I Think My Krav Maga school is a Mcdojo

[Clinchfighter]

So after training there for 2 years, I decided to look at other options heres why:

-Set and locked contract with a HUGE cancellation fee ($573 plus interest for how long you have been training.)
-You don't get out of contract if you are injured...I should know, they still charge me even though I have showed the instructors my x-rays showing broken meta-carpals.
-20 buck just to demo a class.
-Krav Classes are 40 minues hitting pads with hammerfists(never thought they were really effective) plus 20 minutes drilling common sense...
-Our head instructor, the only Krav Maga Worldwide certified instructor is absent frequently, leaving other, less experienced instructors to drill us.
-Instructors go out of their way to discredit other fighting styles, in my case grappling.
-You have to pay an additional 100 bucks a month to spar( I'm in High school, this breaks my bank, literally.)
-Only allowed to spar at 20 percent and sparring is basically boxing with front and round kicks.

Your opinions?

[Soldiermedic]

First of all, since you're new, you should read the stickies.

Where you are training at certainly does seem like a Mcdojo. Bad, predatory business practices with poor or mediocre training.

However, MABS is solely for investigations into individuals or organizations that have made false claims regarding their training or lineage. This will be moved, no harm, no foul, but you should really read the stickies to properly use the website.

[Phrost]

This thread might work here, we'd just need to know the name of the school in question.

A lot of KM schools are McDojos; not all, but a good number. Right around when we started up this site, there was a huge push, likely originating out of Israel, to spread the style seemingly in a manner similar to how Taekwondo operates. Instructors were "certified" after courses as short as a few days.

And yeah, if those conditions are as you described, that's definitely a McDojo.

Where's the school located, Clinch?

[slamdunc]

Instructors were "certified" after courses as short as a few days.

Exactly how Tae Kwon Do (WTF) operates. Black belt November 6, instructor development course (3 days long) on November 15 and certified to teach on November 18.

[erezb]

Sounds too expensive. A 100 $ just for some sparring? why? fucking leave this **** and go do something else. I hate what is happening with KMI these days especially out side Israel.

[Omega Supreme]

So after training there for 2 years, I decided to look at other options heres why:

-Set and locked contract with a HUGE cancellation fee ($573 plus interest for how long you have been training.)
-You don't get out of contract if you are injured...I should know, they still charge me even though I have showed the instructors my x-rays showing broken meta-carpals.
-20 buck just to demo a class.
-Krav Classes are 40 minues hitting pads with hammerfists(never thought they were really effective) plus 20 minutes drilling common sense...
-Our head instructor, the only Krav Maga Worldwide certified instructor is absent frequently, leaving other, less experienced instructors to drill us.
-Instructors go out of their way to discredit other fighting styles, in my case grappling.
-You have to pay an additional 100 bucks a month to spar( I'm in High school, this breaks my bank, literally.)
-Only allowed to spar at 20 percent and sparring is basically boxing with front and round kicks.

Your opinions?

http://www.reactdefense.com?

[Chili Pepper]

I note on their instructors page they tout instructor Josh Ackerman as "recognized as one of the most skilled martial artist's and MMA fighter/instructor in the U.S. today."

No idea if it's the same Josh Ackerman, but Sherdog lists a guy in Wyoming, with a record of 1-2-0: http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Josh-Ackerman-33152

[Phrost]

The worst thing about KM isn't that there are a lot of slimy people using it to make a quick buck. It's the image that they use to promote the style, which transcends the term McDojo well into what is known in the firearms community as TacticaLOL. (Which we, coincidentally, run the website for as well).

The idea of overweight suburbanites training to become eye-gouging, biting, elbowing, super secret agents is flat-out annoying. I'm actually going to track down a local KM class and see how this goes first hand.

The trick is that, again, there are some very good KM schools out there. I do not want to label the entire style (unlike Aikido) as garbage. But there's absolutely no reason a KM school couldn't have its own fight team if the training they do is valid. All they'd have to do is stick to the fundamentals, which are universal across styles, while leaving out the "dirty" tricks.

Bottom line, if a school isn't teaching a complete beginner how to throw a punch properly, to the extent said beginner could use it effectively in a controlled environment, it shouldn't be in the business of supposedly preparing people to defend themselves in an uncontrolled one.

[Permalost]

IMO good krav maga should always lead into force on force training. Without that, its no good. Aside from that, sounds like you're paying too much, and furthermore the idea of an extra $100 for sparring is discouraging the majority of people from sparring, and that's poor training philosophy. Everyone should spar, every class.

[stray_bullet]

What's funny about all of that is that Krav Maga when you break it down is basically just kickboxing with an emphasis on application. I figure the reason they add the 9000 other techniques is because there is more glory in beating down an entire street gang (at least in fantasy) than getting your ass beat by a guy that's been training for three months longer than you and the peoples' wallets reflect that.