Calling Somebody's Dojo A McDojo Is Offensive

Flying Crane

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So I've checked over some of the really old threads I've started, back in 2013 to be exact, and this is what I've found. First of all I would like to apologize for accusing Dirty Dog of calling my dojo a mcdojo. It was not Dirty Dog, it was James Kovacich who said my dojo sounded like a mcdojo because students could sign up to test for their next belt or rank when they held tests which was about every four months. It was in the thread I started with the title "Belt Rank Progress." Aside from that Im thinking of addressing some of the old posts in the thread and perhaps reviving it as my viewpoints have changed over the years. So this is the update for now.
Maybe you shouldn’t. Honestly, this sounds like you have been brooding and sulking and holding grudges for years. Bringing up these old comments to revisit what was said just amplifies your disgruntlement. Maybe you ought to let it go and just move on. This is an Internet forum. You don’t actually know anybody here. The rest of the world does not judge you by the conversations held here. You don’t need to set the record straight or somehow win the old argument.

Chill out. Let it go. It does not matter. Nobody else cares.
 
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PhotonGuy

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Maybe you shouldn’t. Honestly, this sounds like you have been brooding and sulking and holding grudges for years. Bringing up these old comments to revisit what was said just amplifies your disgruntlement. Maybe you ought to let it go and just move on. This is an Internet forum. You don’t actually know anybody here. The rest of the world does not judge you by the conversations held here. You don’t need to set the record straight or somehow win the old argument.

Chill out. Let it go. It does not matter. Nobody else cares.
I like making points, even if people don't agree with them.
 
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PhotonGuy

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you are making a point by doing what you said..... I just don't think you are making the point you believe you are
Sometimes I want to say stuff that I didn't think of saying at the time, so I go back to an old thread and say what I want to say now.
 

JowGaWolf

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Sometimes I want to say stuff that I didn't think of saying at the time, so I go back to an old thread and say what I want to say now.
The fact that there hasn't been a McDojo thread in a long time should tell you that something in the environment has changed. I don't know if Covid Changed it or if MMA and BJJ beating traditional folks caused the change but my guess is people don't worry about it as much any more. If they don't want to bother with trying to find out if a traditional school is a Mcdojo then they take Muay Thai, boxing, MMA or BJJ and they are satisfied with that quality of instruction.

They don't care about a McDojo because they know they don't train in one. In short "It's someone elses problem." In addition, a lot of traditional schools have stepped up their game as well. People are more educated now about what type of training they should see in a Martial arts school.

No touch sparring is not going to be the flavor that everyone is looking for. So the moment they hear stuff like that, then they know right away that's not the school they want to train at. The only McDojo thread here that is still active is the one that was dug up from the grave.

If you have anything to add to McDojo talk, then it's probably a coversation that refers to a point of time that no longer holds importance to many people. Sort of like conversations about Mullets and Afros. That time as passed along with the interest in them.
 
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PhotonGuy

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The fact that there hasn't been a McDojo thread in a long time should tell you that something in the environment has changed. I don't know if Covid Changed it or if MMA and BJJ beating traditional folks caused the change but my guess is people don't worry about it as much any more. If they don't want to bother with trying to find out if a traditional school is a Mcdojo then they take Muay Thai, boxing, MMA or BJJ and they are satisfied with that quality of instruction.

They don't care about a McDojo because they know they don't train in one. In short "It's someone elses problem." In addition, a lot of traditional schools have stepped up their game as well. People are more educated now about what type of training they should see in a Martial arts school.

No touch sparring is not going to be the flavor that everyone is looking for. So the moment they hear stuff like that, then they know right away that's not the school they want to train at. The only McDojo thread here that is still active is the one that was dug up from the grave.

If you have anything to add to McDojo talk, then it's probably a coversation that refers to a point of time that no longer holds importance to many people. Sort of like conversations about Mullets and Afros. That time as passed along with the interest in them.
It all comes down to what you define as a McDojo. If a McDojo is a dojo you don't approve of then it is strictly a matter of opinion and there will always be McDojos as there will always be dojos that not everybody approves of.
 

GojuTommy

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The fact that there hasn't been a McDojo thread in a long time should tell you that something in the environment has changed. I don't know if Covid Changed it or if MMA and BJJ beating traditional folks caused the change but my guess is people don't worry about it as much any more. If they don't want to bother with trying to find out if a traditional school is a Mcdojo then they take Muay Thai, boxing, MMA or BJJ and they are satisfied with that quality of instruction.

They don't care about a McDojo because they know they don't train in one. In short "It's someone elses problem." In addition, a lot of traditional schools have stepped up their game as well. People are more educated now about what type of training they should see in a Martial arts school.

No touch sparring is not going to be the flavor that everyone is looking for. So the moment they hear stuff like that, then they know right away that's not the school they want to train at. The only McDojo thread here that is still active is the one that was dug up from the grave.

If you have anything to add to McDojo talk, then it's probably a coversation that refers to a point of time that no longer holds importance to many people. Sort of like conversations about Mullets and Afros. That time as passed along with the interest in them.
He just wants to whine and complain because he’s suffering some serious main character syndrome
 

JowGaWolf

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It all comes down to what you define as a McDojo. If a McDojo is a dojo you don't approve of then it is strictly a matter of opinion and there will always be McDojos as there will always be dojos that not everybody approves of.
You aren't understanding what I'm saying. It doesn't matter how someone defines a McDojo because no one cares about McDojos as much as you think they do. It just doesn't factor into what people are concerned with. Below is a graph of google trends for McDojo. I don't know how you or anyone else defines McDojo these days. There's just no interest. There's a higher interest for Mullet hairstyles than for McDojo.

1682974670776.png
 
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PhotonGuy

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You aren't understanding what I'm saying. It doesn't matter how someone defines a McDojo because no one cares about McDojos as much as you think they do. It just doesn't factor into what people are concerned with. Below is a graph of google trends for McDojo. I don't know how you or anyone else defines McDojo these days. There's just no interest. There's a higher interest for Mullet hairstyles than for McDojo.

View attachment 29746
Alright well if it will make you happy I won't use the term mcdojo. Lets just say if somebody insults your dojo and says that the stuff being taught there is garbage its offensive, especially if they don't know your dojo and they base what they say on just one little thing they heard about it.
 

Tigerwarrior

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Alright well if it will make you happy I won't use the term mcdojo. Lets just say if somebody insults your dojo and says that the stuff being taught there is garbage its offensive, especially if they don't know your dojo and they base what they say on just one little thing they heard about it.
Honestly I think most people who have been training for a while will know if they are in a mcdojo or not. If you take your art seriously and someone calls your dojo a mcdojo tell them to come in and try it out, put them with a intermediate student in sparring or a black belt someone with control so they don't hurt them too bad but get the message across that this is not a mcdojo.
 

JowGaWolf

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Alright well if it will make you happy I won't use the term mcdojo. Lets just say if somebody insults your dojo and says that the stuff being taught there is garbage its offensive, especially if they don't know your dojo and they base what they say on just one little thing they heard about it.
I think the way I speak of my trainingis why no one has told me that my training and kung fu is garbage. But over all I wouldn't care if they say such things. They are of no importance. They aren't the ones I seek advice from.

Even as tough as this forum was in the past. I don't remember seeing anyone claim that my school was a McDojo. I'm down to earth about my martial arts training. I try not to make it sound mystical.

Most people don't know what Jow Ga Kung fu is so that helps too. The most important thing is that people who do the same thing have similar experiences. People who have sparred and fought will catch on quickly to someone who hasn't.
 

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