Patrick

That was such a wonderful post to read, Brian. Thank you for sharing. It's amazing the impact that an online community, and the relationships that you build on it, can have on your life. I'm so happy to hear that you are enjoying the sword. Thanks again, Patrick

Welcome, hugobg. Patrick

Hey Nidan Melbourne, I didn't, as I had it shipped directly to Brian (I decided I didn't want to try to ship it myself). That said, I'm hoping Brian will share a photo here soon. Thanks, Patrick

I love these stories. Thanks for sharing. Except for yours, maybe, wildbourgman. That sounds awful. Is your instructor still around? Patrick

Sure thing, Alex. There are definitely a lot more tools available these days, measured (in many ways, at least) more by the time you can spend than the money you have.

Thank you for the replies, Ken, Shawn and Bob. I think Brian is busy with off-of-the-forums stuff right now. Hopefully he'll drop by soon. Thanks, Patrick

I've been meaning to tell you, Alex, that you are doing a wonderful job. I was looking at the Alpha BJJ stuff the other day and the way you use the tools is excellent. You are a great example of what is now commonly referred to as inbound marketing and content marketing. In short, the idea that you create great content that draws people to you, rather than buying their attention. I know you don't consider yourself to be computer savvy, but as someone who knows a little bit about this stuff, I have to believe you are in the top 1% of martial arts schools in the U.S. when it comes to the savvy way you are using the tools. I'd definitely recommend that folks go to http://alphajiujitsu.com and take a good look at how Alex uses YouTube, Facebook and their blog. It's good stuff. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. As you may know, Brian (bushido_man96) recently hit 25,000 posts. Beyond the announcement that I posted, the staff and I decided that we wanted to go a little further in honoring Brian. We sent him a gift, which I'll let him tell you more about. We also produced a video where a few of us talked about what Brian means to us and the community. Once again, thank you, Brian, for all of the amazing contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

On a related note, ps1 wrote an article recently that touched on this: http://www.karateforums.com/so-you-want-to-open-your-own-martial-arts-school-vt47139.html

This is a great thread, Shawn. Thanks for starting it. I can't think of anything... I mean, the Wright brothers took their plane up into the air pretty close by, but it's a couple of towns over.

I watched the new Robocop the other day. I enjoyed it. That said, I've never seen the original. Heh.

Wow, welcome back, Shawn. So nice to have you back. Patrick

Congrats RAM18!

Here's an article about it: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/entertainment/feat-scarface-remake-thr/ Certainly a tough act to follow. I don't mind remakes because I can just ignore them if I don't like them.

Hope you had a great day, Alex. Thanks again for all that you do here!

Thanks Shawn. Part 2 has now been published, covering abuse of power and corruption. http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/03/12/abuse-of-power-and-corruption-how-law-enforcement-officers-and-online-community-moderators-can-avoid-them/

He's crushing it this spring! http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/12533957/kris-bryant-chicago-cubs-prospect-continues-home-run-tear So great. Patrick

Haha. I have a friend with that birthday. He usually just celebrates on February 28.

Congrats John! Patrick

Hello and welcome, Rab397. Patrick

That's great, Devin. Congrats!

Welcome Nijil Jacob. Glad to have you. Patrick

Welcome aboard, Bulltahr. Patrick

I'm really pumped about Suh. Hopefully we can get it done. I can't say I haven't had issues with his on the field stuff before, but at the same time, he hasn't had any off the field issues, coaches and teammates seem to love him and everyone says he is a hard worker. Maclin is a great pickup for the Chiefs! The Saints have been interesting to watch. Their cap situation is rough. They are still about 5 million over the cap from what I am seeing. As an aside, wanted to mention that the site I enjoy checking the most for the latest info is Pro Football Rumors. I like it because it is essentially a clearinghouse of all info and they cite the sources properly. If all you do is go there and refresh the page every little while, you'll be totally informed on what's going on. The team pages are under "Teams" in the menu. For example: Chiefs: http://www.profootballrumors.com/kansas-city-chiefs/ Saints: http://www.profootballrumors.com/new-orleans-saints/ Cowboys: http://www.profootballrumors.com/dallas-cowboys/ Also, if you want to know your team's salary cap situation and what they will receive if they cut a player, check out Over the Cap. Click your team at the top and you can get all sorts of info. The salary cap for 2015 is $143.28 million.

My brother's birthday is on March 8, so he only got 23 hours out of his birthday.