Is your dojo a sect?
When we mention the word “cult”, many visions come to mind. There is Jim Jones, charismatic leader of a religious group in Guyana who was photographed inducing his followers in a trance to take the famous “Drink the Kool-Aid”, which had been poisoned.
Your promised reward: A trip to PARADISE and eternal SALVATION.
Of course, that’s not a very different strategy from radical terrorists who recruit from the world’s destitute, hopeless, and angry ranks with the promise that they will meet a host of beautiful women at the end of their violent journeys.
Typically, experts say, there are several criteria that must be met before we can comfortably label a group a cult, distinguishing it from, say, your local bridge club or the AYSO football league.
The term becomes alarming when we associate it with COERCIVE organizations that seek to diminish the power of members to set their own priorities, make free decisions, and enjoy the typical freedom of being an independent individual.
Specifically, by one definition, a coercive cult meets these criteria:
1. People are in situations of physical or emotional distress.
2. Your problems are reduced to a simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized
3. They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from the leader.
4. They gain a new identity based on the group
5. They are subject to cheating and their access to information is severely controlled.
Does this mean your martial arts dojo could be a coercive cult?
Maybe.
Combat and force confrontation happen all the time in dojos, and these are physically and emotionally harrowing situations. Participants become especially open to suggestions.
Some dojos use reductionist all-or-nothing explanations to describe internal states of being. For example, they might say, “You’re IN THE CAUSE or THE EFFECT, and there’s no middle ground” and “You’re either with us or against us!”
The leader may act as an all-powerful and all-knowing tribal chief, giving and withholding emotional rewards such as positive attention, public praise, or condemnation and marginalization. Some go to great lengths to change their members’ identities by claiming that “We are your family now!” This is an attempt to shift fundamental loyalties from one’s natural and typical allies and support system to adoptive ones, designated by the leader and the organization.
Obviously, if your dojo subscribes to the belt system, your behavior is also closely governed by your rank, which becomes your primary identity.
“Brown Belts Lineup!”
Do dojos trap and trap?
The real test is witnessing how members who choose to become inactive or stop joining are treated. Are those who leave vilified, attacked, decertified and excommunicated? Or are they wishing them good fortune and encouraging them to stay loosely connected and return at a future date?
I believe the ultimate test is whether the dojo seeks and has the effect of increasing or decreasing your PERSONAL POWER to be, act and think independently. If your approach is to try to substitute groupthink and the goals of the collective or the leader with the rationality and personal sensitivities of the individual, you have crossed the line.
Are there good cults and bad cults? Certainly, though, don’t be fooled into thinking that distinguishing between the two is simply a matter of labeling or semantics. That’s just more Kool-Aid to guard against swallowing.
