Patrick

Hey KarateKen, All Member of the Month announcements can be viewed in the KarateForums.com Announcements forum. This announcement was posted on May 21, and the last one was posted on April 30. So, a bit over three weeks. Thanks, Patrick

Thank you so much for the kind words, John, Ryan, Ken, Liam, Ashley, Noah, and crash. It means a lot. I love to hear stories like this. Thank you for sharing! I'm definitely open to discussing something like this. I appreciate this and other ideas!

OH MY GOSH... I just realized that if you look closely at the URL of this thread: https://karateforums.com/topic/52125-24-years-of-karateforumscom/ "52125" 5/21/2025. Today! That is wild! That number is simply an accumulating number that counts upward with each new topic posted here. I can't even begin to fathom the odds of that happening, like having the exact number of threads/topics here over 24 years to lead up to the day we turn 24 where the number of this topic matches the day we turn 24.

Hey all, It was on this day, 24 years ago, that we launched this community. Last year, at this time, I opened up public testing for a new version of KarateForums.com on modern software. We were still on our (very) old software that eventually would have led to this community breaking and simply ceasing to exist. After months of testing (between the staff and member testing periods) and years of testing behind the scenes that I had completed with @Chrispian, we migrated to our new platform over an intense 4 days culminating in an opening on September 9, 2024. Over 8 months later, it's clear to me that our combined efforts were a big success. Our slowly breaking platform is no longer breaking and, in fact, updates to the latest version of our software have been installed multiple times, helping to ensure our platform remains online and secure. All the work that @Chrispian and the folks at Invision Community did (along with my annoying insistence, ha) to ensure that passwords would work paid off. Whether you registered in 2001 or 2021, your password worked when our new site launched. It has all worked so well, and I'm grateful for your help and support. 24 years is such a long-time, and with it, there are so many people that have made a mark on this community over the years. I'd like to extend a thanks to all the members who made amazing contributions since our migration. This includes @ashworth, @aurik, @Bradlee, @bushido_man96, @Chuck, @crash, @DarthPenguin, @Drew, @Fat Cobra, @Himokiri Karate, @JazzKicker, @KarateKen, @Luther unleashed, @Montana, @Nidan Melbourne, @pandaGIRL, @Revario, @RJCKarate, @ryanryu, @sensei8, @Spartacus Maximus, @Wado Heretic, @Wastelander, @Wayofaswede, @Zaine, and others! Thank you! I celebrated today by uploading an avatar for the first time in several years, since I tried to change my old Yankees logo into something else and realized avatars were 100% broken on the old site! On that note, I'll continue to bring enhancements (mostly small, occasionally bigger than that) to this community, but the main thing I wanted to do was to get us on modern software that would be up-to-date, because that will naturally introduce new features over time, too! My ability to do things here always rests on the time I can squirrel away from chasing my toddler and other pursuits. Thank you to everyone who has made KarateForums.com a special place to be and, if you're reading this, that's probably you! This also means that next year will mark 25 years! Which is a massive milestone. Which means we now need to think about ideas to celebrate that! Please feel free to let me know if you have any. Thanks again, Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for February is... @ryanryu for the second time! Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made to our community over the last 15+(!) years, ryanryu. I appreciate you being a part of this community. Thanks, Patrick

Glad to hear.

Congrats! Happy for you.

Following up on recent conversations within this thread... https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-ineligibility-status-after-death-decision I'll be interested to see what happens with Joe Jackson.

Thanks Drew. Technically, I guess it also hasn't been different since I was a kid, too, ha. Thanks for sharing this. Sorry for the trouble. Is this with regard to private messages or public posts/threads? If public, can you link to an example? I appreciate it!

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for January is... @Montana for the third time! April 18 marked 18(!) years since Montana joined the community, which is pretty wild. And I see you are closing in on 1,000 posts, as well. Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made to this community over the years, Montana! Thanks, Patrick

Thanks for asking, DarthPenguin. It is, yes! We're catching up.

The 18th was published in English on January 7 (I think that's what I was referring to here). And the 19th just came out on April 1. Our library system got it quickly, so I've already devoured it! Really enjoyed the series! Not sure yet if I will watch the anime or not.

My wife and I love it, and that led to my brother loving it. We discovered it after it was already all done. So funny. We do use subtitles, but as the show went on, we needed them a little less. I've recommended it to many people. Finished the comic, as well, and loved it. I bought two signed copies (one for my brother) and an unsigned one, and they sent me three signed ones! We also have a couple of their Jack and Victor logo glasses even though I don't drink. We totally plan to visit "Craiglang" one day. My wife has actually been to Glasgow, but I never have.

Looks like you meant to include this video, KarateKen! Adding it in:

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for December is... @Wado Heretic, who becomes the first member to receive this honor for the fifth time! Wow! Thank you all of the incredible contributions that you have made over the years, Wado Heretic. You've definitely left a mark here. Thanks, Patrick

Love this topic, and look forward to seeing what others share. Thanks for starting it, @crash. This is only partially related, but it's something fun I've witnessed after managing this community for almost 24 years. It's actually one of the things I love talking about when I tell people outside of this community about this community. Which is that we have had people disappear for a long time (more than just a year or two... 5 years, 10 years I think) and then come back, join back in, and be glad we're still here (I hope, ha). Your activity over the years is actually an example of this sort of thing happening, because you went over 15 years without making a post, from 2006 to 2022, and then, you went from mid-2022 to this March, and popped up again, which I loved to see. I always find that really delightful because I know that some people have sort of ventured off on the internet and maybe they've done the Facebook thing or got active on mainstream social, and then decided they had enough of that and wanted more of whatever this community is to them. But there are other reasons. For example, it could tie into breaks in their training, as you discuss here. Like when they had a break, they had less to talk about. It is also true we've had people who were unable to train for a while stay engaged here as a way of maintaining touch with the martial arts, so it comes in all shapes and forms. It could also just be that something happened in their life that demanded priority, and they no longer had the time. But whatever it is, it's always fun when people come back.

Thanks for being for a good sport, @KarateKen! You're right, this was our April Fools' Day joke for 2025! I hope that everyone had a fun day.

Hey all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. Our April Fools' Day joke this year was requiring that all posts end with "oss!" or "osu!" But not just requiring it, automatically inserting it into the bottom of all posts, just to ensure that you would not run afoul of our community guidelines. Respect is a big deal in our community, and we do pride ourselves on being a friendly, respectful discussion community. But forcing specific language into posts is not something that would help us accomplish that. So, this was just us poking a bit of fun at a martial arts custom. I hope everyone had a fun day. Thank you to @Nidan Melbourne for coming up with the main concept for this year's joke. I'll go ahead and leave it online for a couple of days so that folks that missed it can see. Thanks, Patrick

As an aside, it's also not that hard to keep things on the up-and-up. Literally all you have to do is disclose a relationship to something when you talk about it. Simply saying that you received a free product, or the company sponsors your podcast, or your Dad runs the school, is normally all that is needed to be okay legally and, in the eyes of most, ethically. Eliminates the miniscule chance of trouble. I think what there is a bigger chance of (vs. enforcement) is losing credibility with your audience, e.g. if they believe that you are hiding something or discover that you were hiding something. Generally speaking, it's not worth it. Also, Bob, I'm not sure how I glanced over this portion. Yes, that is ridiculous. If your wife were to contact the site hosting the review, they might do something.

Update: This was our 2025 April Fools' Day joke! Hey all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. As you'll know if you've spent any amount of time here, we aim to create a friendly, respectful environment where difficult martial arts conversations can be had without disrespectful comments or personal attacks. Today, I'm happy to announce that we are adding a new policy to further this ideal. We will be updating our community guidelines to require that all posts end with "Oss!" or "Osu!" It is a popular phrase in the martial arts, intended to convey respect. But don't worry, we're making it easy to follow this guideline: All posts will automatically have "Oss!" at the end of them. If you'd like to add it in other spots, you are welcome to do so, but this one mention will ensure that all members are participating within our guidelines. We will quickly follow this announcement with a new feature in your profile where you will be able to select your preferred spelling: Either "Oss!" or "Osu!," which will then automatically be added to all of your posts. I appreciate your time and understanding. Thanks, Patrick

Thanks for checking. No, no, I'm not. I just decided I would try to be prepared for next time (or when someone in my family has it happen).

I can definitely sleep... after throwing up, haha. Trying to see what I can do to avoid that but ultimately not always avoidable.

I have played it a bit, but I think I have it on Switch.

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. Our honoree for November is... @crash for the second time! Happy to see you pop back up again recently after a few years away, crash, and thank you for all of the contributions that you have made over the last 22 years! Thanks, Patrick

Welcome Brandon. Glad to have you.