INTERNET WARRIOR

Martial artists today have the Internet as a tool to explore and exchange ideas with practitioners within the global martial arts community. The information available on the world wide web is staggering and available 24 hours a day.

Not all of the information contained on websites or databases is correct and it is easy for a beginning student or, "new jack" to the martial arts game to get mislead by false or improperly presented or stolen teachings. The most popular places to search for and exchange information online nowadays is within Message Boards or Forums.

These forums are sites online where people can post questions, answers, stories, links and the like to further the collective of martial arts. Each forum has its own characteristics and topics, as well as format for information dissemination. This essay is a breakdown of the types people you will find within such message boards, with a description of their traits and advice on how to deal with them.

The Martial Arts enthusiast is a person whom has seen martial arts movies, read books and articles, who generally is excited about martial arts who has gone to a few seminars or basic classes. This person can be of great resource as they know the scene, and can guide you to information databases where you can research on your own. They will answer questions as best they can, and will do a bit of research and send you hyperlinks or references to continue your quest for knowledge.

Many times these people are diluted in ways because they only have book and movie "smarts". They have experience researching historical data and watching media with martial arts related topics, this forms their idea of what the arts are all about. They have no real application experience or teaching authority, however they are like best friends at times, able to pull out info quickly.

Beginners almost all of the time are looking for teachers, background info on particular styles, general inquiry regarding martial arts history, styles, training, etc. If you know your stuff, help them out because we all had our beginners shoes on at one time, but be aware that they might try to cling onto you for more info than you have, or they may be searching for a penpal.

Learned students further the collective universal intelligence of information available by giving experiential data relating to questions asked. This input can be greatly beneficial to new or beginning students, but must be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of times these sources of info can be jaded a bit to their particular style or arrogant because of some documented or perceived achievement…nevertheless, these are the BEST sources of information, due to the EXPERIENCE of learning and training.

Simply put, these persons are in the trenches, have been around the block and know the real from the unreal. Sifu that are currently teaching are another type of online forum visitor. They are many times looking for students or are creating hype for their own interests.

Good Sifu tend to realize very early on that the forums are for the more junior students of the arts, and that their time can be spent better elsewhere, like actually practicing what everyone else is typing and speculating about. Usually personal e-mail when written courteously and consciously, is best for communicating effectively with real deal Sifu.

The personal approach is best, as the Sifu can gauge the inquirer's true intent, answer appropriately and be somewhat comfortable that such communications will not be made public on a forum message board. Bad "Sifu" are the antithesis. These charlatans peruse the net to pass time as they wait for checks to roll in the door, talk a lot of talk but never walk the walk.

These "Sifu" are easily distinguished by larger bodies than the more fit currently training Sifus. One other characteristic is a foul attitude and a holier than through mindset. Many times we find that massive intake of Babylonian foods and lack of training tend to create these "Sifus". Also these types tend to be bitter as they feel they have an incomplete system or seniors that question their ability to teach at all.

Try to avoid these types at all costs or it may cost you $$$. Then you have the Trolls (Internet devil) that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions, simply by picking out the essence of your transmissions and then challenging and insulting you directly. Trolls come from all age groups and they are easy to spot. They are personal cipher disrupters, leeches of energy good and bad. Trolls are all no good in any way.

Even though they might be able to engage the reader for a time, the nastiness oozes out eventually. Most forum moderators now look out for this type of person. Trolls are the worst, as they are all bad, along with them you also have loudmouth Internet warriors, that actually go to class, and train or even teach authentic traditional or more modern arts.

These loudmouths can be of some help as they know the scene and have real lineage. However the characteristic personality flaw with loudmouths is that they lose perception of reality when online. They feel a false sense of security justified to them by the fact they cannot see the person they are talking online to and their experience has led them to be dogmatic, sour or just plain ignorant.

These types talk a lot of talk and never seem to walk the walk. It has been a trend for specific instructors to get into Internet battles but then, when approached, they literally run away, or hide behind lineage or their own students! Consider this…would you want to learn a FIGHTING art from a person that talks big and NEVER backs their stuff up?

Combat in general is not a good idea, however if you claim high skill level and then are nasty & challenging to people, you can expect to be approached. Many of these Internet warriors lack a basic concept of self due to insufficient introspection and meditation upon ones self.

This tends to resonate throughout the net negatively once such a person is put into a position where they feel the necessity to defend their system or own set of dogmatic beliefs. There is a trend in the Internet realm whereby feuds and large "beefs" develop. Sifus and students incessantly bickering over lineage and history or which move comes after which, etc.

These arguments continue for weeks at a time and the end result is after a fortnight of bickering - no solution occurs and Schools and Sifus end up looking foolish and unprofessional with regard to their own training. Hence losing potential students and further bringing a veil of shame upon them and their lineage. Their are a handful of persons on the net that classify as knowledgeable and free flowing with information.

I would limit this to 5% or less. These friends know their stuff and are more than happy to send you information and application ad-nauseum. These gems are what keep the net from collapsing altogether due to the high amount of Internet warriors. Usually they put their personal e-mail address as a signature to all posts, as they value what they write and demand feedback from persons capable of advancing knowledge.

Find these helpful guides, learn from them and give back to the global net community once you gain something of substance and are able to articulate such information. In close, enjoy searching and learning about martial arts on the Internet, be alert and research all answers thoroughly to ensure that you have factual information and that you are able to make choices appropriately and personally further the knowledge of the arts globally.