Patrick

Thanks for sharing this! Congrats on the promotion and the 30 pounds! That's amazing.

The almost final tally: 16 of our 21 years have been represented. I realized that I didn't mention the Eastern Time zone to everyone who agreed to participate, so didn't want them to be left out, and will extend this so that all time zones are covered, meaning that it is through 7am Eastern Time on May 22.

I thought it was great. Really fun to watch.

6:52pm Eastern update: 3 more years have checked in, bringing us up to 12 out of 21.

I wasn't sure if I could qualify this as martial arts entertainment, but... Who watches Castlevania on Netflix? I found the finale very satisfying.

Devin, thanks so much for sharing that! It's really amazing to hear that sort of thing, and it'll be good to see you around more as you venture back into the arts. Spartacus Maximus, I'm glad we can be that place for you. Thanks for sharing that. You've definitely helped a lot of people over the years here, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

My pleasure, Scott! I'm excited to leave some of these bugs behind.

Thanks for posting, Van! Good idea for a thread. We're in an apartment, and a bit limited, so we've been doing a lot of videos with Fitness Blender. I have been using them for years and years, and so having them as a resource has been great. I was also glad that my wife had some weights she brought with her when she moved a few years ago. They were just 5 and 10 pounds, but better than nothing. Eventually, we did get some adjustable weights, too. So, nothing too big, but it made me want to have a home gym one day, that's for sure. Patrick

Update: I've edited the initial announcement to include a link to my post about the next 20 years of KF: https://www.karateforums.com/securing-the-next-20-years-of-karateforums-com-vt54957.html

Thank you so much for sharing this, Devin. It means a lot to me, and thank you for being a part of what has made that so. Patrick

Hey all, As I mentioned in the announcement I posted earlier today, our 20th birthday celebration is purposefully low key because I have been dedicating my time to an important change that I hope will take us into the next 20 years of KarateForums.com. Short version: I'm working on moving our community to new software. It'll work similarly, but better. We'll be fixing some annoying bugs. We won't lose any posts or profile information. I'll let you know when it's actually happening. For more details, keep reading. Our Old Software and Current Issues Our community runs on very old software. This creates a number of issues. There are 3 I'd like to highlight: 1. As web technologies change over time, it becomes more challenging to run old software. I have a few different websites and instead of having them all on a single server, I pay for a second server just for KarateForums.com, running the old tech it needs to stay online. This isn't a forever solution, and it's not without risk when it comes to reliability and security (anyone reading this who works in IT is probably scared for me, ha). 2. Related to the first item, you may or may not have noticed a number of bugs that have been introduced into our community as the years have gone by. Perhaps the most glaring example is that our avatar upload feature is broken. You can't upload a new avatar. But there are numerous nagging issues that have cropped up, all of them annoying and silly. These shouldn't exist. 3. An inability to change much of anything. We can't really do much more than we are doing now. To add something new, tweak something, etc. is either not reasonably possible or more trouble than it's worth. Seeing the writing on the wall, I have been working on and off for the last couple of years to move our community off of this old software to new, current generation community software. Similar But Better When communities change software, there is often some fear that it'll be totally different. I want to be super clear that my goal for the new KF is to be similar, but better. What I mean by that is that we'll still be forums. We're not turning into Facebook or Twitter or something. One of the unique things about hosting a community for 20 years is that I've literally seen members leave for 4, 6, 8 years, go to Facebook, and then come back, and say, "I'm glad you're still here!" We will not be losing any posts or profile data. It will all be migrated. We've had to work particularly hard to be able to make it so that all passwords will work, but I think we have that sorted, too. So, it'll still be KarateForums.com. But we'll get rid of all of the bugs, and we'll have some nice new things that'll make using the site easier. What's New That all sounds nice, but how about some examples? Think about things like: - A proper mobile experience! Yes, we are so ridiculously far behind. But when you visit this community on your phone or tablet, you will finally be shown a proper mobile-friendly experience. - Better notifications. This includes notifications on the site, yes, but also more customizable email notifications. Right now, we only allow you to be notified right away when a new reply is received. So, if you are subscribed to 16 threads, and they each receive a post, you receive 16 emails. What if you prefer to receive a daily or weekly digest? That will be possible now. - Better search. Our search feature is not very good. Our new one will be better. - Mentions. The ability to mention a user in a way that notifies them. - More ways to view conversations. We'll be keeping the forum-based view. But reading new posts can sometimes be tricky or you might in advertently lose your place. This will work better. You may also be able to view a customized list of conversations based only on the forums you are interested in or your favorite members. We're experimenting with that. - Reactions. We're also planning to experiment with reactions. Not really "Likes," as much as a potential replacement for short posts. We want to go a bit deeper. Consider reactions like "Thanks," "Respect," etc. Want to Test? I can't share a timeline yet because we are working through various challenges, but if you'd like to receive early access to kick the tires in our test environment when we reach that stage, please feel free to let me know here in a reply or via a private message. In addition, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let me know! I've been thinking about the next iteration of this community for so long that it's hard to believe we're finally at the point where I can start to see us reach the destination. But I'm excited to get there, and to give this community the support it needs to continue for another 20 years. Thanks, Patrick

11:38am Eastern update: The first 9 years are off the board.

Very kind of you to say, Keith. Thank you for being a part of what makes it great!

Welcome back, nunopicado! Thanks for the update! That's awesome how you've been able to navigate that challenge! Good luck with the promotion. Please let us know how it goes. Patrick

Hello, (Share Your Stories | Post on May 21) On this day, 20 years ago, KarateForums.com launched. What started as a simple conversation between a couple teenagers has become a special community that has made a difference to many people. Through your contributions to this community - the thoughtful way you share your knowledge, the kind manner in which you make newcomers feel welcome, and the spaces you create for others to add their experience - you've touched millions of martial artists around the world. I know because I've seen it, and I've had members tell me. Again, again, again, and again. What does this community mean to you? Please respond to this thread to share or post it here. The last 14 months have illustrated this. Through personal setbacks, we've been here for one another, to offer support and help get through these challenging times. It's hard for me to put into words what this community means to me. When I started it, I was in a totally different place. I was still in high school. I finished high school, grew up, wrote a book, built a career doing what I do here, moved several times across 4 different states, met someone, got engaged, and got married, with all sorts of random moments along the way. I've been building online communities for over 20 years now, and I've helped a lot of people do the same. I've helped hobbyists, nonprofits, small companies, companies you know, Fortune 500s, and more. But no matter who I'm helping, I always draw from the lessons I've learned here. If you've contributed to KarateForums.com, thank you. Thank you for being a part of what makes this community so special. When I talk to people about KarateForums.com and what it makes it great, what I'm most proud of, it's you. I know that sounds cliche, but it's the members of the community that I am proud of. It's the fact that someone in need can come here, and thoughtful people will respond to them with kindness and helpful advice. Don't ever underestimate the impact that one post can have on an individual - or on many of people. Each time you contribute thoughtfully, you impact lives. Sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways, but we're always impacting people. To thank individual members is always hard because we have had enough members where I'll always leave some people out. That said, I do want to highlight our current staff, all of whom have been on the team for years (some well over 10)! They have helped to maintain this thing that we all enjoy, and I appreciate all of their support and kindness. Their contributions to the community cannot be overstated. Thank you to Brian/bushido_man96, Danielle/DWx, Noah/Wastelander, Bob/sensei8, Liam/Nidan Melbourne, JR/JR 137, and Mo/mazzybear. I would also like to specifically highlight many of our members who have visited in the last few months and, either recently or in the past, have thoughtfully contributed to our community. Thank you to 333kenshin, advfhorn, Alan Armstrong, ashworth, aurik, bassaiguy, BeefcaketheBarber, Bobd400, Bobfromtekken, Bulltahr, ChpsahoySE, Chucksmanhood, CTTKDKing, Dmitriy, Drillscoach, Fat Cobra, FightingFox, GojuRyu Bahrain, hammer, hawkfish, Himokiri Karate, JazzKicker, jdash, Kanku65, kenpo4life, kenshinkan08, LastKing, Lupin1, Miick 11, mjh1969, monkeygirl, Montana, Nevinyrral, nunopicado, oldtimer, Questor, The Pred, Radagast, ramymensa, Raul Perez, RJCKarate, RW, scohen0300, Shaolin13, SLK59, Spartacus Maximus, sperki, Spodo Komodo, stonecrusher69, tdiedwards, Theochh, tselec, vantheman, Wado Heretic, Wamp, Wayofaswede, wildbourgman, and Zaine! We're going for a low key celebration this year because the time I've been spending on KarateForums.com has been dedicated toward working on an important change for our community that I hope will solidify our next 20 years. It's super positive: Everything that you like about KF, only better. But I am going to talk about that in a separate announcement! At any rate, that's what's on my mind today, as we mark 20 years. I'd love to hear what's on yours, either here or in the stories thread. Thanks for reading. Patrick

Hey all, Since we're celebrating 20 years of KarateForums.com on May 21, that means that there have been 21 calendar years where people have been joining our community. I thought it would be fun to see how many years could be represented in a single day - the day of May 21! To make it interesting, I decided to exclude myself, and officially only count members who contributed to martial arts-related conversations, by posting or starting a thread, e.g. not general chat. Though I'll still keep track of those and add any additional members to the appropriate year, in italic. The first member from that year who posts on May 21 will be listed in bold. If you're reading this, please come back on May 21 and start a martial arts-related thread or make a post! I reached out to a bunch of members to encourage them to post May 21 - some you know, and some may be faces from the past! I'll update this post throughout the day on May 21, to add members who have posted to the calendar year within which they registered! 2001: jdash and Patrick 2002: monkeygirl 2003: The Pred 2004: N/A 2005: Zaine 2006: bushido_man96 2007: Montana and DWx 2008: sensei8 2009: Lupin1 2010: Wastelander 2011: N/A 2012: vantheman 2013: Nidan Melbourne 2014: Wado Heretic and Spartacus Maximus 2015: Bulltahr 2016: aurik 2017: JazzKicker 2018: nunopicado and Fat Cobra 2019: Theochh 2020: SLK59 2021: Questor and Miick 11 I'm excited to see how many years we can manage! Patrick

That's very kind of you, Bob. Thanks for sharing. Patrick

Thanks for those kind words, John! Also, fixed the profile link in the post. Sorry about that. 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 May is... Zaine for the second time! It's been 9 years, to the month, since the last time Zaine was selected as Member of the Month. So glad to still after you here, making great contributions, after all these years. Thanks, Patrick

Just watched the Yasuke anime on Netflix, and I thought it was great! It's based around the historical figure of the same name, but it's an alternate reality with magic and advanced technology, as the Wikipedia page explains. It's quick - 5 episodes around 30 minutes - and we burned right through it. Definitely gruesome (in an animated form). Lots of swords cutting through warriors! If that sounds like your thing, check it out.

Thank you so much for sharing these stories, Brian, John, The Pred, and Bulltahr! It was really amazing to read them. I appreciate the kind words, but all 4 of you have impacted so many people with your posts here, yourselves, and have helped make the community what it is! Patrick

Hahaha, yeah, that whole period of time is sort of bizarre to me, like it's such a gruesome, violent series of fights. And it's like, well, "John Kreese, what are you gonna do?!"

Hey all, On May 21, KarateForums.com will turn 20 years old. This is an incredible milestone. It is rare that an online community exists, consecutively, for this long. We've been fortunate, as a community, to have so many amazing members over the years. As we cruise toward May 21, we have a number of things planned as part of what will be a lowkey, intimate celebration. We'd like to start with this thread! I'd love to hear your stories about how KarateForums.com has impacted you. How members within this community have helped you or made something better or added enjoyment to your life. What stands out to you? It would be so great to hear your stories, and I know that I and others would love to read them! This is a special place, and it is your experiences and stories that illustrate why that is. Thank you, Patrick

Yeah, the house isn't exactly my style, either, but it does have some features I like. That courtyard, the pool, the windows, and the flooring especially. It's hard though because rival, roaming teenager karate gangs seem intent on breaking those windows, so the upkeep would be substantial.

Watched it last night! I'll admit that I haven't played the arcade games much, if at all (my Mom didn't want me to, haha), but I enjoyed learning a bit about the characters through the movie. Curious to hear what you thought!