Patrick

And in the spirit of honoring Alex, I wanted to mention that the KarateForums.com Awards 2013 winners have just been revealed and he was voted as the winner in the Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year, Health, Fitness and Training Contributor of the Year and Article of the Year awards. With these honors, he becomes the third member to ever be honored 5 or more times in the awards, now with 7 overall awards. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. After more than month of nominating and voting, the 2013 edition of KarateForums.com Awards have come to their conclusion. It is now time for us to announce the winners. Before I do so, I wanted to once again congratulate everyone who was nominated. Being nominated, in and of itself, is a beautiful thing and should be recognized. If you did not win or were not nominated, please do not take it personally. 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. In addition, thank you to everyone who participated in the process by nominating and voting. You are vital to this event. You, the community, selected the nominees and decided the winners. Without that participation, there are no KarateForums.com Awards. Those who vote in categories that they were nominated, like many members do, are to be commended for their selflessness. Since you can't vote for yourself, your choice is to vote for someone else or not vote at all. Yet most members choose to vote for a fellow member, which says a lot about your character. I appreciate it. Without further ado, here are our winners: 1. Member of the Year: CredoTe 2. New Member of the Year: Hawkmoon 3. Community Spirit Award: sensei8 4. Staff Member of the Year: (tie) ninjanurse, sensei8 and Harkon72 5. Funniest Member of the Year: MasterPain 6. Karate Contributor of the Year: sensei8 7. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year: tallgeese 8. Korean Martial Arts Contributor of the Year: DWx 9. Equipment Contributor of the Year: JohnASE 10. Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year: (tie) bushido_man96 and tallgeese 11. Instructor Central Contributor of the Year: sensei8 12. Article of the Year: Creating a Home Training Environment for Martial Arts by tallgeese Congratulations to CredoTe, Hawkmoon, Bob (sensei8), Heidi (ninjanurse), Gareth (Harkon72), Bill (MasterPain), Alex (tallgeese), Danielle (DWx), John (JohnASE) and Brian (bushido_man96)! I would also like to congratulate Bob on being the second KarateForums.com member to be honored 10 times through the KarateForums.com Awards and both Alex (now with 7) and Danielle on being third and fourth members to reach 5 awards. For past winners and the overall tally of awards won per member, please check out: http://www.karateforums.com/awards.php Thank you for reading and for supporting the KarateForums.com Awards. Sincerely, Patrick

Thank you, Alex. That means a lot to me. Patrick

That deal is now dead (if anyone is wondering why it isn't working). It was this camera, but there are plenty of other options: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-VIXIA-R400-Advanced-Camcorder/dp/B00AWZFJ22/ I think you can probably get a good consumer camcorder that shoots 1080p for $200-$300 or around there. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. It was on this day 5 years ago that Alex (tallgeese) joined the staff. He now makes up an important part of what I consider to be the greatest staff that I have ever had here at KarateForums.com. As a contributor to the community, Alex represents a levelheadedness that brings value to discussions. The manner in which he contributes - the words that he chooses, the way that he expresses his viewpoints - set a wonderful example for everyone to follow. He is among the greatest contributors in the history of this community and that's more than just a nice thing to say - it's the truth. As a member of staff, Alex has developed into a great moderator, someone who recognizes the issues that can occur within a community like this and helps to bring them to an appropriate resolution. He's a great team player and helps to maintain the environment that this community enjoys. Alex is a big supporter of and believer in this community. 5 years is a long time and it is amazing when you have someone who contributes that much to the community and accomplishes that type of longevity. Thank you, Alex, for the incredible contributions that you have made to this community. Thank you for your efforts on your staff. I am grateful for your friendship, kindness and support. Thank you. Sincerely, Patrick

Welcome aboard, Roninkai. Glad to have you. Patrick

Thanks Gareth, Heidi, AdamKralic, Alex and Bob for the replies and wishes. Patrick

I had a nice, low-key Thanksgiving with my family. How was yours? Patrick

In my monitoring of Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, this just popped on my radar: http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=9999216200050063&pid=pcmprd215100050063&pcatId=abcat0403000&ref=199&loc=NKa3hZyYoHA&siteID=NKa3hZyYoHA-.rH1VyoKLBmRFRLS86de7Q Looks like a great deal, as explained here: http://dealnews.com/Canon-VIXIA-HF-R400-1080-p-Digital-Camcorder-for-170-free-shipping/920406.html#comments Through the first link I mentioned (thanks to the comments of the second link), you can get a 32 GB memory card with it. I would look for something similar to that one or what Gareth has been mentioning. One thing I'd make sure it has is an external mic jack. I think that is fairly normal, but maybe not all of them have it. You'll find that the camera's built-in mic is limited, so it can be very helpful to have the ability to buy a separate mic and connect it to improve your audio - usually in a major way. Hope this helps. Patrick

Thank you for sharing this. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. With Hanukkah beginning this evening, we are now entering the winter holidays. Soon enough, we'll be at the end of the year. I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a happy holiday season and a happy, healthy and successful 2014. This has been a great year for KarateForums.com, highlighted by our 500,000 posts milestone. I am thankful for our longevity and for the members who truly add value to our community and, in turn, appreciate the value that it creates for them. Great members are why I continue to run this community, more than 12 and a half years after launching it. Thank you. Happy Holidays! Patrick

Voting is now closed. The winners will be announced soon. Thank you to everyone who voted. Patrick

Happy Thanksgiving. Patrick

Tonight's the night! Voting closes in roughly 6 hours. Please get those last minute votes in. Thanks, Patrick

With things like this, you just have to make the decision that you can live with. I can understand why athletes come back as long as they can, I can understand why some leave early. Neither is right or wrong, it's just their path. You don't want to wonder "what if?" Patrick

Thank you. Patrick

Thanks for the replies, CredoTe, Nidan Melbourne, Gareth, Alex, Noah, Bob and Brian. Agreed, Alex. Patrick

That's cool, badclams.

I appreciate the kind words and sentiment. That said, I don't need to be honored. Thanks, Patrick

Heh. Between the two of us was meant to refer to me and my programmer friend Chrispian, who was mentioned in the first post. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. For whatever reason, when we turned six months old, I posted an announcement celebrating that. And we have continued to mark the six month anniversary ever since! KarateForums.com is now 12 and a half years old. With the 500,000 posts celebration still going on (though winding down), we have just been celebrating our community in a major way. So there isn't much that I can add to that. That said, thank you to everyone who has positively contributed to KarateForums.com over the years. Your contributions do stand out. Sincerely, Patrick

Thanks Nidan Melbourne. Between the two of us, it was probably in the neighborhood of 7-9 hours.

I don't follow the UFC, but this even crossed my radar. http://mmajunkie.com/2013/11/17/video-replay-ufc-167-post-fight-press-conference/ http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/ufc/dana-white-rips-gsp-after-ufc-167-win-retiring-speech/ http://www.tmz.com/2013/11/18/georges-st-pierre-pregnancy-illness-derail-ufc-fighter/ Thoughts?

Thank you for sharing this, AdamKralic. I'm not sure if you meant for people to critique the technique, heh. I like the personality. Patrick

Welcome back, Bill. Glad that you have that behind you! Patrick