monkeygirl

Family nickname earned by climbing on furniture at age 10 After that I just fell in love with monkeys.

From what I can discern, it's a team puzzle-solving thing. You get teams of people together (I have one if you want to join called cheezit, 81994421 to join) and solve puzzles. You need 5 people to start though...right now I still need 5 more.

hm. I don't know what I did but I made a team somehow. So if you want to join, PM me and I'll tell you how, just to not spoil it for those who don't want to know.

AHH!! I've spent like an hour and I've got nothing. I think it has something to do with the number 8 though. Wild guess.

Congrats! Keep improving and encouraging others to follow in your steps! Now that you're "one of the best", that puts you in a great role model position to lead others to the kind of improvement you have made. May you continue far and beyond mastery!

Improved Focus Many children experience better grades, and it can help them deal with ADD/ADHD Builds leaders and good role models

I'm 5'2" and in my peak, I was shorter and a good fighter. One of the toughest things about being small is that everyone is bigger than you, and that can be intimidating. If you're learning in a friendly, safe environment, you'll soon learn that nobody's going to hurt you, especially when you're first learning. That way you don't have to worry so much about making mistakes right now or opening yourself up too much. You can feel your space and ranges and footwork. So don't let yourself be intimidated by people with longer reach. Find a guard that works for you. Being shorter, I found that I was often times a reactionary fighter. Waiting for my opponent to move helped me get them in my range and still have time to attack. Plus being smaller usually lends itself to being faster. However, you won't always have to be purely reactionary. After a while you'll learn how to get yourself close to someone, get in your blows, and get back out. Remember, sparring doesn't mean never getting hit. It means choosing carefully what part of your body will get hit, and learning how to move and breathe effectively to take the blow safely. Think light. Be light on your feet and quick. Don't worry about power right now. Since you take ballet, you're probably pretty flexible, which can be very much to your advantage if you like to kick (and are allowed to kick to the head). You should be able to kick guys 6' and taller with ease and success once you know what you're doing. One of my favorite moves to use was like my secret weapon. If I ever got to a situation where I was shoulder-to-shoulder with my opponent and facing the same direction, I would take the leg closest to them and throw a crescent kick to their head. They never knew it was coming because they thought they were too far inside my range for me to kick...but oh no. No no no. The look on their faces never got old So give it some time, let yourself get some more confidence in your ability, and it will come. Don't be afraid to experiment right now. You have no idea what kind of fighter you'll be until you try everything and see what works for you. If things feel counterintuitive even after a lot of practice, that means it isn't working. Good luck! Oh and I hope this made sense...I'm about half asleep as I'm writing this.

Well, hopefully those kids will stick with it, and then you'll see lots of adult martial artists But yes, martial arts schools usually have many children, depending on the style and school. Studies have been coming out for a while now discussing how martial arts can benefit children's focus, discipline, and even grades. It was "cool" in sitcoms/prime time tv to show a mom taking her daughter to karate class. Although I wouldn't say it has elevated to the soccer mom status yet, I think it's getting there. Martial arts have become more accessible to the general public over the past few decades. The image of a hidden dojo above the noodle shop in Chinatown has kind of dropped away. Nearly every dojo offers a kid-friendly program, and the benefits really are great when the instruction is true and on target. Also I think another factor is that kids just have more time on their hands. Parents with stressed time schedules will choose to enroll their children before they enroll themselves, because they want their child to have every advantage, etc. When that happens, there isn't time for the adult themself to attend the adult class.

I tried this and got it on my second try. (Yes, my part in the staff article was actually a true first-hand experience, just a few embellishments for dramatic purposes). You really have to have complete focus and totally believe in what you're doing. If you break your concentration even slightly halfway through, it won't work. You can't be thinking "I wonder if this is even gonna work". You have to visualize it working perfectly, visualize very strongly and believe that it will happen. That worked for me.

Congratulations

Are they still planning on making episodes VII, VIII and IX?

I'm going to move this to Getting Started in the Martial Arts. Good luck in your search for a school.

Welcome to the forums!

Natural is always better for your body...caffeine puts extra strain on your body and actually makes you more tired eventually. Plus, you become dependent on it after awhile, especially when you build a resistance to the caffeine and have to drink more and more just to stay awake. That sounds extreme, but I know people that are pretty coffee-crazy. So ask yourself these questions: How many hours of sleep do you get each night, on average? 8 is a good healthy number if not 9 or 10, anything below 6 is pretty bad, I think (as a habit). What is your diet like? Do you eat a lot of fatty, processed foods that are high in sugar? Your food is your main source of energy. A well-balanced diet is an important key to energy, health, and athletic performance! Finally: is this an endurance issue? Maybe you haven't been training that long, are just coming off of a break from training, or don't lead an otherwise active lifestyle, or maybe your classes are becoming more difficult. In that case it just takes time and effort for your body to adjust to the increased stress. I hope that helped.

I use Proactiv, but the problem is that I'm not very faithful about it. When I am, I get good results. I also use a little tube of neutrogena on-the-spot acne treatment. Plus, before I go to bed at night, I put a drop of lavender essential oils in my St. Ives' Collagen Elastin whatever moisturizer (the Proactiv moisturizer makes my skin burn sumthin awful). My skin has been improving steadily.

This sounds like a good topic for the Instructor Central forum. Thus moved.

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Ki, chi, proper breathing, mind over matter, life force, mystical energy. Whatever the label, this mysterious force has commanded the curiosity of humanity for centuries. Once the topic of fierce debate and contested by many, I am here to testify, once and for all, to the existence of this force and the incredible powers one may attain through disciplined training and focus. The following testimonials to the reality of ki are accounts of actual experiences from actual people – member of the KarateForums.com staff – beginning with myself. Unbendable Arm Several years ago, when browsing the Internal Arts forum, I came across a discussion about ki and the powers which could be harnessed through it, such as levitation, heat creation and increased strength. At first I was highly skeptical, but felt curiously compelled to know more. I asked my instructor if he had ever attempted to find his inner ki, but he informed me that ki had no place in his Tae Kwon Do dojang. Stubbornly, I returned to the Internet, where I found some sites detailing basic ki exercises which I could perform immediately. Excited, I decided to try one known as the "Unbendable Arm" technique, in which the strongest person in the world would be unable to bend my extended arm, allegedly. I grabbed my older brother and told him of the experiment. Highly skeptical, he reluctantly obliged. I slowly stretched my arm out in front of me, unsure of myself. I stared at my arm intently and flexed tightly, nodding to my brother to proceed. He pushed my hand to my side with demoralizing ease while my face contorted with effort. Being that he was 5 years older and 60 pounds heavier than I, this should have come as no surprise. He asked if I was done. Remembering the research, I asked him to let me try again. Focusing steadily, I extended my arm once more. This time, I relaxed it completely so that it was slightly bent, using only enough energy to keep it raised. I concentrated my gaze forward, away from my arm and imagined that my arm was infinitely long, extending into the horizon, through buildings, rooms and people. As I did so, I found that I was focused, yet not thinking hard. I felt like I was in another dimension, aware of nothing else, yet oddly aware of this fact. My other senses seemed to "drop out". Somehow I nodded. Gently at first, he pushed on my arm. Nothing. He pushed harder. Still nothing. He tried to bend my arm at the elbow, but couldn't. Finally, he pushed on my arm harder and harder, until he was literally hanging from my arm, both feet off the ground, pulling with all his might. Astonished, he let go and I came sharply back to reality, as woken suddenly from a dream. In just two attempts, I had completed my first ki exercise. Tammy (monkeygirl) Healing Touch The power of ki is useful in many areas of the martial arts, especially the area of healing. In the following examples, I am going to show you how I have used ki as aa healing and revitalizing tool. Like Tammy, I too had been researching the power of ki and ki exercises over the Internet, as well as practicing regularly with various training partners at the dojo. One of my training partners was experienced in the use of ki and making ki balls and we used to train together often. During one intensive training session I fell heavily and injured my shoulder. Immediately my training partner asked if he could try out his ki healing technique on me. I agreed – my shoulder was a ball of agony and I could barely move my arm. He got me to lie down and relax, breathing calmly and deeply. I closed my eyes and he held his hands over my injured shoulder. I felt a warmth spread across the area and down through the rest of my body. This warmth seemed to “push” the pain out of the affected area and into the floor, out of my body. I was amazed! How could my aching, painful shoulder be cured in a few moments by someone who hadn’t even touched me? Immediately, I knew that I wanted to learn this amazing technique – the power of healing through ki. I studied hard and continued to meditate and practice my ki exercises. One day, a group of friends and I were training on our own at the dojo. We were practicing joint locking techniques with a partner, when one of our group miscalculated a technique and became injured. I knew that this was my chance to try out my ki healing techniques. Swallowing nervously, I approached her and asked if I could try something. I asked her to relax and take calm, deep breaths. I closed my eyes and held out my hands above her wrist. I felt a great sense of peace within me and I tried to “transmit”this peace into my friend. Suddenly she gasped and stared at me open muthed. “Wow!” she said, “That was incredible!” Her pain and injury had gone! I asked her to describe how she had felt when I had my hands over her; her description was the same as I had felt – a great sense of warmth “pushing” away the pain. I was so excited that I had managed to master this technique that I was shaking. I could hardly believe that my ki healing technique had worked. My friends were all amazed and wanted to know how I had managed to perform such an amazing feat. Since that day I have had occasion to use my ki healing powers on several occasions, all with great success. I practice and train in ki techniques on a regular basis as I feel that this is one area which is of immense worth and value to martial artists. Rachael (aefibird) Energy Blast (a.k.a. “Hurling Fireballs”) Like many people, ki was at the top of my “nonsense” list. I’ve heard some outrageous claims about the powers of ki and saw people making a lot of money off misinformed and gullible people. I was not going to be one of these people. Then I paid a visit to my cousin in the northeastern states. Jay owns and operates a martial arts academy, teaching Shotokan and Okinawan Kobudo. He also studies and practices Gakta. Jay told me that ki is simply a thought construct originally used to provide a way of understanding how complex systems (such as the human body) seem to work. It all started with Chinese natural philosophers who were basically early scientists. Seeking for ways to understand how things worked, they looked at animals (including humans) and worked from the principle that if an animal isn't breathing, it's dead. “Ki” was simply a word that meant breath. As these studies grew in depth and breadth, so did their system of knowledge. Applied in the areas of medicine, prediction, the martial arts and others, this basic model became a useful tool. Ki came less and less to specifically mean breath and more and more to resemble a concept of “energy”. He told me you can harness this energy and practices this in his Gakta training; a martial art system that you don't hear a lot about. It is Hindu. Some of the Sikh gurus practiced the martial art to help defend their religious beliefs. Gakta training is linked closely with spirituality and stresses the calmness of mind while defending oneself. It is here that Jay developed the ki to “hurl fireballs”. I know what you’re thinking. Is this Goku, Goten or Vegta from Dragon Ball Z? When he told me this, I bit my lips and thought the same. But as he explains it, you learn not only self defense, but also self awareness. Your sprit is your guideline that will allow you to manipulate your mind and body in awakening the ki within. There is no right way or wrong way to fight, what truly matters is the way you allow your sprit to train, its the sprit with which you train and fight that makes all the difference. To demonstrate, Jay went into a squatting position, on his knees and toes. He went into a deep trance or at least a state of deep concentration. I noticed some sweat on his brow. He cupped his hands around his navel and I heard him mummer. Across the dojo, about 15 feet away was an old Blast Master kicking pad. He opened his eyes and stared at it and quickly did an outward thrust with his hands. I almost fell on the floor when I saw what looked like a flash of light with heat waves around it wisp across the dojo. The Blast Master toppled to the side and, you’re not going to believe this, but it was smoking! There was a definite scar of freshly burnt vinyl and you could smell that something was burning. I was totally amazed and shocked. Was this a trick? No way. His demonstration was purely spontaneous and not prepared. Of course, I wanted to know how he did it. But he said that Gatka is not learned in a day, rather through a process of devotion, practice and discipline over many years. He said that when you train your body you also train your mind. Therefore, when you train your mind you can also train your body. The connection between mind and body must be developed and not taught. The “energy blast” he demonstrated can be a lightning bolt, a telekinetic blast, a fireball or whatever as long as it remains true to the spirit of the practitioner. There is no right or wrong way to fight, what truly matters is the way you allow your sprit to train. It’s the sprit with which you train and fight that makes all the difference. This energy is not mysterious. It is not some as yet undiscovered by science magical force that one day we are all going to learn to harness so we can all fly and shoot fireballs at each other. It is simply a commonly misunderstood concept that few people have ever mastered. Instead, it is thought to be some sort of folklore or legend. Ever since the success of the 1998 film, "The Storm Riders", there has been an increasing trend in Hong Kong martial arts films to use computers to enhance the combatants' abilities (or lack thereof) in a process that has come to be known as "computer fu". While many of these computer fu movies have enjoyed success at the box office, critics and fans from all over the world have decried the practice because it seems to have watered down the Kung Fu genre. Some of the harshest opposition to computer fu filmmaking has come from various "old school" stars and stuntmen, as well as some contemporary stars. Jet Li was a student of the energy blast, or fireball as it is commonly called. He originally turned down staring in the movie “The One” because it was going to have a “hurling fireball” scene and he felt it was mocking his art. It wasn’t until the scene was dropped from the script did Jet Li accept the role. My cousin made a believer out of me, even thought that wasn’t his intention. I did learn a lot more than just knowing that such powers, or actually abilities, really do exist. I say “ability” because it’s something that comes with learning and training, not like a “power” which is mystical. I do not practice this art myself. There just isn’t anyone around here to assist me and I can not just teach myself. But what I can do is use the experience, the awakening, to teach others how powerful the mind is, that there is an inner energy that can be used to complete your martial arts training as well as your spiritual training. We should keep an open mind to the unlimited, untapped resources of both the mind and body. Greg (Kicks) Levitation Ki and internal energy is a major “bone of contention” for martial artists. Either you believe or you don’t, right? Well, up to a few months ago you could have put me firmly into the non believers camp. Then I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life… It all began when I went to a weekend seminar and training session given by a famous martial arts master (I won’t name drop!). The seminars were great and I learned a lot of new stuff and made a lot of new friends, too. Well, one guy who was there was full of energy and was always raring to go. Someone asked him how he could always be so full of beans. “I’m a ki Master” he replied. Although I really wanted to laugh, I didn’t. I was intrigued by the guy and his claims and wanted to know whether being a ki Master really was the source of his unlimited energy and enthusiasm. “What can you do with your ki?” someone asked him. The guy told him to meet him back here after the seminars were over and he’d show him. So, as everyone else was packing up to return to their homes, a small group of us gathered in a little gym to watch this so called “ki Master”. “Go on then,” shouted someone, “shoot a few fireballs.” The group laughed. “I can do better than that,” he replied. “I can levitate!” You could see that in the group gathered there, some people believed him and others clearly thought that we should call a psychiatrist for him. Guess which section of the group I was in? The ki Master walked into the center of the room and closed his eyes. It was deathly quiet; the only sound we could hear was the ki Master’s steady, rhythmic breathing. He stretched out his arms and suddenly there seemed to be a “glow” around him. It was like a pulse of bright, energetic light surrounding his whole body. There was an audible hum of energy in the room. Slowly and carefully, the ki Master rose off the ground. It was no more than a couple of inches, but there was a clear gap between his feet and the floor beneath him. He remained there for a few seconds and then returned to the ground. There were no wires anywhere near him and he was barefoot. The group was totally amazed. No one spoke for several seconds after the demonstration. It was a moment of enlightenment for all of us. The ki Master showed us other amazing feats that he could perform with control of ki, but it was his demonstration of levitation that I found to be the most incredible. I was a total skeptic until one summer’s evening when I met a man with an amazing claim… Doug (KSN Doug)

That's actually how I get most songs stuck in my head. I'll be thinking of songs and kind of singing in my head, and then I get stuck at a point where I don't know any of the words except two or three...then it revolves in my brain for ages until I hear the song again, then it's gone. This seems to happen often with that Christmas Chipmunks song where they're pleading Santa to give them gifts or something. I always hear the part where one of them (Theodore I think) says "Caaaan I haaave a hooola hooop?" over and over and over again.

Woo homeschooling! I taught myself mostly after my parents taught me the basics...reading, writing, arithmetic...you know. Now I'm in a private high school...not because I didn't love homeschooling, but just because it was a great opportunity for higher learning than my parents could offer (AP English and language courses wouldn't be the same at home), and it exposed me to some great colleges. Homeschooling was nice though because it was so flexible. Back to the topic: I was sick with mono for spring break. No fun to be had there. Although my family did move in to a new house, so that was nice

This post contains spoilers about the ending of Gatsby, so if you haven't finished yet and don't want to know, don't read on... I assume you're referring to the lines: The first paragraph is very optimistic and could be viewed as inspirational, but I see it as being sort of cynical and depressing, actually. Gatsby believed in the green light, pushing harder and reaching farther every day, hoping that one day the effort will be worth it and he will find what he was looking for. But in the context of the story, we see that Gatsby's efforts were completely useless. He never got to be with the one he loved once and for all, because of Fate, or Chance, or whatever. He was murdered, publicly viewed as a murderer himself. Daisy never loved him the way he loved her, and he alienated her when Tom revealed Gatsby's past. Even if Gatsby had survived, the experience of Daisy hitting Myrtle would have probably destroyed their relationship anyway. So my view of the last lines (especially the last paragraph about "boats against the current") seems to pessimistically point out how pointless the struggle to keep pursuing dreams like Gatsby's is, because uncontrollable factors like Fate, etc, can come along at any time and destroy you.

Hmm since that didn't go far...how about... "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald? I just finished reading it yesterday. Great stuff!! There were points where I literally stopped reading and just gawked at the book because I was just so amazed at how powerful and well-written it was. So if you've read it (and you should!!!) discuss!

My school advisor gave me my first Cadbury egg for my birthday last year (my birthday usually falls around Easter)...it was soooooooo sweet! I don't think I'll be eating any more anytime soon. I do like peanut butter eggs, though...and that McFlurry thing sounds good.

I'm a fan of the series, as well as the Angel spin-off. I wish I had seen Buffy from day 1, but I don't really have time to watch a bunch of DVD sets of the first few seasons. Not sure about a favorite episode, they're all pretty good...I especially like the episodes when she's discovering things about the First Slayer and the origins of everything. Really cool stuff. And of course, the musical episode was something to be remembered. All the season finale episodes are great. Do you remember the episode when she held everyone hostage in the basement because she was "poisoned" by something? It made her think she was in an asylum and that the world of the demons and slayers was just her escape fantasy world. That really reminded me of Deep Space Nine, where they started to get into Captain Sisko being in an insane asylum and writing the entire DS9 story on his cell walls or something. I always thought the Buffy series would return to that theme in the final episodes and really challenge the "reality" of the show, but they didn't go down that route.

Probably the ISKA tournament on ESPN2. Paul Mitchell sponsors a team, but not the whole tournament, if I remember. It's more showmanship and acrobatics than realistic martial arts, but it is very impressive. It definitely takes a lot of hard work to get where they are, regardless of whether or not you would backflip over your opponent. I just wish they would tone down the screaming a little bit. Makes it a bit annoying to watch for extended periods. The last time I watched one of the forms competitions, I think the kata were 60% flipping, 10% standing still building tension, and 30% fighting techniques. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for the talent it takes to do that stuff...I just think it's getting overboard. Plus, I can't do a backflip and I don't like being excluded from things

A kata is like a song where you know all the words by heart...you don't have to repeat them after anybody else, and you can do it at your own pace (for the most part). You can't change the words, but there is a little room for interpretation on how loudly you say a phrase or how much emphasis you put on a verse. Only in a kata, instead of singing, you're doing martial arts moves...moves that somebody else arranged in a sequence. You must do them in that sequence. It's a very mental thing, because it's completely useless if you don't visualize your opponent. That "little room for interpretation" will depend on the sort of flavor or genre of your style. Depending on the style, kata (or hyung or poomse or form, also dependent on the style) can be loud or quiet, fast or slow, intense or calm, realistic or artistic. Some styles would have you use kata to memorize important techniques so that you can apply them in a real situation. Others use them to focus the mind, body, train muscles, breathing, etc. I hope that helps!