Enter the McDojo

I'm not sure when I first heard the term McDojo — a friend thought I'd coined the term circa 1996, and I wasn't sure he was wrong — but I did a little looking, and someone named Dzu Nguyen used it back in 1992, in a Usenet posting, under the subject heading of Badass Karate (-Do?):

One thing i can't stand is the commercialization of teh martial arts. Things have gotten so bad with people inventing their own styles and techniques after only a limited time of study. I used to train at one of these McDojo's and i am thankful for many of the basic punches and kicks that i learned. However the instructor was asking for more money and wanted to sign me up for a 2nd dan program costing about 2 thousand dollars. It seems that many schools are franchised out to anyone with a black belt and the money. In essence many people do 'sell' out. It's a shame really.

I don't know if he coined the term, but it was unusual enough that someone else called it a "great word" for the common phenomenon.