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.
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