Should there be a standard test?

Question

Should there be a standard test that people answering in the martial arts should have to take, at least if they are going to answer questions about style or actual techniques?

I mean you could have two tests, one for people in striking arts and one for people in grappling arts, but if they passed one test, they would be allowed to answer in any. The questions would need to have factual answers, but the would also have to be answers you would have to have experience to know, not just facts you can look up on the net.

Do you think this would stop the majority of the people who actually have no clue yet still answer questions anyway, based on what they have heard or read? I mean some people are truly asking questions because they need good info, and might not have any experience and be unable to weed out the bullshido from fact.

Do you think this would work?

Answer 1

I like your idea but whod make the test

Answer 2

You have a good point. I'm tired of not only stupid answers, but stupid questions. I remember that morning, this guy tried ranting a question on you because of his "street" problems with gangs and stuff and he ended up disrespecting MA... on a MA section. Those guys and trolls really need to be taken care of.

No disrespect to some of you, but the person up above is right, BJJ isn't always the answer. I had to answer a couple questions in big paragraphs saying this guy is stupid and he's trying to get you hurt because they always say it's all about BJJ or MMA.

And i get tired of the stupid "who would win" questions. In the future our section is gonna end up looking like the boxing section for god-sakes.

Answer 3

The problem lies in cooperation, validation and differing focus within arts.  Just because TKD and Karate (Kenpo for example) share similarities as striking arts with competitive point fighting systems would they test the same????  The answer no.  they are very different schools of thought in teaching and practice.  But both striking arts by your definition.  That what of Thai Chi or Aikido.  further disparities become apparent when taking a closer look at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vs. Free Style or Greco-Roman wrestling.  Each style of grappling arts has it's own competitive point fighting component, all can aid a person in self defense but each system is uniquely different in style, performance and goal within the point system.  

Broadly placing all martial arts systems into two pigeon holes would do no good as well.

I think what each reader must do is check their facts.  I think the concept of validation of answerers is a good concept.  But may be hard to put into practice in any category or school of thought.  I think the power comes form the sharing and the honest opinions we all share one with another.

You can't believe everything simply because you read it online.  Validate, validate and validate once again.  

KK

Answer 4

Who writes the test is a good question?  Not only that but there are some things that you can not look  up on the Internet and if you contact me personally I will give you several examples.  Also the world of martial arts is very wide and varied.  Just because someone does not agree with something someone else has said or referenced in this forum does not mean they are incorrect or it does not exist or there is no sound basis for it.  

One of the the first questions I answered in this forum I referenced something that met with a lack of understanding and skepticism from one of your top contributors and they vocalized it in their response in this forum.  Then several people after me also referenced the same term in their answers as well as in several other questions since then.  Does that make that top contributor stupid or invalidate everything that they might disagree with concerning other questions and answers?  I don't think so since this person's other responses have been good at times which is one of the reasons why I am not naming that person.  You have to learn I think to read between the lines somewhat and also try to understand from where the person giving the answer is coming from with respect to their experience, depth of knowledge and skill;  I do agree that all of those are very hard to accurately judge in real life much less over the Internet.

Answer 5

A standard test would not solve the problem, because, myself, I don't do Karate, for example.  Now, I took Karate from 12 to 14, kept drilling in the basics on and off until I was 22 when I started Tai Chi, and managed to teach myself the 24 form Yang Form and then purchased a DVD, and finally, only finally in 2006, got around to teaching myself the long form, which took me about 4 days, 6 hours each day.

Karate Kata, I learned from that "25 Shotokan Kata" manual.  It was relatively easy for me to pick up on the instructions because I have taken Karate before, however, despite my knowledge of basics, and 10 Katas, I do not consider myself a Karateka.  I do it because its great exercise; it really gets the heart going.  Paying attention to proper form of course.  Also, the hand eye coordination development is good for limited self defense purposes.

Case in point though, being an aficionado of sorts, I spent a long time in the libraries of 1 college, and 3 universities over the course of summer schools and have read extensively on all kinds of martial arts.  Just because I like the topic.  So what does this mean then?  Because martial arts are comercial based, ANYONE with cash in their hand can purchase "study material" to pass whatever test the Yahoo service could place to ensure there are no "fakes."

I admit, I am not a Karateka; recently I have studied under no instructor.  I do however, know that Karate requires Kihon, and Kata, as the fundamental training and I also know that responsible Karate schools, only teach Kumite after the student earns their black belt.  The Kumite, are the various two person drills, joint locks, throws, trips, and escapes.  Anyone who has gone to a school knows this, and just from knowing this they can type some bullcrap answer on some site, acting like they are all expert like, not really interested in stating something as if it was my "50 cents worth."  Because I am not an expert in any field, although I sometimes may come across that way when answering questions I try to tell people to go to reliable places of information.

But that's me; there are dishonest people out there who, will purchase the right material, take whatever "test," pass it, and pass themselves off as experts when they're not.  I know enough about Karate for example, to pass myself off as one, even though I'm not.  Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, and because the Yahoo service does not ask for credentials any tom, d**k or harry can post what they like.

Personally I don't think it would work; they say, if there is anything worse than an ignoramous, it is a well-read ignoramous.  An ignoramous, is harmless, because, well their information is obviously wrong, and obviously unreliable.  A well read ignoramous on the other hand, because they have enaged in a lot of heavy reading, some even spending time at the Library of Congress, well read ignoramous types, will use big words they don't even know.  Speak in a pseudo intellectual tone, like they were some sort of scholar, when they have absolutely zero credentials to back them up.

I understand your concern; for my part you can expect honesty.  I am not a Karateka, I only present personal observations and hope they are found useful, as well as suggestions on where to look for something or what to do, but I do not pretend to be something I'm not.  As far weeding out bullshido from fact, that part is easy.

If someone says, Gichin Funakoshi fought a bull once, by Karate chopping it on the head, just a quick search research on google will reveal, that it was not Gichin Funakoshi, but Mas Oyama who fougth a bull once.

Yahoo answers is just a "were do I look?" type service when you think about it anyway.  And sometimes we don't always know what to type in google, so we need the input of other people.

I think its best that you yourself used it that way, if you do not trust the information people give you.

hope that helps.

peace out.

Answer 6

I like the idea, but I doubt Y/A would get on board with it. No disrespect to the ones who actually take it, but, BJJ can't be the answer to every question asked about any martial arts. Even if its about striking it seems to be "yeah, but BJJ is better"  Anyone else tired of that?

Answer 7

As nice as it would be to have a way of moderating answers, I don't think that it would be feasible. Even amongst top-contributors, there is TONS of disagreement. Even amongst two knowledgeable people of the same style, there can be major disagreements on proper technique.

For instance, two wrestlers. One placed in nationals in High School another Wrestled in D1. They've each taught me to shoot, but their instructions often contradicted eachother. The most basic example of this would be that the D1 guy teaches me to take people down at an angle, where as the other guy teaches me to take them down straight backwards.

Both are very competent wrestlers, but that is just one of many disagreements that they have. Imagine two people from completely different styles. I think that a test would be too rigid and probably discount somebody's valid experiences, simply because it didn't match the limited opinion(s) of the person(s) who created it.

That's my stance on the topic, if I'm trying to be fair to all martial artists and all open minded and c**p.

On the other hand, I personally do believe that every competent martial artist or fighter tends to fight similarly. I mean, there are only a few correct ways of throwing a correct punch. And yet, if you compare Boxing and Choy Li Fut...

Long story short, I like the idea/prospect of having only knowledgeable people answer, but I doubt that there is a way of fair testing.

Answer 8

Some schools wouldn't be in that, they would probably feel threatened by it.

I've only ever conducted grading in my own style (Shotokan karate), and we have written tests as well as the physical. My husband on the other hand is in collaboration with other senior ranking exponents from various martial arts. They get together and form grading boards. He is Sandan (3rd degree black belt) in Shotokan Karate, with some grounding in a number of other martial arts (principally Jujitsu and Iaido).He was recently a panelist in some Jujitsu black belt gradings.  This seems to work well for all of them.

A school with something to hide could never take part in such a collaboration.

EDIT, Just re-read. I now see that you are just talking about here on Answers. What you are saying is not feasible, nor is it desirable. This is a public forum and we have no control over who asks or answers, nor would we want to have. Ignore what you don't like, and take in what you do like.

.

Answer 9

Sometimes I feel that it would be good.  Assuming Y/A would allow it, I am horrified by how we would do this.   Who would create the questions?  This reminds me of the debate years ago. The debate was that some people were trying to get the government (U.S.A.) to set standards for instructors. Only those that passed the requirements would be allowed to teach the martial arts to the public. With all the opinions, attitudes, and prejudices how happy would most of us be with anything that was proposed.

I for one don't want anyone else to have the power to regulate my teaching or opinions.  We have enough laws now that sounded good in theory but have proven to be really stupid.

Answer 10

Nice concept, but don't think it would be feasible. For example, I myself have been studying a dedicated style for 3 years (Tae Kwon Do), but my exposure to martial arts has been lifelong. As for credentials, one might be hard pressed to find any on me, although I COULD be pressed to provide them in some manner. I study under Sabunim Frank Primm (ITF, VI Dan), who studied under the likes of Master John Colgate (WTF, VIII Dan now I think) and most recently Master Fabian Nunez (ITF, VII Dan, and president of the ATFI), who studied under General Choi, Hong Hi (founder of the ITF). General Choi, Master Nunez, and Mr. Primm are all easy enough to find, but you probably won't see my name on any of their sites. HOWEVER, at 39 years old, and 20 years in the military, I have life experience that allows me to answer somewhat intelligently. Also, I am a bit of a martial arts enthusiast, and do a ton of research on my own time to find information. Could I pass a test? Absolutely, particularly where it concerns Tae Kwon Do and other striking arts. But my having the "correct" answer to a particular question doesn't mean it is the "right" answer, because the questions AND answers are subjective. Meaning, the person asking the question may already know what they are looking for in an answer, and will choose the one that many of us think is absolutely so far off base that it is laughable.

I do, however, think something should be done to clean up the MA forum (and from what I can see, the whole of Y/A). I don't think a test of any sort would clean anything up, because often times opinionated people feel that they are right regardless of the evidence against them (anyone with a former spouse can attest to this, I am sure). but there are quite a few questions, AND answers, that are suspect at best, and intentionally misleading or malicious at worst. I think that we as contributors need to continue being diligent (and sarcastic when necessary) in weeding these contributions out, and continue to hold out hope that Y/A will take notice and act accordingly. I still think that some forums, particularly the MA forum, need to be subsectioned to allow easier monitoring of questions/answers in violation of community guidlines; this might also serve to allow people seeking information to more specifically target the correct audience. Like I've said before, you can't fix stupid, but you CAN work around it to make it have less of an effect.

Answer 11

I know how you feel. Yet I wonder who will set the standard test? What about the different arts? how do you define expert?

Clearly I prefer that someone who answers a technical question ought to be willing to make his credentials accessible. Anyone can check me out if they take the time. I allow e-mail and will direct them to the school where I have been teaching for some time. When I say I know some of the great traditional martial artist in the world this can be easily checked.

I prefer answers from people who can be checked. I do not on the other hand want this to become a place where armatures feel unwanted and uncomfortable.I have seen excellent answers from people I have no way of knowing or checking out. Sometimes they have an incite or fresh approach that would be missed in a heavily proctored site.

People who use this site should beware. The information is not necessarily fact. A lot is bulshido. Yet I have seen many forthright factual and well considered answers.  I think it is also good to see the kind of folklore there is out there about the martial arts and get it exposed and addressed.