I'd like to share few thoughts on the subject of of McDojos/McDojangs.  The subject come up frequently on fourms and in magazines. 

It is always a pejorative that no school wants applied to them and is often applied to large chain schools and/or watered down schools.  But what makes a McDojo so bad?

The common gripes are generally such: there is a bit of the belt for sale issue, preoccupation with Olympic style sparring or some other form of sport oriented sparring, lots of belts to test for, and generally a preponderence of eight year old blackbelts.  And the biggest gripe is that the owners of these schools are more interested in making a buck than in teaching the art.

Here are my own thoughts:

I truly feel that the majority of these places do not exist for the sole purpose of fleecing the uninformed. I do think that, at least in the US, the buying public has greatly shaped our teaching methods and business practices, I believe cheifly, because school owners have allowed them to do so. 

A school needs money to stay open. If the owner is independently wealthy and can do so without charging any fee, bravo, but that is rarely the case. Also, the majorty of people who take up a martial art typically quit on the way to or just after receiving their black belt. Because of this, schools will go down the path of clever marketing, karate camp, and birthday parties, as well as eight year old blackbelts in order to stay in business.

Note: I am aware that there are slick people who use martial arts as nothing more than a cash cow and set out from the very beginning to do so. These are not the schools of which I speak, and of which I feel are the minority, even amongst McDojangs.

Regarding our customer base shaping the way that we run schools, students and students' parents will potentially sue for just about anything, from physical injury to denial of a blackbelt. This climate tends to encourage a more tepid school than the owner may wish to have. And forgetting lawsuits, the student can simply quit and go elsewhere.

Most people in this country have developed an entitlement mentality, so the idea that a martial art does not reward all equally, regardless of effort rubs many the wrong way, though they'd never admit it. People want money that they didn't earn, jobs for which they are unfit, and to be exempt from any penalties, regardless of how grevous their wrongs.

I believe that the continuing increase in the cost of tests as the student progresses also prevents schools from withholding a black belt (or any belt) from a student who does not test well; after all, they've paid the 90.00 dollars to test for red belt (or whatever), so the tendency is to make sure that a product or service is delivered in return. Admittedly, a student shouldn't even be allowed to test if they aren't ready, but that is another subject.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with the whole birthday party thing; if the actual class is a decent class with quality instruction, then I really don't care if the owner uses birthday parties or karate camp to supplement the school's income.  After all, birthday party fees buy pine boards, kicking pads, Bobs, punching bags,and all manner of things that can benefit the school.  

I do have a problem with eight year olds being permited to wear anything more than a poom belt. In fact, grade school blackbelts are, in my opinion, many taekwondo schools' number one self inflicted black eye.  I'm not throwing stones; our school has a few, though none younger than about twelve.  Still, I firmly believe that until someone is at least fifteen, they shouldn't be permited to test for a blackbelt and there should not even be a junior blackbelt, which is what a poom belt is.

The proliferation of McDojangs does spread the art, albeit in an often watered down form, and does provide practitioners looking for a school to find a place to train.

My last comment is this: You get out what you put in, regardless of where you train. If a student trains hard and with dedication at a McDojang, they will inevitably get more out of the class than those who mail it in. In fact, I'd venture that a lot of instructors at McDojang schools are very happy to have such students when they come along and take the time to cultivate them.

Just a few less than organized thoughts on the subject.

Daniel