Patrick

Haha. Patrick

A little over 24 hours remain until the nominations period will close. Time for last minute submissions! The nominations are open until this thread is closed. 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 November selection is... chrissyp. Congratulations! Thank you for all of your great contributions to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Thank you to everyone who has nominated already. We're going to have a great list of nominees. If you haven't yet submitted your choices, time is running out. The deadline is November 2 at 7 PM ET. Thanks again, Patrick

Hey Archimoto, Glad that you are doing well. Patrick

Thank you to those who have already submitted nominations. If you haven't yet, please consider doing so! It's a great way to shine a light on some of the wonderful members that we have here at KarateForums.com. Thanks, Patrick

Hey all, Alex (tallgeese) announced today that he would soon be launching Alpha BJJ, a gym in Woodstock, IL, with a focus on teaching "really good, technically sound" BJJ. You can learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alpha-BJJ/646718695446989 Watch Alex's announcement here: Congratulations Alex! Patrick

Sorry for your loss, CDraper. Thank you for the reminder you shared here. Death is always a reminder for me, to appreciate what we have and to live in the moment. Patrick

Hello, Welcome to the 13th 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 12 years, we have honored 40 different members, and that number 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, 2013 and October 18, 2014. 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, 2014. 3. Only one member or article can be nominated for each award. In other words, you cannot nominate the entire staff for Staff 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 non-staff 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, 2013 and October 18, 2014. Eligible members must have made at least 25 posts by October 18, 2014. 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. Korean Martial Arts Contributor of the Year This award is for your favorite contributor within the Korean Martial Arts forum - a member who has added substantial value in that section in the past year. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. 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. 12. Article of the Year This award distinguishes your favorite article that was published in the KarateForums.com Articles section on or between October 19, 2013 and October 18, 2014. 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: Proof is On the Floor: An Addendum by sensei8 Force Continuum for the Civilian Martial Artist by bushido_man96 Open Doors by ninjanurse Sparring: Developing Good Footwork by DWx The Case for Wrestling by tallgeese A Pocket Full of Marbles by sensei8 The ATA's 10 Class Management Skills by bushido_man96 DWx's Guide to Choosing a Martial Arts School by DWx Transitioning from Traditional Martial Arts to BJJ by tallgeese Belt Testing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by ps1 Managing a Martial Arts Retail Store: It's the Little Things by sensei8 The Role of Shugyo in Modern Martial Arts by Groinstrike Physics for the Martial Artist by JusticeZero The Shindokan Shield by sensei8 Another Path by ninjanurse My Dragon Style Will Crush Your Mantis Style by KyungYet Filing a Flight Plan by Lupin1 Taking a Closer Look at the Hand Techniques of Taekwon-Do by DWx 4th Dan Testing Essay by bushido_man96 Shu-Ha-Ri: The Evolution of a Style by ninjanurse A Practical Approach to Pressure Points by Wastelander The Nomenclature of the Reverse Punch by sensei8 So You Want to Open Your Own Martial Arts School? by ps1 Close Range Space Management by sensei8 Why My Martial Arts School Doesn't Have a Website by sensei8 Has Age Gotten in the Way of the Martial Arts? by sensei8 Treating Your Dojo/Martial Arts School as a Business by sensei8 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 username Awards account through this link: http://www.karateforums.com/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=2715 - nominations will be closed on November 2, 2014 at 7 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 a key ingredient to what makes them great and meaningful. I can't wait to see who you choose to honor this year. Here is the ballot that you can use:

Hey all, Today marks Bob's 50th year in Shindokan Saitou-ryu! But it is also his birthday. Happy Birthday, Bob! Have an awesome day. Thank you for being such a wonderful contributor to our community. You are appreciated by many. Patrick

Congratulations Bob! 50 years in the martial arts is a rare, impressive milestone. 50 years in the same art is astonishing. Thank you for sharing your experience, passion and continued development with us here. Patrick

Sure thing. Patrick

Sorry to hear of your quick exit. Thank you for sharing this with us. Patrick

Heh. Here is their website: http://www.samuraistudios.com/ Patrick

Hey all, I do an upper/lower split and I try to switch out my routines from time to time to keep it interesting and challenging. I was looking for routines and came across this website: http://www.fitnessblender.com/ They have a bunch of videos here: http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/full-length-workouts/. I love the search feature they have - the green "Search Workouts" button - where you can select the equipment you have and other variables and see specific workouts. That's really helpful for me as I only have dumbbells and a physio ball. I have been doing these two: http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/workout-detail/Upper-Body-Dumbbell-Workout-28-Minute-Weight-Training-Routine/9c/ http://www.fitnessblender.com/v/workout-detail/Lower-Body-Toning-Workout-56-Minute-Butt-and-Thigh-Tabata-Workout/el/ I find that videos like this help me with my pacing (appropriate rest periods, etc.). I just like to be told what to do, I guess. Their videos have good production quality, as well. Anyway, thought I would share this and also see if anyone has recommendations for videos like this. Patrick

Have fun, Hawkmoon.

Congrats mazzybear. Patrick

Welcome aboard, shotocalm. Glad to have you. Patrick

Yep, the Dolphins had us excited for all of one week. Heh. Still optimistic, of course. Patrick

Thank you for the replies, all. For the record, I did want to say that I didn't/won't vote as it doesn't really apply to me. Patrick

Hey all, The age of a black belt is a constant topic here. We have a popular thread titled "10 year old Black Belts!," and it got me to thinking. How many of you have actually seen, in person, a 10 year old full black belt? Not a junior black belt. Not a kids super dragon club black belt. A full black belt in their organization. On a 10 year old (or younger). Let's go ahead and say 12 or younger. Not heard about one online. Not supposedly seen one in a YouTube video. Not heard about one from a friend. Actually seen one, in person, with your own eyes where you were 100% sure that the kid was both 12 years or younger and that they had a full black belt. Not just thinking to yourself "oh, they look young. Wait, is that black cloth around their waist?! They must be a full black belt!" Vote yes only if you can satisfy that criteria fully. Vote no if you can't. It's often talked about, but I thought it would be interested to find out how many of you have actually seen it first hand. Vote in the poll. Thanks, Patrick

Thank you for understanding, mal103. Patrick

Hey Bob, Thank you for the reply. No worries. I'm sure 39 year olds are probably happy to still be lumped into "kids." The 70% figure was those who "never or rarely" use a phone book. So you would probably be in the 30% then. But this was 4 years ago, so it'll be interesting to see how much it has changed when people are asked that question again. Glad that you enjoyed Clients From Hell. Good luck with your organization. Patrick

Welcome aboard, dead pool. 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 October selection is... Spartacus Maximus. Congratulations! Thank you for all of your great contributions to our community. Sincerely, Patrick