Friday, April 17, 2015

Martial Musings with Mahipal Lunia: Defining oneself and one's practice AKA This is not your friendly neighborhood McDojo

Martial Musings: Defining oneself and one’s practice AKA This is not your friendly neighborhood McDojo

I had a strange conversation this week. A millionaire father contacted me to “do my aikido and fix his 3 children” who were aged between 18 and 23. He also expected prompt responses in writing about when he wanted me to show up, then spend 2 hours each day with his kids. He then wanted to know if I had the facilities to accept his AmEx card, as he would not use any other card. Finally he emphasized his “kids” would be driven by a private chauffer.

I remained as patient with him as I could be, and then told him “You need a different dojo, that can cater to your needs. Here are three in the city that would be the right fit. I am not the right kind of Sensei for your needs.”