Second; the deletion of JD’s fish post is my decision.
Third; in the past few months this forum has been pretty much ignored (no posts) by the members of this site. I do not mind that everyone discusses issues in other forums that are more pertinent than "verbal self defense". Some issues on other forums have similarities to verbal self defense issues and I have had to comment on those issues without using my forum. I am very grateful that GEM gave me the opportunity to moderate this topic that others may consider a "trivial" part of martial arts. Heck, most sensei’s never even bring up verbal self defense in the course of their studies with their students. I do not pretend to be the "know it all" about verbal self defense. Discussion is what these forums are all about. I always ask for opinions and solutions to scenarios that I have imagined or participated in. Everyones comment is appreciated and discussion without personal insult is not to much to ask. To question a source of information by asking for documentation, while in the business world, is good practice. However, in a discussion forum it is PERCIEVED to be insulting. Especially if the content can not be documented because of the era that the information occurred.
Fourth; when a moderator, whom has never posted to this forum, uses it as a tool against another moderator disappoints me even more. I know how busy every one of the moderators are. We all have lives outside of the forums and many of us run a karate school and maintain full time jobs. If a forum is receiving many posts, the members can scan the posts and reply if they wish to enter the discussion. Moderators, however have to read each one and decide whether they are valid or detrimental to the discussion. I do agree that a moderator should maintain a certain neutrality in each discussion. Nevertheless… I will retain some comments for future references. My comments are italicized.
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Everyone is welcome to post on this forum. I just wish you had not used this particular topic to be your first post. I have enjoyed many discussions with members and moderators on all the forums. Although many of the moderators appear to only discuss issues on their own forums, I condone the participation and am very disappointed in the lack of it.I would like to thank Lenny for the opportunity to post on a forum other than my own. I appreciate the opportunity to step down from my own moderator status and discuss on a level playing field.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>1) It is difficult to be both moderator and participant in a heated discussion. As a moderator, one must necessarily give equal "treatment" to all ideas posed. As an individual passionate about ideas, one feels compelled to present one's case. When disagreement arises, the moderator must then decide whether (s)he must take on the role of preacher or referee. The middle ground is very muddy.
2) It is difficult to separate the individual from the ideas. Indeed I believe it unwise. What is so compelling about forums like these is to see fallible humans succeed (or not) in spite of themselves.
3) Anything that applies in life applies especially so in a forum. We are limited in the range of venues we use to convey ideas. There is no body language to read. There is little ceremony, except for the attempt by some to use a protocol for addressing each other that seems a confusion of cultures. There are no eye contact or facial expressions to read. There is no touch. It is easy to understand why misunderstandings proliferate.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Number three is the reason that I retain some of the discussion on this thread.
All the more reason to be careful when choosing what words to put in your posts. The next quote by David reiterates this and states exactly what is desired by most of the participants.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote. We need to be extremely careful how we word things and we need to allow leeway for folks who may have worded too quickly and carelessly. But a certain amount of good faith must be taken and given, or we risk losing any chance for true exchanges.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quoteAs I for-noted, some forums have become pulpits. Responders rant about what they think a poster wrote or--even worse--what they consider to be a poster's inner motivations and character.
I find it puzzling that there should be so much - perhaps justified - anger over words spoken that offended...and yet the reaction itself begs to question what the real issue is.
The questioning of historical methods of training for determination of who’s method is correct. No one said that this historical information is to be taken by all as "the law" (Holy?) and that the methods that are being used today are not worth the practice. Documentation is easy for our modern society with these forums as tools we can forever put our mark on the future generations. Many members print out these comments and who knows where they may resurface in the future. There was no vehicle such as this in our founders time and it is important to some of us to want to know how our founder practiced
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It is clear in this latest of tempests that words can hurt. But where has this begun, and where does it end? Is it the topic, or the reaction to the topic that creates the problem?
Yes words can hurt and this is another reason I wish to keep some of these comments. Easily we can see by what has been taking place the last few weeks that words start more confrontations than defuse them.
If we want our readers to participate more in these discussions, we moderators and members who post frequently need to choose our words carefully.
It is situations such as these that make our readers stay out of these discussions.
Avoiding the confrontation by non participation is a quality that will save many in self-defense situations, and inadvertently we are teaching this principle to our readers.
These are of course only MY views.
I have no animosity toward any member or moderator.
Please posts comments on this forum anytime, and please re-read any posts to be certain that if your words will be perceived by you as a possible insult, they will certainly be taken that way.
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Len Testa