cookiesrme

I want to say these two sentences:

* I was engaged, but it did not work out.

* I was in medical school, but it did not work out. (I would also take "dropped out" if there is an equvialent phrase)

I separated from my husband in November, just before Thanksgiving. I moved out of our apartment and back home with the parents. Both of us have some of each other's stuff- rather minute things, though I have a laptop of his and you'd think he'd want that back. We had our hashing out of grievances over the phone over Christmas, and then after a cooling off time, I sent him an email, saying I would gladly meet with him somewhere and we would make an exchange. He said sure. He'd meet when he wasn't busy. That was two months ago. He just doesn't value money at all and doesn't care if his stuff is returned, but I do. I am broke and can't replace this stuff. I'd rather not go to court, but I have a sneaking suspicion he threw out my stuff and wants to keep delaying a meeting until I have to move away in September. What can I do at this point?

All things being equal (and yes, I understand that they aren't, but humor me), which kata would you bring as (or prefer to see from ) a black belt at a tournament?

Instructors sometimes have to deal with both of them. Selfish kids are those who think that rules don't apply to them, mouth off to their parents (even though they pay for their lessons), and never practice yet are the first to complain when they want new kata or if someone more deserving tests before they do. Selfish parents make their kids go to martial arts classes when they clearly don't enjoy it, believe they actually know something about martial arts (despite all their experience being from the lobby), and give crap because little Jimmy doesn't test for rank every 3 months. Which one is worse?

A while ago my husband (whose of Jordanian descent) and I were at a French version of a Wal-mart when this lady bumped into my husband, who was pushing the cart. She said something that was clearly rude, but my French wasn't that good (I did catch "Arab" out of it), and my husband got very angry. He wouldn't tell me what she'd said, but said that it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before as a kid. I suppose there are racial epithets in every language, but is there any particular ones in French that might have been what was used by that lady? I am more curious from a cultural standpoint than anything.

I have noticed a trend within my school that just started a couple months ago, by a student who's no longer there, of caddy remarks about other students' weight. I will name two instances. I have a student who is 11 years old, 6' and 300 lbs. The kid is an absolute teddy bear. Because of his age, he is in the juniors group where most of the caddy chicks are (aka people who have no concept of how hard martial arts is when carrying that much weight). I have tried to make a case to bring him up to seniors where he can be with more supportive people his size, but my sensei said not yet. Also, I have this 13 year old student who is short, a little "thick", and well-endowed who will not do any exercises involving bouncing, or partner drills with anybody but her 2 friends (the same friends who tease her about her weight and breasts openly in the changing room). I understand the bouncing. But the other problem, I tell her she is shooting herself in the foot over because she will need to defend herself against males for her belt tests (by the way, the upper belt male students are aware to "be careful" so "groping" is not an issue). Neither one of these problems would exist without this "fat should be ridiculed" attitude some of the kids have, and I have told my teacher so. He says wait until the bad apples quit. I am afraid it'll be the good apples.

How do you nip this problem in the bud, short of kicking these caddy pigs out? Do heart-to-heart talks work? Does public embarrassment? What about some kind of weight education (if the kids knew how much 300lbs feels, maybe they will cut the kid some slack if he's tired doing 20 push-ups)? I'm just not sure how to go about it. I've already chewed out a couple kids here and there for rude comments, but it's just treating the symptom.

What makes a particular kata a "good" kata in your mind? Is it the flow? Is it the pace? Is it the challenging and thought-provoking patterns it has? Or is it just fun to do? I'm curious, because lots of people I see enjoy kata that is clearly too hard for them (they don't understand the bunkai) or they make up new kata. I guess I like the long "challenging" ones, but my favorite kata is probably a basic kata most karate practitioners learn early- heian ni-dan. It forces me to mind my basics. What your favorite kata and why?

And, are there any kata you absolutely hate? I hate sanchin because I see so many people botch it, especially kids (that's a whole other can of worms).

Okay, try to follow me here- MMA is a sport, not a style. I think we agree on that. However, when I see schools with MMA in the title, I think their main focus must be training people to compete for the sport...like a boxing gym. Or at the very least, have different classes of arts, then a required "put them all together" class. But I keep seeing new places open that don't do that. In fact, there's nothing "mixed" about these places except they teach tons of watered down arts, or some guy's made-up art. I can't see how an MMA school could be non-competitive in MMA (although I understand some train for fun, that's fine- not what I mean though), or would peddle directly to children who are too young to compete in it anyway. Isn't this false advertising? Do all teachers that name their schools this con their dumb students in thinking this will actually educate them in the sport, or do they do this because they don't understand the term MMA themselves?

In order to better serve our students (and prevent raising prices to the point of ridiculousness), my teacher is giving serious thought to giving up the space he's had for 23 years and teaching out of the YMCA or a local gym. The landlord has been a real jackass, jacking up his rent about 40% in the last two years, and being really slow to fix basic things like water and heat. This is a temporary thing since my teacher eventually wants to build his own place, but we shall see with this economy.

The reason I ask this is because even in this horrible economy, I am seeing A LOT of MMA schools popping up in our little city of 15,000. I have been in the local martial arts scene for almost 10 years now, and I can tell you NONE of these people are qualified to teach. One guy is a 400 pound guy who dropped out of our school at green belt. Another is a guy that closed down other schools of his previously due to bad business practices. Today, I saw a grand opening for a new MMA place "We take students as young as 3!"

But even with these sketchy people about, and the fact that we probably have the most experience, the best price, and best (customer satisfaction? for lack of a better term) in town, our young students have been leaving in droves to join MMA, thus adding to the difficulty to pay rent. Other than wade it out, I wonder if there's anything we can do.

At this point I am not so much worried about new students as retaining the dedicated ones. Are you guys experiencing similar problems? Are you running "specials" or price breaks for current students? Do you even try to dissuade parents who think their kids will actually get an MMA education at these McDojos?

Now here is the question first, in its entirety:

A dropped rubber ball hits the floor with a speed of 8 m/s and rebounds to height of .25m. What fraction of the initial KE was lost in the collision.

This is what I have surmised, base on the info I was given:

* I know I am working with an inelastic collision

* From drop point, KE=0, and PE= is mgh

* From almost hitting the floor point, KE=.same max point and PE is 0

* At height of bounce .25m , there is some energy ratio loss

* I feel like I need a value for starting height (Xo) and/or a final velocity and/or time.

I drew a pic and cut it into 3 different time intervals- at drop, at just before bottom, and at .25m. I fail to see how to use this info to answer the question. Can you give me a nudge? Thanks:)

I ask this because this question is what will probably cause me to file for separation. The background story is long, so I will spare the unnecessary. Suffice to say, my husband of 2 1/2 years is a homebody who is very attached to his family and 4 of his childhood friends. His father is very pleasant, but his mother and sister grew up in money and think I'm not good enough for their little boy (who alongside their father previously waited on them hand and foot). His friends, with the exception of 1, are 30-something rich boys who are the embodiment of lazy douches. None of them are employed or wash on a regular basis, and unlike my husband think all women are just tit-bags who spend money and cheat.

The point is when I married my husband, I wanted to be added to the family. I understood going in who these people were, but we initially got along. They said they were happy for us. Now, I'm always at odds with at least 1 person my husband won't argue with. I have found out this way that my husband has zero backbone. I have been called horrible names by his friends, and by his sister who is coincidentally slightly mentally handicapped (by the way, I am autistic and have MS, so I understand what it is like to have a disability- this girl's only real problem is that she's been allowed to get away with murder, when she is quite capable of understanding her actions). My husband said every time that I complained about it that a) it was my problem and b) that I am not empathetic enough.

The worst came a year ago when his best friend moved in with us as a temporary arrangement. He promised to split housework, doggy duty (he convinced us he could handle a dog, so we let him adopt one when we did), and bills. A year later, he's done none of those things, and I had to clean up after him and his dog. I told my husband it's him, the dog, or me- at first, the dog was rid of, but when his best buddy was still a lazy ungrateful bastard, I moved out.

Finally, this led to the blowout before Thanksgiving. I told me that he is unwilling to stick up for me when I am being harassed or made fun of because these are the people that have been faithful to him his whole life. But I am his wife! I'm supposed to be part of his life too! I have heard bits of this story repeated from my married female friends, including from my own mother, and I have to wonder why. Why can't a guy hold his wife in the same regard as his family and friends?

I am getting Christmas gifts for my new nieces. I wonder what they would be in to. I won't buy them food, make up, or clothes. Any ideas?

Hi there. I think why I can't do this problem might be because of my FBD. My main confusion is direction. Here is the problem:

A 2 kg object ( I drew a ball) has an acceleration of 1.5 m/s^2 at 30* above the -X axis. Write the force vector producing this acceleration using component form.

I drew X, Y, with a 30* angled slope resting in the second quadrant, opening up to the right. But herein lies a couple questions. First off, did I draw this right? I assumed that the angle should be drawn at the -x values, but should it be opened on the right or the left? Also, if I did do it right, since the acceleration given is positive, does that mean my ball would then be rolling UP the slope?

Sorry if I am confusing- I am confused myself !

As far as martial arts goes, what's the worst myth, tall tale, lie, etc. that you find yourself constantly trying to stop from perpetuating? Let's try to leave making the UFC out of this just for sake of redundancy. The myth I have the most problem with is the concept of being too old for martial arts (as if 16 was old!). Nobody has this irrational thought for other hobbies- like am I too old to learn poker? Okay, your turn.

This is meant to be a funny question, so have fun! No mma-wannabe's though, be creative! I'll start you off with mine...

The Brainy Smurf- incapable of learning from anyone else, the Brain Smurf student always has a complete meltdown when someone tries to teach a skill in a different way than the head instructor. He insists on interrupting you every 5 seconds with "Well, Sensei always said..."

Mine was MVP. It took me forever to get past his power ranger suit, but he is really an enjoyable character. I guess I kinda like the Miz too.

I am going back to school due to a career change (wanna go to vet school) and I am scheduled to take Calculus I in the fall. The problem is I haven't done serious math since I graduated college almost 10 years ago. I want to get my brain in better shape for this class (I'm also taking physics too). I'm too broke for a math tutor, although one will be available at college for free in the fall. Any recommendations on what books/websites I should look at over the summer? How about particular laws/problem sets I should familiarize myself with?

I am thinking of making a chore chart as a service project for my school. Reason being, we have a few nice responsible children (also my teachers and myself) who do work to keep the place clean, but 90% of them take advantage of the dojo space. I personally think cleanliness is not an option, and the 50+ kids ought to pitch in their fair share because they make it dirty.

When I was a yellow belt at my old school, it was understood that lowest ranks were the ones who mopped/swept the floor, supplied the bathroom with stuff out of the supply closet, etc. I want to organize a weekly chore chart so that every rank is held accountable for basic chores.

Has anyone done this before at their school? Does it work? How do you hold people accountable if they refuse to help? We also have a wide array of students from age 7 to adult- what kid of chores do you thing they are capable of?

I am taking my eku (oar) to a traditional karate tournament for the first time and I am really nervous. I think my kata is very good, but I am concerned about "weapon discrimination". I think many people have never even seen an eku before, and I am going to a tournament where nunchaku katas always win. Alas, I do not study nunchaku, but I am wondering if I am just paranoid, or have you been known to underscore an unpopular weapon?

As a side, how do you rank weapons katas when everyone is doing different weapons? What makes a kata stand out from others?

I'm looking for a tonfa case for 19" square tonfas that will look different on the outside from my sai case, which is black vinyl, red interior. All the pages I have seen have this design for tonfa cases. I want a more "form fitting" bag for them. I know they exist. Anyone know who sells them?