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Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture
A reminder of how we do things here

Hi All,

Here is a link to the site rules everyone agreed to in order to become a member: http://iainabernethy.co.uk/site-rules

In light of some recent posts that were not in keeping with the tone of the board (all now deleted) I would like to post this general reminder and draw particular attention to some key aspects of how we do things here.

Among the key aims of this forum are to share information so that we can better understand the views we currently hold through exploration and discussion, to be exposed to alternative viewpoints so we may personally decide if they have something to offer us, and to provide a quality resource for martial artists like us who do not accept appeals to authority or tradition as being valid justifications for any viewpoint or practise. We therefore want disagreement and information focused discussions; and we have simple rules to ensure that is done in a productive way.

As I said, we want disagreement here as it’s the best way to explore all aspects of a topic. Those who post here should expect to be disagreed with and know that we welcome dissent and disagreement. It would be totally pointless if we only permitted or endorsed one particular viewpoint. It is therefore inappropriate to take umbrage if someone holds at viewpoint different to your own.

All of that said, disagreement and the resulting discussions needs to be done in a mature and productive way.  It’s it not acceptable to write in a “holier than thou”, sarcastic or demeaning fashion. All discussions also need to focus 100% on the dissection of the issue at hand. People should state their case for their viewpoint, but once we get into the realm of personal attack and taking things personally it instantly becomes entirely pointless and, I’d like to think, something we’d all rather avoid.

In this forum’s long history (in this incarnation and the previous one) we have only ever had to ban a handful of people. In this case I believe that no single person is at fault; with all parties making some contribution to the ensuing results. All I have done is therefore tidied up the thread in question and, with my site moderator hat on, I have directed those directly involved to this post. No one has done anything that would warrant being banned from this forum.

We have simple rules here and I’ve posted the ones below that I think apply to the recent situation.

I will now return you to our regular service :-)

All the best,

Iain

Site Rules wrote:
4. Disagreement is an important and inevitable part of all healthy discussions. However, all members are expected to disagree in the courteous way associated with mature, secure and capable martial artists. If you feel the need to resort to insults, you probably don’t have a valid counter-argument and make it obvious to all that you don’t fully understand what you’re talking about! In the event of an impasse, agreeing to disagree is to be the way forward.

13. The whole point of the forum is to share information. Therefore please don’t make any “information free” posts! Be sure that your posts add something to the discussion and you are not “talking for the sake of talking”. All posts should be questions aimed at clarifying the views expressed in another post; a statement of your own views including an explanation of why you hold those views and believe them to be true; or statement of an alternative position complete with an explanation of your view and why you hold another view to be invalid or not as valid. “I think kata is a good way to train because ….” is great. “I think kata is a good way to train” end of statement is poor and such posts will be deleted. This is not a “shout from your soap box” kind of forum. All posts need to add something to the discussion.

15. THE GOLDEN RULE: Don’t take yourself or anyone else too seriously and be sure to enjoy yourself!