I’m not saying all, but a lot of times(especially McDojos) you will find the instructor has on their information page on their website they belong to some sort of World or United States association? How many could there possibly be! Lol. Like I am an Aikido student so I know the Aikikai is legit so to speak but these guys remind me of Count Dante and the BDFS. What’s up with all that? Marketing? I’m sure they have to pay dues so what do they get out of it?
Why are almost “all” instructors…
- Thread starter OldManJim
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There's a lot. One of my old instructors used to rack up "invitations" like spam mail. You pay the fee and get to brag that you're a hall of fame martial artist to new/prospective students and their parents, sounding very impressive.
drop bear
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That is also more of an American thing. Australia you only have to be good at one style.
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dvcochran
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It is quite common. Like a 'band of brothers' thing, many, many instructors group together to create such and such federation. This is consistent across all styles. I do think much of it is about marketing and bragging rights.
It is important to understand that Every MA's organization I am aware of can be joined if you have enough money. So membership is not a good indicator of quality. I would look more at lineage (if verifiable) and an honest record of competition (theirs and their students) and community efforts.
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Before I moved to NC. I lived in WV, there was a hapkido school there. The owner/instructor was in every single organization you could think of. He had earned a “lifetime” achievement award like 12 times. He supposedly had BB in 4 Korean, 5 Japanese, and like 3 Chinese styles. His website was amazing to read, it’s no longer up but he had ranks like chief master and things I’d never heard of. I’d actually talked to him once and visited his school. He was a very nice but eccentric dude.
I was surprised reading this. I'm friendly with a whole bunch of schools on the East Coast. Good schools, good students and instructors, been around a long time. None of them were ever part of any organization to my knowledge.
drop bear
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Security trainers tend to collect certificates.
There are a lot of actual legitimate martial arts organizations, for what it's worth, and a lot of people who are affiliated with them. Like, say, USA Taekwondo, which organizes Olympic sport TKD in the US (not that they do an amazing job of it, admittedly, but they are the official national organization for the US). Being a member of that group isn't a prestige thing, but it is required to compete in certain tournaments and so forth.
And some martial arts systems handle rank promotion through an organization, so that's another reason to be a member of one. In Kendo, for example, rank testing is done by a panel test held at a big get-together organized by a regional federation. So your dojo needs to be part of the regional federation in order to attend and for you to rank up.
However, as far as I know, "Hall of Fame"s are all bogus resume-padding.
And some martial arts systems handle rank promotion through an organization, so that's another reason to be a member of one. In Kendo, for example, rank testing is done by a panel test held at a big get-together organized by a regional federation. So your dojo needs to be part of the regional federation in order to attend and for you to rank up.
However, as far as I know, "Hall of Fame"s are all bogus resume-padding.
MetalBoar
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Yeah, even if they aren't all bogus so many of them seem to be that I get pretty skeptical about a school when I see the instructor is a "Hall of Fame member".
The Isshinryu Hall of Fame is a legit organization.
My dojo belongs to the World United Isshinryu Karate Association and I'm a lifetime member. Also legit.
There are plenty of made up organizations out there. There's no law against it.
Caveat Emptor.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
I see them a lot in the control & automation world. Every time you learn a new program, language, or software, meet an industry standard, or renew your certificate membership for ASTM, OSHA, IEEE, etc... you get a certificate. The training is necessary but I usually could not care less about the certificate.
There are some I make exception to such as master licensing in certain categories.
The purpose of an association (such as ACSCA - American Combat Shuai Chiao Association) is for "quality control" and also to organization national tournaments.
ASCSA member's BB certificate will require to be issued by the association with 3 board members signatures. IMO, that's good quality control there.
Not all associations (such as ACSCA) charge membership fee. Some associations (such as ASCSA) don't even charge BB testing fee. A long as your teacher belong to that association, you automatically are that association member. No fee is required.
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It’s an attempt to add credibility to spurious schools by being members of spurious national organisations by merely paying a fee to join. It does appear to be an American thing, but of course, with the U.K. being the 51st state of the US, it is increasingly prevalent over here.
I must have had a senior moment yesterday. I've since remembered that several of the schools I used to visit belonged to various organizations. Ueichi-ryu organization, Parker Kempo organization and a Tang Soo Do organization.
Duh.
dancingalone
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Organizations are common and dare I say it, even desirable at times. Much of it is about supporting a senior master financially so he can make a living solely from martial arts, permitting him to travel and teach across the country or world. I have been a member of the United States Aikido Federation for decades. I have never regretted a single dollar sent nor asking my students to join and send dues.
One of the many reasons that I am a lifetime member of the WUIKA and have registered my rank with that organization is that there is now outside verifiable truth available should my Sensei pass. I cannot imagine going anywhere else to train, but the younger students might. While the WUIKA is largely unknown outside of the Isshinryu environment, inside IR, it is well-known and respected, as was Master Mitchum.
Probably for quality control
you want to know they aren’t teaching bs, honestly it’s likely better to find a teacher who was trained well by a good teacher.
Unfortunately, for most students, the instructor's instructor is probably also an unknown name, no matter how good they are, and how well-known within the art.
Yokozuna514
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To join or not to join, that is always the question. Joining an organization can:
1) Give you access to more advanced instructors that can be an important resource for increasing your own knowledge.
2) Give you access to larger tournaments that are attended by affiliated schools so students can compare themselves to a larger pool to see where their training could or should be at.
3) Connect you with other schools and instructors around the world to give your students an opportunity to travel and train in different countries among students that are learning the same basic curriculum.
If your organization isn't giving you and your students these as well as other opportunities to grow, then what is is good for ? Why pay the dues to belong ? If it is solely for the marketing and without any real substance, you may want to look at the reasons why you want to join.
So I put on our webpage that we teach Pekiti-Tirsia Kali under the PTTA banner. For other PTK students it gives them a frame of reference about our lineage and our rough curriculum. For a student who doesn't know anything about Kali it is meaningless or maybe they feel better that we are tied to a larger group. What I don't belong to is some random "United States Master's Congress" or something similar that doesn't have to do specifically with my style.
Other reasons might be for insurance (not that that is important to a random student) or that they participate in certain competitions such as membership in the Amateur Athletics Union in the US.
Other reasons might be for insurance (not that that is important to a random student) or that they participate in certain competitions such as membership in the Amateur Athletics Union in the US.
