Singapore: Ten Ways to Spot a McGym / McDojo / McDojang

As some of you know, I've been training at martial arts, pretty seriously, for nearly 10 years. A few different styles, both traditional and modern/competitive. I am no Grand-Master or Olympic athlete, but I love it. It really is one of the most rewarding, challenging and fulfilling things I have found - not to mention that I've met great groups of people in my clubs and squads, who feel the same way!

I have a rule that when I travel for any period of time, I try to train at some martial arts in that country. I've done taekwondo in Malaysia, muay thai in Thailand, went to karate HQ in Tokyo, tried (and failed!) to find Khmer boxing in Cambodia ^^ (though I did find Western boxing). Basically I have been lucky to find that in many countries, I can join places where I find like-minded people. People who love their art, respect it, and train determinedly, through mental challenge, sweat, bruises, and inevitable injuries to improve. For life. And know the rewards this brings. I've found this mindset is pretty similar world-over, and regardless of language, culture and the style of martial art.

So when I moved to the modern city of Singapore, I was pretty confident I'd find a good club or clubs. Taekwondo is my main art, with a few others thrown in. And taekwondo is one of the most fast-growing and accessible martial arts in the world. But actually I have now been in SG for nearly three years, tried out countless clubs for my different arts, and have found it extremely difficult to find anything genuine. Yes, there are a plethora of taekwondo, MMA and other schools here, a lot are flashy, brilliantly advertised, claim to be the best of the best, and seem to have instructors with incredible CV's - but they don't actually teach you real martial arts.

This kind of 'martial arts' establishment is known, and joked about in real martial arts circles as McGym / McDojo / McDojang (depending on what you're trying to learn)! They're the butt of hilariousness in the UK, but I'd never actually encountered a fully fledged one before. In Singapore, there are A LOT of McPremises!

A real Dojo or fight gym puts your (yes your!) training at the heart of everything it does. Your instructors will identify your strengths, potential, things to correct, and work with you on bettering them. If you're good, or enthusiastic, they will notice and nurture it. If you're struggling, they'll guide you. In the end all students hopefully will be learning and improving, together. The aim is to make you and your team better.

The aim of the McGym/McDojang is crucially NOT to coach their students individually through a fascinating life-journey (though they will undoubtedly claim this in their advertising). Their aim is to boost their own brand, make cash and pull in increasing volumes of new customers (to make more cash). There's nothing wrong with cash per se (though I believe it goes against some traditional martial arts philosophies) but at the McGym, cash and their own external image will come first, second and third - before any consideration of students' learning, passion or talent. Real martial arts is like a delicious, nutritious roast dinner - the McGym will give you.. well Fast Food! (But unlike a McDonald's, it claims to be a home-cooked roast dinner and actually charges you more!)

In short: McDojo might look and be great for a pose, but you won't learn much, or reap any of the life-building rewards that the real deal offers. 

More confusingly, in Singapore at least, McPremises will market themselves as The Real Martial Arts - when they certainly aren't. I guess there is no trade description about the spirit of martial arts! But I've had to go through a lot of trial and expense to find this out.

So, particularly for newbies who might be considering martial arts in Singapore, here are ten things to be wary of, and which most McDojos and McGyms share in common: 

1. They cost a lot. And this is a classic case of Perceived User Value. Beginners look at the flash premises, shiny marketing and exorbitant fees and think, 'It must be good, maybe I should sign up?'. Actually, all it really means is that they charge a lot, look great, and provide nicer toilets than the local community centre. But you might get better teaching at the CC. 

2. They will try to lock you into a contract, which you have to pay a penalty to exit. Some will even refuse to let you progress through classes (regardless of talent!) unless you sign your life away on the locked contract. This of course has nothing to do with how skilled or passionate you are, or how hard you train; it's about them reaping cash rewards. It also means that however carelessly they might treat you as a customer, you can't leave without penalties. This implies that maybe existing customers ARE quietly disappointed - and would have left if not locked into these contracts. Don't sign it! A place which allows students flexibility, and is STILL full of regular members is probably a far better prospect! 

3. It might be in a prominent place in town, with large windows so that passers-by can watch you train. And you can show off. This is more nifty advertising by McDojang. You are being used as a showcase / lure for their endlessly targeted 'new business prospects'. It's about playing on people's narcissism, and they've assumed you're stupid enough to fall for it. Martial arts is not about looking hot, or having a great matching crop-top ensemble to show the public. If you're good at real martial arts, you will most certainly get respect, and you won't need to do this 'on show'. (Except at tournaments etc, obviously!) 

4. As mentioned, it will have a roster of impressive-sounding instructors. But this means nothing unless the McDojo actually teaches you real martial arts, AND you get to train directly with these stars. You don't need a Boxing World Champion in the room if all you are doing is keep fit, hitting a bag. If you are already a competitor at boxing and can get proper classes with, and coaching from this Champ, then you might well find it useful. But my experience in Singapore is, for example, fabulous sounding Korean taekwondo instructors, who might be brilliant fighters.. but the most you will actually be allowed to get from them in McDojang is 'kick drills'. I can do these kick drills at home. Or at the community centre! Again - it's all about image and marketing. And not about actual service. 

5. Classes / gradings are surprisingly non-taxing. Classes might be just long enough to give you some cardio, but not really too exhausting. And your gradings to get belts require a few dance moves, or sloppily executed techniques, but nothing that actually will require hard work or push your limits. The real way you learn (and not just in martial arts, I think!) is by challenging yourself, pushing yourself continually a bit more than you think you can humanly manage. And you will survive. And next time, you can do more. And you will realise that your limits and abilities are far greater than your comfort zone. THAT is real reward. NOT a gilded certificate, or new belt, that looks great to show off with, but taught you nothing. McGym thrives on the superficial and on some unfortunate people's attraction to it. A high fee with a pushover grading is kind of equivalent to just walking into a store and purchasing a certificate or belt. (And, incidentally, will become embarrassingly obvious if you ever find yourself exposed to real martial artists in the future!) Don't you deserve the chance to get the real deal? 

6. Fabulous advertising. Well, it's all about image and revenue, so what do you expect? The slicker the marketing is, the more 'Mc' this establishment probably is, unfortunately. Great ads and frequent TV appearances doesn't mean they offer a great service to students; it means they have an impressive, well funded PR department. This in turn implies a couple of things: a) that they're investing a ton in marketing, which in another place might instead be going back into services for the students; b) that getting new customers might be more important to them than looking after their existing ones (which of course works doubly well if you're forced into that locked contract!) I've even been turfed out of training at one SG McGym, to clear the space to video shoot for their all-important, glossy PR machine! (And, most interestingly, they didn't want us pesky, flawed, high-paying students in the video either!)

Of course, any business needs to market itself, but in Singapore you might do better investigating the clubs that pop up further down the search page, rather than those at the top. And beyond any advertising or print, word-of-mouth recommendation from an established athlete in the sport will be your best advice. 

7. While this might happen at your CC due to lack of resources, McDojang might have  'sparring' classes where senior belt adults are supposed to train alongside 5 year olds. Because Mom thought it would be super-cute to have her little Jason in the class with her. Beware! Obviously nobody is taking this class seriously. Mom is paying a lot for her little Jason to be in there, and this cash talks louder to the club than sense, respect for the learning of the other adults - or the safety of the child.. I have actually experienced this in Singapore McDojangs, and for this reason. What you have here is not actually martial arts, but 'family keep fit'. Kids of course do train at real martial arts, but any good club (especially one commanding high fees and with plenty of staff!) will have separate classes for them, where they can learn at their own pace and with people their own size. ESPECIALLY for sparring. 

8. Those fabulous, flashy-looking premises. Mats and bags are pristine - because nobody is really using them, and/or the cleaning regime of the place takes precedence over people using them. (I've also experienced the latter in SG!) Hygiene is important - and you only have to enter an immaculate Japanese Dojo to know that - but if cleaning actually prevents people from training, it might be more about brand image than students' wellbeing. Yep, that word again 'image'! One of the best schools I trained with, which has spawned Olympic athletes, took place in a dusty sports hall in North London. And it was very reasonably priced. The reason: what makes the difference is the focus on good teaching, the inspiration, the team spirit and the students' dedication. Not architectural interiors, or fabulous bathrooms. 

9. They have Free/Open Gym* time but there is hardly anybody in there. This is probably because the students aren't learning martial arts there. They're doing keep-fit-with-martial-arts-gear - which doesn't necessarily require extra work on your own, perfecting a tricky kick, or training for competition. At one real martial arts place I trained at in Europe, it was always a competition to get he free studio space where we could do our own training! We'd teach each other techniques and generally knuckle down and get a bit ahead of our competitors. Even during weekdays

*(non-class time, when students can do their own, independent, training)   

10. They put high focus on keep fit and/or body-beautiful in their advertising. Of course, a lot of real martial arts will keep you fit, if you work at them. But that's not the aim of it. Martial arts is about skills, underpinned by fitness. Keep fit is about ..keeping fit. If you are a keen martial artist you will probably do fitness training in your spare time anyway, IN ORDER TO DO WELL AT THE MARTIAL ART. Not instead of it. 

So, in addition to watching out for points 1-9, at your trial class you should ask yourself: 

• Have I learned some moves which are technical, and which I can begin to perfect over the months?
• Have I seen other students [not just instructors] doing technical moves?
• Have my instructors talked about my range, footwork, stance, rhythm, or the precision of how I put that lock on to make it work?
• (If it's a sparring martial art) Have I seen other students [not just instructors] sparring? 

If the answer is: 'No to all of the above. But we ran about a lot and hit pads, and I felt puffed out at the end' - you probably have a McDojang on your hands. 

 

Photos courtesy of LEGO.