KarateForums.com Awards 2014: Nominate Your Favorites!

[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:

1. Member of the Year:

2. New Member of the Year:

3. Community Spirit Award:

4. Staff Member of the Year:

5. Funniest Member of the Year:

6. Karate Contributor of the Year:

7. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year:

8. Korean Martial Arts Contributor of the Year:

9. Equipment Contributor of the Year:

10. Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year:

11. Instructor Central Contributor of the Year:

12. Article of the Year:

[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

[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

[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

[Patrick]

Nominations are now closed. Thank you to everyone who nominated! We'll unveil the ballots and open voting soon.

Thanks,

Patrick