Have you ever stepped into one of those McDojos? You get a tour of the school, a free uniform and “Introductory lesson” (which is really a sales pitch) Then the contract comes out.
Suddenly you can’t tell if you’re in a Martial Arts School, used car lot or timeshare presentation. On top of the contract there are those “Other Fees” Specialized Equipment (only available through the school) Testing fees “Required’ seminars By the time you’re done you could be committed to paying up to $2,500 in contracts and other fees before you or your child has taken a single class! At The Dojo: we don’t like to be treated that way and we certainly won’t sell that way. We don’t want to tie you up with contracts; we want to instill a lifelong love of the Martial Arts and provide a fun and rewarding experience. You’ll stay because you’ll love it.
With 20 years as a professional Karate Instructor, I know many highly skilled and tremendously capable Martial Arts instructors. Having said that: I also know some people who have very “successful” Martial Arts Schools who have no qualifications or skill in their chosen profession. If you wanted to teach the alphabet to pre-schoolers you would need to take courses in pedagogical learning, early childhood development, curriculum design, etc. The Commonwealth would compel you take a test in order to be licensed. All that so you can teach the Alphabet! Do you know what qualifications does an instructor need to teach a highly complex and potentially dangerous Martial Art?
NONE!
No state licensure, no courses in how to teach, nothing but a Black Belt bestowed by other Black Belts who may not be teachers either. Let me make sure you understand. Embroidered Belts, Trophy’s in the window, Gimmicky character building programs that you can buy on the internet do not make ANYONE qualified to teach ANYTHING!
We pride ourselves on extensive study in the martial arts (This is Steve’s 40th year and he has never missed even one day of practice) and continuing education on exercise physiology, nutrition, teaching methods, and learning modalities
