Feeding the troll

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

This is in response to jks9199, and those of a similar view. I truly believe he is a troll rather than simply an inexperienced kid, although he doesn't bother me too much, but no amount of arguing will probably be able to change either of our viewpoints unless we find proof, or he comes here to clarify. Also, assuming he is a troll, for your statement about making him go away, we've tried responding, and that didn't work, so I guess the only way to get rid of him (if we wanted to) would be to ignore him.

Also, I realized that posting this and specifying exactly who I was talking about may have been an inappropriate thing to do, so I am sorry about that, to both the moderators and to the person I accused directly of being a troll.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I don't know. Seems to me that a couple people take him very seriously, judging by the the responses I've seen. I won't mention names, lol. The little nobody seems to piss off a few of you.

Doesn't piss me off. I've just learned from experience that this particular troll is one that will go away for a while when you call him on his BS. So I call him on it promptly. It minimizes his negative impact on the system.

 

[Omar B]

You are a very fortunate man.

Pays to be out of town for a few days.

 

[lklawson]

And, is Alex really a troll or a martial artist with a seriously inflated sense of his own ability?

In this case, it seems to be a distinction without a difference.

Did he think that by telling us he trained in multiple arts and is BB in many of those, we would accept him as a peer. :asian:

Maybe. I suspect that's part of it, but I also suspect that it's also to create instant credibility to anyone reading.

Most folks don't know jack about martial arts and so, to them, any "black belt" means credibility and expert status. To the same folks, multiple "black belts" equates to ever more expert status. It's the same for folks with more than one PhD or even a Double-Major in college. It equates to more status.

But for folks like you and me, most of the people who are on this board, most folks who have been in martial arts for more than a few years, well, we just don't accept "rank" as necessarily meaning anything at all. We've all seen way too many "4th Stripe, decided, second level green belts" and "masters" who couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag and don't know the difference between a katana and a shinken (don't say it, I know, I know...). We've also seen guys who have crap-tons of skill but no specific rank to back it up. Our BS detectors are cranked on to "max" and the selector is busted off. Rank doesn't mean as much to us. We remember when we got our first black belt and we remember that there was no sudden insight, mystic glow that covered us, or angels singing. We didn't change from one instant to the next just because a different color obi was tied around our waist. Most of us, in fact, suddenly felt how little we knew. We knew that we didn't have any mystic transformation but now we were being looked to as experts (or at least "more experienced") by the new guys and were expected to lead and teach. It's humbling and a little frightening.

So, yeah, when somebody new trips into the forums or our life and starts making claims of high rank and/or multiple rankings, we're all kinda, "yeah, whatever. Show me the money."

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[lklawson]

A few last things-It just occurred to me that it may seem like I'm doing the same thing as far as attempting to write properly and in a scholarly manner; this is the way I normally write, and I understand I've probably made a few grammar mistakes myself. If they bother anyone, I'm sorry.

I got REALLY tired of "Scholarly" writing styles in U. Frankly, it would piss me off, now, were I to be forced to write in that manner. Most of the time I don't mind reading them, but it still, to this day, feels a wee bit "unnatural."

Personally, I try to write in a "conversational" style most of the time. Even when I'm writing articles or instructional material which would, otherwise, be considered as "should be" written in a more appropriate "style" than "conversational." First, I just don't like it much and prefer conversational. Second, I think that most people, with some noted exceptions of course, prefer conversational style anyway. I believe that it more closely matches how people think so it's easier for them to read and understand.

Maybe I'm wrong, but screw it. I'm old enough to be cranky and crotchety now.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk