Just a side thought and certainly not meant to dissuade anyone who has a sincere desire to start a Net dedicated entirely to KMA....
There are a few truely fine Nets out there as it is and every now and then someone will contact me to ask if I would be interested in helping organize something. Maybe its a new Net on the Internet, or a new organization, or a new newsletter. I pitch-in where I can. However, my first thought is for how we are supporting the facilities that already exist.
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WARNING--- DANGER--- Personal Opinion Follows!!!
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There are cycles that the typical media outlets follow and that means highs and lows that I am sure we have all seen. Quite recently there was quite a flurry of activity on the DOCHANG DIGEST and BUDO-SEEK over conflicts with the Korea Hapkido Federation. However, these, to me, are the natural cycles of having a discussion Net. Let me draw peoples attention to some other things I have seen.
On AIKIDO JOURNAL, which is a very well run and very informative Net for the AIKI arts, there is no separate forum for the Hapkido arts. It would make sense that there might be as some signifcant portion of the Hapkido arts are related to DRAJJ, which does have its own forum. Why isn't there a separate Hapkido forum? Well, the fact is that though there are Hapkido practitioners and they do visit the AJ site, most are contented to lurk rather than raise issues or comment. The forum is there and Mr. Stanley Pranin to his credit has supported use of the AJ for Hapkido practiitioners who want to dialogue, yet there are few strings on Hapkido issues and the ones that exist are infrequently contributed to.
On BUDO-SEEK, during its recent spate of posts and strings there WAS quite a bit of activity, however, consider that most of that activity had a great deal to do with what deteriorated into personal attacks and recriminations and the information content plummeted. With the recent resolution of the single primary issue involved, contributions with valid informational content have dropped and likewise the number of contributions is in the single digits.
One other example that I believe needs mentioning is Joe Svinths' EJMAS. Like Mike DeMarcos' JAMA arguably one of the finest MA magazines in the world, EJMAS provides high quality articles on various MA. I would also throw the DRAGON TIMES into this mix, though it is now reincarnated as the CLASSIC FIGHTING ARTS magazine. These three media are the product of dedication and high energy of people who are busting their butts to bring people an alternative to the standard recycled gossip and rumor which all to often is prevalent in the MA community. However, you would be amazed at how few people visit Joes' site or purchase these magazines, electing instead to read copy in the magazine shop or remain in lurk mode at E-BUDO's "members" forum waitng a moment when they can pitch-in some "me,too" response to a mindless bit of drivel.
Folks I would certainly support the christening of yet another website, but my question is, who will actually support it. I am not asking for a demographic, I am asking about who is that heavily invested in their MA that they would, on a regular basis, visit, read, and contribute to dialogues with sufficient frequency to make such a website a going concern.
For my part I make it a point of visiting a variety of websites each day just like reading the morning paper. I also make it a goal to find at least one string each day (often more) to contribute to. This is one way that I put back into the MA for what has done for me and my life. FWIW.
Best Wishes,
Bruce
