Originally posted by Scott Bonner
Dun Ringill,
Okay. It seemed you were opportunistically jumping on the Kenponet when it was temporarily down, so to speak. The problem wasn't the fault of the Kenponet or it's managers, and it could happen to any forum that doesn't do pre-screening of posts. I don't see how you thought it was a good idea to come over here and talk smack.
But, I will take you at your word that that was your intention. If so, I have been wrong about what appeared to be your aims. Let me say I think it was an honest and easy mistake for me to make, given your introductory salvo on the thread to kill the Kenponet. I can certainly agree that we don't need a forum where people get their laughs by homophobe-baiting and retaliatory gay-bashing. It's the lowest kind of interaction, and especially stupid since the whole thing was kicked off by what appeared to be an honest post on one person's troubles with finding a school that wasn't full of homophobia. Think how that poor guy feels. I'm glad the moderators killed it off.
"The point was not about shutting the kenponet down, it was about stopping the disrespectful trolls who had nothing better to do than sling homosexual innuendo at the pinnacles of kenpo as a joke. We both want the same thing."
If you had opened with this, I would have not had an issue.
"I was frustrated and venting with the status of the kenpo family and their attitudes online. It has been something I have been watching for quite sometime. Image is given more weight in today's kenpo world than substance."
On this we can agree wholeheartedly. I sometimes sigh when I see someone say that time will judge who is good and who is bad, 'cause it won't, hasn't, and likely never will. Incompetent martial artists are all over, doing quite well, thank you, mostly due to our obsession with the superficial. It's yet another symptom of what I think is possibly the number one problem in our society today, the valuing of the superficial over the substantive.
Give me a few days and I'll tell you all about it.
"Scott I hope you and I can come to a peaceful agreement on this situation. Even if it is to disagree."
I think it's getting better now. I won't bother with the secondary concern of threatening to bash Clyde with your purple belt clumsiness; I don't go a week without seeing a couple of those kind of comments on here or on Kenponet (though never on the TKD forums I read, oddly enough.
"There is no need to attack my character, I made a decision that you disagreed with, but what did you do to fix the problem?"
I did a little behind the scenes, what I could. And, in public I made a post to point out they were trolling (for those too trusting to admit it) and posts saying "Don't feed the trolls". I didn't say anything over here because I figured it wasn't a MT issue unless the moderators could find a way to help. I didn't get too bothered because I knew Josh and Clint would put a stop to it soon enough. That caliber of thing has happened before, both there and here.
"One time I was learning a technique from the Old Man and he was attacking me and making me respond (I was a brown belt at the time)..."
Safe to say you aren't a purple, then?
Seriously, why don't you speak as you, without smoke and mirrors and dodging responsibility. If you feel you spoke rightly, then speak forthrightly.
I don't mind anonymous posters who ask good questions or make good comments, but the ones who speak anonymously just so they can more easily get away with starting shat make me quite annoyed. That's what you appeared to be doing.
Okay, now I think my best move is to leave this alone for a while. I'll come back on Monday and look things over and see if I've overreacted or gone too far in my assaults on your character, as you put it. If so, I will apologize. If someone figures out who you are and lets us all know by then, then I'll see about apologizing personally (by email) as well. If I don't think I've gone too far, I'll just try and let the whole thing drop and forget it ever happened, and next time I see you in the real world (if I ever figure out who you are) we can laugh about it and assume you meant well.
We'll see.
Peace,
Scott
P.S. I try to be slow to wrath, quick to calm. I don't always succeed.
I think I got misty, verklempt even!
