lets see, there’s 1 big situations i can think of (though it’s more of a sad story than a mc dojo, though looking back now i realize some of it may have been just that) This is VERY long heh, i like to rant.
Long story short, i was at my shotokan school for 8 years total (had some time off due to various injuries and personal things, financial issues, etc etc), probably actually in the school for 7 of it. Anyways i had a friend (ex friend now and you’ll see why) who over the years started changing, and not for the better. Again long story short, he’s the type of guy who ate shit his whole life, and instead of turning into a good person, he did all he could to make everyone else feel like shit, so far as to accuse me of being on steroids (aka he was very fat and just couldn’t understand how someone was as big as me and moved so fast and could be in such good looking shape, etc etc) multiple times over the years of us having conflicts. There’s alot more to it but that’s all you need to know.
Anyways it FINALLY after years and years, comes time for me to get ready for my brown belt test. Now mind you i had NEVER sparred before other than 1 and 3 step sparring, after being told i wouldn’t have to spar for brown belt for years. Well…turns out i was lied to. So i went home that night after finding out i would have to, and posted on facebook the following: “crap…just found out i need to spar for my brown belt…definitely need someone to do some hardcore sparring with so i can be ready!”. Posted it and went to bed. The following night there (2 days later or w/e it was), i went in and he said he wanted to watch my kata (now mind you kata is clearly the most essential part of seeing if i should wear the color brown, not my skill, power, speed, and ability to defend myself lol), and he just kept giving me “eh” looks the whole time. Pulled me over and said he didn’t think i was ready. Ok…fair enough i guess, guess my kata wasn’t where he wanted it to be, i waited 8 years, i can wait a few more months to get another chance or w/e.
The problem however…was that after he said that, he also told me that it “came to his attention” (the was a black belt there, who is about 25 years older than me, had a big falling out as his house long ago because of that same ex best friend, i ended up eating the blame, etc, who i had on my facebook, who i’m confident said this to him) that i was "looking to do some very hardcore sparring and hurt people, and he can’t have someone like that walking around with a brown belt, and ALSO oddly enough said “you know tony, one thing that always bothered me is that i know you’re on steroids and i know that can affect your temper, and i know that’s why you threatned to beat up that guy who was bothering ben (my ex best friend)”. Huh…interesting that right after i told my friend Ben the following AND I QUOTE “if that guy keeps doing that to you, let me know and we’ll get it taken care of one way or another”. Also odd that someone who had a problem with me for something i didn’t do, was the only other person in that class that knew what i posted on facebook, and odd that the words seemed “changed” from what i actually had said. So blah blah blah, these were all reasons i couldn’t test for brown, but ALL THAT ASIDE, i still said “ok then” and explained to him that the steroid accusation was bullshit (basically it’s a ground of skinny out of shape people who can’t tolerate someone being in shape lol, i’m very big for my size and my speed is mind boggling for the amount of mass i carry on my frame, people just can’t get that i work my ass off for it lol), and he seemed to be ok with it, but still didn’t want me to test.
So i go home and text my friend “wtf did you say to sensei that would make him say that to me??” and he came back with essentially “your incessant workouts and violent attitude are key signs that you shouldn’t be testing, i didn’t say that to him but i agree with him, blah blah blah”, so i message him back and basically call him out on the last 14 years of bullshit that i’ve heard him spew and tolerated because he was my best friend, and a host of other things. Instead of working it out, he decided to end our friendship (as people who are pussies and who can’t handle the truth being thrown at them despite being the first one in line to belittle anyone else to make themselves feel better often do), i attempted to talk things over with him many times but eventually i just said fuck it, he was clearly not worth my time anymore.
Anyways after that, i had evidence that he had said to my sensei and to me did not match up (other things were said too), and i called him and asked if i coudl go in and talk to him before class, he said sure. So i went in that day, with the ACTUAL post on facebook printed for him and what Ben had messaged me and all the proof i needed. I sat down and showed him this and explained to him that he had basically jumped to 1 giant conclusion based on assumptions instead of facts, and he actually said to me that after talking to other people in the dojo he realized he made a mistake and that i wasn’t violent, on roids, etc etc. However then he threw a huge curve ball at me…
(before continuing, know 2 things. I had talked to people in the dojo a WHILE prior to this, asking that IF it was ok with sensei, if we could meet a 3rd day during the week to train, maybe at the park, it’d be donation based if any money involved, and all the money would go to the dojo to improve it. I ALSO at the time was starting a fitness class at the YWCA near me, these 2 things had NOTHING to do with each other, anyways read on).
He said he found out i was trying to recruit people to come to my MARTIAL ARTS class and steal his students, that i was putting young women (younger girls in our class i had talked to about my ide for a 3rd day, nothing more) at risk and putting him at risk for being sued, etc etc. I couldn’t believe it and really didn’t know what to say because i had NO fucking idea what he was talking about (again not realizing he had combined 2 things together and made his own assumptions about it, oddly enough things that he would have ONLY heard about through facebook, and ONLY made the assumptions he made about them based on people twisting my words around, like what had JUST been fucking discussed with him). I tried defending myself but again i didn’t know what he was coming at me with (only pieced it together later that night). Words were exchanged, and it all ended with me being removed from the dojo because “i can’t have someone who disrespects me and the dojo so much in here, go teach your class, you obviously need the money, maybe we’ll talk at a later date”. I was pretty devastated obviously, that not only my best friend of almost TWENTY ONE years had turned into such a worthless cock munch, but that a place i called home for 8 years was now out of my life.
I moped about it for a few days, eventually months later wrote him a HUGE message explaining (in as nice a way as possible) how big of a fucking moron he was for what he said and did, and that if he would only take time to consider FACTS, that he would see he jumped to a giant conclusion based on the bullshit others were feeding him instead of realizing things for himself. Do i know if he read it? Nope. Do i care anymore? Nope. I attempted to explain myself 1 more time, if he chose to ignore it (which he obviously has as i haven’t had contact with him since) then so be it, that’s his own ignorance and loss.
I say this is a mcdojo situation possibly, because of a few things. Mainly ONE of the reasons i got accused of being on roids is because not only am i freaking huge, i’m also faster (or was, gotta work back up to it) than EVERY single person save for 1 of the black belts (who oddly enough trains even more than me, yet he never got shit for it lol), and i’m intense as all hell. That was my gift and also my downfall apparently lol. Everyone in that place for the most part has been doing it for anywhere from 2-15 years, most of them are just as fat and terrible at techniques as they were when they started, there’s almost no sparring, what there is is mainly 1 and 3 step and some “free sparring” (but watch out for injuries, if you do more than tap someone you might hurt them), all this talk about practical application, yet we never practiced any, i guarantee you if i randomly walked up to 98% of the people in that school and started a fight with them, they wouldn’t walk away from it with anything less than most of their teeth missing and some broken bones, they can’t even use what they’ve trained “so hard” to learn, it’s pathetic really, and clearly the sensei has his head shoved so far up his own ass he can’t smell how bad everyone elses shit stinks.
I still train shotokan on my own time (just restarted recently…my god am i bad at it now lol) but i found a very good MMA school and focus mostly on BJJ and muay thai, and now shotokan again on my own time as i said. I’m working through some hyperextended elbows (tendonitis now sigh) that i’ve been dealing with for years (oh ya as my “sensei” would say, it’s because i went to a “hokey” school for a while lol) so that makes that type of punching tough on me but i get by.
Anyways sorry for that 2 hour rant, i’m done 