Other martial arts forums/sites

[Patrick]

Thank you so much for all of the kind words here, regarding our community, the people we have, our moderation, etc. It means a lot to us.

Thank you, as well, for starting this thread, gronis. I like threads like this because choice is a good thing. Choice allows you to find the community that is best for you or to realize you've already found it. Or just to find another interesting place.

Patrick

[RW]

I go on reddit a lot and frequent the MartialArts and Karate subreddits. MartialArts tends to be mostly people who attack and belittle any discussion about anything other than BJJ, Thai Kickboxing, and MMA. There's a lot of "this style is better than that style" and "that style is completely impractical" talk and it's generally a pretty negative place for any talk of traditional arts.

The karate subreddit is a little bit better, but you still get your rouge person who'll come out to talk about the uselessness of kata or tradition every time you try to have a discussion.

I'll make some comments here and there on those sites and maybe lurk on a few others, but for serious posting and discussion I always come back here because it's one of the few sites that's very well moderated to foster respectful discussion and an acceptance that all arts are equally valid for their own different purposes.

Oh dear, this is so true. And it's just not true for that subreddit, but for many, many martial arts communities. It's either Muay Thai/Boxing/BJJ or bust.

Also, many of their members are of the mentality that you must be Anderson Silva or Mike Tyson or you can't comment on anything (also, huge coincidence, everybody there is at a Anderson Silva or Mike Tyson level!), which puzzles me, since people can discuss NFL without being as good as Brady, or NBA without being on a Lebron level.. yet when it comes to martial arts they feel you just have amateur MMA fight experience or at least be REALLY good or you can't have an opinion

[sensei8]

I go on reddit a lot and frequent the MartialArts and Karate subreddits. MartialArts tends to be mostly people who attack and belittle any discussion about anything other than BJJ, Thai Kickboxing, and MMA. There's a lot of "this style is better than that style" and "that style is completely impractical" talk and it's generally a pretty negative place for any talk of traditional arts.

The karate subreddit is a little bit better, but you still get your rouge person who'll come out to talk about the uselessness of kata or tradition every time you try to have a discussion.

I'll make some comments here and there on those sites and maybe lurk on a few others, but for serious posting and discussion I always come back here because it's one of the few sites that's very well moderated to foster respectful discussion and an acceptance that all arts are equally valid for their own different purposes.

Oh dear, this is so true. And it's just not true for that subreddit, but for many, many martial arts communities. It's either Muay Thai/Boxing/BJJ or bust.

Also, many of their members are of the mentality that you must be Anderson Silva or Mike Tyson or you can't comment on anything (also, huge coincidence, everybody there is at a Anderson Silva or Mike Tyson level!), which puzzles me, since people can discuss NFL without being as good as Brady, or NBA without being on a Lebron level.. yet when it comes to martial arts they feel you just have amateur MMA fight experience or at least be REALLY good or you can't have an opinion

Solid post...both!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

The belligerent and arrogant attitude among the MMA crowd in discussion groups mentionned by others here is quite common. It is nothing new and over a decade ago the same kind of people were found on 'newsgroups' (anybody remember those?) and the earliest discussion forums. Unsurprisingly, the number of these types seemed to increase with the advent of UFC and other such events. For them if it was not BJJ or Thai boxing it was not martial arts. eventually the serious posters would lose interest and the forum/newsgroup would stagnate or become a troll/bashing other styles party. Boring and utterly pointless.

[Patrick]

I'm glad that you specified the attitude being among specific groups and not MMA folks in general because, as you know, we have numerous MMA and BJJ people who are wonderful martial artists, good people and great contributors here. One of the things I am most proud of is our diversity and ability to come together respectfully to discuss, agree and disagree over the martial arts.

Patrick

[liger]

I have found its on the person not the style. Those taught to be respectful are generally respectful and do not do the my Martial art is better than yours. Those that aren't taught to be respectful do not.

I have seen some people in Karate and Taiqwondo ( i really hope i spelled that right). That will do the same as what we say the bjj people do. This is common in big headedness.

Back on topic I have found 3 that I like and 1 that I joined. This one seems to be the most active of the 3 that i was watching. Everyone here is very polite and respectful. The other 2 I watch every once in a while yet not everyday like i do this one.