Patrick

Hello all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. 10 and a half years ago, to the very day, KarateForums.com was launched. I just wanted to take this as an opportunity to thank everyone who supports this community. This includes active members who contribute positively and staff members past and present who did the same. Thank you. Sincerely, Patrick

Congrats Terrierpike. Patrick

All of what you've described is serious enough to warrant adult attention, whether it be teachers, parents or someone else. Someone could get hurt, now or later. Patrick

Sorry about that, Dobie1972. Haha. Yes, I meant, judobrah. So, my post was directed at you, judobrah. You are under 18, right? In that case, I would suggest informing an adult. You won't have to be directly involved in it and you'll have told someone who can hopefully help the situation. Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the voting period of the tenth annual KarateForums.com Awards. Through these awards, we recognize just a few of the individuals who have made outstanding contributions to KarateForums.com in the past year. These awards take into consideration all community activity between October 19, 2010 and October 18, 2011. As a voter, you should place your vote based upon activity made during this period - not activity prior to or after it. You submitted your nominations and, from those, we have our KarateForums.com Awards 2011 nominees. In all, 11 different members have been nominated in the various categories that make up this year's awards. They are sensei8, MasterPain, JusticeZero, Groinstrike, Ueshirokarate, Liver Punch, bushido_man96, DWx, evergrey, tallgeese and joesteph. Congratulations to all of you! With the ballots crafted, it is now time to vote. In order to do so, you must have a KarateForums.com account that had at least 10 posts made on or before October 18, 2011 (Eastern Time). There is just two guidelines to keep in mind when voting: 1. You cannot vote for yourself or an article that you wrote. 2. Do not attempt to artificially inflate our vote totals in any way. This includes but is not limited to trading votes, encouraging people to vote indiscriminately (publicly or privately), mass mailing/posting and any other behavior that could lead to results being artificially skewed. Individuals found to be participating in these activities will be disqualified from nomination in any category. Please note that you do not have to vote in every category. You can vote for as many or as few as you would like - please go for as many as you feel comfortable with. The more valid votes we get, the better! The categories are listed below. Please click the link(s) and vote in the poll(s). Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/member-of-the-year-vt41834.html New Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/new-member-of-the-year-vt41833.html Community Spirit Award http://www.karateforums.com/community-spirit-award-vt41832.html Staff Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/staff-member-of-the-year-vt41831.html Funniest Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/funniest-member-of-the-year-vt41830.html Article of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/article-of-the-year-vt41829.html So, that's all there is to it. Please vote. We need as many valid votes as possible! Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not post your votes in this or any thread. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to private message me or reply to this thread. Please do not post a reply on the poll threads. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Your participation in these awards is the most important ingredient to them being great and meaningful. Sincerely, Patrick

Please vote for the Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the non-staff member who you feel best exemplifies the qualities that KarateForums.com puts a premium on. Knowledge is valuable, but most valuable is a kind and helpful nature. You don't need to be a martial arts expert to win this award - you need to be someone who is kind and who shares what they know in a productive fashion that helps others. Here are the nominees: sensei8 MasterPain JusticeZero Groinstrike Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the New Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the non-staff member who was new to our community this year (registered on or between the dates of October 19, 2010 and July 18, 2011) and who you feel best exemplifies the qualities that KarateForums.com puts a premium on. Knowledge is valuable, but most valuable is a kind and helpful nature. You don't need to be a martial arts expert to win this award - you need to be someone who is kind and who shares what they know in a productive fashion that helps others. Here are the nominees: Groinstrike Ueshirokarate Liver Punch Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Community Spirit Award winner in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: This award should go to a person whom you feel has a passion for this community. A person who is all about the home team - in this case, KarateForums.com. Here are the nominees: bushido_man96 sensei8 DWx evergrey Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Staff Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the staff member who you feel deserves special recognition because of their dedication to the community. Here are the nominees: DWx tallgeese bushido_man96 Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Funniest Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: Humor is an important aspect of the forums and this award recognizes the member who has brought a smile to your face many times. This person should have a good, clean sense of humor. Here are the nominees: MasterPain Liver Punch evergrey Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Article of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2011. Award Description: This award distinguishes your favorite article that was published in the KarateForums.com Articles section on or between October 19, 2010 and October 18, 2011. Whether the article enlightened or inspired you, this is the place to recognize it. Here are the nominees: Capoeira Explained by JusticeZero Evaluating My Taekwondo School by bushido_man96 Psychology Lesson: Milgram, Zimbardo and Karate by joesteph Voting will be closed on December 4, 2011 at 8 PM ET. Please do not respond to this thread. Thank you for voting.

judobrah, since it appears that you are a minor (under 18 years of age), I would recommend informing an adult. That would be a very responsible thing for you to do. Thanks, Patrick

Haha. Thanks MasterPain. That means a lot to me. Of course, I have never and will never try to offer anything in a discussion that demands martial arts expertise or proficiency, but I find that this issue is really one that is shared by people from all walks of life, in many different pursuits. Thanks again, Patrick

Sorry to hear that. I apologize if this sounds harsh at all, but as I read your post, it seemed to me that you and your wife may be taking it a little hard. "Help her work through this"? It was one test. If you and your family are healthy, you have jobs or a job, a roof over your head and food to eat, then you are fortunate and perspective is needed. In the grand scheme, it's not huge, it's one test and life is full of this. People do something good and not get recognized for it all the time. At work, at home, in their hobbies and day to day life. You either continue to do your best (for yourself, as much as for recognition), give up or something in between. So, the way to work through it is just to keep trying hard and try to learn from past experiences. There is no dispute process, but have you reached out to the instructors who graded her, and in a very pleasant manner, asked for their thoughts on what they saw or didn't see? If this one experience has put her off of the martial arts as a whole and she's asking why continue, then maybe the martial arts aren't a big passion for her, which is totally fine. As many veterans of this community will know, I am not a martial artist, but I do have things that I am passionate about. I am a professional speaker and I speak at conferences and events around the country. When you are a professional speaker, you step on stage and essentially say "here is what I know - judge me." It is an interesting experience. I have a great deal of experience in my field, so I feel confident in my knowledge and my ability to draw from that experience. That doesn't mean that every time I speak, I deliver the best talk ever or that, even if I feel I did, everyone in the room loved it or found value in it. I mean, I once had a lady come up to me RIGHT AFTER I LEFT THE STAGE and tell me that she didn't know what she was supposed to get out of my talk. I listen to all feedback, but to say it right after I left the stage... that's harsh. I'd never do that to someone. But, she did. I apologized and encouraged her to, next time, ask questions to get the answers she sought. Still, I didn't stop speaking because of that because I find it rewarding and like to share what I know. So, in all, my opinion would be to keep it in perspective and, if you are passionate about the martial arts, to continue to work hard and learn. Best of luck! Patrick

Thanks for the replies, all. Patrick

Congrats Dimorte. Patrick

Welcome aboard, shudokaratemomma. Glad to have you. Patrick

Sorry about that. For whatever reason, we had a break out game. And no we're up to 2 wins. So, it looks like we're going to be bad, but just good enough not to get a top 5 pick. We're tied for the 2nd worst record in football, but it's a 4 way tie. Not that I want us to lose. It's good to win. Even with the back to back losses, the Chiefs are only 1 game back in the West, in a three way tie for second. Could be back in first quickly. Patrick

Hello, KarateForums.com recognizes one member every month as the Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The November 2011 selection is... xo-karate. Congratulations! Thanks, Patrick

Nominations are now closed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit them. It is greatly appreciated. The full ballots, with nominees, will be announced soon. Thanks again, Patrick

Congrats datguy! Patrick

Welcome to KF, Dimorte! Patrick

Welcome aboard, judobrah. Glad to have you. Patrick

Yeah, the Chiefs definitely flipped the switch at the right time! 4-3 now, nice. Things look good for them this week, as well, facing the 0-7 Dolphins. Heh.