Commercialism in the Martial Arts

“	Originally Posted By: Green_Horn Not very funny. But again you dodge the question that has been asked many times. What art do you practice. KeyBoard-Fu?	”

That would be Key Board Kung Fu

I don't believe that martial art schools in general are to commercialized. Martial arts schools have to make money to pay the bills (rent, electric bill, water bill, training equipement, sparring gear, etc...). It's when the school charges for every little thing is when it becomes to commercialized. There is a school here where I live (most people on here know who I'm talking about) that comes to mind that is considered by most to be a "McDojo" and is far to commercialized. They charge for testing, make you buy a patch at certain belt ranks to put on your gi, make you take "special" classes if you want to advance, etc.... Now in this case I would say it's to commercialized and appears that they are only after the almighty dollar. It looks like to me IMO that the schools that are Tae Kwon Do are a bit more commercialized than the kung fu schools. Thats just my observation. I don't own a m.a. school per say but I do teach privates to individuals and to small groups (4 or less). I have chosen to teach this way in order to keep from becoming commercialized and to keep expenses down for both me and my students. I don't charge for testing. My students wear whatever clothes they want (sweatpant/shorts and t-shirt/sweat shirt) but I do tell them that if they want to wear a uniform then they all have to wear the same kind. They can have me order thier uniforms or they can order them. It's up to them. If I order them I may charge them an extra $5.00 or so (not very much IMO). I do have a sash ranking sytem with material for each sash level. I find it easier to keep track of each students progression and easier when it comes time for testing. You either know the material or you don't. By having a sash rank system I don't feel that this is giving in to commercialism/McDojoism.

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Mark
Liberalism is a mental disorder. -M. Savage

I don't see why so many people get bent out of shape when an instructor makes a decent living off of teaching the martial arts, as long as quality is not sacrificed and honest business practice is exersized. I think this is one of the downfalls with the traditional arts and why you always read treads about the traditional arts dying. With out the commercialization of the arts 75% of us would probably not be training in the arts today. I would rather learn from someone who spent the last 10-20 years as a full time instructor than some one who works as a stock clerk or security guard and then teaches 4 hours at night. The full time instructor will probably train more and continue his MA education where the later has no time to train and not much energy left from his other job to be enthusiastic about teaching. Just the way I see it. Please don't stone me.

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Before you go on a journey of vengence, dig two graves.

www.azshaolinkungfu.com

Overhead equates to fees. And if a person desires to teach for a living, and there are people willing to pay, then I guess it isnt all that bad.

But, I still think that a person should know what to lookf for in a school.