 The term McDowjo has been circulating the internet for quite some time now and when we first launched this channel one of our earliest videos was what is the McDowjo and in that video We tried to give some tips and advice and tools that you could use to evaluate your school and your training just to make Sure, you were getting out of it what you wanted now Of course We've had a lot of interaction since then and I thought this was worth revisiting as a topic because there's a couple things I want to address one I want to address some popular misconceptions I've seen in regards to the usage of the term McDowjo and actually how to apply it to identify in a school as one To I want to clarify some of my statements based on feedback and comments from you guys three and a few more things I want to throw on the list and For I want to reiterate the intention of the video and how to use the advice to your advantage So let's get to it Now I want to reiterate this list that we released was not a definitive checklist in that if your school hit these certain things They were definitely McDowjo So the list was just some ideas for you to observe and look at your school and just Evaluate and ask yourself the question. Do I feel like I'm getting quality training? But by no means does that mean if you checked off three things on that list or if you said Oh man, my school This is one item that automatically meant your school was McDowjo. No, that's not how that works It was just again a general guide first McDowjo is not an official term It is a pejorative term used to imply negative connotations to an idea or a concept of schools So you're gonna find that definitions are gonna vary and you might see some blurred lines Generally McDowjo is defined as a school that focuses priority on making money in a profit over the quality of what they're teaching That is in a nutshell when a McDowjo stands for also and I saw this comment many many times and they still see it Whether we do an art history video or somebody's talking about a different art Somebody inevitably comes in and goes oh that art's a McDowjo an art cannot be a McDowjo a specific style cannot be a McDowjo This is often being mixed up with the term bullshido, which is very another pejorative term But basically bullshido is an art that basically people think is crap or not worth it or not You know not up to par so a lot of times people will interchangeably use the words and that's not really correct A McDowjo does not apply to an individual art how you feel about an art and its effectiveness and its history and whether it's got Value or not, that's a whole separate topic But an art cannot be a McDowjo because a McDowjo applies to a specific school BJJ is a fantastic art Most people agree with that, but I have heard people say oh BJJ is a McDowjo No, BJJ cannot be a McDowjo You can have a BJJ school be a McDowjo and I've seen those before that their training was horrible It was all about money money money money that sign people up because this is the catch term So that school could be a McDowjo, but the art cannot and kind of going back to the bullshido comment Just because it's a school that teaches something you don't like doesn't make it a McDowjo either There's different qualities of schools or different intentions schools So you can go to a martial arts school that focuses on self-defense other schools focus on exercise or kids programs or Cardio programs other schools are tournament based and other points sparring So if you're looking for a school that's primarily self-defense and you come across when it's all about tournaments They got room full of trophies. Well, that doesn't make a McDowjo because that because of something that you don't want to train That's their specialty They might be fantastic and they might teach excellent programs that actually win competitions, but that might that's their goal So just because it's something that you're not looking for it does not make a McDowjo It comes down to is that school teaching what their specialty is are they doing it? Well, or are they just putting out a crappy product in just the hopes of making money. That's where the line is drawn So you got it to you have to look at it objectively not based on just what you are personally searching for All right now I want to do some clarifications based on comments We've gotten this video over the past year and a half now A lot of the controversy about people training martial arts or teaching martial arts for living comes down to you Oh, this should be a passion. They're teaching people to defend themselves. You should have a look for the art You should teach out the look for the art. I understand and I even agree with that sentiment However, does that not apply to doctors and teachers? I mean doctors, you know, they're saving people's lives Literally, should they not teach it for should they not do it for a for free or just to help the public? You know, maybe they should go get another job and as a passion see people's lives on the on the side It's kind of the same thing, you know a martial arts instructor is a specialized Tracement. Yes, it is the trade because even back in the days early as the martial arts They were used for bodyguards. They were used for you know, gardening transports. They were soldiers So yes, it is a skill is a highly developed skill that is taught for multiple intentions They didn't teach people to save their lives teach people for health It is a specialized trade and I personally don't see anything wrong with it of opening a school and running as a business again As long as their goal and objective is to teach a quality art Honestly, you're not gonna get rich off opening school I'm gonna promise you that unless you're someone like who goes and does a whole big, you know High-profile program like Billy Banks and the you know back when he had Taibo or if you're gonna Franchise your school across United States if unless you're in that top tier of marketing You're not gonna make a huge amount of money off of opening school. Trust me. I've seen this many many times I've seen schools open and close. It is a struggle to run a business as a martial arts There's a lot of work into it. You don't go home rich But there's nothing wrong with making that your profession and teaching as a livelihood As long as you keep the lights on you keep your staff paid and you keep the school running And if you can live on it and you can focus on the art I personally don't see anything wrong with that again as long as your passion is teaching the art and not Opening school just for the profit if you're opening the martial arts school just for the profit Chances are you're not gonna get very far because there's there's certain things you have to do for that And then you start to go into the mcdojo realm Another comment is if the school focuses on kids, then it's the mcdojo hands down and it's all fake karate No, I disagree with that going on the last point is You need if you're going to run a school and you want to run it full-time and teach full-time You pretty much need a children's program just to keep the lights on and it's just this program can cover a different thing It could be just about exercise depends on what age group But you can still teach kids life skills teach them self-defense just because there's a kids program or even the bulk of your business Is a kids program. There's nothing wrong with that again It comes down to the quality of what you're teaching also the whole concept of kid black belts Then we did that in another video. Can kids get a black belt? Yes, I will agree if you walk in the door and there's a whole bunch of kids students and they're 10 and under and they're All wearing black belts is a bunch of their black belts if they are adult black belts if they're considered full black belts Then yes, that's something I don't like. I don't think children should be adult level black belts I think that's a skill that you have to grow into and as far as an age I don't think it should be based on specific age at all when you're 16 I think it comes down to the student that when that student grows up old enough strong enough to be able to hold Their own and reasonably be able to defend themselves against an adult Then I think they're more in the qualifications to be a black belt if you want to give them a showdown rank now over to Junior black belt program. That's a little bit of a different story and I've got more leeway on that The school I used to teach at had that program And I think that's fine because as long as you make it very clear to the student that this is not a black belt It's a junior black belt was just meant that they've spent the three or four years completing the children's curriculum and now they're transitioning to the adults So they knew it wasn't a full black belt And it was just the beginning of their adult training and they would spend another three four or five years achieving that So by the time they got their showdown rank, they were training 10 to 12 years I think that's appropriate, but you have to make that distinction a lot of schools don't do that So if you do walk with your school and you see a 10-year-old at the fourth degree black belt Mmm, that's definitely a big warning sign That's probably not the school you're gonna want to train at in the previous video I mentioned the comment that if the instructor is shady or secretive about their lineage and that's a warning flag And I got a lot of comments saying oh just begin with liege doesn't mean anything You know just the quality of a person's training doesn't matter on who their master was and I I agree It does not matter what lineage they have it all comes down to individual instructor But I'm talking about the way they handle that question the way that the effort if they're putting effort into hiding What the background is or if they're keeping it extremely vague I'm sorry. That is a red flag to me and this goes on to what kind of art they teach I also mentioned if they're not clear about what their art is That's also a little bit suspicious and I don't mean that you know, they have to say oh we are kiyokushin We are shodokan a lot of schools are hybrids hybrids are fine But if you go to a school and you ask the instructor what they teach and they say it's karate And you say well, what kind of karate that looks just karate There's no such thing as just karate their styles There's just different methods of training and hybrids are fine Even if they say oh, what's a little bit of this little bit of that or you know I use my own system this combination this and this this totally valid that can be totally fine But if they won't tell you what's in the program There might not be a lot to the program So just some food for thought the no feel right I mentioned that if the school never fails a student that that's a warning sign I wanted to find that because a lot of people are like and I agree with this Some schools will not even test you unless that instructor feels you're ready So if there's no fail rate that might be because nobody tests until they are ready What I was referring to more Sam's back to my early experience at my first campus school, which was kind of mcdojo It's we had monthly tests and it wasn't that the instructor didn't pick you or you or you There were monthly tests that you shut up for if you felt you were ready and you perform the material And if you performed it correctly You got your stripe if you didn't you had to wait till next month My problem comes into you when there's a school with that kind of a setup and nobody fails that You know, not everybody gets a striker at times. I shut up. I wasn't ready. I'm like, okay. I didn't get my stripe Fine that happens. I'll get it next month But if it's a monthly test and everybody who shows up and everybody who tries out gets it Is kind of odd. I also want to clarify my comment about dating students I mentioned there that it's teacher dates students. So that's definitely a big red flag I want us again clarify this It's one thing for an instructor to date another instructor or if it's an adult class A relationship can develop out of it. That's not such a big deal. That's that's actually fine What I was really referring to and this is my fault for not specifying it more clearly were Instructors who use the school as basically a single bar. So I'm not poo-pooing on anyone having a relationship in school That's fine. It happens. That's good. That's all good. I'm talking about when the instructor abuses the format It abuses the opportunity and treats the school as your own personal singles bar. That's a problem. That's a big problem And I ruffled a couple of feathers with this one But I'm going to stand by this point if the school teaches you no touch knockouts or throwing a sheet across the room Leave find a different school Unless you're studying theatrical arts That is not a practical martial art or self-defense and I try to be objective All of you guys who are regular viewers know I try to be as objective as possible When it comes to no touch knockouts, I'm sorry That's just that doesn't fall into the category of legitimate martial arts. That is It's psychological. It's theatrics and I've had a few comments going. Oh, but you got to keep an open mind Or just force it up that we don't know. No, I'm sorry My belief is with martial arts you learn hands-on effectiveness. You have to learn how to manipulate a person You've got to build strength. You got to build technique in your body. It's about skill It's not about throwing magic across the room. So I'm sorry if I ruffle any more feathers with this But if the school teaches no touch martial arts and your goal is self-defense or do you get stronger? That is not the school for you So now I want to add a couple of small things to this list if they say that their art defeats everything If this is the perfect art for you and you ask, well, what about ground fighting? Oh, we don't teach ground fighting because our system defeats it You know, you don't even have to learn on their ground fight Now see when they start to disparage other arts and say you don't need to learn blank because ours covers everything That's a problem because that just means they don't want you learning something else because I'm sorry The best way to defeat a grappler is to learn how grappling works and learn how to grapple There's no magic techniques that are going to stop every other art If a school preaches that that's the only art you're ever going to need in your whole life that defeats everything Then no, I'm sorry. They're they're they're selling you something because it's that's not that's not real And finally instructor says oh, you're a prodigy and they want to push you through the system quicker Gifted students do exist I've seen a couple of them We've had a few kids come through our classes that show some natural skill and they advance fast But you know who they are, you know, you know, we had a couple kids who we teach them a technique in class They would go home and practice that technique go on youtube Learn the next one and come back and ask questions about it And they but they wanted to know they knew they weren't going to learn just from the video But they like hey, I watched this how does this work and they just they're like a sponge And they soak it up but they could perform it They had this natural athletic ability that went along with it that does exist An instructor who truly believes you're gifted is going to not just tell you they're going to show you They're going to actually spend more time with you They're going to show you more advanced material because they're going to know you're going to handle it They might put you in more Supportive roles, you know, it's your instructors or assistants You can tell by their behavior. So it's how they act towards you Can a school have a prodigy or one or two gifted students? Yes, absolutely. It happens If they've got 20 or 30 gifted students I would question that when everybody's a prodigy nobody is So that's basically it in a nutshell The term mcdojo is such a fuzzy term and it's got blurred lines that I think it really comes down to common sense You just have to look at your school if you are very happy with what you're where you're at If you're going to a school for exercise and they and they teach that and you're getting your your value out of it Great If you want self-defense and you come out there as a great fighter Or even if it's just a school that focuses on kids, but it's teaching them discipline and life skills That's fine As long as you get what you are after everyone's got different goals If you find a school that is accomplishing your goals effectively There's nothing wrong with that. So I hope these ideas helped and of course I want to hear any more feedback and comments you guys have any more signs or concerns Let's talk about it. So please comment on that below and we'll keep this conversation going Thank you so much for watching guys And like I said, I like I like reengaging with you I get so many good comments that I want to come back to you sometimes and talk because you guys give me more defeat off of And hopefully we keep the style going to the point where I'm exploring doing some live chats So that might be fun to do some discussion groups on future topics. So again, thanks for watching Please be sure to subscribe join us up on patreon We've got a lot of exclusive content there and let's get this conversation going guys and we'll see you next time Thank you