I can't say how fast you are advancing because I do not know what rank green belt is compared to yellow. Every school is very very different, so there is no way for me to say whether or not you are in a McDojo or not. But there are ways you can tell.
1. If all the students took off their belt, would you be able to tell what rank they are? If the black belts don't show a dynamic difference in skill from the white belts, then you might be in a McDojo.
2. Are all students treated equally despite the difference in skill, income, and background? Do you have a "star student" who gets most of the attention and the teacher is constantly bragging about and wishing you were all more like? Are some students given exceptions to the rules? (ie higher ranks are allowed to bully and belittle lower ranks in a school that supposedly preaches respect). Are there clubs and such that you have to pay extra to join and get extra attention and training if you do? This does not count seminars with guest, high ranking teachers coming from other dojos as a modest fee is normal to bring these teachers in. The question is more geared to specialized training from your regular instructor open only to a select few who pay a special fee. If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" then it's a McDojo.
3. Finally. Do you feel you have improved? Do you feel you punch significantly better at green belt than you did at yellow? Or do you feel as though you just learned new techniques? With rank there needs to be more than just learning more moves. There needs to be significant improvement on your basics and that which you already know.
KW offers some good info. I will disagree with points sparring and kata not being effective though. IMHO they have a place but if done wrong they're as he described - USELESS.
Used properly they are tools to help round out your training and to help you develop various skills.
The pace that you describe isn't out of line for beginners. Most arts promote folks pretty quickly the first few belts. It's partly to keep students interested and partly because you're learning a few basics.
As for your college group. It could be good or not. The problem is, the students and teachers may mean well but if they learned from bad instruction they'll pass it along no matter what they try.
I also don't agree with KW's list. Some MMA gyms are nothing more than scams to profit off of the popularity of MMA. Likewise there are good and bad in all styles. It's just in TKD there is so much bad it's very hard to find the good.
My suggestion is to look at why you train. There are more reasons than just self defense or TKD wouldn't be so popular. Some of them include exercise, making friends, discipline, etc. So you need to see if you're getting what you seek in your TKD. You also need to look at the limits of what you're getting. You might be ok learning a "Martial Sport" while I wouldn't go near a dojang on a bet. To me the mixture of things I get in a not very popular but very traditional art like Uechi Ryu isn't for everyone.
So only you can decide.
Based on what you listed, you are not in a McDojo. You seem to be learning true (WTF) Taekwondo. What the F***? nope, it's World Taekwondo Federation. It's also backed by the Kukkiwon which is a taekwondo headquarters in Korea and where your school's black belts get their official black belt certificate. Calling it Bullshido is what people do who don't credit this style as a style that works in actual fighting.
While I admit they focus on point sparring and don't do much with their hands to the point of not even keeping them up, their kicks are no joke. You are learning real kicks that can knock somebody the F*** out if executed correctly. There's youtube videos that show this too. If you always try to do a 360 or more tornado kick, you'll probably will get stopped before it connects and get knocked down in real life, but if you know when to use it, it works. You can also get pretty fit at the right taekwondo school if you go often enough.
I think you should keep going to the one you're at because you already said you like it. You are not getting ripped off. The Taegeuk forms are good for you too if you aren't just blindly memorizing the movements, but are trying to make your technique better and transition smoother from technique to technique. Learning your one-steps and doing them as a reflex when someone attacks you is useful for real life too. If you have to stop and think about, "What number was that one-step?," then it won't work, you'll be too late for real life.
If you want to make use of the hand techniques, you will have to practice some contact sparring without points. Unfortunately, WTF style Taekwondo won't do that for you probably because the only sparring you'll be focused on in class will be point sparring.
Every place has a weakness, unless your are like the fictional character Ryu from streetfighter, traveling the world only training and looking for stronger opponents, and have no kids and no obligations to people, and no job, you won't be able to get trained in all unarmed fighting aspects. You only have so much time in a day and WTF chooses point sparring over nonpoint sparring.
You don't say how often class meets and how often you are attending. If we are talking about only once or twice per week then I would have to wonder about the quality of things some. I don't care what class and style we talk about. Most people can't generally develop their knowledge, skill, and ability to a high level and meet the high standards associated with the term of black-belt by only attending class twice per week. They can of course learn some things and develop some skills and so many schools and programs are really watered down versions of the real thing, not just in TKD either.
So while the time between testing for each belt of 4-6 months for your under belts to some extent is not so bad there is more here to consider than just that. These aspects of quality of training and how well you are actually learning and doing things really are harder to measure in a lot of ways than just what you have also included in your comments and what your training also includes that you have listed. This is why sometimes people like yourself sometimes are so easily fooled by those schools and instructors with substandard and mediocre training and standards.
Consider what I am saying here and look at things objectively and consider visiting some other schools and watching their classes and compare that to your own and the quality of training and instruction you are currently getting. Along with this consider seeking out those in your style who are established as having high standards and compare that which they know, do, and teach to that of your own skills and ability and the training you are currently getting and the standards applied for testing and promotion.
Well was it a guaranteed progression, or did you truly earn it? We don't really have much to go by, but it doesn't sound like this school is a McDojo in and of itself. Great schools generally don't have time periods as much as they assess when you are ready to progress, but some have a sort of projected progression timeline in place that some follow. Neither is wrong, but it becomes a problem when you truly aren't ready and they insist on promoting you. That and exorbitant prices for training that isn't necessarily sufficient. Those are great prices though.
How many belts do they have total?
What type of sparring is done? Is it full contact? Continuous?
Can you trace the lineage of your instructors? Is that information readily available to you?
Do they give you opportunities to learn about other styles/encourage you to take them?
Do you truly feel challenged in a way that breeds progression?
Tae Kwon Do is a large component of my standup training, but I trained mostly in Japan and a little in South Korea. It sounds similar to my first school, but we did have a sparring assessment as part of testing (plus a required break). There are many schools in the United States with questionable practices, but if you have the right answer to those questions, I think you will be fine. Good luck.
To be honest that sounds pretty good. I assume you did more than forms for your belt test however- like sparring and self defense techniques? I would be concerned if forms was the only thing you needed to learn as that starts becoming more just memorization. The prices seem reasonable and are comparable with ours. Your progression through rank seems about perfect. I am also taking taekwondo through my university and we test twice a semester and it feels a little rushed, but I can do all that is required of me (forms, self-defense, sparring)...
It is hard to tell from what you have posted here to give you a definitive answer, though nothing sends out huge warning signs.
You need to provide more detail about what you're doing, how much time you're spending, and an objective critique on your progress. There's no other way for us to know whether you're advancing quickly or not. I have students now that have passed their 3 year mark and who have not advanced a single belt. They're not very good, so, I don't promote them. It's their choice.
@KeyboardWarrior - The OP is asking about WTF taekwondo. That is NOT point sparring - it's full contact, though considering he's a lower belt, it's probably lighter contact. And anyway, it's not taught to be used in real life self-defense, it's taught for ring sparring. And all of the sports you mention are also not meant for real life self-defense, they're made only for sport.
Have to Chime in on this one due to the apparent lack of information and giving of misinformation. First more detail is needed. Second it is difficult to determine if a school is a mcdojo based on someone description on the internet. The reason is because the only way to see of a school is a mcdojo is to actually check the school out for itself, usually because many schools exhibit a few "mcdojo symptoms."
Do not listen to Keyboard Warrior. He is a troll that probably has bitter resentment for traditional martial arts. Taekwondo has plenty of full-contact sparring along with a partner resisting your attacks.
Legit or not is a matter of opinion. Because people's motivations and goals aren't the same, so the methods they use won't agree either.
A McDojo is a place with a priority on profit and selling it, than benefiting the students. If you feel you are getting a real benefit there, then it doesn't matter what other people say, your own judgment is what you should trust.
Personally, I like to not get ranked to begin with, as I feel it is a limitation. So for me, McDojos can't draw me in with promises of fast promotion and "black belts". I don't like the cost, I'm not paying the cost, I'm paying the fee to get an education using physical methods. I don't care about belts, credentials, only about actual teaching methods.
A simple test just to give you an idea (not definitive).
Are you guaranteed to receive new belts at the end of each semester regardless of skill or attitude?
Yes - Then McDojang (not Mcdojo)
No - Then maybe not.
I am a college student that has currently been taking Taekwondo classes on campus for one year so far. I have really enjoyed it. However, I have been reading several articles online and hearing from other people about counterfeit TKD dojos termed "McDojos", and I checking to see if the place I do is legit or would fall under this category.
I am familiar with the concept that a McDojo will promote students quickly through belt ranks in order to accumulate a profit. I started the TKD class at the beginning or fall last year and received a yellow belt at the end of the semester ($25). Over the spring I took another semester of the class and now I am being tested for a green belt (cost $35). Is this a reasonable period of time in order to progress to green belt? or is it too quick?
additional details:
-class includes: self defense, sparring, and forms
-kid black belts: I have heard that kid black belts are a sign of a mcdojo, but I am in the adult class so I would not know if there were any.
-green belt requirement: learning Taegeuk: Il-Jang, I-Jang, Sam-Jang, and Sa-Jang.
-Semester cost ($30)
Is this a legitimate class? or am I being cheated?
We need way more information to know. White to green in the least amount (where I train at) would take 16-20 months for green. How about this... If you feel like you can defend yourself and if you feel like your learning, then go with that. TKD is known to have bad schools, so it gets a bad rap.
One day when hunting in the wilderness for some deer, my karate teacher said Taekwondo not a Buck, but one Doe.
Seriously how many John's are there? I feel like I have to change my name.
