knowingly training at mcdojo

[jobo]

It is my belief that all martial methods were originally intended to give useful skills in a reasonably short period of time. This, of course, depends on how dedicated one is to the training. But in the main, no system should require many years of training before one can expect to have reasonable skills.

Of course one can always spend a lifetime training and getting better, and true mastery may require much more time. But again, that should not mean that one cannot expect to develop useful skills far sooner than that, I would say beginning around 6 months to two years, depending on how dedicated one is to the training.

It is my opinion that it is a new and modern mythology that has been built around martial arts, that one needs many years of dedicated training before developing useful skills. Teachers who promote that mythology are doing a disservice to their students, and may be incompetent themselves.

But that SHOULD be what the grading is about, no" Useful "fighting skills you stay a white belt. It seems a lot of ma have dropped the fighting ability thing to a large extent

 

[drop bear]

I think if two people were doing Krav - one poorly and one well - most experienced martial artists could tell the difference, too. What we might not be able to spot is if one was doing good Krav and one was doing something that wasn't Krav, at all.

Not from watching drills you can't. Just too unrealistic.

 

[drop bear]

It is my belief that all martial methods were originally intended to give useful skills in a reasonably short period of time. This, of course, depends on how dedicated one is to the training. But in the main, no system should require many years of training before one can expect to have reasonable skills.

Of course one can always spend a lifetime training and getting better, and true mastery may require much more time. But again, that should not mean that one cannot expect to develop useful skills far sooner than that, I would say beginning around 6 months to two years, depending on how dedicated one is to the training.

It is my opinion that it is a new and modern mythology that has been built around martial arts, that one needs many years of dedicated training before developing useful skills. Teachers who promote that mythology are doing a disservice to their students, and may be incompetent themselves.

Depends what you consider useful. A sports fighter. Let's say a boxer who doesn't have a heap of techniques still takes years to become a pro.

But can handle a real time fight one n about 3 months.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It is my belief that all martial methods were originally intended to give useful skills in a reasonably short period of time. This, of course, depends on how dedicated one is to the training. But in the main, no system should require many years of training before one can expect to have reasonable skills.

Of course one can always spend a lifetime training and getting better, and true mastery may require much more time. But again, that should not mean that one cannot expect to develop useful skills far sooner than that, I would say beginning around 6 months to two years, depending on how dedicated one is to the training.

It is my opinion that it is a new and modern mythology that has been built around martial arts, that one needs many years of dedicated training before developing useful skills. Teachers who promote that mythology are doing a disservice to their students, and may be incompetent themselves.

Agreed. And I think that, as instructors, we sometimes let that myth color our approach. We expect folks to suck for far too long. Part of my curriculum update was intended to address that bias.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Not from watching drills you can't. Just too unrealistic.

Probably not from drills, with any confidence. Even with BJJ drills, I could mistake skill levels - an awkward partner can make almost anyone less fluid-looking in soft drills.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Depends what you consider useful. A sports fighter. Let's say a boxer who doesn't have a heap of techniques still takes years to become a pro.

But can handle a real time fight one n about 3 months.

Some of the difference, too, is time commitment. If that boxer trains two hours a week, he’ll take longer than if he is willing to train 10 (or more).