Category: Trash Talk Tuesday

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

White Belt Wally:  Another one of those weirdos from Master Trikki-Woo’s Kung Fu Kollege showed up on my doorstep yesterday, trying to scare me into joining so that I could be ready for the upcoming alien zombie invasion.  Every single one of Master Trikki-Woo’s students must be exceptionally stupid!

Sempai Susan:  Not all of them are space brains.  There’s a guy who just transferred to my high school who’s been training with that cult for the last year or so.  I sat with him at lunch today and he was telling me the only reason he goes is because his Dad makes his whole family go.   He loves the martial arts part but hates all the junk that goes with studying under Master Trik-ki Woo – especially washing the Master’s nasty feet.  I told him he should see the high school counselor about that.  He seems like a smart guy, and I think with some help he’ll be able to take charge of his life.

The world is full of surprises, isn’t it?  Not everyone in Master Trik-ki Woo’s Kung Fu College is a tinfoil-hat-wearing lunatic.   Of course once Sempai Susan’s new friend leaves the cult, perhaps White Belt Wally will be correct in his assessment!

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Trash Talk Tuesday:

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

 

Sempai Steve:  In the tournament yesterday, this one guy from Dojo X really nailed me – yowch!  I’m bruised but I’m OK.  The referees called a foul on him.

Whitebelt Nelly:  Wow, Dojo X is probably like the evil Cobra Kai Dojo from that 1980’s movie, “The Karate Kid!”

Whoa, Nelly!  Just because one Dojo X student hit hard enough to merit a foul doesn’t mean all the students in Dojo X are vicious bullies!  The student himself might be a great guy who made a mistake.  Maybe he even bought Sempai Steve a beer after the tournament.  Jumping to conclusions about the greater whole based on one tiny little part is called the Part to Whole Fallacy.   Counters for this fallacy could include statements of facts and/or thinking of other possibilities.

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

Cultist: So when are you going to start studying a real martial art?

White Belt:  I’m quite content with my dojo, thanks.

Sometimes loaded questions are asked out of sheer ignorance and/or arrogance.  However, all too often someone will come up with a loaded question in an attempt to make the other guy look bad.  The famous loaded question, “Have you stopped beating your wife?”  is an example of this.  Loaded questions sometimes are an attempt to manipulate people.  In my example, Cultist is trying to shame White Belt into joining Master Trik-Kee Woo’s organization.

To deal with loaded questions, find the assumptions.  Find the hidden questions.  Then answer accordingly.

Cultist’s question contains two assumptions:

1) White Belt is going to change schools
2) White Belt isn’t studying a legitimate martial art

The hidden question within the loaded question is whether White Belt is going to study a different martial art.

White Belt’s answer addresses the hidden question graciously.  He could choose to tell Cultist about what he likes about his dojo, relate his concerns about Master Trik-Kee Woo, or simply walk away.

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

One morning, Jim answers his door to find an oddly dressed stranger standing on his front porch…

Cultist: Master Trik-Kee Woo is a master of all martial arts, therefore he is your master.  You must bake cookies for him, do his laundry, mow his lawn, and wash his car.

Jim:  WHAT?!?  I don’t have to be a slave to that shyster.  Now get off my property before I call the cops.  Didn’t you see the “No trespassing” sign?!?  Beat it!

Cultist:  OK! You asked for it!  [The Cultist punches Jim’s “No trespassing” sign repeatedly] OW!  OW!  OW!

Jim:  Weirdo.

The cultist changes the meaning of the word “master” mid-argument.  The cultist thinks he’s being clever.  He’s hoping to trap Jim with what he thinks is brilliant logic, but Jim isn’t stupid.  Note that a better use of equivocation is for humor.  As the author of this little dialogue, I used an equivocation of the phrase, “Beat it!”

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Time once again for us martial arts bloggers to learn:
1) How NOT to make a case for or against someone or something
2) Why certain comments set our teeth on edge
3) How to stay focused when discussing our arts

Just Curious:  Why do you do all those choreographed moves in Karate?

White Belt:  We do kata to improve our fighting.

Just Curious:  Uh, you’re not actually hitting anyone when you do that whatchamacallit…

White Belt:  Yeah, but kata improves our fighting because it’s good for our sparring.

It looks like White Belt is resorting to circular reasoning because he doesn’t know enough to explain why kata can help someone learn how to fight.  Let’s try another example of circular reasoning:

Sensei Rockum Sockum is a 12th degree black belt because he is the head of his own style, and he’s the head of his own style because he’s a 12th degree black belt!

GROAN!  I’m not sure pointing out the fallacy would do any good…

If you’d like to learn more, you can follow along in the book The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn