questions??????

King of Fighters · Green Belt

how many years of expierence should an instructor have? How much do you all pay a month for your martial arts? (also put what country your from so il know if your couency is worth about the same as ours), and how many styles can a school teach before it becomes a mcdojo?

G95champ · Black Belt

Price Ranges depending on the population and wealth of the area you are in. I teach in WV a poor state in the USA and classes range from 30-50 depening on where you are. I know big cities like Philly may charge 100.00 a week. So price is a local issue and can't be answered. Things to keep in mind is the number of classes, size of them and times they are offered.

As far as EXP goes. Well lets assume you make your black belt in 2 years. Which is quck but not unheard of. Also assuming you have been given premission by your Sensei to teach then go for it. This to is really a question that can't be answered. Sure the more time you got in the better a teacher you will be. However I may not teach as good at 10 years as you may teach after 3. In all reality I would say 5. This would include making your first or second black belt. Teaching under you Sensei at his club for a year or so. But again their are no rules on it.

McDojo IMO is taking money for rank more so than it is teaching many styles.
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gheinisch · KF VIP

Newnan Georgia, USA

I'm very lucky in not having to pay anything for our lessons. Our Hanshi (9th Dan) volunteers his time to teach us a couple times a week and one other day the more advanced students teach the lower ranks. He has been doing this for over three years and says as long as he has students he will continue to teach. He has over 37 yrs experience in many styles and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to learn from this man.

As for experience for teaching, this came up in class the other day. Hanshi said that he has seen many great teachers with little experience and he has also seen great martial artist with alot of time under there belt that were not very good teachers at all. Basically some people can convey a concept or technique that is easy to understand and follow and others can perform a technique flawlessly but have a very hard time teaching someone else how to do it. Hope that makes some sense!

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cross · Black Belt

Australia = $8.00 per 2 hour lesson.

GrrrArg · Black Belt

UK £5 per lesson for 1 person
£ 4 per person for two people for 1 lesson
£ 3 per person for three or more people for 1 lesson

As a Sempai I am fortunate to train for free unless im actually being taught in the class as opposed to helping teach, this means I can train quite alot for relatively little money.

I agree with what both G95champ and gheinisch say about time training and whether you can actually teach or not. I can teach and I have the five years exp but not yet the black belt around my waist-which is why I only want to sempai at the moment.

CheekyMusician · Green Belt

Well I reckon a teacher should have a minimum of 10 years experience to teach, not just in martial arts, but in most things. Obviously, the more experience they have, the better.

I only pay £2.50 per lesson (I live in Britain). In fact, all the martial arts classes I've ever been to have been quite cheap. I went to an aikido club for a month or so and it only cost £6 a month, and you could train twice a week for that. Eight lessons for £6, I'd say that's a pretty good deal.

The most I've ever paid for a martial arts class was a kickboxing class that was £4.50 per lesson. Personally, I thought that was a little over the top price wise, and the guy running the club was only about 13 (Ok, slight exaggeration there, but you get the idea). Yip, I have a funny feeling he was only interested in making a quick buck.

As for the McDojo thing, well where I live I've never actually came across a martial arts club that has its own buildings etc. Martial arts clubs are usually just run out of a sports centre, church hall etc. that the club hires, so I've not had any experience with these schools that teach multiple styles. I'd say that it would depend on the circumstances, though. I mean, a school could teach maybe 5 different styles, but have 5 different teachers employed, each teaching their own style. I'd say that if it was one single person teaching many styles, though, it'd be "McDojo-ish". I could understand one person teaching 2 styles, possibly even 3 maximum, but any more than that I'd say would be a bit dodgy.
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telsun · Green Belt

I do not pay for my training but the lessons are £2 a week with a maximum of 3 training sessions available. Kids are £1 per lesson. I am in England.
Years of instruction? I would agree with what most others have said. Although I think that they need to be able to instruct, but in saying that I also think that they need substantial skill in their art. Sensei keeps asking me to start a club but I have little desire (or time) to do so at the mo. I would like to be a 3rd dan really b4 I do. Although time wise (and skill *gringing at being so immodest*) I am there already. Probably just making excuses.
Seperate artists for seperate styles is fine. As cheekymusician said it is okay for an instructor to teach a couple of styles but anymore and you maybe considered a jack of all trades, it's debatable. There is other criteria that make it a Mcdojo, there is a thread somewhere.

Why do you ask King Of Fighters? Are you considering starting your own dojo?
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cross · Black Belt

It also depends on the status of the instructor. If they are well known publically they may change alot more for you to train with them. (like some of those damn gracies hehehe).

Kamidake · Orange Belt

My teacher's been studying his style (kobudo) for 20 years; charges $45/month U.S. for 2 2-hour classes per week (takes unlimited questions). He only teaches the one style.

LordBucket · Yellow Belt

>country your from

USA. Orange County, Southern California.

>how many years of expierence should an instructor have?

Depends totally on the local climate, and how formal of an arrangement you have. I happen to live in an area where there are a couple of Grandmasters teaching classes, so you can easily find somebody with 50+ years of teaching experience. On the other hand, a few years back I heard a story about a Hwa Rang Do purple belt who opened his own studio. He didn't last very long, but he DID get students.

>How much do you all pay a month for your martial arts?

I'm paying $79/month for my Wushu classes (two locations owned by same people, so if I'm willing to make the drive, I could be attending five classes per week at my level,) and I'm also taking Shito-Ryu at the local junior college for $11 per semester (One, three hour class per week.) (Temporarily out for summer, so I'm studying twice a week at the local YMCA with a friend of my instructor, and he isn't charging me since it's just for a few months.)

>how many styles can a school teach before it becomes a mcdojo?

Huh...that's an interesting question. In my area, at least, number of styles taught doesn't really seem to be much of a factor. I know several McDojo's which only teach one style, and I can think of a few places which teach several and are still good. In one case, it's two totally unrelated systems and teachers who just happen to share the same building and teach classes on different schedules. In another case it's a karate studio which officially teaches Shito-Rye, but also teaches Shotokan. Others as well...the most is a kickboxing places which claims to teach about half a dozen different styles, but they're largely similar (Muay Tae and Savate, for example) and the instructors simply say, 'ok...let's do this lesson in the style of Muay Tae' and the students learn both styles.

Bucket Man

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