Martial Arts Bullies and Trolls

[C.G. Mcfadden]

Hello everyone, my name is C. G. McFadden. I’ve been involved in martial arts for many years now, and over that time I’ve been fortunate to study and train in multiple disciplines. My path has taken me through some traditional arts but it seems BJJ and kickboxing has held my attention the most and with in the last 10 years i have really been digging into traditional Japanese jujutsu for a better understanding of BJJ. and I continue to practice and learn with the same curiosity and respect for the arts that first drew me in. But my God the amount of misplaced trauma turned to bitterness that is flowing through the veins of the community is absolutely sad. I do not remember the arts ever being like this and granted it could be because of the innerweb which now we all have the ability to place information how we see fit be it good or bad. Now I would like to be completely transparent and inform everyone I really would appreciate any and all perspectives on this subject because I do plan on using a few of these discussions as part of research for my book That I hope to release next year.


One of the things I appreciate most about the martial arts community is the wide range of perspectives and experiences we share. With that in mind, I’d like to open up a discussion on something that I think many of us have encountered: “Martial Arts Bullies and Trolls.”

• Do you see them as a necessary evil that, in some strange way, pushes people to be sharper—or are they the biggest cancer to ever hit the martial arts community?
• Do you feel it’s important that we, as martial artists, police our own when it comes to misinformation, ego, or bad behavior?
• And if so, where is the line? When does holding people accountable cross into going too far? What should be considered acceptable, and what should be tolerated?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I think it’s a conversation worth having, especially if we care about the integrity and future of the arts we all practice and love.


Looking forward to learning from the perspectives here and being part of the discussions.


—C. G. McFadden

 

[skribs]

I hope I don't come across as a bully or troll when I say this, but you really need to work on your grammar skills if you want to write a book.

In addition to that, I don't really know what the post is about. Are you talking about online trolls? People who train martial arts to bully people at work or at school? People who bully other martial artists in class?

I don't really know what we're talking about, because I haven't really experienced bullies in the gyms I train at. At least, they generally don't stick around long enough to get good enough to use it to bully people.