Warning: This post has shocking content midway thru. Do not read if prone to brain explosion.
Out of 9 pages of posts (some interesting), punisher73 has, IMO, come up with the definitive point to the OP topic. The "Mc" is derived from mega chain McDonald's, which from its very inception was based on simple basic food (in quality and menu) for the masses that desired "quick and simple."
"Hugely financially successful," though is dependent on volume. Tasted good, satisfying, not too healthy, nor the best quality. Fast. Not much work to get it. No culinary creativity or expertise to make it. These exact same words can be applied to the McDojo. It's not a matter of style, combat effectiveness, colored belts or anything else other than appealing to the masses. A product aimed at attracting the biggest client base possible and meeting the biggest demand - volume. This leads to the McDojo - a simplified model with popular appeal.
Now, heavy contact, very strict standard of expectations, esoteric content, and/or very hard dedicated, often repetitive (boring) work do NOT lead to a high volume of participants. This is why the Western arts mentioned in the 6 year old OP are not subject to the McDojo syndrome. They don't appeal to a wide range of the public's interest. TMA's that do not cater to the masses are also in no danger of catching "Mc-itis."
OK, ready for a shocking statement? WESTERN KARATE WAS BORN IN A McDOJO. As we all know, the art was brought to the USA by Marines and other military based in Okinawa/Japan post Korean War. Re-read the 1st sentence of the previous paragraph.........Sounds like the way they taught over there, right? So how could they have a high volume of students and become a McDojo?
It was a unique situation where there just happen to be a VERY large market of people who LIKED banging, strict discipline, hard dedicated work - US Marines. As I proposed, a large market volume can lead to the McDojo Syndrome. What the karate masters gave the military was an easy to learn, simplified menu, quick (they were typically there 1.5-2yrs), satisfying to them physically (muy macho) and intellectually (they had no concept of the "real" karate) and were happy with the simple basics. This last sentence contains many of the same words used earlier here to describe McDonald's. The native students were often taught differently as they had years to devote and a different mind set,
The result of those early McDojo "graduates" was that the karate they brought back was the McDonald's version, and not the Lawry's Steakhouse version. But it was still challenging enough that the early market in the USA was limited as most of us were civilians and few were drawn to the demands of the early karate schools. As popularity grew here, our own version of the McDojo evolved with a certain loss of quality in favor of mass volume.
Well, it looks like I got a little carried away, again, running over the 2 or 3 paragraphs I figured on as more and more things dawned on me.
