Flowers In The Arts

The delicate beauty of flowers has long inspired the works of writers, musicians, and artists alike. One such example of this is the series of paintings created by famous artist Vincent Van Gogh, titled “Sunflowers”.

Among this collection are three nearly identical paintings of fifteen sunflowers, followed by two equally identical paintings of twelve sunflowers. These five paintings were done while he was living in Arles, a city located in the south of France, in August of 1888. The later similar paintings were done early in the following year.

The first of the paintings was created to serve as decoration in his friend Paul Gauguin’s home. Thus began the Sunflower series. The paintings depict sunflowers in all stages of life, from early bloom to nearly the end of the flower’s existence, where the petals are depicted as wilting away.

These paintings were unique at the time because of their vivid yellow color. New pigments had just been invented which made the coloring possible. The brightness of the flowers was something that people hadn’t seen, and thus made the paintings immediately valuable.

Van Gogh, in a letter he wrote to his brother, explained, “The sunflower is mine in a way.” He was speaking of the true uniqueness and innovation of the appearance of the painting relative to other paintings he and his contemporaries had done.

In March 1987, the true worth of these paintings was displayed when Japanese insurance magnate Yasuo Goto paid nearly $40 million for one of the paintings in the series. This was a new record for Van Gogh paintings. At the time, he may have made the purchase for himself or for the company he owned, which was called the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Company of Japan. Either way, the painting now rests in the Seiji Togo Yasuda Memorial Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. Following the purchase was a brief scandal in which the painting was suspected to be a forgery; however, it was concluded to be genuine.

Van Gogh was struck by the inherent beauty in these simple flowers. He was inspired by their hope in the first bloom and their honesty in their wilting death. He was not alone in that opinion; his work was followed by many similar paintings. Even in modern contemporary art, we find a vast majority of still life paintings to be inspired by flowers in various stages of life and death.

Arts On Line

The profusion of online Arts websites allows anyone to explore thousands of art galleries, museums and art expositions from around the globe. Search by subject, medium, country of origin and more. Public listings of expositions and online ticket sales make it easy for even the busiest people to enrich their lives through enjoyment of art and artistic performances.

The internet serves not only traditional artists, but also those specializing in computer art. There are many web sites solely dedicated to art created on computer, and even museums of computer art. This is an entirely new venue for the new global media art community, and supports the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of modern art that uses computer technology in original ways.

Many are free community sites which offer opportunities for the presentation of digital art from multiple digital artists as well as discussion forums for artists and members of the public. These provides a guide for both amateurs and professionals interested in exploring and using digital media and computers for creative purposes. Look for sites offering free downloads of images to enhance your personal or commercial website with photos, clip art and animations.

Read online critical history of computer graphics and animation. The internet is a global communications forum, providing professional advice from worldwide experts on creating digital art and illustrations. This advances the concept of digital fine art while promoting public interest and knowledge about this new medium.

For those more interested in traditional art, many museums now have digital photographs of their collections posted online. Without leaving your home, tour a virtual art gallery with information about the artists at your fingertips. If you are curious about a given work of art, it only takes a mouse click to find a biography of the artist and other information about the art.

Appreciation of art is greatly enhanced by knowing the artist's motive in creating it, as well as an social factors influencing the subject matter. For instance, to understand medieval paintings, it helps to know the preoccupations and perceptions of people living in this era. Many older works of art use symbolism not readily apparent to modern viewers, and an online guide brings to life the meaning behind many seemingly minor items in these paintings.

Don't forget about online ticket sales. It is so much easier to buy tickets online than over the phone. This eliminates waiting in line and guessing whether or not you are going to get a good seat for the performance. You can see a map of the theater so you can pick out exactly where you want to sit.

For those interested in learning new art-related skills, there are numerous online courses in fine arts, interior design, graphic design, art and art history master's courses. With more people engaged in distance learning than ever before, many large universities are now offering their courses online. With so much available, there's absolutely no excuse for not participating.

An Education In The Arts

For some people art is just something you put on your refrigerator doors. It is something you have to do for schoolwork, or to while your time away. In truth, there truly is something beneath the surface of art that will tantalize every student and teacher. And this is the truth behind art education.

Q. What Is An Education In The Arts?
A. Art Education is the means by which a student gains an understanding of form and design. An education in the arts is typically divided into three areas - the fine arts, such as music, drama, sculpture or painting, the general arts, programs such as education, criminology, etc, and design, such as graphic design, web design, or interior design.

Q. Why Arts?
A. Art has a great power to influence people. It also has a significant effect on the history of man. Art may seem like it is just something pretty, but under the hood it boasts of a pretty powerful engine. One that has shaped the world, and indeed your very life. You can't go one day in the span of your life without being exposed to some form of artistic design, from the

A wise man once said that an education in the arts is the absolute best education one can have because it exposes you to the most general field of studies. Over time, you will know a little about everything. If you chose a more specialized field, you would gradually learn more and more about less and less. And I'd rather know a little about everything than everything about something, don't you agree?

1. Express Yourself

Art is by far one of the most rewarding careers because, unlike a career in the sciences or a trade, it allows you to express your creativity. And no two days are the same. The power to captivate and inspire is also very rewarding. Hasn’t the Mona Lisa drawn its share of oohs and aahs? And hasn’t many a tear been shed at the beautiful works of art around the world? Man has always expressed his deepest thoughts and desires in a tangible form. This form is Art.

Industries need artists who have had a good education in Art. Creating labels, stickers, and advertisements for their products isn’t easy. These things require plenty of thought and design. Every detail has been considered to make its effect on the consumer optimal. Have you ever been interested in a product simply because of the packaging? This is art at work.

2. Art Is Everywhere

- Color
- Psychology
- Design esthetics
- Advertisements
- Television & Movies
- Furniture
- Clothing

3. Who Should Study Art?

Almost everyone has gone to art class in grade school or high school. Even those who are not artists can benefit from an Art Education. They will come to appreciate the rich history and significance of Art.

4. I Want to Learn! How do I Sign Up?

Art education is not confined to undergrad studies. It also extends to tutors, art classes, vocational classes and other learning methods. Many schools exist that teach the history, principles and appreciation of Art. These schools carry the tradition of imparting to the next generation the significance of art.

5. The Rewards Of An Art Education

You may be tempted to think you will be able to wing it through a career without any formal training. That is possible, but not likely. Industries are on the lookout for those with professional education. Even with an education from a post-secondary institution, in this field, you never stop learning and keeping up with technology.

An Art Education is clearly important to artists and laymen alike. It may not be the path everyone takes, but it is the path that richly rewards those who take it. The riches here are not only of the material kind but that of a good education and a heightened appreciation of the world around you.

Hobbies Arts And Crafts

The training provided by teachers in the use of arts and crafts projects in schools might begin at the Kindergarten level. The arts and crafts projects are basically simple but serve to teach youngsters how to expand on the knowledge they learned in class. Some of these arts and crafts projects will use pictures to help children learn to count.

The use of arts and crafts projects in schools will also teach children to perform mathematical equations. While in the First Grade, students learn to color and paste clever characters together so that the numbers equal the proper amount of the math problem put before them. Students can correct their answers by re-pasting the picture to another location, or adding another to get the correct sum.

There are many ways to expand knowledge in the use of arts and crafts projects in schools. One of the favorite arts and crafts projects that is used at the Sixth Grade level of schooling is the construction of a volcano. This arts and crafts project will require a great deal of creativity and will allow the student to combine art and Science in a very realistic form.

The use of Arts and Crafts projects in schools may sometimes require a waiver from the parent. The volcano project is one arts and crafts project that requires students to mix chemical compounds that would normally be found in any home. School policies, however, dictate that the students submit a waiver for damages in case some of the baking soda used in the eruption of the volcano makes its way into the eyes of students during the school day.

The use of Arts and Crafts Projects in schools can be extended to the High School level when the Arts and Crafts projects are used as decorations for proms or other class parties. Students can get very creative with their Arts and Crafts projects when they are allowed to create hearts and flowers and any other shape to reflect a festive glint on any type of school celebration.

The sports events at school will give students the chance to show team spirit and learn to express themselves with color and graphic art. The use of Arts and Crafts projects in schools can be elaborate banners that show how tough their football team is, and can serve a dual role of exhibiting the school colors and motto to the fans that come to the various sports events such as football, baseball and basketball. There are many ways that schools can reduce the cost of educating by allowing the students to provide artwork for the walls in the classroom.

Motivated Functions of Art

The purposes of art which are motivated refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change, to comment on an aspect of society, to convey a specific emotion or mood, to address personal psychology, to illustrate another discipline, to (with commercial arts) to sell a product, or simply as a form of communication.

1. Communcation. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not be scientific. Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art.

   "[Art is a set of] artefacts or images with symbolic meanings as a means of communication." -Steve Mithen

2. Art as Entertainment. Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood, for the purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the function of the art industries of Motion Pictures and Video Games.
3. The Avante-Garde. Art for political change. One of the defining functions of early twentieth century art has been to use visual images to bring about political change. The art movements which had this goal - Dadaism, Surrealism, Russian Constructivism, and Abstract Expressionism, among others - are collectively referred to as the avante-garde arts.

   "By contrast, the realistic attitude, inspired by positivism, from Saint Thomas Aquinas to Anatole France, clearly seems to me to be hostile to any intellectual or moral advancement. I loathe it, for it is made up of mediocrity, hate, and dull conceit. It is this attitude which today gives birth to these ridiculous books, these insulting plays. It constantly feeds on and derives strength from the newspapers and stultifies both science and art by assiduously flattering the lowest of tastes; clarity bordering on stupidity, a dog’s life." -Andre Breton (Surrealism)

4. Art for psychological and healing purposes. Art is also used by art therapists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy. The Rorschach inkblot test, for example, is used to determine the personality and emotional functioning of a patient. The end product is not the principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.
5. Art for social inquiry, subversion and/or anarchy. While similar to art for political change, subversive or deconstructivist art may seek to question aspects of society without any specific political goal. In this case, the function of art may be simply to criticize some aspect of society.
5. Graffiti art and other types of street art are graphics and images that are spray-painted or stencilled on publicly viewable walls, buildings, buses, trains, and bridges, usually without permission. Certain art forms, such as graffiti, may also be illegal when they break laws (in this case vandalism).
6. Art for propaganda, or commercialism. Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood. In a similar way, art which seeks to sell a product also influences mood and emotion. In both cases, the purpose of art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a particular emotional or psychological response toward a particular idea or object.

The functions of art described above are not mutually exclusive, as many of them may overlap. For example, art for the purpose of entertainment may also seek to sell a product, i.e. the movie or video game. One of the central challenges of post-modern art (after the 1970s), is that as the world becomes increasingly utilitarian, functional, and market-driven, the presence of the non-motivated arts, or art which is ritualistic or symbolic, becomes increasingly rare.

Usage

The most common usage of the word "art," which rose to prominence after 1750, is understood to denote skill used to produce an aesthetic result. Britannica Online defines it as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."By any of these definitions of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art. Much has been written about the concept of "art". Where Adorno said in 1970 "It is now taken for granted that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more[...]," The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft," and also from an Indo-European root meaning "arrangement" or "to arrange". In this sense, art is whatever is described as having undergone a deliberate process of arrangement by an agent. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art. Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of the finer things. Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it will be considered Commercial art instead of art. On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art. Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitional difference. However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically-, spiritually-, or philosophically-motivated art; to create a sense of beauty ; to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions. The purpose may also be seemingly nonexistent.

Art

Art refers to a diverse range of human activities, creations, and expressions that are appealing to the senses or emotions of a human individual. The word "art" may be used to cover all or any of the arts, including music, literature and other forms. It is most often used to refer specifically to the visual arts, including media such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. However it can also be applied to forms of art that stimulate the other senses, such as music, an auditory art. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy which considers art.

Traditionally the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery, a concept which altered during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".^[1] Generally art is a (product of) human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind; by transmitting emotions and/or ideas. Beyond this description, there is no general agreed-upon definition of art. Art is also able to illustrate abstract thought and its expressions can elicit previously hidden emotions in its audience.

The evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans. An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.

How to Start a Fine Art Photography Business

The definition of fine art, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “art concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects”. With such a “wide” definition of “beautiful objects”, the beauty is in the eyes of the photographer. Virtually anything can be fine art, a simple household item such as a fork, a nude body, travel, landscape, wildlife, a landscape. Not everyone will agree on what constitutes fine art, many years ago I was awed by the sight of the Sydney Opera House, and thought it was the most beautiful building In Australia. However I remember thinking that it perfectly complemented Australia, it would look pretty silly in the centre of Madrid. However if you don’t like the Sydney Opera House, then it does not matter how great the photo you are not going to like it. So whatever constitutes Fine Art photography is a pretty subjective decision.

School of Photography give you a good idea of what will constitute in their view Fine Art photography.

For many photographers this is an ideal line of work, because it allows you to represent a part of your personality, through your work. It is possible to make a political statement by being a fine arts photographer. A clear analogy here would be the emergence of the acceptance of the gay male in photography, over the last thirty years. In it’s wide ranging definition it is possible to be more creative, and in this creativity be more personal.

There are a lot of resources on the Web regarding fine art. One of the better ones concerning resources and links is http://art-support.com/links.htm. There are excellent links to photographers’ web sites, as well as grants available to the photographer. Because the definition of Fine Art photography is so wide, it has perhaps a more specific marketing need. Fortunately there are more ways to market them than just stock photographic galleries It may be advantageous for you to think about engaging the services of a full time sales representative. A sales representative will work with clients in the advertisement industry, the travel industry, and also graphic design firms. The advantage of employing a sales rep is that it leaves you free to create without the hassle of “cold selling”. If you are not a natural salesperson, it may be better for you to consider someone else doing the selling. That person should also be a!

ble to evaluate the true value of your work, be experienced enough to know where to get the prices, as well as having a proven track record in negotiating the best prices.

There are other advantages as well. Companies using a wide and diverse range of photographs, such as advertisement agencies, will have more time for a sales rep, who has a large portfolio of work, from different clients, than from one single photographer. By the nature of their work sales reps are normally found in larger cities and towns, they will have a large client base of their own, and will probably promote your work in specialised areas, such as food photographer, or portrait photographer. So how does the relationship work? Normally the sales rep will already have their own business, and they will work for you on a commission only basis. You will pay them approximately 30 percent of the assignment fee, that is the net fee, not the final figure with expenses added on.

How to work out if this relationship will be advantageous to you, balances many factors. If you have developed a highly personalised style as a photographer, then you need to target specific areas to sell the photographs. Perhaps you do not live in a large city and have the right contacts. You have already made a portfolio of work that you would like to specialise in. It may not be cheaper for you to hire a rep, because you may still have to advertise locally to maintain your own business that you have developed, but you are paying a rep on extra sales that you did not have before. It will certainly increase the profitability of your business if you have no time to devote to increasing the number of your clients.

You have decided that this path is for you, - how do you go about it.

One idea is to investigate the names of the best advertisement agencies nearest to you, your local reference library can be of assistance here, as can yellow pages. You can phone them direct and ask them the names and the contact numbers of their reps. The Writer’s Digest publish an annual “Photographer’s Market Book”, this book now lists photographic reps, and it will also help you market your work with lists of fine art reps, as well as galleries and stock agencies.

However you choose to market your business, the essence of what you need to do is to widen your client base. There is certainly more work in the marketing of certain photographs. However in today’s market place communication is as much as an art as creating the photographs. Not only is it important that you keep abreast with market trends, but you have to be in constant communication with your clients. Certain photographers’ enjoy the “Cut and Thrust” of aggressive marketing. If you don’t, then consider paying someone else to do it for you. Never underestimate the power of marketing, it is a very potent tool to help get your work shown to the people who are most likely to purchase it.

Do you really know as a photographer what you have to sell and it’s value. As a freelancer you can learn a great deal from advertising clients, They determine a niche for the product and then work on it’s development to promote it. A product is always promoted with a very specific client in mind. You must know your strengths as well as your weaknesses. For instance if you have a passion for taking seascapes, then it is pointless to advertise yourself as a portrait photographer. You need to find a way of getting your unique photographs to where they are going to maximise your profit.

Tips To Becoming A Successful Artist & Craftperson

The world and the Internet are filled with artists. Artists are everywhere! Because of the competition, only a few get noticed and make money at it.

It takes numerous traits to be an artist and businessperson! Some can be taught and some can not.

The Tips Are Not In Any Particular Order, Each One Is Important

You Will Find Out, The More Tips You Initiate,

The More Successful You Will Become!

* Choose a medium that you have a passion for.

* Do your homework. Study that medium; study the style of all the artists in the world in that medium that you can.

* Do what 99% of people won't do.

* Give yourself a business name, example: {First Name Last Name Acrylic Painting Artist} and open a completely separate bank account for the business.

* Create your own style! Be different and stand out from the crowd. TV show producers and magazine editors look for this and it also eliminates most of the competition.

* Offer your art in a wide price range. Have something for all wallet sizes.

* Always give the customer more than they expected to get.

* People love to deal with professionals. Present a class act. Always present yourself, art and business in a professional matter. That includes having a logo, letterhead, business card and the merchandising that accompanies your art.

* Sell your artwork merchandised with a certificate, folder and a brief biography/profile, especially if it is a one of a kind piece. People appreciate this and it also documents the piece for future reference. Tell a little about the piece in a description such as the title of the piece, what type of medias were used in creating it, the style of art it is, its size, the year it was created and always sign it.

* No matter where you are selling, if you give the majority of people too many choices, they get confused, overwhelmed and can't make a decision on what to buy. Depending on the size of artworks you create, Exhibiting 25-50 should give enough of a selection without being overwhelming.

Keep an album portfolio handy and if people wish to see more, you can let them browse through it. Better yet, you can leave it close to you and people will look through it. Just keep a close eye on it. Make sure that all the photos are marked with the artwork name, medium and price. They have albums with room above the photo so you can place 1" x 3" white or transparent labels. You can even write sold on the ones, you have sold.

You can also direct and help people decide which will create more sales by for example if you sell limited edition prints, marking the prints that sell best. Actually with the above, people will go one of two ways, they will either decide to go with something that is marked that they like or decide not to follow the crowd and purchase something that isn't marked. All artists have favorites of their artworks, just mark your favorite ones. If you have a lot, alternate them with each show or exhibition.

* Get a Merchant account so you can accept credit cards. A lot of people like using them to make purchases. 75% of my sales are paid with a credit card and 9 out of 10 of my credit card sales, people use either Visa or MasterCard. It is rare that anyone gets denied a Merchant account, the reason being you are not applying for any type of credit. The credit card companies will get 1%-3% commission on every one of your sales.

* From years of experience, the best way to sell your artworks is retail, you selling them directly to customers. Selling wholesale, to retail stores and galleries, you are only going to get approximately 50% of the retail selling price. Artist agents {managers} usually receive 10%-25% in commission fees of each sale they make. If they get a gallery to sell your artworks, their commission comes out of your net profit. With the extra money you are receiving, you can do a lot of self advertising and promotional stunts. Besides, unless you have a lot places and they are vastly spread out or they are in tourist traps that are selling your artworks, you are only promoting your artworks and name to a minute percentage of people in a very small area.

The three best ways to sell retail are at art festivals, arts and crafts fairs or via through the Internet {WWW}.

Art festivals and arts and crafts fairs have their disadvantages. Each one you attend takes you out of the studio {shop} 3- 6 days depending on how far away it is. You have to setup and tear down your booth, you can do well at a particular one, one year and the next year have hardly any sales at all, because this year, the economy is bad, the promoter did not promote the event very well or just that they had it on the wrong weekend, and another event drew more people's interest. Sometimes you have to carry large sums of money around, the lighting and security at some events leaves a lot to be desired. Again, in all reality, you are only promoting your artworks and name to a minute percentage of people in a very small area.

Even if you do get accepted to exhibit and sell at one of the countries fine art festivals or arts and crafts fairs, it will cost you $1000-$1500 for the booth fee for 3 to 4 days and there will be 300-500 booths. Yes, 50,000-100,000 people may walk through in that short time, but the majority of artists either do not sell enough to even cover the booth fee or just enough to cover the booth fee along with their travel, lodging and dining. Only a small percentage will actually make money {profit}.

The Internet is the best way to sell retail. You are promoting to many people in a vast area. Below is a text link, going to a page that displays a world and United States map indicating the approximate location of my websites last 1000 trackable visitors. It may take 30 to 40 seconds to fully load, the maps are large.

http://www.morlanwoodgifts.com/storefront.asp?pageno=112

There are numerous online websites that are inexpensive to sell your artworks on that get a fair amount of traffic {visitors}. They charge $0-$100 annual fee and 10%-15% commission on each sale. Excluding my personal business website, I have my artworks on 50 or so websites around the world. I do get a few sales, referrals that led to a sale or inquiries. The one that I have received the most sales {excluding my website} from or referrals that led to a sale, is http://www.architecturals.net. They do not charge an annual fee and they only charge a 10%- 13% commission fee. 100% of my sales come from the Internet and approximately 95% from my own website.

You really do not know who could be looking at your site or your artworks featured on another site. I have received numerous e-mails asking me If I would be interested in exhibiting my artworks on other websites, interested in exhibiting in a brick and mortar gallery, brick and mortar retail stores telling me they were interested in selling my pieces, gallery owners and managers, magazine and book editors, TV show producers and even art managers wanting to know if they could represent me.

Yahoo Business has their Merchant Solutions Starter website service for $39.95 a month. You can create your website with no HTML knowledge. You can have sales up to $12,000 per month. You get 10GB's of space and 200 GB's of data transfer {bandwidth} a month. For $22.95 per month you can get the Paymentech account that is a merchant account that allows you to accept credit cards. Both total $754.80 per year. As 99% of artists have their studios in a basement, bedroom, unused room of their house, a one or two car garage, or a shed or building on their property, you can see that is not much overhead, for a website!

* On the Internet, it is wise to have and display a toll free number people can call. It will increase your sales almost immediately! My sales and inquiries increased by 25%, in just the first 6 months after getting one. It gives people more confidence about purchasing from and dealing with you because a lot of times most people associate toll free numbers with buying something or getting information from a business entity. From experience, a very high percentage of people will not call your business long distance if it is their dime. Most of my calls are to place an order. A lot of people are very apprehensive about using a websites shopping cart, even though it is secured, but will not hesitate to give their personal and credit card information over the phone.

Some people just like speaking to a real live person. Stop and think about it, if you talk to a person, say for 10 minutes, at 7 cents a minute, that is 70 cents. If you only get a $25 order, it was worth every penny of it! You will have to shop around, but you should be able to find a plan for a monthly fee of $5 per month or less and 5-7 cents per minute.

* Always include a minimum of 6 business cards with each piece sold. The majority of people have an inner circle of 6-9 friends. You can bet those friends are going to see your piece probably in the next few months. Believe me, people give those cards to their inner circle of friends. In fact, several times over the years, I have had people contact me and ask if I could send them some more cards, because they had more friends that had seen the piece they had and were interested in my work.

* Don't be afraid to be different. Do not follow a trail, make the trail for others to follow you.

* Always price your art so you have room to barter. Leave yourself say 10% for this. A certain percentage of people love doing business this way. It makes them fell good. Caution do not take this too far!

* Give a small percentage {3% is good} discount for customers paying in cold cash versus say credit cards.

* If you accept credit cards and the customer is paying for the artwork with a credit card, offer them a two or three-payment plan if the purchase is say over $100.00. This will generate more sales and give some of your customers a chance and way to buy and own your art. This is especially good during the Christmas season.

* Have a quantity buying discount schedule. This works well for companies and corporations that like to buy gifts for their employees and during the Christmas season.

* Always respond and return phone calls and e-mails as promptly as possible. It makes one extreme difference! Preferably within 24 hours. When I phone or e-mail people a lot of times the first response over the phone or line they write in their e-mail is thank you for contacting me back so quickly.

* Hard work! Long hours! These are the two most important factors that will help you create your own luck.

* Remember all criticism is are people stating their opinions. Should go in one ear and out the other. After all, you are the one expressing yourself! Only a small percentage of people are going to like your art. All artists have their followers.

* Remember that there are three ways to do anything in life the wrong way, the right way and your way.

* Believe in yourself and know when your art is among the best. You will know this from the body language, facial expressions, and the eyes {eye contact} of the people viewing your art.

* Convey a positive attitude at all times and only associate yourself with people that have positive attitudes about you and your work. Get rid of the nonbelievers and pessimists!

* Never give up no matter how hard it gets. Have persistence and determination.

* Don't listen to relatives, friends, neighbors, and coworkers or any one else that gives you that line of bull that artists starve!

* Be a jack-of-all-trades master of none. Learn as much as you can about business, self-promoting, advertising, merchandising, photography or any other subjects they will help and save you money in your business. After all an artist is an entrepreneur. The only one that can truly sell your art is you!

* Treat all clients as if they were made of gold because they are precious.

* Never do commissioned work without a written and signed contract!

* Even with a written and signed contract never start work on a commissioned job without first receiving 30%-50% deposit upfront of the total price!

* Never sign or sell a creation you are not proud of!

* Pricing their artwork is very difficult for most artists! There are so many variables involved. If you do #2 & #4 above you should be able to command the price you want. If you are doing the same style as other artists, price your work competitively to theirs. With limited editions, the fewer that you will be creating, the more money you can charge. With one of a kind, custom made and commissioned pieces, you should be able to argue and command the price you want, as there will be no other like it.

You should always price your work, regardless of where it is being sold. You should include shipping and handling in the USA in the retail price. Most people will not take the time to contact you for a price and they hate to ask. Also people will think you are playing the price game. Here's how it goes. The first person or couple of people that contact you, you quote a price. If they accept without hesitation you will probably assume you are not asking for enough and raise it. The next contact you raise the price. Vice versa if you do this say a couple or three times and they do not buy you will probably assume you are asking to much and lower the price. The problem is that customers know this.

Pricing your work shows professionalism, shows you have confidence in yourself, you have put a price on yourself and that you are not playing the price game. Remember price is a matter of opinion; you are not going to please everybody!

* Have an unconditional 100% money back guarantee, the longer the time period from the time of purchase the better. Include that shipping and handling will be paid by you to return the piece back to you within that time period. Your customers will believe that you must have a lot of confidence in the piece to sport such a powerful guarantee, which in turn gives them a lot of confidence about buying from you.

* Never sell your pieces on auction places like ebay or Ubid. You are not going to get anything for them. The majority of people that place bids at such auction places are only looking for bargains. Handcrafted and art pieces have no place at these types of auctions. Once you start selling at the low price levels, you will have one heck of a time ever getting more for your work.

I once had an art critic and appraiser tell me when he looks at a piece, he arrives at a certain price in his mind, if the price the artist is selling the piece for is under priced he turns around and walks off, never giving the piece or artist another thought. The reasons being are, the artist could not possibly know their self, have very much confidence in their self, know how much talent they actually have and apparently are not too worldly as to know what the finer material things in life sell for.

Krav Maga by David Kahn

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is David Kahn’s, "Krav Maga."

After a brief introduction, David gives you a good basic overview of Krav Maga including some of its history. From here he goes right into a section on philosophy, which is very good, and one in which I would have to agree with about 90% of what he has to say.

The next section in the book gives a good overview on the proper mindset needed in order for you to prepare yourself for combat. Something a lot of books fail to do, but not this one. David also gives you a basic understanding of the vital/vulnerable points on the human body.

David’s next section is rather brief to my liking, but still a good overview on the basic principles involved in striking correctly for maximum effect. This section covers such strikes as; punches, palm heel strikes, elbow strikes, and eye gouges. There is also a small section on blocks and parrying as it is called in boxing.

The following section covers various lower body strikes and kicks along with kick defenses, which include deflections, blocks and grabs. This next section was particularly interesting in that it discussed close combat fighting and techniques essential to this section. Such as; falling, crawling, clinching, takedowns, defenses against tackles, etc.

The escape section was very enlightening as David covered the basic principles of escape from basic grabs, chokes while standing, chokes while lying down, head locks, hair grabs, and bear hugs.

Like most books that try to cover too much in one volume, I feel that the sections themselves although very well done, tend to be too brief on the proper execution of each individual technique. However, having said that, this is to be expected as the scope of this book is intended as a basic overview of the complete system, not a single volume devoted to one particular technique.

The only fault that I have with this book is the fact that I would have preferred actual photographs for demonstrating the techniques, rather than illustrations. I felt that a lot of what David was trying to explain got lost with the use of illustrations compared to if he would have used actual photographs.

The book continues with a brief section on basic strategies, which I found to be very solid. It then finishes with a basic training section which covers stretching, training programs, a 12 week training routine, and sparring.

Freedom from Fear by Peyton Quinn Arts

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Peyton Quinn’s, "Freedom From Fear."

Peyton starts the introduction of his book off by asking you the following simple and direct question, “What are you really after in life?” This question must be answered honestly and after great deliberation in order for it to have the desired effect. If this book could be summed up in one simple all encompassing statement, it would have to be this, “Don’t allow fear to run your life.”

The first chapter, entitled, “The Frog Brain and the Self-Image” Peyton covers numerous psychological areas such as;

1. A persons various reactions to fear are pretty much the same, regardless of the situation.
2. Adrenal stress and the role it plays when confronted by fear.
3. Irrational vs. Rational Fear.
4. Bullies and how they are basically the same regardless of the environment they are in.
5. Our basic survival instincts.
6. By our very nature, we are all salesman to certain degree.
7. Our emotional responses.

“Mind Controls Body” is the next chapter and deals with the effects our mind has on our physical well being. This chapter covers such areas as;

1. Pre-conditioned responses.
2. A very unique reading test on page #68.
3. Negative self-image.
4. Our basic need for approval from others.
5. Perfectionism.
6. A fascinating and very educational armed robbery story involving the author.

This next to last chapter is mental icing on the cake so to speak. In this chapter, “Power of Mind Over Health,” Peyton explains how the power of the mind has a great deal of bearing on the health of the body as a whole. Some of the subjects covered in this section are;

1. Pre-conceived notions.
2. Various types of stress.
3. The effects of stress on the mind and body.

Peyton concludes this book with a chapter on the effects of drug, alcohol, and tobacco addiction. This chapter I found surprisingly good and very insightful.

As much as I wanted to do a detailed review on this book, I found that in good conscious I couldn’t. Not that this wasn’t a terrific book, but I just felt that this was one of those books where the individual person needed to purchase it and read it with the knowledge that if they did just that, that this book had the potential to make a tremendous positive impact on their lives. What I did was merely provide you with a brief overview, rather than an actual review. The best thing I can say is this, “If you are reading this, STOP right now and order this book and read it several times. It will impact your life in a positive way.”

New Martial Arts Drills To Keep Your Students

New Martial Arts Drills To Keep Your Students From Getting Bored With Repetition.

I've known Helen for years and she's been in charge of a Kuk Sool Won class for the past two. Helen's great, she's tough, she's smart, and her school turns out responsible martial artists that can throw one of heck of a punch. I was in the area and due to take Helen out for lunch, so I showed up early and attended one of her late morning classes. I was a little surprised; it's been a while since I've done any Kuk Sool Won training and I certainly didn't remember some of the drills we were using. After we'd showered and settled down at our favorite Thai place, I inquired about it.

"So what's up with the machine gun sidekicks?" I asked. "Isn't that usually more of a Tae Kwon Do exercise?"

With machine gun sidekicks, you stand on one leg and throw a kick while jumping up just enough to let the force drag your standing leg forward. This makes you move in the direction of your kick, though it's not a traveling move, like jump kick. Helen had started us on one side of the dojo and made us move across the floor. If you're not used to them, they can take a real toll and even sitting in the air-conditioned restaurant, I could feel the burn up my thighs.

"It keeps things interesting," she smiled and when I confirmed that she just wasn't being a sadist, she continued.

"If you want keep your students interested, you need more than just the normal or traditional martial arts drills. People get bored with just a set that they do every time they come in, and after a while, doing the same repetitive exercises will stop having the effect that it had at the beginning."

"Makes sense," I agreed. "So what other drills do you like to use with your students?"

"I like pulling drills from a bunch of different places," she replied. "Ones that make you travel are good, because you know everyone's exerting themselves the same amount. Crocodile walks, where you lie face down and move across the floor without letting your torso touch the ground, help with body control and general strength training. Don't underestimate basic exercises like lunges to get you warmed up.

"One of my favorites is having everyone stand up straight, put their hands behind their head and lift up one knee to touch their chest before lowering and doing the other, sort of like you're marching. Doing about 25 reps of each leg gets you warmed up and is terrific for developing kicks."

I winced, rubbing my sore muscles. "All that and you still run a class afterwards."

"You bet." She grinned. "Trust me, it makes for much more entertaining practices."

Martial Arts Book Review

Martial Arts Book Review: Floor Fighting by Marc "Animal" MacYoung

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Marc “Animal” Mac Young’s, "Floor Fighting."

As you may well know from my previous reviews of Marc’s books, one of the things that I absolutely love about his style of writing is his no-holds barred direct approach to getting his point across. There is never any sugarcoating or politically correct terminology is his books. He simply tells it like it is, whether you like it or not.

Once again, Marc gives you a no-holds barred look at the reality of fighting and surviving on the street. This book focuses on the subject of fighting on the ground, which as most of us know, is where the vast majority of fights end up. As with all of his books, Marc really gives you an in-depth look at the principles behind the techniques that he explains in his books. This is one of the true tests of a quality martial arts or self-defense book.

The Basics:

In this section, Marc goes over with you the four laws of surviving a trip or fall to the ground. He also goes over the techniques for rolling backward, forward, to the side, and over your shoulder. As always, the principles behind these techniques are gone over in great detail.

Breaking Grips:

This section not only shows you the techniques for breaking someone’s grip on you, but also the four things that are likely to happen if you don’t break their grip. One unique item I found very practical was that if you aren’t able to break free from someone’s grip, punch out of it. This is very practical and useful information. Marc also includes a brief section on how to deal with advanced grips.

Spoiling the Dance:

If you do end up falling down to the ground, this section supplies you with the principles and techniques that you can use to increase your chances of landing on top of your opponent, rather than on the bottom. Marc also shows you how to increase the damage to your opponent by using your elbows and knees on him when you fall. Also included in this section are techniques on how to roll with the impact of falling, gaining and keeping your distance from your opponent until you are able to get back to your feet, and how to deal with someone who knows how to throw you.

Floor work:

This section covers several areas such as;

1. Offensive and Defensive Ranges.
2. What happens when you hit the floor.
3. Countering, deflect the attack rather than blocking it.
4. Best floor fighting position.
5. Triangle Defense.
6. How to defend against the stomping kick.
7. Offensive Ground Techniques.

Wrasslin’:

In this section Marc goes over some of the things to do and not to do when rolling around on the ground with your opponent. This includes generally speaking not punching your opponent, except for the use of hooks and uppercuts. Although you can make good use of the ground mauling techniques that Marc goes over in this section.

Keeping Your Man Down on the Ground:

Marc makes a very valid point here in the fact that once you have your opponent on the ground, make sure he stays down until after you have safely left the area or until you have ascertained that he is no longer a threat. Marc also takes a look at the very real possibility that you are the one who ends up on the ground. If this happens, he explains how not to get up from the ground and why. As well as, how to get up safely with minimal chance of getting hurt while doing so.

What Kids can learn from the Martial Arts

Martial Arts are becoming more popular as the years go on and they do provide us with the skills that we need in order to protect ourselves form others. However, when it comes to kids and Martial Arts, some parents are wary of whether or not a Martial Arts school is for them. How do you know if your child will like the school and just how do you know it will teach them all of the right things?

Martial Arts and What They Teach Our Kids

There is a misconception that Martial Arts schools teach our children to fight. Obviously all Martial Arts consist of some kind of physical activity, but it is purely taught so that our kids can protect themselves against harm.

In a world packed full of danger it is always a good idea to get our children to be able to look after themselves. At the end of the day there is only so much a parent can teach their child but once they get out into the open world, they are literally on their own. That means that they need to be able to protect themselves and Martial Arts schools do help them to do that.

Now, there are obviously going to be some kids who just want to cause trouble. However, generally Martial Arts are only learned by those who are serious about the practice. All Martial Arts require some form of focus and kids who are just out to cause trouble and fight all the time will not be able to stick with Martial Arts for long.

Martial Arts schools never teach children to fight. If anything they teach the opposite, as using the skills that you have learned through Martial Arts to just simply fight, is opposed.

So just what are Martial Arts schools teaching our children then? Well, they teach them to look after themselves, to stay focused, to have a higher self confidence and overall to keep calm. There is definitely nothing sinister going on and Martial Arts classes are extremely safe to leave your children in. You just have to make sure that you find a good school and that you do not get sucked in by the many fake Martial Arts schools out there.

Overall Martial Arts schools are good for our kids and they do not teach anything dodgy. If you do have a child enrolled in a Martial Arts school and you are not particularly happy with the attitude they are developing, then you should really consider swapping schools. It is all a matter of doing your research and finding one to suit you and your child. You should eventually find one and you can rest safe in the knowledge that your child is bettering themselves and learning to become more protected against the world.

Holiday Arts and Craft on a Budget

The best time for arts and craft projects comes at the end of the year. The spirit starts to drill into everyone around Halloween, working steadily through Thanksgiving, and climaxes with Christmas. It's this time that we care more for those heart-felt gifts, since we've been pretty busy to ourselves the rest of the year.

However, you do not need to break the bank for a warm gift to give someone, as many of us already know. There are always things in the realm of "cute" and "darling", that can give a wonderful impression to our family and friends.

Halloween can be an easy time to grab a smile from someone with a "Ghost Pop". All you need is a small lollipop with a wrapper, a sheet of tissue paper, and a small rubberband. (see where this is going? :)

Place the tissue paper over and around the lollipop, wrap the rubberband around the base several times, and then draw your "ghostly" face on the pop with a permanent maker. (Careful though, the marker's ink will spread quickly, just a few dots is usually good enough.) This is an easy, fun, very cheap craft for the holiday, and best of all, the receiver of this gift has a nice snack also!

Thanksgiving is a tough time to give due attention to a nice craft, since Christmas season is starting to wind-up in everyone's mind. Give it a little effort though, and you can have something to decorate your home with for many years to come. I think a good one is to take a small scrap sheet of treated wood, (wood that has been treated to withstand the elements of the outdoors. A piece about 2 to 3 feet is nice), draw a cartoon-like turkey on it, and then cut or have it cut around the border of your turkey. Then, "color" your turkey by painting it. With a small stake nailed to the back of it, you have a wonderful yard decoration for all to see! (Putting the date, and artist's name on the back could make it a nice "heirloom" also, if you use a good piece of wood that will last.)

Christmas is the time when stores are packed with shoppers, Stay at home one day and make a few gifts of your own. You may be surprised at what you can come up with! Take an old seasonal dish towel, the kind that have a decoration for the holiday, and an embroidery hoop. (The hoop can be purchased fairly cheap at places like Wal-mart.) Stretch the towel over the hoop and clamp it. Cut the edge of the towel off, and wa-la!, a thought-ful kitchen decoration for someone! (Actually, it would look nice anywhere in the home or even at work for some people.)

Whatever kind of crafts you find yourself doing this year, make sure you are careful, and have FUN making and sharing your "gifts from the heart". Tis the Season! -Stephanie

Martial Arts Book Review

Real Fighting by Peyton Quinn


Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Peyton Quinn's, "Real Fighting."

On a personal note, I found it quite interesting how certain people’s paths can cross without either one knowing about the other. A case in point, Peyton relates a story about a massive brawl which took place at a very prestigious bare-knuckle karate tournament in Denver, Colorado. Which just so happened to be the very same tournament that I competed in and also had the misfortune to witness the very disgusting behavior of a certain so called martial artist and his friends. I often wondered if he recalled seeing me compete.

I found Peyton's book to be a very good "reality check" for those of you out there that think that your "martial art" is superior to everyone else's. Well guess what, its not! As every person who has more than a passing resemblance to a human being will tell you, there are no superior martial arts, just superior martial artists. One particular quote that I really had to agree with was, “Concepts are more important than specific techniques.” Boy did Peyton hit the nail right on the head with this one. From that one quote alone, I knew that he definitely knew what he was talking about.

The most important thing to remember when reading this, or any book dealing with self-defense techniques, is that the principles behind the technique are far more important than the technique itself. Peyton does a great job of this, and you would do well to sit down and read this book from cover to cover several times in order to grasp what he is trying to teach you.

Another important point that is brought out in this book is your need to develop your own personal awareness of yourself and your surroundings. By being aware of what is going on around you, you can avoid a lot of potential problems and be able to spot the preliminary signals that are always present before the first blow is actually thrown.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed what Peyton had to teach in his book, I must admit that I am not a big fan of the generalization that seems to take place when people compare "real fighting" to the martial arts. It seems that a lot of the martial arts are pigeonholed into the prevalent "McDojo's" that seem to be so popular these days. That simply is not the case.

Peyton is one of the few "self-defense" authors out there that seems to realize this. He not only respects the teachings of the martial arts, but also understands their overall purpose and the benefits derived from them for those of us that study and live the martial way.

Peyton does do a really good job in differentiating between the “sport” mentality that seems to be so prevalent in many martial arts these days, and the “self-defense” mentality that has all put disappeared from all, but a few martial arts schools in existence today.

I am a traditionally trained martial artist in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do, as well as being ranked in several other disciplines. However, unlike a lot of schools that seem to have degenerated down to teaching a diluted "sport" version of these arts, I was fortunate enough to be taught the practical version of each technique alongside the traditional version.

A lot of traditional martial artists may find the information contained in this book a little disheartening, but take it from me, if you have one ounce of sense you will buy this book and study it. And when you think you’re finished and have learned everything in this book, take it off the shelf and read it again.

Finally, this book gives you a great overview on Peyton’s scenario based training principles in which he utilizes his Bulletman™ suits and instructors. Although you will never get the full effect of this type of training from this book, you will get that which is most important, the concepts behind it.

I think we would all do well to remember that the most important element that the martial arts teach you is not technique, but respect, self-control and self-discipline! Peyton Quinn is a noted self-defense authority and author of several books on the subject.

Arts for Academic Achievement Program

Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program

The Minneapolis Schools ‘ Arts for Academic Achievement Program is a program that aims to reform schools by using collaborations between teachers, artists, and artistic organizations. The main goal is to raise the students’ academic achievement with strong content focus and arts strategies. Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program was launched in 1997 as part of the Annenberg Foundation educational reform grant. The Arts for Academic Achievement Program is a direct partnership with the Perpich Center for Arts Education. After the success of the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program, the Perpich Center for Arts Education has expanded the Arts for Academic Achievement Program across Minnesota.

The Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program wants to provide the urban students of Minneapolis with opportunities in music, dance, writing, and other artistic forms. Arts for Academic Achievement Program teaches students how to express themselves better. It has also proven to reduce absenteeism among high school students. The more that the arts were integrated in the classroom, the better all students performed on tests, especially students with barriers to learning. The program is based on a great deal of educational research that shows the positive impact of arts based learning on students in not only academic areas but personal and social as well.

Research shows that teachers and their teaching are altered by the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program as well. The program changes the teachers’ perceptions about students. Through their participation in the arts students gain intelligence, leadership and motivation and this is shown in the classroom. Many teachers change their instruction to a more student-centered approach. Teachers encourage the concept of self criticism and risk-taking.

The Organization of the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program

The Arts for Academic Achievement Program involves planning; teachers plan using clear standards to teach in and through the arts. The Arts for Academic Achievement Program provides teachers with a support system that includes teams that work together to integrate arts into teaching and learning. These teams are based in a school and different school teams work together in cross school groups to develop lessons that include learning through the arts. The Minneapolis Schools also provides teachers with to understand more deeply and examine more rigorously their arts integrated teaching practice.

A big part of the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program is collaboration between various groups. This includes cooperative efforts between artists, arts partners, and other educators to forge new and/or deepen existing models and strategies to successfully engage all students in meaningful learning in and through the arts. One of the biggest parts of the collaboration is, of course, the students. Currently the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program works with around 8,000 students from 35 elementary, middle, and high schools. This also includes 150 teachers, several hundred art organizations and independent artists.

The Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program in 2006-2007

There are continued challenges for the Minneapolis Schools’ Arts for Academic Achievement Program in this year’s school year. The collaborations mentioned above must continue, already some schools from 2005 have not continued their involvement in the program. The program is also affected by the artists and teachers that leave the program.

History of Kali and Escrima

Filipino Kali is the martial art of stick fighting. Hard, bamboo sticks are used for defense and to attack. They have made this particular fighting style into a unique and deadly martial art form.

Kali Practitioners are first taught weapons fighting before hand to hand combat, differentiating itself from other martial art styles. A student in any other Asian Martial Art is expected to master hand to hand combat before moving on to weapons.

A definition of Kali would be: A Martial Art specializing in the use of two baton-length sticks, with techniques adaptable to empty-hand or edged weapons.

The word "escrima" originates from the Spanish verb "escrime", meaning to fence with a sword. Escrima is thought to have originated during the Spanish occupation of the Philippine Islands. Escrima is often used synonymously for Arnis and Kali.

Kali is an ancient term used to signify the martial arts in the southern Philippines. This martial art style is known as Kali-Silat. During the occupation by Spain, it was forbidden to practice Kali.

Studies of dance forms in the Philippines show the influence of Kali. Kali martial arts movements are ingrained in all the hand gestures and footsteps of the dances. These Kali patterns are not to be seen in the dances of India, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Japan, Pacific islanders.

Both men and women were taught martial arts in the Philippines. Combat was a fact of life and used against neighboring tribes, warlords and foreign occupiers.

Kali, Ecrima or Arnis stick fighting was developed over a period of many centuries. The people of the Philippines fought constant foreign invaders during this time. Each struggle against a new culture added to the Filipino Martial Arts as Kali warriors developed techniques to counter, combat and integrate many foreign styles. More than 100 different Filipino Martial Arts styles developed, which can be grouped into three complete self-defense systems which utilize sticks, swords, empty hands and other weapons. The systems are called Northern, Southern, and Central.

In Kali the assumption is always to use the edge of a blade, be it sword or knife. Kali employs many techniques, including strikes, stances and weapons handling, which have influences from China, Arabia, Indonesia and Spain.

The Southern islands, where influenced by Arab missionaries and became know as (Moro Filipinos"), fierce Moslems who violently opposed foreign peoples on their native land. During the American occupation in the early 1900s, Moros, marked by tiger-eyes and red headbands - signifying a resolve to kill until killed battled American trrops.

The Moro's we so ferocious that the American soldiers found their .38-caliber pistols ineffective. As a result the .45-caliber pistol was designed as a knock down weapon specifically to deal with the Moros. The American militray term "leather neck" comes from fighting the Moro's during this time. American Marines would wrap their necks in leather to keep from getting injured by the Kali warriors.

In 1935, the Philippines were occupied by the Japanese during World War II. Known for close-in, hand-to-hand combat with bolo knives, Filipino troops established themselves as fierce guerrilla forces.

Following the war, many Kali practitioners migrated from the Philippines to Hawaii and California. They lived close together, working as farm laborers and practicing their martial art in secret.

After years of secrecy the old Kali masters started to teach a younger generation the beautiful and deadly Filipino Martial Art. Its sad to say that the older generation of Kali masters believe the martial art is dead in the Phillipines.

Todays Kali practicioner shows respect to the art by the use of a visual salutation. They touch the closed fist of their right hand to their forehead and the open palm if the left hand to their heart.

Some of these masters of Kali who have continued the art are Angel Cabales, Regino Ellustrisimo, Leo Giron, John LaCoste, Ben Largusa, and Floro Villabrille.

Martial Arts and The Bible

As a Christian and a martial arts student, I have often wrestled with the idea of self-defense. Does God expect me to defend my family and myself when physically attacked or am I to “turn the other cheek” and endure it in the name of Jesus? As I considered the many comments I encountered on this topic, I became even more confused. Some advocates for “religion” have gone as far as to say that anyone who practices any form of martial arts is without a doubt bound for hell. It wasn’t until I committed myself to a more thorough study of the scriptures that I discovered the truth for myself. The Bible gives more than a few examples of the practice of self-defense and the idea of martial arts. I would like to share some of what I have learned in this study of the Bible - Old Testament and New. The Bible is, in fact, the very word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17).

God and Warfare

The first example of a physical struggle in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 4. It is here that Cain kills his brother Abel. This is an act of violence condemned by God for two reasons. First, the violence was out of anger and jealousy because his brother’s actions were better than his own (Genesis 4:4-7). Secondly, the violence was pre-meditated. God confronted Cain before this violence occurred. He told Cain that he would need to figure out how to master the sin of anger and jealousy that was trying to overtake him. What this scripture teaches is that God does not want us to initiate violence but he wants us to train ourselves to master our emotions when tempted with feelings of anger, jealousy and rage. He wants us to prepare our hearts to respond humbly. I believe the study of martial arts can provide this kind of training. I have seen it in my son’s martial arts class. His sensei (teacher) may spend up to half of the one-hour class teaching the children humility, manners, concern for others and peace-making. They are taught to avoid violence and stay calm in situations of conflict. This kind of character training is right in line with the example of God’s training of Cain.

The next biblical example of a conflict involving a physical struggle is found in Genesis chapter 14. In this chapter, kings are at war and Abram’s nephew, Lot, and Lot’s family are taken captive. In response to hearing the news about his relatives, Abram sends men to rescue them. In Genesis 14:14-16, Abram sent out “the 318 trained men born in his household”. It seems that even though Abram was not at war, he had a training program for his family and household. It was obviously a training program for warfare of some kind – and a good one, at that, since they were victorious in returning Lot, his family and all of their possessions from the hands of warring kings. After Abram’s successful rescue, he is honored by God and reminded that God had made him successful against his adversary. God later renames Abram, “Abraham” and he becomes the founding father of faith for the Jewish people (and later Christians as well).

To clarify the meaning of the term “martial arts”, Webster’s defines the word martial as “warfare” or “warrior”, and arts as “a skill acquired by study”. In the story of Abram rescuing Lot, the Bible gives us an example of warrior training. Not everyone in Abram’s household was a part of the 318 trained men, but the ones that were had excellent martial arts training. And God helped them to be victorious as they executed their warfare skills.

Here are a few other brief examples of warfare, from the Old Testament, that could be studied further:

• Genesis 32 - Jacob avoids war with his brother, Esau. He prepares for battle but orchestrates a peaceful resolution.
• Deuteronomy 20 - God goes with the warriors to fight against their enemies.
• II Samuel 23:8-39 - the Bible describes David and his mighty men of battle.
• Nehemiah 4 - the builders of Jerusalem’s city wall carry weapons to defend themselves during the rebuilding.

There are many more examples in the Old Testament, with a wide variety of scenarios and many unique resolutions. The subject of warfare is very complex and each situation needs to be considered carefully. Therefore, when faced with adversity, wisdom needs to be applied.

An Eye For An Eye

Even with the Old Testament of the Bible showing support for martial arts training, some might argue that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament – that God’s position on warfare changed when Jesus came on the scene. It might be said that the God of the Old Testament was about war and the God of the New Testament is about peace.

The Bible, however, does not support this. James 1:17 says that God does not change, and Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ [God] is the same yesterday, today and forever. Therefore, the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. As we continue to study this topic, we will see that the New Testament also discusses self-defense and the idea of martial arts.

Matthew 5:38-42, in which Jesus talks about “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, has been used to condemn martial arts. It reads, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” At first glance this passage seems to be advocating a reversal of the Old Testament laws. I was swayed by this argument myself, and was torn in my own convictions for some time. But when I finally decided to dig deeper into the Bible, I was amazed and encouraged to find some answers.

Many people who want to obey the Bible simply gloss over this scripture, like I did, because they are torn between what they think the Bible says and their consciences telling them to prepare for warfare and to protect.

The truth is that Jesus never intended to abolish the Old Testament laws. He only intended to clarify them, to reinforce them, fulfill them, and reveal God’s heart behind them. This is what Jesus says just moments earlier in Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the [Old Testament] Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” When Jesus speaks about “turning the other cheek”, in Matthew 5, he is referring to the Old Testament Mosaic laws found in Exodus 21, 22 and 23. These chapters in Exodus contain the laws God gave to his people, which reinforce and further detail the famous “ten commandments”. Jesus is specifically referring to Exodus 21:22 where God explains what punishment should be given if men are fighting and an innocent by-stander is harmed (in this instance, a pregnant woman). This is not a scripture about self-defense but about restitution and punishment for a crime. Jesus referred to this scripture because the people, in religious self-righteousness, were using this particular scripture to justify retaliation and vengeance. “An eye for an eye” had become an excuse to be intolerant and merciless toward one another. A closer look at the “act of aggression” that Jesus refers to as a strike on the cheek, will reveal that he is talking about an insult rather than a fighting fist. The word “strike” is translated from the Greek word “rhapizo” which is used interchangeably with the word “slap”. In the Jewish culture (as in many other cultures), a slap in the face was a form of humiliation or rebuke. It was not necessarily a physical attack and was not meant to result in physical harm. Even Exodus 21:21 (regarding “an eye for an eye”) says that if, as a result of a conflict, a pregnant by-stander is forced to give birth pre-maturely but there is no serious injury to the woman or the baby, “an eye for an eye” should not be applied as a punishment. Jesus is confirming that this Old Testament law regarding punishment is not to be used as an excuse for retaliation when inconvenienced or insulted. Jesus is exposing the heart of man and is further clarifying the Old Testament Law. God’s desire is that we don’t retaliate but rather that we restrain our emotions in the heat of conflict and maintain righteousness and mercifulness. We are not to pounce on our adversary at the first sign that we have been offended. The ultimate goal of God is to win over the offender, help him to see God’s mercy and institute a change of heart in the offender (see 2 Peter 3:9-15 and Luke 9:51-56 for further study).

Guidelines For Martial Arts

The Bible provides some guidelines for practicing self-defense and martial arts as it aims to clarify what is and is not acceptable in the face of conflict. II Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture [the Bible] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I Corinthians 13:7 says, “[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres”. Using the Bible as a guide, a person can become thoroughly equipped to be a protector.

Permanent injury or death can occur as a result of practicing martial arts. This does not make martial arts unacceptable to God but God clarifies what is and is not acceptable in regard to deadly force in various situations. For example, Exodus 21:12-14 says that if a person is killed unintentionally, the killer is not guilty of murder. If it is intentional, the killer is to be sentenced to death. Exodus 21:18-19 says that if men are quarreling and one strikes the other and injures him seriously but not permanently (even with a weapon), he is responsible only to compensate the injured man for loss of time and medical expenses. I point out these scriptures to show that God is concerned with the attacker’s and the defender’s intentions as well as the outcome of the conflict. We cannot simply say that anyone who harms or kills another man is guilty and has committed a sin. It depends on his intentions. Also, we see that using extreme force, or even a weapon may be acceptable if it is used in a way as to not intentionally inflict permanent damage.

The Bible refers to another situation in which self-defense may be used during a robbery, in Exodus 22:2-3. If a man is being robbed, he is entitled to protect his property, his family and himself. If the attempted robbery takes place at night and the actions of self-defense result in the death of the robber, the defender is not guilty. If the attempted robbery takes place in the daytime and the robber is killed, the defender is guilty of sin. The difference may be that in the daytime, the defender should have more control of his actions and should be able to subdue the robber without killing him. Self-defense is warranted but control must be applied. At night, in the dark, maximum force would be acceptable since it is more difficult to assess the threat that the robber poses. It would be more difficult to tell if the attacker had a weapon, or to assess his physical strength.

God expects us to constantly make decisions about the situations we are in. In regard to martial arts and self-defense, it seems that God is concerned with our intentions. Guilt and innocence, to him, are a matter of the heart. God expects us to be directed by the heart of the scriptures in the Bible. We must be directed in our actions by scriptures such as Deuteronomy 5:17, which says, “You shall not murder” as well as I Corinthians 13:7 which says, “[Love] always protects”. As the Bible states in II Timothy 3:16-17, all Bible scripture is relevant and useful. During one of my martial arts classes, one of my fellow students asked our sensei, “What attack should I make now?” He had just finished practicing a series of intense self-defense tactics on his partner, rendering him harmless. Sensei replied, “Run”. No final “kill-move”? No, it is time to make another decision about the threat the attacker poses. If the attacker has been successfully rendered harmless then you shouldn’t stick around to inflict more damage or further risk your own safety. The Bible gives us specific guidelines for martial arts but God also communicates his heart about how he wants us to treat one another. He wants us to treat one another with love – even in conflict.

Weapons

I have also wrestled with the question of whether or not it was right for weapons to be used as a means of defense. Should I own a fighting knife, a sword or a gun? Isaiah 2:4 says, “…They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” If this scripture were taken out of context with the rest of the Bible, to use a weapon would be a sin. But this scripture has to be balanced with others. In the context, this scripture is describing the contrast between the nations of that time and the type of nation Jesus would establish in the future. The nation that Jesus would establish would have no military and there would be no physical walls to defend. It would be a spiritual nation, not a physical one.

The New Testament clearly confirms the right to bear arms. Romans 13:4 says, “For [the governing authority] is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Even Jesus directs his disciples to acquire weapons as the time of his crucifixion approached. Luke 22:36 says, “He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’” And in Luke 22:38, “The disciples said, ‘See Lord, here are two swords.’ ‘That is enough,’ he replied.” Peter soon after uses the sword to protect Jesus and Jesus rebukes him for it. This was not to say that it is wrong to use a weapon to protect someone. Peter had earlier been rebuked by Jesus for trying to keep him from fulfilling his mission of dying for the sins of the world (see Matthew 16:21-28). Jesus was re-stating that Peter was not to protect Jesus from going to his death. This was not the correct time to use the sword. Jesus had his disciples arm themselves because Jesus was not going to be with them, physically, any longer. They would need to protect themselves and each other and Jesus gave them the right to bear arms in order to do so.

Martial Arts Is Not Religion

It is important to note that martial arts is not religion in that it is not an institute of service and worship of God. It is only a tool to accomplish a necessary training. There will be flaws in all martial arts training and even things taught that are contradictory to the Bible. This will happen even when the martial arts style or system is advocating biblical-based training. Romans 3:4 says, “…Let God be true and every man a liar.” My son was recently taught by an instructor during class to avoid talking about politics and religion in order to avoid conflict. Though I appreciate the effort made to train the kids to keep the peace, the concept is biblically flawed. I spent the next week teaching Bible scriptures to my son such as Acts 4, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey [man] rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” It is each person’s responsibility as a Christian to know what the Bible teaches. Even in Acts 17:10-11, when the apostle Paul taught the people of Berea, the Bereans were honored by God for having a noble character because, “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Each of us has the same responsibility to examine the scriptures to see if what we are being taught is true, whether it be a teaching from our martial arts instructor, school teacher, neighbor, or religious leader.

Conclusion

Martial arts training has its place. It can help people learn to deal with the inevitable conflicts in life. There is no escaping battle in life. God wants people to be prepared to handle these battles, whether it is to turn the other cheek to an insult, find a peaceful resolution, or physically defend themselves or others. Martial arts and self-defense are not sinful or inherently wrong, but without the guidance of God and the Bible, martial arts could be misapplied. Without proper biblical training we are left to our own sinful nature, which tends toward retaliation, haste, fear, hatred, pacifism, and intolerance. Martial arts is a biblical concept, but even more attention should be given to biblical training. The Bible should be used in conjunction with martial arts training. In conclusion, I Timothy 4:7-8, which says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”