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- #21
Great for you OC I hope your delivery in life will be worth a pile of gold after the light go dim........... God Bless You and America
As I said, martial training has always and ever will be about purpose. In your case, I would say that it is a noble one. Keep up the good work. It is amazing how much you can learn from your students when the goals and purposes aren't material driven, it must be very rewarding as well as tough.OC Kid said:I teach now a few disadvantaged kids from my home. Only about 4-5 for free. I trying to keep them away from the commericial end of it. Just teaching pure martial arts as a way of life for them, hoping that learning the way will help them succeed in life and stay away from gangs/drugs ect.
OC Kid said:I think commerical M/A has and always will be about ego and $$$.
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I teach now a few disadvantaged kids from my home. Only about 4-5 for free. I trying to keep them away from the commericial end of it.
Whitebrich we all charge for our services, but that is the end of it,commercial goes beyond charges, you have to understand the other aspect to Mc Dojo's as one reader always say's........ Mc dojo's sell's there souls for a buck, we all have students that are never going to be great nor the best of the best but yet I know instructors that will stroke the parent back just to get more monies from them,I.E. just like all the little leagues out there, football, baseball, soccer, or any other sport out there. A good school will keep teaching those that wish to learn, but we do not bleed them dry with false hopes of grand champions.... God Bless Americalvwhitebir said:Can you elaborate on what you mean by "keeping them away from the commercial end of it?" I mean, if you accept money for lessons, you are by definition a commercial school, which I believe is perfectly ok.
There is nothing wrong with charging what you feel passing on your knowledge and experience is worth. Absolutely no shame in it at all. The question is whether others agree that it's worth what you charge and pay it. I'm amazed how many people complain at paying $70 a month for lessons while having no problem paying $50-$80 a month for cable TV. Yes there are egos and shams out there, but there are a lot of good instructors charging high fees as well as low fees. Is one better than the other?
WhiteBirch
Hmmmm...like paintballers fantasizing that they could "take" a SWAT team...SCA people fantasizing that they could have really been Knights...Kendo practicioners living the "Samurai Fantasy"...the list could go on and on. People like the "Ive done all the stuff..so Im as good as" approach to ego building. While at the root of all of it, the roles they want to emulate are more about duty, service and self-sacrifice than about any list of skills or techniques.loki09789 said:I can't honestly say that I 'know' what martial training was really like in the past, but I can make some educated guesses.
As far as the modern structure of martial training, it really follows the model of all those great "ragged boy/girl" stories like Cinderella or King Arthur.
We enter a program humble and clumsy, at the bottom of the pecking order. Much like the first images of the hero in the above tales.
We face challenges and are put in stressful circumstances with the goal of testing our skills to see if we are good enough or not to rise to the next level/challenge. If we fail, we are faced with the internal battles of doubt and disappointment.... If we succeed we have earned a better seat at the table.... and so on until we accomplish that personal image/goal of 'hero' by attaining a certain place/rank in the structure.
That is what the commercial schools will peddle if they have no soul or desire to truly improve people who come through the door. They are selling the "personal hero" experience. They are pushers of the drug of false imaging and are getting paid by the addicts who don't understand what is happening and don't think that they can get that level of fulfillment anywhere else. Somewhere in the scam, they will tell people that they can really defend themselves 'on the street' and that they have gained some 'inner strength' even though they have only and ever learned to kick and punch on the studio floor....
Agree all the way MichTKD, there is a reason why those cheesy 'action sunday matinee' movies about rival schools exist. Because such 'prestige battles' did happen and they were rep builders. The 'winner' could brag that they were the top school (even if they cheated, ambushed, brought weapons.... to 'beat' the rival champion/master).MichiganTKD said:There is nothing wrong with charging money for your teaching. You have a skill and knowlege which is worth something. This is why education is not free.
However, when money becomes the reason for your teaching and your motivation, we have a problem. Don't think the Koreans or other Orientals are above this. America is the land of the almighty dollar.
terryl965 said:is MA turning out to be money motivated like all other sports??????
That IS the trick!!!!!!!!!Tulisan said:No. I think personal ego plays a huge role also.![]()
The key is, finding people to train with who are not just money or ego motivated.
:asian:
In all truth martial arts has always been just a money maker.
Bod said:I practise with my friend in my room to improve my skill. Is that money motivated?
I trained for free with a 5th Dan Ninpo guy, so that he could improve his skill (I was far from his ideal training partner, but I was often the only guy who turned up to his class). Where was the money motivation? He was losing money on the room hire. My judo club just manages to balance the books and no more.
I have trained with 'for profit' schools, but often the trainers just wanted a job that allowed them to train as much as possible. Sometimes the trainers make huge profits, but often the training is of a very high quality. Look at the Gracies for example.
I'm not denying that there are mcdojos and MA profiteering, after all it is rife in the entertainment industry as you rightly point out, but for those who train for their own benefit, money is usually is no object, or a secondary object at most.
loki09789 said:I just heard a new one: Master ChaChing Martial arts.
Right up there with McDojo's, Seminar Samurai, Martial Farsist or Martial "As good as..."ist... all terms affectionately used to describe to problems with some of the motives/goals of martial practice. "
I like those terms cool I use "Partial Arts" myself . Im getting to like McDojo.. But Mastah ChaChing has to take the cake..:>)