Sometimes, I read about frauds like the above and I don't even want to talk about training. I don't want to open my mouth "in the same room" as these people. I often wonder if money is to blame, but then again, I've been to some very financially successful dojangs that were very good.
My personal feeling is that we have created an "open door" policy where any asshat can cross the threshold of your dojang and then walk out and saying whatever. This may be okay for others, heck it was okay with my teacher, but it's not how I choose to run things.
I'm not sure if its different in Asia, but I do things a little differently. I don't advertise. I don't have an open door policy. If people find out about us and want to train, they've got to contact me first. I'm going to ask a few questions. New students are usually recommended by other students. I tell them to be wary of who they talk to regarding their training and I tell them to use good judgement if you want to give them my dojang number.
Consequently, I don't have a lot of students. The students I do have, though, are part of a network. They know each other, they help each other train and they back each other up through the hard parts of our training. We have a pretty tight school and I am able to keep my standards high. I expect excellence and I think that I have created an environment that fosters it. I guess time will tell...
I had a low rank student take a Song Moo Kwan class to fill in his schedule. The class was taught my a 6th dan that I've had some negative dealings with. (Basically, when I first opened my school, he found out and tried to shut me down. He felt that I was trying to poach students from him. I moved my dojang and started my current policy) Anyway, my student is low ranked and the class he took happened to be the other persons middle rank class. Mark (Kid on MT) whooped all of this students in sparring and showed some really good technique. The 6th dan, then proceeded to attempt to poach a student from me! Mark choose to stay with me even though I hold the lowest teaching rank in our art (which is another reason I keep a low profile). I felt very honored and I think my approach is working the way I want it to.
upnorthkyosa