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Submitted by Mark on 4/24/07

TKDTutor replies shown in rust color

The following opinion is conveyed with the utmost respect for the writer of the below article. However, I was compelled to state just a few things. I trained under Jack Lannom in the past. And I must say, Sensei, that he is truly a Master! You commented on why the need for telephone books. Well, if I could have held eight (8) books at one time back then, it would not have been enough to stop the penetrating power that this man generated. 

It is very easy to comment negatively on what you see on a video. In comparison, if he was to view your style in action, I'm sure he would find something that he considered unpractical or ineffective. Nevertheless, it is very disheartening to see a Master (I assume that you are) attack another style with such a negative demeanor. Honestly, if you question his principles or movements, he would not hesitate to share or discuss it with you, a fellow Master. And Jack Lannom is not one who feels as though he must prove himself, not at all, he is a Master!

In closing, Jack Lannom's has trained under the most skilled teachers in the world. Professor James Craven (Jack's teacher), in my opinion, is a very deadly many who resembles the innocence of Clark Kent and the application of Superman. So, when you attack the Walu System, you are attacking a lineage of Masters and Masters.   

We [Martial Artists] are not impervious to death or defeat because we carry titles. Why can't we learn and share from each other instead of attacking. I know the answer to that, but it felt good asking the question.

Thank you for your comments about the counterpoints I made about the claims made on the Walu Gonka web site.

Before responding to your comments, I went to the Walu Gonka web site to review what I had seen earlier. This was not possible because the site was corrupted and all the links were inoperable. As you probably have also done, I did a web search for Walu Gonka, and, other than Mr. Lannom’s two web sites and my counterpoint page, there were no other links. A search for a martial art master named James Craven came up with nothing. If anyone wants to know anything about Walu Gonka, apparently they will have to pay for the privilege.

First, I do not claim to be a master. However, if I chose to make the claim, it would be easy to do. As explained in the TKDTutor fraud pages (look under Topic Links/School/Fraud), all I would have to do is simply proclaim myself a master, since there is no legal requirement for any type of verification. I could also conceive of the county of Tutor Land and make myself king of the country. In my own mind, I would be the king, and my subjects may consider me the king, but to the rest of the world, I would just be another dork claiming to be a king.

Where in my counterpoints did you see a personal attack on anyone? You saw logical, well-reasoned counterpoints made to contradict the points presented on the Walu website.

Do you think that people should be able to put their theories and claims into the public view without there being any public scrutiny or review of them? Under your reasoning, a person who criticizes a motion picture in a review is personally attacking the director, the producers, and all the actors involved in the movie. If I was watching you laying brick and told you that your way of laying brick is wrong, it does not mean I am attacking you, your company, and your ancestry. You may claim that you have your own way of laying brick, but, if it does not conform to common engineering practices and safety standards, then it is incorrect and even dangerous, and it is my duty to inform the public of the problem.

You state that Master Lannom “is not one who needs to prove himself” and yet his web site shows him “proving” himself by breaking 3000 pounds of ice in a stunt. (Ice is very structurally weak, especially lengthwise. Wood is very strong in compression but not lengthwise. A 2x4 stud stood on end, as in home construction, can support a lot of weight. However, if the same board is extended lengthwise between supports at each end, the same weight applied to the board will snap it as it would a twig. If the chunks of ice used in the demonstration were much longer, they would break from their own weight. Just as in the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings, once one level is broken and it collapses, its mass, plus gravity and the mass of each subsequent collapsing level, will bring down the remaining levels.)

There are thousands of martial art “masters” in the world. For many, it is just a title given them for reaching a certain level of rank or instructor certification. These masters just train in their art and they teach because they love to teach. However, some “masters” feel the need for glory, so they make a spectacle of themselves. These are ones who make illogical, unfounded claims, perform the same stunts that have been performed in sideshows for centuries, and think that spectacle equates with greatness. Regrettably, there are many who believe even the most outrageous claims made by these “masters.”

Professional wresting is entertainment. A few decades ago, wrestling claimed to be legitimate combat but its success was limited. Then Vince McMahon took over the WWE and promoted professional wrestling as what it was—entertainment. As a result, he made millions of dollars. People enjoy being entertained; they do not care if what they are watching is real; they just want to be entertained. The problem comes when people began to believe that the entertainment they are watching is reality.

You are correct in your statement that you could have held 8 phone books and it would have not stopped the pushing power of the Earth Punch. In fact, you could have held 20 phone books and it would not have stopped the push, or any other push for that matter. As long as the pusher’s mass, stability, and coefficient of friction with the floor is greater than that of the book holder, the book holder will be pushed backward. The pushing force is easily transmitted through any solid, a push would be absorbed more by a soft body shield.

As explained in TKDTutor, a push is not the same as a punch. When you are pushed, a relatively small force is applied for a relatively long time over a relatively long distance. You may be knocked backward but relatively little damage is caused. When punched, a great force is applied for a short time over a short distance. Your body may not be moved at all, but it must absorb all the force of the punch.

Have you ever noticed that when “masters” perform such things as one-inch punches and no-touch knockouts, they always use willing participants? When critical participates are used, the demonstrations fail.

As stated in my counterpoint, if a technique is as powerful and effective as claimed, then why is it not used by professional fighters? If the Earth Punch was effective, a person using it could be a world champion in professional boxing or in the UFC.

When our beliefs are first criticized, our first reaction is usually to protect our position, often without really listening to the criticism and evaluating it. However, we should listen to the criticism and then evaluate it, along with evaluating our beliefs, using logic, reasoning, and verifiable facts. After careful consideration, we may then determine that our beliefs are indeed the correct ones, or we may find that we need to change our beliefs or abandon them altogether.

In college, you should not believe what the professor says is true, and the good ones will tell you this. The professor presents opinions and verifiable facts and encourages, or sometimes even requires, you to independently verify the facts and evaluate the positions of numerous other experts on the subject. A martial art instructor should encourage you do the same.

Learning and sharing is a good thing; that is why TKDTutor.com exists. However, if what you are learning is based upon false logic and reasoning and has no scientific proof to support its claims, then why share the misinformation? With so much in the world for us to learn, why should we waste time learning misinformation? Contrary to popular current belief, not everything is gray. There are colors and some things are black and white. Contrary to the belief that everything is right in its own way, there are things that are right, and there are things that are—wrong.

TKDTutor presents a lot of information to the world. As a result, it receives its share of criticism. If the criticism is logical, reasonable and relies on verifiable facts, I change the information presented in TKDTutor accordingly. If the criticism cannot be supported or it is merely complaining, then my information remains unchanged. I do not “share” false information no matter what “master” it came from.

Since you were a student of Walu and apparently agree with and believe in its concepts, perhaps you could offer some counter arguments to the counterpoints I made.

I go by the creed, “Critical thinkers are seldom fooled, and fools are seldom critical.”

P.S. Although you neither intended nor showed any disrespect in your message, after years in the military, I have found that when the statements “With all due respect” or “No disrespect intended” are used, it usually means that what follows will be disrespectful, otherwise there would not have been a need for the qualifying statement. What a person says is either respectful or it is disrespectful, regardless of any qualifying statement. It is similar to when people use “Excuse me” as an order rather than a request. Saying, “excuse me” does not give a person the right to intrude unless the intrusion is granted.

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