Owner: Martial Thoughts URL:http://karatetraining.org/weblog Join Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:58:04 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog is dedicated to all things Martial Arts. Covering Training techniques, dietary suggestions, entertainment, interviews, profiles, news, and more. Visitor suggestions and contributions are encouraged since this blog is for you! Site statistics:Click here
ALERT: Chinese Espionage Test 2007-11-14 20:03:49 China wants you! Or at least your sensitive computer data… This is a story of potential identity theft on a grand scale. While the details seem small in scale most scouting missions are small and seem insignificant. Bearing that in mind here’s what has me fired up…
Once again the Chinese
government has been caught “Red” handed testing its espionage capabilities and Western detection capabilities. The recent incident involves a pair of Trojan horse (malicious unauthorized programs) on new Maxtor Hard Drives before they left the factory. The function of these Trojans was to steal passwords and then “phone home” to a pair of websites hosted in Beijing reporting all data recorded on theses Trojaned drives. The Trojaned drives are Seagate Technology, Maxtor Basics 3200, 500GB drives. Approximately 1800 of the Trojaned drives were shipped from the factory with 300 being sold before the problem was detected.
The Taiwanese governmen
Holiday Spending 2007-11-14 05:22:34 I was saving this for the holiday shopping season, but then I went out this past weekend and realized that the Christmas shopping season came early this year! Before Thanksgiving and Santa is already at the mall?!
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, Spending
Military Sexual Trauma Center for Female Vets 2007-11-12 21:09:26 In Bernards Township, NJ the Veterans Administration is opening a treatment center to help female veterans who have been sexually assaulted. This facility is the first of it’s kind and has drawn praise and outrage alike. Reportedly driven by a dramatic increase in the number of assault and harassment cases involving female soldiers the new center will provide treatment to those suffering from a condition known as military sexual trauma. An ongoing VA screening process finds that 20% of female soldiers leaving the military report encountering a form of sexual trauma during their service.
So what is MilitarySexual
Trauma (MST)? It is defined as physical assault of a sexual nature or sexual harassment of a threatening character committed by one’s colleagues during military training or service.
Susan J. McCutcheon, Ed.D., R.N., Program Manager for Special Projects in the Office of Mental Health Services at the U.S. Department of Read more:Center
, Female
, Vets
Blocking for Success 2007-11-11 20:04:09 In this video we see a Wing Chun master demonstrating blocking techniques. Below the video are comments from the maker of the video (Hgamer) which offer significant insight into the content. Perhaps the most important observation he/she makes is “notice is that a skilled practioner really just blocks the majority of the time, the unskilled, tries to cover that up by simply blizting the attack.
Regardless of your style you should see similarities to the blocks in your own style. During this video I only saw the Junior practitioner make one potential strike at the beginning of the video. Compare this video to your style in the comments section.
Here’s what the author of the video (Hgamer) posted about This Video:
This took place at windy city’s wing chun 5th annual seminar. I take no credit at all, as my Sifu just showed some superior blocking skills. If you know what to look for you can see tons of different concepts being applied. The 1st thing to notice is th Read more:Blocking
, Success
Open Your Heart 2007-11-10 19:17:15
To often we keep our feeling to ourselves. To often we don’t share the gifts in our heart. I have always been fairly open with my feeling but recent events in my life have reminded me of how short life can be and how quickly we can loose those we cherish but don’t always have time for. Just thought I’d remind everyone of that today. Since it is Sunday perhaps it is the perfect chance to let those you cherish know it.
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Seminar with Marcello Monteiro 2007-11-10 08:41:03 This is an announcement NOT an endorsement.
Where:
120 Frog Pond Lane #200
Dripping Springs, TX 78620
This 2 hour seminar start at 10:30 AM on Feb. 09, 2008 and costs $75.00. Call 512-644-4560 for more information or visit their web site.
Marcello
C. Monteiro is well known in Brasil as a teacher nd coach for creating fighting strategies, teaching the most mportant tricks and details that speed up the learning process and facilitate the performance of each movement used by fighters. “Monteirão”, as he is known among his friends, likes to state that, “the difference between a champion and other athletes is associated with the details of each position”.
He is the author of the first Brazilian
jiu-jitsu book (Secret Positions), edited by Gracie Magazine, which teaches jiu-jitsu positions without gi. That magazine has been for sale, at the Gracie magazine shop since 1999.
He also took part in a film about De La Riva’s life and his created positi Read more:Seminar
Give 1 Get 1 Laptop Program 2007-11-09 20:08:39 If anyone is interested, there is a program called One Laptop
Per Child which you might find interesting.
Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program
for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.
You can read more about this program at http://www.laptop.org/. It seems like a really amazing learning tool for children. If you participate in the Give 1 Get 1 program, $200 of your purchase is tax deductible.
Just thought I’d let you guys know about this. It is a great cause, plus it is a very inexpensive laptop for your kids.
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Ninjabread Man… 2007-11-08 21:48:49 You read it right, Ninjabread Man is here! While it reminds me of The Mr. Bill Show this game is pretty cool for the Nintendo Wii. Released on October 2 this new adventure is rated for everyone though playing the game may increase your appetite&hellip
;not sure why…
So check it out today and if you have it share your comments
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ALERT - Social Security, IRS Refund Scam 2007-11-07 19:54:29 All scam artists are scum but this one is really low. Some scams take advantage of greedy people or people who think they are looking to rip someone else off. This scam targets senior citizens, the sad part about this scam is the victims get warned before they get ripped off but they ignore the warning! Guess they may fall into the greedy category after all but I still think this one is low. Here is how it works:
According to the Social
Security Administration (SSA), someone approaches an elderly citizen and asks if they have filed to get the tax back on their Social Security
benefits. They tell the victim (the Social Security beneficiary) to get a 1099 from Social Security so that they can file the income tax refund for the beneficiary. The beneficiary requests the last 3 years 1099 statements showing their Social Security Benefit. The SSA has no choice except to give them the information because it gives them the total payments they have received. (here comes the warning Read more:Refund
Meditation Point #101 2007-11-19 20:57:39 At the instant a warrior confronts a foe,
All things come into focus.
Life doesn’t give us many moments of clarity but moments of high stress seem to be filled with them. It is funny how most people who experiences a sudden accident or event like an accident or a fall recall how everything seemed to move in slow motion. Falling you understand what is happening, realize how much it is going to hurt, even analyze options all in the split seconds it takes before impact. Focus and clarity are yours, though they are useless in these situations except for illustrating this point. That focus and clarity should be ours always, how wonderful and bizzare that would be?!?
My favorite form of meditation is not set in a prone postion or reciting a mantra, it is in the sparring ring. When we enter into a Martial conflict even a friendly one we find focus and clarity much easier to grasp. Perhaps it is simplicity of it all, hit and block! Except there is nothing simple about a martial con Read more:Meditation
The Confidence Attack 2007-11-18 19:08:32 Confidence men know that a good Con will work over and over. So repeatedly we see old cons being applied in new ways using technology. So why is this important? Because it is one more threat to our safety and our identity. The problem is most people don’t think it can happen to them which is what the conman is counting on.
The latest old Con to resurface is exploiting the invoice play. Before technology a conman would present an invoice to a clerk and get them to think it was either authorized or that they would get in trouble if they checked because it was urgent. Well it is back in the latest email/phishing scams that are directed at certain employees at a company. The term for these attacks is “spear phishing“, cute huh? The first of these attacks surfaced two years ago but they were far and few between. But with some refining they seem ready for the mainstream and so they come in bulk.The these scams, the phisher find the name and email address of a compa Read more:Confidence
Meditation Point #100 2007-11-15 21:21:14 ….on the shore
Of the wide world I stand
alone, and think
alone, and think
Till love and fame to
nothingness do sink.
nothingness do sink.
John Keats
For this one you need to do some active visualization. It is hard to picture a shore facing the whole world but the sea shore is immense enough for this exercise. Standing there, alone it is hard not to be caught by your own insignificance. Standing there you are little more then a grain of sand before the world. The only thing greater then the world is Love. Yet here it say ” till love and fame to nothingness do sink” but in reflection I think you will see that it isn’t true love to which Keats refers. Here we reflect on our self-love and selfish desires, fame and self-importance.
Standing on the shore we are left with our thoughts which eventually also fade before the beauty and calm that is the unadulterated world. In this silence we see more clearly, understanding that all that truly matters in life all Read more:Meditation
Meditation Point #103 2007-11-25 19:13:00 The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past.
- William Faulkner
Many people say there is no past or future only the present. I have said this myself. In some respects this is partially true, we only have the now in which to live. Then what can Faulkner possibly mean? There is no past in the sense that we can change things we have done or witnessed. We can effect the past no more then we can control the future. For us there is no past, but that does not mean it is dead. Hardly, in fact Faulkner says it best for it isn’t even the past, because you are the collection of your past ‘present’ moments. You are the collective of your time here on Earth which means that the past is always present in us, effecting our behavior and decisions in the present and path into the future. Thus without introspection and discipline we are doomed to repeat our mistakes and failures as we are largely creatures of habit, good or bad.
Only through introspection can we se Read more:Meditation
Teenage Karate Girl Saves Mother 2007-11-24 18:42:45 Thirteen year old Brown belt Rebecca Kelly saved her 53 year old mother, Diane two nights ago. Diane was picking Rebecca up from her martial arts class when they were viciously armed attacked by 29 year old James Cordingley. Cordingley was high on heroin, crack cocaine and had drunk eight cans of strong lager at the time of the attack. Obviously a man who was feeling NO pain. The attack was motivated by threats from his drug dealer whom he owed over £60.
Cordingley grabbed Diane as she sat in her car and armed with a TASER attempted to stun her into submission. Still fresh from her evening lesson, Rebecca jumped into action without hesitating. She reported that she “just saw red“. Rebecca went continued “Using the skills I’d learned through my karate lessons I ran and jumped on to the man’s back to pull him off my mum.“ She then ran back to her class in Horsforth, West Yorks, and got three black belts to help her restrain Cordingley unt Read more:Karate
, Saves
Meditation Point #102 2007-11-23 20:08:13 If one could understand a flower as it has its being in God,
this would be a higher thing then the whole world!
-– Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328 )
Born some 700 plus years before me… Why does it seem that most of wisdom today comes from so many in the distant past. Is it the technology that distracts us from deep contemplations? No it is our choices that lead us away from introspection and depth of thought. When a society as a whole seeks the satisfaction of their materialistic desires it is hard for wisdom to emerge. Like a beautiful rose growing in the center of a Mall parking lot, it is not impossible but highly improbable. Even if we seek to live a life of deep introspection society seeps into our consciousness or being. No wonder we cannot understand a flower as is has its being in God.
Remember what is important in life during the coming month. We demonstrate our love and caring for others through our actions. We demonstrate our self worldliness by camping Read more:Meditation
Kyokushin Speed Kick Tutorial 2007-11-22 19:28:45
Sorry it is in Japanese
In the video my students will recognize some of the techniques and principles of executing a good kick. While I do not understand the words that are coming out of his mouth! There is a lot to be gained from watching this video since in the slow motion sequences you see the benefits of this kicking technique. The speed of the kick is increased by the late release of the lower leg. The added benefit of the late release of the lower leg is he isn’t committed until the moment before the kick completes. This approach greatly increases the kicks power, speed and flexibility. Kicks are the most powerful attack you can use but are only truly effective when executed correctly. Incorrect execution of a kick can expose you to unnecessary risk to a catastrophic counterattack. So study how the kick is done and practice! It requires balance and control so regardless of whether or not your practice Kyokushin Karate you should gain something from the practice Read more:Speed
, Tutorial
Happy Thanksgiving! 2007-11-21 18:50:28
The First Thanksgiving
The earliest Thanksgiving events were actually harvest festivals held in the British Colonies, at present day Berkeley Plantation in Virginia in 1619 and at Plymouth in present day Massachusetts in 1621. While they had limited success with wheat and barley, their corn crop proved very successful, thanks to Squanto who taught them (in Plymouth) how to plant corn in hills, using fish as a fertilizer.
While our thanksgiving celebrations have little in common with that of the Pilgrims, hopefully we still take the day to be thankful for all we have and for those we cherish. Thanksgiving is also a day when we should pause to think of those less fortunate then us that we may support them not just during the Holiday season but throughout the year.
From all of us here at KarateTraining.org to all of you. Thank you for your patronage as we build what we hope will bethe best Martial Arts resource site on the Internet! May our success continue to blossom over the Read more:Happy
Training Through the Holiday’s 2007-11-20 19:57:37 Well here we are again the most challenging time of the year to stay on track with your training. In the next month will you throw it all away or will you continue to make progress. With all the distractions and delicious foods that come with the season temptation is all around us. It tends to be a season of excess. So how is a Martial Artist supposed to stay on track?
There are the old standards that everyone states like they are great revelations. Do you need to be told to employ moderation? Is that really a revelation or even the slightest bit helpful in staying on track with your training?! Before someone told you to use moderation were you thinking ‘that extra tin of cookies is good for me’ OR ‘that expensive television will pay for itself’? No you weren’t. While it may be helpful to remind yourself to use moderation it isn’t going to stop you if you aren’t committed.
Reward yourself. Here is another old standard that is for the Read more:Holiday
, Training
Meditation Point #104 2007-11-30 20:19:16 Shake off this sadness, and recover your Spirit;
sluggish you will never see the wheel of fate
that brushes your heel as it turns going by,
the man who wants to live is the man in whom life is abundant.
- - Miguel de Unamuno
To often we let life get us down. In our state of sadness we squander the time life has given us. Imagine that you are given the last hot dog on the planet and instead of savoring it (and perhaps sharing it) instead you complained because you did not have any mustard! What a waste! Perhaps you have been blind your entire life and given the gift of sight for a day you complain that the Sun is to bright, instead of soaking in the beauty of a rose.
We are given these type of gifts every day but they are common to us so we take them for granted. How foolish we are to shroud our Spirit in sadness instead of joy. Spoiled, we loose sight of the gifts around us. Every moment is a gift, how many moments have you wasted? If you dwell on the answer to that que Read more:Meditation
Master Out Done by Teenage Girl… 2007-11-29 20:48:36 Thin teenage girl breaks more tile then accomplished Karate Master
! Or does she&hellip
; Watch closely as this is both entertaining and educational.
Notice that when the karate master breaks the tiles he only breaks the tiles as far as his elbow reaches. That is because his body position stopped the force of the downward strike. If he had used a knife-hand strike or the bottom of the fist he would have most likely gone through all of the tiles as his force would have continued downward.
The hardest part of breaking is the mental aspect, being able to thrust through the target. Injury occurs when we do not focus through the target but instead focus on the surface of the target. That hurts! Of course there is a certain amount of physical strength or mass required to break certain objects. Breaking is a great demonstration of ones mental control and focus. This is still a funny video though, the Karate Master looked like he was about to loose his control! Perhaps that is why
Exoskeleton Combat Gear 2007-11-27 18:25:18 Well the title is a little misleading since you can’t buy one yet but this story got me to thinking about the future of MMA and WWF style competitions…
I had to share this amazing video of the latest advances in Exoskeleton technology. Imagine the applications for this type of technology! It looks like the current prototype is a little slow for say enhanced hand-to-hand combat but that will improve!
With wide spread use we would see reduced work related injuries, increased productivity, increased capabilities in Industrial jobs, Military, Shipping/Loading, Rescue and more! This is a great example of Science Fiction meeting reality, remember Alien, Matrix Revolutions, and others. How many bricks could you break with one of these?! Bet you could catch an arrow with one of these at any range!
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Super Bionic Ninja Robot Hand! 2007-11-26 19:08:24 Is this the beginning of the end? Could a SuperBionicNinja
Army soon take over the world?! In this Discovery Channel video they take on the legend that Ninja’s could catch an arrow as a defensive move.
Of course these non-believers prove that to catch an arrow is an impossible feat. But is their experiment accurate? Have they in fact ignored the super human skills Ninja Masters can acquire? Or are they in fact Ninja agents bent on insuring the Ninja secrets stay well secret!? Regardless of which reason you like the fact remains that no Ninja would try to catch an arrow from that distance when they could easily dispatch the Archer with a Shuriken or throwing dart. If they had tried to catch the arrow from further away and had their hand move with the arrow, catching it as it flew by, perhaps their “experiment” would have had a different result! We may never know the truth now as they continue to cloud the secret Ninja skills with Science and Math! If all o Read more:Robot
An Exercise Collection - Work Your Core 2007-12-07 22:04:26 So we all know it. Your core is crucial in training to reach that extra mile. Here is a collection of Core exercises that will take you to the limit!
Crunch
Flat on back, knees up 90 degrees, feet crossed, hands across chest, suck abs in tight, pick shoulder blades off the ground (toward the ceiling), point elbows toward the thighs.
Weighted Crunch
Flat on the back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, hold weight (start small) straight over face with elbows extended, suck abs in tight, pick shoulder blades off the ground, push weight straight toward the ceiling.
Weighted Twist
Seated, feet up off the ground and crossed, hold weight at chest level 8 inches away from chest, rotate torso so that weight hits each hip.
Russian Twist
Same starting position, start at the hip, rotate up and across the torso, extending elbows.
Blades
Flat on the back, right knee bent 90 degrees, left leg out straight 6 inches off floor, suck abs in tight, pick shoulder blades off the ground, touch h Read more:Exercise
Pride Lasts Foundation - Holiday Appeal 2007-12-06 20:32:15 Happy Holiday
’s it is again time for our Holiday Appeal
. This is the time of year when we are all busy shopping for presents and getting ready for the Holiday’s. Many of us will shop online because it is convenient, easy and fun.
While you shop online you can support our scholarship fund and it won’t cost you a dime, only one extra mouse click! If you are going to purchase anything on Amazon.com please start your Amazon shopping on our website. Right in the center, bottom of the page is an Amazon.com search box, enter anything you want in that box and submit. This will bring you to Amazon.com and then you can go shopping! Once you have done this we will get a referral fee for everything you purchase over the next day, it is that easy! And it doesn’t cost you a thing!
So what will you be supporting? You will be supporting the Academic Scholarship called PrideLasts
. Pride Lasts provides a scholarship to students who are financially and socially Read more:Foundation
An Exercise Collection - Warm Ups 2007-12-05 19:53:58 Here are some conditioning warm-up exercises I have collected over the years…start slow…you’ve been warned!
All drills are done for roughly 30-40 feet.
Heel toe walk
Place heel down on ground roll up on toe, switch feet walking forward.
High knee grab
Flex right knee and hip up toward waist, grab outside of knee pull up as high as possible, left leg stays straight, up on toe. Step forward and repeat with opposite leg.
Knee flex grab
Balance on left leg. Flex right knee, shift right hip slightly, grab right ankle with right hand and pull toward glute (butt). Repeat with left leg.
Figure four grab
Rotate right hip out, grab right ankle with both hands and pull up toward belly button. Repeat with left leg.
Hamstring walk
Place right foot out in front six inches, keep leg completely straight with toe pointed up, bring left hand down to toe of right foot. If you can’t reach your toes place your hand on the front of your leg and stretch downward as far Read more:Exercise
How to Fold an Origami Star (Shuriken) 2007-12-05 07:20:03 This is a great activity one for the kids over the holiday break. It’s the kind of thing that can keep them busy for hours as they make and attack the invisible Ninja army with them!
You don’t have to go to a weapons store to have your very own “ninja star” (also called a shuken or shuriken). You can make one or several out of paper as a cheaper and safer alternative. The detailed instructions are brought to you by the how-to wiki this promises to be fun for every one.
If you pick up some colorful Origami Paper you can also make these as novelty Christmas presents! Or you can purchase a foam rubber star and save on paper cuts!
(Don’t forget to wear safety goggles to avoid eye injury…)
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New Shopping Options 2007-12-03 21:22:58 Today we added two new ways for you to support the Pride Lasts Foundation!
Now in addition to shopping directly from us we are offering you an expanded collection of merchandise! You can now shop for all of your Martial Arts Books in our new Book Store. The available books are sorted into easy to locate categories depending on your interest in the Martial Arts. You can also shop for all of your Movie and Music selections using our new Multimedia Store, choose from DVD, VHS, CDs and MP3 Downloads! No matter your taste there is something here for everyone.
The best part about all of these options is that for every purchase you make the proceeds go directly to the Pride Lasts Foundation scholarship fund! It is that easy and it doesn’t cost you a dime!!
Don’t forget that 10% of the profits from all direct sales in our store go to support the Pride Lasts Foundation scholarship fund. So what are you waiting for? Get the martial arts supplies you need and want while Read more:Shopping
, Options
Shut Up and Stand Up! 2007-12-02 19:44:09 A few weeks ago I commented on a blog of someone who is fighting against some government injustice. As is typical in these things the person and their supporters seem more interested in gaining the support of others then actually succeeding in their plight. Some how in this age of the Internet the mob has evolved to a new shallow dimension. More then ever we live by proxy and more to the point by Poll. We use the Internet to vent our frustrations which for most, the writing and even the reading gives some sense of accomplishment. This of course is folly. Venting and “raising awareness” does little to change anything yet we are drawn to it like moths to the flame. We have been so fooled by this culture that people feel engaged in the political process when they call a talk radio show but they would never think of calling their Local, State or Federal government representative. As I said I resently commented on this topic and so to illustrate my point further Read more:Stand
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