I've been blessed to have been part of the martial arts world since I could walk, meeting, training with and even crossing hands with some of the premier martial artists in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and the Philippines. With the advent of the Internet however, I've seen a disturbing trend especially among my fellow students of the Chinese Martial Arts, that is, a lack of honor and respect for those who have come before us. That's not to say that we shouldn't question, but there is a difference between questioning technique or ability and outright personal attacks. These attacks only serve to alienate people and don't serve our Community and need to be reined in without preventing the occasional "heated discussions" we love to have.
Why am I posting this? Well, I'm new to the forums but either know and/or have trained with many folks here at one point or another and have made quite a few friends in this world. I'm also lucky enough to have met some of the true masters of several Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and other arts and learned quite a bit from them about the arts and more. I hope to throw a monkey wrench into the plans of those with an "agenda" vs. a true desire to exchange, learn, grow and prove their mettle with Honor and Reality in their training.
Since I'm also writing a book on the subject, I'd appreciate comments from folks who have either experienced "getting slammed" on this and/or other forums because of their loyalties, and believe it or not I also want comments from the ones doing the slamming... simply because in some cases you may be right in doing it.
Sorry to be so wordy and thanks!
PS: For those wondering if I have an "agenda," of COURSE I DO! My "agenda" is this: I want us to be an example of WHY to learn martial arts vs. being an example of what's wrong with society and the Internet.
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Originally Posted by David Jamieson
