What do YOU want from the ninjutsu forum?

I am not taking a cheap shot here - honestly.

In the recent past - the staff hasn't been helpful much at all. Why would we expect that to change?

This thread is a good start - but I remember not too long ago being told that because of "breach of confidence issues" - there would be no more ninjutsu mods. And if non-ninjutsu people can't see what is going on (because they aren't SMEs) - then this whole thread seems to be moot.

hmmmm.... let me try to quickly explain what I mean:

I think the biggest problems in this forum are :

1. Lack of good content.
2. Tolerance/endorsement of subtle trolling.
3. Lack of good senior posters.

I think Shibari's assessment is right on.

Let me continue:

I only come here for this sub-forum. So - according to Anth - I am not a candidate for Mod . In fact - I can't think of a single person who would be a suitable candidate for Mod in here who is the least bit interested in the other sub-forums. So we are at a stalemate.

Because our goals for this sub-forum diverge from the overall site goals of making this a community center.

I like the notion of a community - filled with houses. When your neighbors come over - they are polite and don't wear their muddy shoes on your carpet - or they aren't invited back.

If you have any questions - let me know.

-Daniel

 

Sorry I missed this one earlier - but I think I answered this back with the 35 MPH gang control analogy.

You for instance - admit you like poking us because it is fun to rile us up (which is against the spirit of the law). But you follow the written ToS laws - so you are good.

Unless mods have the ability (and knowledge) to see what you are doing - then warn / remove you to Gitmo for your behavior - this will continue.

-D

 

I'd like to nominate Daniel as Uber Moderator for the BJJ forum. :evil:

He seems very knowledgable. :Angel:

heh...heh...heh..............

:ninja1:

 

I've admitted that many times but that's never the reason I enter a thread. I know what to expect once I post and get it but I also get your point.

They know what I'm doing. I get many warnings from the mods and back off. They're there when needed, you just have to give them time.

As it goes this ruckuss between the 'Alive brigade' and you guys has made me think and as I've stated on the MAP thread will be starting ninjutsu, proberly in the New Year now. It'll be only once a week but as I know nothing of the art thought I'd at least have a look at it. Olive Branch for Map?

 

Hey MD -

I only pointed to you because you actually admitted (in writing) you like doing it.

The other subtle trollers aren't as honest about why they are here. So - we have to read intent into what they write... Which gives Chris the ability to say, "Nah - Topher isn't here just to cause problems..."

-Daniel

 

I just like confrontation. My wife once drugged and shaved me to look for the 666. You guys often invite us in though, daft comments about BJJ etc:

 

I think we are as worried that you will find a bad dojo as we are grateful that you are making the effort!

Seriously though, we have former Olympian Judo Players and all manner of military and law enforcement folks who find that taijutsu is the toolbox for them. And you don't get much more alive than the situations they find themselves in on a regular basis.

Of course I am aware that there are also military and law enforcement folks who prefer to look to other arts or mixed arts and there's nothing wrong with that. If BJJ is the M16 and MMA is the AK47, then ninjutsu is the Steyr Aug or something from H&K. Less ubiquitous but not to be ignored.

 

He's a 12th dan in the Bujinkan. Other than that I know zip.

 

Well, there are 12th dans who let us down, but you should be okay.

Some of us now think nostalgically back to a time where no gaijin was higher than 8th dan, and even that was rare, reserved for the likes of Doron Navon, and even the Japanese were about 9th dan still. That was when rank equated with skill at the top end, and at the low end green belts were running training groups and black belts were pretty much rare overall.

 

3 moderators for one area that doesn't get that much traffic compared with the rest of the site seems a little like overkill doesn't it?

 

Su Lin said - "3 moderators for one area that doesn't get that much traffic compared with the rest of the site seems a little like overkill doesn't it? "

And why does this section of MAP get very little traffic?

Anyway, you already have three moderators here.....

 

actually i have read some threas as well ye si agree it is not as much useful as it should be the only problem is that all of us are busy in disussing about how ninjutsu is better then other martial arts and forget to talk about ninjutsu itself and start comparing it with other styles and at the end we end up fighting & defending our fav styles. Thats wot we should stop.. anyways nbie topic ^_^ .

 

I'm not sure.

Would be nice for it to be renamed Takamatsu-den arts, or something.

 

I agree.
Ninjutsu is a poor representation of these arts as ninjutsu is only a small part of training (if bloody ever!)

Takamatsuden Arts would be right on the head a weed out the nutbags and the like

 

I personally would love it if we said the the discussions would have to center around arts that can actually be listed as ninjutsu in Japan by people that train under qualified teachers of the same.

Edit- by that I mean that if someone wants to talk about the ninjutsu of the Asayama Ichiden ryu, that is fine by me. But all those guys that think that since they watched "Never back down" and "Return of the ninja" they can come up with their own version of ninjutsu is just annoying.

 

The content of the forum is mostly back and forth ridicule because that's what it's designed to be -- a name change won't change that. The fun is in watching stupid people who feel compelled to fight to the end over being right in an area in which they are clueless. I'm not sure that it's possible to use the ninjutsu forum for anything else.

 

Why is it "designed to be" such? Who designed it as such? And how is the design of this forum any different from that of the forums of other arts which do have productive discussion?

Why not? Productive discussion has in fact happened here before. Why is it so impossible now?

 

These are great questions that deserve a good answer - I'll give you my quick perspective:

The biggest problem facing this forum is lack of identity and purpose. For some of us - we would like a forum to discuss the art we train in - as a community. Which means that to add value, you have to want to be part of that community - or have real interest in the arts discussed.

There is another group which just enjoys salesmanship of their ideals - who view every forum on here as a testing ground for their thought process. If you agree with them - they don't have much to talk about. They prefer dissonance as it allows them to "discuss / debate" the merits of their choices.

The problem is that the forum attempts to cater to both - and does neither well. They don't mind a good discussion on proper bojutsu, and they don't mind the "you don't spar so your art is crap" discussion.

The practitioners of the art prefer a slight mix of both - but have a low tolerance to evangelical outsiders. The majority of the live-drones have almost no interest in anything related to the art - we are just merely a target for their borg-mentality.

On to the meat of the other problem:

Equality. At current - the moderators / board support a "all members are equal" stance. At first glance - this seems to be a good thing - until you find the negative ramifications of it. I'll give an excellent example that is very recent.

Don vs the MySpace 6pack ninja: both have been arguing about what needs to be done to improve the BJK. One of them has spent 20 years in the art. The other has (no joke) spent ZERO time in the art. Both of them are equals on this board by moderating standards. We can't ask the guy with NO experience to shut up and leave us alone (and he posts on every thread he can) - because, as long as he keeps the 4 letter words out, he is golden here (and a valuable member).

So - the forum is left with an uncomfortable choice: find another board to have good conversation on (already done - which is why convo here has dropped like a rock lately) - and just let the borgs take over the place (which they seem to be doing.).

or you clean it up to bring back good conversation - at the expense of the MAP creed and purpose and TOS.

So - the better question is: why would you want to post good information on a board that encourages the myspace ninjas to come by and teach us all stuff?

Until that question is answered - the quality will suffer.

That is my .02 as a non-impartial critic.

-Daniel