tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post4893641138689586263..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: Tempest in TeapotsSteve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-15136125914986386352007-08-21T18:00:00.000-07:002007-08-21T18:00:00.000-07:00Yep, my son, when he was working out a few years b...Yep, my son, when he was working out a few years back in the Sera class, made the T-shirt: "Que Serak, Serak." We knew the "k" was silent, so we got the joke.<BR/><BR/>I once had a bumper sticker -- and a T-shirt -- said:<BR/>"Pukulan Pentjak Silat Sera -- If you need to ask, you don't need to know ..."Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-31095227192652704352007-08-21T16:24:00.000-07:002007-08-21T16:24:00.000-07:00Que sera serak?Que sera serak?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-51343019288170753742007-08-21T06:05:00.000-07:002007-08-21T06:05:00.000-07:00This problem transcends system or style...there ar...This problem transcends system or style...there are few if any martial organizations that don't have in fighting, politics, liars, bastards and self appointed saints. A good friend of mine once told me that the worst thing about martial arts is it's practitioners...and he is oh so correct. I have met good ones and humble ones, assholes and want to be's but the one thing that always holds true is the human condition to believe bullshit...and if you truly break down all of this political and organizational in fighting you will find lying at the center a big mass of bullshit!<BR/><BR/>Whats the answer? Who knows, some hope that when the old boys die off it will get better, but chances are the old boy mentality will just manifest into another quagmire of shit led by another self appointed or politically pointed knob who couldn't whip ice cream with an out board motor. To me that's all that matters, your ability to use it to save your ass and the ability to pass YOUR knowledge and interpretations on to those interested.<BR/><BR/><BR/>My advise, disenfranchise go your own way do what makes you happy....if your skills up to par then there is nothing to freak about just do your best and train and teach...who gives two shits and a Dixie cup what you call it?Mike 'Bwana' Blackgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10829924068658959918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-52951321445966433752007-08-20T10:52:00.000-07:002007-08-20T10:52:00.000-07:00The academics have an advantage. The twenty pounds...The academics have an advantage. The twenty pounds of paper you have to generate to get tenure gets read and passed on by other people in the field. If they don't like it, you don't publish. And in the sciences and technical fields there's a simple check. Is it true? Did the experiment succeed? Did the bridge fall down? <BR/><BR/>It isn't all about money in business. There's at least as much status and politicking involved. More these days. To be a successful CEO you don't even have to make money. You can get rewarded beyond the wildest dreams of Oriental potentates for being a complete failure as long as you "make the tough decision" to axe employees and wag your staff aggressively enough. Witness the explosion in executive compensation for companies which are losing money.Dan Gambierahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04172075070150854447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-76353558290566217142007-08-20T09:50:00.000-07:002007-08-20T09:50:00.000-07:00Magister Ludi, or The Glass Bead Game, by Hesse .....Magister Ludi, or The Glass Bead Game, by Hesse ...Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-17276539503984224242007-08-20T09:39:00.000-07:002007-08-20T09:39:00.000-07:00It's a bit like the politics of academia, where re...It's a bit like the politics of academia, where reputation and status are everything. At least in the corporate world, it all comes down to money.Irenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10812044801600397800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-26476287869024387412007-08-19T19:55:00.000-07:002007-08-19T19:55:00.000-07:00Emo's comedy routines should be classed as a marti...Emo's comedy routines should be classed as a martial art. His <I>unique</I> delivery can cause anything from mild discomfort to major organ failure. Fortunately, he seems to be the only person who can pull it off.Dan Gambierahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04172075070150854447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-45469411936248003832007-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:002007-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:00Emo Phillps used to do that bit, funny stuff.Emo Phillps used to do that bit, funny stuff.Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-84882100561071098012007-08-19T15:26:00.000-07:002007-08-19T15:26:00.000-07:00Shades of an old joke...I was walking across a bri...Shades of an old joke...<BR/><BR/><I>I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."<BR/><BR/>"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.<BR/><BR/>"Well, there's so much to live for!"<BR/><BR/>"Like what?"<BR/><BR/>"Are you religious?"<BR/><BR/>He said, "Yes."<BR/><BR/>I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"<BR/><BR/>"Christian."<BR/><BR/>"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"<BR/><BR/>"Protestant."<BR/><BR/>"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"<BR/><BR/>"Baptist."<BR/><BR/>"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"<BR/><BR/>"Baptist Church of God."<BR/><BR/>"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"<BR/><BR/>"Reformed Baptist Church of God."<BR/><BR/>"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"<BR/><BR/>He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."<BR/><BR/>I said: "Die, heretic scum," and pushed him off.</I>Dan Gambierahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04172075070150854447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-88445006227210955442007-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:002007-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00Outside the narrow confines of silat, nobody cares...Outside the narrow confines of silat, nobody cares; inside, nobody can seem to find a way past it. It seems that bickering over who learned what from whom and how that stacks up against what somebody else learned some other place is always going to be with us.<BR/><BR/>Like I told my correspondent about this only yesterday, ego and insecurity together are an ugly mix. They feed off each other.<BR/><BR/>We can be in accord on ninety-nine things, but if we differ on the hundredth, all bets are off ... <BR/><BR/>"You study martial arts?"<BR/>"Yeah."<BR/>"Pentjak silat?"<BR/>"Yeah."<BR/>"Great! Pukulan?"<BR/>"Yeah."<BR/>"Terrific! Serak?"<BR/>"Sera."<BR/>"What?! No 'k' on the end? Die, heretic dog ... !"Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-49764755644777867182007-08-18T15:39:00.000-07:002007-08-18T15:39:00.000-07:00Tempest in a teapot? Now THAT'S trouble brewing!I'...Tempest in a teapot? Now THAT'S trouble brewing!<BR/><BR/>I'm sorry to say this bluntly, but we have spoken of it before: The old gaurd WILL have to pass before something new and *good* can come out of it. Of course, the smart money says bet on the continuation of hostilities because we (generation next) have been shown no other way. Extending the olive branch never seems to be the FIRST act, it's always after irreversible things have been said, lines drawn and sides chosen. By then, well, the scabs never really close do they?<BR/><BR/>And in this day of the internet it's ever so much more harder to live something down. In fact, if you said it in public, be<BR/>prepared to eat it 20 years later. No forgiveness online, that's for sure.<BR/><BR/>Can you have pride in your art if soemone else claims to be honest but acts differently or teaches a completely different curriculum and says YOURS is the one that's wrong/false/made up out of thin air when questioned? Can you retain integrity if you align yourself with a teacher you later find to be untrustworthy?<BR/><BR/>If one of the ranking practitioners/Gurus WERE to speak up, that individual would most likely find his ass parked close to a used Nissan: Out on the curb. Why stand out? Like the song says, "When a leader speaks, that leader dies". How many people did Victor DeThouars toss out like so much garbage when he was exposed and confronted? 20+ years and Bob Vanetta was cut adrift for all his hard work and loyalty, and for my money he WAS the best Vic ever had. And a genuinely nice guy to boot. Those who know Maha Guru Plinck's story understand a similar reality, and any search for Bukti Negara on the internet wayback machine will reveal an astonishing character slur of the name of the single most inspirational and kind-hearted martial arts instructor IN THIS UNIVERSE. Again, years of dedication, loyalty and hard work only get you a life sentance to the gulag of outer Siberia. Where's the attraction in that?<BR/><BR/>It's sad and regretful, but integrity and a burlap sack in Martial Arts is worth exactly the burlap sack. Personally speaking, that's why no one ever gets an exclusive contract with me anymore. I don't have enough years left to devote to someone who "might" give me something good,m and leave my good name intact in the aftermath. Gotta life to live and a family to feed.Bobbe Edmondshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14346040017021718774noreply@blogger.com