Hahaha you are definitely one these dudes in the video
@@macaron24 He/she literally just said their school became like this and they've been trying to rectify the errors in their training and fix their school.
@@stevekathman1291 no doubt, but as soon he gets is 2 degree from the mcdojo. Why wait the rank? Hahah
@@macaron24 he didn't mention where he was training to get his second dan. Judging by the fact he's training hard I'm presuming not at the McDojo although it does sound like he wants to go back and fix its reputation.
Story too long, fight me
All I could think after the first one is that some kid is at school bragging that their mom is a black belt.
6:37 is literally my favorite martial arts clip ever
Me and my brother fighting over the last slice of pizza:
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
Spamming that one over powered move the tutorial taught you because you don't know how to make combos be like:
I love how the music played after they started sparring lol
@@Kaiser27605 that's me playing smash lol.
Part of the problem is the public misconception of what a black belt means. Maybe BJJ is different, but in taekwondo it's not supposed to mean 'master'. You should view it as your driver's licence, your permit to start serious training.
The black belt lets you fight in the open division in full contact tournaments. The other colours are just there to stop beginners getting hurt. Everyone knows there's a huge difference in fighting skills amongst black belts.
My instructor has a saying black belt is just a master of the basics
That's a load of bullshit to make you go through 10 gradings and pay dojo fees for no less than 3 years if you want to get to first dan blackbelt and all that just to prove you can safely enter the glorified sparring of TKD tournaments lol.
A friend of mine is green belt in ITF and she is allowed to be part of the national team. She can participate in both tul and fighting competitions.
PS: every contestant must wear a black belt for the tournament (it doesn't matter if he's green or black belt).
In BJJ it is master. The average BJJ black belt requires a minimum ten year commitment.
@@dimitarbetsov1253 Yeah, I was talking about my WTF experience. I've fought some ITF too, but didn't realise the rules for belt levels were different.
When I was a kid I learned karate at my school from an instructor who gave off serious "mc dojo" vibes. I honestly learned more from my older brother who had trained somewhere else and sparred with me all the time. When I went to the dojo he trained at it was completely different. The instructor would also train airforce pilots how to defend themselves in the event of a plane crash since you wouldn't be very well armed in combat zone as a pilot. I learned so much there. In hindsight it might have been ok to go to a "Mc Dojo" because if your a kid you can learn the basics of conditioning and movements but it is a really bad idea if you actually want to defend yourself as an adult. Now that I am in college I am with other experienced martial artists. The great thing about actual martial arts training is you learn the important lesson that there is always someone bigger, stronger, and more skilled than you. If your not struggling every time your not learning anything.
I always spar the biggest dudes I can find in my dojo. Newer people get a little shocked when they see me going to spar the biggest and strongest people. It's the only way to get better imo.
@@arandomdogecoin Unfortunately I'm 6'5 so there aren't that many guys bigger than me. I have the same mentality though and tend to target either the most skilled, jacked, or tallest guys.
"If you're not struggling every time, you're not learning anything."
I'm going slightly off topic here, but. . . This is something that Disney is failing at with Star Wars and Marvel.
@@scotttrail522 Great point. It sucks that female characters are relegated toward being invincible without have to work for it. Luke sucked initially but had to train for years to become the strongest despite his talent and genetics. They could have done the same thing with Rei but chose to go down the easy story telling route. I think Star Wars could have been more successful if they used hero's journey architypes like the original trilogy while also riding off the hype.
Participation trophy belts, I remember we used to give them to little kids.
McDojo: *Dancing*
Real Dojo: *Dancing but faster and sharper*
Its ok, if the training has this playful component like in a dance. If you're scared of hard hits, you dont try new things! On the other hand you need also hard sparring sessions to learn controlling yourself under heavy pressure. Thats why a really good dojo or gym mixes up dancing like soft sparring with brawl like hard sparring sessions!
Even the festival dances in highschool here were a lot more synchronised and practiced than whatever these McChumps are doing. And half of us aren't even motivated.
@@Wisstihrwas Really good dojo does not practice "dancing". Good martial arts clubs only practice moves and techniques and do sparrings. Nothing else. If you are scared of hard hits, you simply should not do martial arts.
Dancing? Sounds like capoeira to me
Real Dojos are more synchronized and musical cues are on point
Fun fact: the woods that are used in most places are already semi split in the middle to be reused, that's why most of the times the split is so clean in the middle, with that being said you can still break the wood and it looks way more satisfying because it splintered much more
They're mostly plastic made to look like wood. There are different stiffness levels on the locking mechanism so that you can start off barely having to touch them and progress to really tough ones - but that doesn't matter a damn if you have no technique! 😆
@@JerGol oh didn't know they were plastic I think I have only seen wooden ones cause one that splintered was kinda (woody/fibrey?) Inside
Yeah. That's what I mostly heard. Still, there's a satisfaction on breaking them.
Now then, if you know that and still, you're not able to break it, either those are other kind of planks, or you are just not even trying like you should.
@@NightmareZV yeah breaking them sounds impressive to people who don't know what they are but it is extremely easy if you hit the center, if you hit too far off the center it gets harder obviously but you can still break it completely
Why would you need pre semi-split boards? Breaking a regular board isn't that hard, especially with basic but powerful techniques like a side kick or hammer fist. If people need these pre-broken boards, they're doing something drastically wrong.
You may think that McDojos are joke, but you haven't seen 'Fists of McFlurry!'
Or "Enter the Drive Thru"
Isn't the ice cream machine always broken?
@@mgc9965 That's why you haven't seen it.
Way of the drive thru
🤣🤣🤣
you know its a mcdojo when a new born baby have a black belt
McDojos even have McKatas? Damn... they should get their a$$es to Ameri-do-te, Cobra Kai or Eagle Fang Karate
You DO NOT shame the great style of Ameri-do-tae...
10 groin stomps for you.
@@BlackWat3rGTR I ain't shaming it, I'm saying they should quit their garbage and go to it haha! 20 stomps for ya!
Stomp the groin. KI-AIII!
Are you implying that katas can be any useful? Lmao.
The sensei of ameri-do-te had an actual black belt in karate so technically Ameri-do-te is a "real dojo"
It took me about 5 years before I could take my black belt test. The test itself cost 300$ and I was gonna quit after so I just never took it. I wanna say my dojang (korean dojo) was legit but it did have separate classes for... less capable people.
The test costs so much because the evaluation and getting the belt to you after that takes months, which is why it is held once a year where I am.
I dont know but...i think tht seems preety less time to get the black belt 😅
Its like all the other authenthic martial arts dojo and stuff had guys train for years on end and still couldnt get the black belt yet an lower rank belt would wipe the floor with someone who got black belt way early....
@@mantosh56 do you speak English as a first language?
@@PikaSquish are you a dumb child
Idk, a separate class for people who are not the peak of human physicality don't seem like a bad idea to me.
I joined a hard taekwondo dojo. It is free (not a commercial dojo) and the workouts are intense it reminded me of my physical labor days in Madagascar. I'm used to working out with 30 second rests in between sets. This one was like 40 minutes of no-rest continuous sit ups, followed by 40 minutes of an intense mix of pushups, v ups, splits etc. and that's just the warmup. I couldn't realistically do 40 minutes of no-rest sit ups at first but I'm getting better now and catching up to the masters. Every friend I brought to the dojo quit but I know it's good for me in the long run. Ever since I moved to the United States I've become weakened by the convenience culture, but this discipline is what I needed
TKD I’m America is bullshit, and any dojo that has more than an hour of “warmup” is bullshit. You’re in a bullshit dojo.
@@americandissident9062 I agree partially. I see too many tkd dojos that advertise quick black belts etc. here in America without any value to it. This dojo is different. We have a girl that's been here for five years and is still a blue belt, because the master really wants everyone to perfect their form etc. before advancing. It's 100% free because it's more of a passion-based thing passed down from the Korean grandmaster we had, and the training is really hard. If I had to change a few things, it would be these: I don't know how long workout and stretches are for other dojos, but we train and and pushups and stretches non-stop for the first hour. I think it's a little too extreme and is driving a lot of beginners away. We also train "aggressive" taekwondo (using parts of the feet that inflict damage vs. using the insteps), and I wish we trained both so we can also participate in tournaments and not just train for fighting. I also wish we trained for longer than 2 hours per session as I feel like a lot of the sessions are eaten up by the workout section.
@@StevenDoesStuff I have my “black belt” in TKD, a blue belt in BJJ, I’ve trained a little Judo, currently doing MMA and freestyle wrestling, and some Muay Thai.
My advice: Get out of that dumpster fire and go find some Muay Thai training, if striking is your game. And stop calling people “master”. I understand tradition has its place but calling people “master” is rightfully cringey AF. I’m willing to bet I could take your master to the ground and drag my balls across his forehead.
Very cool
Holy shit 40 minutes!!! I can only do like 5 minutes
McDojo : You earn Blackbelts easily, for bragging rights
Real Dojo : You learn to fight to protect yourself and others.
Nothing is bed of roses, you face challenges to make yourself stronger.