Are these schools mcdojo's?

I would like to ask anybody if they can help me identify if these gyms would be consider "mcdojos". Because I'm new to martial arts and want to know if I am getting what i am paying for. Soon, when i get my license I'll check out the classes, but before i waste some gas money, if can give me a idea of where to train. (you don't have to help, if your going to flame me.)





reality martial arts, shotokan %26amp; bjj (sorta looks like a mcdojo from the website) -


http://realitymartialarts.com/





Chang's School of Martial Arts, tkd, karate, judo (looks http://changsschoolofmartialarts.org/hom...





Round 1 Martial Arts %26amp; academy, variety


http://www.round1pa.com/





Tri-State Martial Arts, variety


http://tsmaa-pa.com/cms/





thanks in advance

Are these schools mcdojo's?
McDojo is a pejorative term used by some Western martial artists to describe a martial arts school where image or profit is of a higher importance than technical standards. The term is an example of McWords applied to Japanese martial arts dojo.[1] A McDojo of Korean martial arts may be referred to as a McDojang but the term McDojo is used for various arts regardless of origin. While using the term McDojo primarily indicates judgement of a school’s financial or marketing practices, it also implies that the teaching standards of such school may be much lower than that of other martial arts schools, or that the school presents non-martial arts training as martial arts. Where a McDojo's practices may border on fraud, this can be referred to as bullshido.





Standards for a McDojo are largely opinion, but there are commonly seen practices they may be widely regarded as questionable and are indicators that a school is a McDojo, though these practices may not necessarily be exclusive to McDojos. Schools that would not generally be classified as such, have adopted some of these practices to varying degrees, the line being the difference between profit and profiteering. Practices that cause concern include exaggerated or fake qualifications, the use of exploitative contracts and fees, advertising of training that only has a martial arts 'flavour' as actual instruction in fighting, equipment monopolies and restriction on activities outside the school. While the practice of exploiting the mysticism of martial arts is not new it is perceived as having become more prevalent in modern times.





"McDojo" is also a reference to the proliferation of such schools in many communities in the United States and many other nations, in much the way McDonald's restaurants have proliferated. Many practitioners of martial arts with serious combative, cultural, educational or therapeutic value regard such proliferation of recreational, business-oriented, or absurdist martial arts schools as derogatory or defamatory to the proper presentation of the martial arts.





Because there are no clear standards of what constitutes a "McDojo," the term is often used by instructors at smaller, less popular martial arts schools to assert that larger, more successful academies are focused solely on profit as opposed to performance.
Reply:hmm what is thebest way to answer this? yes there is a lot of Mcdojos around but it is the instructors that make them a Mcdojo! So basicly you will have to waste some gas money andtime and check them out and see which is the best one for you, if you can go to one of their testings and see how the people test. for example martial arts is a full contact sport so when at a testing you should see crisp forms, controled sparing, one hit board breaks ect ect if you are there and see none of this then you might start to think it is a Mcdojo.





Take a look at this "http://www.ataonline.com"


see if there are any schools around for you to go see. I own one and offer a free class or week for someone to try it out and also tell them to stop in and watch a testing. It is also nice to be a part of a large corp. cause we all learn the same forms,weapons,ect and at tournaments your own skill level will decide if you place or not. but again even with the ATA there are instructors that just pass out belts to get your cash. So please do the research and take the time! I hope this helps.
Reply:stay away from TKD they are all Mcdojo's





Also TKD stands for Taking Kids Dancing , its useless!!
Reply:I'll just refer to the schools as 1-4 in order that you listed them, i had a fun time looking at them btw, thanx





1. - Ok here is a statement that is sus in the BJJ/MMA: All "grappling is done in a controlled manner to help prevent injuries" now if controled mannor means not full on tournament, flat out fighting, then its ok, but if it means something else like dry humping then avoid it, apart from that it seems alright, maybe they have a little too much "Stuff" going on but that doesn't mean its not a good school so you need to check about that dry humping statement





2. - There isn't much information on here, its not what i would call a McDojo since it looks like its only one guy, and I couldn't dl the video so I cant say if its good or what





3. - I really can't tell if they are legit or not but i get a bad vibe from them, USA Hall of Fame, wtf is that? And It feels like they are a little up themselves, when i clicked the pictures I was expecting to see pictures of students training like in other martial arts sites but it just showed "proof" of their acievement


coold be good I guess but I dont think I'd train there





4. - this school just looks very avarage, like it is designed for general fitness and not really fighting, not saying that is bad but it just seems like 1 %26amp; 2 are more fighting schools, I' rather train with guys who are up themselves than a boaring place but check it out you might like it





To conclude I would say that none of these places are really what you call a McDojo, its best to try them all out and see whats going down. If I had to choose right now I would be looking at number 1 as my first choice and number 3 as my second, no idea what 2 is like bcause I havent watched the video, and 4, I get the feeling that it is very fitness orientated and not very fight orientated, best thing to do it go there and see, if they spar in Muay Thai and Roll in the submission wrestling then add it to your list, if not then go with 1 or 3
Reply:It is really hard to telll from a website. my suggestions would be to visit all of them, and even ask about attending a free class or two. there are many answers on here about how to spot a McDojo. Wish I could help more. I have found that as a general rule any school that has more than two arts going on, unless each style has a seperate instructor, are to be avoided. It takes a lifetime to master a style, so one guy in his 40's teaching 3 or 4 is just ajack of all trades, and might not be able to give you in depth training on any one.
Reply:You need to go see the quality of instruction to know...sorry. There is not better way than to visit.

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