An Epic of Internet-challenge Stupidity

[OsirisBJJ]

Tomorrow is it for me save for the YouTube project. What is going to happen to certain BS-ites will most certainly make the rounds. As there will be no name attached to the mayhem ... you'll know it was me ...

Just a whisper in the Dark

Left the net on the 23rd of june.

[Knifefighter]

Should he fight I will be on here giving him the props he will have earned.

He needs to do more than just show up and fight. After all the years of boasting of what a kung fu wrecking machine he is, he needs to show some serious skills.

[godzillakungfu]

@ godzillakungfu: I'm talking about a consistent trend that I described in the initial post whose effect is to create Internet drama by attacking someone's professional reputation, all to draw traffic to increase advertising revenue.

To answer your question, I have never done this.

You really don't know how internet ad revenue works do you?

If you think it's somehow relevant to what I said that I may have ever put the wrong emphasis on theory and personal attacks compared to following the facts, I disagree with you because I don't run a web site with a pattern of doing so. Don't compare a mountain to a possible mole-hill just to dismiss something that's obviously wrong.

This is how this reads:

Udell can use insults because he doesn't own a website.
Phrost can't because he does own a website.



That's your basis for mountain out of a mole hill argument?

[Michael Udel]

Whether or not I have done something is not the issue because we're talking about Bullshido. Don't shift the topic somewhere to escape responsibility. Insults are wrong anywhere anytime, but the insult that causes the most damage is the bigger insult and deserves the most attention. Do you understand how this works? Comparing the hypothetical insult I might make to the witch hunts on Bullshido is absurd. This is typical Bullshido tactics to avoid the facts of the discussion and do anything possible to attack the person who raises the questions, which is what you're doing now.

Once again we see that facts are NOT king on Bullshido, personal attacks are your only stock in trade and you shoot them at anything that moves, pretend it never happened, then tell whoever you've offended they take the Internet too seriously. This is the $$ business of Bullshido and it's done at the expense of others' reputations.

[unkokusai]

Insults are wrong anywhere anytime.

Wait, so are you saying that telling you that you are an idiotic drama queen right here right now is wrong?

[Michael Udel]

That's all Bullshido is good for: personal attacks and name calling. Can't even stay on topic for five seconds. You guys get so OCD and revved up when you know you're wrong. This is the image I get of you when you're posting:

[unkokusai]

Are you gonna answer my question or what?

[Michael Udel]

First tell me, yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife?

[unkokusai]

Does that mean you're not going to answer?

[boshea]

Whether or not I have done something is not the issue because we're talking about Bullshido. Don't shift the topic somewhere to escape responsibility. Insults are wrong anywhere anytime, but the insult that causes the most damage is the bigger insult and deserves the most attention. Do you understand how this works? Comparing the hypothetical insult I might make to the witch hunts on Bullshido is absurd. This is typical Bullshido tactics to avoid the facts of the discussion and do anything possible to attack the person who raises the questions, which is what you're doing now.

Once again we see that facts are NOT king on Bullshido, personal attacks are your only stock in trade and you shoot them at anything that moves, pretend it never happened, then tell whoever you've offended they take the Internet too seriously. This is the $$ business of Bullshido and it's done at the expense of others' reputations.

<long-ramblings-of-a-drunken-fool>

I've been thinking about this quite a bit recently, after reading Bullshido over the past few months, and observing the behavior of some of their most vocal members.

My sense is that, on Bullshido if you can not back up any claims that you make, you will get ridiculed whether your claims are correct or not. But if you can back up your claims with results, then people are more accepting of what you say, and often interested in the details. Especially if they are useful and directly applicable. They seem to be receptive to things that work and can be shown to work.

My feeling is that the reason for this is that there are so many people who want to be seen as an expert, but the anonymity of the internet makes it impossible to verify or disprove any claims that one can make on a forum. This lack of verifiability makes it tempting for some to present themselves as experts without having to back up their claims. For some reason many people like to be thought of as experts on the internet. So Bullshido puts the burden of proof on the ones who make these claims.

To date, on an internet forum the only thing that can serve as proof of the effectiveness of a style is video of an actual attempted technique against someone who is trying to prevent the technique from working. Preferably un-edited, and testified to by witnesses on both sides. I think this explains the "video or it didn't happen" attitude.

I do feel that Bullshido's methods can be irritating at times when you're just trying to relate experiences that you've had. Especially to newcomers who are not used to the climate there. I found these methods to be unpleasant at first. But at least within that set of rules, they seem to be consistent. It seems to me that the automatic attitude of doubt serves as a filter to remove the myriad unverifiable claims in the MA community, leaving only what can be shown to be true, with reasonable proof. The people who tend to take things the wrong way are usually just not familiar with these methods (as I was not at first), and prone to the normal human tendency to take harsh criticism too personally.

What is the end result of all this? Personally, it has made me careful about what I claim as fact, which is in my mind a good thing. Do I wish that we could all communicate on that level in a civil way? Yes. But my experience (even offline) is that people tend to bend the truth when given the opportunity, if it makes them look better.

</long-ramblings-of-a-drunken-fool>

Except, Cracky McSlughoot is just a ****.

[Michael Udel]

One limitation to the burden of proof expectation is that many things that are valid and important in martial arts are more difficult to prove than others. It's kind of a quality versus quantity issue. When you fail to understand or acknowledge certain limitations on "proof", you just end up bashing people without doing anyone any good. I have very limited experience with Bullshido, but this kind of bashing seems to be the norm. If you don't give people the initial benefit of the doubt, you will not understand what they're telling you. You don't have to jump down their throat from the word go to find out what you need to know. Doing so really shows inexperience and ignorance on the part of the "investigator", if that term even applies.

[boshea]

One limitation to the burden of proof expectation is that many things that are valid and important in martial arts are more difficult to prove than others. It's kind of a quality versus quantity issue. When you fail to understand or acknowledge certain limitations on "proof", you just end up bashing people without doing anyone any good. I have very limited experience with Bullshido, but this kind of bashing seems to be the norm. If you don't give people the initial benefit of the doubt, you will not understand what they're telling you. You don't have to jump down their throat from the word go to find out what you need to know. Doing so really shows inexperience and ignorance on the part of the "investigator", if that term even applies.

My natural preference is to give people the benefit of the doubt because I am non-confrontational (to a fault), so in a sense I agree. Can you give me an example of a martial skill that is valid but difficult to prove? How did you determine that it was valid? I am not saying that they don't exist, I am just interested in examples.

[Michael Udel]

I am really not the best person to be discussing the specifics because I'm a beginner at martial arts, but I'll do my best to give an example of something that is impossible to capture on video, but that exists and is important to the martial art I practice, Taiji Quan.

Two person drills, like push hands (tui shou) develop balance and reveal to each person where they are physically weak, too tight, and disconnected. These things are not so obvious to the Taiji player when doing solo forms, but when you touch hands with another player, especially one much better than you, your deficiencies are revealed quickly. When you lose your balance in push hands practice, it can be seen on video, but what isn't seen are the sensations of each player. Push hands also specifically develops sensitivity to the other player's weaknesses, called ting jin in Mandarin. You use your hands and arms to "listen" to your opponent and predict his movements, expose his weaknesses, etc. A Taiji teacher could make the claim of teaching "ting jin" and there is no way to prove or disprove this claim with video alone.

[DPL]

Insults are wrong anywhere anytime

Usually only if you're the one being insulted. Insults are an art form.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Oi vey !!

I don't even know where to start...

First, when is Anthony heading down? Monday or sooner?
Second, This thread is much better than any other because it has pics of scantly clad women, good looking women I might add.
Third, the lack of chi in this thread is quite disturbing ( probably due to the scantly clad women)
Forth, We need some WC here !

Lastly: