Posts tagged ‘hobbies’

Martial Arts And The Olympics

People tend to think of martial arts as being oriental, Kung Fu type fighting. However, the word ‘martial’ derives from the Latin word ‘mars, martis’, who was the Roman god of war. ‘Martial’, consequently, means ‘to do with war or fighting’.

As a result, martial can refer to Western ways of fighting too such as boxing and wrestling.

These martial arts have been around for thousands of years at least and originated on the battlefield where one’s competence in fighting was literally a question of life and death. Wrestling was in the Olympic Games more than 2,000 years ago.

Likewise, many of the oriental martial arts are just as old and came about because peasants were not permitted to bear arms in the social structures of the times.

In spite of the age of these martial arts, they did not become popular in the Developed world until Bruce Lee made them famous with his Kung Fu films in the early Seventies.

It is a little known fact that when Lee was sent to America at the age of 18 to avoid the wrath of a local Hong Kong mafia chief, he hoped to teach traditional martial arts, but was forbidden authorization by the local Chinese community.

There was an unwritten rule that non-Chinese were not to be taught Chinese martial arts. Lee ignored the rule, and he claimed to have been sent death threats from powerful Chinese underworld leaders from America and Hong Kong.

Lee taught martial arts to a select group of famous Caucasians and even invented his own style called Jeet Kune Do.

Jeet Kune Do used Lee’s astonishing speed and power in its moves. Three of Lee’s showcase moves were:

The Power Side Kick: with one kick, he could kick a 300 pound sack to hit a regular ceiling

The One Inch Punch: he could knock a trained fighter over with a punch that had travelled only one inch

The Lightning Snatch: with his arm by his side, he could snatch a dime from an open palm three feet away and leave a penny behind in 5/100 ths of a second.

Individuals wanted to be able to do the same. However, there are many different sorts of martial arts and numerous countries have their own individual style of fighting.

China has Judo and Kung Fu; Japan has Karate; Brazil has Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; Thailand has Muay Thai.. There are numerous other, mostly oriental styles, as well, like Tae Kwando and Aikido but also French Kick Boxing.

Some martial arts are more defensive in nature, but others are definitely aggressive: Judo and Aikido are examples of defensive styles and Karate and boxing are far more aggressive in character. However, all martial arts teach self-discipline and the students develop more self-confidence. Martial arts are experiencing a resurgence in popularity at the moment, mainly due to UFC bouts or mixed martial arts.

You might not approve of the violence of mixed martial arts, but it cannot be denied that many kids are learning a few martial arts, Western and Oriental, because of these popular TV fights.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on lots of subjects, but is at present involved with the London 2012 Olympics mascot. Click a link if you are interested in the 2012 London Olympics Volunteers.

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How Video Games Systems Work

Individuals have always liked to play games after work or school and that has not changed today, but what has altered is the complexity of the item supplying the game. Before the Second World War, the most complicated popular games were almost certainly chess and Bridge and most kids played football. Nothing complicated in the games systems there.

In the Fifties and Sixties, the pinball machine was probably the most complicated device available but it was too expensive for most people to have in their homes.

However, despite the fact that they were complicated (for the day), they were made up of transistors, diodes, springs, light bulbs and rubber bands. You could see the moving parts and the scorch marks where something had burned out.

However, since the Seventies, the machines that supply our distraction have no moving pieces except perhaps a joystick and hardly anyone has a clue what happens inside that appropriately-named Xbox and they have no clue about repairing it themselves.

So what does go on inside that mysterious video games machine and how can it produce so much enjoyment for so many without a single rubber band or spring to be seen?

First, there is a big difference between a games computer and a video game console. A normal office computer to be used for routine admin and the Web does not have to be anything extraordinary, but a games computer has to have more RAM, the fastest CPU and the fastest graphics card to be any use.

A games console strives to emulate a games computer, but strips out any component that is not absolutely vital to play games. The distinction is becoming more and more blurred as gamers demand more powerful interactive, multi-player games that they can use over the Internet while chatting with their mates in chat rooms, which are frequently dedicated to the game in hand.

Games machines will have a cut-down operating system, because it does not have to be ‘ready for anything’, so games load far more quickly. They are typically stronger than a computer too, because manufacturers realize that some gamers get carried away.

They may even get more waterproof than your average laptop. They are often easier to connect to a screen or home movie theatre system as well because numerous crowd who use them are not technically minded, but may would like to take the console to a friend’s house.

The insides of the games console have not changed a lot since the Ataris of the Eighties. That is to say the degree of sophistication has, but the names for the components have not. A games console still has a CPU, RAM, audio out, video out, a user control interface, a power supply and a way of loading the game. The sole new things are the DVD and Net connections

There is no question that modern gaming machines are a lot better than the old Ataris of 30 years ago, but the technology is merely better, not different, which goes to show either how imaginative Atari were or contemporary console makers are not.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently concerned with Mortal Kombat Trophies. If you have an interest in gaming, please go over to our web site now at Mortal Kombat 4.

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Buying Your Digital Camera

Digital cameras are here to stay, so whether you would like to take professional quality photographs or merely a few vacation and family snaps a couple of times a year, you will have to get used to them.

The happy news though is that the digital functions accessible are implemented in the same way on all digital cameras, so once you have learned how to use the contrast function on one camera, you will be able to use it on all digital cameras.

This is not to say that these functions are equally good on all cameras or that they will be accessed in the same manner on all cameras though. An expensive camera manufactured by a decent manufacturer will probably be better than a cheap point-and-click camera built into a mobile phone, but you would expect that anyway.

Most digital cameras have dozens and dozens of features to control specialist aspects of lighting, most of which most amateur snappers have no clue about and usually they do not need to know about them either. Lots of these features are accessible in picture manipulation software, so they are just duplicated in the camera, where most people do not use them.

The first tip for buying a camera is not to choose it by its looks. Beginners are frequently impressed by how the camera looks rather than what it can do. This is usually because they do not understand the features but they like their camera to be the size of a packet of cigarettes. So before you go to purchase a digital camera, take some time to acquaint yourself with the standard functions of a digital camera.

The first term to be aware of is megapixels. Digital images are composed of dots like a TV picture. The more dots the higher the resolution and the better the picture. The better the photo, the dearer the camera. So, what sort of quality pictures do you need and how much can you afford to pay?

Most digital cameras are packed with features, but do you truly need them all? If you intend using the photo manipulation software that comes with most cameras, then you do not really need the features built into the camera too. If you do not require professional quality pictures to print off on paper, why pay for them? Just purchase a camera with only the features that you will use.

You can frequently buy a less feature-rich camera in the sales, which are intended to clear out old stock before the latest models come out. The latest models will have more functions, so you can win all round by purchasing last year’s model at a knock-down price.

Two features that are worth having are a USB cable and connection and a memory expansion slot. The USB connection will permit you to easily upload your photos to your computer for manipulation and distribution and the external memory will allow you to take more photos than the camera’s RAM would normally permit.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with tips for product photography. If you have an interest in photography, please visit our website now at Photography Studio Cameras

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