Cliff Baker asked:


There can be more to body building than just lifting weights. For variation in your routine you might want to engage in martial arts style activities such as Aikido, Karate, Judo, Qi Gong or any of the other ancient Asian disciplines that are about building muscular strength. The great thing about learning martial arts as well is that you are also taught how to be very spry on your feet.

Martial arts training also teaches you how to focus yourself mentally. In a way you could refer to it as “applied body building” as eventually you end up fighting an opponent in these disciplines. There is a lot more to it than just “pumping iron” which is great for those who want a little bit of variance to the way they work out.

The benefits of martial art training are similar to those of straight muscle building, only the activities are a bit more aerobic as there is lots of jumping, swinging the arms in the air and kicking. In fact most martial arts professionals also weight train. Many people who try Tae Kwon Do and the other Asian disciplines experience many physical and psychological benefits. The physical benefits consist of, but aren’t confined to the following: loss of body fat, healthier year round, becoming more energetic, better physical aerobic condition, as well as stronger joints.

However martial arts is directly related to anaerobic exercise because there are many postures and weight bearing type exercises that mimic the holding of a weapon even if there is none in the persons grasp. Also many of the ancient moves are specifically about developing grace and strength. Some of the martial arts forms are more about developing a longer lithe body shape that can help you mimic the movements of certain totem animals like a panther or a crane. This is why studying the martial arts is also ideal for women as it is not as much about developing the truly shiny iron man type muscles that are not necessarily that attractive to females.

The most popular forms of martial art that are currently taught in the Western World as an adjunct program to muscle building are Aikido, Capoeira (a form of dance mixed with street fighting), Kendo, Wing Chun and Wushu. Almost all are based on ancient Asian sword fighting or hand combat techniques except for Capoeira, which is actually a form of martial arts practiced by African slaves in Brazil.

The only drawback to supplementing your weightlifting routine with a martial arts building program is that it can be hard on the joints. This is because there is less stationary exercise than there is with just a straight program of muscle building and therefore more risk of injury. This may be of some concern to you if you are an older muscle trainer or have joint pain. Almost all muscle builders suffer from joint pain or growing pains of some kind sooner or later. This can usually be treated with liniments and calcium magnesium type supplements.



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sunshine asked:


Nowadays, more and more people are exercising martial arts because the training of martial arts can give many benefits. It not only teaches you how to fight, but also it can improve your health, physically and mentally. It is beyond the doubt that martial arts training can improve the physical fitness of the player.

Martial art is a kind of sports that can work every muscle in your body, allowing the human body to function well. Punching and kicking are common acts of martial arts, which is good for you to strengthen your arms, shoulders, backs and legs.

Martial arts can be played by everyone in any training space. Through training, the physically weak individual can develop the body gradually. Through martial arts training, the practitioners also can improve their mental fitness.

When practicing, the players are in the state of peace. They put aside their desire, irritation and restlessness. The exercise of martial arts can release the stress, giving a peaceful mind. This mentality is great for your health and career. The training of martial arts can perfect the character of the player.

The exercising of martial arts can teach the player respect themselves and others. It can develop their courtesy and personal integrity and self-discipline. Martial Arts are great for improving self-confidence. Learning self-defense increases the self-confidence of practitioners by taking away their feeling of vulnerability.

Confidence allows you to remain calm during difficult situations. By remaining calm, one can assess the situation more clearly and act appropriately. When faced with a compromising situation, those capable of defending themselves should need to use physical force less often than those who cannot defend themselves. But you should know that the goal is not to teach people to fight those who argue or disagree, instead, it is to teach to defend yourselves when necessary. The ability to focus can be increased through the training of the martial arts.

The player are unable to learn martial arts well if they can not concentrate their focus. The player can improve their ability to concentrate by focusing their mind, their eyes and their body in training. With regular training, we can easily see the benefits. Martial arts strives internally to train the mind to develop a clear conscience, enabling one to face the world honestly, while externally developing strength to the point where one may overcome ferocious wild animals.



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Bernice Eker asked:


Tribal rose tattoos definitely add a little something to your typical rose. If this is something you have decided that you want, do some research for before actually getting it on your skin. It would be very helpful if you read up on what the rose symbolizes, where to put it and what design to choose exactly.

First, begin with the design. You can easily source out tribal rose tattoos in different tattoo galleries available over the net. There are a lot of websites that offer free designs you can download and show to the tattoo artist. This is a good idea but the problem is such designs are not very unique. Since they are free and anyone can easily access it, a lot of people probably have this design already.

Most individuals would really prefer something that is very unique or something that is truly them. If you are like this, it would probably better if you seek the help of a pay tattoo website. Here you can find tribal tattoo experts who can give you a custom made design. You may collaborate with him or her.

Share your ideas, what you are expecting and where you plan to put it if you have already decided. He or she can also give you ideas like what color you should use or simply give you the drawn image itself complete with color and the tribal patterns. If you find it hard to decide where to put it, you may also ask for his or her advice.

Aside from this, turning to pay tattoo websites may also lead you to a lot of tattoo experts who can suggest which tattoo parlors you should go to, what things to look for to ensure that the tattoo parlor is safe and what you should do to prepare for this. Tribal rose tattoos symbolize femininity, grace and gentleness. It can be used both for men and women.

As earlier mentioned, having tribal lines and patterns on it make it more interesting and intriguing. It adds a distinct artistic or creative touch to it that cannot match a normal rose tattoo. If being different, creative or artistic describes you personality, you should definitely consider getting tribal rose tattoos.

The colors hold meaning as well. Red is said to represent true love, pink shows grace and lavender for magic. On the contrary, white signifies innocence or purity, as black is for death. Orange can be for passion like flames and yellow for friendship. Lastly, a deep burgundy shade shows beauty. Of course these are just associated meanings. You can choose a color without having to attach a meaning to it.

Having an informed decision is the key to having a successful tattoo. Keep in mind that this image would be on your skin and that you would have to live with this design for a long while. Try to choose something classy and not something that you would regret after five years. It is really best that you choose something that reminds you of someone or something or represents you.



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Art Nahshon asked:


When it comes to tattoos, one of the world’s most requested designs are Irish tattoo designs. There is no arguing about it. With its interesting history and the imagery of Ireland reflected on all Irish tattoo designs and the meanings that comes with every pattern, it is not a wonder why people of non-Irish descent, are so enamored with it, oftentimes infusing it with a meaning of their own. I know you would, too.

Over the years Celtic and Irish tattoo designs have merged and had came to be known as one and the same, except for a handful of designs that are truly Irish such as harps, the shamrock, and the claddagh symbol. Celtic patterns and knot work have long been considered to be Irish and these knot works and plaits helped make Irish tattoo designs gain worldwide recognition among tattoo lovers and body art enthusiasts.

However, Irish tattoo designs are also getting more popular among the regular folks: people wanting to have a tattoo, not to show off or to be more popular or to belong to a group, but to have a part of a loved one etched on their skin as a tribute. It could be for a person, or for a pet that is considered by the owner to be part of the family. For example, you have a pet dog and you want to keep him with you forever but you know you it is impossible, you actually can opt to have an image of your pet tattooed on you, done with an Irish twist with all its intricacies. In a way, he is with you whatever happens, wherever you go.

What’s fascinating about these Irish tattoo designs is you can infuse into it a design of your own without disrupting the exotic Irish appeal of the original pattern. If you want a tattoo of your pet dog done in Celtic knots, you can do so and with an excellent tattoo artist, the outcome would be quite fascinating. The image of the animal would not be easily recognizable among the knots and patterns, but if you look a little closer, you will first make out the outline and the more you look, the more you will see the image of your pet artfully embedded into the design, into your own skin, permanently. Not only did you get a tattoo of your pet, you got it in a mind-blowing design, too.

Some people just love their pets so much that they are willing to immortalize them in the form of a tattoo. For some, it is okay to have their pets boldly tattooed on their body but it is not always appealing that way. One of the best ways is to do it with an Irish or Celtic flavor to add more mystery to it. It is more fascinating and more interesting when it is not too obvious and, more often than not, it is a lot more meaningful that way. And that is what a tattoo should be.



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Robert Jones asked:


Chances are, you are probably not a martial arts master, but if you think about it, there is no better time than now to start your training. I’m not going to smooth it over and say that it’s an easy journey or that if you start now you can be a full-fledged master in a year or two. It will probably take ten years and it will definitely take a lot of work for you to become a master of martial arts, but you’ll have so much to show for your accomplishment. Besides, the next ten years are going to go by no matter what you do, so why not use them to reach a goal? While you are training to become a master, you’ll begin to incorporate all aspects of the art, from the training and techniques to the tactics and history, into your life and it will change you life in ways that you couldn’t do any other way.

Physical Fitness

As you train to become a master of martial arts, you’ll learn that you need to always incorporate your entire body to control your movements. Unlike other physical activities that often use just one muscle set at a time, martial arts doesn’t require you to have different routines to work various muscle sets of the body. Besides, a great training program will have your exercises change and evolve with you so that you get the maximum out of every training session. By the time you become a master, your body will be extremely physically fit and, as a side benefit, you’ll have increased your health and lowered your risk of certain diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. As a part of your training, you’ll also work on your flexibility. Regardless of your age or your current flexibility, martial arts will help you improve your overall flexibility and reduce your risks of injuries, increase your posture and help you be able to better relax your muscles.

Mental Fitness

You cannot train martial arts while zoning out, reading a magazine or watching a television program. To train martial arts, and especially to become a master, you’ll need to get and keep your mind and body in tune with one another. You’ll raise your awareness of your body and its abilities, but you’ll also increase your focus and concentration. This is necessary because you’ll need to make sure that you concentrate on every movement to make sure you don’t injure yourself or those around you. This necessary focus and concentration then carries over to other aspects of your life. As you train and increase these abilities, you’ll find out that your focus and concentration also increase on the job, at home and in other situations as well. Having your mind and body in tune with one another also gives you a clear sense of what you are capable of and increases your confidence because you know that you’ll be able to defend yourself physically and mentally. In addition to that, martial arts training is always changing which means you’ll never get bored and you’ll always have a challenge to look forward to. Mastering each new move challenges not only your body, but your mind as well.

Lower Stress Levels

While any type of physical exercise is a great stress reliever, regular practice of a martial art goes one step further. Physical exercise alone can reduce the physical effects of stress, but activities such as jogging, walking, biking or playing a sport don’t help you relieve as much stress as you could. The mental concentration and focus required to train martial arts can give your full stress relief in once activity. Becoming a master gives you the skills you need to handle stressful situations in all aspects of your life.

You might choose to train a martial art for many different reasons: to train for self-defense, for a fitness regime, to reduce stress, for mental discipline or to build self-confidence. Whatever your reason to start, you might as well set your sights to the highest goal within the art and strive to be a master. Ten years from now you’ll look back and may not even believe how it’s changed your life.



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Jeff Edward asked:




Fitness training is paramount for martial artists. Pad-up! Offer a free range of fitness calculators and tools to facilitate your martial arts training. The following suite of tools and information guides may be used as a metric to gauge the effectiveness of your training regime. Tools are also provided to help you select your most suitable martial arts discipline.

Body Mass Index for Martial Artists

Muscle tone is often important to martial artists especially when conditioning for a competition. Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of fat based on both your height and weight.

BMI Ranges

Underweight =

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Craig Thornburrow asked:


Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of online sites wherein you can pick and choose a tattoo design, print it out and take it to one of many tattoo parlors in your area. Incredibly, there are well over 40 million individuals who have tattoos. What is it about tattoos that are so appealing?

The history of tattoos dates as far back as the Stone Age. However, you may recall that in 1991, a 5300 year-old frozen mummy was discovered in the Otztal Alps and aptly named “The Iceman.” Upon examination, he was found to have 58 tattoos.

In other cultures around the world from the Maori in New Zealand to the Ainu in Japan, the art of tattooing – although its origin can be traced back to the fourth millennium and earlier – still exists today and has morphed into a more contemporary art form.

While the Mendhi is a temporary tattoo made primarily of henna, it is nonetheless a popular form of tattooing that originated in India. The difference between this form and traditional tattoos is that the Mendhi does not penetrate the skin, but the patterns applied to the skin last for a period of three to four weeks.

Why have tattoo designs become so popular? It has become a symbol of individuality. Considering there are well over 40 million individuals who have tattoos, it seems clear that the reasons are uniquely their own. As seen on the program “Inked,” people decide to have tattoos commemorating loss of a loved one, or utilize symbols denoting their specific culture or religion, or a tattoo design that represents a sentiment they feel aptly describes their own convictions.

An indication of just how popular tattoo designs have become is evidenced by the more than thirty thousand tattoo parlors available today. As state earlier, there are close to 200,000 online sites that offer a tattoo design in every genre imaginable. While there is certainly no shortage of tattoo designs, there are occasions when a person may outline a specific design or idea that he or she cannot find on the internet.

Tattoo designs can range from the more simple design such as a small butterfly to the more intricate and larger images such as a caricature. Over the last several years, tattooing has been used as a method by which permanent makeup can be applied. For example, some women may have their lips or eyebrows tattooed with a color of their choice.

There is no doubt that the art of tattooing has become a more acceptable form of self-expression. To this end, the tattoo design will continue to emerge and become perfected by those artists whose vision and creativity serve to enhance the scope of this ancient art form into the next millennium.



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Deborah Smith asked:


Tattoos are probably the most striking way of adorning the body through any form of art, whether on a temporary basis or a permanent one. While temporary tattoos differ in their means of application and the period of time that they will decorate your body for, permanent tattoos will penetrate your skin pores in the form of different colored ink, and remain there forever, unless and until you attempt to get them removed.

If you are serious about getting your skin imprinted with a permanent tattoo, it is important that you select just the right kind of tattoo design for yourself, one that fulfills the following very important requirements.

The tattoo design that you select should be – exactly and only – the one that you were looking for. See that you do not compromise on the shape, size and pattern of the tattoo design, due to any reason at all, for then you are bound to regret getting it done in the first place.

Apart from the pattern of the tattoo design, the colors and hues that you want your tattoo to display should also be the ones of your choice, and preferably ones that suit your skin tone.

It is extremely important that you remember the main reason behind getting the tattoo, and hence, also see that the tattoo design you select portrays the emotions behind it correctly. If it is for mere fashion, you could choose a trendy tribal tattoo design, or a symbolic and stunningly exquisite butterfly tattoo design.

Other than the requirements of the tattoo design that you choose, there are some that you as a purchaser need to consider, while looking for the perfect one. Here are the steps that you need to follow:

First, see that you look through all the available tattoo designs based on your chosen concept, present in various galleries on the internet, or with professional tattoo artists, and only then make your choice. If you want to bear a unique tattoo design, you could ask an artist to create one for you. Also keep in mind where exactly you you’re your tattoo to be situated on your body, and pick accordingly. Remember to keep the budget in mind too.

Next, you ought to find just the right tattoo artist, who will imprint the design onto your skin. You need to be careful while choosing one; see that he or she is a legitimate and expert flash artist.

Make sure that the needles and instruments used by the artist are sterile, you don’t want to end up with any kind of troubles due to it.

Once you have had your spectacular flash art inked into your skin, you will be ready to show it off to jealous viewers, and look gorgeous altogether. However, do remember to be absolutely certain that you want the tattoo, first of all, and also of the design that you select, for the simple reason that if you regret it later, the process of removal will not only be painful, but also very expensive. So choose wisely.



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Robert Jones asked:


Should You Add Supplementary Weight Training to your Martial Arts Training?

There are four things you should consider before you add supplementary weight training into your workout schedule:

Speed

Flexibility

Endurance

Strength

Martial arts training will naturally help you improve in all of these areas, but many people wonder if they need to add supplementary weight training to increase these areas. The answer is maybe.

The first determination of whether or not you should do separate weight training is how it will affect your martial arts training. If weight training will take the place of your martial arts training, then I don’t recommend it (especially for beginners). Advanced martial arts students can make the determination depending on their personal goals.

When you’re making the decision, consider this:

You can add weights if you have your martial arts training regime down cold you don’t want your martial arts training to suffer so that you can weight train on the side.

If you do choose to weight train, educate yourself or get a trainer so that you get the most out of your training.

Make a plan before you begin anything.

To make a plan, you need to figure out where you want to improve. You need a balanced body to be a good martial artist, so if you do decide to add supplemental training, it should be to improve this balance. Is there a part of your body that is not up to par with the rest of your body? Do you have plenty of endurance but lack speed?

Here’s an example of what I mean. I had a student at my Bellevue Academy of Kempo Martial Arts school that had perfect form. She was worried that her technique wouldn’t work in a real situation. She practiced slow and accurate movements, so the answer for her was to start training for power or speed to make her movements more real-world applicable.

In the “old days” martial artists were not purists if they did strength training along with it. The thing is, even in the Shaolin temples, the Kung Fu practitioners had exercises like moving granite balls and doing hundreds of movements with iron rings on their arms it sounds like a form of weight training to me.

If anyone tells you that weight training will harm your kung fu or martial arts training, they are only right if you stop or reduce your martial arts training to weight train. If you break your training down into sections and focus on the parts of your body or goals that you need to balance your body, then you can train accordingly without affecting your martial arts training. If you’re still not sure whether or not you’re weight training affectively, just make sure you do an hour and a half of martial arts training for every hour of weight training you do.



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Chidi Okoye asked:


Uli is an expression of the people’s capacity for creative design, which is firmly rooted in their myths and their experience of life in the past, present and future. At its best, it is an expression of their synthetic present, the epic of their search for a new order in the contemporary world. It is my traditional art style, which I have fallen in love with all over again and it is a privilege to share uli with you in my works. It has been shown that the knowledge of uli motifs and symbols and their application enables one to identify the traditional Igbo artifacts, giving validity to the people’s aesthetic intelligence and judgment. This culture is one of the first known cultures of the world in the recorded archeologically facts to have done bronze casting. (Igboukwu bronze).

Uli symbols may be said to show graphically how the organic forms grow outwards from the core of those elements to point, line, triangle, square and circle that are universal to the concentric circle at the periphery, which contains reflections of everyday world as seen by the artists. Just as the inner circle reflects the uncommon reality or ritual reality of the cultural existence, so the outer circle is in contact with the human and ecological reality, which it expresses.

Artistic activities at Enugu formed part of the early post-1960 independence developments in the country. There was the growing local and international popularity of Nigerian novelists, dramatists, poets, literary critics, architects, artists, and musicians, and scholars. Interesting collaborations took place among those in the literary performing, and visual arts, particularly in southern Nigeria. The efforts and artistic lives of these minds sowed a flourishing seed for an uncommon global harvest. I give thanks to God for these great minds, your outstanding contributions will not be forgotten.

Uli creations relied heavily on drawing skills whose content is based largely on Igbo culture, particularly female body and wall painting called uli and on Igbo tales, ceremonies, and beliefs. The revival of interest in uli through contemporary art had begun with Uche Okeke in the 1960s, when Nigeria’s independence produced a growing sense of freedom from colonial restraints on cultural tradition. It fully developed among teachers and students in the 1970s at the University in Nsukka and was linked to renewed interest in Igbo culture after the destructive Biafran War.

Traditional uli motifs, now rarely painted on human bodies or walls, have a strong linear, often curvilinear, quality. The art makes use of contrasts between positive and negative space, its images at times appearing as sky constellations. Uli’s lyrical qualities express harmony and brevity. It is art style that has often been created in freedom and spontaneity. “Uli is a pride heritage”. Uli motifs generally refer to images of everyday Igbo life, farm and cooking tools, pots, plants, birds, animals, the sun, the moon, and the kola nut, though some are pure design. For ceremonial occasions and important events, skilled Igbo female artists painted uli to add beauty to the human body and the walls of buildings and compounds. Uli has made her way in modern social settings; on sculptural surfaces and on paper, board, and canvas, framed and hung on walls in homes, institutions, and galleries of the world.

Magic of Uli Lines, which is an extended dot or a moving point, has very many possibilities, particularly, the quickly drawn one. My drawing explores the evocative and lyrical possibilities of line and derives from Uli. The Uli artist works spontaneously whether on the human body or the wall. There is no question of erasing or cleaning. There is something about the spontaneously executed work, a breathtaking vitality and freshness that defy description or repetition.

An analysis of Igbo drawing and painting reveals that space, line pattern, brevity and spontaneity seem to be the pillars on which the rich tradition and heritage rests. It is these unique qualities that I strive for, both intuitive and intellectually to assimilate in my work. Intuitively, because during my years of studying and looking at Igbo sculpture, drawing and painting, various aspects of design and recurrent motifs have become internalized in my system and inevitably surface unconsciously in the course of executing my aesthetic challenges. It is perhaps needless to add that the great works of art is a result of the harmonious marriage of intellect and intuition.

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Chidi Okoye is an award winning sculptor, painter, poet and author whose impressive bodies of work have won the admiration of local and international art collectors. For his works and more information go to: modernartimages.com or chidi.com



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