Is this Kyokushin school a mcdojo?

[Brandon Miller]

Learn Karate in Dallas, Texas | Dallas Kyokushin Karate
Don’t know much about the instructor or his rank. He rents out at dance studio for Cleese’s so it seems. Do you guys think this is a mcdojo?

 

[Headhunter]

Why would it be?

 

[drop bear]

Apparently they have a fight team. So someone is taking it seriously.

There website is super cheesy. But quite often people use third party marketing companies for those.

 

[MetalBoar]

There website is super cheesy. But quite often people use third party marketing companies for those.

I was going to say the same thing. There seems to be almost a cheesy commercial martial arts website template that gets used all over the country. This is better than some but it's got the same flavor. I admit it's not fair, but unless it's a style that I'm really interested in or I've had the school recommended to me I get so put off that I tend to just close the tab when I encounter one of these. I might miss some good schools this way but man, how hard can it be to put up a simple point of information site that doesn't scream, "Hey I'm exactly the same as every other generic TKD and Karate school in your city and I just want to sell you kids birthday parties!"

All that being said, yeah, outside of the cheesy web site design, I don't see anything that makes me think the place isn't legit. I personally like to see more info about the instructor than his picture but a lot of web sites have only that or less.

 

[Brandon Miller]

Apparently they have a fight team. So someone is taking it seriously.

There website is super cheesy. But quite often people use third party marketing companies for those.

Where does it say they have a fight team?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Where does it say they have a fight team?

Check out their facebook. They've got a specific fight class too, and have some training videos. I saw at least one fight video as well, but tough to tell if theyre from that dojo or just vids of kyokushin fights

 

[JR 137]

It’s Kyokushin. Being a bare knuckle, full contact system, it’s pretty hard to be a McDojo. Not that it’s impossible, but let’s be honest here.

The website is a generic “your name here” website. Notice most of the pics are stock photos. How many pics are people wearing gis with the Kyokushin kanji? Other than a few stock tournament photos and the head guy’s pics, only one or two.

He’s been teaching since 2018, so it’s a new dojo

I’ll give credit where credit is due - at least he’s trying with the website. I’ve seen too many horrible websites seemingly done by some guy in his parents’ basement. Or worse. If it were for websites, I wouldn’t have joined either dojo I’ve been a part of.

Go visit the dojo. See what’s going on. See if he’s a good guy to train under and if the other students are good people to train alongside. All you should need to know from the website is who’s teaching, where they are, their schedule, contact info, and hopefully price.

Kyokushin is pretty hard to McDojo-ify. Nothing is impossible to reduce to crap, but I’d be very surprised if it was truly crap. It’s all going to hinge on how good the teacher teaches IMO.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

If you go to the fb page, go to october 3rd and youll see a video of a ton of people kicking from yellow to black belt. You can see from that if theres a difference in skill level between the ranks, and if your impressed or not with the kicks in general. Will try to link it later, but on mobile and its not letting me copy the video link.

 

[Brandon Miller]

It’s Kyokushin. Being a bare knuckle, full contact system, it’s pretty hard to be a McDojo. Not that it’s impossible, but let’s be honest here.

The website is a generic “your name here” website. Notice most of the pics are stock photos. How many pics are people wearing gis with the Kyokushin kanji? Other than a few stock tournament photos and the head guy’s pics, only one or two.

He’s been teaching since 2018, so it’s a new dojo

I’ll give credit where credit is due - at least he’s trying with the website. I’ve seen too many horrible websites seemingly done by some guy in his parents’ basement. Or worse. If it were for websites, I wouldn’t have joined either dojo I’ve been a part of.

Go visit the dojo. See what’s going on. See if he’s a good guy to train under and if the other students are good people to train alongside. All you should need to know from the website is who’s teaching, where they are, their schedule, contact info, and hopefully price.

Kyokushin is pretty hard to McDojo-ify. Nothing is impossible to reduce to crap, but I’d be very surprised if it was truly crap. It’s all going to hinge on how good the teacher teaches IMO.

It’s the only kyokushin school in my area so it’s my only choice. I think he rents out a ballet studio but it’s probably because he just opened.

 

[MetalBoar]

It’s the only kyokushin school in my area so it’s my only choice. I think he rents out a ballet studio but it’s probably because he just opened.

I wouldn't be put off by that at all. I know Dallas is a lot cheaper than Seattle, but still, here there is no way to even pay for rent in a commercial retail-ish space much less pay for anything else or make a profit if you aren't a pretty successful full time operation. I didn't notice a schedule, but if they're only offering classes for a few hours 2-3 times/week there's no way operating their own dedicated facility makes any sense. Sharing space with a dance school or other martial arts school is a great way to keep things affordable for the students, make a profit and still have a pretty nice place to train.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It’s Kyokushin. Being a bare knuckle, full contact system, it’s pretty hard to be a McDojo. Not that it’s impossible, but let’s be honest here.

The website is a generic “your name here” website. Notice most of the pics are stock photos. How many pics are people wearing gis with the Kyokushin kanji? Other than a few stock tournament photos and the head guy’s pics, only one or two.

Some of them are pretty obviously TKD pics, too - two of them on the home page are in dobok. Stuff like that drives me a little nuts, but I can understand why a new school might end up using them...and most prospects won't know the difference.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Some of them are pretty obviously TKD pics, too - two of them on the home page are in dobok. Stuff like that drives me a little nuts, but I can understand why a new school might end up using them...and most prospects won't know the difference.

Pretty sure all the testimonials are stock statements too, that they just attach a random name too.

 

[MetalBoar]

It’s Kyokushin. Being a bare knuckle, full contact system, it’s pretty hard to be a McDojo. Not that it’s impossible, but let’s be honest here.

The website is a generic “your name here” website. Notice most of the pics are stock photos. How many pics are people wearing gis with the Kyokushin kanji? Other than a few stock tournament photos and the head guy’s pics, only one or two.

He’s been teaching since 2018, so it’s a new dojo

I’ll give credit where credit is due - at least he’s trying with the website. I’ve seen too many horrible websites seemingly done by some guy in his parents’ basement. Or worse. If it were for websites, I wouldn’t have joined either dojo I’ve been a part of.

Go visit the dojo. See what’s going on. See if he’s a good guy to train under and if the other students are good people to train alongside. All you should need to know from the website is who’s teaching, where they are, their schedule, contact info, and hopefully price.

Kyokushin is pretty hard to McDojo-ify. Nothing is impossible to reduce to crap, but I’d be very surprised if it was truly crap. It’s all going to hinge on how good the teacher teaches IMO.

Oh, I don't disagree. It's better than just a Facebook page with nothing but some pictures, an address and a phone number. And I know that these schools have no budget for this sort of thing. I guess I'm mainly disappointed that the companies selling these sites don't do a better job with them and that school owners don't demand more. Having owned and operated a web development company I know how big a hassle it can be to get content from your clients, things like instructor bios and even schedules seem to be closely guarded secrets! If I owned a MA school and didn't have the bandwidth to even get the basic info to someone who could do copywriting for me I'd personally rather do a super simple site that gave only the basics than go with a generic template with little substance and obvious filler.

 

[JR 137]

It’s the only kyokushin school in my area so it’s my only choice. I think he rents out a ballet studio but it’s probably because he just opened.

Why does it have to be Kyokushin? I love Kyokushin, but it’s not exactly the only right way to train.

 

[JR 137]

Some of them are pretty obviously TKD pics, too - two of them on the home page are in dobok. Stuff like that drives me a little nuts, but I can understand why a new school might end up using them...and most prospects won't know the difference.

I was going to mention the TKD doboks, but I got sidetracked.

 

[JR 137]

Oh, I don't disagree. It's better than just a Facebook page with nothing but some pictures, an address and a phone number. And I know that these schools have no budget for this sort of thing. I guess I'm mainly disappointed that the companies selling these sites don't do a better job with them and that school owners don't demand more. Having owned and operated a web development company I know how big a hassle it can be to get content from your clients, things like instructor bios and even schedules seem to be closely guarded secrets! If I owned a MA school and didn't have the bandwidth to even get the basic info to someone who could do copywriting for me I'd personally rather do a super simple site that gave only the basics than go with a generic template with little substance and obvious filler.

If I were to open a dojo, my website would contain contact info, location, schedule and instructor(s) bio. And a brief description of the organization I’m under and a link to them. A few facility pics, and call it a day. I’m honestly not convinced that an elaborate website will really get a ton of people in anyway. I think Facebook pretty much replaced that, or am I off? I don’t have Facebook, so I’m not sure.

My dojo redid their webpage after I joined. It’s pretty much what I’d do, minus the gallery section (that they haven’t updated in a few years), and I’d have more pics throughout the site. Simple and what I’d consider effective...
Adirondack Seido Karate

 

[Brandon Miller]

I wouldn't be put off by that at all. I know Dallas is a lot cheaper than Seattle, but still, here there is no way to even pay for rent in a commercial retail-ish space much less pay for anything else or make a profit if you aren't a pretty successful full time operation. I didn't notice a schedule, but if they're only offering classes for a few hours 2-3 times/week there's no way operating their own dedicated facility makes any sense. Sharing space with a dance school or other martial arts school is a great way to keep things affordable for the students, make a profit and still have a pretty nice place to train.

I agree.

 

[JR 137]

It’s the only kyokushin school in my area so it’s my only choice. I think he rents out a ballet studio but it’s probably because he just opened.

A ballet studio actually makes a ton of sense. Mirrors, wood floors or similar that don’t allow street shoes, and even a stretching bar. And some music if he wants it.

If I ever start teaching, starting out at a dance studio makes a ton of sense. The location would have to be right though.

Come to think of it, when my former teacher moved a while back, the building he vacated was turned into a Fred Astaire dance studio.

There was a local dance studio in my hometown for decades. The owner got old and retired. She sold it to a BJJ club. All they had to do was put down some mats.

Here I was thinking about starting out at a YMCA or the like if I ever started teaching. I’m rethinking that now. The only hiccup is dance studios mostly operate at the same time a dojo would.

 

[Brandon Miller]

Why does it have to be Kyokushin? I love Kyokushin, but it’s not exactly the only right way to train.

Because I’m looking for knockdown rules karate to train and compete in and it’s the only knockdown style school in Dallas

 

[JR 137]

Because I’m looking for knockdown rules karate to train and compete in and it’s the only knockdown style school in Dallas

Any Enshin or Ashihara karate locally?