Mixed Martial Arts - What Is It?

For many centuries, men and some women, from around the world, have learned time honored martial arts, such a tae kwon do and jiu jitsu. These sporting and fighting disciplines teach young athletes about training, concentration, force, mental power, speed, agility, balance, and many other important lessons in life! The blockbuster movie of the 1980's The Karate Kid, was of course, just Hollywood, but it did show some truth, in that; young Daniel was mentored by a Karate expert who had learned what was passed down for generations by his family!

When you combine some mixed martial arts, and throw in some wrestling and boxing... NOW you are talking exciting, keeps-you-on-the-edge-of-your seat competition! Located in the beautiful state of Hawaii, is a fabulous school that teaches boys and men of all ages, about this exciting fighting technique, which is truly a sport that continues to grow in popularity and always has exciting new developments. Since the inception in 1993 of the UFC, Mixed Martial Arts have made their mark and have continued to gain more fans and more participants!

The sport has grown to gigantic proportions, and for good reason; it attracts some of the biggest, toughest fighters from around the world, and creates an incredibly exciting and entertaining sport to watch. In fact, the current exciting news is that B.J. Penn is headed to Philadelphia for the upcoming UFC 101 which will be an amazing event.

All of the latest MMA and UFC news ticket to the exciting sport is out there everywhere! You see it on TV and news everyweek more and more. For those who live in Hawaii, you can now get way more information about this cutting edge school that teaches the exciting and physically demanding sport of MMA, and it will transform you or your youngster into a lean, mean, fighting machine!

There are many schools around nation wide. You can just about find a school practically anywhere you live. Not just MMA fighting but you can find karate, tae kwon do, judo, MMA, muay thai, escrima, kendo, even sumo depending on where you live. you can pretty much just lok in the phone book and find a place to train.

The Art of How to Make a Conversation

If you are timid, shy and self conscious and have difficulty talking to strangers. This little mini course in how to make a conversation can help you tremendously.

We can call it the CONVERSATION ALPHABET, or CONVERSATION-STIMULATOR

Here are the 10 topics suggested by the 9 letters of the word "WONDERFUL". All the letters in that word represents topics for you to talk about.

Here we go!

W for WEATHER Without question this topic starts more conversations than any other, with both friends and strangers. It's the easiest to slip into and slip out of. It's non controversial - can't offend anyone or start an argument. True, it isn't an interesting topic and can't continue for a full conversation, but it isn't intended to. It's a mere entering wedge, an ice breaker to tell others you want to be friendly and break the silence. It usually leads to other topics -to something more interesting. But if it doesn't strike a spark, glide over to

O for occupation or work. Most people feel more at home talking about their work than any other subject. They know more about it than about other subjects. They can talk with confidence since they know more about it than most others know. They spend more time at work than any other activity. It's a great contact maker. Knowing what kind of work a person does tells more about him than anything else except possibly his age. It usually suggests other topics. But if no spark, switch to

N for News. Everybody is interested in news - local, state, national and world. The radio, TV's, and newspapers have made all of us news conscious. Hardly a day passes but some bit of news makes us want to share it with anyone we meet, friend or stranger alike. But if still no spark go to

D for Dining. Everybody is interested in dining or eating, both at home and out. Many long and interesting conversations are held on this topic alone.

This letter, D, also suggests DRIVING. Almost everybody drives today. Millions of conversations are held on the subject of driving - accidents, traffic conditions, highways, transportation and dozens of other incidents associated with driving. Makes of cars alone are a topic that keep many folks busy for hours.

E for ENTERTAINING This includes all forms of recreation, movies, theatres, sports, games, vacations, fishing, hobbies, etc.

R for RADIO & TV In the last 24 hours everyone has heard something over the radio or TV that's interesting. Unless an item interests a certain number of people it doesn't get on the radio or TV. Many whole conversations are based on items heard on the radio or TV. F for FAMILY The Reader's Digest poll showed the subject of Family ranked third in interest among its readers. This suggests parents, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, etc.

U for Uplift This one differs from the other nine in that it communicates without spoken words. By some mental law, so far not clearly understood, we usually instinctively "feel" what others are thinking about us. So, when in the presence of another think to yourself: "l wish you well. I think you're WONDERFUL. I'd like to know you better." This silent message will communicate itself to that person. How? I don't know - nor do the para-psychologists who are making it a life study like Dr. Rhine of Duke and the experts in Moscow and London. And more often than not, this silent message on our part will suggest something to say in line with our uplifting thoughts.

L for LOCATION Where do you live or work? Where does your listener live or work? Where have you been -Florida, California, Europe, the mountains, the shore? How do you prefer to travel - plane, train, ship, auto, bus; Endless fodder for conversation.

Let this CONVERSATION ALPHABET WONDERFUL be your standby. W Weather O Occupation N News D Dining D Driving E Entertainment R Radio and TV F FAMILY U UPLIFT L LOCATION places, travel

Once you have mastered it - memorized it so thoroughly that you can repeat the 10 words in one and a half seconds, You'll never again be at a loss for something to say to friends or strangers You will probably go out looking for people to talk to.

10 words in one and a half seconds,

You'll never again be at a loss for something to say to friends or strangers

You will probably go out looking for people to talk to.

News Writing - What Reporters Need to Know

News writing is the process of harnessing the materials that have been gathered in a logical, accurate, concise, coherent and readable manner.

Before a reporter writes news, it is expected that he or she go through a process known as news gathering. This will enable him or her gather the raw materials that make up the news. The reporter will however be familiar with the various beats that may be assigned to him or her such as the Judiciary, the State or National Assembly, the State House, Police Station, and so on.

News materials are gathered from government activities, economic matters, social and political policies which are straightforward in nature and are classified as hard news, since the reporter is obligated to report the event exactly as they happened. Also in the straightforward news stories, there are the soft news and the human interest news stories.

These include the news stories that give room for leisure and entertainment. They are concerned with stories on the lighter side of life such as social functions which include celebrations, commissioning of projects, marriages, funerals, and other forms of ceremonies.

The human interest stories deal with stories that either entertain or bring about sadness or happiness. These are stories that are meant to arouse the feelings of the viewer. These stories are normally accounts of people or organization's achievements, air crashes or hijacks, adventures, disasters, marriages, intriguing reports, and so on.

Since news stories are stories which are either expected or unexpected, the reporter is expected to equally make news from investigative stories, interpretative stories, in-depth stories and interviews. It is incumbent on every reporter to help the general public understand the storyline of a report especially in the case of budget speech which carries a lot of figures and statistics. It is the work of a reporter to breakdown the figures for easy understanding and digestion of the general public.

In interviews, it should be noted that getting information from people concerning specific events or issues is very hard. In that case, the reporter or interviewer should be able to employ techniques that would enable him or her to succeed in this area. It is very important that you know your interviewee before hand; find out certain facts about him that would help set you on a good footing. It would be necessary if you could go through some literature about him, and carry with you not just a mental but listed number of questions to be asked.

The points a reporter jots down in the cause of doing his or her job are the materials that make up his or her news stories. The exercise is what is known as news gathering. It precedes news writing. A reporter who wants to succeed in the art of news writing must be hardworking, intelligent enough to put to good use available materials and write them while the news is still fresh in the mind.

Can You Design Kids Art Crafts Patterns For Money

If you sell your arts and crafts patterns successfully you can take a pride in the millions of copies that have been made up around the world.

And the money isn't bad either.

How much could you earn if you made up one of your designs and sold it? Enough to pay for the materials?

Now for the bad news

* You have to learn all the basics and work advanced patterns too before you can start.

* Designing is an art. Does every artist make money? No.

* Copyright problems can bankrupt you.

What does the public want? That's the big important question. If you are in an arts and crafts club you might be able to find out from other members what patterns they would like.

But club members can only see the demand for one craft at a time. What if they are all into china decorating, and there is a sudden world-wide demand for Mexican spray paint art? You can teach yourself the new art, then start creating patterns and books for it.

Join arts and crafts forums on the Internet and write down all the questions that people ask. That way you can soon decide what patterns would be popular. Where there is a big demand and people are queueing for your patterns you don't need salesmanship.

If you find something that is in enormous demand, does this demand mean that you can sell your designs? Unfortunately no. Artistic things either click with the public or they don't . Most of the time there is no logical explanation. You either like something or you don't.

Copyright Problems With Popular Items

If you design a jumper with a photograph of Harry Potter knitted into it, you are likely to have legal charges of breach of copyright before you can draw your breath. If you photograph the actors (not dressed as the characters) you can use them in the designs - but they will no longer be popular.

There are things you can do to take advantage of recent news. Some of them are decidedly inartistic, but could make some money for you. For instance - I visited a bomb-site in Iraq and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. It's a revolting idea but it might sell.

If you are really expert you might be able to make designs suitable for kids arts crafts. These have to be the simplest designs of them all, and they also have to convince the parents that they are simple enough and pleasing enough to entertain their children. Knitting, quilting, and jewelry are very popular crafts for children.

You can even prepare designs for recycling. For instance if you have a long-haired wooly dog, you can collect the hair for several years, then wash it and tease out the tangles. Then you can make up a garment without spinning the hair first. It won't work with a long-haired hairy dog, because the hairs don't bind together into thread, but wool is great.

You can come up with recycling designs for the garden, using old margarine containers or soft-drink bottles etc.

You don't have to give your work away. Look on eBay to find out what people are buying.

You'll probably decide that most craftwork sells for less than it costs to produce, but it doesn't have to be that way. What you want to do is discover what is in big demand, and then learn how to direct that demand towards your patterns for hobbies crafts.