If you have never heard the term, then let me explain a little more, A “McDojo” is a derogatory term used to describe a martial arts school that prioritizes profit and commercialism over genuine instruction and the development of martial arts skills.
There are a few things that give a McDojo away, and below I’ve listed a couple.
Focus on profit:
McDojos prioritize making money over providing quality instruction. They may use high pressure sales tactics, offer expensive contracts, and push students to buy unnecessary merchandise, and often lots of hidden costs.
Rapid belt promotions:
A key characteristic of a McDojo is the frequent awarding of belts, often without a corresponding increase in skill or knowledge, or just awarding a belt for attending a couple of sessions, which makes the belt utterly worthless.
If you have ever “earned” a belt for turning up for 4 sessions, then this is an attendance award and not a martial arts belt award, and worth as much as a belt out of a McDonalds happy meal.
Lack of genuine training:
McDojos may lack depth in their syllabus, with little to no realistic forms of training that will help and benefit people in the real world, and if the instructor is not a black belt themselves, with no actual instructor training themselves, there is no way they can offer any decent level of training.
Emphasis on quantity over quality:
McDojos often aim to recruit as many students as possible, rather than focusing on the individual development of their students, offering lots of “free stuff” to try and lure people in.
Unqualified Instructors:
Some McDojos may have instructors with questionable credentials, no formal instructor training, and have instructors that are not even black belt level, some clubs even have instructors at a lower level than some of the students (yes, hard to believe, but this is very true).
And if they are not a black belt, this means they will NOT have any insurance, as NO Insurance company will insure non-black belts to teach.
A black belt from a credible source is absolutely essential for any martial arts instructor, it’s the minimum standard any should have.
Not affiliated to a national governing body:
Some McDojos pop up and start awarding belts while not even linked to a national martial arts governing body, which makes these belts absolutely pointless and worthless outside that McDojo, and they are not linked to a national body as that body will require then to have some set standards, which they do not and will not have.
Another down side to this is that outside of your McDojo, your belts are worthless and will not be accepted by any club who is linked to a national governing body. Whereas with ours, our belts and levels are accepted at thousands of clubs around the country, so if you were to ever move away, you take your belt and grade with you.
Not being affiliated to a governing body, also means the “instructors” will not be DBS checked.
See our page on instructor training and instructor standards in the “About us” Section.
Essentially, a McDojo can be seen as a “belt factory” rather than a place where students truly learn and grow in their chosen martial art. And I would strongly urge anyone to check out a few different classes to see the different standards and levels.
At impact martial arts Marlborough and Tidworth, we teach martial arts and kickboxing of the highest level and to a set national standard, because we care about what we do.