Badmouthing
Antony Casella, October 21st, 2007
It is an unfortunate reality that wing chun has often been plagued by “badmouthing” individuals.
Why?
Is it done because of jealousy, greed, an actual love for the presentation the truth/untruth?
Who knows?
What I do know is that if it is really for the presentation of the truth, many would/should do it with a lot more tact. If its for the other, more petty reasons, then its simply out of malice. So what can be done? What should be done, if anything at all?
These are difficult questions to answer and the answers are all dependent on the perceptions of the people directly involved (or in some cases indirectly involved.) On the one hand, the people directly involved would most likely want their respective sides heard on the matter and for their side to be believed. On the other hand you have the relatives, friends and students of those involved who can be swept up by the whole ordeal and misrepresent those who are directly involved leading to inflammations of the issue(s). I suppose the best way to deal with this, whether you are directly or indirectly involved, is to consider the source of the badmouthing. Are they a person of known character across many “political” boundaries or are they little known and secluded in thought? With these obvious extremes, the answer is very easy to realize. Unfortunately, things are seldom in the extreme and it’s almost never this easy. What if one of the persons involved had previous political issues of badmouthing and/or confrontation with another person/organization? Are they more or less believable in this sort of situation? In my (most headstrong) opinion, I would say if trouble follows you around, you are a troublemaker. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but someone who purposely slanders another person in public is attempting to gain benefit in some manner. A very tactless behavior in any light.
A great Wing Chun practitioner said, “if wing chun is all you do, you have to protect your reputation so that nobody has any question of your ability.” I take this statement to heart even if it’s not “all that you do.” The reason is that your reputation speaks for you and you never have to badmouth anyone in order to make yourself look better. It gives you credence and does not carry the negative connotations that badmouthing others would bring. Lets be honest, even if you ARE the all time best wing chun’ner in the world, how good do you look when you badmouth others? Pretty silly huh? Well, pretty silly to those not encompassed by your influence, the idolizers would dismiss this behavior in the way that idolizers do.
One aspect of letting your abilities speak for themselves is that it is obviously no easy task. In many cases, loudmouths may, in fact, be that way because they can back it up. Their insecurities may not be a function of their wing chun but simply of their character. Nonetheless they have something to prove. Giving in to such obvious “flames” can add fuel to the fire or in the least, give the badmouthing individual an ear, forum or reason to propagate the slander. Although a laissez faire attitude may be appropriate, when it comes to the martial arts, the proof is in the pudding. Instead of making verbal claims of “he said/she said,” I am of the mind that making a personal inquest on the matter is the best route to “solve” an issue. Let badmouthing individuals make their claims. Visit them and visit the people whom they are speaking of. Make up your own minds. Getting information right from the source and making your own decision on the matter is the only real freedom we have. If the attack is upon me or a wing chun sibling, I would certainly be open minded enough to hear it out. If I am wrong, show me don’t tell me. Seeing is believing. My wing chun speaks for itself. Ask yourself if yours does too.
That’s my rave and I am outta here.
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