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Want To Learn To Play The Guitar? Try These Tips

April 2, 2021 Comments Off

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.…

The Weakness of Brazilian Jujitsu and Sport Fighting for Self-Defense

March 5, 2021 Comments Off

Anybody who has at least any experience in martial arts or street-fighting can agree that learning how to defend oneself on the ground is ABSOLUTELY needed in order to survive on the streets or in the ring. Oftentimes we fall or can be taken to the ground. Once taken to the ground, the average street fighter will most likely start punching you in the face, or get you into a headlock. What about triangle chokes or arm bars? Not likely… Lets go over some cold hard facts that many Jujitsu and sport fighters may not like, but are the simple truth. I will try to make this short and to the point as possible.
Rape awareness, Child-abductions, and overall self-defense:
If you were teaching your wife self-defense, in order to prevent her from being abducted, which techniques would you teach her? If you were teaching your child techniques in order to keep them from being raped or abducted, which techniques would you tech them? Jujitsu? Boxing?…maybe a little, but not likely.
If someone is trying to force you into a vehicle or put you into a position to be raped or kidnapped, the last thing you want to do is try to take your opponent to the ground. You are actually helping them succeed in their conquest. Also consider that many child-abductors and rapists do not work alone. Many female joggers are often pulled into moving vehicles by 2 or 3 attackers. Even if you did bring one to the ground, the other 2 are going to make you pay.
Or here is another example using fictional characters. “Billy” is a 12 year old boy who is 5’1 and weighs 105 lbs with a Jujitsu Black belt, and expert boxer. A 30 year old man who is 6’1 and 190 pounds approaches the boy and attempts to apprehend the boy and kidnap him. The boy gets the attacker on the ground and sits on his chest and attempts to punch him in the face. The oversized attacker flips the boy over, and simply punches him once in the face. The boy is knocked out cold, and is later abused and kidnapped…
What the boy should have done was attack the kidnapper with several strikes to stun him in vulnerable areas (testicles, eye’s, biting, headbutt) and ran like hell screaming to the top of his lungs! The problem with MMA, Jujitsu, western Boxing, and Kickboxing is their mentality. They teach their students to fight. Plain and simple. To fight until the very end. But, this attitude is very machismo and egotistic way of fighting. From a self-defense aspect, the goal should always be to stun the attacker, and get away. Their are only very few situations that warrant fighting until the attacker is completely knocked out.
Modern Martial arts vs Traditional…
Anytime you get a grappler against any opponent who isn’t skilled in grappling, the Jujitsu man will win 99% of the time in ordinary circumstances. In a kickboxing or MMA environment any traditional martial artist will be most likely embarrassed. But, what will the jujitsu man do if the Karate man pulls out a sword, or a long stick? What will the MMA man do is he meets a knife fighter? The fact is, in traditional martial arts like Kung Fu and Karate, unarmed tactics were only secondary forms of fighting. A man would always rely on his sword or knife before his fists.
If a jujitsu black belt threatened my life and challenged me to a fight, I would not assume a boxers stance. I would simply walk away. Yet if he proceeded to walk towards me, I would simply pull out my Tactical Baton that I ALWAYS carry with me. Thats right, I carry a weapon? But, thats not fair! Why not? This isn’t the UFC or a boxing match. This is my life we are talking about! If my life is on the line, I have no problem using a sword, stick, gun, bitting, heabutting, or hitting the groin of my attacker.
Preparing for an attack against a street fighting, not a MMA fighter…
The fact is, most people don’t train in martial arts. Maybe 10 out of 100. And thats being liberal. Jujitsu men spend hours learning how to defend against armbars, triangles, leg . But, these are techniques that you will almost never see from an untrained street fighter. The average street fighter is going to come at you with aggressive (and sloppy) Boxing, coupled with sloppy wrestling tactics, coupled with a box cutter, coupled with a gun, and he may have a couple of buddies, and he may hit you with a cheap shot from behind. At first, he didn’t sound so dangerous huh? In a street-fighting scenario, you don’t want to have a …

Not Playing the Other Guy’s ‘Range’ Game

November 14, 2020 Comments Off

Bruce Lee was not the first person to advise not to play the other person’s game in a fight. But he was definitely the celebrity who popularized the principle. He got the message out to the offline martial arts world.
If it’s not too bold, I’d like to take some of the credit for promulgating the concept online. I started writing lots of articles that included the advice, starting in 1999-2000.
Briefly, it’s the idea of not wrestling a wrestler, not boxing a boxer, and so on. The chances are that an expert has more skill in his or her area of expertise. They know all the tricks. If you stick to their game, you’ll lose.
Your only chance is to break their rules. Don’t play their game.
The Martial Arts Range Game
This also applies to ranges.
Rather than giving advice like, “if the opponent has long legs, then don’t fight at a kicking range; get closer,” I think more general advice will be more beneficial.
My advice is, “Don’t give the enemy the distance that he or she wants!”
If you have played around with opponents before, then you know how to find where they are comfortable fighting. Often, they prefer a “sparring range.”
Simply find a way to avoid that (4-6 foot???) range, and you will take a lot of martial artists out of their comfort zones.
Let’s talk some more about how to do this….
Messing With Your Enemy’s Range
Imagine facing an opponent; he’s a big hairy guy with a scar down his left cheek.
As you square off with him, he starts to circle you… which is where the scene veers away from reality. In my reality, the enemy would be attacking… closing the distance quickly.
But let’s say you are training… and the big, hairy guy takes a stance at the edge of “sparring range.”
This is a possible scenario, right?
What do you do?
Well… you take a few steps back, quickly. What happens? The brute takes a few steps forward.
Next time, you rush forward (without getting picked off by the enemy). What’s the effect of your surprise, forward blast?
He takes a few steps back.
A light bulb turns on in your head….
Advance and Retreat in a Fight
You imagine combining both drawing him forward and making him retreat. You mix and match.
You step back, but as he steps forward, you change and step forward too. BAM — you surprise him with a hit or kick as the distance closes.
The next time, you take the step backwards, instead of changing direction, you continue to step back. Then maybe forward twice. Or forward once, back once, and then forward twice.
As I said, you mix it up.
The entire time, you have a goal, to avoid giving him his desired range.
Now, the real trick is to take your new skill and apply it to a real-life, self-defense situation. If you had a guy rushing you, ready to tear your head off, how could you use range to your advantage?…

Martial-Arts Novels and Ninja Techniques

September 22, 2020 Comments Off

I Used to Read Martial-Arts Novels, Too

When I was a teen, I used to read any martial-arts fiction that I could get my hands on. Kung fu comics with the evil Fu Man Chu — Kung Fu Mace Books — anything with a martial-arts hero.

I especially craved any books dealing with the ninja….

As such, my mind was filled with dipping shuriken in egg white, in order to poison my enemy.

And I also read about my protagonists throwing ball bearings and catching the enemy in the back of the neck, in order to knock him out. Note: Some people label anything thrown as a shuriken. These ball bearings can’t be called shuriken, since they aren’t specifically or metaphorically “swords hidden in the hand.”

Blow Guns and Shuriken in a Martial-Arts Class?

So, you can imagine how I felt when I walked into martial arts class one night and everyone was practicing with blowguns — yes, honest-to-goodness blowguns.

I was jazzed. What fun. I had a great time “playing” with these slightly impractical weapons.

More Realistic Martial Arts

Now, it’s time to get real….

I realize that when I write, there are several different “audiences” digesting these articles:

Some are practical martial artists. They sincerely want to defend themselves, if the need arises, but they realize that most of the time, society functions without constantly “dumping on them” and forcing them to use their martial arts.

Other people reading online articles do so to feed their fantasies, so to speak. These are the guys who are planning on carrying an arsenal with them wherever they go — shuriken, knives, powder to blind the enemy, and other concealed “mishegas.” These folks imagine threats around every corner. And these are the guys who are the self-appointed protagonists of the world.

Finally, there are those who have a healthy respect for practical application, and really do need to use their martial skills regularly. These are our law enforcement officials, juvenile detention officers, and kindergarten teachers (just kidding).

Note: I am willing to bet that you’d see distinct differences in the kinds of weapons that each group would choose to carry. You could probably discover similarities of choice of weapon within each group, but when comparing and contrasting across factions, the “flavor” of weapon would vary.

Martial Arts — Facts Versus Fantasy

I want you to take a more realistic view of self defense, not for my sake, but for yours. If the devices mentioned in this article seem like your cup of “hot chocolate,” then we need to do a little debriefing:

It would be pretty difficult, if not down right impossible, to hit the back of someone’s neck with a marble-sized ball bearing and cause a loss of consciousness. Not very practical, wouldn’t you agree? (And the legal consequences, if you did succeed …)

Using a throwing star to distract a guard like the ninjas of the past? Are you serious? The most obvious absurdity of all of this is that if “I” were the guard and someone nicked my arm with a shuriken whizzing by, my first thought would be “someone is trying to distract me with a shuriken!” And I’d focus in on where … you get the idea.

Also, if you had a bunch of razor-sharp throwing stars in your pocket, you might inadvertently cut yourself.

The legal ramifications of all of this … from concealed weapons to excessive use of force. Mind boggling and more than a little bit scary.

Yes, I do believe it’s good to train with as many weapons as possible. The coordination benefits alone are a big plus. And you never know, you might, one day, have to use a weapon in a real self-defense emergency.

Still, there is a big difference between familiarity with a throwing star and carrying a bunch of them with you wherever you go.…

Carter Hargrave and Its Benefits Towards Children

August 23, 2020 Comments Off

If there is one foundational project that simply takes care of the children’s welfare then you probably may have heard of the Carter Hargrave foundation. Most importantly, if you would really like to learn some of the coolest Jet Kune Do fighting techniques, then you are actually looking at the right place.
So, why is this foundation that special from the rest around it? Having been formed in the year 1966, one of the main reasons would be the sterling history behind its actual founder who since his tender age has learnt to nature some of the basic fighting skills that would later be used in teaching other children as a way of enhancing self-defense as well as harnessing raw educational talent that, would server the future generation in years to come.
Okay, from ones point of view you may tend to think that there is nothing more that goes in this foundation apart from fight teachings. Well the truth of the matter is that it’s also considered to be a center where various kids across the globe are sponsored as well as being taught some of the various fighting levels categories under the Kempo, Kungfu and Jet Kune Do classes. This has undoubtedly earned it a place in not only the children’s hearts but also in the international scene.
Some of the fundamental projects that have seen the non-profit making Carter Hargrave rise to such ranks include education sponsorship, text book, community clean-ups and even organizing fun days in which children from all walks of life can get a chance to mingle with each other.
Moreover, with the introduction of the Hargrave Martial Arts foundation in its structure, discipline has been the key element that has been targeted on children who are still at their younger years as well as eliminate the norm of education only meant for those who can read in the society. The one thing with such kid foundations is that they will never luck community interest as well as interested business partner who would like to fully invest in helping today’s children to grow up and become literate and responsible adults in the future. It’s up to you to note the difference this and many other children foundations across the globe can actually bring into any child’s life.…

Verbal Skills of Self Defense

June 6, 2020 Comments Off

Your aim with self defense should be to avoid confrontational situations altogether. Being aware of your surroundings and the people in it is key to this. However, there could be a time when you find yourself in a situation where someone is being verbally aggressive towards you.
Part of your training should include developing verbal skills to enable you to defuse this sort of aggressive behaviour before it escalates. Being able to successfully use these skills will help to prevent a potential aggressor from launching into a physical attack.
Generally a person being verbally aggressive towards you is doing so to “size you up”, they are trying to determine whether or not you are going to be easy prey. Their language is aimed to intimidate you and to try and get you to fall into their script.
They are looking to see if you become passive, fearful, timid and/or nervous. These signs show the aggressor that you are probably going to be an easy target.
Now there are times when you may want to use this type of behaviour as a deceptive strategy, however this carries a higher level of risk. The best course of action is to avoid showing these outward signs. Internally you may be fearful and afraid, but it is important that externally you appear focused, confident, relaxed and ready.
Some situations can start with as little as eye contact. You could be in a busy bar or club and inadvertently make eye contact with someone. Next thing you know they are right up in your face saying “What the f*** are you looking at?” It is important to remember you aim here is de-escalation. Do not get caught up emotionally on what is going on. Try using closed statements rather than questions or open sentences. Simply replying with “nothing”, or “I wasn’t looking at you” will probably lead to a continuation of this aggressive behaviour.
At Practical Self Protection we are committed to, and focus on, reality based self defense training. We focus on state of the art techniques and training methods that give you immediate results.…

Find Out the Real Ninja Assassin Frame of Mind to Use in Everyday Life

June 3, 2020 Comments Off

What many people forget when referring to ninjutsu training is that ninjas have always taught that your mind is the most essential weapon, far above all others. While many individuals focus on their uniforms, fast moves or concealed weaponry, ninjas have always recognized that the mind is the top priority when it comes to ninja assassin training.
If one wants to live a strong yet mysterious life, then the best choice is to know the ninja methods and apply them in modern day living. We live in a highly fast paced world where people are always bouncing about. No one pays attention to details, their movements are all obvious and boring, and their lives are loading with anxiety and unease.
The current ninja assassin may rather well be hidden in the crowd, in the workplace, or right next to you in the corner store. Just like the ninjas of Japan had to discover the ninja methods in order to disappear into the shadows, the advanced ninja of today must also learn the ninja techniques in the current world and then has the talent to blend in the crowd. If you’re careful enough to spot it, you may have been at a store in front of a seemingly common guy, with a slight smile on his face. Seconds later you turn around. He’s gone. You look all over, however he’s nowhere to be seen. You might have just been in the presence of a ninja.
This is no joke and unfortunately the ninja lore of the past have been precisely that, tales from the past of questionable feats utilized by ninjas. When in reality, the ninja way of life was a strict, significant matter, with many tips of the trade set up out of the necessity to stay alive. But with the legends so powerful, nobody thought to go beyond them and start to discover the real ninja secrets, and apply them in the contemporary world. What a brilliant way to stop all the topsy-turviness and confusion of modern day life than to discover the true ninja methods, a thus rise far above and beyond the routine people out there.
Try to think of life as a chess game. Who commonly wins at chess? The person that can think 3 or 4 moves ahead of everybody else. You know what I’m talking about? The ninja assassin was known for clever tricks of gaining intelligence. Learn the ninja secrets and apply them in the modern world and your life will become like the chess board that you can move across with ease, knocking away the pawns left and right, in addition to announcing checkmate at each obstacle you ever face. While everybody else is intrigued with ninja of old, you will be one of only very few people that is really living the way of life of the ninja assassin.…

Play Like A Pro With These Guitar Tips

March 13, 2020 Comments Off

Do you want to teach your youngsters to play a guitar? Have you thought about playing, but you do not know the first place to start? No matter what your unique situation is, you will find tips that can help you below. Use what you’ve learned here and you should have no problem picking up the guitar.

Get down the guitar basics. You must walk before running. You might want to play a favorite song of yours, but the foundation you build is important. Fingering chords is important. Make it a point to practice scales and chords. Lock in the fundamentals before advancing.

Remember, learning the guitar is not an overnight thing. Take your time and stay constant in learning how to play the guitar. Practice a little every day and before long you will have learned the techniques you need to play the guitar.

Look for any way you can to get and stay motivated. Make a long-term dream for yourself, but also keep short-term goals in mind. See if you have any friends also wanting to learn; practice with one another. Reward yourself each and every week you practice as planned. If something is worth doing, it is not going to be easy.

If you are interested in learning to play guitar, be sure to purchase one. It will be hard to practice if you do not. You must keep your instrument properly tuned so that you are getting true, accurate sounds.

Learn all you can about guitar tabs, and musical notation as well. This will help you to understand what you are playing. Learning the names of notes and strings will help you immensely. You will increase your ability to understand different types of guitar music by doing so.

Purchase a quality guitar to get started. If you can’t buy your own, try borrowing or renting a guitar. Your first guitar shouldn’t cost more than $200. Just make sure it sounds great when properly tuned.

Your fingers will be sore before they get calluses. It may be more comfortable to play on a nylon-string instrument or on an electric guitar. It’s painful for beginners to play a steel-string acoustic guitar. You might feel better when you soak fingers in alcohol, but stay away from toxic substances such as turpentine.

No matter if you are classical guitar fan or a rock and roll die-hard, learning guitar requires you to start simply. Start with the easy stuff instead of going after the fancy licks or difficult music. Though you may feel silly, children’s songs can offer some simple, single-note melodies that will be easy to follow and build your skill.

Don’t forget to begin slowly. You may think you can start with a complicated song that needs to be played fast, but you should take your time at first. Start things off slow, memorizing the notes. Then, you get to work up the speed in which you play them. If you initially focus on raw speed, then you’re going to make a lot of fast mistakes, which tick you off. This is why you should begin slow and then increase your speed while memorizing the song.

As you can see, there are several things you need to know about learning the guitar. Hopefully, these suggestions will assist you in your endeavor to learn. There is so much information out there, whether you will be the one to play the guitar or it will be someone you know. Retain this information as you progress.…

Simple Tricks And Advice For Amazing Arts And Crafts

January 29, 2019 Comments Off

Do you want to learn a little bit more about crafting? Perhaps you just need some inspiration for your next project. This article will give you some advice on how you can have fun with arts and crafts.

There are quite a few things you can use for crafting. Paper goods that are generally discarded are great. From paper towel rolls to toilet paper rolls, there is a variety of items to make. You might also incorporate magazines and newspapers. Reconsider everything you plan to throw out.

Relax when children are doing crafts. The main purpose of doing these projects is to encourage creativity. This won’t happen if they are constantly being told things they are doing wrong.

If you want to make custom jewelry, then you can probably find what you need on Beadaholique. You can find a variety of chains, beads and accessories to create beautiful jewelry. Costume jewelry is fashionable right now. When you create your own, your jewelry can coordinate with your wardrobe and you will save money.

Browsing the internet for new ideas is a great way to expand your arts and crafts skills. You can see what other crafters are creating and gain a new perspective on what you can create with your crafting skills. So go online to find new ways to expand your creativity when you are doing your favorite craft or hobby.

Take a look around the kitchen if you are looking for craft supplies. You can find some good stuff there. Tin foil, empty can and glass jars are some of the treasures that await. You could even make use of dried pasta and beans for your materials.

Do not make the mistake of only looking in art supply stores for all of the materials you might need. Places like discount and factory closeout stores are great places to find materials at low prices. You may not be able to find everything you need, but you may find a lot of the basics there.

Never recycle or throw away newspaper if arts and crafts are done in your home. Old newspaper is sometimes a craft material in itself for some projects. It is more often valuable as something to cover surfaces with. Thick newspapers spread out over a table give you a work area and protection for the table.

When working on an arts and crafts project, do not throw away any unused materials. Even if you do not need them for the current project you are working on, you may be able to use them on a future hobby. In the end, this could save you a lot of money.

Arts and crafts are great to entertain large groups. Whatever the age of those you are interacting with, you are able to find all kinds of age-appropriate activities. Find age appropriate projects online.

Now you know why people love doing crafts. With some creativity, you can make something useful. Use what you learned here and you’ll be surprised at what you can do.…

Get Started In Arts And Crafts Today With This Advice

November 15, 2018 Comments Off

A great way to use your leisure time is to take up arts and crafts. The self expression it allows is very satisfying. You will be rewarded with a unique piece of art. Look at the ideas in this article for some ways to make your crafting more enjoyable.

Have you been searching for a good spot to gather materials to make crafts? Many places online have great deals on craft supplies. Run an Internet search in order to identify the most advantageous prices on the things you need. You may even find a shop or two that offers free shipping, as well!

Arts and crafts will make a mess; cover surfaces with paper to avoid damage. Once you’re finished, just gather up the newsprint and throw it away, or recycle it.

There is a variety of supplies you can use for your projects. Some good choices are paper goods that are often thrown away. You can use empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls. You might also use magazines and newspapers. Be creative with things you normally throw away and use then in your projects.

Remember that when kids do crafts, it will be messy. Make the fun less stressful by using butcher paper or newspaper to cover your surfaces and make cleanup easy. Use washable materials, such as washable adhesives and markers.

Consider shopping at thrift stores. Different thrift stores and other shops can provide you with many great things. Visit frequently because they are constantly getting new stuff, and it goes very quickly.

If your kids are engaging in arts and crafts, remember that they do not have to follow a concrete example of what the project should look like. Either show a lot of examples or don’t show any at all so the kids can take the lead with their own imagination. To illustrate, they may come up with ways to paint or glue something that didn’t occur to you. Let them do what they want, or you will stifle the creative process.

Look up ideas for crafts online. If you have a project type in mind, you are sure to find inspiration online. No matter who is doing the project or how old they are, you can find something that you can all do by looking online.

You can find plenty of supplies for arts and crafts at Etsy. Individuals sell items through this site. You can purchase finished items there, buy supplies or even sell your own supplies or finished projects there. You’ll love what they have to offer, especially for harder to find supplies like vintage media.

Keep your supplies for arts and crafts organized. There are a lot of ways to do storage, and you have to find the one that best suits you. It’s going to be easier for you to locate the things you need this way. It’s also simpler to keep track of your inventory too.

There isn’t a limit on what can be done in arts and crafts. You can use your imagination to create with whatever you have on hand. This is how your creativity comes into play. The tips you’ve read will help you figure out your next project.…