When we mention the word, "cult," many visions come to mind. There's Jim Jones, charismatic leader of a religious group in Guyana who was photographed while inducing his entranced followers to famously, "Drink the Kool-Aid," which had been spiked with poison.
Their promised reward: A trip to PARADISE and eternal SALVATION.
Of course, that's not much different as a strategy than radical terrorists who recruit from the world's disadvantaged, hopeless, and angry ranks based on a promise that they'll be met by a large number of beautiful women at the end of their violent journeys.
Usually, according to experts, there are several criteria that need to be met before we can comfortably label a group a cult, distinguishing it from, say, your local bridge club or AYSO soccer 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, to make free choices, and to enjoy the typical latitude of being an independent individual.
Specifically, according to one definition, a coercive cult meets these criteria:
1. People are put in physically or emotionally distressing situations
2. Their problems are reduced to one simple explanation, which is repeatedly emphasized
3. They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from the leader
4. They get a new identity based on the group
5. They are subject to entrapment and their access to information is severely controlled.
Does this mean your martial arts dojo could be a coercive cult?
Perhaps.
Sparring, and confronting force occur all the time in dojos, and these are physically and emotionally distressing situations. Participants become especially open to suggestion.
Some dojos use reductionist, all-or-nothing explanations to describe inner states of being. For instance, they might say: "You're either AT CAUSE or AT EFFECT, and there's no in-between " and "You're for us, or against us!"
The leader can act like an all-powerful, all-knowing tribal chief, dispensing and withholding emotional rewards such as positive attention, public praise or condemnation and marginalization. Some go out of their way to change their members' identities by asserting that "We're you're family, now!" This is an attempt to shift foundational loyalties from one's natural and typical allies and support system to adoptive, leader and organization-designated ones.
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-Line-up!"
Do dojos entrap and ensnare?
The real test is to witness how members who choose to become inactive or to cease affiliating are treated. Are those that leave vilified, attacked, de-certified, and excommunicated? Or, are they wished good fortune and encouraged to remain loosely connected and to return at some future date?
I believe the ultimate test is whether the dojo seeks to, and has the effect of enhancing or diminishing your PERSONAL POWER to be, to act, and to think, independently. If their approach is to try to substitute group-think and the collective's or leader's goals with the individual's personal rationality and sensibilities, they've crossed the line.
Are there good cults and bad cults? Certainly, however don't be conned into thinking that distinguishing between the two is merely a matter of labeling or semantics. That's just more Kool-Aid to be on your guard against swallowing.
