8-21-08 We got a surprise for you!

[SaBomJon]

Yet Zii, who has displayed the same, if not worse boundry issues and mockery, hasn't born the brunt of any of your ire at all?

I have mentioned in previous posts elsewhere that Zii has boundary issues. I don't condone her actions there, and in fact, I'm glad she got egg on her face, for her lack of boundaries and especially for being so pushy about deciding who gets to have a room when she has no official say in the matter! There was a little bit of knocking her down a peg when DiDi and Gary made their little "analysis" after Mme. DeVille labeled her a boy. Having that little karmic balance was funny and helped add to the strip as well as the character development of Zii.

I am glad that you see that I am making my judgements based on observation, not on any prejudices. I can only observe what is going on in this strip, and comment on my reaction to it.

[Pneumonica]

" Gay people I know are asses, Matt and Dillion are Gay, therefore they are asses" reasoning.

Bear, chill it. Disliking someone doesn't make you a homophobe, even if they're gay. Disliking someone because they remind you of someone you don't like doesn't make you a homophobe, even if the other person's gay as well. It's a straw man to make the accusation, and I'm losing interest in these forums because of the aggressive assaults by, among others, you, because characters you like aren't liked by other people. You're attacking someone baselessly and you're aggrivating the situation by not dropping the matter.

For the record, no, I don't like them either. I think they're great for the story, but if I met them on the street I'd knock their teeth out. I was less so about Zii until she stole Gary's room, now I'm not much liking her either. I'm kinda the same way with Disney's Maleficent.

[Bear]

I am glad that you see that I am making my judgements based on observation, not on any prejudices. I can only observe what is going on in this strip, and comment on my reaction to it.

And thats what was irking me, people who were the other way around. Making judgements based on predjudice rather then observation.

Disliking someone doesn't make you a homophobe, even if they're gay. Disliking someone because they remind you of someone you don't like doesn't make you a homophobe, even if the other person's gay as well.

But disliking someone because they are gay, and judging them by another gay persons actions does.

Now... I've probably not made it clear, but Matt and Dillion aren't exactly my favourite characters either. They've been great for the comic and they're both hilarious in my opinion, but I don't like them as much as the main three characters. What I've been trying to get accross all this time is my dislike for the people blindly attacking them and hating on them without any good reason. As has been established, I don't have any problem at all with SaBomJon's dislike of them, or your own as they've both been expressed with good reason. Its just some people's way of expressing their dislike for them with completely unfair reasoning that I've found distasteful which is why I've felt the need to defend thse two characters, who at the end of the day are compeltely fictional and should not be generating the intense dislike that they have from certain forum goers.

However, because I dislike arguing even though I feel its been needed here, and in the interest of returning the forum to proper happy order, I'm dropping it here and appologising to anyone I've upset with trying to express my feelings on the subject.

[ShadowRaven]

So, how 'bout them Yankees?

[njbarsuli13]

Okay. I am officially sick of all of you.

Pneumonica: Your whole "I'm sick of these aggressive assaults" and then only blaming one side does not help a thing.

Bear: Drop it. They've said they're not homophobes, and these are fictional characters, so does it really matter?

SaBomJon: We get it. You don't like Matt and Dillon. It's getting tiring. Why not try using the ki for other, more useful purposes, such as helping your students master their Off-The-Wall Roundhouses or Jump Kicks?

You are all to blame, and I'm done with it.

[njbarsuli13]

However, because I dislike arguing even though I feel its been needed here, and in the interest of returning the forum to proper happy order, I'm dropping it here and appologising to anyone I've upset with trying to express my feelings on the subject.

Thank you.

[SaBomJon]

Why not try using the ki for other, more useful purposes, such as helping your students master their Off-The-Wall Roundhouses or Jump Kicks?

Jump kicks are useful....though I usually consider "off-the-wall roundhouses" to be a little too much like eye candy and not too effective in an actual self-defense situation. I did have a lot of fun teaching them how to leg sweep and review the outer hip throw last night, though.

I will use this opportunity to apologize for again sounding like a broken record, but the current direction that has been taken hasn't been meeting with my approval. When that happens, I feel I can't just sit idly by, and need to express my opinion. I will use this criticism and try to make sure that I can get my point across without repeating myself too much.

Oh, and BTW, the Korean designation for "Ki" is "Neh-Gung", meaning Internal Power. It's part of the different "powers" that a martial artist (and other people) can possess. The powers are as follows:

Neh Gung: Internal Power : Ki/Chi

Weh Gung: External Power: Physical Strength

Shim Gung: Spirit Power: The ability to stay motivated and carry through with something.

Woo-Gi Gung: Weapon Power: Expressing strength and focus through the practice of a weapon (my favorite being the sword).

Just a little cultural tie in. I like to pass on little facts like that when I can.....

[ShadowRaven]

Arigatou SaBomJon. As a martial artist myself, I am quite interested in little tidbits of knowledge about other styles/types/philosophies.

[njbarsuli13]

SaBomJon:

I took Tae-Kwon-Do for about 5 years when I was younger. It's been so long since I've done anything with it though, sadly. Our family moved when I became a Bo-Cho-Dahn (in our school; not all schools have that belt, but it's right in between high red and black) and was in my second testing phase to become a black belt (out of 3 or 4, I believe).

I mentioned off-the-wall roundhouses because I was in our school's Demo Team (which is basically a group of teenage/young performers who would perform at birthdays and stuff), and that was my kick. I would jump off of one of our adult members backs while he was bent over, and there would be another teenage student on top of an adult's shoulders holding a board for me. That's what I would kick.

=)

It used to be so much fun, and I would love to finish my training...but I don't even remember a lot of the stuff we had to learn...

=(

[SaBomJon]

It's never too late to take up the training again, I didn't start my training until I was 18 (I grew up in a little cowtown where training was quite the luxury) and I've been training for almost 20 years now.

[njbarsuli13]

Oh, there is no doubt I will continue, but the other places I've been to just don't really match up.

It will probably be a few years (once I'm out of college and things are more stable) before I continue.

Where do you train at?

[SaBomJon]

I train at a do-jahng in Hamel, an outer-rim suburb of the Minneapolis West metro area. My friend is the main instructor and runs the business, he lets me have free access to the training floor in exchange for teaching for him regularly as well as stepping in when he needs me to teach for him. I also was teaching for my Master Instructor in Lakeville for a while.

That's always the problem with being a high rank...you almost always get saddled with teaching and don't get too much time to work on your own skills. I try to balance that and work out with my students when I can. I also do regular sparring sessions with the instructor I train in Haidong Gumdo with, who is also 5th Dan in Song Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do.

[njbarsuli13]

I remember having to teach once at the age of...13, I believe.

I had just gotten my Bo Cho Dahn belt, and I was waiting for my black belt class to begin, which took place right after a white belt class. So Master Lee (the head instructor) saw me and asked me to help out a few white belt students on their forms and the three basic kicks--front kick, side kick, and roundhouse kick. All I really had to do was make sure they strengthened their stances and fully extend their legs as they kicked, but still I felt a lot of pressure due to the fact that these kids had almost no respect for me. I had to assert my position as their teacher, elder, and higher rank before I got anywhere with them.

[ShadowRaven]

That is often the problem with youth, even when you have the skill you don't often get the respect. I have the opposite problem myself. I am only orange belt in Goju ryu karate, but at 26 most of the younger students think that I , as an adult, have to be able to teach them stuff. I've not been training that long. In fact, in some cases, the kids that want me to teach them stuff, have been training longer then I have, but with less focus.

[SaBomJon]

In that case, you have to thank them for asking you, and gently remind them that the instructors are the only ones who are qualified to teach, seeing as their running the class.

I see that a lot, especially with younger kids (and some slightly older) want to jump into learning a lot of technically difficult kick/forms/etc. and you have to remind them that the skills they are taught at different belt levels are there for a reason. It's the whole "want to run before they've barely mastered crawling" syndrome. Something that's only encouraged more and more with attention spans getting shorter and shorter, as well as the general need in the western societies for instant results/gratification. It's things like that which inhibits them from developing focus and concentration..areas that are vital to any type of studying .

Hmmmmm...this is starting to become a MA thread here....howzabout I start an individual thread so we don't intrude too much into other people's thought streams?