11 signs your gym is a McDojo

If you’ve reached this page, you’re probably wondering about what a McDojo is and how to spot them. Below, we have compiled the top 10 ways as to how to spot a McDojo as well as a quick definition. The worst thing in the world of martial arts is to sink years of training into mastering something that isn’t authentic. Whilst many people will happily train at a McDojo to serve their own needs, what’s sadder is those who do so without genuinely realizing it. Hopefully, by reading this guide, you will quickly be able to spot a McDojo when you see one and avoid wasting your time and money.

What is a McDojo?

McDojo is a term used to describe martial arts gyms and dojos that prioritize money over principles and have a poor quality of teaching, students and general culture as a result. The term is a play on words of ‘McDonalds’, meaning that like McDonalds, a McDojo is common and isn’t a good experience for its customers. A similar term you may have heard is ‘bullshido’. This is again a play on words for bushido which translates to ‘code of honor’ for the samurai. Similarly, the term bullshido doesn’t mean much explaining in regards to its play on words title.

With this in mind, here’s some of the key warning signs that you’re training in a McDojo

The students are out of shape and don’t look like martial artists

Sometimes, you may get older martial artists whose best physical days are behind them. Similarly, newly signed up practitioners may be a bit out of shape. Whether that’s with their cardio or weight, you get the point. In brief, some people are legitimate martial artists who aren’t in the best of shape and it seems that every gym or dojo has that ‘one guy’ who is fat yet still moves like a lightweight and has great technique.

However, it’s a warning sign that most people are out of shape. This isn’t fat shaming, but instead is looking at what martial arts is. As seen in this interview with Philip Sahagun, martial arts should help improve your body and mind. As a result, most martial artists should be in good shape and have a degree of strength, stamina and athleticism that is above the standard of the average Joe. If you walk in there and people are visibly out of shape and don’t look like martial artists then you have every right to be skeptical.

The gym is vague about what it teaches

These days, most gyms will either offer MMA, or a specialist martial art such as Muay Thai or Kickboxing. In short, when you read about each individual gym, you should quickly realize what they involve. This is where McDojo’s can differ in what they offer. Often, they will have vague statements such as offering ‘self defense’ and ‘street techniques’. This translates as a teacher who has not earned a black belt in any particular martial art.

The result is that said teacher hides behind their vague offerings so they can’t be questioned or challenged. For instance, you can’t have a belt in self defense or street techniques. Therefore, the instructor effectively gets away with it by not having a legitimate martial art to be called out on. Typically, these places will offer a bit of everything. From weapons training, to striking, and grappling – usually there isn’t much they won’t touch.

You can ‘beat’ experienced practitioners in sparring

Again, let’s throw in a quick disclaimer. If you’re an athletic 20 year old, you will obviously have physical advantages compared to a guy at 60 years old. No one expects the older guy to be competing with the younger practitioner. Similarly, we’re not on about black belts letting lower belts work and going soft on them. However, we’re not on about unusual circumstances. Imagine being a newcomer and being able to regularly beat most people in the dojo. For instance, you’re training kumite in Karate and don’t have much technique, yet you’re still winning.

This is a huge red flag and shows that the practitioners lack technique. Even if you’re a couple of months in, you shouldn’t be testing black belts. This is a sure fire way of seeing what the gym has to offer. If you can beat someone with years of experience on you in a couple of months, then is it really worth training there at all?

Kids wearing black belts

This is a classic McDojo situation, where kids are wearing a black belt. It doesn’t matter what martial art you practice, this should never be the norm. Obviously, some kids will be talented if they’ve trained for years. Still, let them have their own belts and standards, and don’t compare them to adults. Whatever their rank, it shouldn’t be black belt. This is because the black belt is reserved for adults and has a symbolic meaning of mastery. As children are still young and learning, it goes against everything that a black belt represents.

Basically, when children can get such a prestigious belt rank, it takes away its meaning and runs its value down. This results in black belts essentially becoming worthless and it defeats the very point of a belt system. Whatever happens, if you see kids wearing black belts, you should seriously consider training at this dojo.

Secret, deadly moves and no sparring due to it being too dangerous

The very idea of martial arts is about teaching practical techniques that can be used in real life, self defense situations. This means that ultimately, they should be taught and shouldn’t be shrouded in mystery. Of course, some moves are naturally more dangerous than others and should be treated with caution. A good example of this is the Kani Basami takedown in Judo. This is banned as it has a clearly dangerous element. Having said this, it’s still drilled and isn’t seen as completely life threatening.

Instead, we’re on about moves that are completely shunned yet are spoken highly of. For instance, a ‘touch of death’ is something you may hear about that isn’t really a thing. Nonetheless, certain shady teachers will promote such antics. On a similar note, you may hear of instructors barring sparring from their gyms on a similar premise. For instance, they could claim that sparring is too dangerous and therefore is not allowed. This is a massive issue as sparring is a good way to pressure test new moves against resisting opponents. At the same time, sparring should still be safe. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if the teacher happily beats up his opponents, then run.

Cult like behavior

Sadly, you can still have a good gym that still operates like a cult. Unfortunately, the very nature of martial arts attracts cult like behavior. This can be seen with traditions such as ranked belts, bowing and chants. Although these are intended to create discipline and togetherness, sometimes people take this too far.

If you see a teacher or gym owner having students praise their every move then this is an issue. An example could be by receiving favors outside of the gym such as students offering them free goods or services, just to impress them. Similarly, inside the gym if they act like a god and are rude to students or expect special treatment, then again this is an issue.

Remember, you’re an adult and a paying customer. Sadly, too often people slowly get drawn into this culture, and even though it’s obvious on the outside, it can be hard to see the truth when you’re deep in the middle of it. In some extreme cases, some gym owners have abused their position to gain sexual favors from their students which is a disgusting practice.

Payment for promotions and unlocking extra techniques

Sometimes, a McDojo will operate purely from a financial perspective and the owner is completely in it for the money. As a result, they may pay for grades, whether subtly or not. A subtle form of payment could be by pressurizing students into attending their seminars. Here, if the student pays money, they can expect a belt promotion.

In less subtle ways, they may openly offer money for a new belt. This isn’t what martial arts is about and goes against everything that is taught by most traditional martial arts. Often, martial arts have working class roots where belts are earned on nothing more than hard work and nothing else.

By a similar token, some teachers will offer money to unlock ‘advanced’ techniques. Again, this goes against what martial arts represents and is a shady business. For instance, you could get a Wing Chun instructor showing ‘secret’ trapping moves for an extra price. In reality, there’s no such thing as secret moves in this day and age. We’re not on about private lessons too which are completely legitimate and are a good way to learn and improve.

The teacher has no lineage or past

In martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you should be able to directly trace the lineage of any black belt. That is, if you look who promoted them, and who promoted their teacher, you can go back to the roots of the art. Obviously, this is more difficult for more popular arts such as Karate where the community is more fractured. Nonetheless, a good teacher should be open and honest about their origins. As the saying goes, if they’re honest then there’s nothing to hide.

In some cases, bad teachers will even go as far as to completely lie about their teacher and claim they’ve been taught by a legend or something. If this is the case, do your homework and check Google. In some cases, you can even reach out to the original teacher to check their promotion was real. If their promotion isn’t legitimate, this could land the teacher in trouble for lying about their lineage.

Competition is banned or frowned upon

In many martial arts such as Karate, TKD, BJJ, Judo, Sambo and many more, competition is a fairly standard practice. Although not for everyone, the point of competing is to test your skills in the wild. Now, you’re not training in your gym and it’s in an unfamiliar surrounding. Here, the pressure is on and you either sink or swim…but ultimately test your technique.

However, what if you want to do this whilst training at a McDojo? Sorry, this is not allowed and is sometimes forbidden. There are a myriad of excuses that fake instructors will use to dissuade their students from competing.

Often, a common one is that competition isn’t real and is therefore a waste of time. Ultimately, if your teacher is a decent person, they will accept your desire to compete and won’t begrudge you for competing. Often, the reason for denying students from competition is out of fear of embarrassment. Deep down, if the teacher is bad, they’ll be worried about losing their students who get crushed at competition.

The gym is mostly made up of older people

As stated above, there’s nothing wrong with older people practicing martial arts. In fact, from a fitness perspective it’s a great idea. However, some dojos will not have any youngsters, particularly young adults. Sadly, there are a few Aikido dojos out there like this. If you go into these gyms, the bulk of practitioners will be older folk who are close to retirement age.

This shows that the environment is unrealistic and doesn’t appeal to youngsters. Why is this? It’s possibly because the curriculum is incredibly watered down and unrealistic. As a result, certain older people feel that they can train and ‘learn’ without fear of being taken on by a younger trainer. This is backward logic but it does go on. Usually, these gyms will lack sparring, dynamic movements and realistic techniques…hence why young people avoid them like the plague.

Made up belts

Most martial arts will follow their own unique belt structure. Usually, this begins at white belt and ends at black belt with various colors in between. However, McDojos will often put their own spin on things. The reason for bringing in their own belt system is usually a mixture of self-serving ego and to confuse outsiders. For instance, if you’re a Judo brown belt then you can tell a bogus Judo brown belt when you see one.

However, what would happen if you sparred a Judo pink belt? You literally wouldn’t know if they were experienced or brand new. This is often why these fake belts are introduced, to hide the lack of skill and technique of the students. In short, any genuine school or teacher shouldn’t need an excuse to introduce their own belt system. Logically, it makes no sense other than for the above-mentioned reasons. Usually, fake belts mean a fake gym.

Summary

As seen, there are several factors that go into making a McDojo. Whilst most gyms will rarely have all of these features, even one or two is enough for you to start questioning the legitimacy. Thankfully, McDojo’s aren’t as common these days due to the growth of the internet that has exposed such shady practices. Nonetheless, due to the natural growth and spread of martial arts, McDojos are still alive and kicking so beware!

If you want to learn more about McDojo’s then check out this book, The McDojo Manifesto