Sign Up For A Nursing Course On searching the Internet, you will find a online nursing degree school of your choice. Choosing the most appropriate one can be a very difficult task. For this, the student should first decide, which online nursing course, he or she would like to pursue. Accordingly, the institution, offering that course can be chosen. Each online nursing degree school will have a website, which will provide complete information about the program, admission procedure and criteria, curriculum, fee structure and Characteristic features. To answer any of your queries regarding the admission process, there are special admission counselors to help you. After selecting the online nursing continuing education and the nursing degree, you wish to take up; you will need to apply for the course. All the online nursing courses have the facility of online registration. You just need to fill up your complete information in an online application form and submit it online. You will be asked to provide details of your education and work experience, along with respective certificates, such as high school or college degrees and employment or salary records. Mention on the form, if you have any previous credits, as they are transferable. You will have to pay your online nursing continuing education fee through credit card, along with the application. Some universities may also accept a pay order. Most universities will also have financial aid programs or repayment plans for the students. The willing students will be guided to the process of obtaining loans. After the application is processed, you will start receiving online study material for your online nursing continuing education course. The training nurses are also required to register themselves with a hospital or a clinic to receive practical training. Your recruitment is a part of your online nursing course and is taken care of, by your nursing school. Students having any previous job experiences can benefit by appearing for certain aptitude examinations such as: College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or the Proficiency Examination Program (PEP). In this way, they can forego certain portions of their online associate nursing degree course or any other nursing course, in which they already have experience or have learnt by self-study. If you lack complete information or cannot clearly decide, which area of nursing should you take up, take the help of the career counselor or collect as much information, as possible. In short, your career will head in the direction chosen by you, as it will depend largely upon the course you choose. Sign Up For A Nursing Course On searching the Internet, you will find a online nursing degree school of your choice. Choosing the most appropriate one can be a very difficult task. For this, the student should first decide, which online nursing course, he or she would like to pursue. Accordingly, the institution, offering that course can be chosen. Each online nursing degree school will have a website, which will provide complete information about the program, admission procedure and criteria, curriculum, fee structure and pozycjonowanie Characteristic features. To answer any of your queries regarding the admission process, there are special admission counselors to help you. After selecting the online nursing continuing education and the nursing degree, you wish to take up; you will need to apply for the course. All the online nursing courses have the facility of online registration. You just need to fill up your complete information in an online application form and submit it online. You will be asked to provide details of your education and work experience, along with respective certificates, such as high school or college degrees and employment or salary records. Mention on the form, if you have any previous credits, as they are transferable. You will have to pay your online nursing continuing education fee through credit card, along with the application. Some universities may also accept a pay order. Most universities will also have financial aid programs or repayment plans for the students. The willing students will be guided to the process of obtaining loans. After the application is processed, you will start receiving online study material for your online nursing continuing education course. The training nurses are also required to register themselves with a hospital or a clinic to receive practical training. Your recruitment is a part of your online nursing course and is taken care of, by your nursing school. Students having any previous job experiences can benefit by appearing for certain aptitude examinations such as: College Level Examination Program (CLEP) or the Proficiency Examination Program (PEP). In this way, they can forego certain portions of their online associate nursing degree course or any other nursing course, in which they already have experience or have learnt by self-study. If you lack complete information or cannot clearly decide, which area of nursing should you take up, take the help of the career counselor or collect as much information, as possible. In short, your career will head in the direction chosen by you, as it will depend largely upon the course you choose.
One of the most fundamental requirements of a civil society is the rule of law which means that the people must follow the law of the land irrespective of his or her status or position in the society. In the modern world, the developed countries feel proud that their society is governed by the rule of law while most developing countries like India feel ashamed that their society does not have the rule of law. The developed countries are the role model for the underdeveloped countries, where the rule of law is still a distant dream. Societies that follow rule of law are often considered more civilized as there is much more order in the society. Every thing in such societies appears to be in order. The roads are clean, lawns and parks are well-maintained, government officials work in office, trains and public transports run on time. Further, there is virtually no corruption in public offices. People are well paid, deliver better efficiencies and keep everything neat and clean. These societies appear perfect to the people of other parts of the world, who often wonder why they can’t be like them. All societies need laws for their existence. Even though the laws may be different in each society, yet there are some basic principles that are common to all laws of the world. These fundamental principles are equality, fraternity, justice and liberty. The Indian constitution, for example, incorporates these goals in the preamble to the constitution which seeks to secure for all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and to promote among them the spirit of fraternity. These principles are so universal in nature that they find place in every civilized society of the world. It is matter of great surprise that in reality the outcome of the rule of law is just the opposite. The more civilized a society is, the more is the inequality among its population – more injustice to the have-nots, less liberty due to strict enforcement of law and more hatred among the citizens based on race, caste and religion. What goes wrong in the implementation in the so-called rule of law? Law of Nature Indian thinkers in the Vedic period, i.e. around 3000 years before the birth of Christ, discovered that the universe does not perform its functions at random but follows certain laws. These were called “Rita” or the universal laws or principles that guided the universe. The progress of man can be largely attributed in understanding these basic principles of nature and exploiting them for the benefit of the human race at the cost of the rest of the creations. The laws of man, therefore, run contrary to the laws of nature as they are human-centric and not designed for all the creations of God or Nature. One of the basic differences between man-made-laws and the laws of Nature is that the laws of nature are spontaneous as they require no effort in implementation. For example, in a natural piece of earth like a forest, the earth produces trees, plants, fruits and vegetables spontaneously without any need of watering or breeding. The nature itself provides timely rain and fertilizer to the new plants. The forests and the mountains are covered with greenery and beauty, which is purely natural since it comes without any effort. On the contrary, the man-made creations like parks, trees, plants are artificially made. They too may look as beautiful as the natural ones, yet they cannot survive without regular effort on the part of man. Imagine a park, which is not maintained for a few months, or a house not cleaned for months. It will lose all its beauty and soon be filled with dust and weeds. No building or modern gadget can survive without external effort from man. However, all natural creations are able to survive on their own and maintain their existence; and enjoy their life without any external support. The laws of nature are just as they treat every specie (and not only man) with equality. In a jungle, every specie gets its due share of food, air and water which enable them to live a dignified life without being dependent on any other creation. Nature makes no distinction between one specie, and the other as all species are the children of the same God. However, in the man’s world, every other creature is killed if it is not useful for man. They can survive only if they can be useful for man. Thus man’s world does not treat any other creature of the nature with respect and does not provide them any right of equality, liberty, justice or fraternity. He cleverly usurps this universal law and makes it applicable only for human beings. For all other lesser species, he has created a man-made-law, calling it ‘the law of jungle’ or ‘the survival of the fittest’ which justifies his domination over the weak creations. The fact, on the contrary, is that the laws of jungle are far more just and equal for all species than the man-made-law. Most men are not concerned about the way they treat the lesser animals as they feel that ‘the survival of the fittest’ theory is more logical than the laws of nature. However, they forget that every principle created in the universe has to be applied on them also and that they may not always be a beneficiary. Man-made-laws do not stop with animals but they soon spread their wings to encompass human beings, too. This is where conflicts between man and man starts that gives rise to hatred and wars. Man feels the pinch when the law of jungle is applied against them and the law of nature is denied to him. He is hurt when he is treated like weeds by the society. Weeds: The Undesirable Plants of Nature? One of the most interesting creations of the natural world is weed. Weeds are undesirable vegetation in the kingdom of plants. Weeds are defined as any plant that is not valued by the human society and usually tends to overgrow or compete with valued flora. Weeds are the plants which are considered by human beings as unattractive, undesirable, or troublesome. In the natural world, man has to continuously fight against weeds to make their artificial plants survive. Weeds grow automatically and if the artificial gardens do not have the support of man, it is soon overpowered by weeds and the whole field or garden becomes full of weeds. Weeds are created by Nature (God) as no human effort is required to grow them. They are, however, so powerful that man has to continuously guard his creation from these weeds, lest all creation of the civilized society is destroyed. Weeds are as undesirable to man in the world of plants as criminals in the human society. Criminals: The Necessary Evil for the Civil Society Similar to weeds in the natural world, there is a growth of criminals in civilized societies. Who these criminals are? Why do they grow? Whether the criminals are healthy people or are they mentally ill as often thought by the civilized world? Criminals are defined as the people who commit crime. Crime is defined as an act that is a violation of the criminal law that is punishable by law. Crime is usually considered an evil act and criminals are often seen as evil created by Devil, out there to destroy the civilized citizens, the children of God. There are many similarities between criminals and weeds. Criminals grow automatically in every society and the society has to work hard to weed out these criminals. Criminals like weeds are so powerful and competitive that they have the power to defeat the civilized people. They are, therefore, fought jointly by the society. Yet in every society, there is crime and there are criminals. We are used to look criminals as evil that is unnecessary just like weeds. Yet if God (Nature) is the creator of all, then everything in this world must have been created with a purpose. “What could be the purpose of creation of criminals?” We wonder. Criminals are, as a matter of fact, creation of the civilized world. In an uncivilized world, there would be no law, so there can be no violation of law and hence, no criminal. If we wish to understand the utility of criminals in the civilized world, we must imagine the world of nature without weeds. In such a world, all plants will have to be grown by man with artificial watering – canals, tube-wells, and other irrigation systems used for agriculture. In all certainty, man will grow only such crops and plants that are useful to man and the rest of the species would surely not survive in the man’s world. Further, man’s energy is limited and with all his effort, he can hardly take care of a minuscule part of the world by artificial plantation, so the rest of the physical world would be without plants and so without oxygen and other animal life and eco-system. This will soon lead to the end of the world including the human being. The role of criminals is similar to the role of the weeds. Imagine a world without crime i.e. everyone follows the law of the land without questioning. It will only provide status quo in the world. Kings will always be kings and only their children or loved ones can become kings. Poor will always be poor. Kings will frame more inhuman laws that would give them more powers. The less fortunate people would die out of hunger and poverty as they won’t break the law and the state will have no obligation to feed them. Thus the world without criminals would be a place where people will die due to inaction, boredom and cruelty. Such an ideal world, indeed, would be the most inhuman and most undesirable to mankind. Thankfully, people called criminals automatically grow in every civil society as soon as man creates laws to govern it. The laws of man are always challenged by them since they are mostly against the laws of nature i.e. equality, justice, liberty and fraternity. States always have to face opposition from such people who break the law and are known as criminals. They may have an ugly appearance as weeds but they only provide oxygen to the society for its life. Thus in posterity, people recognize them not as criminals but as heroes. The Path of Heroism While man hates criminals, he worships the heroes. He can lay his most valuable possession i.e. his life on a single call from his hero. Who are these heroes? Are they law-abiding civilized people or the law-defying criminals? Take the example of Mahatma Gandhi in the modern world. He was perhaps the biggest criminal in the time of the British rule in India and he was jailed many times on charges of being waging war against the state. He spent more than 15 years in jail for his various crimes. Yet the people of India call him ‘Father of the Nation’ and love him more than any civilized person on the earth. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail, yet he is a national hero not only for South Africa but for the entire world. In history, we can find numerous examples of great people who have broken the law and having been punished for their criminal acts. The list includes people like Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Socrates and Galileo. Yet it is these people who changed the history of the world and they are rightly worshiped as heroes by the masses even after their death. How many people you have ever known who have become heroes without breaking the law and committing crimes in their time? Perhaps none. Heroes are created not by following the law but by breaking the law. Rule of Divine Law It is not always good to follow the law blindly as it provides order and rule of law in the society but kills the humanity as the implementation of most of the man-made laws are against the natural laws. Man-made laws are often disguised under the cover of natural laws like equality, justice, liberty and fraternity yet they serve just the opposite purpose. Most people see the letter of the law but fail to grasp its spirit. One must understand that breaking man-made laws is one of the fundamental requirements of all civil societies, if it contradicts the natural or divine laws. Thus every person who breaks the law need not be a criminal. One must go deeper into the facts before declaring a law-breaker to be a criminal. The key distinction perhaps would be to see if he is breaking the law for the interest of the humanity or for his own selfish end. Is it need-based or greed-based? There lies the distinction between good and evil, between a true criminal and a hero. One who is breaking a law for others or to fight injustice is a hero and not a criminal. A poet said “Jo lade din ke khet, Sura toi” (One who fights for the weak is the real hero). One of the most fundamental requirements of a civil society is the rule of law which means that the people must follow the law of the land irrespective of his or her status or position in the society. In the modern world, the developed countries feel proud that their society is governed by the rule of law while most developing countries like India feel ashamed that their society does not have the rule of law. The developed countries are the role model for the underdeveloped countries, where the rule of law is still a distant dream. Societies that follow rule of law are often considered more civilized as there is much more order in the society. Every thing in such societies appears to be in order. The roads are clean, lawns and parks are well-maintained, government officials work in office, trains and public transports run on time. Further, there is virtually no corruption in public offices. People are well paid, deliver better efficiencies and keep everything neat and clean. These societies appear perfect to the people of other szafy kartotekowe parts of the world, who often wonder why they can’t be like them. All societies need laws for their existence. Even though the laws may be different in each society, yet there are some basic principles that are common to all laws of the world. These fundamental principles are equality, fraternity, justice and liberty. The Indian constitution, for example, incorporates these goals in the preamble to the constitution which seeks to secure for all its citizens justice, liberty, equality and to promote among them the spirit of fraternity. These principles are so universal in nature that they find place in every civilized society of the world. It is matter of great surprise that in reality the outcome of the rule of law is just the opposite. The more civilized a society is, the more is the inequality among its population – more injustice to the have-nots, less liberty due to strict enforcement of law and more hatred among the citizens based on race, caste and religion. What goes wrong in the implementation in the so-called rule of law? Law of Nature Indian thinkers in the Vedic period, i.e. around 3000 years before the birth of Christ, discovered that the universe does not perform its functions at random but follows certain laws. These were called “Rita” or the universal laws or principles that guided the universe. The progress of man can be largely attributed in understanding these basic principles of nature and exploiting them for the benefit of the human race at the cost of the rest of the creations. The laws of man, therefore, run contrary to the laws of nature as they are human-centric and not designed for all the creations of God or Nature. One of the basic differences between man-made-laws and the laws of Nature is that the laws of nature are spontaneous as they require no effort in implementation. For example, in a natural piece of earth like a forest, the earth produces trees, plants, fruits and vegetables spontaneously without any need of watering or breeding. The nature itself provides timely rain and fertilizer to the new plants. The forests and the mountains are covered with greenery and beauty, which is purely natural since it comes without any effort. On the contrary, the man-made creations like parks, trees, plants are artificially made. They too may look as beautiful as the natural ones, yet they cannot survive without regular effort on the part of man. Imagine a park, which is not maintained for a few months, or a house not cleaned for months. It will lose all its beauty and soon be filled with dust and weeds. No building or modern gadget can survive without external effort from man. However, all natural creations are able to survive on their own and maintain their existence; and enjoy their life without any external support. The laws of nature are just as they treat every specie (and not only man) with equality. In a jungle, every specie gets its due share of food, air and water which enable them to live a dignified life without being dependent on any other creation. Nature makes no distinction between one specie, and the other as all species are the children of the same God. However, in the man’s world, every other creature is killed if it is not useful for man. They can survive only if they can be useful for man. Thus man’s world does not treat any other creature of the nature with respect and does not provide them any right of equality, liberty, justice or fraternity. He cleverly usurps this universal law and makes it applicable only for human beings. For all other lesser species, he has created a man-made-law, calling it ‘the law of jungle’ or ‘the survival of the fittest’ which justifies his domination over the weak creations. The fact, on the contrary, is that the laws of jungle are far more just and equal for all species than the man-made-law. Most men are not concerned about the way they treat the lesser animals as they feel that ‘the survival of the fittest’ theory is more logical than the laws of nature. However, they forget that every principle created in the universe has to be applied on them also and that they may not always be a beneficiary. Man-made-laws do not stop with animals but they soon spread their wings to encompass human beings, too. This is where conflicts between man and man starts that gives rise to hatred and wars. Man feels the pinch when the law of jungle is applied against them and the law of nature is denied to him. He is hurt when he is treated like weeds by the society. Weeds: The Undesirable Plants of Nature? One of the most interesting creations of the natural world is weed. Weeds are undesirable vegetation in the kingdom of plants. Weeds are defined as any plant that is not valued by the human society and usually tends to overgrow or compete with valued flora. Weeds are the plants which are considered by human beings as unattractive, undesirable, or troublesome. In the natural world, man has to continuously fight against weeds to make their artificial plants survive. Weeds grow automatically and if the artificial gardens do not have the support of man, it is soon overpowered by weeds and the whole field or garden becomes full of weeds. Weeds are created by Nature (God) as no human effort is required to grow them. They are, however, so powerful that man has to continuously guard his creation from these weeds, lest all creation of the civilized society is destroyed. Weeds are as undesirable to man in the world of plants as criminals in the human society. Criminals: The Necessary Evil for the Civil Society Similar to weeds in the natural world, there is a growth of criminals in civilized societies. Who these criminals are? Why do they grow? Whether the criminals are healthy people or are they mentally ill as often thought by the civilized world? Criminals are defined as the people who commit crime. Crime is defined as an act that is a violation of the criminal law that is punishable by law. Crime is usually considered an evil act and criminals are often seen as evil created by Devil, out there to destroy the civilized citizens, the children of God. There are many similarities between criminals and weeds. Criminals grow automatically in every society and the society has to work hard to weed out these criminals. Criminals like weeds are so powerful and competitive that they have the power to defeat the civilized people. They are, therefore, fought jointly by the society. Yet in every society, there is crime and there are criminals. We are used to look criminals as evil that is unnecessary just like weeds. Yet if God (Nature) is the creator of all, then everything in this world must have been created with a purpose. “What could be the purpose of creation of criminals?” We wonder. Criminals are, as a matter of fact, creation of the civilized world. In an uncivilized world, there would be no law, so there can be no violation of law and hence, no criminal. If we wish to understand the utility of criminals in the civilized world, we must imagine the world of nature without weeds. In such a world, all plants will have to be grown by man with artificial watering – canals, tube-wells, and other irrigation systems used for agriculture. In all certainty, man will grow only such crops and plants that are useful to man and the rest of the species would surely not survive in the man’s world. Further, man’s energy is limited and with all his effort, he can hardly take care of a minuscule part of the world by artificial plantation, so the rest of the physical world would be without plants and so without oxygen and other animal life and eco-system. This will soon lead to the end of the world including the human being. The role of criminals is similar to the role of the weeds. Imagine a world without crime i.e. everyone follows the law of the land without questioning. It will only provide status quo in the world. Kings will always be kings and only their children or loved ones can become kings. Poor will always be poor. Kings will frame more inhuman laws that would give them more powers. The less fortunate people would die out of hunger and poverty as they won’t break the law and the state will have no obligation to feed them. Thus the world without criminals would be a place where people will die due to inaction, boredom and cruelty. Such an ideal world, indeed, would be the most inhuman and most undesirable to mankind. Thankfully, people called criminals automatically grow in every civil society as soon as man creates laws to govern it. The laws of man are always challenged by them since they are mostly against the laws of nature i.e. equality, justice, liberty and fraternity. States always have to face opposition from such people who break the law and are known as criminals. They may have an ugly appearance as weeds but they only provide oxygen to the society for its life. Thus in posterity, people recognize them not as criminals but as heroes. The Path of Heroism While man hates criminals, he worships the heroes. He can lay his most valuable possession i.e. his life on a single call from his hero. Who are these heroes? Are they law-abiding civilized people or the law-defying criminals? Take the example of Mahatma Gandhi in the modern world. He was perhaps the biggest criminal in the time of the British rule in India and he was jailed many times on charges of being waging war against the state. He spent more than 15 years in jail for his various crimes. Yet the people of India call him ‘Father of the Nation’ and love him more than any civilized person on the earth. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail, yet he is a national hero not only for South Africa but for the entire world. In history, we can find numerous examples of great people who have broken the law and having been punished for their criminal acts. The list includes people like Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Socrates and Galileo. Yet it is these people who changed the history of the world and they are rightly worshiped as heroes by the masses even after their death. How many people you have ever known who have become heroes without breaking the law and committing crimes in their time? Perhaps none. Heroes are created not by following the law but by breaking the law. Rule of Divine Law It is not always good to follow the law blindly as it provides order and rule of law in the society but kills the humanity as the implementation of most of the man-made laws are against the natural laws. Man-made laws are often disguised under the cover of natural laws like equality, justice, liberty and fraternity yet they serve just the opposite purpose. Most people see the letter of the law but fail to grasp its spirit. One must understand that breaking man-made laws is one of the fundamental requirements of all civil societies, if it contradicts the natural or divine laws. Thus every person who breaks the law need not be a criminal. One must go deeper into the facts before declaring a law-breaker to be a criminal. The key distinction perhaps would be to see if he is breaking the law for the interest of the humanity or for his own selfish end. Is it need-based or greed-based? There lies the distinction between good and evil, between a true criminal and a hero. One who is breaking a law for others or to fight injustice is a hero and not a criminal. A poet said “Jo lade din ke khet, Sura toi” (One who fights for the weak is the real hero).
Fair Game 4/5
Director: Doug Liman
Stars: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn Leave factual accuracy apart- everyone has a right to know a different perspective on the reasons told causing war on a country. This movie does that honestly and raises many questions boldly. Can a war, and hence death and destruction, be enforced on country on basis of a suspicion? Were there other opinions among CIA ranks about presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Can people raise their honest voice if some privileged ones are cheating on their nation? It is easy to reject such ideas as conspiracy theories but it should be left on people to judge the diverse opinions themselves. Post 9/11, Bush administration is looking to dismantle weapons of mass destruction. They believe that Saddam Hussein has made nuclear and biological weapon. They have reports that some Aluminum tubes which may be used for nuclear fission are available with Iraq. Some experts believe that those tubes cannot be used for nuclear weapons but the secretary of state and other government officials present it as on obvious proof of presence of WMD. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a CIA agent and is working around the globe to track terror organizations and presence of nuclear weapons. Her husband Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn) is a former diplomat and is an expert on Africa. Plame is working to know the nuclear capacity of Iraq. With the help of family of a scientist in Iraq she learns that Iraq do not has any nuclear program running. Their program was destroyed by America in the Gulf War. The Iraqi Scientist says” We don’t even have spare parts to fix a tank- they must know that”. CIA gets reports that tons of Uranium has moved from Niger to Iraq. CIA on recommendation of Plame sends Wilson (on account of his knowledge of the area) to Niger to know about movement of Uranium. He goes there and reports against the movement of Uranium. He gets frustrated when he hears the president, George W. Bush, telling about Saddam’s nuclear weapons and provides uranium movement as its proof.
Wilson writes an article “What I did not find in Africa”. That article angers the White house and they hit back. They reveal the identity of Valerie Plame and tell that Wilson was sent by her wife and not by CIA. They do personal attacks on them which puts huge strain on the married life of the two. This also brings tragic repercussions on the life of people that were on field in Iraq for Plame. Wilson keeps on his offensive against the wrong information presented by the Bush administration on Iraq issue. He gives television interviews, addresses public sessions and writes articles. The film ends at cheering on truth and justice. Naomi Watts’ acting is the real soul of this movie. She is subtle, restrained and impressive. Sean Penn is immensely watchable as his character develops. He says at an address “The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it’s to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out! Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride, man. I’m here to tell you. But, this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live. God bless America” Dialogues are crisp but easy on ears. Direction by Doug Liman is honest to the subject. Fair Game 4/5
Director: Doug Liman
Stars: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn Leave factual accuracy apart- everyone has a right to know a different perspective on the reasons told causing war on a country. This movie does that honestly and raises many questions boldly. Can a war, and hence death and destruction, be enforced on country on basis of a suspicion? Were there other opinions among CIA ranks about presence of radca prawny Łódź weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Can people raise their honest voice if some privileged ones are cheating on their nation? It is easy to reject such ideas as conspiracy theories but it should be left on people to judge the diverse opinions themselves. Post 9/11, Bush administration is looking to dismantle weapons of mass destruction. They believe that Saddam Hussein has made nuclear and biological weapon. They have reports that some Aluminum tubes which may be used for nuclear fission are available with Iraq. Some experts believe that those tubes cannot be used for nuclear weapons but the secretary of state and other government officials present it as on obvious proof of presence of WMD. Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a CIA agent and is working around the globe to track terror organizations and presence of nuclear weapons. Her husband Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn) is a former diplomat and is an expert on Africa. Plame is working to know the nuclear capacity of Iraq. With the help of family of a scientist in Iraq she learns that Iraq do not has any nuclear program running. Their program was destroyed by America in the Gulf War. The Iraqi Scientist says” We don’t even have spare parts to fix a tank- they must know that”. CIA gets reports that tons of Uranium has moved from Niger to Iraq. CIA on recommendation of Plame sends Wilson (on account of his knowledge of the area) to Niger to know about movement of Uranium. He goes there and reports against the movement of Uranium. He gets frustrated when he hears the president, George W. Bush, telling about Saddam’s nuclear weapons and provides uranium movement as its proof.
Wilson writes an article “What I did not find in Africa”. That article angers the White house and they hit back. They reveal the identity of Valerie Plame and tell that Wilson was sent by her wife and not by CIA. They do personal attacks on them which puts huge strain on the married life of the two. This also brings tragic repercussions on the life of people that were on field in Iraq for Plame. Wilson keeps on his offensive against the wrong information presented by the Bush administration on Iraq issue. He gives television interviews, addresses public sessions and writes articles. The film ends at cheering on truth and justice. Naomi Watts’ acting is the real soul of this movie. She is subtle, restrained and impressive. Sean Penn is immensely watchable as his character develops. He says at an address “The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it’s to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out! Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride, man. I’m here to tell you. But, this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live. God bless America” Dialogues are crisp but easy on ears. Direction by Doug Liman is honest to the subject.
Are you a non-native English or regionally accented speaker and would like some assistance with improving the clarity of your spoken messages? Here are seven accent reduction tips to assist you as you work to increase your listeners’ ability to understand your spoken communication. Top Tips to Reduce Your Accent 1. Listen to Books on Tape
For your next read, why not choose to listen rather than peruse? Aurally attending to a book on tape is a perfect opportunity to listen to speakers of standard American English as this is the customary dialect for books on tape. Pay attention to the intonation, stress, and rhythm of the speaker. This will assist you as you modify your own speaking habits. 2. Speak Slowly
Many times, due to an increased rate of speech, a speaker can lessen his intelligibility or ability to be understood simply because he is “speaking too fast.” When beginning to modify your accent patterns, a slow rate of speech will assist with proper enunciation of words, therefore improving your chances of being understood. 3. Record Yourself and Listen to How You Speak
This is a good opportunity for you to raise an awareness of your own accented speech patterns. Recording yourself is also beneficial for monitoring your progress over time as you receive your training. In addition, comparing your own patterns to your trainer or other native English speakers will assist with recognizing the differences, whether subtle or overt, between your speaking style and theirs. 4. Imitate Someone Who is a Native Speaker of English
This can be a co-worker, a friend, or your trainer. Listen to how they pronounce words. Listen to where they put stress on words and the rhythm of their speech. Ask them to say a word that is particularly hard for you to articulate and try to imitate the way they say it. 5. Use a Pronunciation Tool
Go to Merriam Webster online and type in the word that you have trouble saying. It has a wonderful tool to listen to the standard American English pronunciation. Imitate the way you hear the word. 6. Use Target Words in Multiple Situations
Once you have heard the correct pronunciation for the trouble word and have imitated it, use it in a sentence. Use it in a longer utterance by describing it or having a conversation about it. Practice using the word in different situations. 7. Be Patient
Reducing an accent takes time. Don’t be too hard on yourself. With persistence and commitment, you can achieve your desired communication goals! Are you a non-native English or regionally accented speaker and would like some assistance with improving the clarity of your spoken messages? Here are seven accent reduction tips to assist you as you work to increase your listeners’ ability to understand your spoken communication. Top Tips to Reduce Your Accent 1. Listen to Books on Tape
For your next read, why not choose to listen rather than peruse? Hotel Warszawa Aurally attending to a book on tape is a perfect opportunity to listen to speakers of standard American English as this is the customary dialect for books on tape. Pay attention to the intonation, stress, and rhythm of the speaker. This will assist you as you modify your own speaking habits. 2. Speak Slowly
Many times, due to an increased rate of speech, a speaker can lessen his intelligibility or ability to be understood simply because he is “speaking too fast.” When beginning to modify your accent patterns, a slow rate of speech will assist with proper enunciation of words, therefore improving your chances of being understood. 3. Record Yourself and Listen to How You Speak
This is a good opportunity for you to raise an awareness of your own accented speech patterns. Recording yourself is also beneficial for monitoring your progress over time as you receive your training. In addition, comparing your own patterns to your trainer or other native English speakers will assist with recognizing the differences, whether subtle or overt, between your speaking style and theirs. 4. Imitate Someone Who is a Native Speaker of English
This can be a co-worker, a friend, or your trainer. Listen to how they pronounce words. Listen to where they put stress on words and the rhythm of their speech. Ask them to say a word that is particularly hard for you to articulate and try to imitate the way they say it. 5. Use a Pronunciation Tool
Go to Merriam Webster online and type in the word that you have trouble saying. It has a wonderful tool to listen to the standard American English pronunciation. Imitate the way you hear the word. 6. Use Target Words in Multiple Situations
Once you have heard the correct pronunciation for the trouble word and have imitated it, use it in a sentence. Use it in a longer utterance by describing it or having a conversation about it. Practice using the word in different situations. 7. Be Patient
Reducing an accent takes time. Don’t be too hard on yourself. With persistence and commitment, you can achieve your desired communication goals!
For centuries the term revolution meant a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system. It also means a dramatic and far-reaching change. We have seen revolutions become great milestones for great systems. Take our own Revolutionary War. Now we are seeing another revolution being carried out in our health care system. The pharmaceutical companies are inundating the airwaves with commercials extolling the benefits and the side affects of their form of health care. Most Americans seem to succumb to these advertisements. We have become a nation of pilloholics. The pursuit of health and happiness has become taking the most recent drug to give you brief relief from your symptoms. These pills can also stop your natural ability to ward off disease. Most of these medications stop your body from reacting to a pathogen, stimulus or even emotions. By stopping your body from reacting they can keep you from dealing with the cause of your disease. Western medicine has gone down the path of treating symptoms and not the whole person. Which means as long as the cause of your symptom is not addressed you will continue to have symptoms. How many people are taking multiple medications chasing one symptom after another? Western medicine offers medications for almost any symptom. These medications often have side affects which are worse than the original symptom. Some of these medicines mask the underlying problem. The problem then continues to fester underneath the anesthesia of the drug. We hear volumes about western medicine but only short stories about healing alternatives. There are many factors which explain why we hear less about Oriental Medicine, but the one that stands out is the fact, that this medicine refrains from advertising on such a large scale. Oriental medicine information is disseminated mostly by word of mouth. Oriental philosophy believes you need to take an active role in your health. This means it is often not a quick fix. You are treated as a complete person so it can take time. Some things can be dealt with quickly but more complex issues can take a long time. Acupuncture as a modality has been gaining in recognition here in the states over the past 40 years. Quietly but surely the medicine has been gaining acceptance because of the changes it has made for millions of people. Healthy changes. These healthy changes can take time. It requires a natural healing time which depends on your state of health. You can heal if given the right stimulation and nurturing. This stimulation and nurturing can be created using many techniques. However, all of these techniques require that you change some lifestyle pattern. The key here is that you change something in your life. The pharmaceutical companies recognize that most americans are not seeking health but looking for a quick fix or a quick relief of pain. The fact is that you get better by changing whatever it is that is making you ill. Oriental Medicine practitioners offer an alternative to most prescription medications. We also have a different approach to you the patient. You are important. Your health is important to us. Teaching you methods and nutrition planning help you to become more aware of how to take care of yourself. We are not interested in simply treating your symptoms so you can become dependent on our services. We are not interested in you becoming dependent on our herbs so you have to take them for the remainder of your life. We are interested in teaching you how to have a better life by learning how you can do things to stay healthy. The question is, what is healthy? We are complex in our nature. Our minds govern our body. Our body allows us to move through our environment. We have needs to understand why we are. This leads us to a spiritual consciousness. So we are spirit, mind and body. This means in order to achieve maximum health. We have to address all three of these areas. We can pray but it is not enough. We can exercise but it is not enough. We can eat healthy but it is not enough. We can even have mental therapy but it is not enough. Look around. How many of the people you know are trying to escape from their lives? How do they escape? People look for pain relief in many forms. Drinking alcohol, working all the time, investing all of their time in their children, taking care of others all the time, watching tv all the time, playing video games all the time or anything that takes them away from dealing with their life issues. Holistic healing is about being aware of what is making you ill. This means your emotional state, your physical state and how you cope with your life. Western medicine has developed fantastic techniques for saving lives. Western medicine can do so many wonderful things but they do not have the time it takes to help you solve your issues. Oriental medicine takes time to do just that. The Quiet Revolution is the revolution which can change our health care system. The combination of the two approaches to healing would springboard our humanity forward. The loud thunder of the pharmaceutical companies and the fortunes that they have made overwhelms the quiet voice of passion raised by those of us who are not interested in profits at any cost. We alternative practitioners still want to relate to you as an individual. The desire is too create a healthier population, not only physically but mentally as well. We all benefit from healing our wounds. Masking over them is not the answer. Avoiding looking at them is not the answer. Healing them is. For centuries the term revolution meant a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system. It also means a dramatic and far-reaching change. We have seen revolutions become great milestones for great systems. Take our own Revolutionary War. Now we are seeing another revolution being carried out in wypadanie włosów our health care system. The pharmaceutical companies are inundating the airwaves with commercials extolling the benefits and the side affects of their form of health care. Most Americans seem to succumb to these advertisements. We have become a nation of pilloholics. The pursuit of health and happiness has become taking the most recent drug to give you brief relief from your symptoms. These pills can also stop your natural ability to ward off disease. Most of these medications stop your body from reacting to a pathogen, stimulus or even emotions. By stopping your body from reacting they can keep you from dealing with the cause of your disease. Western medicine has gone down the path of treating symptoms and not the whole person. Which means as long as the cause of your symptom is not addressed you will continue to have symptoms. How many people are taking multiple medications chasing one symptom after another? Western medicine offers medications for almost any symptom. These medications often have side affects which are worse than the original symptom. Some of these medicines mask the underlying problem. The problem then continues to fester underneath the anesthesia of the drug. We hear volumes about western medicine but only short stories about healing alternatives. There are many factors which explain why we hear less about Oriental Medicine, but the one that stands out is the fact, that this medicine refrains from advertising on such a large scale. Oriental medicine information is disseminated mostly by word of mouth. Oriental philosophy believes you need to take an active role in your health. This means it is often not a quick fix. You are treated as a complete person so it can take time. Some things can be dealt with quickly but more complex issues can take a long time. Acupuncture as a modality has been gaining in recognition here in the states over the past 40 years. Quietly but surely the medicine has been gaining acceptance because of the changes it has made for millions of people. Healthy changes. These healthy changes can take time. It requires a natural healing time which depends on your state of health. You can heal if given the right stimulation and nurturing. This stimulation and nurturing can be created using many techniques. However, all of these techniques require that you change some lifestyle pattern. The key here is that you change something in your life. The pharmaceutical companies recognize that most americans are not seeking health but looking for a quick fix or a quick relief of pain. The fact is that you get better by changing whatever it is that is making you ill. Oriental Medicine practitioners offer an alternative to most prescription medications. We also have a different approach to you the patient. You are important. Your health is important to us. Teaching you methods and nutrition planning help you to become more aware of how to take care of yourself. We are not interested in simply treating your symptoms so you can become dependent on our services. We are not interested in you becoming dependent on our herbs so you have to take them for the remainder of your life. We are interested in teaching you how to have a better life by learning how you can do things to stay healthy. The question is, what is healthy? We are complex in our nature. Our minds govern our body. Our body allows us to move through our environment. We have needs to understand why we are. This leads us to a spiritual consciousness. So we are spirit, mind and body. This means in order to achieve maximum health. We have to address all three of these areas. We can pray but it is not enough. We can exercise but it is not enough. We can eat healthy but it is not enough. We can even have mental therapy but it is not enough. Look around. How many of the people you know are trying to escape from their lives? How do they escape? People look for pain relief in many forms. Drinking alcohol, working all the time, investing all of their time in their children, taking care of others all the time, watching tv all the time, playing video games all the time or anything that takes them away from dealing with their life issues. Holistic healing is about being aware of what is making you ill. This means your emotional state, your physical state and how you cope with your life. Western medicine has developed fantastic techniques for saving lives. Western medicine can do so many wonderful things but they do not have the time it takes to help you solve your issues. Oriental medicine takes time to do just that. The Quiet Revolution is the revolution which can change our health care system. The combination of the two approaches to healing would springboard our humanity forward. The loud thunder of the pharmaceutical companies and the fortunes that they have made overwhelms the quiet voice of passion raised by those of us who are not interested in profits at any cost. We alternative practitioners still want to relate to you as an individual. The desire is too create a healthier population, not only physically but mentally as well. We all benefit from healing our wounds. Masking over them is not the answer. Avoiding looking at them is not the answer. Healing them is.
I’ve had martial artists and other fighters hire me to analyze their punches and kicks and I’ve even received a video to analyze a frisbee throw due to my background in kinese, movement education, exercise phys and martial arts. One of the most misunderstood kicks I analyze is the roundhouse kick. We will define the roundhouse kick for the purposes of this martial arts article as a kick executed from a cocked knee position whose arc travels approximately parellel with the ground as the knee snaps straight 80 degrees to 90 degrees and travels across your centerline striking with the shin down to the top of the foot. Most martial artists I’ve met think this is one of their weakest kicks when it could actually be one of their most powerful weapons in their arsenal of kicks, punches, and other strikes. If you’re the average martial artist, you throw your rear-leg roundhouse kick from a front stance snapping your leg across your body depending on the weight of your leg and the snap of your knee for power. Power is a combination of mass (weight can be used in this example) and speed. Kinetic energy (energy of motion) is ½ mv^2 that’s half mass times speed (velecity) squared. The more mass, or the more of your body you put into your kick, and the greater the speed of your kick (snap of your knee for example) the more powerful your kick will be. So now you’re going to tell me that you already get most of your body into your roundhouse kick anyway. I will make you a gentleman’s wager (as soon as I find a gentleman) that this martial arts article will, if practiced correctly, increase the power of your roundhouse kick by about 30% minimum. ——————————————————————————– Let’s make some more general statements about striking power ——————————————————————————– The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips. If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the oppostie direction of your strike, you will lose power. Speed is a more important factor in striking power (kinetic energy) than mass Antagonistic muscle groups are those muscle groups which hinder a wanted movement. If the antagonistic muscle groups are tense during a strike the strike will be slowed down as well as more energy being consumed for future strikes. If the strike is slowed down power will be lost. Breath, held in the lungs, can get in the way of proper movement So what we now see is that during the roundhouse kick, or any other martial arts strike for that matter, is we want to stay as relaxed as possible, use as many of our muscle groups as possible in the correct timing (gross coordination), and breath out as we strike. We can also conclude from the statements above, that the roundhouse kick should not be treated as a solely lower body strike. Many althletic coaches will tell you that the sprint, for example, is at least 50% upper body work. The same facts applies to the roundhouse kick. If you can get the muscles of the upper torso involved in the strike, there will be a greater mass and greater intertia (basically follow through ability) ——————————————————————————– The Biggest Mistake I See Almost All Martial Artists Make When Executing the Roundhouse Kick is… ——————————————————————————– not getting a good upper torso rotation into the roundhouse kick. Remember this powerful fact …? If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the oppostie direction of your strike, you will lose power. Almost every martial artist I have seen execute a roundhouse kick whips his arm backwards in the oppostie direction of the kick. This means if you are throwing a roundhouse kick with your right leg towards your centerline to the left your right arm is whipping to the right in the oppostie direction. This, by its very nature, precludes you from getting your upper torso muscle groups involved with your roundhouse kick to your greatest potential and therefore, you lose power. I’ve heard every excuse in the book for executing a roundhouse kick in this manner; I won’t be able to keep my balance. Well you couldn’t keep your balance the first time you learned to do the kick could you? I see full contact fighters executing the roundhouse kick that way? I’ve seen them get knocked out too. They’re human beings just like you and me. We can all improve. If I kick the way you are showing me I will over-extend myself and not be able to stop to throw another technique. Not in the beginning because you will have more power and intertia in your roundhouse kick than you are acustom too. Practice practice practice. It feels like my ankle is twisting off when I get I turn my shoulders into the roundhouse kick like you said. Remember my statement - If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. Be sure to pivot your supporting foot as you execute your roundhouse kick. Look, I’ve done this kick both ways. You think I started doing the roundhouse kick like this? Nope, but I’m doing it this way now and I kick – real – hard . ——————————————————————————– Increasing The Power of Your Roundhouse Kick Pivoting Drill ——————————————————————————– I received a lot of emails with questions about the martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick, so before once again directing the serious martial artists to my printable ebook Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes with the bonus section Taking Strikes and Coming Back for More I would like to discuss a very simple drill with you to increase your power of your roundhouse kick with a very simple pivoting drill. Now, if you haven’t read the first martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick you’d better go read that first Pivoting and Power in Your Roundhouse Kick Remember the statements I made in the previous martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick? The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips. If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. This is the hip motion I referenced in the frequently asked questions in the previous roundhouse kick martial arts article. The hip motion must follow the arc of the roundhouse kick so the hips must also rotate in a circular motion. A sloppy pivot will force you to land your strike during the eccentric phase of your kick. Eccentric motion is the slowing down phase or follow through phase of a motion. All explosive type motions, should reach their peak at the release point or striking point of a motion in order to get the most power. Throw a baseball and attempt to stop your throwing arm motion at the release point of the ball. Notice how you slowed down before actually releasing the ball? Notice you did not throw the ball very far? The same thing happens with impact types of motions. If you slow down before you strike you will lose power. We can basically say, the greater the pivot of your support foot (the further you turn your left foot counter-clockwise if you are striking with your right leg) the greater potential for power in your roundhouse kick. Now let me give you three more powerful facts. A stretched muscle is more efficient than a relaxed muscle. Thus the the wind up of a pitch, the back-swing in a tennis serve, and the chambering of the traditional reverse punch. The further a limb travels the greater the potential for speed. See the same examples above. Some would argue that this point reduces economy of motion and therefore decreases the possibility of striking an attacker. I agree, but remember I am discussing facts of increasing power, not facts of combat for the moment. Similar examples can be made with the long jumper and pole vaulter who attempt to time their jumps at the peak speed of their run before fatigue sets in and slows them down. The further a limb travels the greater the potential for more large muscle groups to assist in the motion. i.e. Gross motor coordination and yes the distance diminishes with repetition of proper motion. Learning to Pivot Your Foot More for Your Roundhouse Kick Okay so you now understand about power in your roundhouse kick and how to acquire power in your roundhouse kick, but the only way to to actually get power in your roundhouse kick is repetition of proper motion. Let’s try an experiment (experiment for you I already know the outcome) Stand in a front stance with your right leg back. Not too long, regardless of your style of martial art. Now execute a roundhouse kick with your right leg sensing your pivot with your support foot. Now execute a a roundhouse knee strike with the same arc as your roundhouse kick, again sensing the pivot in your support foot. Which strike gave you the most pivot? That’s right! The roundhouse knee strike did! Why? A shorter lever, a larger muscle mass requiring less fine motor skills, fewer joints involved in the motion so less gross motor coordination is necessary. Now you need to execute several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike continuously sensing the pivot of your support foot. After executing several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike you will now execute several repetitions of the roundhouse kick. While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike. ——————————————————————————– Is That It? ——————————————————————————– So that’s it Rick? That’s all you have to tell us? No there’s a lot more, but one more thing I want to add to this kicking drill. Remember this statement and analogies? A stretched muscle is more efficient than a relaxed muscle. Thus the the wind up of a pitch, the back-swing in a tennis serve, and the chambering of the traditional reverse punch. And this statement and explanations? The further a limb travels the greater the potential for speed. See the same examples above. Some would argue that this point reduces economy of motion and therefore decreases the possibility of striking an attacker. I agree, but remember I am discussing facts of increasing power, not facts of combat for the moment. Similar examples can be made with the long jumper and pole vaulter who attempt to time their jumps at the peak speed of their run before fatigue sets in and slows them down. So something else I want to add so you can get the sense of the most power you can get from this particular kicking drill. Put your right leg back in a front stance. Rotate your left foot counter-clockwise as far as you can. Rotate your hip to the right as far as you can. Put as much weight on your right foot as you can. You should now feel like a stretched rubber-band. Now you need to execute several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike continuously sensing the pivot of your support foot and the whip-like action you are getting from your stretched muscles. After executing several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike you will now execute several repetitions of the roundhouse kick. While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike and the whip-like action you are getting from your stretched muscles. Slowly over the weeks you will be able to minimize your gross motor movements and economize without losing power. Don’t hurry on this kicking drill. Remember, it took you a while to develop other economized yet powerful strikes and it will take you a while to improve your roundhouse kick as well. I am reminded of a fable. This is paraphrased as I do not have it memorized; A master was walking with a student. The student asked the master, “Master, how long will it take for me to become as skilled as you? The master thought carefully and said, “Ten years of training at least.” This seemed like a long time to the student. The student asked, “Master, what if I train twice as long as twice as hard as everyone else? The master thought carefully and said, “Twenty years.” The student asked the master, “Master, what if I train three times harder than anyone else and do nothing but train hard.” The master thought carefully and said, “Thirty years.” The student was perplexed. “Master, why do you increase the time it will take me to be as good as you every time I tell you I will train harder and longer to be as good as you.” The master replied, “Because when you have one eye on the horizon you only have one eye to see where you are going.” Concentrate on what you are doing now my martial arts readers. The goals will come as you practice. You’ll find drills to increase the power of your kicks and punches in my printable ebook with pictures Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes with the bonus section Taking Strikes and Coming Back for More. I’ve had martial artists and other fighters hire me to analyze their punches and kicks and I’ve even received a video to analyze a frisbee throw due to my background in kinese, movement education, exercise phys and martial arts. One of the most misunderstood kicks I analyze is the roundhouse kick. We will define the roundhouse kick for the purposes of this martial arts article as a kick executed from a cocked knee position whose arc travels approximately parellel with the ground as the knee snaps straight 80 degrees to 90 degrees and travels across your centerline striking with the shin down to the top of the foot. Most martial artists I’ve met think this is one of their weakest kicks when it could actually be one of their most powerful weapons in their arsenal of kicks, punches, and other strikes. If you’re the average martial artist, you throw your rear-leg roundhouse kick from a front stance snapping your leg across your body depending on the weight of your leg and the snap of your knee zabawki for power. Power is a combination of mass (weight can be used in this example) and speed. Kinetic energy (energy of motion) is ½ mv^2 that’s half mass times speed (velecity) squared. The more mass, or the more of your body you put into your kick, and the greater the speed of your kick (snap of your knee for example) the more powerful your kick will be. So now you’re going to tell me that you already get most of your body into your roundhouse kick anyway. I will make you a gentleman’s wager (as soon as I find a gentleman) that this martial arts article will, if practiced correctly, increase the power of your roundhouse kick by about 30% minimum. ——————————————————————————– Let’s make some more general statements about striking power ——————————————————————————– The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips. If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the oppostie direction of your strike, you will lose power. Speed is a more important factor in striking power (kinetic energy) than mass Antagonistic muscle groups are those muscle groups which hinder a wanted movement. If the antagonistic muscle groups are tense during a strike the strike will be slowed down as well as more energy being consumed for future strikes. If the strike is slowed down power will be lost. Breath, held in the lungs, can get in the way of proper movement So what we now see is that during the roundhouse kick, or any other martial arts strike for that matter, is we want to stay as relaxed as possible, use as many of our muscle groups as possible in the correct timing (gross coordination), and breath out as we strike. We can also conclude from the statements above, that the roundhouse kick should not be treated as a solely lower body strike. Many althletic coaches will tell you that the sprint, for example, is at least 50% upper body work. The same facts applies to the roundhouse kick. If you can get the muscles of the upper torso involved in the strike, there will be a greater mass and greater intertia (basically follow through ability) ——————————————————————————– The Biggest Mistake I See Almost All Martial Artists Make When Executing the Roundhouse Kick is… ——————————————————————————– not getting a good upper torso rotation into the roundhouse kick. Remember this powerful fact …? If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the oppostie direction of your strike, you will lose power. Almost every martial artist I have seen execute a roundhouse kick whips his arm backwards in the oppostie direction of the kick. This means if you are throwing a roundhouse kick with your right leg towards your centerline to the left your right arm is whipping to the right in the oppostie direction. This, by its very nature, precludes you from getting your upper torso muscle groups involved with your roundhouse kick to your greatest potential and therefore, you lose power. I’ve heard every excuse in the book for executing a roundhouse kick in this manner; I won’t be able to keep my balance. Well you couldn’t keep your balance the first time you learned to do the kick could you? I see full contact fighters executing the roundhouse kick that way? I’ve seen them get knocked out too. They’re human beings just like you and me. We can all improve. If I kick the way you are showing me I will over-extend myself and not be able to stop to throw another technique. Not in the beginning because you will have more power and intertia in your roundhouse kick than you are acustom too. Practice practice practice. It feels like my ankle is twisting off when I get I turn my shoulders into the roundhouse kick like you said. Remember my statement - If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. Be sure to pivot your supporting foot as you execute your roundhouse kick. Look, I’ve done this kick both ways. You think I started doing the roundhouse kick like this? Nope, but I’m doing it this way now and I kick – real – hard . ——————————————————————————– Increasing The Power of Your Roundhouse Kick Pivoting Drill ——————————————————————————– I received a lot of emails with questions about the martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick, so before once again directing the serious martial artists to my printable ebook Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes with the bonus section Taking Strikes and Coming Back for More I would like to discuss a very simple drill with you to increase your power of your roundhouse kick with a very simple pivoting drill. Now, if you haven’t read the first martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick you’d better go read that first Pivoting and Power in Your Roundhouse Kick Remember the statements I made in the previous martial arts ezine article on increasing the power of your roundhouse kick? The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips. If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power. This is the hip motion I referenced in the frequently asked questions in the previous roundhouse kick martial arts article. The hip motion must follow the arc of the roundhouse kick so the hips must also rotate in a circular motion. A sloppy pivot will force you to land your strike during the eccentric phase of your kick. Eccentric motion is the slowing down phase or follow through phase of a motion. All explosive type motions, should reach their peak at the release point or striking point of a motion in order to get the most power. Throw a baseball and attempt to stop your throwing arm motion at the release point of the ball. Notice how you slowed down before actually releasing the ball? Notice you did not throw the ball very far? The same thing happens with impact types of motions. If you slow down before you strike you will lose power. We can basically say, the greater the pivot of your support foot (the further you turn your left foot counter-clockwise if you are striking with your right leg) the greater potential for power in your roundhouse kick. Now let me give you three more powerful facts. A stretched muscle is more efficient than a relaxed muscle. Thus the the wind up of a pitch, the back-swing in a tennis serve, and the chambering of the traditional reverse punch. The further a limb travels the greater the potential for speed. See the same examples above. Some would argue that this point reduces economy of motion and therefore decreases the possibility of striking an attacker. I agree, but remember I am discussing facts of increasing power, not facts of combat for the moment. Similar examples can be made with the long jumper and pole vaulter who attempt to time their jumps at the peak speed of their run before fatigue sets in and slows them down. The further a limb travels the greater the potential for more large muscle groups to assist in the motion. i.e. Gross motor coordination and yes the distance diminishes with repetition of proper motion. Learning to Pivot Your Foot More for Your Roundhouse Kick Okay so you now understand about power in your roundhouse kick and how to acquire power in your roundhouse kick, but the only way to to actually get power in your roundhouse kick is repetition of proper motion. Let’s try an experiment (experiment for you I already know the outcome) Stand in a front stance with your right leg back. Not too long, regardless of your style of martial art. Now execute a roundhouse kick with your right leg sensing your pivot with your support foot. Now execute a a roundhouse knee strike with the same arc as your roundhouse kick, again sensing the pivot in your support foot. Which strike gave you the most pivot? That’s right! The roundhouse knee strike did! Why? A shorter lever, a larger muscle mass requiring less fine motor skills, fewer joints involved in the motion so less gross motor coordination is necessary. Now you need to execute several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike continuously sensing the pivot of your support foot. After executing several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike you will now execute several repetitions of the roundhouse kick. While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike. ——————————————————————————– Is That It? ——————————————————————————– So that’s it Rick? That’s all you have to tell us? No there’s a lot more, but one more thing I want to add to this kicking drill. Remember this statement and analogies? A stretched muscle is more efficient than a relaxed muscle. Thus the the wind up of a pitch, the back-swing in a tennis serve, and the chambering of the traditional reverse punch. And this statement and explanations? The further a limb travels the greater the potential for speed. See the same examples above. Some would argue that this point reduces economy of motion and therefore decreases the possibility of striking an attacker. I agree, but remember I am discussing facts of increasing power, not facts of combat for the moment. Similar examples can be made with the long jumper and pole vaulter who attempt to time their jumps at the peak speed of their run before fatigue sets in and slows them down. So something else I want to add so you can get the sense of the most power you can get from this particular kicking drill. Put your right leg back in a front stance. Rotate your left foot counter-clockwise as far as you can. Rotate your hip to the right as far as you can. Put as much weight on your right foot as you can. You should now feel like a stretched rubber-band. Now you need to execute several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike continuously sensing the pivot of your support foot and the whip-like action you are getting from your stretched muscles. After executing several repetitions of the roundhouse knee strike you will now execute several repetitions of the roundhouse kick. While you are executing the roundhouse kick try to sense the same amount of pivot in your roundhouse kick as you did in your roundhouse knee strike and the whip-like action you are getting from your stretched muscles. Slowly over the weeks you will be able to minimize your gross motor movements and economize without losing power. Don’t hurry on this kicking drill. Remember, it took you a while to develop other economized yet powerful strikes and it will take you a while to improve your roundhouse kick as well. I am reminded of a fable. This is paraphrased as I do not have it memorized; A master was walking with a student. The student asked the master, “Master, how long will it take for me to become as skilled as you? The master thought carefully and said, “Ten years of training at least.” This seemed like a long time to the student. The student asked, “Master, what if I train twice as long as twice as hard as everyone else? The master thought carefully and said, “Twenty years.” The student asked the master, “Master, what if I train three times harder than anyone else and do nothing but train hard.” The master thought carefully and said, “Thirty years.” The student was perplexed. “Master, why do you increase the time it will take me to be as good as you every time I tell you I will train harder and longer to be as good as you.” The master replied, “Because when you have one eye on the horizon you only have one eye to see where you are going.” Concentrate on what you are doing now my martial arts readers. The goals will come as you practice. You’ll find drills to increase the power of your kicks and punches in my printable ebook with pictures Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes with the bonus section Taking Strikes and Coming Back for More.