Okay. Back now… let's see what we have here…
Well just look at Kman's post. In the other thread I was the most evil s.o.b. on MT for pointing out a lack of grappling in karate. Some of that came from Kman himself. Now in this thread pointing that out is not only not disparaging, but it's the truth. Awesome!
Okay, thanks for clarifying… so, in essence, you "disliked" my post, which was almost entirely about someone else, and responses to them, because, at the very end, I agreed with K-man's post about you? Lovely. But let's look at what you think was 'completely wrong from the outset'…
As for the videos of traditional stylists doing weird grappling things, if you go over to the Hapkido forum, we had a really good discussion about a Hapkido group doing a bad armbar and then proceeding to counter said bad armbar. A couple of posters tried to hop in that thread and derail it, but they were ignored and the great conversation continued. We had a similar (mostly) positive discussion in the Wing Chun forum about anti-grappling, though it got heated in some spots. So I disagree that posting those videos make me a "jerk", or that such vids troll the forum. On the contrary, I feel that they spark a great conversation.
I watched that thread… you started with a video chosen to highlight what you think is a lack, completely ignoring the art you were looking at itself, and choosing such a badly done version that it immediately came across that you were primarily starting the thread to, once more, put over the idea of BJJ being the superior art, as it's got the best ground work. The "good" discussion largely ignored your impetus, and the "derailing" was all an attempt to get you to clarify why you posted that video, and what your intentions were. There were a number of posts of yours there that I personally wanted to call you on, but didn't feel you'd understand what I was asking (such as when you claimed that they were doing their art "wrong"… how on earth would you know that? You might say the technique is ineffective, in your understanding, flawed, inefficient, or anything similar… but "wrong"? Nope, you wouldn't have the first notion of whether or not it was).
So no, they don't "spark" a great conversation… if anything it might be said that good conversation can come about in spite of your postings such things. You don't actually deserve credit for that… that's on the membership of the board.
Again, let's look at that "good discussion" you prompted…
It started with you posting a video that you found questionable, and asking the "Hapkido peeps" to explain it… ignoring the fact that Hapkido has a very wide variety of "flavours" and iterations. Your next post (number 4 in the thread) was a couple of snide digs at the technique, with a sarcastic comment on the viability of the method shown. On the second page (after using someone's posting of a Stephen Kesting video to point out everything that you found wrong with the Hapkido video, despite both showing similar concepts, just at very differing levels of understanding and applicability), you basically admitted that this was all a way of pointing and laughing at someone (the instructor in the video, potentially Hapkido itself by extension, possibly even anyone not BJJ doing anything to do with ground work), by stating "Relax. This is just like a car accident and we've all slowed down to point and gawk at the accident scene."
Any good discussion did not come from such poisoned attitude in posting.
Again, you started snide, and degenerated within your first two posts to posting something you think is below par, ignoring everything but the idea that BJJ is the best ever, by pointing out that the second clip is what you would normally put up, and what you think of when you talk about "anti-grappling", and that you "normally laugh at that, but that upsets some people here".
Again, any good conversation did not come from you.
I do believe that the only thing that happened in the previous thread is that you posted some vids of Wado Ryu guys doing grappling within the Bunkai, and me saying that Wado is a combination of Karate and Jujutsu, and then you and some other posters began making bizarre posts about drinking.
Please note again, that spawned from one post of me stating that Wado is a combo of Karate and Jujutsu.
Yes, and you completely failed to recognise what you were being told… or the larger list of other karate systems used to support the statements being made for a grappling methodology in karate systems.
I was talking about the Hapkido thread. If you read that thread you'll see quite a few derail attempts in an otherwise fruitful conversation.
The "derail attempts" weren't derailing attempts. They were attempts to get some clarification from you.
Personally, I find it rather sad that you feel that. I'm not surprised, of course.
Not the point. I was saying that the craziness began just from me saying that Wado is a combo of Karate and jujutsu in one post.
I also notice that you're not saying anything about the good/great discussions that spawned from posting random videos of people not performing well.
No, the "craziness" came from you not listening to the responses you were getting. And, as for Tez not saying anything about your "good discussions"… see above.
In your opinion.
Besides, the argument was that no good or great discussions could come from that source with or without my input. Clearly that isn't the case.
That was not the argument. The argument was that you were not the reason for good conversation, and neither were the videos you were posting. Not that good conversation didn't come from them… but that was more to the credit of the other posters than in anything you did.
You don't do the listening thing much, do you? No, I don't spar… I consider it little more than a kids game, bluntly… largely ineffective compared to the methods I utilise… but that's besides the point. It's not like I don't have a sparring background, and an understanding of exactly what sparring is, and what it entails. I also haven't ridden a bike in years… but that doesn't mean I can't point out the differences between riding a bike and baking a cake.
and you cant accept that there may be conflict in your life.
Where the hell do you get these delusions from?!?! What basis on earth do you have to suggest that I can't accept there might be conflict in my life?!?! And what in Sam Hill does that have to do with you saying that conversation here is like sparring, and you go into it aiming to "smash people"?!?!?!
Dude, get a grip.
so it is probably not a concept you are going to understand.
You really don't have the first damn clue what I do or don't understand… but I'll make it simple for you. Assume I understand everything. Most of the time, you'll be right.
Lets look at this like a debate. An actual two team pre arranged meet up where people have trained and prepared to defend their ideas against a resisted opponent.
Do you know what debate actually is?
No. That's not like sparring.
not an echo chamber where we all just follow the leader.
Where are you pulling this from? Who's "following the leader" here? What are you talking about?!?!
we should be able to disagree. Nobody is such an expert that they cant face criticism.
We can disagree, yeah. And, here's the real kicker for you, you can be wrong. And that can be something that is not a matter of disagreement, but a matter of fact.
For the record, of course, I'm more than happy to face criticism… argument… debate. I welcome it. You haven't provided anything close.
What does that have to do with anything here? I'm genuinely interested… do you think that that's what's happening?
and why i was resistant to just beat people over the head with my experience. It is effectively cheating in the context of argument.
Wow, you really are incredibly bad at this…
"Effectively cheating"?!?! Dude, no. It's the way you back up what you say.
But I have to say… "beat people over the head" with your experience?!?! You ain't that great, you know… and you don't have the tools you think you do.
an appeal to authority misused is a logical fallacy.
Did you actually read that? It's a logical fallacy when
misused. Again, repeated for emphasis… when
misused. Not in and of itself. In fact, appeal to authority is a very valid argumentative technique… it's the basis of the idea of expert testimony in court cases… hell, it's the basis of the idea of expert evidence in anything.
Where it gets sticky is when one expert tells another expert he doesn't know what he's talking about. While I know bjj, I would be reluctant to argue that I'm an expert on all things grappling. So, I wouldn't presume to speak about all of grappling without providing some context. We have people here who are comfortable speaking about all things martial arts, all things RBSD, all things everything, and who then tell other people, that they are not in fact experts, despite their extensive experience.
Hmm… this might be me being a little paranoid here, Steve, but it sounds an awful lot like you're describing me there… if you are, feel free to mention me by name… but, if you are, I would ask you to back up anything that contradicts, or denies my statements and observations. I talk about things I know about… and, after over 3 decades learning about as many different aspects, methodologies, approaches, and more, that covers quite a bit.
And, for the record, I haven't told any "expert" that they're not one…
Also, as a purple belt, Hanzou is as expert in bjj as I. If you guys consider me credible, he has as much authority as me, which is middling. Sure, I know more than most, but within bjj, I have a lot to learn.
No-one has questioned his BJJ knowledge, Steve. Nor yours…. or Tony's, or Drop Bears MMA understanding. It's everything else that both Hanzou and Drop Bear have tried to comment on, with little to no knowledge or understanding of that we've had these issues come up.
I said that Wado Ryu is a combo of Karate and jujutsu. According to Wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadō-ryū
The ancestor styles of Wado Ryu are
Shindō Yōshin-ryū and
Shotokan. Wouldn't that indicate that that is in their style?
The ancestor schools of Takagi Yoshin Ryu are a couple of spear schools… but it's not a spear system, nor does it have spear in it, in the form of official techniques… an ancestor school for Katori Shinto Ryu was said to be Muso Jikiden Ryu Yawara… but it's not a Jujutsu system… Aikido was influenced by Yagyu Shinkage Ryu and Kukishin Ryu… but there's no Bojutsu, no Iai, no real sword (it's an expression of Aiki principles, rather than kenjutsu itself), no Naginata, no armoured component, no Shuriken, and more… so no, it wouldn't necessarily indicate anything of the kind.
Now, that said, yes, Wado Ryu is formulated from Ohtsuka's experience and training in both Shotokan (and other forms of karate, it must be said) and Shindo Yoshin Ryu… but the point was that Shindo Yoshin Ryu was not the sole source of any grappling within Wado Ryu… nor within any other karate systems.
I completely understand. We have an advantage, though, in that as a "jury" we are not bound to choose. In other words, we don't have to endorse one opinion over another. I look at Chris Parker's assertions regarding RBSD, and I then look at Drop Bear's, and I have the advantage of being able to say, "Don't know who is more "right" but they both make sense."
granted, It's only natural for people to lean in favor of one opinion over another. People will evaluate the statements of alleged experts and decide which one sounds... more correct.
The problem with this, Steve, is that we're not talking about opinion… we're talking about facts. And, frankly, when Drop Bear gives his examples of someone representing RBSD being either outright frauds and jokes who have no connection to the concept at all, and modern combatives systems that aren't RBSD, then no, he doesn't have the same credibility that I do. When you couple that with the fact that anyone else who has any knowledge of the subject have sided with me on my discussions of the topic, then you really don't need to know much about the subject to be able to judge who has the credibility in a discussion.
But, most importantly, when you have two opposing views of what something (factually) is, you can't say "well, you both sound like you might be right"… it's the same as saying you've never seen a calendar, and when I say that April is the fourth month, and comes before May, and someone else says that April is the last month of the year, both can sound plausible… but both aren't right. Peace-keeping just doesn't work in this instance… you can't have both be "right".
That said, my opinion is that often, here on an informal discussion board, this is often little more than an emotional reaction. I believe in most cases, it has more to do with personality and homogeneous thought than any objective evaluation. Personality, in that I think people will tend to agree with those who most often agree with them. If I agree with you, you will likely agree with me, regardless of my position. It's a loyalty thing. If I have your back and support you in a thread, you will view me favorably and tend to give me the benefit of the doubt, regardless of how wacky my assertion.
I'll be frank, and say that that's not a consideration for myself. I might alter the way I deal with someone, but I will just as quickly point out where a friend is wrong as anyone else. And I'll just as quickly accept someone as right when they are, regardless of my personal feelings about them.
Homogenous though in that we all come to the table with opinions, and will tend to agree with those people who already share our opinions. So, we will tend to endorse an "expert" who best fits what we want to hear, even when they are challenged by another "expert" who is providing a more reasonable, rational and objectively supportable position.
No. I endorse experts who know what they're talking about. That's what makes them experts.