what makes us resent success?

[Touch Of Death]

I was bantering about with someone on the topic of why he considered a certain martial arts program a big sham. If you read the posts on many of these threads it is almost certain you will hear that some one or other is only in it for the money. Some even consider selling martial arts lessons to children is a form of selling out. Of course, this extends to other professions such as music or realestate(I suppose). Getting back to MA, why is it that a successfull school chain gets branded as a McDojo and and a small school in the seediest part of town holds everyones respect? (by the way those small schools will be part of our past very soon)

 

[Shiatsu]

Well some Mcdojo's are complete sell outs. Teaching for a living, driving corvettes, mercedes, living high on the hog at the expense of their student, is a bit shameless to me.

Having black belts that have never truly felt or dished out real contact. Giving a false sense of hope, like believing that you will never get hit. Things like that piss me off. Black belt programs.

The school I'm in now is succesfull, over 200 students, but the style itself is hard core and known for it, sooner or later you will toughen up or quit. I think that is needed so people don't think that they can defend themselves, then at the wrong time, find out that they can't.

Buying ranks in organizations to me is also pathetic, for rank you need to test at least once in that style, but to out of nowhere come in and be a 5th or higher in a style that yopu have no background in is down right shamefull.

"No matter how good of a swimmer you are, if you swim in a pool of sharks you are bound to get bit".


:soapbox:

 

[Touch Of Death]

Well the way it works most of the time is that a school with say 500 students is going to get more people more profiicient in the basics than the school that only has a hundred students. Why is more better? well this isnt't about preserving some pie in the sky ideal, its about teaching the community and hopefully its children some basic martial arts skills. Of those 500 you may only end up with 100 that are truly any good but you school with the 100 students will only produce about twenty quality martial artists. Even if you feel you push the students harder in your school than the one down the road, it will only increase your turn over rate. People hate to get hurt and they are your bread and butter. You can create elite groups within you multi student organization and still turn it on as it were. Getting grandma in with the grandkids and treating them with kid gloves isn't hurting anyone and even if she'll never stand for getting plowed in the face, she and her grandkids will be better off knowing the basics than never knowing them at all. Not to mention, those kids will eventualy become some pretty bad *** fighters in about ten years or so, given the instructor sent them through the black belt club, the hit team, and so on. People will tend to sighn up at a school that appears sucsessfull; so, the whole BMW thing isn't the end of the world either.
Sean

 

[Seig]

I resent success when the product of it is a 7 year old walking into my school wearing a black belt and then leaving because he is afraid of my yellow belts......

 

[Touch Of Death]

Originally posted by Seig
I resent success when the product of it is a 7 year old walking into my school wearing a black belt and then leaving because he is afraid of my yellow belts......

That isn't success, that was a misranking, and it shows that a certain karate instructor doesnt know how to promote with stripes and half belts before actual belt levels. So you might say that karate instructor failed to stand up to the parents. I've seen adult kenpo blackbelts that didn't know how to do a reverse bow, so the ranking is a result of a bad teacher, and has very little to do with sucsess.
Sean

 

[Seig]

I disagree, the SOB that promoted him was financially successful. I didn't say he was successful as a martial artist. What makes you say that small schools won't be around in the future?

 

[Touch Of Death]

The same reason there won't be any mom and pop retailers in a small town after a wallmart moves in. The students of the big school will get so much bang for there buck that the guy teaching out of his basement and has to work a full time job just to make ends meet will never be able to compete. A company like united professionals will teach that small timer how to be big time but he either needs to step up or fall back. By the way I don't own stock in UP I'm just using them as an example.

 

[OULobo]

I don't think that small "hole in the wall" schools will ever be driven out. There will always be people with the mind set that bleak settings and small classes are the only way to learn. There is also the idea that some teachers only charge enough to pay for the space and utilities. This makes them desireable to some people on a cost level and an ethics level. Many people have the mindset in MAs that bigger, flashier and more modern are not good things. I think most of this argument came out in the "contract schools" thread.