Do you agree with what this instructor says in this video about ethics in martial arts??

Yeah comparing map and bullshido is spurious imho.
Just because nightclubs exist doesn't mean people would be fine with loud music playing when they go to a library.
The two sites have a different vibe and ethos and always have as far as I can tell.
Bullshido (even back when it was called Mcdojo iirc) has always been more confrontational and combative in tone than map.

To my mind honesty and openness are the keys to any debate about lineage or provenance in the martial arts.
If two people meet every week in the park, spar hard, keep what works, discard what doesn't and in so doing create a rudimentary 'style' that's fine. That could (maybe) be just as worth training in as something with decades of established lineage. There's an honesty to that.
But don't then try and create a false or embellished lineage that seeks to cover up those origins.
Be open and people will make an informed choice.

Equally all the lineage in the world isn't gonna save your ass when it's fight time. That's on you.

I like David and value his input here. He knows his onions.
I also happen to think that the background to marbo reads like it was written by a child when creating a secret gang in his tree house where girls aren't allowed or a teenager writing the background for a bad dungeons and dragons campaign.
Such a background (and the acceptance of it), to me, raises major red flags when looking at a club even though the training on offer might be really good.

And let's also face it...I do taekwondo.
And that has more than it's fair share of nonsense when talking about provenance and lineage.
Thousands of years old, flying kicks for knocking samurai of horses, tae kyon, hwarang warriors, etc.

 

And for the record, Bullshido doesn't even have a karate/TKD/kung fu/TMA section anymore. In the Bullshido worldview, if you're not doing boxing, MT, BJJ, or MMA, your art is "bullshido." So the fact that the TMA subforums on MAP are getting quiet is certainly not because of losing posters to Bullshido.

 

Lineage can also be a double edged sword.
In taekwondo I have a fairly normal sort of lineage. Going back to the beginnings of the tagb and some of the main committee members, rhee ki ha, Lee kong oh (through the late John black) and so on to general Choi.
But along with that are some practices I now consider worse than useless (Looking at you 2 step sparring!).
A verifiable lineage in a verifiable style doesn't insulate you from nonsense.
By contrast I have some things I do now, mainly through seminars with Iain Abernethy and Stuart Anslow but also...*gasp*...stuff I've added myself!...that I would consider far more combatively, pragmatically and conceptually useful than the 2 step I've learnt. It doesn't really have much of a lineage at all because both Iain and Stuart are making their own way in martial arts just as I am.

 

The other thing I'll say about lineage is, I totally get people who don't want to post details on a public forum. I'll happily tell any of the regulars here who my instructor is and all those details, etc via private message. But as a rule, I will not post those details on a public forum--hell, nowadays I won't even post what city I'm in on a public forum--because there are crazy weirdo stalkers on the internet, and people who take things out of proportion, or freak out three years after you've posted something.

 

Yes he can and yes we can to a certain extent,

but demos and working with your own students are one thing and since he brought up his history why is it bad to ask him to list it in more detail?

 

Yep but then as far as I remember David has never asked those questions of other posters as southpaw says Simon has

 

Thing is though...forums come and go all the time. MAP is like the 4 or 5th one I've been part of (SFUK, Tung Fu, Cyberkwoon for example) and the ones before it all died. Some for no discernable reason.
And that was in the time without other forms of social media and the advent of Youtube and podcasts which, in part, fill some of the same "information" niche that forums used to fill.
Also part of it is that the discussions that used to keep forums going have been had. You get the occasional new angle or topic but it seems to me martial arts has settled down and people are much happier and content in their own areas. They are more likely to seek out like minded people than pitch into a free-for-all.
That said...I think you are partly right with your assessment of where MAP is (even though I might be in that small group! ).

 

It's no secret that I will happily call someone a moron if they are acting like a moron - I will then point out exactly HOW they are acting like a moron, which is not the same as simply ad hominem as it addresses the behaviour that leads to moronic classification

Everyone has the right to an opinion; and everyone else has teh right to then say "are you nuts?? That's the tupidest thing I ever heard"

When MAP was at it's absolute peak we had Slip, Master Betty, Killa Gorillas and in fairness myself who were and are all quick with the tongue - and it was ALWAYS busy with fiercehadous, Wushudicks, Sons of Bolo, Taijilou and a million others; "Moon Quakers" was actually a catchphrase for a time - To claim it is poster conduct that has shut it down isn't a conclusion I will actually buy

 

No one said there was - the difference is they were answered when asked

 

He did in this very thread - granted it was in response to the question being asked of him, but he still asked

 

Nobody’s said that poster conduct has shut things down. Rather, Aaradi made a more nuanced point.

Both Southpaw and I agree with her.

It’s worth taking notice that at least three of us have come to the same conclusion: poster conduct’s driven some people away.

 

I agree that, in general, internet forums are less active than they used to be due to social media and YouTube (CyberKwoon, TheShotokanWay, and Kyokushin4Life are all gone entirely, for example). I'm certainly not saying what I'm complaining about is the only dynamic causing less posting activity here.

And I know we've always had some people who had a "TMA sucks and let me tell you why" attitude that they frequently brought to the forum.

But in my opinion, that tone didn't used to be as dominant on MAP as it is now, where even posts about a specific issue in a specific subforum can quickly devolve into "does this TMA have merit in the first place" with disappointing frequency. And we used to have a lot more of posters like Fish of Doom, Van Zandt, Moosey, etc who always brought enthusiasm and positivity to the discussion of not just his own martial art but others as well. For years, we had posters like Koyo (RIP), where even though he could be scathingly critical of lack of intensity in training, he didn't write off entire martial arts, and instead, was a champion of Aikido (when done right).

 

Thing is I would say we see less of the “TMa sucks” than we used to; I mean sure there are those who decry anything that isn’t MMA, but even that “god” has been shown to have clay feet and isn’t the only “go to” anymore - again I think it’s simply that forums are kinda passé now Facebook is dominating

 

I love this forum and would be sad if it folded. I don't post nearly as much as I used too but thats due to a myriad of reasons i.e work, family etc. and also that being a member of MAP for years I have seen most topics covered and just don't go over old ground rehashing tired arguments and points, maybe in retrospect that attitude is not conducive to helping keeping the forum busy and retaining new members through.