It's that time of the month...

Not talking about your cranky girlfriend, but every few months, like the portals opening in a different dimension, I get the same kind of inquiry, and it just happened again. I’ve probably written something similar in a previous blog, but what the heck, I know you guys like reading my madness.....

So the inquiry usually starts politely enough with a “Gday, I'm looking for a new karate school lah-di-dah...”. But as the email goes deeper, a familiar pattern emerges. That is, disappointment, disillusionment, and a growing sense of being misled by their current instructor or club. These students many of them keen as hot English mustard at first, and once frothing at the mouth with karate passion, often stumble across this website and come to me like stray dogs, lost, disorientated, and some even slightly feral. Some were promised self-defense but walked away with nothing more than choreographed moves. Others thought they were learning traditional martial arts, only to discover watered-down versions filled with empty rituals and lessons that never made any sense. And a large chunk of them have paid good money and invested years even decades only to realise they’d been sold a Nigerian-prince-style karate dream.

Sometimes, I feel like the owner of an orphanage for the used and abused martial arts students. Yep, I say martial arts because a few of my students came from Taekwondo and Kung Fu, with over 10 years experience, and faced the same dead-end path of lies and deceit. It’s rather heartbreaking and does annoy me quite a bit. Still, what can I do? I’m far from any saint and it’s technically none of my business that there are more dodgy martial arts schools out there than there are dodgy vape shops in my local area. And who am I to save every lost karate soul?

But there is a deep sadness in watching so many so-called “masters” and “senseis” lead students down a spiritual cul-de-sac paved with ego, false humility, and flashy bunkai that serves no purpose. A path where marketing replaces meaning, where the number of students is the only measure of success, and where brown belts with just a couple of years under their belt can open a dojo just so the higher-ups can rake in more dough.

Too many schools today are simply businesses first, and dojos second. The focus has greatly shifted from mentorship to membership; from forging character to collecting fees. Wax on, wax off but now with a weekly fee and a 7-day free trial, with a complimentary dogi if you sign up for 12 months – Can I add in some large fries or a bowl of rice with that? So what happens? Students eventually leave after being stuffed around too long. Disheartened, Disconnected, Dicked up the rearend. And every few months, one of them ends up finding their way to me, hoping that maybe this time, it’ll be the real deal. I’m not exactly advertising for new students, nor do I promote how cool and special we are. I’m not the human equivalent of a karate Tinder profile, but I do try to welcome them. Because once upon a time, I too got shafted by the karate matrix and endured the same BS. But yeah, I do grieve a little or maybe a lot (ahhh since when have I become Mr Sensitive?!)

4 ex-stray dogs with over a combined 70 years martial arts experience wanting to train with some dude in his backyard.

Every student who comes to me feeling betrayed by their karate past is a reminder of the absolute crap that’s being peddled out there. To those still searching: don’t give up, I’m sure the right teacher is out there. I can’t save everyone and honestly, I don’t want to but when you do find the right instructor or dojo, it won’t be about the belts or some Amway-style money-grab scheme anymore. It’ll be about that feeling that captures the sense of...... “Finally, something that actually makes sense.”