KarateForums.com’s 23rd Half-Anniversary: Renaissance

[bushido_man96]

Hello fellow members of KarateForums.com. Today marks the 23rd half-anniversary of this fantastic website. I've been a member here for 18 years, and it's been quite a ride. This year has been quite special, as this year marks a renaissance in a way.

This year culminated in the site getting a big upgrade, marking a new beginning. The new site offers a lot of added features, but retains the history that I feel makes this site a great repository for martial arts discussion; the best available on the internet, in my opinion.

I recall 18 years ago when I went looking for martial arts chat rooms so I could network and learn from other martial artists. I didn't find any good chat rooms, but I did find KarateForums.com and signed up. What I found was a treasure trove of great discussion, along with a great group of members who were smart and supportive. It was a group of martial artists that was not concerned with showing you how good they were, but with how much they could learn and share. It was a most welcoming environment, and that culture continues to this day, albeit with a different set of members. That culture has been an intrinsic part of KarateForums.com for the 18 years I have been here, and it continues on, even into this new chapter of the community.

KarateForums.com has also been a huge motivation in my training, and this year has been a resurgence for me as well. I've added regular weekly aikido and BJJ classes to my training schedule. I get to attend the BJJ class with at least one of my sons, if not both every so often.  I've attended some aikido seminars along the way, and even got to do a seminar with a Shorin-ryu club that was a lot of fun, with more to come in the future.  I assisted with our taekwondo school's second annual women's self-defense seminar. I've been able to teach defensive tactics at regular intervals throughout the year at work, which was a point of focus for me at the beginning of the year. I find it to be very rewarding. To top it all off, if everything goes right health-wise, I'll be testing for my 5th dan in TKD in December. Being a member of KarateForums.com makes all this training all the more fun, because I look forward to coming back, logging in, and sharing my experiences with this great community.

With an upgraded look and new features, this version of KarateForums.com promises to continue the culture of positive martial arts discussion moving into our next anniversary, and the next, and the next.

Happy Half-Anniversary, KarateForums.com!

[sensei8]

Yes!! Happy 23rd Half-Anniversary!! A awesome post and celebration, Brian; thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do for KF and its members!!

[KarateKen]

Happy 23.5

[Patrick]

Thank you for writing this, Brian! It means a lot, and I'm so glad that you found this community so long ago.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Thanks for sharing Brian. 

I'm looking forward to seeing where this site goes over the coming years. And look forward to the many zooms that's going to happen over the years.