The Artist Frida Kahlo

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When looking above the masters with the art work entire world, two major characteristics appear to define them. First, they can be practically exclusively western, inside previously times European with American artists beginning to be a part of the group inside 19th century. 2Nd, they’re nearly exclusively male. Certain, there is the odd Mary Cassatt but for the complete, Van Gogh. Monet, Da Vinci, Klimt, El Greco and much more ended up being all male. An exception to all with the over, because needless to say we will need right here to have a look at the exception that proves the rule, is Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Following an unfortunate traffic accident in 1925, Frida Kahlo turned absent from her earlier profession choice of medicine in order to devote herself to painting. The crash still left her with plenty of time on her fingers and because she was not able to transfer much, she invested much of that time portray. It absolutely was previously at this time that portraits of herself grew to become a most important subject of hers. In her own terms, she was the subject she knew finest, and the many time she commit alone more elevated the appeal of by using the 1 subject matter who was constantly present – herself.

In everyday living she partnered with fellow artist Diego Rivera, who is regarded for his murals and fresco paintings. In life, she was acknowledged mainly as his wife. He in flip worked each in Mexico and from the US exactly where he made iconic performs like Detroit Business. On the other hand, Frida Kahlo has her distinctively own personal style and her individual fine art, which itself has also helped define the type of Mexico and Latin America, possibly much more so than that of her husband.

Her model of painting was characterized as distinctly Mexican, some even referred to it as of us art. Others referred to it really is surrealist but what ever the label, it has nowadays been widely recognized equally inside and exterior Mexico. As with numerous prominent artists, her recognition was mostly right after her demise. It came initial in Mexico within the 80s while using Neomexicanismo motion, and afterwards also in another country with inside US with exhibitions as well as an opera dependant on her. She is additionally currently featured around the Mexican 500 peso notice. Her painting Roots was bought at auction in 2006 for USD five.six million, a record quantity to get a Latin American perform.

But Frida Kahlo was not merely an outstanding artist, she was an outstanding female. Suffering her whole lifestyle from an ongoing list of complications arising from her childhood car incident, she nevertheless built her mark as an artist and like a lady. She took on what was a distinctively male occupation, taught herself even though she was not even able to proceed, and ended up succeeding and changing into the Latin American artist while using highest sum paid out for her function. It sounds much like the stuff of Hollywood, and Hollywood has in fact by now been there. The 2002 movie Frida acquired Salma Hayek portraying Frida Kahlo. Among the newest recognitions was the Google brand which on her birthday contained her portrait in 2010. Within our day and age, much more widely distributed recognition is difficult to locate.

How To Create Unique Wall Arts

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Wall arts are not strange to the interior design world. The practice of using wall arts has been around us for quite a long period of time. Through all these years, wall arts have received huge popularity and there have been various developments in the manufacturing technology of the wall arts. Unlike the olden days when the wall arts have been traditionally painted on the walls, today, the advancements in technology has made it possible to print the wall arts on any medium.

With this advancement in printing technology, the wall arts are now printed on canvas which is a very durable material. Unlike the conventional wall arts, these canvas arts do not fade with time. In fact the maintenance of these canvas arts are very easy when compared to the traditional wall arts. However, the unique canvas arts often come with very high price tags. Most of the unique wall arts are out of reach for the people out there. Thankfully you can create your own wall art for decorating your home. Just keep on reading the simple steps mentioned below for creating unique wall arts for your home.

Step 1 Getting The Images

It is a well known fact that not all of us are born artists. People have a misconception that unique wall arts can be created only by great artists. It is true that great artists can produce very unique wall arts, creating a wall art for your home can be something different. This is where a good digital camera comes in handy. Todays digital cameras are very easy to use and you can shoot the picture of your liking (say) a great scenery or any other great spot. This image will serve as the wall art. You should make sure to shoot the pictures with high resolution settings.

Step 2 Transferring The Image To The Canvas

Once the picture is shot, you have to take it to a canvas art manufacturer. With the advancements in printing technology, any image can be printed to the canvas. All you have to do here is to deliver the HQ image to the wall art store and the canvas art will be ready. To the added advantage, you can get the canvas art installed with fixtures that will let you place the wall art in your home with ease.

Step 3 Installing The Wall Art

This is the easiest step in installing a wall art. These canvas arts can be made to be hung in a room or just pasted on the wall. Installation of the wall arts can be done on your own. If the wall arts are large, it is always good to get some professional assistance.

This is one of the ways to create cheap, unique wall arts for decorating your home.

The Danger Of Overtraining In Mixed Martial Arts

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Are you ready? Are you ready? Lets get it on! ” These are the words are often heard in the matches of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC is a mixed martial arts (MMA) sports event which features the world’s finest fighters using their own styles. Viewers of these event satisfy themselves as they they watch fighters of different martial arts disciplines slug it out with each other. Numerous punches and kicks are thrown during a fight there are times that it features ground fights. Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, and wrestling are some of the disciplines involved in these events.

In the early days of UFC, there were limited rules and it was considered as no holds barred fighting. Most of its matches were considered violent and brutal and were not accepted in national television. The organization was forced by its opponents to go underground because of accusations of brutality and violence. Today, UFC has reformed its rules, having stricter rules, and is sanctioned by athletic commissions. The organization is currently enjoying popularity worldwide along with high demands for media coverage. The advent of UFC paved way for the birth of other MMA organizations like Pride Fighting Championships (PFC) and International Fight League (IFL).

MMA is here and it is here to stay. With the rise of MMA a lot of people have been going “gaga” over it. Wanting to be a part of this sports industry. Before it was Michael Jordan, now people have been raving about Ken Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, and other mixed martial artists. People nowadays want to be fighters, training to get into their fighting form. Many athletes involved in this craft have been involved in serious, rigid training trying hard to reach the peak of their fighting forms. A lot of them over-training on purpose-training till they’re drained and burned out. They use up all their body’s reserved energy and train more. Some believe that extra training will be beneficial for their body and for a fight.

Over-training according to specialists takes place when an individual spends too much time training and not enough time resting and eating the right food to rebuild muscle tissues and other components during exercise. There is a difference between “good” soreness and fatigue. Although some kinds of discomfort may mean injury, others are just signals which means that one’s muscles are growing stronger and fitter. Individuals are advised to give their body time to heal rather than using muscle relaxants.

Specialists claim that the resting period is as important as the training period. The human body needs to rest and recuperate after training. Other factors that may lead to over-training are too much training, frequent competition, and heavy travel schedule. Over-training according health experts may lead to delayed progress, injuries, and other illness. That is the reason while some boxers or mixed martial artists break down with injuries and other illness before competition. People who over-train may also experience depression, loss of appetite, weight loss, muscle soreness, and insomnia.

Over-training may lead to injuries and in the long run may lead to the development of arthritis due to wear and tear of the muscles, joints, and other body parts. Though there are many anti-inflammatory drugs out in the market that are able to give arthritis pain relief , proper training, exercise, food intake may slow down or prevent the development of arthritis.

Exercising is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Health experts believe that too much of a good thing may do more harm than good.

The Roundhouse Kick In Martial Arts

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The roundhouse kick is executed in a multitude of ways across the many different Martial Arts styles. This article is concerned with adding power to this kick when executing it from the back leg of a basic fighting position.

In basic terms the roundhouse kick travels from the back leg position outside the body line to the objective taking a circular route. This direction is true for the roundhouse in all variations of the kick at least to some degree. It can be thrown at the head, body or legs. Snapping and Whipping versions of the roundhouse kick In Karate and TKD the roundhouse kick often tends to be more ‘snappy’ with just the foot taking a round route rather than the thigh, shin and foot doing so, as in Kickboxing or Muay Thai Boxing. In the Karate and TKD variant of the roundhouse kick, the standing foot continues pointing forward until the knee of the kicking leg travels right to the front when it turns sharply with the hip turning to. The kicking leg rotates and the lower leg snaps forward into the target. This is the fast roundhouse kick.

In Muay Thai, the standing foot turns out right at the beginning of the kick. This opens the waist and lets the hip come forward pulling the leg with it. The leg follows and the standing foot turns again on impact to transmit more momentum into the target. This is notably more effective than the other version.

The opening of the waist stretches and loads the musculature adding power to the thrown hip, which gathers momentum which is transmitted to the leg and finally the target. The kick has a whipping motion and is very powerful. In contrast the Karate version is quick and has much reduced production before execution, i.e. . Unfortunately, it develops far less power.

These varied performances have developed as a result of the competitions of the various Martial Arts. Karate and TKD competitions are all about point scoring for clean kicks dispensed to the opponent; speed is the key factor in realizing points and winning. For Kickboxing and Muay Thai, speed is still very important but to win you have to hurt or knockout the challenger, this is not achieved through a snap kick. It is essential to develop power and to deliver it to the target, thrusting the hip as described achieves this. Conclusion To get more force into the roundhouse kick it is necessary to open the midriff, as per the Kickboxing variation of the kick. This kick has greater credibility in a self defense situation, undoubtedly compared to the snap version. If you want to polish a more effective roundhouse kick you need to tinker with it and adopt the Muay Thai version!

Studios Group Martial Arts Fitness

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At Studios Group Martial Arts Calgary we incorporate fitness in virtually every aspect of our martial arts workout. We strive to be the martial arts classes for fitness Calgary talks about the most. First we incorporate yoga style stretching to increase everyone’s flexibility which prevents injuries and allows everyone to train harder. Yoga based stretching allows people of almost any age to train and improve their flexibility. Every student at our club improves their flexibility regardless if they are 5 years old or 55 years old.

Our fast paced program always give you a great cardio-vascular workout whether it is kicking, patterns, sparring or strength & flexibility training. We do a lot kicking techniques which definitely provides our students with a great martial arts workout. Our patterns are done in according to the World Championship Style (WCS). WCS patterns incorporate tremendous hand speed, high kicks and hip power which all leads to a great workout. We perform light contact sparring in our regular classes which provides an excellent anaerobic workout with virtually no chance of serious injury.

Studios Group Martial Arts Calgary incorporates strength training in several different ways. We have basic calisthenics which we include in every warm-up. Several times a month we add specific kicking and striking techniques which are designed to specifically increase strength. We also do leg strengthening kicking techniques that dramatically improves everyone’s core and leg strength such as lunge kicks and resistance training.

Coordination is a key element in every fitness program, and it something we also concentrate on. We train all our students to increase their coordination by continually challenging them with new and more complex techniques. We perform some of the most spectacular martial techniques in the country which can be achieved by all of our students. Our graduated curriculum allows steps to develop coordination to levels they never thought possible. How can we achieve all this? We have some of the most technical instructors in the country that have come to us from all around the world. We have Instructors from Africa, England, Mexico, and of course Canada. The high instructor to student ratio (1:7) at Studios Group Martial Arts Calgary also allows for students to always be active while still being able to learn high level techniques. We truly believe we have created one of the best fitness/martial arts systems in the world.

Protect Yourself- Learn Martial Arts And Be Safe

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Martial arts use techniques in order to defeat opponents which require to be practiced on a regular basis. Wether you want to learn martial arts through books or DVDs or any other method – this article can give you some useful tips.

When you’re learning martial arts you need to concentrate on practicing movements over and over again so you’re comfortable with a particular movement.

Then it’s recommended you try to learn how to master one particular move at the time – rather than spending little time practicing too many moves at one time. This way you can effectively use martial arts moves against your fighting opponent.

It’s important that you practice your martial arts moved as often as you can. Some people will practice every day for at least an hour, but others can only manage to train 2 or 3 times a week, but as long as you practice your moves often you will get better.

Concentration is often achieved through deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises and other exercises like closing the eyes and concentrating on a particular image in the mind. Concentration will definitely help increase your observing power and deep breathing exercises will channel your mental energies in the right direction. Concentration can also keeps the task in mind and avoids any distractions hampering your martial arts moves.

While learning martial arts it is crucial to understand what you are doing and if you have a doubt or a question it is recommended that you clarify your doubt with the instructor. If you are learning martial arts through books and DVDs then a good way to clarify your doubt is to research online since the internet is full of useful information that can help you.

Health Benefits of Martial Arts

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There is an ongoing craze worldwide to put premium on health. People of Tampa are in the front line when it comes to this health consciousness trend. With the increasing number of existing lifestyle diseases, we should really change the way we live.

One way that we can do this is through an active lifestyle. Engaging in sports, recreational activities, and exercise programs such as jogging, aerobics, and going to the gym are some of the things that we can do. But for those who like taking it to the extremes, you can take martial arts training sessions and classes.

Contrary to what our common assumptions are, martial arts is not only about engaging in combat, competitions, tournaments and self-defense. Martial arts like brazilian jiu jitsu, gracie jiu jitsu, karate, judo, muay thai, kickboxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts or MMA instill values such as focus, respect, discipline, concentration, self-control, teamwork as well as improved coordination, memory, and balance.

Aside from these, martial arts is also known to have lots of health benefits. The British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that adults in the 40s and 50s age group who engages in martial arts training exhibited astonishing levels of physical fitness compared with people from the same age group who do not engage even in the slightest forms of exercise. Results also showed that the participants of the study who practiced martial arts have 12% less body fat, can do twice as much sit ups, have enhanced leg strength and flexibility, and most importantly, showed a stronger immune system.

Here is a list of common martial arts classes and the health benefits that accompany them:

– Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Gracie Jiu Jitsu–physical strength, endurance, flexibility and speed

– Mixed Martial Arts–aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular endurance, cardio health, muscle endurance and muscle strength

– Karate–cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health, exercise for the heart, mucles, and bones

– Judo–Weight loss, reduced risks of obesity and heart diseases, increased metabolic rate and muscle growth

-Muay Thai–Core strength, balance, flexibility, and functional strength, cardiovascular benefits, blood circulation, combating type 2 diabetes

– Kickboxing–Cardiovascular and aerobic workout

– Wrestling–Faster metabolism, increased caloric expenditure, burns fat, gains lean muscles

These martial arts namely brazilian jiu jitsu, gracie jiu jitsu, karate, judo, muay thai, kickboxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts or MMA are but a few of the wide array of martial arts type available in Tampa, Florida. One place that offers classes on brazilian jiu jitsu, gracie jiu jitsu, karate, judo, muay thai, kickboxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts or MMA is Evolution Martial Arts. Evolution Martial Arts is an institution that offers after school pickup programs as well as adult classes. Their after school pickup classes is very student and child friendly. Evolution Martial Arts pick up your child at school, work on homework, then teach them martial arts! Their adult classes are rigorous yet fun, giving working people a stress reliever activity that gives mental and physical benefits.

There you go people of Tampa. Improve your health conditions in a fun, relaxing, and enjoying way!

Evolution Martial Arts
14436 N Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33618
(813) 961-5245
www.graciebarraevolution.com

Martial Arts And How It Can Benefit Your Child

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The children nowadays are prone to various attitude problems. This is why parents enroll their kids in after school pick up programs to hone skills and develop their kids’ personality.

One of the most popular after school pick up programs are martial arts classes. Martial arts are known to help kids handle conflicts inside themselves, as well as conflicts that they may face when they are outside their homes. Various martial arts techniques such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Karate, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Wrestling also teach kids respect for others by first teaching them to respect themselves. It also teaches self-control, self-discipline, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility.

It is notable to stress that one of the most important benefit children get from martial arts training is that they generally become more disciplined from the unique formalities of martial arts classes. This is one difference that this type of lesson offer compared with types of sports. No matter what their social economic backgrounds are, children with problematic attitudes behave well as a result of taking classes a few times per week.

Parents are very happy to see how their seemingly problematic children come out of pick up programs smiling and positively interacting with other kids. Some children even show rising grades after continuous martial arts session.

How do all of these happen? Choosing a martial arts school is of course a very important factor. The environment in which your child will learn new things certainly affect how his outlook in life changes. There are a lot of dojos and school around Tampa and Carrollwood but be wary on making your choices. Choose a school that offers many forms of martial arts techniques. It has a positive effect on the kids if they are made to decide what pick up program to enroll in, whether it is MMA, Karate, Taekwondo, etc.

Instructors also play an important role in molding students. Instructors who care enough to sit and talk beyond the kickboxing or wrestling sessions reach the mind, heart, and soul of their students. Some trainors also include accomplishing schoolwork requirements in their pick up programs. This strengthens the bonding of the martial arts students and make them more active when training for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

Indeed, martial arts has so many benefits in the physical, mental, emotional, and social aspect of one’s life. It is not hard to understand why it has become a popular activity for the children, youth, and adults. Just keep in mind though that not all programs will produce all of the benefits mentioned in this article. As we have said, it all depends on the teacher and the school. Martial arts programs that are limited to teaching combat fighting techniques may not result in the desired mental, emotional, and social transformation we hope for. Give yourself enough time when searching for a school. Choose one that will give your kids the most number of benefits at the least possible price.

Evolution Martial Arts
14436 N Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33618
(813) 961-5245
www.graciebarraevolution.com

How To Keep Martial Arts Interesting For Kids

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One of the ways to keep a child interested is by setting up obstacle courses and having races. This drill helps to train the child’s body for martial arts such as coordination, but keeps it fun so that he or she enjoys it. In addition, obstacle courses help to train the child for endurance and speed, both of which are crucial to the sport of martial arts.

Often children find the actual courses hard to pay attention to, so by increasing the energy of the class, it can have a significant impact on the child’s attention. For instance, including some high-energy music can set the tone for the class and keep the child interested. Moreover, keep the class moving, do not spend too much time on one technique or rule, you can always come back to it later. By keeping things moving, you are moving at the pace of a child and keeping their interest.

Make sure you are well prepared for the class you are teaching and keep the content exciting and fresh every week. If you go over the same technique for three weeks in a row, you will surely lose several of the students to boredom. Remember, with children, you can always come back to a technique, the important part is to keep the classes varied and high-energy.

In addition, in each of your classes with children, you should make it fun and have games that may not be exactly related to martial arts, but that will have an effect on their strength, balance, coordination, and stamina. Moreover, games that help with timing and dodging are excellent to not only keep the child’s interest but it also helps to condition their bodies.

You need to engage children in fitness activities, but these can include a combination of activities such as squats, sit-ups, jogging, and dodge ball. All of these together help to keep the child interested while developing them for the more advanced aspects.

Children normally have a shorter attention span and therefore, an activity has to be fun in order to keep their attention. Martial arts can be learned by children of any age, but the classes as well as the techniques learned must be fun, high-energy, and easy for the child to grasp. When these three are kept in mind, the child can advance to greater levels.

Vietnam Art – The Complex Minimalism Of Le Thiet Cuong

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Seeing paintings by Le Thiet Cuong at “Like a Nil” exhibition, many may think that it is very easy to copy his paintings, but that’s just a joke, the way to Le Thiet Cuong’s irreducibility is anything but simple.

In art, people often love complicated techniques and many lose themselves in that maze of complication their whole life. Only some can escape from the maze to define their own language of creativeness and most of them choose simplicity.

This simplicity may be seen as “bounds” in creativeness. It makes an easy way for the public to have access to artworks and the artists have to work hard to make that simplicity or “like a nil” to stir up obsessions or deep feelings in viewers.

Le Thiet Cuong’s paintings are deep of feeling and they don’t repeat themselves. “Lan’s Story” is not new in the arrangement because its motif is about the fate of women in the war but it is new for the feeling it brings to viewers.

Asking Le Thiet Cuong why he didn’t draw a story about someone else, for example a mother or a soldier, he said he drew “Lan’s Story” from his own experience. He has travelled to many areas to understand hidden corners behind the war and stories about women’s fates are the greatest obsession.

That was the reason for Le Thiet Cuong to display “Lan’s Story”, not “Hung’s Story”, a story about a soldier. He said “Hung’s Story” needs a larger space than “Lan’s Story” and he will bring “Hung’s Story” to an exhibition in the near future.

The painter said many people are very interested in “Lan’s Story” but nobody wants to buy these paintings. But he said he didn’t care about the sales of these paintings.

“Exhibitions are for my career, not for business. I’m very happy that many young people have visited my exhibition. I want these people to see my artworks because Vietnamese painting arts lack audiences,” Le Thiet Cuong said.

That’s a sad truth as schools don’t teach children how to appreciate art. That’s why Vietnamese people often neglect museums or traditional arts like ca tru (ceremonial songs), hat xam (blind musician’s songs) or don ca tai tu, etc.

“When I led my friends to the History Museum, I saw Vietnamese people went there to take photos, not to look at huge numbers of valuable objects. Paying VND70,000, museum staffs will open glass boxes for you to take photos of objects of thousands of years old. I felt terrible when I saw people carve their names on Champa towers in Nha Trang though these towers are built of terra-cotta. Invaluable vestiges are treated like toys because people don’t understand their value,” the painter said.

For this reason, Vietnamese paintings are not paid attention to by Vietnamese people. Painters like Le Thiet Cuong exist by selling paintings to foreigners. Some of his paintings are now hung up at a big museum in Singapore.

A painting by Le Thiet Cuong, which was displayed at “Like a Nil” exhibition.
“Are your paintings selling well?” Le Thiet Cuong said: “They sold well in the past, not now. I’m living on the past.”

“Are they expensive?” “Very expensive, because each painting is unique, and records the only moment of feeling in my heart,” the painter added.

“But you have your own gallery, why can’t you sell your paintings?” Cuong said his gallery is not for profit since he chooses and display artworks by young painters to help them take the first step in their careers.

“I’ve drawn paintings that I like, with my own style. I want to reach other fields like pottery, sculpting”

Le Thiet Cuong has a project that he plans to finalise in ten years: making a dictionary about Vietnamese craft villages. Three years have passed and he has finished researching art-related craft villages.

Deeply researching craft villages of Vietnam, he realised that hand-made products not only show the talents of Vietnamese craftsmen but also the cream of a society. Woodworks are currently made by machines but hand-made products are the most expensive because they are created by exquisite talents.

Pointing at a tea pot, Le Thiet Cuong said all of the patterns on the pot were drawn by hand, not by soulless machines. But Bat Trang pottery village now has only two craftsmen who can make patterns by hand in the traditional method.

Le Thiet Cuong can talk for hours and hours about such old things. “My friends say I love playing with old things but I understand their values and I love such values,” he said.

His house is an old one, which has been existing for many years, with bamboo-made handrails; most of the furniture is hand-made. All of it is very nice.

He loves rural cuisines. He can stay in his room the whole day to make small things or look at some old photos in his huge collection of photos. It seems that he is very satisfied with his current life and what he is doing.

Talents often have unhappy lives. For me, Le Thiet Cuong is a talent but he loses nothing. His children are very intelligent and his wife is very pretty.

“I have my own sadness. I haven’t had a meal with my whole family for tens of years. I love my mother most but she is now in a harsh situation, where money can’t help. I love her but I’m helpless!” he said.

“Is family the most important thing for a man like you, who is said to be gentlemanlike?” “I consider family as something that I must do. I have to do that job well so I can be assured to do other things,” Cuong said.

We drank tea on a late afternoon in April. Cuong’s family grilled meat for dinner, and the aroma was sublime. Le Thiet Cuong said he feels comfortable on such afternoons.

His gallery at 39A Ly Quoc Su often closes early. And at that time it is Cuong’s house, his happiness and sadness, like a short story he wrote a long time ago “The House on an Old Street”. That house is older than him and it keeps his life.