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 October is... Kusotare. Congratulations! Thank you for the thoughtful perspective that you bring to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the 15th 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. Over the last 14 years, we have honored 138 different members with a nomination and 49 with an award. Both of these numbers will grow again this year. Your participation is vital. It is the members of this community who select the nominees and vote for the winners. What You Should Know Before Nominating 1. These awards take into consideration all community activity between October 19, 2015 and October 18, 2016. Members must be nominated based upon their activity in this period and articles nominated for Article of the Year must have been published in this span. 2. To nominate, you must have a KarateForums.com account with at least 25 posts made on or before October 18, 2016. 3. Only one member or article can be nominated for each award. In other words, you cannot nominate two members for Member of the Year. You have to pick one person. One person can be nominated for more than one award, however. 4. You cannot nominate yourself, or an article that you wrote, for any of the awards. 5. Your nominations will be kept private. We do not publicly reveal who nominated for whom. 6. Please do not attempt to artificially inflate our nomination totals in any way. This includes, but is not limited to: Trading nominations, encouraging people to nominate 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. 7. Though it is unlikely to occur, a banned member cannot be nominated. 8. Please note that you do not have to nominate in every category. You can nominate for as many or as few as you would like - please go for as many as you feel comfortable with. The more valid nominations that we receive, the better! From these nominations, the ballot for each award will be chosen, consisting of the top 4 nominees plus ties. Through the poll system available on these forums, you will be able to vote for the winners! Categories Important note: all members (including Sempais and Senseis) are eligible for nomination in any category, except where otherwise noted. However, I (Patrick) am ineligible for nomination in any category. 1. Member of the Year 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. Current staff members (Sempais, Senseis and Patrick) cannot be nominated for this award. 2. New Member of the Year 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, 2015 and October 18, 2016. Eligible members must have made at least 50 posts by October 18, 2016. Current staff members (Sempais, Senseis and Patrick) cannot be nominated for this award. 3. Community Spirit Award 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. 4. Staff Member of the Year This award is the same as the Member of the Year award, except that this award is for current staff members only (except Patrick). If you are unsure of who is on staff, please visit http://www.karateforums.com/staff.php for a complete listing. 5. Funniest Member of the Year Humor is an important aspect of the forums, and this award recognizes the member who has brought a smile to your face many times. 6. Karate Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Karate forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 7. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 8. Equipment Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Equipment forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 9. Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Health, Training and Fitness forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 10. Instructor Central Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Instructor Central forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 11. Article of the Year This award distinguishes your favorite article that was published in the KarateForums.com Articles section on or between October 19, 2015 and October 18, 2016. Whether the article enlightened or inspired you, this is the place to recognize it. Here are the articles that are eligible for nomination, in order of publishing date: Often Drilled and Rarely Applied! by sensei8 Running a Dojo is About More Than Martial Arts Knowledge by sensei8 Tips For a Martial Arts Parent by bushido_man96 The Perception of Online Martial Arts Training by Zaine Are You a Leader or a Follower? by Lupin1 Using YouTube for Your Martial Arts School's Marketing by tallgeese Concepts and Techniques by Wastelander Meditation Through Movement by DWx Integrity in Martial Arts School Marketing by ninjanurse Please note: As we are closing the KarateForums.com Articles section, and all pending articles have been published, this will be the final Article of the Year award. Ready to Nominate? Please nominate. You will find a blank ballot at the bottom of this message that you can copy and paste. You nominate by sending a private message to the account with the username Awards through this link: http://www.karateforums.com/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=2715 - nominations will be closed on November 2, 2016 at 9 PM ET. Please do not post your nominations publicly in this thread or elsewhere in the forums. 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 choose to honor this year. Here is a blank ballot that you can use:

Reshad Jones, the Dolphins safety who really should have been a Pro Bowler last year, is out for the season. So, I guess we really paid for that win.

Did anyone see the remake? I enjoyed it. I am a big fan of the original, too. I should probably see the sequels at some point, as well. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Heidi. I appreciate your perspective. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Danielle! Really interesting reading. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Noah. Interesting thoughts. Patrick

Thank you for this submission, Alex. I think this is such a helpful piece for any school owner. YouTube offers such a tremendous opportunity, and you have done it in such a great way. I'm appreciative of you taking the time to explain how you have set up your channel and gone about deciding the how and why behind your content. You originally wrote this piece in December, and I updated the numbers here to be more present day, but I'd be curious to see how you went about accomplishing some of the future goals you outlined toward the end and what, if any, parts of your perspective have changed. Thanks, Patrick

Thank you for the submission, John. This is a really interesting piece. You originally wrote this article in December, and I would be curious to know how you feel now with the benefit of 10 odd months experience. Thanks, Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Brian. I really appreciate the advice that you shared here. Patrick

Thank you for the thoughtful submission, Devin. I enjoyed reading it. Patrick

Hey highkick. Welcome to KF! Patrick

A friend of mine commented that Romo has lost his job. Do you feel that way? The Dolphins win was pretty great, yes, haha. Patrick

Glad that you had a great time! I was in NYC on Thursday and Friday and pretty close to you, too! Hahaha. I think I walked by that academy.

Belated congrats Bruisbe! Happy for you. Patrick

Happy birthday to Bob (sensei8)! You've been a constant in our community for so long and have provided guidance, confidence and encouragement to so many. Thank you. Patrick

Thank you for sharing, Bob. Patrick

That's amazing about your son. The stripe comment is adorable. Best of luck for your test!

Congrats! That's awesome.

I'm very belated in seeing this, but thanks so much for saying so! Makes my day. Patrick

Belated welcome, JimW. Happy to have you. Patrick

Thanks Danielle. That's kind of you to say. Sorry for the extreme delay in chiming in here. I think catlike, Devin and Danielle have all made great points. One way to think about it is diversification instead of death. What we have now, more than ever before, is choice as far as how we interact online. And that choice is really dictated by what you are trying to do. When I want to find people who are really passionate and knowledgable about a specific topic, I don't go to Facebook. I usually end up on an online community dedicated to that topic, because that is where the most deeply invested people congregrate. That's where the deepest discussion on the web occurs around that topic. That's where online communities are amazing. Facebook is amazing in its own way. It's amazing in keeping you connected with individuals. Instagram is an amazing network built upon photography and lifestyle. YouTube is great for video distribution. Twitter is great for keeping connected to individuals, like Facebook, with a little more emphasis on live, e.g. you can talk live with people who are experiencing the same thing you are. So, they all excel in different ways. To me, this is a great thing. Choices allow us to find what works best for the individual needs that we have. I think online forums and online communities are in a pretty good place right now. Just my thoughts. Patrick

It's nice of you to think of the community, LLLEARNER. But yes, as others have said, priorities shift and that's perfectly fine. Glad that we still have you as a member! Thanks, Patrick

Hey Archangel, thanks for sharing this with us. How did you do?

How'd it go, skullsplitter?