Is it normal for Karate dojos to place covers over their windows and doors so you can't see in? Is it normal for Karate Instructors to not communicate with other Instructors with matters such as tournaments, seminars, etc... Is it normal for Karate Instructors to instruct their members not to speak or communicate with Martial Artists of different systems? I did Shorin-Ryu back in the early 90's. My Sensei had none of these and was very open. Has this changed in Karate?
The other stuff sounds bad, but shading in the windows is only bad if the intention is secrecy. What is the climate like there? Maybe it is to keep the heat out? Probably not, with everything else you said. Just saying shaded windows in and of itself is not necessarily a warning sign. It could have other reasons besides secrecy.
This doesn't worry me at all. It can make students very self conscious to know that the world is looking in at you doing something weird while wearing a weird outfit, so this can be a very sensible thing to do. From a marketing point of view, it can also be clever - putting a sign outside saying "feel free to come in and observe quietly" means that one of the instructors can have a quiet word with potentially interested students without having to go outside. It's not unheard of, but it's a bit odd. This is a huge red flag and should bring that instructor and system into question immediately. It's a warning that the instructor is either exhibiting cult-like behaviour or he has made up his system and knows that it is next-to-worthless. Either way, utterly terrible. I can't think of a single good reason why an instructor should forbid communication with other martial artists.
Martial arts are full of traps for the ego. Sadly what you describe is not at all unusual, not just for Karate but for all arts on this forum. When you encounter a club like this the best thing to do is to walk away. A healthy training environment is open emotionally, intellectually and architecturally. All attitudes and opinions should be tested by discussion and nothing should be kept secret from the outside world or told only to an inner circle.
Reason why I asked is because in the early 90's when I was going through Shorin-Ryu Karate, we had none of this in the dojo. Our Instructor was very open to his art, the windows were never closed or shades never down, and we could talk openly to other Martial Arts students and communicate. This school has been in operation on and off for about 8 years now. But since it's ownership transfer about 2 years ago, I've noticed all this behavior. Unfortunately, I think it's an ego trip on the behalf of the Instructor or paranoia, when I spoke with her last she mentioned she was keeping everything closed up (what I described) for the reason of receiving annonymous e-mails attacking her and her school. I'm not sure how much of this is factual or not, but I found her behavior odd.
Doesn't sound like the case in his instance. We have no windows (we have vents, but we're in a basement so see through windows become hard) but we are not secretive - anyone can and is encouraged to come watch (and join if they wish).
