How do you keep your school from becoming a McDojo?

This is a real struggle for any owner of a school who wants to turn a profit. One has to dance the razor's edge of keeping to the integrity of the discipline while at the same time keeping enrollment up and established students interested. Sadly, there are very few who can do this, so you either have great money-making schools or else teachers who live in near poverty (unless they have other jobs). It's unfortunate because I have seen some really good teachers fall into the McDojo trap.

The only real way I could think of to avoid having a school be a McDojo while still turning a substantial profit would go to the old Chinese practice of having "closed door" students; that is, the general populace of the school who pays monthly tuition and gets the standard training regimen, while those who are genuinely interested and want to take their training further are given the option of more intense training to learn the complete method to the discipline in question. This is done by invitation.

Another option is for the teacher to be so filthy rich that enrollment and rates don't matter, so that if a student quits due to the regimen being too difficult, it doesn't matter!

Good points have been made by Tao and Pugpaws already. It's a hard thing to avoid the McDojo route -- cost of living and operating expenses can make the easier money very appealing.

I think the important thing is to stay true to what you believe, and endure those that come and go. My teacher barely gave me the time of day until I'd been there for nearly six months. It made me realize just how fair the class structure was, and I saw how many people quit in that time. It kind of left me with a few impressions that I carry with me, and maybe you'll find them useful:

1.) Don't get too attached to the new students. They'll come and go anyway, contract or no.

2.) De-emphasize rank. The rank isn't what you know or what you've learned, but what's expected of you from that point on.

3.) No matter how bad it gets, you can always shut up and train. Tired of people bad mouthing your school? Shut up and train. Tired of students wanting the easy route? Shut up and train.

4.) Be true to yourself. Teach what you want to teach and not what some structure says you should teach.

5.) Be honest with the students. If they ask how long to get a black belt, laugh and say, "Hey, for $1000 right now, I'll sell you a black belt and print up a certificate on my computer." When they look at you shocked, explain what that really means. When they reach for the cash, grab a belt and fire up photoshop. A belt is a $5 piece of fabric and a certificate has less value than the paper it was written on.

6.) Don't test. This is a huge one for me. What's a test? So what if a person can do kata or waza correctly in front of a bunch of people. Can they do it in training? How well? Training is the test. If you think they're ready to test, they're ready to be promoted. Just give them the rank and tell them how much they owe. The rest is just a BS waste of time. (I can hear the gasps from the forum already)

7.) Remember you're the guy down the street to somebody else. Students will always go from group to group going "These guys suck!" Who cares? Let it go. I mean, unless your business plan is to steal all the students from the guy down the street, it's not going to hurt you. McDojo A down the street isn't in the same business. They sell fashion accessories (colored belts), you teach martial arts. Does the coffee shop on the corner concern you too?

I understand it. It's a business. Sometimes you have to make business decisions, and that part sucks.

Great question, Frank. Thanks for asking it.

It is a catch 22 type of question. I seldom have students quit to go somewhere else to train. The main reason is how I explain and teach. Here are a few things I do.

1) I tell prospective students that I teach self-defense not sport martial arts.

2) I tell them that I do not promote anyone on a regular time basis.

3) I make sure that they understand that if they are training to earn a black belt, that they are in the wrong place.

4) I explain that each student is promoted when I feel that they have the knowledge, understanding, and ability equal to the next rank.

5) Each student is promoted only if they meet the requirements mentioned in (4).

6) I explain that it is the knowledge and ability that are important, not the belt rank.

7) I tell them that when they reach black belt that they will understand things better, and have better skills and self-defense skills than most other black belts.

8) There are no formal rank test, or testing board. All promotions will be made when I feel that the student has met all requirements.

9) I impress upon the students that I will never promote anyone to a rank that would embarrass them, me, or the style.

10) Certificate fees are kept reasonable.

11) I do not use contracts in any form.

12) Students are trained by group classes, and private lessons. They pay extra for private lessons. The student decides how many private lessons he wants or can afford.

NOTE: Having formal rank test usually means that many students are testing on the same day. Family and friends are usually present. This means that you now have the attitudes of both the students and families judging how fair you are with your testing. You should be the only one with an opinion. By promoting as required, you eliminate the attitudes of outsiders. If you feel that a student should not be promoted yet, you are the only one that knows. That way no student will be embarrassed should they fail a group testing.

All I have to say is even if the extreme happened and one would think all martial art dojos became mcdojos but think about it. You do not have to have a dojo to train. So in the end there will never be all mcdojos because like at a school i started to train at its in someones backyard/garage. Also at my old school which i left because i moved away it was at a recreational center but rent was cheap and all we had to do was buy our own belts. At my new school all I had to do was buy a black gi and the Professor even gave me a new white belt. Also another situation to cancel out that all schools will become mcdojos is that people could have practice at a beach or park. So in the end no matter what happens there will never be all schools mcdojos. A DOJO is a place where you train of the way and the way could be trained anywhere not just on a mat in a buidling

I have loads of people come and go in my classes, they are the ones who generally ask me to show some flashy move to warrant my black belt. I just simply tell them that what use is a 360 jumping kick in a self defence situation, I only teach what works?

My classes are very hard both physically and mentally, if someone comes in who is there only for the belt or to learn a couple of moves so he can go outside and ko someone. I always make sure that, that class is a tough one. I know my current students love the graft so they get something oout of it anyway. Then at the end of the lesson I explain to them that the gradings are ten times harder than what they have just experienced (needless to say they don't come back). Then only those who respect the class, myself and the other students as well as an attitude for wanting to graft, then those students stay.

However I do understand that many of the students that come threw the door expect and want different aspects from their training. Some just want to keep fit, some want learn, some want to fight and yes you do get those who want to acheive a black belt. But all of them want to work hard, so they can get a sense of true acheivement from the classes, fights or grades. This is why I have 2 sets of grading systems, one is for self defence and the other is for kickboxing. I also run 3 classes a week dedicated towards competition.

All in all you must keep your high standards, if someone is not ready tell them so. Don't stop them from grading, it is still a good experience for them to practice what they have learned under pressure. However if they fail just let them try again later free of charge. Also some in here suggest gradings are a waste of time, I have to disagree. They are excellent for goal setting and to assess how the students are progressing and as I mentioned before you can put them under pressure.

Great ? sifu :-)

I guess it all depends what is more important to you, quality or quantity. My instructor has a full time job and is part owner of a company, and he definitely does not teach to make money. I have actually seen him take money out of his own pocket when we didn't have many students, just to pay the bills.

I do not think it would be possible to teach a traditional art today, and make a living on it, without making concessions. MMA gyms have somewhat of an advantage in this area, because we live in an "I want it now" culture in America. Traditional arts generally don't lend themselves to this mentality. All you have to do is look at all the questions on here about learning on the internet, or from books, or DVDs, and that should tell you what direction it is going in.

It used to be that training martial arts was a privilege and the instructor decided if you would train, and if you were accepted by a good instructor you were lucky. Now people, especially many parents, think that since they pay dues that the instructor must listen to them, and unfortunately many do. Add this to the fact that many people have opened schools up that really have no business teaching, and it gets bad.

So in the end, I guess it all depends on what kind of students you want to turn out, and whether you want quality or quantity.

Edit- Really good anwer by Tao J.

Look it is simple. Develope a set of principals in which you feel are important for "warriors" to learn. Stick with them and don't cave. A good idea is have a second stream of income outside your school so you are not relying on your school to have all your finiancial goals to come true.

No matter what you are going to have people calling your school a McDojo so accept it, and work to know your school isn't a McDojo. Should people work towards their next belt? Yes. Is that all they should work for? NO! Set up goals by constantly pushing your students. You want your students to "scare" the other people in the parking lot, not because they are rude or crude or un-freindly, but because the other people can smell the stench of battle on them. Train you students like you would train your army, and you will gain a reputation to be proud of.

I think the interview, and the up front communication is the way to go.

I believe that martial arts training can be beneficial for every human being, and good for society as a whole.

I find that martial arts students come from all walks of life and start at many different ages.

Not every student has the same "martial arts potential".

Student X may be over 40, and may never be able to do a spinning hook kick that looks good, or achieves the desired height for that kick. He/she may have bad knees or some other medical condition.

Regarding student X, should I hold him at a certain gup level forever? Or should I allow him to proceed to the next grade? It is a tough question for a dojo owner. If I promote him and he reaches black belt, and prospective students come in and see him and his sloppy or poor technique, they might automatically assume that my place is a McDojo.

Some would say that I only promoted him to black belt in order to collect the testing fees required for that grade and to keep the student coming back. However, I would argue the opposite. Having advanced students with poor technique is not good for business. It's not good when a yellow belt with two months of training is competitively sparring and beating a 5 year student. It creates the perception that the place is a belt factory and will cost the dojo owner business in the long run. Newcomers will assume that because that particular black belt sucked, that all the advanced students must also suck.

This is where it boils down the dojo owner and his relationship with that particular student. It's a one on one relationship and that persons circumstances are no one else's business, regardless of other peoples perceptions.

If I did choose to hold student X as a permanent green belt. Chances are he would quit, lose self esteem and feel like a failure. By advancing him, he continues to learn new things, and sometimes those bad habits or poor techniques improve. This is better for him, his health, his productivity and contribution to society as a whole.

Regarding children, I really don't think that many parents want an artificial belt or title for their child. Parents should be told up front that the main benefits for children include socialization, listening skills, hand eye/foot eye coordination, self esteem improvement, physical fitness, adult interaction skills, improved focus and introduction to goal setting methodology. The belts provide tangible short term goals and keep the child interested and focused on learning new things. I don't think there is anything wrong with telling a child that they are not ready to test, but you must follow that up with positive reinforcement. Belts are not guaranteed. I also tell parents that the black belt is the 1st long term goal, but that in reality, the black belt is the true beginning of the martial arts journey, not the end of the journey. That is when the are serious enough, committed enough and focused enough to carry on in the martial art.

Regarding "watered down" instruction: I think real issue with "watered down" martial arts comes from liability issues and court rulings. Some dojo owners "water down" the techniques in response to these things and falsely believe that watering down the art will somehow protect them from a law suit. I give stern warnings when teaching something that can cause serious damage, but I would rather teach these techniques than leave them out.

I also think that there are way fewer "McDojo's" than people think. We live in a capitalist society and competition is no longer friendly. Just look at the political campaign ads and the focus on "negative ads". The place down the street has to try to distinguish itself and many resort to negative methods when competing. It's human nature, and it's difficult not to get sucked into that.

There are good teachers and bad teachers in all martial arts.

James

I am resigning from the YMCA for this reason.

I have one student, a woman, who is willing to continue with me outside the Y. She understands the teaching. In 2 classes, she already knows Sanchin kata and its mechanics well enough that she can do it on her own. She has the footwork, the posture, alignment - everything. The rest find it weird or different or some other non applicable term to describe it. They are gone.

I rather have one person I can teach my art to properly, than a class full of people who want to go on to the next thing.

I'm not "old school", I am Ancient School.

To hell with the rest.

I wanted to add that I no longer issue colored rank belts. Your white belt is to keep your waist and internal organs supported.

I will issue Yudansha when I deem you ready.

With my teaching method, that's not very long. I teach advanced skill from day one.

If you're too shallow to realize it, go to the school down the block.

I think that their bad mouthing will only hurt them. Smart people can distinguish constructive criticism from the gripings of a lazy person.

From what you've said, their bad mouthing will probably draw "real" students to you. I know I'm like that. When I hear how hard or tough a teacher or art is, unless I think the hardness is due to mental illness, I go find the person.

If they are really that lazy, they won't last at the McDojo either.