Originally posted by Bob
Another story is that I walked into a little local school which advertised 8 styles all taught by one instructor.
Ah, the infamous Chung Moo Do raises its ugly head yet again!
Originally posted by Bob
When he saw me walk in he ran into his office, pulled out a contract the size of a telephone book and tried to call me into his office. I proceeded to tell him that I was just curious about his style and that I just came by to watch. Then he asked me if I had previous martial experience and when I told him yes, he told me that he would not train me because I was not a beginner. Talk about wanting control over your students.
I'd bet good money that he didn't want to train you because, with your previous training, you would immediately tell he was a FRAUD the first time you saw him move! If you ever take the time, analyze CMD's claims. According to them, they are either directly or indirectly responsible for the creation of there so-called '8 martial arts taught as one'. Not a single one of the facts they give regarding those arts is accurate. Hell, they can't even get the names right.
Originally posted by Bob
He looked at me like I was infected with a disease of some kind. Then a while later a friend of mine, who was interested in martial arts came to me and asked my advise, and I told him to go look around and see what is out there. Well, he called me a couple of days later, he told me that he a school and instantly he was approached with a huge contract (right then I knew what school he was talking about)!!!! The instructor proceed to give him 20 questions and when my friend told him that he was just looking around the instructor proceed to use my friend as a demonstration dummy without his permission. Luckily my friend got out of there before the instructor could do any more damage then what he had already...........
This was
classic Chung Moo Do intimidation strategy in the early-to-mid 90's and possibly late 80's as well. This franchise of schools (yes, it was definitely a franchise) was the poster-child for legalized dojo-bashing. Many of the schools would promise the moon to get you to sign on the dotted line. Once you did, they would do their best to milk you for every cent you had, and then some.
There are MANY horror stories of instructors physically abusing students who wouldn't sign more expensive contracts. There are equally as many stories of instructors stalking and threatening students who finally got the nerve to leave.
The system and it's founder, 'Chung Su Nim' "Iron" Kim, were investigated for cult-like behavior. There was a lot of evidence found that many of their schools actively brainwashed their students. Students were made to worship Kim. Students were forced to send Kim monetary 'gifts' several times a year. The schools wormed their way into the students' private lives, even to the point of controlling their love lives.
I'm glad you and your friend were wise enough not to sign the contract. It's unfortunate your friend was abused, but he is lucky that it went no further than that.
From what I've seen, there do seem to be a couple of schools that did not resort to these money-grabbing tactics. However, the martial art taught in those schools, unfortunately, is...well, to put it bluntly...crap.
Eventually, Kim was found guilty of not reporting all of his income...the various monetary 'gifts' and the cash payments that were demanded of many CMD students. Most of the schools with questionable practices (business and martial) have since shut down, thankfully.
As much as I dislike Weasely, CMD was a far greater insult to all serious martial artists, everywhere. Everything bad about the martial arts; every horror story you can think of, existed in CMD.
Cthulhu
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