You have a lot of unrelated issues here, though minus the video/seminar issue, they do tend to converge in many commercial schools.
I do not like non/light contact schools.
So long as the school is billing their program as a self improvement/sport (so long as the sport mandates light contact)/fitness program/after school activity (which is what most commercial schools are), then the contact level is unimportant.
If the school is billing themselves as a self defense school or an MMA school, then light or no contact goes against the stated purpose of the school.
So long as the school is up front about what they are offering, this simply comes down to a question of you being the wrong customer for the product being offered.
Non/light contact works well for large commercial schools because when you get right down to it, most people in the states who take a martial art do so for self improvement/fitness/after school activity and are not looking to be teh deadly or to get banged up. Many want to simply have more confidence in themselves.
I do not care for schools that follow the latest fad.
Again, this is more typical of large commercial schools that are trying to maximize enrollment and profit. It can backfire, though if the school seems unfocused as a result, which is why some will also fall into this:
Same goes for those who try to be a "jack of all trades".
Which usually amounts to a core art (most often a striking art) with grappling elements tossed in. But what if the school has instructors ranked and graded in other arts? Realistically, if the school has qualified instructors from different arts, the school certainly could be a jack of all trades sort of school, though I generally prefer a more focused school.
Instructors that learn only from videos/short seminars (that give instructors certs, lol) should be exposed as frauds.
If they have fulfilled the requirements set forth by the organization certifying them, then no, they should not accross the board be exposed as frauds. This is actually fairly removed from the rest of the issues you list and also gets into what constitutes fraud. Though I am in agreement that people who have video training
only or whose experience is
limited to short seminars really should not be instructing.
Teach what you know. Admit when you don't have the answers. Learn from those who do.
I consider that an axiom.
I have spent 30 years in tkd and 9 in bjj. Seen more than my fair share. All styles are different. Most have something to offer, even the ata. Their ma is lousy and most agree that a bb should not be earned in 18 months, but what a business model!
This is not restricted by any means to the ATA. I said this in another thread, but it bears repeating. We all are ready to judge time in grade requirements for black belts in one breath and then say that rank is meaningless in the next.
I really don't care if another school offers a BB in less than two years. I still don't think that it is really a good idea, primarily due to the perceived value of a blackbelt by the general public and the potential for an undertrained student (usually kids) to think he or she is more capable than they actually are, but since rank really is unimportant (though not meaningless), another school's time in grade is unimportant to me.
Light contact should only be for beginners, young children and seniors. We teach martial arts! Not knitting! They can get confidence from soccer and should be getting basic discipline at home. Non contact is for tai chi and tae bo/aerobics.
What if they hate soccor? What if the student is an adult who lacks self confidence and is trying to improve themselves? It isn't always about little kids. Or what if it is a single parent who wants to have the discipline taught in the home reinforced by a second party? In a two parent home, one parent can reinforce the other, but for a single parent who has to work and be a parent, the support of the second parent is not there. As a single parent, I steer my kids towards whatever I can that will help reinforce the lessons that I teach at home. Discipline has never been an issue with my kids, but then, I am an MA instructor. But I'll take any reinforcement that I can get anyway.
As far as non contact, I am mostly in agreement with you.
Ok, rant over. Don't honestly care if readers agree or disagree. My mind is firm on this matter.
Many such rants about all of the above on the internet. This is because, in my opinion, entrepreneurial spirit has overtaken the substance of the arts in many large commercial schools and long timers like you and I see it and know what those students are missing.
Daniel
