Yay! Let us rant!!

We’ve all been that vitriolic child at some point. Perhaps we were bad and mom took away our toy? Perhaps grandpa did something for our protection…perhaps we merely disagreed with someone else’s point of view? It happens, and it can set on quite suddenly…

I was recently on the receiving end of an extremely spirited dissident expressing his on-line disagreement about the nature of implication vs assumption where I was called things such as Git, smug, and a smug git. The funny thing is that I’ve been this guy…a long time ago.

Unable to control my fury at other people’s opinions and unable to recognise my foolishness, I would lash out and aggressively ‘correct’ other people’s opinions. 

It took a long time, a goodly many friends, and a great teacher to help me realise just how much of my energy I was wasting on details that didn’t matter.

They didn’t go out of their way to do this though. It was more of a subconscious dissertation…or perhaps just their calming influence. They have families, some have children, all of them jobs that pull in an income to keep the wolves away, and a few who count students who value his time. They're not superheroes, but they’ve got things working just enough on the side of right that it makes you wonder what they’re up too and how to emulate them. 

I guess you could say there’s enough experience to escape idol worship and borrow positive behaviours…and slowly build on them.

It was after my aforementioned “git-smuggery” that It hit me. I’d transitioned from one to the other. Now I was the one looking at an online “tanty” with toys flying through the air, and a saliva encrusted pacifier hitting me in my figurative nose with a sense of the desperate angst focussed on me. As i tried to calm the situation everything I shared was taken out of context. I certainly wasn’t the only person involved, and surprisingly there was quite a supportive, and reasonable, crowd involved. The more reasonable the statement was, the less reasonable was the response. It was one of those episodes.

It wasn’t that I was smug, I don’t believe I was. It wasn’t that I was a git, I’m certainly not a git. I’ve been an ass, a dick, and I’m certainly a great big hulking Cunt. But I’m no smug-git. I’ve been fighting my now battles and demons too long for smuggery. 

And it made me think further.

This online chap stated he was “defending” a school, sifu, or some other dogmatic aspect of Wingchunnery, without doing so well. No one was attacking, just pointing out their opinions.

In my head it became less a battle of who’s right or wrong, and more a catalyst for my asking two questions. Namely, a) why would anyone give another’s opinion so much credence? and b) is it our place to defend Sifu or Kwoon?

When dealing with opinions, be it online or off, one has to take into account the source of that particular opinion and what may have gone into the creation of said opinion. 

We know that it is categorically impossible to know another persons thoughts, though we can make a few assumptions thanks to experience and familiarity. However when you’re faced off against an avatar and a versatile keyboard…its a less tangible experience. If that makes sense.

The only thing we can be confident of is the meaning of words within the context of the subject. In an online forum you can’t be 100% sure about the emotion behind any opinion, regardless of the endless sea of emoji’s you can use. 

This being the case, how can you argue detail x and get upset about it? You have no emotional connection to the discussion except that which you bring with you. Any Joe Bloogheimsmithberg can form an opinion, but only You can allow this opinion weight and substance. Right? Why should we give this opinion so much power over our emotional state. Why allow ourselves to throw that switch from calm to exotically irate? Its something to think about isn’t it?

when we face our opponent we’re fully focused on them and our immediate surrounds. We keep everything in check and allow our minds into that relaxed-control, minimising our anticipation of specifics and merely being ready. Can’t we take this control out of our art and into our lives?

This makes me think further about our rights and expectations as a student. Have you ever defending your WC lineage against opinions of another? 

I know I have. I can only call my old kwoon a cult. It involved believing our teacher without proof or justification, our teacher discouraging us from training outside our kwoon and testing our skills. And if that wasn’t enough, we were encouraged to argue online and to defend Sifu while being told that the entire world knew that we were the best fighters, and that we were taught by the worlds best WC exponent. Sadly its a drink a little too tall to stomach. Oh yeah…and there was the exorbitant tithing. Er, I mean fees.

It’s great being out of there and being able to freely discuss any aspect I think I might understand. 

Should not a schools reputation prove for itself that opinions and arguments against it are flawed or otherwise?

I should not have to defend my Sifu. But I still get an urge to…don’t you?

Our teachers have experience to call on, and we have a healthy source of knowledge in them. Our experiences in class and training is wonderful, otherwise we wouldn’t be back right?

Then why do we get an urge to get all, “my dad can beat your dad!”, about it?

More than likely we’ll make ourselves sound foolish, and potentially add a distasteful sheen to our teachers name. In this scenario our enthusiasm to protect our teachers reputation creates the need for defence. Utter foolish. 

Besides, if they really have an issue with my (our) teacher(s)…they obviously haven’t met them.

Of course that’s assuming our teacher is a good, well-balanced person.

If not then you have my pity. I’ve been there and kept myself there by will alone. “The way I’m treated is worth it because of what I’m learning…”, I was all about that mumbo-jumbo at one time.

We need to encourage each other to train outside our kwoon, to test our training with real world applications, and to keep physics in the fore of my mind when trying to improve my understanding of our system. Or at least as best we can.

I refuse to be the WC’er that “Swat’s at flies”…I want to be (to borrow a Dr Who term, and show my inner-nerd) the On-Coming Storm, unstoppable and cataclysmically destructive. It can only be my choice to become so. Its my obligation to myself to ensure everything is on the level and to do something about it if it isn’t.

Isn’t this right? 

Mine is the calm centre. Its the centre I chase. Each of your movements is another opportunity. I’m going to meet you and escort you out. You’re welcome, please come again.

Suffice to say, I refuse to give weight to an individual’s opinion when they don’t have all components of the equation. I refuse because just I don’t care. It’s just too much effort waging your war for you. I’ll keep an open mind and weigh each statement against what I know about you, then I’ll test it, and if it’s found wanting…I’ll discard it. If it’s great, I’ll ask to borrow it.

Don’t feel bad, I expect you to do the same for the things that I say. What do you know about me? Who else agrees with me?

Who cares? 

My opinions are built upon a foundation of familial love, teenage angst, adult depression, and a fascination with Ving Tsun. Everything I share has legitimacy for me. I suggest you take it all with a grain of salt.

Debating on the internet is awesome…arguing is not.