Patrick

That's very kind of you, Liam and John. Yes, this absolutely helps and is generous. Everything helps. At the same time, no pressure on anyone. Thank you, as well, to Colin and Anonymous (who I know to be a KF member, but has opted not to be identified) for their generous contributions. Patrick

For those following this thread, I wanted to mention that there is no a GoFundMe to help support Bob financially as he continues his fight against cancer. GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-robert-mitcham-fight-cancer Community announcement: https://www.karateforums.com/let-s-help-sensei8-in-his-time-of-need-vt55160.html Thank you.

Hey all, Like many of you, I know sensei8 (Robert Mitcham or simply Bob) as a member of this community, who has helped countless people, both with his knowledge and in making them feel welcome. He's made well over 15,000 posts, and I think it's safe to say that those posts have reached hundreds of thousands of people. He has left an indelible mark on our community. For more than a year, Bob has been fighting Stage IV prostate cancer. He has been documenting this battle here in the forums, where members have offered him emotional support and kindness during this time, and I hope that has helped in his fight. But he asked me to help him start a GoFundMe because he needs help in a different way. If you read his thread, you'll find details about his struggles with insurance and the financial side of navigating a cancer diagnosis. As far too many people who have fought cancer can attest to, surviving cancer is not your only battle. You then have to tackle the bills that can pile up in the process. According to a study released by the CDC in 2019, between the years of 2011 and 2016, 25% of cancer survivors aged 18 through 64 struggled to pay their bills. This is the position that Bob and his family now find themselves in. He told me that even though they have tried everything they can think of to have as much of the cost covered by insurance and other programs as possible, their savings have been drained. And it is reaching a desperate point, where he was finally willing to ask for help in this way. Bob believes they may no longer be able to afford their current housing in 7 months. In this fight, the goal is to survive. But mounting bills not only make it difficult to pay for treatment, they make it difficult to pay other bills that don't stop just because you have cancer. This is a case where anything can help. If Bob has helped you, this is a great opportunity to let him know that you appreciated it. If you can't afford to donate, consider spreading the word. Given that I manage this community and Bob is a moderator, neither of us would want you to spam anyone. But please share it in any space where you are sure it is okay to do so! If you have any ideas or questions, please feel free to contact me or reach out to Bob directly. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Donate to Bob's GoFundMe Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. After more than a month of nominations and votes, the 20th edition of the KarateForums.com Awards have come to an end. It is now time for us to announce the winners! Before I do so, I wanted to once again congratulate everyone who was nominated. Regardless of whether or not you won the award, the fact that you were nominated means that, when asked to identify a member who really stood out in the past year, your fellow community members thought of you. Out of the 18,480 registered members in the history of this community, only 164 have ever been nominated for an award. To be nominated is pretty cool, and you should be proud. If you did not win or were not nominated, please don't take it badly. These awards do have meaning, but they are also for fun and not everyone can win or be nominated. Please join me in congratulating our winners. I would like to specifically thank everyone who participated in the process by nominating and voting. It is the community that selected the nominees and decided the winners. There are no KarateForums.com Awards without you. Several nominees took the time to vote in categories where they were nominated. Since you can't vote for yourself, your choice is to vote for someone else or not vote at all. Though I can't reveal who voted for whom, please know that I appreciate everyone who thoughtfully voted in the categories where they were nominated. It says a lot about you, and I love to see it. Without further ado, here are our winners: 1. Member of the Year: Zaine 2. New Member of the Year: tatsujin 3. Community Spirit Award: sensei8 (for the 9th consecutive year!) 4. Staff Member of the Year: (tie) bushido_man96 (for the 5th time and 2nd consecutive year!) and DWx (for the 5th time!) 5. Funniest Member of the Year: Fat Cobra 6. Karate Contributor of the Year: Himokiri Karate 7. Health and Fitness Contributor of the Year: Alan Armstrong (for the 2nd time!) 8. Instructors and School Owners Contributor of the Year: (tie) DWx (for the 3rd consecutive year!) and Wastelander Congratulations to DWx (2 wins!), Zaine, tatsujin, sensei8, bushido_man96, Fat Cobra, Himokiri Karate, Alan Armstrong, and Wastelander! We had 3 first time winners this year, including Zaine, tatsujin, and Himokiri Karate! For past winners and all of the awards historical data, please check out: http://www.karateforums.com/awards.php Thank you for reading and for supporting the KarateForums.com Awards. Sincerely, 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 December is... tatsujin! Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made to our community since joining, tatsujin! Thanks, Patrick

This will definitely hit folks in different ways. The booster mainly made me tired and weak for the first 24 hours. We did some very light, low intensity workouts for the first two mornings before getting back to our normal stuff on the third morning.

Hey all, I just wanted to take a moment to wish you are happy holiday season, and I hope that 2022 is a great year for you and your loved ones. Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. Patrick

Hello and welcome, DarthPenguin. Patrick

Voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone who voted. The ballots will now be audited to ensure that the votes meet with the guidelines listed on this thread, and then the winners will be revealed! Thanks again, Patrick

That's great. I'm glad you found that.

Ballots are open until I add a reply to this thread saying they aren't! If you haven't already voted, you still have a chance. Please take a moment as our awards are made better with your perspective. Patrick

It makes a lot of sense. This is not the same, but I follow fitness routines from Fitness Blender, and the "blender" implies mixing different things together. They often incorporate pilates and yoga into their warm ups, cool downs, and the main part of the workout. They are just body movements at the end of the day. Martial artists need to warm up and cool down, too, whether it's a yoga technique or if you prefer to think of it as a stretch.

The ballots are still open until I add a reply to this thread saying they are not! Please be sure to vote!

Welcome ronin_bd. Glad to have you. Patrick

There is a clip at the very end, too.

Thanks Bob. I appreciate you sharing this in honor of the community reaching 20.5 years! Patrick

Let me know what you think if any of you see it! Thanks, Patrick

Thank you to everyone who has voted thus far! If you haven't, please be sure to do so! It's a great way to show your appreciation for some of our great contributors. Patrick

Hey all, I'm a big Ghostbusters fan, went to see Afterlife last night and... wow, just a lot of feelings, a lot of emotions, but what a payoff. I loved it. Couldn't look away. It'll get criticized for fan service but, what I can say? I'm a fan, and it served. If you love the first movie, I think it's hard to reconcile not being touched, at least a little bit, by this one. Patrick

Thank you, Bob. I'm so glad that the award holds such deep meaning for you, and that it came time at the right. Did you listen to the audio I linked in my first post? I'll be honest, I teared up a little by while editing it as it was so kind. One thing I was surprised to hear is that Keith isn't a confident writer and is terrified of posting in case someone picks it apart. Your writing is solid, Keith! I'm always glad to see you have made a post. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. Today marks 10 years since sensei8 (Bob) joined our staff. In honor of this big milestone, I'd love for you to reply to this thread and share your thoughts about Bob and the contributions that he has made to this community. I invited some members from our community to share their thoughts through a special audio tribute to Bob. bushido_man96, ramymensa, Wastelander, and Wado Heretic joined me to reflect on what Bob has meant to this community. Click here to listen. We also have a transcript. For many members who have joined KarateForums.com over the last 10+ years, one of the first, if not the first member they've encountered is Bob. Bob has made countless people feel welcome here. When it comes to an online community, I don't know that there is any greater impact that you can have than to make another person feel welcome. That ability is one of the great gifts that Bob has shared with us. Bob has been an incredible contributor to our community. This is an obvious statement on my part. I would say that his posts have easily touched hundreds of thousands of people. When it comes to believing in KarateForums.com, no one has a stronger belief in this community than Bob. There's a reason he's won the Community Spirit Award in the KarateForums.com Awards for 8 years in a row and is nominated again this year. Not only that, but he's won more KarateForums.com Awards than anyone else. It's safe to say that Bob thinks highly of this community, and the members of this community think highly of him. He's a rock in this community, a voice that is respected and above all else, a kind man who treats people with respect. I feel grateful to know Bob and for Bob's presence in our community as a member and as a staff member for these last 10 years. Bob, thank you for all of your amazing contributions. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. For creating space for and making so many people feel included. Thank you for your efforts as a member of our staff, both a Sempai and a Sensei. And personally, thank you for your kindness, friendship, and support. It means a lot to me. Lastly, we sent Bob a physical award to mark this occasion! Here's a photo: http://www.karateforums.com/img/photos/sensei8-award.jpg Congrats again, Bob! Thanks, Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the voting period for the 20th 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. You submitted your nominations and, from those, we have our KarateForums.com Awards 2021 nominees. In all, 16 different members have been nominated in the various categories that make up this year's awards. They are Zaine, Spartacus Maximus, Himokiri Karate*, Wado Heretic, tatsujin*, SLK59*, sensei8, bushido_man96, ashworth*, DWx, Fat Cobra, Bulltahr, aurik, Alan Armstrong, The Pred, and Wastelander. Congratulations to all of you! An asterisk (*) denotes a first-time nominee! bushido_man96 was nominated in 5 categories, the most of any member, followed by Himokiri Karate and sensei8 with 3. Our historical award numbers have been updated and new milestones have been reached! Congratulations to bushido_man96 on being the first member to reach 50 nominations (now with 54, 1st all-time), which is just an absolutely massive milestone! That's incredible. Another big one: DWx has reached 30 nominations (now with 31, 3rd all-time). Congrats Danielle! Congratulations as well to Alan Armstrong on reaching 10 (tied 9th all-time) and Fat Cobra and Zaine on reaching 5 (both tied tied 22nd all-time). With the ballots crafted, it is now time to vote. What You Should Know Before Voting 1. These awards take into consideration all community activity between October 19, 2020 and October 18, 2021. You should vote based upon activity during this period - not activity before or after. 2. To vote, you must have a KarateForums.com account with at least 10 posts made on or before October 18, 2021. 3. You cannot vote for yourself. 4. Your votes will be kept private. We do not publicly reveal who voted for whom. 5. Please 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), sending spam and any other behavior that could lead to results being artificially skewed. Members found to be participating in these activities will be disqualified from nomination in any category. 6. Please note that you do not have to vote in every category. You can vote in as many or as few as you would like - please go for as many as you feel comfortable with. The more valid votes we receive, the better! Categories The categories are listed below. For each category, you will find a link to the ballot where you can vote. Member of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/member-of-the-year-vt55125.html New Member of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/new-member-of-the-year-vt55124.html Community Spirit Award https://www.karateforums.com/community-spirit-award-vt55123.html Staff Member of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/staff-member-of-the-year-vt55122.html Funniest Member of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/funniest-member-of-the-year-vt55121.html Karate Contributor of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/karate-contributor-of-the-year-vt55120.html Health and Fitness Contributor of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/health-and-fitness-contributor-of-the-year-vt55119.html Instructors and School Owners Contributor of the Year https://www.karateforums.com/instructors-and-school-owners-contributor-oty-vt55118.html Vote Now Please vote. Voting will be closed on November 28, 2021 at 8pm Eastern (UTC -5). 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 here. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Your participation in these awards is what makes them meaningful. I can't wait to see who you vote for this year. Sincerely, Patrick

Please vote for the Instructors and Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2021. Award Description: This award is intended to acknowledge the 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 be nominated for 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: Zaine Spartacus Maximus Himokiri Karate Wado Heretic Voting will be closed on November 28, 2021 at 8pm Eastern (UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. If you have any questions, please contact me here or via private message. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Instructors and New Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2021. Award Description: This award is the same as Member of the Year, except that this one is strictly for members that registered on or between the dates of October 19, 2020 and October 18, 2021. Eligible members must have made at least 25 posts by October 18, 2021. Here are the nominees: tatsujin SLK59 Voting will be closed on November 28, 2021 at 8pm Eastern (UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. If you have any questions, please contact me here or via private message. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Community Spirit Award in the KarateForums.com Awards 2021. Award Description: This award should go to a person whom you feel has a strong passion for this community. A person who is all about the home team - in this case, KarateForums.com. Here are the nominees: sensei8 bushido_man96 ashworth Himokiri Karate Voting will be closed on November 28, 2021 at 8pm Eastern (UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. If you have any questions, please contact me here or via private message. Thank you for voting.