McDojo Mafia?
Another skint weekend. Saturday had the worst timing of a down-pour of rain. Sunday I went upto Dorking to see the man behind the karate club I'm a member of. 'Kancho' Robert Sullivan was giving a rare class in the UK. He comes over from Australia about twice a year and created the Go-Kan-Ryu (GKR) club about 20 years ago. I've always been a little cynical about the club thinking its the McDonalds of karate with a pyramid selling business etiquette.Bit of background for you. More than 2 years ago, my sensei knocked on my door 'selling' the club. His sales pitch was well rehearsed and practised though I always remember questioning him on some points with his responses just repeating parts of his patter which I just put it down to a hammy technique. Still, I wanted to get back into shape and was unimpressed by the other local clubs. It was reasonable too and within a few months I had removed alot of belly bulk. A few months in, I was asked to join the club's 'sempai' training scheme which meant the possibility of assisting and teaching lower belts but gaining better training and in some cases, free lessons. Hey, why not? I was chuffed that I was considered better than others though hesitant at the prospect of teaching a class. I'm still assisting with classes as I have no interest in teaching with its responsibility, just enjoying the cheap exercise and steady progress in my skill.
What I'm starting to object to now is that although I'm getting ok training from my own sensei, I feel the lower grades should receive the same training and not be palmed off by people like me. It just waters down the skill and knowledge.
Robert Sullivan, being the figure head of GKR must be the Ronald McDonald equivalent. The Kancho's background is anything but the mysterious 'master' image you'd expect say in old kung Fu movies. No wispy long moustache, no 'wiseman say' proverbs, just a middle-aged Oz bloke who used to be a policeman and was inspired by household cleaning products selling techniques.
Anyway, here's the juicy bit. I innocently found a chatroom thread ripping into GKR ethics summarised below:-
- Kancho Robert Sullivan only got to blackbelt 2nd dan on two different style of karate then went to create his 'own' style.
- He then graded himself to a higher grade and created his own certificate - that's like saying I've read a book on surgery, operated on a few patients so now I am a surgeon
- Mr Sullivan has a helicopter and Scottish castle - confirmed by himself in his book
The Kancho thing was a bit of a let-down. Interestingly, he turned up in his UK SouthEast Region manager's new Ferrari, got a round of applause as he entered the hall then had to autograph about a hundred GKR worshippers' books and clothing.
For a man nearing his 60's, he was definitely fit but we were expecting an exclusive lesson or something to inspire us. Instead he came up with combinations off the top of his head (nothing different to what I might teach low ranking belts), performed his own created 'katas' (sequence of moves) which lacked any real technical prowess I was expecting at his level, finishing with about 16 blackbelts having 1-to-1 sparring sessions which didn't show any flair or finesse. The same black-belts performed two high grade katas in front the 500-700 crowd. The first one was ok but the second split them into two distinct groups with different timings and just looked embarrassing. The day finished with a Q and A session with the old master but it was hard to hear what was asked and answered so just bored me rigid. Some of the stories he did mention related more to the rich lifestyle he's leading rather than enrich us with what he's learnt spiritually. The helicopter was also mentioned - apparently he crashed it!
Personal Update: 22 August 2011
I'm amazed at how many visitors I get for this above blog entry. It's been about four years since I gave up. I don't miss the pressure of having to set lessons, collect money and never being able to give up certain evenings but I do miss the training regime despite keeping fit with cycling. When I was a member GKR had been marketed as a family friendly club competing not just with other karate clubs but gyms or any type of exercise. This is great for those who might feel intimidated by other forms of karate but should also recognise that discipline they're learning is a combination of styles which might have been adapted for a commercial business.
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