An Embarrassment of Riches

Discuss Taijiquan or other soft styles. Theory, practice and applications. Please stay on topic.

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Re: An Embarrassment of Riches

Postby chh » Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:47 pm

In this case both Monsoon and John are totally aware that issues of forum moderation don't have to do with free speech- they both made that point in their posts earlier. I guess they just got excited about the topic :)

I think there is an appropriate parallel to be made though, especially in getting back to Dvivid's question and my/Josh's replies. Whose responsibility is it to deal with posts that are inflammatory and attention seeking? On here they're usually not outright threatening or hateful, so they're only violating forum rules in the weakest possible way. Some people see this as the responsibility of the moderator- maybe to eventually suspend or ban users who chronically violate the sort of peripheral forum guidelines. I can understand this point of view and don't have anything against it.

Personally, I think someone who came to this forum for the very first time could identify users who exhibit trolling behavior on the board within one or two such posts, and regard them as such pretty easily from then on. It doesn't have to affect the quality of the board. The trouble starts when users give in to the temptation to engage and respond to inflammatory posts. It should be obvious after a while that this is pointless, and it only perpetuates a problem that's easy to identify and ignore if you have some willpower (or use the add foe button :)).

I think this is an interesting topic. There are a lot of ways of moderating forums and blog reply sections, and there are definitely benefits to both sides of the issue.
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Re: An Embarrassment of Riches

Postby Silkreeler37 » Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:30 pm

This is a very important topic, I believe. Thank you for posting it! My two cents say that it is very important to achieve a high level of skill in one style before diving into other styles. Of course, that depends largely on the individual and, as you accurately pointed out, other obligations can stymie serious forays into broadening your repertoire. Issues of time notwithstanding, I find that true practical knowledge is indeed transferable, but it can be all to tempting to adopt a cafeteria menu approach to e point of becoming a dabbler ( horrors!). I am also a family man, hold down a job, and teach taijiquan in my community. My experience has taught me that, due to these pressing obligations, I benefit more from deepening my practice and understanding of the style I know best rather than biting off more than my clock will allow me to chew. For instance, once I achieved an advanced level of skill in Yang-style Long-Form, I learned the Cheng Man Ch'ing Short-form AND The YMAA Short-form with Jin manifestation. Once I felt I had understood these to the point where I could include them into daily practice, I moved on to pushing-hands and taiji ball qigong. But all with an emphasis on Yang-style and always YMAA (with a few exceptions to better assist students who learned the Cheng Man Ch'ing way). Often times, fitting in my daily practice so that each session is up to my standard of what a good practicing session is, I sometimes must get up extra early or go to bet late or squeeze certain practices in in a creative way (e.g., I practice embryonic breathing as I go to sleep). This approach allows me to maintain the integrity of my fundamental, core-module, skills which in turn keep me open and ready for baby-steps in other directions when the opportunities avail themselves. Again, though, it is all a matter of the individual case, preference, and capability. Stick and Adhere, brother!
You cannot cut the man to fit the coat.
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