Ive been following the Dan Harmon tragedy and it seems sadly he really took his own life. According to facebook posts by his sister she is cleaning out his home. It made me reflect on other suicides in the martial arts community. Obviously folks that are mentally healthy dont do things like this so there is always an underlining problem and something that tips them over to commit such a tragic act. I have to think why did they not get the same benefits as I and many others do? The inner strength to not do things like this. Steve Lavalle comes to mind as well although what he did (molestations) should not be compared with Mr. Harmons suicide, they both have the fact that they took their own lives in common and could not find peace in the very martial arts they preached would give you that inner peace. Mr. Harmon is especially tragic because he seemed to be bullied to the point where he felt his reputation could not recover and took his life. Granted he may have been unstable and brought on criticism by putting himself out there but when does criticism go too far and become bullying? Many may have not thought highly of Mr. Harmons technique I know I didnt think highly of his performances or explanations, but I would never have thought of badgering him to death, literally. I have to also think of Master Greg Park. He constantly gets trolled by other Ninja experts disputing his authenticity. He puts out amazing videos and his skill cant be disputed. Ive seen his demonstrations of archery, shuriken throwing and other videos and they are impressive. But he gets badgered by internet trolls and feels the constant need to respond creating a never ending cycle. I watch an excellent video by him then I am reminded how sensitive he is to his critics because almost every video is tainted by his responses to these internet bullies. It seems Ninjitsu practitioners especially are vicious in their defense of their various styles although they dont have a monopoly on being mean the very nature of that style seems to pull in all kinds of characters in addition to the average nice person. Sad that martial artists like Dan Harmon and Steve Lavalle that preach to find inner peace from the very arts they teach cant find it themselves and live by the code they teach. Ive taken a few people out to the woodshed online that pushed it too far and deserved it but I always try to keep in mind how far I should go knowing there is another human being on the other end of the computer.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 00:31:20 +0000
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