Patrick

Thanks for sharing that, Alex! Very well said! That is cool about you, Groinstrike and MasterPain! Patrick

Hey all, When you think of KarateForums.com, who stands out to you as someone who makes the site more enjoyable for you? It doesn't have to be one person, it can be many. You can never name everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't praise some of them! Thanks, Patrick

Good idea. Thanks Dobbersky! Patrick

Hey all, The livestream is on Saturday from 5-8 PM ET (GMT/UTC -4) and as part of the show, we're going to talk about the history of KarateForums.com. Is there anything that you'd like to know about me or the community's history? Please let us know and we'll likely ask and answer it on the show! Thanks, Patrick

Thank you for sharing this, Heidi! I didn't realize that you met Laurie here! I thought you had known her previously. That is so wonderful. I appreciate all of the kind words. It's very touching to read this and I appreciate all of the great contributions that you have made to this community. You are certainly one of the people I think of when I think of people who have had an impact around here! Thank you! Patrick

Excellent! Patrick

Wow, James, thank you. It is great to read this and I appreciate all of the kind words. It means a lot to me and to look back at this story and those times... it's special. Thank you. Yeah. As I like to say, I can't be biased if I don't know anything! Haha. Patrick

My pleasure. Patrick

Nice of you to say, Brian. Thanks. Patrick

I asked all members of staff if they'd like to write an article like this and Jeffrey was one of the ones that did. Thank you, Jeffrey, for sharing these sentiments and for all of your contributions to the community. Patrick

Excellent, Ashley. I hope to have a guest list posted up tomorrow, so you will have an idea of who some of the people are who are coming on as a guest - plus, we may just pull people on from the chat and call them up. Patrick

Thanks nanook660, Danielle and Ashley. Anyone else?

Tammy! Awesome. Thank you! I appreciate you stopping by and adding your thoughts, which I really enjoyed reading. It's interesting to learn what people take away from their time, not only on this community, but also as a member of the staff, which is a completely different experience. It's funny to look back, isn't it? You're absolutely right, some of what we dealt with made it into the book, without names, of course. "Pretty epic" about covers it. Hahaha. Congrats on your continued advancement in life, Tammy. Even if you never pick up the martial arts again, you'll always be an important part of the history of this community. For those who don't know, Tammy was a fairly early and long time member of the staff. She hasn't been active in a number of years, but was a very important part of the team during her tenure as we dealt with, probably, the biggest challenges that we've ever faced as a community. Doug and Pat were part of that time, too. Thanks, Patrick

She is the longest currently serving member of our staff! I'm not sure if she has spent more time on the staff than anyone has, ever, but actually... I expect that that is probably the case, without looking at it too hard. Patrick

Hey all, With everything else going on, I didn't want to let this slip: Heidi (ninjanurse) hit 5,000 posts earlier this mark! It's a huge mark. Only four have reached it and I'm proud and happy to say all 4 visited the forums today - me, Brian (bushido_man96), Pat (SaiFightsMS) and Heidi! Heidi's posts count for quality and her contributions to the community as a whole have been hugely important. Thank you, Heidi! Patrick

Hey all, Way back when, if you can remember, what led you to KarateForums.com? And, if you remember, why did you hit the register button and sign up? What prompted you to do so, rather than moving on? Thanks, Patrick

Hello everyone, With our 10th anniversary upon us, I thought that it would be fun to take a look back at the history of the KarateForums.com Awards and break down the number of awards won per member. Here is how it breaks down: 9 bushido_man96 4 monkeygirl tallgeese 3 The BB of C DWx sensei8 2 KickChick SaiFightsMS delta1 White Warlock Sohan evergrey 1 Kensai Shorinryu Sensei ZR440 Metsubushi Valithor aefibird Drunken Monkey dmoney101 AngelaG ninjanurse Kicks BlobOn KarateK gheinisch ps1 NightOwl Tiger1962 joesteph Kieran-Lilith Kuma Wow, look at Brian with an amazing 9 total awards received. That is pretty crazy. That's the same number of award iterations we've had. But, in all, this is a short list and represents a very small portion of our community. To have received 1 of these, let alone 9, is a really cool thing as it is the community honoring you. Thanks, Patrick

Hey albeaver89. Welcome to KF!

Welcome aboard, Ashley. Patrick

Rest in Peace.

Wow, Greg, Bob and Doug, thanks so much for sharing that. This is all pretty amazing stuff to read, with all of the various perspectives in mind. Greg, thank you for the kind words and for all of the important contributions that you made while on staff. Doug, your post was exceptionally well said and meaningful to me. You hit the nail right on the head, as far as what we try to do. Bob, that is some powerful stuff to share. What you said about this community and the staff and myself means a lot to me and thank you doesn't necessarily do it justice fully, but thank you. I am glad that everything worked out as it did and it is a testament to you that you put in the effort that you did and were open minded enough to do so. Thank you. To read all of these posts is pretty touching. Thanks everyone. Patrick

Ed, Alex, Bob, ps1, Brian, Jennfer, Pat and Ashley - thank you for sharing that and for sharing of yourselves in this manner. I can't fully express what it means to me to read what this community means to you. I've dedicated a portion of my life to it and to hear that the community has meaning, and so much meaning, to you... it is very touching. ps1, your post in particular. The value and meaning that you find here is because of everyone who has ever contributed to this community and everyone who has ever been a great member of the team. Thank you again for sharing of yourself. Sincerely, Patrick

Thank you Greg, Heidi, Alex, Jay, Jeffrey, Bob, ps1, Danielle, Brian and Jennifer. It means a lot to me. Thank you to all of you, who have all made great contributions to this community. And Greg, haha, yeah. Great timing, right? Patrick

Glad to hear that you all will be able to make it. Just so everyone knows what to expect: I will likely be the only one on video. It can be difficult to get others on video and have a good recording, as it requires a bit of technical understanding. I will be talking and calling guests (either via Skype or the telephone if they are in the U.S. or Canada) and will patch them into the stream. Everyone else will be welcome to listen in and chat in the chat room that we'll have up below the video. You won't be on video and won't need to talk to anyone, so don't worry about any of that. You can just show up, listen and chat via the chat room, ask questions, share your thoughts and just hang out. If anyone has any thoughts for anything else we could do on the stream, in addition to talking with guests, I'm open to ideas. Thanks, Patrick

Thanks for sharing, everyone. Whether you joined when we launched or just a few days ago... it's fun to look back and consider the moment. For those curious about James joining on May 6, if you look at the memberlist, you will notice that 4 people joined before we launched on May 21. That is me (May 1), jamesdasher (May 6), Lars (May 19) and jer (may 20). May 1 was when I initially set up the software that would power the forums. James is a friend of mine who helped motivate me to start the site and also was the first member of staff on the community. Lars was the person who designed our belt ranks. Finally, jer is Jeremy Wright, a friend of mine. Patrick