Fitness and martial arts industry rants by Owen Johnston, freelance karate instructor and personal trainer http://owenjohnstonkarate.

com Fitness Industry Rant I firmly believe that if the American public in eneral was self motivated, better educated about nutrition, and patient about workin towards lon term results, the fitness industry as we know it simply wouldn!t e"ist. #adly, the industry takes advanta e of a lack of self direction by offerin cookie cutter routines in the form of dan erous fads such as $rossfit. It!s better to have an approach to fitness, rather than one set routine. %hen you understand a system of e"ercise, you can use it to build your own individuali&ed routines. 'ailorin it to your current level prevents over trainin to injury, and will help you pro ress faster. Also, knowin how to desi n your own pro ram and chan e thin s up keep it e"citin ( which help you stay self directed and motivated. 'he industry also ets away with sellin supplements to an uninformed public. 'here are many nutritional myths that continue to be propa ated by the industry. )*+ou can!t afford all the food you need to be healthy, but we!ll sell you these insanely e"pensive supplements that humans somehow lived healthily without for thousands of years,-. 'he industry also touts all manner of et skinny /uick, et si" pack abs /uick, and other such nonsensical diets and workouts. 0eople want instant ratification, but nothin replaces the time tested principles of proper trainin , nutrition, and recovery. It!s reat to learn new thin s, but we have to understand the aforementioned principles so that we can make sense of the latest research and trends, and fi ure out what is useful. 'here are no secrets to ettin skinny, stron , or healthy, #imply work hard, eat ri ht, allow yourself to recover, and keep learnin , Martial Arts Industry Rant 1efore you read my lon winded rantin , check out the below two pa es for definitions of terms I use 2 %hat a 3c4ojo is and how it works 2 http://rationalwiki.or /wiki/3c4ojo 1ullshido at 5rban 4ictionary 2 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php6term7bullshido 'here are many problems caused by the traditional martial arts community itself. 8or one, most traditional martial arts schools in America are *3c4ojo!s- or *1ullshido- schools, or both. 'his is usually because of under/ualified instructors or outri ht conmen fakin as instructors. %hen I say under /ualified, what I mean is that they have no idea how to teach what they say they do. 5sually it!s more of a case of them not even knowin any better ( they!re just passin it on as it was passed on to them. *'his is just the way it!s supposed to be done.- 9o /uestionin . 'radition is important, but when you become a product of the style, rather than learnin from it and keepin its traditions alive, while usin some common sense ( well, that!s just bad business. 'here is a balance that needs to be struck.

Martial Arts Industry Rant, page 2 I knew a :th de ree black belt in some alle edly ama&in style of karate who defeated easily in a street fi ht. I felt bad for the uy, certainly, and it was fortunate that there was a pair of uest instructors at his dojo who actually knew how to teach self defense. #till, seein the /uality of the karate instruction at the place, and the eneral lack of sparrin , it!s no wonder. It!s dan erous to take somethin that has its roots in actual fi hts, and defan it, then pass it off as self defense. Or, you know, not even teach it as self defense ( just as an art form. I!ve seen schools do both and it!s fraudulent. Oh, and unethical. I read an article by a 1lack 1elt ma a&ine columnist where he said that if you want to learn self defense, you shouldn!t be puttin on uniforms and bowin to people. $ertainly, it isn!t necessary to wear a uniform to practice karate techni/ues, as a rule, but the insinuation is that karate should not be one!s first choice when it comes to self defense. It!s true that, in eneral, 3c4ojo instructors have no idea whatsoever how to teach people to defend themselves. On the other hand, when tau ht properly, any of the major karate styles and many of their offshoots are /uite useful. I don!t know where this notion of karate not bein at all useful for self defense or combat came from. It seems to be widespread, and dojo!s aren!t helpin it either. http://rationalwiki.or /wiki/1lack;1elt;3a a&ine 'he eneral public just sees it as somethin that kids take up when they!re little so they can learn discipline. #orry, but that!s what the parents are for. 4iscipline starts at home. 'he dojo is not a daycare and shouldn!t be treated like one. 1ut that!s a whole other rant. #till, my point is that, yes, while the money is in child classes, the kids still do need to learn self defense while they!re in your class. Anythin less and it!s just a replacement for sports until the ne"t actual sport starts up. I hate seein this kind of thin happen ( they et treated as paychecks and not iven anythin worthwhile in return. +es, there are the a ility ames, teamwork buildin e"ercises, and so forth at some karate schools, that are offered to kids. 'his just shouldn!t be at the e"pense of the actual karate pro ram. 0erhaps I!m just very conservative or old school that way. %ho knows. 'he bills do have to et paid, but at some point a line has to be drawn. Anyway, two other major problems in most or ani&ations are the forced belt testin fees )usually e"orbitant, fre/uent, and time based. and the contracts. 'hese are such horrid epidemics that I had to mention them even thou h they fall under *3c4ojo-. <onestly, you don!t want to be nickel and dimed anywhere else, or forced into a bunch of le alese. 'he primary means of income should be the tuition, and belt testin fees just shouldn!t even e"ist. It!s completely unethical to char e people twice for what they already know. 'he tuition should cover the cost of the belts. 'hat!s a belief of mine, thou h. Anyway, elitism and pride in the form of *purism- are also major problems that lead to 3c4ojo behavior and some outri ht 1ullshido. 9o cross trainin is allowed in some or ani&ations or it is heavily discoura ed ( with the e"cuse that doin so would deprive you of the time you need to improve upon what you!re learnin from the or ani&ation. 'his makes some sense on the surface, but if you!re truly dedicated to the style, and another activity of yours doesn!t work at opposite ends, there!s no reason you can!t multitask. %e all have =>? hours in the week, after all.

Martial Arts Industry Rant, page 3 #till, another e"cuse used is that they don!t want you ettin your style watered down by the others. 0urity issues, mi"in up the principles of the styles, etc. #tyle purists really rind my ears, but that!s a post for another day. #till, most of the time people spout this kind of thin , they!re usually almost actin like cult members and talk about how ama&in the style is and nothing else is /uite like it, therefore you shouldn!t cross train. 'hese cult like atmospheres only e"ist in 3c4ojo!s. Another sure si n is that what these types of places teach is essentially sport karate. )#orry, but it is, and it!s a uarantee when you almost can!t walk safely in the dojo because of all the tournament trophies and medals stacked up.. $ertainly, it!s important to spend time becomin proficient in the basics of a style before tryin to branch out, but it!s also important to still cross train at some point. I could write at len th on all of these points, but that depends on whether any of my readers would be interested. @isit the ori inal blo post for this rant if youAd like to discuss, http://owenjohnstonkarate.com/BC=:/CD/C?/martial2arts2industry2rant/