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[ninjanurse]

Wow, such arrogance! Not even worth commenting on.

 

[TangSooGuy]

Well, a lot of my problems here can be summed up by:

 

"I don't believe in loyalty.  The word implies that I owe something to someone.  I believe in business transactions, in which I know what I'm buying beforehand.  I fork over my money, and the businessman provides the product.  When I cease to get product, I cease to pay for it."

 

The "I don't owe anyone anything, but if I give them money, they owe me" mentality has no place in tghe martial arts.

 

I'll admit that many instructors go too far and demand too much of students, but the fact of the matter is that I DO owe my instructor more than I'd ever be able to repay.

 

And honestly, she seems to validate the idea that if you pay enough money, you deserve to get rank, or some secret teachings, or something.

 

I've often told my students i can't teach them anything until they are first willing to empty their cups and be willing to learn.

 

This woman's cup is so full i can't believe she can't feel the contents spilling out all over her....

[Reklats]

Wow, such arrogance! Not even worth commenting on.

 

Wow, it only took two sentences for you to be a hypocrite.

[aznkarateboi]

That girl is extremely arrogant. She refers to herself as "eloquently spoken". LOL. That is the last phrase I would use to describe her. She also spends her free time going to random schools and being rude to the instructors. She thinks that because she knows a bit about history and a few principles, she is instantly more knowledgeable than any sensei who goes against her belief. She says that she is disgusted by many of the schools, but it is probable that they are equally disgusted by her disrespectful attitude. Why are all of her school evaluations so negative anyway? Does she have anything positive to say about the martial arts?

[stl_karateka]

Wow, such arrogance! Not even worth commenting on.

 

Wow, it only took two sentences for you to be a hypocrite.

 

OK Reklats you brought up this article and said you agree with what she says and asked us to comment --- please share with us what exactly you saw in her articles that were 'eloquently written' and how they align with your views cause so far you are the only one that agrees with her.

[tommarker]

I thought her articles were thought-provoking, interesting, and far more well-written than most blog type things on the Internet.

[Reklats]

I think they bring up great points about how stagnant a lot of martial arts are becoming. I did taekwondo for a year, and wasted a year learning what I could've absorbed in a couple months in another art, without all the baggage of useless techniques. If anything your responses are an example of why this happens. Rather than address the points that she makes in her articles you attack a weakness of her presentation (her arrogance).

 

You bring up the (same old) complete * excuse ways out to explain her comments. She's "disrespectful" seems to be the one right behind arrogant in frequency used. I think she's a person who is committed to martial arts (3 black belts, and 4 years apiece IS par for the course out there) and is expressing her opinions about some serious problems with martial arts today. Most of you people refuse to even refute her points. I should've been more specific and pointed to a particular article instead of just a link to the page. SOmeone even attacked one of the non-martial arts related articles! Red herring anyone?

 

I think the people who are ultimately disrespectful are the "masters" and the teachers, senseis, whatever, who teach garbage and exploit the name of martial arts. They prostitute these mockeries of martial arts to people who don't know any better, which seems to be most people. Especially in these traditional forums I see so many people with listed styles that were once probably deadly arts, with lots of tradition behind them. Now they're taught a shell of the former art. They memorize dances, they learn terminology, they don't really learn how to fight, and they THINK they're getting the whole deal when they're not. The worst ones are the people who blindly defend what they're taught, who are foolishly loyal to the "masters" who've betrayed them the most. It makes me sick when people immediately resort to personal attacks before it occurs them to think about what she was trying to say, and to at least think about how or if it applies to what they're learning.

 

Instead they choose to don blinders, and run obliviously down the path towards a worthless trinket black belt. Yours in only two years if you pay the "examination" fees.

[TangSooGuy]

I thought her articles were thought-provoking, interesting, and far more well-written than most blog type things on the Internet.

 

well, to a degree i think that's true, but how she said it is what I found to be annoying.

 

Also i fond a lot on there that I think is out and out wrong, but I'm not going to get into that.

 

To be honest, we're being just as bad by pretending that:

 

A. We've never had some of the same thoughts (even if we never voiced them or wrote them down)

 

B. that we're not doing exactly the same thing she is by criticizing her in the same manner that she criticizes others.

 

That said, I still disagre with a ton of what she said, and the way in which she said it just made me not want to read it any more.

 

Really, it's akin to walking uo to someone and saying: Hi, I'm better than you are, I know I'm better than you are, so I'll discount whatever you say as ignorant drivel.

 

It's possible to deconstruct her writings in such a way that she contradicts herself, too...which makes for some head scratching.

 

Example: she says she doesn't care about rank, but makes every effort in pretty much every article to let us know that she has 4 black belts in 3 different systems, and did it in 12 years....

 

ahh forget it...I have too many other things going on to make a coherent post, so sorry if I end up contradicting myself in the same manner that i indicate she does....

[kchenault]

I "attacked" one of the non-related articles. I'd hate to see what happens when I really attack something if that was considered an attack. I simply stated I think she has problems with her parents way of life that could possibly cloud her judgments on other areas of life. It does happen. Be more specific next time to stop the confusion, Reckless.

[aznkarateboi]

I think they bring up great points about how stagnant a lot of martial arts are becoming. I did taekwondo for a year, and wasted a year learning what I could've absorbed in a couple months in another art, without all the baggage of useless techniques. If anything your responses are an example of why this happens. Rather than address the points that she makes in her articles you attack a weakness of her presentation (her arrogance).

 

I never claimed that her arguments were faulty. I simply disapproved of the way through which she presented them. Is there a problem with that?

You bring up the (same old) complete * excuse ways out to explain her comments. She's "disrespectful" seems to be the one right behind arrogant in frequency used. I think she's a person who is committed to martial arts (3 black belts, and 4 years apiece IS par for the course out there) and is expressing her opinions about some serious problems with martial arts today. Most of you people refuse to even refute her points. I should've been more specific and pointed to a particular article instead of just a link to the page. SOmeone even attacked one of the non-martial arts related articles! Red herring anyone?

 

Do you disagree that she is arrogant and disrespectful? If you posted an article written in such an extreme manner you can expect people to comment on it. Why

I think the people who are ultimately disrespectful are the "masters" and the teachers, senseis, whatever, who teach garbage and exploit the name of martial arts. They prostitute these mockeries of martial arts to people who don't know any better, which seems to be most people. Especially in these traditional forums I see so many people with listed styles that were once probably deadly arts, with lots of tradition behind them. Now they're taught a shell of the former art. They memorize dances, they learn terminology, they don't really learn how to fight, and they THINK they're getting the whole deal when they're not. The worst ones are the people who blindly defend what they're taught, who are foolishly loyal to the "masters" who've betrayed them the most. It makes me sick when people immediately resort to personal attacks before it occurs them to think about what she was trying to say, and to at least think about how or if it applies to what they're learning.

 

You are defending a person that is almost the embodiment of your criticism. She uses personal attacks numerous times throughout her articles, especially her reviews of martial art schools. Again you conveniently fail to provide evidence as to why you disagree with our disapproval of her writing style.

Instead they choose to don blinders, and run obliviously down the path towards a worthless trinket black belt. Yours in only two years if you pay the "examination" fees.

 

Your limited knowledge of the schools that the members of this forum attend give you no right to make that statement.