Word.ws English Dictionary

McDojo

McDojo noun: a dojo that focuses on spectacular techniques and awarding black belts rather than teaching authentic martial arts.

Noun

McDojo (plural McDojos)

  1. (derogatory) A dojo that focuses on spectacular techniques and awarding black belts rather than teaching authentic martial arts.
    • This book made me long for the old ways of martial arts instruction before McDojos and health clubs dominated the land.2006, Phillip Starr, The Making of a Butterfly: Traditional Chinese Martial Arts as Taught by Master W. C. Chen, Blue Snake Books, →ISBN, page 230
    • Instructors are hoping that he won't go off and train with some other teacher of a McDojo where producing masses of black belts (but the quality and standard is poor) is the norm.2011, John Hennessy, The Essence of Martial Arts: Making Your Skills Work in Practice, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 121

Forms of McDojo

pluralMcDojos

Origin of McDojo

From Mc- + dojo. The "Mc" prefix, borrowed from fast-food chain McDonald's, symbolizes and patterns the process of mass-producing low-quality goods quickly.

Questions about McDojo

What does McDojo mean?
McDojo means a dojo that focuses on spectacular techniques and awarding black belts rather than teaching authentic martial arts.
What part of speech is McDojo?
McDojo is a noun.
What is the plural of McDojo?
The plural of McDojo is McDojos.

Words near McDojo in the dictionary

  1. McDivitts
  2. MCDM
  3. McDo
  4. McDoctor
  5. McDoctors
  6. McDojo
  7. McDojos
  8. McDole
  9. McDoles
  10. McDonagh
  11. McDonald

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: McDojo (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “McDojo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mcdojo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.