why i am leaving my school

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by neopet, May 19, 2006.

  1. neopet

    neopet New Member

    they say it is to avoid exclusive gatherings when only some students are invited and others left out. they claim this happened in the past and cause bad feelings. what happens now is that people get together anyways, invite who they want, but don't talk about it at school. word still gets out, and just causes greater tension due to rule breaking.

    the rules are more trouble than would be to allow people to make friend-groups naturally.

    I now look at the school with different eyes. i always liked the training and tought it was very good - it was just all of the other silliness that spoils the experience. they tell you the importance of oriental-style etiquette, and then they proceed to tack a bunch of other bs under the same label. not knowing what oriental-style etiquette is, i trust that this is the way and just accept it as part of martial arts training - but now i feel a bit foolish for eating the bs.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2006
  2. ArmysFunkyFoe

    ArmysFunkyFoe New Member

    ya thats kinda stupid that the proce is so high
     
  3. zombie

    zombie New Member

    I started training in 1964. I never once paid for mat-time. Once, the sensei would divide the rent among the members: 5 members meant 22.00 a month....10 students meant $11.00. Once we had it down to seven bucks a month and thats where it stayed for about half a year. I trained in old boxing gyms, "Y's" . CYO halls, stairwells, alleys and more than one backyard.
     
  4. freak

    freak Valued Member

    buddy, i don't blame ya for leaving, what is that school thinking?
     
  5. zombie

    zombie New Member

    good luck

    I started training in 1964. I never once paid for mat-time. :D I've paid for some courses but that's about it. Once, our sensei divided the rent among the members: 5 members meant 22.00 a month....10 students meant $11.00. Once we had it down to seven bucks a month and thats where it stayed for about half a year. ;) I have trained in old boxing gyms, "Y's" . CYO halls, stairwells, alleys and more than one backyard. Our martial arts are pretty good, and me and most of my bud's are definately "old school" without having our heads in our asses....meaning: we train smart, we train effectively, utilizing the best of modern innovations and good old style "boot in the ass" style training sessions. It's a nice mix. ;)
    So what am I driving at?
    That these schools, :rolleyes: these franchises, :eek: these McDojo's that employ as many sales staff as they do sensei :yeleyes: , are relatively full of fecal residue and could not make a pimple on a real budoka'a ass cheek. :cry:
    I am not saying that it's wrong or impossible to make a good, fair, HONEST & CLEAN living as a martial art instructor.....I know some real proficient fellows, who make a nice honest living teaching UNDILUTED traditional family forms. They could easily claim all manner of titles and all kinds of rank :eek: , they don't, but we can talk about that later.......I train with karateka, ju jutsuka, aikidoka, gung-fu fighters, Kun Tao men, Catch-as-can wrestlers, old-school Tae Kwon Do etc. Everyone is polite, there's lots of laughing, no one gets all 'anal-retentive' about terminologies, so-called ettiquite or any of the other external trappings that the inept hide behind. :bang:
    Fact is, you're getting buggered and ya don't even know it. :eek: These unscrupulous dog-faces will bend you over, do you without even a drop of grease, and make you feel gratified that you've just been done. All they want is for the check to clear, or for the automatic debit withdrawal to kick in.....hell, as long as the money-goes-round, they don't care. "Just sign on the dotted line..."
    My guys who read this post asked me if it were real or a joke, and I had to tell them that there were actually yabos out there who were too silly to think for themselves, or to ask questions. They swallow all the bogus "martial art ********" hook line and sinker. :woo:

    Remember:
    If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
    Nothing is as easy as it looks.
    You simply CANNOT make your organ larger....no many how many pills you take.
    Girls will overlook ugly....they will almost NEVER excuse stupid.
    There is no short cut to learning Martial Arts
    There are NO secrets

    It sounds like you're from the UK. Well there are many very dedicated ,sensible sensei who could hook you up without all the crap.

    Good luck, and RUN, don't walk to the door of this so-called dojo.
     
  6. Ninja.. OF DOOM

    Ninja.. OF DOOM New Member

    Wow. How ridiculous. The prices are bad enough, who the hell pays 2000 bucks for a black belt??! But, the whole control thing is a compete outrage. The no gatherings thing... wow. I don't blame you for leaving, I'd have been out sooner than you, even just because of the money involved.

    One word of advice on finding a new school: Look at all the little guidelines, rules, and fine print at the school. See if you can try a class first. If anything at all makes you feel really uncomfortable, or sounds ridiculous, find something else.


    And Zombie... please, there is no need to use that many smileys. It adds nothing whatsoever to the post, and makes alot of people (like me) not want to read it. Don't use a smiley unless you really want to emphasize a feeling toward something. Not as a filler. Not to be anal, it just gets on my nerves a bit. :)
     
  7. Davey Bones

    Davey Bones New Member

    2K for a black belt... damn. Dude, that's harsh. I'm no fan of testing fees, but I try to be reasonable. But that's just outrageous.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2006
  8. jsmith

    jsmith Valued Member

    Your school is not a school, it's a cult. Seriously, the no socializing thing is a total cult like thing to do. What's next, women aren't allowed to have sex, unless it's with the teacher?
     
  9. neopet

    neopet New Member

    I dont think its quite that bad. despite everyones claims of 'mcdojo', the insturction is good, and i dont think that the schools biggest reason is for money. it is the all of the crazy rules that make the biggest problem. despite all of the good things, it is hard to respect a school that makes this kind of rules.
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2006
  10. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    I got mixed up in a MA cult what I was 15 and a religious cult when I was 19. From my personal experience I'd say your school is very very likely a cult.

    * The extortionate grading fees (and they are extortionate!) don't make it a cult necessarily, but they should make you suspicious.

    * Automatically scheduling you for belt gradings is a bit suspect too. People develop at different rates. IMO, any teacher who cares about their students will push them, but ultimately reaslise that everyone needs to develop at their own rate.

    * Ignoring injury isn't culty, but it is downright negligent and stupid.

    I don't consider either of the above three particularly culty, although the first does make it very likely a scam. How much are you paying per week, and are their any other extra costs like uniforms, "special seminars", etc?

    The next two points make me very suspicious and sound very much like control freakery:

    * Asking permission to not attend a compulsory grading. You should never have to ask permission to be excused from something like that. It's respectful to let them know in advance if you can't attend something, but you should NEVER have to ask permission. I'm going to guess that their reasoning is along the lines of "if you're committed enough, you'll find the time / make the effort". People have lives outside of training, and often the two conflict. As an individual, it's your perogative to choose for yourself which is the more important. Part of a cult's way of working is to insinuate, or even outright state, that training / being with them is more important than what you're doing outside.

    * Not associating with other students outside of training. This is very dodgy! It's one thing for a school to teach you to be more respectful outside of training, and how to react to aggression, etc. But putting limits on who you can and cannot see is something only the police have a right to do (and debatably your parents, if you're not legally an adult yet). I think Yohan's post (#20) explains what's going on here perfectly.

    As a final point, you seem to be wavering between wanting to leave and still sticking up for the school, saying it's not all that bad. After having been in a cult for a while, even when you're on the verge of leaving, you'll find that you still have a great deal of sympathy for them. This will continue for a while afterwards. After leaving any kind of controlling organisation it takes a while to get their propaganda out of your system.

    I hope that helps some. I'm not an expert on cults, by any means, and the above is purely my opinion based on my own experiences. IMO, you should go train with a different school for a few weeks - this will help you take a step back from this school for a while and look at it a little more objectively.
     
  11. Matthew Barnes

    Matthew Barnes Valued Member

    So is it oomyung doe or chung moo do...

    This sounds like a classic 'dark side of the moo' story. Eight martial arts taught as one?

    Matt
     
  12. neopet

    neopet New Member

    No, I won't be naming the school, or instructors. i am not here to give a bad name or repution. it is up to each student to determine what works for them.
     
  13. Reakt

    Reakt Valued Member

    Reputation isnt necesserily a bad thing, people give reviews of all kinds of stuff so people can make their own decision with that help.

    In this case I think it would be best for the School to be made public because basically, if someone unknowingly goes to that School and get influenced in staying then they are being outright scammed and ripped off, NO training or test is worth $2000 (maybe overall long-term fee's for a private trainer, but not for one Black belt test).

    Its just my opinion of course, you dont have to say anything if you dont want to but I think it would be best to at least privately tell people through PM what the school is if they are concerned, up to you.
     
  14. Matthew Barnes

    Matthew Barnes Valued Member

  15. neopet

    neopet New Member

    I think it would be terribly bad form to try to turn other students against their school. It's not up to me to try to change their choices. They are members of the same school as I. If it works for them, that is great. It is not my job to "oppen anyones eyes".

    Truly, now that I think about it, the testing fees were never an issue with me, and I likely would have gone on to pay them willingly, and would have considered it good value for my dollar. By itself, it was acceptable, as im sure it is to many of the students. It is all of the rules of outside-school conduct, and a few other questionable matters that i prefer not to discuss here that i found most problematic.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2006
  16. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    That is some seriously scarey stuff! :eek:

    Neither of the two I got involved in where anywhere near that bad, thankfully. Reading it just made my blood boil.
     

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