Respect

Respect is politeness, honour, and care shown towards someone or something that is considered important. And as I am sure none of us wishes to feel anything less, we all should consider our behaviour and make sure that we treat others the way we wish them to treat us. I wish that it is with respect. We are all able to respect others as human beings.

I find it disturbing that respect seems not to be the starting point of all encounters anymore. For example, online anonymity should not be used as an excuse to say anything one wills nor free speech should be used as an excuse for spreading false accusations anywhere. As a teacher and a human being, I find it saddening when people put others down and think that in some magic way that would lift them up. No. It should not work like that. Respect is the feeling you show when you accept that different customs or cultures are different from your own and behave towards them in a way that would not cause offence and by doing so show support to all in the martial arts community no matter what art or style they represent.

And now I am going to rant a bit about the too common phenomenon on different Facebook groups: people behaving like jerks and badmouthing because they feel like it.  First of all, I love to watch skilful performances. It does not matter what skills the performances show, we all have the right to choose our art. The only thing that matters is the level of skill that is shown. Some videos online are amazing and I would love to watch more. Not everyone has a skill set equally high on editing and performing and naturally, it shows. Nonetheless, I am happy to see people training and learning even their circumstances may exclude them from real-life teachers. So why not give all a chance and if one finds the need to give guidance so great, it would be beneficial to all to learn how to give productive feedback. 

We all should remember that the mechanics behind each style may be very different and some art forms can not be compared together for there is not enough ground to compare. If something looks weird to you, try to think about the mechanics and energy behind it before judging. First of all, it is quite impossible to be a master in many different art forms and understand everything one sees and second all the people are on a different part of their paths and just very passionate to show their progress, so unless you are the one who actually claims responsibility of their learning and can call yourself their teacher, your opinion should not weigh anything. And it is rude to interfere with other teachers teachings unless asked for.  Unfortunately, all negativity will cast a shadow on martial arts as people who follow the post see the ill will and why would get inspired to join any art form when people online constantly put others down.  Why could not we all show support and follow the simple rule - if you do not have anything nice to say, do not say anything at all. Leave the teaching to the teachers of the people whose performance you were keen to comment on and focus on your own growth as a martial artist and as a human being.

And remember this all works the same way in all aspects of life.