Is Covid 19 going to kill the NMB?

[Ganko]

Information can be gleaned from many sources. Some people are satisfied with just a superficial spoonful, while others would like to acquire as much in depth information as possible. The NMB fulfills much of the needs of both types. Japanese sword knowledge is like a bottomless pit, those that are willing to put in the time required will benefit from their efforts. It is such a wide field that most experts are only knowledgeable in one narrow area. We cannot live long enough to know everything about Japanese Swords. A friend once said, "The definition of an expert is a guy from the next town with a briefcase". Japanese Sword knowledge is so esoteric to most whom have acquired grandpa's sword, that this is one of the few resources that will give them honest opinions.

[Alex A]

Reading some of the above comments, anyone would think we were paying to use NMB.

 

There are days when i wonder how Brian has the patience to run this site and this thread just comes across as frankly......ungrateful. Whats expected, Brian to monitor noob questions that don't look promising for further discussion and delete them ?

 

Big deal, some clueless person asks a question that seems dumb, well, it will to guys that have been in the hobby for years and years. Folk will look on the internet rather than buy books and no doubt bump into this forum where they are likely hoping someone will help, whats wrong with that ?

 

Not everyone wants to buy books, they just want answers, luckily there are many here that like to help.

 

There are those that can be annoying, but that's just some people.

 

Personally, few things bug me, good old days bull---- and elitism, on every forum though and really puts me off.

 

 

 

 

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[Tom Darling]

My ans. to all, 'Don't Worry Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin - utube. Enjoy.

 

Tom D.

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[CSM101]

There is simply no other place, where you can see something like that.

 

Uwe G.

[Rivkin]

I don't mind basic questions. The bane of internet societies is the lack of deep questions. Or having 15 answers which can be replaced with a simple "Dude!".

 

Kirill R.

[Bruce Pennington]

I don't mind basic questions. The bane of internet societies is the lack of deep questions. Or having 15 answers which can be replaced with a simple "Dude!".

 

Kirill R.

Duuuuude!

[Surfson]

I hate to contribute to this thread, which has a flawed premise to begin with (clearly the answer is emphatically NO), but you gotta love it when you get several clearly distinct answers.   Figuring out which are correct and which are not is the fun and challenge of the sport!

[raynor]

If a subject is important, someone willing to learn will make efforts beyond internet archeology. Buying books and seeing real items is mandatory to really understand.

 

We do live in a time when there is a seeming death of expertise and many are satisfied with quick simple answers from a google search. They will never be experts in whatever the subject is.

 

I firmly believe in time the quality available online will improve, but make no mistake, if you have made no effort asked no silly questions you are none the wiser no matter if its studying nihonto, carpentry, chess or martial arts, there is no free lunch.

 

I've seen some fora used forced participation so to speak by making a pool of topics and/or questions then tackle them point by point with new additions arising as it goes along, the best questions often arise from trying to answer another. I dont think this place needs anything like that, but then again I'm still among the beginners tho I like to think slightly past queries about grandpas bringback by now, but I still read each one of those posted.

[lambo35]

As long as there are Japanese blades passing from owner to owner there will be questions, NMB is where the answers/references/referals are. NMB is this Newby's 1st go to source of information on this topic.

[sbf]

Interesting topic. I can see two sides to this issue. When I obtained my first swords in the seventies, there weren’t many references commonly available in English, basically Hawley, Yumoto, and Robinson.  No internet. Most of the swords I came across were in gunto mounts, and there was no information or interest in them in the “serious” sword world. Somewhere I have dealer price lists from the early eighties listing Yasukuni Shrine swords in the $250 range. I taught myself to read mei because I got tired of depending on others. Japanese swords were not and still aren’t my main collecting interest, but I’ve owned a fair number over the years. After groping in the darkness in the early days, I understand the thrill a newbie has at finding a site like this. And make no mistake, we were all newbies at one time. All of us had help along the way, and we have an obligation pay it forward. From that point of view, the original post sounds a bit snobbish.

On the other hand, I am a member of another forum in a completely different field of collecting that is very well run, serious, and friendly. Great sharing and building knowledge. Yes, a few egos as there always are (mine’s bigger than yours) but not bad. A newbie joined, very enthusiastic, very active collector, but ended up almost dominating the forum and becoming a pest. He used the forum as his private vetting service, and never seemed to learn. All his posts were “is this one good?”, “what do you guys think of this one?”. Got old after a while, and some of the serious collectors drifted away.

I don’t know the answer, maybe the internet age is also the age of instant gratification. 
Just some thoughts.

 

Steve

[Jamie]

 

I’ve been studying hard for about ten years. I’ve been here a long time too. I attend almost all the us shows and have a few people I defer questions outside this board. Point being I’m not sure whether I qualify as a newbie or not, but I do think we should encourage everyone. Because I’m not sure if y’all have seen the decrease in people at the shows but I’ve noticed a decline in attendance just in the few years I’ve been studying. And even at the shows many people were off putting at first. This is not the way to ensure future generations take care of these priceless objects. ( yes I realize they have a price, but they can not be made again - so priceless in a sense).