As Rare as a Quiet Pub on a Friday Night: What Students Deserve to Know.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on JUN 03, 2025

As Rare as a Quiet Pub on a Friday Night: What Students Deserve to Know.

(Approx 2 minute 25 second read)

What motivates phony martial artists?… Is it ego, money, or something else?

I’m sure by now everyone has heard the term McDojo – a place that’s found its way onto streets, into strip malls, and community halls all over the world.

What actually is a McDojo?

These are ‘instructors’ selling a story about how great their fighting skills are, or how their karate can match anything thrown at it. Sometimes, at the extreme end, it’s all about how great their lineage is.

Perhaps they’re inexperienced practitioners who couldn’t wait to get to black belt. Or maybe they’ve self-promoted to a higher dan grade – yet they don’t know the difference between ‘geri’ and ‘keri’, can’t throw a proper punch, and move with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

They set up their school to feed their own ego, extract as much money as they can, and convince students to believe their… BS.

Any school needs to earn enough to cover overheads – rent, advertising, possibly wages. These weren’t traditional concerns for schools of old, or at least not as much when training in church or community halls.

But that’s not what we’re talking about here. There’s nothing wrong with making a living from martial arts – as long as you’re professional, honest, and have the knowledge expected of any good teacher.

A phony instructor takes shortcuts, and most people who sign up don’t realize what they’re getting into. It can take years before that feeling creeps in – that something isn’t quite right. Eventually, it hits: you’re learning nothing in any real depth.

These instructors follow a watered-down syllabus – just basic punches, kicks, and ‘blocks’, with the odd kata thrown in to pass a grade. Then it’s on to the next belt.

Why should I care?

Because I do. I care about the students being taught this rubbish – some of them end up at my dojo after wasting money and a huge amount of time at these places.

I worry about the kids – and adults – being fed bogus self-defense lessons by these self-proclaimed instructors. These often naive students are being deceived on many levels. Not only is it sad – it can also be dangerous.

Potentially life-threatening, if you believe your punches and kicks will save you, but never learned why your karate doesn’t work for your goals.

The problem is, most people don’t know how to tell a good martial arts school from a bad one.

And if all you’re learning is how to fight first, is this true self-protection?

Authentic karate should go beyond the physical – it should develop the mental and emotional control needed to de-escalate conflict, escape when necessary, and act with discipline under pressure.

These big-ego instructors have an inflated belief in their own importance. They carry arrogance, self-centered ambition, and a sense of superiority that far exceeds their actual talent… What talent, you may ask – and you’d be right.

As a prospective new student, it must be really difficult to choose the right dojo these days. As an old guy who started in the 1970s, there was very little choice.

We just had to get on with it. Back then, charlatans were as uncommon as a quiet pub on a Friday night. But today, pretending to be someone or something you’re not – just to protect your own fragile status or undermine others – is simply wrong.

Google isn’t always your friend. If you’re after shortcuts or half measures, you’ll find plenty of instructors out there…

I could even give you directions.

Written by Adam Carter