Month: April 2021

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Santiago Calatrava – Master of Design

April 14, 2021 Comments Off on Santiago Calatrava – Master of Design

Santiago Calatrava – Master of Design

The very name – Santiago Calatrava – brings thoughts of things exotic to mind. Indeed, Mr. Calatrava’s architectural masterpieces could well be described as exotic in the extreme.

He designs with flair and verve, producing structures which seem to defy gravity itself. Truly a new breed of designer, Santiago Calatrava is a magnificent blend of artist, engineer and architect. If you have ever had the pleasure of listing to him talk, you will understand what I am saying.

But the real joy of Santiago Calatrava is having the even greater pleasure of seeing his incredible structures.

There is nothing ordinary about his design abilities. Nothing ordinary about his buildings. Nothing ordinary about his expansive imagination – for one has to imagine such structures before the design turns into reality.

His Milwaukee Art Museum is an excellent case in point.

Who but Santiago, would have the audacity to design such a building? Not only is the building stunning in appearance, but then we discover that the roof itself seems to be capable of flight!

This was not an inexpensive building to erect. In fact, Santiago was somewhat disappointed when the cost of the wings very nearly scuttled that part of the design. Surely, the building would not have been the same without those huge wings.

Originally, the box structures in the wings were to be made from carbon fibre. An extremely strong yet light weight material, which possesses steel like strength qualities. The downside to this material is twofold. It is both difficult to work with and it is very expensive.

In order to fabricate the components for the massive wings, a huge autoclave would be needed. Such pieces of equipment are used to manufacture items like masts for high end sailboats, world class yachts where no expense is spared. Just a single mast can cost more than some homes!

With some 36 boxes required on each side of the wing assembly, the cost proved to be too great. Even with Mr. Calatrava’s considerable charm exerted toward the fund raising efforts.

Refusing to accept defeat, Santiago adapted the design to use steel tubes. A far less costly avenue, but one which would add weight to the roof structure. This proved to be the saving grace for this unquestionably important part of the building. The wings were saved.

I sincerely hope that I can entice you to read more about Santiago – only this time with pictures. Find out more about this amazing fellow by visiting here now.It appears that your web host has disabled all functions for handling remote pages and as a result the BackLinks software will not function on your web page. Please contact your web host for more information.…

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Creating a Financially Stable Martial Arts School

April 9, 2021 Comments Off on Creating a Financially Stable Martial Arts School

If you truly believe your martial art is worth teaching, if you feel it truly provides life changing benefits to your students then you have a responsibility to do everything you can to create a financially stable and profitable martial arts school.
This is the third article in an on-going series based on Master Jim Mather’s column in Black Belt magazine during the late 1990s
From Struggling to Profits
At one point, very early on, he was struggling with juggling a career as a corporate executive, doing post-graduate work and running a dojo. He had not yet made the transition to martial arts as a career. As such he felt it was ok, even honorable, to have a small school that was not making much money. In fact, it was losing money.
He was worried that money would somehow taint or destroy the quality of the instruction at his school so he was fine with keeping it small.
However, he knew that if he continued down that path he would have to close his school. As he said in the column, “I realized that I had to create a financial stability for the school, make it so strong that it could survive any economic conditions that might come along in the future.”
He made just a few changes to make the school more financially efficient and went from losing $1000 a month to a profit of $5000 a month within 60 days. This was a lot back then.
A Discovery that Changed His Views Forever
What he discovered changed his views on martial arts management forever. He put the money back into his school, building it up with renovations and improvements. He used the money to pay for student tournament costs. He increased his advertising budget. He was also able to travel and train with the top marital arts instructors of his day and make lasting connections to key people and organizations.
He found that by doing all of this, not only did his school survive it actually improved. He had a better facility. He had more students. He was able to learn more and pass that on to his students who in turn became better students.
Your Responsibility to Your Students
So we go back to the original claim at the beginning of this article. If you believe that what you have to offer can change people’s lives then you have a duty to them to do whatever is necessary to provide a financially stable environment to make that happen for them.
By running just a small closed off school you are cheating your neighbors of the opportunity of all the benefits our arts have to offer.
As Master Mather asks in a recent post on his own new blog, “What would your local community look like, how would it change for the better, if a large percentage of your local residents were involved in your school? What would happen to teen drug and alcohol problems? Gangs? Childhood obesity? And so on?”
Don’t let your pride, embarrassment or fear stand in their way. If you can not figure out how to make the change from a small school to a martial arts business that is financially stable then seek help from one of the many martial arts management companies available today. Or ask for help from a friend you know in the martial arts community who is successful.
Grow your school and give your potential students the opportunity they deserve to change their lives through the gift you and I have been given – the gift of the martial arts.
To learn about the first and only No Membership Membership program in the Martial Arts Business Industry Click Here. PS It’s FREE!…

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The Glitz and Glamour of Chicago the Musical

April 5, 2021 Comments Off on The Glitz and Glamour of Chicago the Musical

From South Africa to Sao Paulo, to Moscow to Mexico City, it is no big surprise that Chicago has wowed spectators across the globe. It has “legs;” and not just the “eye-popping” kind. Every performance proves why this amazing musical has successfully run for more than a decade. The cast is a first-rate team of Broadway veterans who consistently receive thousands of nightly standing ovations. The musical was honoured with two Olivier and six Tony Awards, as well as a Grammy.
Chicago the Musical has everything that you could ever want in a Broadway show: A stellar cast of sultry, lean serpentine grace dancing perfectly in sync with one another; one charming song after another, namely “All That Jazz,” “All I Care About” and “Class.” It drips with innuendo, fortune and the pitfalls of fame. Moreover, who knew how much fun murder could be? It is a glamorous, highly potent and hilarious way to spend a night out on the town.
For those that have never seen Chicago the Musical, here is the dish.
Chicago is a naughty, albeit deliciously tale of Roxie Hart, the long-suffering cabaret singer. After murdering her lover, Roxie is thrown mercilessly in jail, which is ruled by Mama Morton, the cruel, bodacious prison boss. Frantic to get out, she turns to the sleazy Billy Flynn, who has a slick lawyer’s reputation for saving his rather dubious clients from sure death.
Their infamous collaboration brings the press notice they each desperately crave. Both are greedy, fame-hungry and extremely ambitious-mirrors of themselves. All goes well until another desirable, unjustly accused young girl dances in and Flynn drops Roxie like a tired, old, pair of jazz hands.
Not one to fade into the shadows; our Roxie is a force to be reckoned with. She joins forces with another murderess, Velma Kelly; together they form an act, hoping that they will fall back into the good graces of the public eye.
Chicago is as timeless today as the first time the curtain came up at the Broadway revival in 1996. Fresh, dazzling and accomplished, London is welcoming Roxie and her entertaining band of extravagant misfits with aplomb. In fact, it’s become one of London’s most popular glitz and glamour musical of all time.
Picture it. You have a racy, burlesque nightclub dancer, a sly, silver-tongued lawyer and a cellblock of swanky sinful goodness. It would be a crime to miss Chicago again, wouldn’t it?…

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Want To Learn To Play The Guitar? Try These Tips

April 2, 2021 Comments Off on Want To Learn To Play The Guitar? Try These Tips

Do you wish you could play the guitar? Maybe you wish to help someone that you know learn how to play. There’s a lot you need to consider before you begin. Read these tips so you can become great at guitar!

See if you can take lessons from a teacher. When self-teaching guitar, you should still have one objective person to watch you play. A good teacher will critique your style, and also offer suggestions for making yourself better. You can ask questions too, which will help out.

Maintain your motivation. Set short-term goals and long-term dreams for learning to play the guitar. Practice with a friend if you can. Reward yourself each and every week you practice as planned. Keep in mind that anything worth doing takes work.

No matter how obvious it may seem, remember to purchase the guitar if you hope to learn to play. If you are always borrowing one, it’ll make it tough to practice often. Make sure the guitar is tuned to avoid hearing wrong sounds that are actually right.

Musical notation as well as guitar tabs are important. Musical theory can help you understand each scale and how different chords work. Learning the names of notes and strings will help you immensely. You will find this knowledge serves you well as you play riffs and melody.

As you start out learning the guitar, find an well-made instrument that you can buy and practice on. If you don’t have the money to buy one, borrow or rent one. Using a quality guitar will ensure a better sound.

Wanting to strum a guitar? Try to increase the number of calluses on your fingers. If you do not get calluses, playing will be painful. It’ll take time for these callouses to develop, but they’ll soon appear if you practice often. You can also buy products for this purpose.

You must understand the parts of the guitar before you plan on playing it well. This will allow you to start playing better because you have to know your instrument well because when you learn other things they will reference the parts.

Try using a metronome. It can be difficult to keep time without one. Metronomes are able to help you make sure you’re on the beat properly. If you practice enough, you’ll be able to follow beats without having to use the device.

When you make the commitment to learn the guitar, you must practice. You must work hard to truly get better. Therefore, you should practice playing every day.

Find someone to be your guitar buddy. Find someone who is talented or who has a style you like, and ask that person to play along with you. They can let you learn some techniques you may not know yet. You will also find that having a friend around who is learning, makes the time more enjoyable and helps the learning process. If your skill levels are the same, even better; you can help each other through the challenging parts.

You can play the guitar well at any age. Keep practicing and stay open-minded about technique. Adding skills and abilities is very beneficial. Use these tips to impress others with your mighty guitar skills.…