Patrick

It was alright. I watched for the last 6 episodes or so. I'm not sure what exactly they can do next season besides die.

Thanks all and thanks for being a part of it.

Hello, On this day, May 21st, 5 years ago - I launched KarateForums.com. So, in light of this occasion, I thought that I would talk a bit about the site, it’s history and the like, if you’d care to read. One of the funny things about me managing KarateForums.com is that I do not and have never practiced a martial art. It’s something that banned users love to call attention to, but I’ve always been open about this fact and have never stated my martial arts knowledge as anything outside of minuscule, at best. Nonetheless, I have received some funny e-mails over the years. One of my favorites was from a banned user who was complaining that I allowed people to say things about his art, but not other arts. In this case, the other art was Karate. So, in his e-mail, he tells me that my decisions “might have something to do with the fact that you yourself train karate.” The thing that some people fail to grasp is the fact that to manage a martial arts community, you do not need martial arts knowledge. You need to be able to manage an internet community – you must know how to manage and treat people, how to make decisions, how to work hard, etc. The common question I get from people is why? Why did I start a martial arts community if I’m not all that interested in the martial arts themselves? Well, more than 5 years ago, I had an idea. I saw a good name, a light bulb went off and I liked the idea of running a martial arts community. I can’t really explain why, but I did. I like managing communities. Sure, there are good and bad times that come along with being the person in charge, but overall, I enjoy doing this and I believe that I do it very well. Back then, I believed that I could create a world class martial arts discussion community that could lead the genre. Our community has always been different. The most notable thing is the respect that we require our users to show each other. Not everyone likes that not only do we allow discussions on things that they believe are utter nonsense, but we don’t allow them to direct inflammatory or disrespectful comments to the people having the discussion. This drives them crazy and some people have crowned themselves martial arts truth decider general or something and simply go around judging people. We won’t have any of that. And so they take it out on us. We try to treat everyone the same. Whether you are Grandmaster Flash, a world champion kickboxer, a school owner, a black belt or just looking for help choosing an art. Our User Guidelines apply to you and you will be expected to contribute within them. Another big thing is our atmosphere, our environment. We’re family friendly, we’re work friendly. We are built to be inviting and welcoming to people of all ages from all sorts of backgrounds and levels of experience. This turns some people off – some people hate kids or hate the inexperienced. But, again, we won’t have any of that. When I started this site, I was a kid. Heck, I still am a kid. And having managed communities as long as I have, I can say that as far as problems go – kids aren’t it. People of all ages are it. Some of the biggest idiots I’ve ever had to deal with here at KarateForums.com have been in their 30s and 40s. So, respect for each other and a friendly, inviting environment are really the hallmarks of this community and a couple of the primary goals that we have been in pursuit of since day one. We accomplish this through strict adherence to our User Guidelines and a constantly watchful eye on the community as a whole. But, I have been very lucky to have a number of very great, kind, committed individuals who have helped me to accomplish these goals. Their contributions have been immensely important and their support when it mattered most has meant a great deal to me. I don’t just consider them staff members or ex-staff members, I consider them to be good friends. These people include Pat McQuinn or SaiFightsMS, Laurie Snow, also known as karatekid1975, Tammy McBeth or monkeygirl, Doug North or KSN Doug, Heidi Wilmott, otherwise known as ninjanurse and Greg Heinisch, known mostly as gheinisch. I would also like to thank current staff members Scott Shepard or scottnshelly, Sam Unruh, better known as vertigo, Pamela Kovacs, a.k.a. June1, Aubrey Nielsen, also known as niel0092, Christopher Butts or shogeri and the latest addition to our team, Tom Minota, most popularly known as patusai. A big thanks also goes out to James Dasher, who was a big help at the start of KF, Jackie McGhee, who designed the site and created our logo and Lars Ostergaard, who created our cool little belt images that a chosen few have taken entirely too seriously. Finally, I’d like to thank you and all of our truly loyal members that have supported us and positively contributed to the community, helping to make it what it is. Thanks for reading. (This was taken, by and large, from the KarateForums.com Fifth Anniversary Podcast).

Good luck.

Welcome.

Yeah. Gonna be some 2 hours next week. I'm locking the door and hiring a security guard/bouncer type to stand at it.

Thank you for the submission.

Welcome.

Congrats.

I think he was talking about the person who posted those videos on YouTube, not you. Unless that was you. Welcome NeoMstrSgt.

Welcome.

Welcome.

Kind of, yes. http://www.liljononline.com At the end of the day, everyone likes different music and as long as you like it, that is what matters. Music is a personal thing. This topic is for those who are into him/his music. Thanks.

Thank you for the submission.

Welcome.

Sorry to hear that.

Thanks.

You're not the first (won't be the last) and I've never tried to hide it. No, I don't mind. I saw a name, had an idea, felt a need. I felt I could do it well. So, I started a site, worked hard and nearly 5 years later, here we are.

Welcome. A McDojo is commonly a martial arts school/dojo where profit is the most important thing with no equal.

I appreciate the kind words, but I don't LOVE MA. I don't have anything against it and I find certain parts of it interesting certainly, but I don't and have never taken any martial arts. Thanks.

Welcome.

Hello, We have removed a post from this thread in error. It is below. I apologize for the confusion. Thanks. Actually thats wrong:1. Hands and feet should NOT be used in equal balance. Watch a UFC fight. It is about 80% hands/20% kicks because that is what works. I know MMA is not a street fight. Nonetheless, it is the besting testing groud available for techniques and is perfectly relevant here. 2. Feet are fine as an initial attack. For example, lead leg front kick>takedown (classic Royce) or Thai roundhouse to thigh whenever you want. 3. I'd argue if you tied the AVERAGE boxers hands behind his back and set him against the AVERAGE karate fighter (notice I didn't say martial artist: Boxers are martial artists) I'd bet on the boxer. He'll have much better balance and mobility than the standard karate fighter, and most importantly, he will be used to getting hit. The average martial artist is unconditioned to all-out sparring and is in worse physical shape than the boxer. I'd bet on the boxer 8/10.

Hey, Dragon Warrior was great! I haven't played all of them, though. Only a couple. I haven't played a console game in many months. I just don't find the time! I will one day. I'm pretty much a Nintendo person. One game I do play a fair bit right now is American's Army, but that's an online PC game...