1. A chain or franchise
2. Children who cannot tie their shoes with black belts
3. If they teach a striking art and anyone wearing brown cannot produce audible power from a punch and kick. Worse if they have to make that sound with their mouth
4. Instructor cannot or will not produce evidence of their rank or are not recognized of having trained under they style they teach. Being kicked out of a respectable organization is bull.
5. Claim to be high ranking in multiple unrelated styles.
6. Spend more time trying to selling you a "limited" offer contract than actually training you on your first visit.
7. head instructor acts like a cult leader
I think most will agree that any combination of two of these and you are at a McDojo
It really does not matter how may signs or symptoms it has. If you do not feel comfortable training there, for whatever reason, you should not train there. You should train where you want to be trained. You could have the best teachers and coaches in the world, but if in your mind the style is inferior, or you feel it is missing something, you will not learn. You could have terrible teachers but be so talented that you are actually forcing your own improvement (keep in mind you should be doing that to a degree anyway with a thing called practice.) If you feel you must do what your heroes on TV are doing, and that school does not have that, you will not enjoy the school. If everything seems ok to the eye, but you still have an uneasy feeling about the place, you will not do well at the school.
Trust your gut, bottom line. Let your conscious, and you budget, be your guide.
That mc dojo thing is good my check list is does it go for around two hours,do people get hurt/is it painful,can you beat or give your coaches a challenge that's a bad thing if you can. For striking arts blood and only a mouth piece and possible head gear for the jaw and skin guards for beginners and full contact. Small amount of time to kata eg punching bags or the air/on your training partner full contact.
that's easy...all taekwondo places are mcdojos
http://mcdojo-faq.tripod.com/
There you go Alana - everything you need to know will be there
I've been wanting to start Taekwondo, but I've never done any form of martial arts and i'm not sure what the warning signs for an illegitimate school (a McDojo) are. There are a few places around my area and i'm not sure which one to pick. Anything i should look for on their sites, a trial class, or something alike? What should i expect price wise (does price indicate quality)?
