Knowledge is Power

Have you heard of Moo Doe?

The so-called "traditional" martial art taught by Oom Yung Doe to raise money and recruit for their cult.

Some things seem natural, like a glass of grapefruit juice would be a healthy choice for breakfast. But its important to check out the facts before you pick up a glass of pink yummy goodness. You could end up like this guy.

Information is a good thing.
Especially if you're interested in Oom Yung Doe.

Book review: Herding the Moo

This entry was posted on 12/13/2007 7:02 PM and is filed under Fraud,Martial Arts.

I recently saw an excellent review of Joe Smith's Herding the Moo in ForeWard, a publishing magazine.

Joe Smith's book hits a special place for anyone who's been through the Oom Yung Doe experience, but it is more than simply a memoir. If I had never walked into one of John C. Kim's martial arts schools, I probably would not have understood how easy it is to lure unsuspecting people into a scam, by adopting just the right superficial elements of genuine martial arts. The reviewer summarizes this very well:

"The book elucidates why otherwise intelligent people would join a cult. Often it’s because the group fulfils and/or exploits deep-seated psychological needs that victims may not even be aware of. Aspiring martial artists can become particularly vulnerable to such manipulations, since they often approach the arts with little foreknowledge, save for the ubiquitous Hollywood fantasies they watch on the silver screen. Expecting to find mysterious Asian rituals, eager practitioners hear plausible legends and see bogus displays of fighting prowess. This chicanery reinforces their predispositions. Even legitimate martial artists wear distinctive uniforms, associate with like-minded individuals, and perform activities that are nearly unfathomable to the uninitiated. Cult leaders selfishly twist the conventions and hook victims with the promise of inimitability, status, and power, and the pull to join and stay in the cult becomes very strong indeed."

I heard that a new edition of "Herding .." was released recently, with much better editing.

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Comments

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2/27/2008 8:33 PM Fred wrote:
I recently signed a 2 yr black belt contract and after doing some research this past week I want to get out. I only signed up a week ago and paid my deposit so I want to try and get what I can back. I was unaware at the time I signed up that there are testing fees for each section. This could be leverage. I was wondering if you had any other suggestions.

Thank You.
Reply to this
1. 3/10/2008 7:43 PM Fred Burkle wrote:
  Hi,
  
  I'm sure you've received some good advice by now, and also had time to make a decision. I hope your decision was to terminate your association with the OYD school, despite the double talk mind games they will play with you to get you to doubt your own judgment. Older, smarter, wiser people have decided to try to get their money's worth by sticking to OYD for a while, to recoup the money they had paid already. They ALWAYS end up regretting it.
  
  OYD will not refund your money. They always find some excuse: the money has been paid to the headquarters already; we have a policy of no refunds; we'll offer you "free" lessons or discounts towards other programs instead of money back; come back 3 months later; you are a negative person, so we don't want you anyway. The excuses go on and on, but it's always a familar story. The bottomline will still remain: you don't get your money back.
  
  However, I hope you will register a complaint with your local BBB and Attorney General's office, so that there is a record of how OYD treats their customers. There are a few people who have registered complaints - I know of cases in Seattle, Pittsburgh and Boston - but too few. Most people feel so disgusted by the time they are through dealing with the OYD scam, they just walk away and try to forget about it. While it's a perfectly valid personal choice to do so, if they had registered complaints, there would have been enough documented cases to prove OYD's pattern of misconduct, and people like you wouldn't have to lose money in order to learn that the inocuous storefront boasting of traditional martial arts is nothing but a cult of posers giving martial arts a bad name.
  
  All the best ...
  Reply to this