Are Martial Arts Gradings Significant

Countless Martial Arts schools have a built in grading structure. This allows students to obtain a tangible symbol of progression, typically in the form of a new belt or sash. Commonly, the grading is a tough test with students having to indicate an ability level needed to rise a notch.

The grading test is frequently a very enjoyable, but tough, day, while some do fail, generally they shouldn’t as they will not be put forward for the grading unless they’re ready. Clearly, there’s no point attempting your black belt if you’re only a blue belt standard. You ‘ll be in over your head! Numerous Martial Arts schools simply award a new grade to their students when the trainer feels they have attained a suitable level. Although pupils miss out on taking the actual grading this method averts people from demanding their next belt once the time between belts is up.

Regularly pupils consider that merely because they’ve turned up for the stipulated number of schools they are due their grading. While that may be agreeable at some of the more money oriented Martial Arts schools it is not so in lessons where the trainer cares about your promotion. At the end of the day a belt is just something to keep your uniform or gi tidy the color is worthless if it hasn’t been received.

You can quickly tell if a Martial Arts School makes sure their students earn their progression is to take a look at the black belts. If they are no good the school is probably not worth investing your time and effort in. If they’re good it’s well worth giving the place a go. Good black belt standard equals tough grading and high technique levels. Of course, it is also a great indication of the teachers ability, if you keep at it you too could be as good as the black belts, one day. Not everyone is capable of passing on their technique to students and that holds true for ex-World Champions, winning does not always translate into teaching!

The majority of grading systems will ensure that you receive your new belt or sash and so have great value. But you need to take responsibility of yourself, you should prepare successfully for your gradings. Do not leave anything to chance, practice in and out of your class, so you are as well prepared as possible!

The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition

The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition has been supporting and benefiting the works of talented artists from around the world for 29 years. The prizes awarded to selected artists are designed to help these artists gain valuable exposure and advance their careers in the art world.

“Winning the competition allowed me to feel more confident in my work, and increased my exposure in the art world. I have nothing but praise for the competition staff and the staff at Agora Gallery. It was the best experience I’ve ever had in any gallery. I would love to enter again and have recommended the competition to many artists.” – Ed Moret – selected artist, 2013.

The competition awards include:

– Participation in an exhibition at Agora Gallery, located in New York’s famous art district, Chelsea.
– Cash Prizes
– Internet Promotion on ARTmine.com
– Valuable promotional packages by Everything for Artists (E4A.com)
– Art critic review to be published in contemporary art magazine, ARTisSpectrum

The competition juror this year is Mr. Carlo McCormick, one of New York’s noted culture critics and curators. He has written many books and catalogs on the subject of contemporary art and artists, and he lectures and teaches extensively at universities and colleges across the country.

The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition is sponsored by Agora Gallery and Everything for Artists, and partnered with The Children’s Heart Foundation, funding research and support for victims of Congenital Heart Defects.

Important dates for the 29th Chelsea International Fine Arts Competition:

– February 11 2014 – Competition opens
– March 18, 2014 – Entry deadline
– April 9, 2014 – Results announced
– August 22nd through September 11th, 2014 – Exhibition for selected artists

“I have very good memories of New York, Agora Gallery, and the whole team. It was an unforgettable moment! Thank you again for everything you have given me, not only on a personal level but also benefiting my artistic career.” – Brigitte Garcia – selected artist, 2013

The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18 from all around the world. All media are accepted with the exception of video art, film, performance art, jewelry, and crafts. In past years, selected entries have been diverse in media, including photography, painting, sculpture, and digital work.

Entries can be completed entirely online. Please read the rules and regulations before submitting.

To find out more, please visit the competition website: http://www.agora-gallery.com/competition/

To make sure that you don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity, sign up to the competition’s mailing list to receive reminders and notifications: http://www.agora-gallery.com/mailinglist/main.aspx

Buffets, Infusions Restaurant And The Okanagan College Culinary Arts Buffet, A Gourmet Dining Experience

In eighteenth century France the modern day buffet was developed which soon spread across Europe. Serving a meal to oneself has a long and interesting history, and eventually this style of eating was converted to modern day buffets.

The second half of the nineteenth century, especially in the English speaking world, buffets became extremely popular for meals. Buffets are very popular with people today, because, it offers plenty of food variety at a reasonable price. People can create their own dishes with more meat, less vegetables and fewer side dishes, plus creating salads with appealing ingredients that they enjoy. Buffets offer people the opportunity to try new types of food that they would not order off a menu in a restaurant.
Infusions Restaurant at the Okanagan College hosts many buffets every year, and the last “buffet” was held a week after their Okanagan Wine Festival Gourmet Dinner which attracted a sellout crowd of over 80 dining guests. Guests were treated to a “Five Course” gourmet dinner with special Okanagan Valley wines to accompany each course.

The Okanagan College Culinary Arts Buffet will be prepared with the special talents of the new, up and coming future chefs of your favorite restaurants, cruise ships, hotels, ski and golf resorts, all directed and instructed by World Class Chefs. The buffet will include fresh meats, poultry, seafood of all types, and of course Okanagan Valley fresh vegetables and fruits.

Infusions Restaurant and the Okanagan College Culinary Arts Bakery will have a spectacular dessert buffet for this special night with freshly made gourmet desserts, and with a delicious assortment of as many freshly made Pastries, Tortes, Cakes and Chocolate Confections as a person could possibly eat after the meal.

The Culinary Arts buffet will offer a HUGH selection of seafood and seafood platters, from Sushi Rolls, Dim Sum, Salmon, Halibut to Shark and Lobster. Dishes containing Gratin of Potatoes & Yams, many types of Pasta with Grilled and Glazed Vegetables, and of course the Roast Beef and Beef Tenderloin, and ALL for $15.95!

For people in Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley who want a “Spectacular Feast”, this buffet will take place on December 12, 2008 at Okanagan College’s Infusions Restaurant. Infusions Restaurant at the Okanagan College and the Okanagan College Culinary Arts program hosts many private gourmet dinners, private functions and private buffets every year for people, companies and organizations in all parts of the Okanagan Valley and beyond.

Join them on Friday at Okanagan College’s Infusions Restaurant for their Spectacular Friday Night Seafood & Prime Rib Buffet! The Chefs and Culinary Arts Student chefs will create special tantalizing items for this special December Buffet Extravaganza! Come in on Friday, December 12, 2008 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm and enjoy a fine gourmet meal of your choice. Infusions Restaurant is located at 1000 KLO Road, in Kelowna. Fine Dining At Kelowna’s Best Kept Secret!

A very reasonable price for this gourmet buffet at $15.95. Call for reservations at Infusions Restaurant: 250-762-5445 ext. 4426.

Martial Arts Power Is The Result Of Creating The Dense Muscle

Many people think that Real Gung Fu Power is the result of big muscles. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. To fully understand the power we are talking about here we must change our fundamental notion of what a muscle is and does.

The purpose of a muscle is to to retract, and thus to make a limb or body part move in a certain direction, or become tense for some purpose. Thus, when somebody works his biceps so he can have a big gun, he is reducing his punching power. Punching power comes from working the muscles on the other side of the arm, the triceps, which cause the arm to go out, which is where you’ll find a punch.

The point is to figure out which muscle results in what action, and then to isolate and work those specific muscles. Want punches? Then do a slow punch and look at your arm and body.

Figure out which muscles result in the extension of the arm, which muscles support the impact of the arm, and so on. This will enable you to develop specific exercises which will cause you power in the punching muscles…which will give you harder punches.

If you want to really gain some punching power, try doing ‘punch ups.’ These are push ups where you don’t go all the way to the ground, you only go down six inches, then up. This isolates and builds the exact muscles which come in to play in a knock out punch.

Yes, you should develop other muscles and muscle groups, explore other variations of push ups, but concentrate a bit of your work out on punch ups and you will shortly be amazed at your growing ability to knock somebody out. You should explore this idea for places on the body where you might get hit. By this I mean some sort of wrestler’s bridge so you’ll have a thick and stable neck, or some sort of crunches for when you get hit in the stomach, and so on.

Now, the other thing you should be concentrating on is endurance. By this I mean you shouldn’t be growing a large, bulky muscle, for that weighs more, runs out of juice sooner, and is more awkward to move around. Instead, you should be growing dense muscles, muscles that are leaner and not fatter.

To do this you should cut the size of the weight you are working with (or just go to body calisthenics, which is my choice) and focus on how long you can do the exercise. Try for hundreds of repetitions of deep squats that take 3-4 seconds to complete (build the number slowly to avoid injury), or build up the number of pulls ups you can do into the hundreds. I’ll write more on this idea later, but for now, this should give you a good notion on how to change your work out so that you have maximum body endurance, the potential for lightening quick moves, and all the other things that go along with creating true Gung Fu Power.

Learn Martial Arts Moves To Win A Street Fight Easily!

Want to learn some of the best kept secrets of martial arts moves that work great? I want to explore and share with you a collection of street self defense fighting techniques that will make you a better fighter. I have been a martial artist my whole life, and have fought in many dangerous situations outside of the dojo. From what I can tell you, these are the following best kept secrets of reality based self defense training:

Learn martial arts moves #1 – The kick to the groin. You can use the kick, or a knee strike to cause and inflict damage and mostly pain to a male opponent. This move is not just limited with kicks and knee strikes, you can elbow the groin, stomp, bite, squeeze, rip. It is a very painful and sensitive area on every male opponent and if you need to fight for your life everything is fair on the street. Remember that and use this move.

Learn martial arts moves #2 – Stab your fingers into their eyes. When I did years of training in Jeetkunedo Concepts I quickly learned that one of the best reality based self defense techniques I could ever use was none other then the eye gouge. It is a simple move and has devastating consequences to the person who is attacking you. It causes temporary or permanent blindness and extreme pain. If you need to protect yourself, try using this self defense move!

Learn martial arts moves #3 – Smash your attacker into his kneecaps. You can cause permanent damage or more specifically break his knee cap. It is an easy strike and what you want to do is smash through it with your foot and breaking his knee joint. If anything this will cause pain and hold back an attacker being able to chase you as fast and quickly as he could if not for you using this move.

Be sure that you memorize and use all these techniques and incorporate them into your street self defense and martial arts moves. They work in street based scenarios so be sure to practice and improve your training. Be sure to do daily physical activity and training to be prepared for violence! Continue improving your education and skill levels of martial arts. Be sure to eat properly and maintain your physical health. I hope you have learned something from this article.