Patrick

Thanks man. I appreciate that. Patrick

Love to update, cheesefrysamurai! Thanks for sharing.

Haha. Thanks Alberic Blau and JR. Patrick

Hi kenpo4life, Sorry to hear about your situation. I don't see any reason why members can't share their thoughts here. As a starting point, read these threads: http://www.karateforums.com/how-do-you-advertise-your-school-vt48718.html http://www.karateforums.com/how-do-you-advertise-your-dojo-etc-vt48047.html http://www.karateforums.com/so-you-want-to-open-your-own-martial-arts-school-vt47139.html Thanks, 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. The December selection is... neoravencroft. Congratulations! Thank you for the great contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

The Dolphins season is a disaster of mediocrity. It's alright. Just another year without a Super Bowl. We're climbing these charts steadily: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_franchise_post-season_droughts

Belated congrats to Devin's cousin on being named the NL Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote! Crazy impressive. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14148411/2015-mlb-rookie-year-kris-bryant-chicago-cubs-named-nl-winner

Haha, yeah, I made that smilie a very long time ago for a member who has long since moved on. Hope everyone who celebrates it had a nice Thanksgiving. Patrick

It's great to read all of these replies. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone, and for your kind words, Alex. Small fix: I had linked to the wrong poll thread for Article of the Year. If you didn't realize, you can click the name of the award to view the poll results tied to that award. Thanks again, Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. After a month of nominating and voting, the 2015 edition of the KarateForums.com 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. That's 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 also like to 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: JR 137 2. New Member of the Year: JR 137 3. Community Spirit Award: sensei8 4. Staff Member of the Year: DWx 5. Funniest Member of the Year: (tie) Hawkmoon, Judodad_karateson and mazzybear 6. Karate Contributor of the Year: sensei8 7. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year: tallgeese 8. Equipment Contributor of the Year: chiliphil1 9. Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year: tallgeese 10. Instructor Central Contributor of the Year: sensei8 11. Article of the Year: 5 Ill-Advised Things Every Brown Belt Should Do by Lupin1 Congratulations to JR 137, sensei8, DWx, Hawkmoon, Judodad_karateson, mazzybear, sensei8, tallgeese, chiliphil1 and Lupin1! It was a good year for members with the number 1 in their username. JR 137, Judodad_karateson, mazzybear, chiliphil1 and Lupin1 are all first time honorees. I would also like to congratulate sensei8 on becoming the all-time leader in KarateForums.com Awards, and the first to reach 15 total, now with 16. Furthermore, congratulations to tallgeese on reaching 10 total, now with 11, which is third all-time. 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

Beautifully said. Thank you, Heidi, for the thoughtful commentary and your kind words. This announcement represents the first of what I hope will be a fun tradition here. For the last 14 years, I have posted an announcement on our half-birthday to mark the occasion. From this point forward, the most senior staff member will be invited to address the community on this day. Thanks, Patrick

Hey all, I just wanted to mention two big things coming to KarateForums.com over the next 3 days. On Saturday, November 21, we will mark our half-birthday. Our community is 14 and a half years old! We are starting a new tradition this year. For the last 14 years, I have posted an announcement to mark the occasion. Beginning this year, the most senior staff member will be invited to address the community, covering a subject of their choosing that relates to KarateForums.com. Heidi (ninjanurse) will have the honors. On Monday, November 23, I will announce the winners of the KarateForums.com Awards. The voting results have been audited and the honorees are finalized. I can't wait to make the reveal. Thanks again to everyone who voted. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Sincerely, Patrick

Thanks man.

Hey Kyonovice, The Member of the Month is chosen by the staff of KarateForums.com. Some of your posts must have caught their attention. Thanks, Patrick

Welcome to KF, harpingon. Glad to have you. Patrick

Best of luck, Liam.

Voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone who voted. The results will be audited and announced soon! Patrick

Thank you for the replies. And thank you to everyone who has voted thus far. If you haven't voted yet, please be sure to do so!

Welcome to KF, Luan Bueno. Glad to have you here. Patrick

Hey oldgodan1994. Welcome. Patrick

That's awful, Titanium. I'm sorry. Glad to have you back, though. Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the voting period of the 14th 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 2015 nominees. In all, 23 different members have been nominated in the various categories that make up this year's awards. They are Luther unleashed, Hawkmoon, JR 137, The Pred, Spartacus Maximus, Titanium, liger, sensei8, bushido_man96, ninjanurse, Wastelander, DWx, Zaine, Judodad_karateson, mazzybear, Spodo Komodo, Kusotare, tallgeese, neoravencroft, chiliphil1, Nidan Melbourne, cathal and Lupin1. Congratulations to all of you! JR 137, sensei8 and bushido_man96 lead the nominations with 5 each, followed by Luther unleashed, who has 4. Our historical award numbers have been updated and several members have hit amazing milestones. Congratulations to bushido_man96 on reaching 35 nominations (now at 36), sensei8 on reaching 20 (22), tallgeese on reaching 20, Hawkmoon on reaching 10 and both JR 137 and Spartacus Maximus on reaching 5. 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, 2014 and October 18, 2015. You should vote based upon activity during this period - not activity prior to or after it. 2. To vote, you must have a KarateForums.com account that had at least 10 posts made on or before October 18, 2015. 3. You cannot vote for yourself or an article that you wrote. 4. 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. 5. 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 http://www.karateforums.com/member-of-the-year-vt48988.html New Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/new-member-of-the-year-vt48987.html Community Spirit Award http://www.karateforums.com/community-spirit-award-vt48986.html Staff Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/staff-member-of-the-year-vt48985.html Funniest Member of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/funniest-member-of-the-year-vt48984.html Karate Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/karate-contributor-of-the-year-vt48983.html Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/jiu-jitsu-and-grappling-martial-arts-contributor-vt48982.html Equipment Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/equipment-contributor-of-the-year-vt48981.html Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/health-training-and-fitness-contributor-oty-vt48980.html Instructor Central Contributor of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/instructor-central-contributor-of-the-year-vt48979.html Article of the Year http://www.karateforums.com/article-of-the-year-vt48978.html Vote Now Please vote. Voting will be closed on November 19, 2015 at 9 PM ET (GMT/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 Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2015. 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: Luther unleashed Hawkmoon JR 137 The Pred Spartacus Maximus Voting will be closed on November 19, 2015 at 9 PM EST (GMT/UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the New Member of the Year in the KarateForums.com Awards 2015. 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, 2014 and October 18, 2015. Here are the nominees: JR 137 Titanium liger Voting will be closed on November 19, 2015 at 9 PM EST (GMT/UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. Thank you for voting.

Please vote for the Community Spirit Award in the KarateForums.com Awards 2015. 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 ninjanurse Luther unleashed Voting will be closed on November 19, 2015 at 9 PM EST (GMT/UTC -5). Please do not reply to this thread. Thank you for voting.