Interviewing Potential Instructors

Now that you have found the school you think matches your needs and interests it is time to interview the potential Instructor.  Remember YOU are interviewing the Instructor, not the other way around, maintain control of the interview and don't let the Instructor turn it around on you.

I recommend you first ask if the Instructor/School is a member of either NAPMA (National Association of Professional Martial Artists) or MAIA (Martial Arts Industry Association).  These Associations are NOT Martial Arts organizations but Sales and Marketing Companies that specialize in making sales not teaching martial arts.  NAPMA is owned and operated by businessman Stephen Oliver and MAIA is owned and operated by the world's largest martial arts supplier Century Martial Arts.

Martial Arts Instructors pay these organizations $1000+ a month in consultations fees for sales and marketing advice.  These companies DO NOT offer any martial arts instruction or training! For this astronomical monthly fee, the Instructor has been given and taught to use carefully crafted scripts to answer phone calls or talk to walk-in potential customers.  They also have comprhensive lists of how to deal with any objections and get as many potential customers to sign lengthy and expensive contracts (5+ years and $17,000).

These sales and marketing companies and their Instructors have only one goal:  increase revenues!  Martial Arts are secondary to the $$$.  I once interviewed for a position with Mile Hi Karate a franchise owned by Stephen Oliver (NAPMA).  During the interview I was never asked about my martial arts background and experience, all of the questions were about my sales and marketing expereince.  Need I say more?

The way these "martial arts" schools increase and guarantee their revenue is through CONTRACTS.   This scheme is legal but I question how ethical it is, especially considering the code of honor most traditional martial arts schools claim to teach.  These contracts vary in length from 12 month (1 year) to 60 months (5 years).  I have noticed that these schools always quote time in months and not years, that is a tactic they use to downplay what may seem like a very long time to an ordinary person.

Monthly cost can vary from about $160 a month to $500+ a month.  Time to do the math a 12 month contract at $160 a month = $1920.  5 year contract at $160 a month = $9600.  I even heard of someone signing a 36 month contract at $395 per month.  That's $14,220!  Those are the values of the contracts.  The monthly amounts must be paid whether the student is training or not.  These contracts are ironclad, written by layers and tested in court.  Don't think for one second that the Instructor won't send you to a collection agency or turn you over to their lawyer for payment even if you stop training.

Many of these Instructors actually count on a large percentage of their students quitting!  Their facilities are simply too small to accomodate the number of students enrolled.  They maximize their profits based on square footage by having "paying" students who do not attend.  Legal? Yes! Ethical? Doubtful.

You should also ask about UPGRADES such as sparring, Black Belt Club, Masters Club, weapons training, etc.  There are lots of upgrade options that these schools use to increase revenue.  Each upgrade is added to the basic fee starting around $160 per month.  It can really start adding up.  Make sure you understand clearly what your basic fee gets for you, because you can easily end up paying 2 or 3 times the basic amount to get the training you wanted.

To sum this all up, I will never forget a series of articles I saw in the monthly magazine of NAPMA.  It was entitled "How to Lock in Your Students."  It dealt with using contracts to obligate students to pay the martial arts school.  As distrubing as that is, the photo that accompanied it made me shudder.  It was a picture of a young martial arts student in a locked cage.  That's how they see their students!

Obviously, I would recommend staying as far away from these schools or "McDojos" as they are known among traditional martial arts schools.  Never sign a contract!  If the school doesn't offer a month-to-month go elsewhere, find a school where their priority is martial arts instructions and training, not sales and contracts.

If you have had expereinces with a "McDojo" I welcome your comments on this post.