i must apologize in advance...

[klonk]

Well, viewed in that light, I would point out that practice and practitioner are hard to sort out. Which is which? The fellow's haircut drew some remarks. Dirty pool? Or in bounds for a critique, seeing that his hair is combat dysfunctional? If he cannot bear to cut it off, he might pin it into a samurai topknot.

My opinion is that it's cowardly and shallow to post someone's clip/pics (for entertainment?) and rip on them when they aren't here to speak for themselves. When the person is here to speak for himself, ripping on their clip(s) is just rude and disrespectful. Again, just my opinion.

That would seem to lead to a policy of not commenting at all, if some rough or jocular remark might be taken as...what? Rough or jocular? Warriors should not be overly sensitive, even if they are warriors in only a manner of speaking. I would also say that someone asking for advice or comment, about anything, ought not be too particular about what he gets. It won't all be kindly.

I see here a point worth pondering, the way in which people acquire what they think are martial arts, based on impressions picked up via the popular culture. This is a problem for real deal martial arts of all kinds, you have to sort out the boob tube and video game console information stream from the real thing, and convince people that what they saw is not what you teach. Someone who learned Western fencing from Zorro movies would embarrass himself in a real bout and in sword combat he would die.

Some time back we had a video on here about a self-styled ki master blaster getting beaten on by someone whose skills were not all fantasy. Here it is, found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I



What should be my response? 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'? That would leave me speechless in this case. There are other cases that leave me wondering what you would have me say, or not say. Yellow Bamboo? Or that taiji guy whose students gyrate weirdly when he waves at them? The world of martial arts contains a certain amount of absurdity. How should one deal with it? Like so?




If it were only a matter of making fun of people for entertainment, that would be wrong, I agree, but there is information here, about how people understand martial arts or, in the cases I mentioned, fail to understand. Should discussions of that kind be off limits?

[BruceP]

Well, viewed in that light, I would point out that practice and practitioner are hard to sort out. Which is which? The fellow's haircut drew some remarks. Dirty pool? Or in bounds for a critique, seeing that his hair is combat dysfunctional? If he cannot bear to cut it off, he might pin it into a samurai topknot.

My opinion is that it's cowardly and shallow to post someone's clip/pics (for entertainment?) and rip on them when they aren't here to speak for themselves. When the person is here to speak for himself, ripping on their clip(s) is just rude and disrespectful. Again, just my opinion.

That would seem to lead to a policy of not commenting at all, if some rough or jocular remark might be taken as...what? Rough or jocular? Warriors should not be overly sensitive, even if they are warriors in only a manner of speaking. I would also say that someone asking for advice or comment, about anything, ought not be too particular about what he gets. It won't all be kindly.

I see here a point worth pondering, the way in which people acquire what they think are martial arts, based on impressions picked up via the popular culture. This is a problem for real deal martial arts of all kinds, you have to sort out the boob tube and video game console information stream from the real thing, and convince people that what they saw is not what you teach. Someone who learned Western fencing from Zorro movies would embarrass himself in a real bout and in sword combat he would die

None of that has anything to do with what I'm talking about. Convoluting a simple, straightforward rationale that stands on its own is just a game - nothing more.

Some time back we had a video on here about a self-styled ki master blaster getting beaten on by someone whose skills were not all fantasy. Here it is, found it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I

What should be my response? 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'? That would leave me speechless in this case. There are other cases that leave me wondering what you would have me say, or not say

What you say is up to you. I'm not an agent of the Morals and Conducts Ministry. 'If you can't say anything nice...' is a good policy for sure. I didn't say anything on any of the threads at any of the forums where I've seen that clip posted. I rarely comment on clips anyway.

I've commented twice on how what was being shown lacked commitment on the part of the attacker because the material was being touted as practical application. Anyway, if a bellicose asshole like me can see the rationale of not saying anything if there's nothing good to say, surely an educated and refined warrior can see it as well.

Or that taiji guy whose students gyrate weirdly when he waves at them?

Yeah, I think I remember that clip. The one where someone said one of the ladies was probably a squirter? Is that the one? Because if it is, that thread backs up what I'm saying here.

The world of martial arts contains a certain amount of absurdity. How should one deal with it?

Who am I to say? Am I such the fuckin prize that I can make value judgements on the practice of others? Am I so awesome that I can give unsolicited advice on stuff I haven't shown to be proven in my own practice? I try not to be that guy.

If it were only a matter of making fun of people for entertainment, that would be wrong, I agree, but...

...but that seems to be the reason why threads like this one were started to begin with. nuff said

[meeks]

http://www.ehow.com/video_2345271_small-parry-foil-fencing.html

next we'll look at the various types of parries...

Perry Como
Perry Ellis
and Hari Parry - which is the act of falling on your Japanese sword while deflecting....

[klonk]

Say what you like. I think she's cute. Dangerous, too, if that thing had a point on it.

http://www.ehow.com/video_2345271_small-parry-foil-fencing.html

P.S. and before you ask, she and her demo partner are wearing le plastron, a body armor worn only by girl swordsmen. Swordspersons? Swordpeople? Crap. I give up.