Martial Arts Unity & the Internet

[ArmorOfGod]

I recieved an email for a MT member and he made a comment to the effect of there being a lot of style-bashing between martial artists. That is an old topic, but I was wondering what effect the internet has had on that issue.

Twenty years ago, even ten years ago, the internet was not a common thing. Has the access to other martial artists' opinions caused by the internet helped unify the martial arts community, or divide it even more deeply?

Right now, for example, anyone reading this can read the opinions of thousands of martial artists, both beginners and experienced practitioners. That could affect things two ways: first, it offers us access to people that we would have never encountered a decade ago; second, it gives a voice to the "bullies" and uneducated that like to discuss martial arts. Here at MT, you could be chatting with a 10th dan grandmaster, or a 14 year old Dragonball-Z fan who claims he can shoot fireballs from his hands.

So, has this new age of easy access helped or hurt the unity of the martial arts world?

AoG

 

[MJS]

I recieved an email for a MT member and he made a comment to the effect of there being a lot of style-bashing between martial artists. That is an old topic, but I was wondering what effect the internet has had on that issue.

Twenty years ago, even ten years ago, the internet was not a common thing. Has the access to other martial artists' opinions caused by the internet helped unify the martial arts community, or divide it even more deeply?

Right now, for example, anyone reading this can read the opinions of thousands of martial artists, both beginners and experienced practitioners. That could affect things two ways: first, it offers us access to people that we would have never encountered a decade ago; second, it gives a voice to the "bullies" and uneducated that like to discuss martial arts. Here at MT, you could be chatting with a 10th dan grandmaster, or a 14 year old Dragonball-Z fan who claims he can shoot fireballs from his hands.

So, has this new age of easy access helped or hurt the unity of the martial arts world?

AoG

IMO, the use of the internet has made research on topics of any nature, much, much easier. As for the bashing...it was just as common before the net, as it is now. Of course, with the net, we now have the chance to talk with people from all over the world, so the viewpoints will be much more readily viewable.

On the other hand, people who claim certain things, also have the 'secrecy' so to speak, of the net, that they can hide behind. There are many people on here and other forums that have a ton of experience. We have some high ranking Kenpo instructors, TKD instructors, people who have a solid JKD background, Arnis and Ninjutsu. We also have people who come on here, make comments, claims, etc., but fortunately, they're quickly uncovered by the "claims" that they make. Anyone who has a decent background in the art, should be able to see through the smoke screen that these people seem to have around them.

Mike

 

[terryl965]

All the internet has done is make it easier for people to talk about there views in an open forum.
Terry

 

[Kacey]

The internet makes information much more freely available - unfortunately, it also makes mis-information much more freely available. Those who want to find the truth about something will keep digging; those who don't will often take the information they see on the top of the Google search as gospel... so while I don't think that the 'net has really changed people's patterns, in terms of getting information (or misinformation) it has opened up more channels of information, and, more importantly, communication. This allows those who truly want to share information to do so; those who only want to share their own opinion of their style's superiority (or their own personal superiority) will find each other as well.

 

[Rook]

The internet is one of the best things to ever happen to martial arts. It makes it more possible than ever before to find out about what is going on around us.

Whereas before, every local teacher could claim crazy lineages and only people who could read Japanese or Chinese and owned the appropriate records could tell if they were telling the truth, today it is possible to post a teacher's claims on the internet and almost instantly find out if they are supported or not.

Before, awareness of other martial arts came from having to either meet practitioners in the flesh or reading some stupid popular magazine chok with inaccuracies and hero worship like Black Belt. Now, we can have person to person contact to people wth all varieties of training instantaneously. Want to know about silat? There is someone training in Indonesia now who can tell you. Ed Parker? His personal friends and top students are just an inquisitive post away. Rare Chinese systems? Just find the forum.

Sure, there are alot of fakes all around the net, but you should be able to get lots of good information if you look.

 

[tradrockrat]

All the internet has done is make it easier for people to talk about there views in an open forum.
Terry

Yup. Now there is more opportunity for rational discourse and learning AND there is more opportunity for trolls and braggarts. What makes it positive is simply that it is now easier to learn.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yup. Now there is more opportunity for rational discourse and learning AND there is more opportunity for trolls and braggarts. What makes it positive is simply that it is now easier to learn.

This is true, but I still do not see the unity between martial artists that I saw 30 years ago without the Internet.

It is a good tool to research, ask questions and get different opinions and view of various MAs that you would not normally have access to finding out about. There are also some very good and very knowledgeable people on the net that you would not otherwise have a chance to talk to. But there are also a lot of trolls that you would not otherwise be exposed to as well so it is typical Yin Yang theory stuff I guess.