Students Of Success

After an eleven year break I began looking for a karate school in order to train again. I had a serious advantage in that I had already spent a lot of years training karate and had earned a Black Belt. So I knew exactly what I wanted in a school. And what I didn’t want as well.

Good quality karate instruction I would recognize. But this time around was different; I had three children I hoped would be interested in learning. Having been part of a very good children’s program in the past, I knew what I wanted for them, too.

No karate program is perfect. There are things I haven’t agreed with at all three schools where I’ve trained. And that’s a good thing, it means I’m thinking for myself. (Even when I’m wrong. It happens a lot.) I’m sure you will find things you don’t agree with.

So this ‘list’ is meant to help you think for yourself, about what you want to see in a karate school. Let’s get started.

Instructor / school owner with too much ego – I believe this tops my list of worst traits. Unfortunately, it may take time to fully assess. And don’t let the sight of students bowing to the instructor fool you. That’s a good thing (I’ll mention it again later.)

Affiliation with a bigger organization – National or international; visit the website. The one unaffiliated group I’ve trained with had avoidable problems, things that might have been solved by being part of a larger group. “No affiliation” could very well mean, in fact probably does mean, too much ego. (Follow the link below for one example.)

Time to Black Belt should be at least 3 ½ years – Minimum. With all tests passed and none missed, but will most likely take longer. When you find those “Black Belt Programs” that guarantee this milestone (some even in two years) turn around and run, don’t walk.

Engaged instructors and students – you may not have the background to know if the karate is good quality, but you’ll know if the instructors and students are motivated. Do they speak respectfully to each other, do they bow respectfully, do they remain focused and work hard the entire class? Are they having fun while doing these things?

Students follow the pace of the class – And does the instructor push until all students are obviously challenged?

Black Belt is not the end – The sign says “Black Belt Is My Goal!” So what about after Black Belt? First-hand, I’ve experienced the problem of weak post-Black-Belt instruction. (See ‘Affiliation’ above.)

A school has to be a business to survive – However, for the business to survive, the students – and the quality of instruction – have to come first. (Read ‘Contract’, next.)

A contract is not necessarily a bad thing – It’s true that some people need a contractual commitment of money in order to stick with their own training, or their child’s. You will find arrangements from month-to-month payment, to yearly contracts, to prepaid “Black Belt Guarantee” programs (remember to run, not walk from this last one.) I participated in a yearly contract arrangement with the unaffiliated group and ended up getting burned a little. And I had a long track record with the school! (See ‘Business’ above.)

Separate kids-only and adults-only classes – It takes us adults longer than kids to get the hang of some of this stuff, in general. And we should be taught differently. Look for a family class if you and your child want to train together.

Six-foot high trophies in the window – Open tournaments. When integrated into the program properly, affiliate tournaments are a great teaching tool. And a whale of a lot of fun! Open tournaments, however, are another beast altogether. They might be a lot of fun, they might be a terrible experience or somewhere in the middle. I’ve never been to one. But I’ve heard enough stories from people who have. And their experiences support my understanding that throwing a lot of unknown people together from a lot of unknown, unaffiliated karate schools invites less than desirable results. Enough said.

My suggestion is to read through this list again and write down questions that come to mind. Any good instructor will gladly answer them, and will have questions of his or her own for you. Any good karate school will allow you to join in a few classes with no financial obligation, just ask. If they won’t, move on to the next school on your list.

I’ve been very fortunate in finding high quality karate instruction; the good schools and teachers are out there. Learning good karate offers you so much more than what you see as a spectator. It’s well worth the effort to prepare for your karate school choice.

I wish you well in your search and training.

Sincerely,

Bryan Hix
Cho Dan (First Degree Black Belt)

World Tang Soo Do Association
http://www.worldtangsoodo.com

My Contact Page
http://www.practicekarate.com/blog/index.php/contact-page/

Offer your feedback to this article in My ‘Practice Karate’ Blog
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Copyright © 2006, Bryan D. Hix, http://www.PracticeKarate.com. All rights reserved. You may reproduce this article by including this copyright and, if reproducing it electronically, including the above live link to the ‘Practice Karate’ website.

Top 10 mistakes when buying seafood

The best way to break down the mistakes that are done when
buying seafood is to look at each type of seafood and the
characteristics it should have when you purchase it. You should
buy high quality seafood whether it is fresh or frozen and these
tips on what to look for to keep you from making the top 10
mistakes when buying seafood.

When you go to buy fresh whole fish do not buy it if the
appearance of the fish is not bright and shiny, scales are not
intact and adhere to the skin. If the eyes have turned pink,
cloudy and sunken, except with small eyes fish like salmon.
Gills should not have any type of slime coating or be green or
brown in color. Fish should not have a fishy odor.

When you buy fresh whole fish it should be bright, shiny, and
most of the scales should be intact and adhere tightly to the
skin. Every fish has markings and colors that will fade and be
less pronounced as the fish loses its freshness. The eyes should
be bright, clear, and full and sometimes protrude according to
the species. The color of the gills fade over time, turning from
bright red to pink, grey and then to a green or brown color so
the brighter red the more fresh. Fish that is fresh will have
practically no odor at all, the fishy smell happens over time.

When buying fresh fish filets and steaks do not purchasing if
the fishy odor is strong, there are signs of browning or drying
around the edges of the filets, if plastic wrapping is not
tight, it if there is plenty of space between the fish and the
wrapping, and if there is any liquid in the packaging.

Fresh fish filets and steaks odor should be fresh and mild. The
flesh should be moist, firm, elastic and have a fresh cut
appearance.

When you buy frozen seafood do not buy if it is not frozen
solid, if there is any discoloration or any type of drying which
can mean freezer burn, if there is an odor. Do not buy any
frozen seafood product that has ice crystals or water stains.

Frozen seafood should only be purchased if it is frozen solid
and if there is no discoloration and if there is an odor it
should be fresh and mild. The wrapping should be moist and vapor
proof and should fit around your seafood closely and not damaged
in any form. If you notice water stains or ice crystals, the
seafood has thawed and been re-frozen. Always look for an
expiration date.

When you are purchasing any seafood product fresher is always
better. When you buy frozen talk with the person that is in
charge of the seafood and learn how the seafood was frozen. If
it was “flash frozen” it may in fact be better than fresh. The
time it takes to get quality fresh seafood to your store will
give the seafood time to age. Flash frozen is when the seafood
is frozen within just a few hours of harvesting to ensure the
quality that you can buy.

It is well documented that too much gas can be detrimental.

• Gas can cause severe stomach cramps.
• Certain gases can be harmful to the enviroment.
• Other gases can consume oxygen, and basically “smother” you.
• Particular diets can be related to gas.
• Heavy gases can even cause back ache, lumbago, shoulder injury, etc..

  You can check the following image links which may help you determine whether you actually have gas, or not.

  Lots of gas

  Unusual gas symptoms

  Exactly the right amount of gas

  About the Author

  Mixedlexia is an “Expert” columnist with TheTrivialTimes.com

When in 1996 a local Secondary School opened, the staff decided to create a tradition to prepare Christmas Hampers for those in need. Each advisory class (of around 18 students G9-12) would adopt a family to help out. The students only know how many in the family, ages of the children, and whether they have any food allergies. Every year, 65 –70 hampers are delivered to families. Inside each hamper is a note from the school principal wishing the family a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year. It explains how the hamper was put together by the students and adds (I quote) “ We hope that this hamper will bring you joy at this special time of year as it was put together with much love and care”

What would you think the experience of delivering a hamper would be? In my minds eye I would imagine this scenario… knocking at the door, and seeing the face of the mother light up, excited voices and delighted faces of children gathering at the door to receive the four or five large boxes, all wrapped in Christmas paper being delivered. I would imagine seeing the relief and gratitude on the mothers face, perhaps moist eyes, as she realizes there will be plenty of food to go round this Christmas. She may feel, perhaps, amazement and a little overwhelmed that total strangers would go out of their way to be so generous. Seeing those things would be all the reward those students needed for their selfless giving, and what a memory to have in the impressionable teenage years.

Unfortunately this imagined scene is not reality in the experience of the school. One of the teachers told me one of three things normally happen. When the hampers are delivered (either by the teacher or a trusted Grade 12 student), sometimes there is a thank you, sometimes a terse “put it over there”, and sometimes no one answers the door.

Now I understand that it’s is embarrassing and humbling to receive, and many people find it very difficult, and may not be able to show their appreciation in person. There are other ways to show gratitude and say thank you, a thank you note to the school, a phone call or a letter. Sadly this seldom happens. I was shocked!! The school has probably prepared over 700 hampers since 1996, and seldom received any acknowledgement whatsoever. The teachers reassure the students that the hampers were appreciated, and the school keeps on giving. At this time the students are planning how they can help the victims of the tsunami. The teacher’s comment “The students are amazing!”

There is a well-known saying that it is better to give than receive; I would say that it is also easier to give than receive. I don’t know why it is so hard to show real appreciation when we receive something, but it is not just a cultural or generational problem.

In the gospel of Luke we learn that it was difficult over 2000 years ago.
Leprosy is a terrible disease that eats away at a person’s flesh, and is very contagious. In biblical times there was no cure. To have leprosy meant living outside the town, being ostracized from society, no longer able to live a normal life with your family, maybe never being able to hug your children, only being able to speak to them or see them from a distance. If you had leprosy you had to walk about warning people by ringing a bell and shouting ‘unclean, unclean’ so people would keep away from you. Can you imagine living like that! Jesus met ten of these lepers one day, and told them to show themselves to the priest, as they went they were healed. Not only was the pain and suffering gone, but also it also meant, their life style was to be transformed, they could be reunited with their family, work, and be part of community again. Luke’s account tells us that one of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He THREW himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Luke then added, ‘and he was a Samaritan,’ an enemy of the Israel, who would not know or worship God. Only one out of ten showed gratitude for such a huge life-changing miracle!

We are so blessed by God and by the people around us. Yet in a society, which seeks ‘instant’ satisfaction, it is easy to take many things for granted and not really demonstrate appreciation. We are raised to say ‘thank you’, but so often it comes out of our mouths automatically with out really thinking about how grateful and appreciative we are. Our society has much expectations- good service, to be served, to have meals, to be warm and comfortable in a home, and because we’re used to this kind of life style it’s easy to lose a sense of gratitude and appreciation. Saying thank you is sufficient, and is the right thing to do, yet have you considered how by going out of our way to show appreciation we can bless others and make them feel valued. When we show appreciation, we can make such a difference to someone’s day. A thank you note, a surprise gift, a letter commending good customer service to an employer, or a smile and a word of appreciation to the cashier at the checkout are some of many ways we can show gratitude. Often showing appreciation, a short time after someone has blessed us, touches a person’s heart, as it demonstrates that what he or she did was noticed and appreciated. It costs us so little to take a moment to take someone aside to say thanks, you did a good job, and yet it can mean so much!

Being a thankful people is God’s heart for us. Scripture tells us many times to give thanks, give thanks to God, and also to those around us. To be known as a person who is thankful, showing gratitude and appreciation for all things that we have been given reflects God’s love to the world around us Our life is a gift, our health, all we have, and all the ways that people serve and give to us are gifts, not rights we can demand or expect. Col 2v7 encourages us to be overflowing in thankfulness. Let 2005 be a year when we grow in our thankfulness, and take more time to show others our appreciation for them as individuals, and the things that they do.

Barbara White, a former Principal and teacher, is now president of Beyond Better Development. As a speaker and author, Barbara brings her passion and expertise to work with people to help them grow towards excellence and their unique potential in their personal and professional life. For more information visit her website, http://www.livingbeyondbetter.com and sign up for her free newsletter “Growing Beyond Better”.

barbara@livingbeyondbetter.com

Maximizing the life of your hard drive

If I asked you the question: which part of your computer is the most fragile, what would you say? What if I asked: which part is most important to you?
Often, the answer to both of these questions is your Hard Drive.

Your hard drive is likely one the most important things you own. It contains work data, school data, emails, photos, music, movies, tax information, etc… Incidentally, the hard drive is also one of only two moving components in your computer (the other being your optical drive). The following is a list of important maintenance and monitoring techniques you can use to maximize the life of your hard drive and prevent data loss.

Hard drives are physically fragile – handle with care
Statistics show that 25% of lost data is due to a failure of a portable drive. (Source: 2001 Cost of Downtime Survey Results)
Contrary to its seemingly rugged appearance, your hard disk is a very delicate device that writes and reads data using microscopic magnetic particles. Any vibration, shock, and other careless operation may damage your drive and cause or contribute to the possibility of a failure. This is especially relevant for notebook users, as they are most at risk of drive failure due to physical damage, theft, and other causes beyond their control. That’s why we recommend regular backup of notebook hard drives, as often as possible.
Possible solutions include external USB or Firewire drives (although these are prone to the same risks), desktop synchronization, or backup at a data center through the web.

Hard drives write data in a non-linear way forcing it to become fragmented.

When files accumulate on your hard drive, they do not just get written in a linear fashion. A hard drive writes files in small pieces and scatters them over the surface. The fuller your hard drive becomes and the more files you save and delete the worse file fragmentation can be. Hard drive access times increase with fragmentation since your drive must work harder to find all the pieces of the files. The more fragmented your data is, the harder the actuator arm has to work to find each piece of a file.

A case in point: Disk fragmentation is a common problem for users of Outlook Express and database software. Each time outlook saves new mail, it does so in a different physical location from the previous time. This results in extreme fragmentation, causing longer hard drive access times and forcing more strain on the heads. This strain can eventually lead to a head crash, and often that means a virtually unrecoverable drive.Finally, in the event of a total crash, a fragmented drive is much more difficult to recover then a healthy defragged drive.

Luckily, Windows makes it remarkably easy to defrag your hard drive, simply launch the Disk Defragmenter utility (Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools), choose which disk or partition you’d like to defragment and set it to work overnight or while you are not actively using your computer. Defragmentation will speed up your computer and ensure a longer life for your hard drive.

A very small power surge can fry a hard drive – use a UPS and turn off your computer when you can

Another little-known fact about the fragility of your hard drive is its susceptibility to electrical failure. An electrical failure can be caused by a power surge, lightening strikes, power brown-outs, incorrect wiring, a faulty or old power supply, and many other factors. If a power surge enters your computer, it may do an unpredictable amount of damage, including destroying your hard drive’s electronics or crashing the heads and possibly resulting in total data loss.
The best way to protect your computer from such dangers is to use a highly rated protected power bar or an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Although these devices won’t eliminate the chances of a crash, they will serve as effective protection in most cases. Also, you can minimize the danger of an electrical problem and reduce wear of your hard drive by turning off your computer or using power-save modes whenever possible. It’s a known fact that 100% of drives fail, the question is when will it happen and will you be prepared? Make sure to check out the knowledgebase section of our website for more detailed information on how electrical power affects your computer.

Be SMART, monitor the health of your drive to prevent unexpected crashes

All modern hard drives have a self-monitoring technology called SMART (Self Monitoring Analysis & Reporting Technology). What most people don’t realize is that the majority of hard drive failures do not have to be unexpected. Most failures occur as a result of long-term problems which can be predicted. By regularly monitoring disk health and performance, you can know about potential hard drive problems before you lose any of your data.

Several excellent utilities are available, including DiskView and Stellar SMART for standard IDE and SATA desktop drives. Also available are tools that monitor the health of SCSI drives and full RAID Array systems. Ariolic Software offers a great utility called ActiveSMART.

The only fool-proof way to prevent data loss is… Backup!

If you only take one of the suggestions here to heart, let it be this one: always back up your important data. After all the monitoring and all the prevention measures are in place, one fact still remains: all hard drives fail. Backing up regularly will ensure that you’re never caught without your critical data. For individuals, the simplest solutions include external portable hard drives, dvd’s, and online storage. For businesses, we recommend renting space at a secure data centre and implementing a disaster recovery plan, regardless of the size of your business.

I hope that the above techniques give you some idea of the importance of hard drive maintenance and provide some insights in how you can protect yourself from data loss.

Alex Bezborodov is the technical writer for Accurate Data Recovery, specializing in data recovery solutions and research.
Let ADR bring your data back to life!