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

Sweet

-Ken

Just watched the video. That's amazing! Very appropriate I think.

bushido_man96: Very well done! I think the forum would be very different without you.

Just saw the picture of the sword...NICE!! I'm sure that you'll give it a great place to display such a stunning sword. Is it sharp, already? If not, will you get it sharpened, if able to?

Enjoy the sword, Brian; you surely deserve it!!

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

Oh, OK...cool! Thanks for the info, Patrick!!

excellent work Bushido_man96!

Patrick did you take a photo of the sword for us to see?

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

Hello, all! Sorry, I've been busy with work, and we spent the last weekend in Topeka with state wrestling, and I ended up sick on Sunday to boot, so I've been off-line a while.

I wanted to jump in here though, as a forum thank-you is well overdue.

I was very, very surprised when I saw this package on my doorstep. At first, I actually thought it was something our daughter had ordered and had delivered to our house! But when I pulled it inside and started opening it, with the help of the boys, of course, I was just kind of dumbfounded, trying to figure out what it was. I got it opened, and I was shocked to find a very beautiful longsword with what looks like kind of a Templar theme on it. The only way I knew where it came from was with a simple paper printed with a knight on it, stating, "From Your Friends at KarateForums.com." I just could not believe it, and I totally did not know what to think! I posted a pic of it on Facebook after I got it opened, and then the replies coming into my Facebook feed started answering my questions.

Here is the picture from my Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155354908745585&set=a.10150735836615585.710966.707435584&type=1&theater

When the responses started rolling in on the Facebook feed, I viewed the link to this thread, and also the video of Patrick, sensei8, wastelander, and tallgeese on it. All I can say is that I was and still am truly touched by the kind words in that video, and how truly lucky I am to have met the friends that I have at this forum. I feel like this forum has given me so much in my life and Martial Arts journey, with the people I have had the privilege to converse with and even meet with over the course of my time here. I can begin to thank you all enough for the support and this wonderful gift you've given me.

I've rambled on now, so I'll close this post with a simple, Thank, you, to all of KarateForums.com. You all mean so much to me.

Just watched the video. That's amazing! Very appropriate I think.

bushido_man96: Very well done! I think the forum would be very different without you.

Thank you, cathal, that means a lot!