XPost: rec.martial-arts, rec.answers, rec.martial-arts.moderated 
  
 Archive-name: martial-arts/faq/part4 
 Last-modified: 15 September 1997 
  
 Posting-Frequency: twice per month 
  
  
     rec.martial-arts FAQ - Part 4 of 4 
     ================================== 
   
 Note: The sole author/maintainer of the Groaner FAQ is Lauren Radner. 
 Please address any replies to Lauren (Lauren_Radner@tivoli.com). 
  
  
            The Groaner FAQ for Martial Arts Newsgroups (ver 1.0) 
                            by Lauren Radner (with lots of help) 
  
 One of the primary reasons for creating the rec.martial-arts.moderated 
 newsgroup was to avoid "Groaner" topics... you know, the kind of 
 thread-from-hell that pops up over and over, with just enough 
 variation that you probably can't killfile it successfully. 
  
 In short, every time you see one of these come up again, you *groan*. 
  
 In these threads, nobody's mind is going to be changed, tempers will 
 probably flare, and the topics may even be based on assumptions that 
 are unprovable, insulting, or just plain wrong. 
  
 Maybe you got directed here by someone who's been around longer, and 
 told you something like, "Go read the Groaner FAQ, number 19". 
  
 Most of these are *not* "Frequently Asked Questions". Many of them are 
 more like "Frequently Made Assertions" (TKD sucks. Kata sucks. 90% of 
 all fights go to the ground. Gracies are invincible. etc.). Few of those 
 are ever raised as actual, *legitimate* *questions*. Even if they are, 
 they almost immediately devolve into rude and foaming assertions, or, 
 at least, wearisome assertions, anyway. 
  
 Many of these are off charter in rec.martial-arts.moderated for exactly 
 these reasons. 
  
 A "Groaner" is any of the following: 
  
 1) A question guaranteed to start a flame war or a style war, no matter 
    how innocently asked. 
  
       For example, "Is