this is what i deal with in NY

[EarthDragon]

a friend of mine just posted this link on his facebook because his son is now a black belt and entering into XMA Xtreme martial arts...................... he's 9 years old and joined when he was 7

why is there not a line out of my kwoon's door?
wake up America.......... this IS NOT martial arts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is complete crap and this guys got 4 locations and almost 1000 students.
Funny thing is he was one of roberst summers students adn when sensei summers moved to NC Ketchen changed his title to master....... self proclaimed



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhC7R...layer_embedded

[Violent Designs]

maybe he's just better at business and marketing? (no offense)

XMA is more catchy to the eye for retarded non martial artists, it's the truth.

[taai gihk yahn]

he has a polished, professional image, his studio is clean, modern and well-maintained, his advertising is clear-cut and markets well to his target audience (mid- to upper income), he shows workouts with people having a good time and that seem approachable to beginners, etc., etc., etc.

not getting down on you, but it seems the exact opposite of what your place looks like and the image you project; which is fine, I am not criticizing you, but whereas you appeal to a niche market, his appeal is broad-based, and therefore he attracts more students; I am also betting his business plan and marketing strategy are well-articulated, and that he has a very non-intimidating personal style;

while you are railing at America for their lack of MA savvy, he's living the American Dream because he understands how to cater to the mainstream's conception of what they think MA is or should be; and honestly, his stuff doesn't look terrible, it's pretty much standard strip-mall fare;

honestly, you just seem sour that the mainstream isn't in sync w ur thots about da r3alz...as my sifu says, you can be the ony one standing alone on the street corner preaching the "Truth" to no one, or you can be more skillful, and get the students in the door by meeting them where THEY are, and then nudge them along over time to a more profound realization of what you are teaching (this is from a Buddhist perspective, FYI);

[cerebus]

As much as we may not like it, Taai Gihk Yahn is 110% on the money. It's not about being the better or more authentic school, it's about who is the better businessman...

[EarthDragon]

guys thanks for the advice but I am not bitter, envious or jealous of his business. i am not looking for any more students at this time, my classes are filled.

My point was this is the type of school that exsists in todays world adn it makes me sick to my stomach as a MA teacher. Why is it that people would watch this clip and think they are getting good MA instruction?

isnt this the type of school that gaives MA a bad name. As fellow martial artsits how can you have anything postitive to say about schools like this?

I just wonder how he can have 4 locations when he teaches crap like this? is America that ignorant when it comes to MA instruction?
I mean a rape awarness class that teaches women when they are being chocked by a 200 black guy they should yell kiai and do a cheesy 3 move combo? or 6 year old black belts? is this really where this county has gone for MA????

[五祖拳]

I mean a rape awarness class that teaches women when they are being chocked by a 200 black guy

is this really where this county has gone

A '200 black guy'? Is this really where this world has gone?

[taai gihk yahn]

guys thanks for the advice but I am not bitter, envious or jealous of his business. i am not looking for any more students at this time, my classes are filled.

that is good to hear; and it shows that in fact there are sufficient numbers of people who are interested in content-quality that are not prone to mainstream marketing; but those are obviously the exception rather than the rule

My point was this is the type of school that exsists in todays world adn it makes me sick to my stomach as a MA teacher. Why is it that people would watch this clip and think they are getting good MA instruction?

seriously? are you that out of touch with the mindset of the genera public when it comes to their perception of MA? people want accessibility - if you couch your art in anything even vaguely esoteric, MOST people are going to get turned off;

isnt this the type of school that gaives MA a bad name.

as opposed to the squeaky-clean world of TCMA where there are no politics, back-stabbing, charlatans, gang-world affiliations or ANYTHING that could possibly give MA a bad name

As fellow martial artsits how can you have anything postitive to say about schools like this?

because there are a lot of positives, in terms of how he presents himself, that he is able to operate a professional studio in an effective manner, that he appeals to a large range of people and is getting a lot of people off the couch and away from the TV and doing something physical; certainy there is a lot of BS in some of what he teaches, but of course, that is unique to XMA; you would NEVER EVER see anything BS or hokey in TCMA

I just wonder how he can have 4 locations when he teaches crap like this? is America that ignorant when it comes to MA instruction?

as my sifu told my wife when she first came to this country: "french fries with 3 ketchups"; meaning that when dealing with Americans, one has to be blatant, obvious, explicit, specific - no innuendo, no appreciation for nuance, no implication - it's all "what you see is what you get"; as such, you get the XMA phenomenon;
I agree w u tho - in fact, I have a funny story about the lack of appreciation for quallity: I once posted on some forum that had video archives for all the "point-style" tournies w the kids swinging around their tooth-pick bo staffs; so this 14 yo girl was doing double whip chains in the jr. BB div., and people were cheering and posting comments on it like it was the greatest thing ever; of course, it was horrible, she had no idea what she was doing, real whip-chain players the world over were writhing in psychic agony at the effrontery; so i posted something to that effect, that what she was doing was hardly BB / advanced, that she lacked a lot of basics germaine to the weapon, that one should look at what kids in china hlaf her age were doing, etc.; well, people freaked - accused me of hating, that I was being insensitive to her feelings, that I shudn't compare her to chinese kids, that she was great, etc, etc.; in fact, I almost got banned, LOL (I got into a protracted PM w the admin, who, while eventually having to admit I was 100% spot on, still defended her position because, well, just because);

I mean a rape awarness class that teaches women when they are being chocked by a 200 black guy they should yell kiai and do a cheesy 3 move combo?

and yet if you go into "reputable" and "traditional" schools, a lot of them are teaching crap just as bad...or worse, teaching knife / gun defenses with authority but having no idea about the actual context...

or 6 year old black belts? is this really where this county has gone for MA????

look, it's all relative; I;m sure that 100 years ago, karate guys were complaining "what? a 30 y/o BB w only 15 yrs. experience? what's this world coming to?"

[Frost]

guys thanks for the advice but I am not bitter, envious or jealous of his business. i am not looking for any more students at this time, my classes are filled.

My point was this is the type of school that exsists in todays world adn it makes me sick to my stomach as a MA teacher. Why is it that people would watch this clip and think they are getting good MA instruction?

isnt this the type of school that gaives MA a bad name. As fellow martial artsits how can you have anything postitive to say about schools like this?

I just wonder how he can have 4 locations when he teaches crap like this? is America that ignorant when it comes to MA instruction?
I mean a rape awarness class that teaches women when they are being chocked by a 200 black guy they should yell kiai and do a cheesy 3 move combo? or 6 year old black belts? is this really where this county has gone for MA????

How can having a clean gym, well attended classes, an expanding curriculum, healthy fit students be bad for MA? s So some of it looked staged and there was no sparring that we saw the weapons stuff was too wushu like ..To be honest so what people don’t really want to really fight and just want to have fun and get fit, which that lot were doing
What would you consider better? full contact fighting, gun defence, a tradition that can be traced back a hundred years.....hat exactly? Let’s face facts all styles were made up by someone at one stage who ended up calling themselves a master, and people learn this type of thing because they enjoy it and its fun, the days of learning a MA primarily for self defence are long gone, guns made that obsolete years ago