Upcoming changes to the site

First off, please update your bookmarks. My site's URL is officially:

http://www.stickgrappler.net

The URL took effect about a month ago. I have not been posting as of late. I am somewhat of a perfectionist. I wanted to revamp my site prior to the URL going live but I didn't master the CSS/HTML enough to give my site a facelift (yet). Also, I am not satisfied with the interim design and my ultimate design I've not accomplished yet given my crappy CSS/HTML understanding.

The first step I took is accomplished, stickgrappler.net is now a reality for me. If not for Blogger adding in some key features I've always wanted implemented (read more link and pages), and the easy registration of the domain name, stickgrappler.net probably would've still languished in the back of my mind.

I will make small and gradual changes instead of the all-sweeping-one-fell-swoop-massive-facelift I wanted to do initially. Baby steps, baby steps... Stupid perfectionist in me got in the way of posting. What is more importand? Posting or looking good? (That was a rhetorical question by the way)

Whatever I come up with on the new look of the site, may or may not be the 'final'. I will play with various elements I want to change and see where that takes me.

I will be writing articles for the site, doing martial arts dvd/book reviews, interviews, posting articles/information I think is useful for you the reader, movie and maybe TV reviews, making more animated gif's and the proverbial 'a whole lot more'.


I want to thank you, my readers, in advance for your patience and visits!

I remain very truly yours in the martial arts and self-defense,

~Stickgrappler 

p.s. it looks like the 'read more' function is not working with this template... UGH

Facebook "Friend-zy"

Sometime last year, I decided to sign up on Facebook. I wanted to check out the buzz surrounding it and experience the social networking phenomenon firsthand. I must admit I was caught up in what i call the Facebook Friend-zy.

Facebook is a powerful social networking tool. It reminds you of birthdays, it allows you to send in effect a "blast email" informing all your friends of some upcoming event, it lets you put up pictures, it lets you post links to interesting sites you found, and it even helps you track down long-lost friends. I was able to find 2 friends I've lost contact with who reside in Croatia and Germany!

I sent out many friend requests. I found first the friends I knew, then i went to check out my friends' friends and so on and so on. After awhile, I looked at my friends list and realize there were people there that I didn't really know. There were some friends I only know as their forum nicknames and not their real names.

And then I started having virus/malware problems on my computer and it was difficult to get anything done. I was very, very frustrated with the virus.I lost contact with my friends via Facebook.

As I am slowly getting some time on the net, I don't know if I will be on Facebook all that much. It is so powerful and lets me catch up on the events in my friends' lives that it takes up a lot of time! I apologize in advance to my Facebook Friends if I'm not on much. It's been probably half a year or close to it since I was last on. What free time I have I will be devoting to this site. If I get a chance, I will stop by Facebook and say hi. So for whatever this is worth, I'm "Stick Grappler" on Facebook.

Now I wonder if I should check out Twitter? LOL I'm kidding!


P.S. Sorry to my Facebook Friends, Jan 1 is not my birthday as I listed on my Facebook... I will explain in a future article about the false birth date.

A Word About My Reviews

I have to get this off my chest. In the interest of full disclosure, my reviews will be from the point of view of a beginner. We are all of varying skill levels, experiences and understanding in the martial arts. What you may find not useful to you, I may find merit in. Vice versa, I may find something I don't like and you would like.



I view myself as a beginner in the martial arts. I am not being humble, just honest with you. Although, I have a strong interest in the martial arts since I was a kid, I have not practiced since I was a kid until present. I was in and out. If I did keep it up, I can probably be called an 'expert' given my time put into the martial arts. But alas, I am far from an expert, maybe a knowledgeable beginner. My main areas of focus are the Self-Defense, Filipino Martial Arts and Jeet Kune Do Concepts. My secondary areas are Wing Chun Kuen, Muay Thai, Boxing and Tai Chi. And although I won't list them, there are a few more styles/systems/arts I am into which I have but an inkling of knowledge/experience in. It is from this background, this "lens" if you will, that I will be reviewing.




I dread writing reviews. So far, my site doesn't have many reviews.Whatever reviews I do have on the site are generally if I liked it or not. I am not a writer. I struggle with composing what I want to write when I care about what I write. Most times, I post on forums and those writings tend to be during a break in the workday. My concentration is mainly on work, but I divert some attention to posting when there may be a lull. Those posts tend to be quickies, that is, I was not out to write an article, just expressing my thoughts briefly. My reviews will be thought-out and not a quickie.

What will my reviews entail? I don't have a set format yet. It will include any combination of the following:

• Whether I liked it or not
• Things I didn't know
• Has it changed my view on anything
• Is the author right or wrong 
• Favorite quotes
• What was my take-away from it
• A link(s) to other reviews on the net

Also, reviews are tricky in that I will be reviewing some of my friend's products. I will not lie to you, that's not who I am. I will write out explicitly that it is a friend's product I am reviewing. However, please know that, even though it is my friend's product, I have purchased it. I did not receive it free. I will write an objective review.  I and my site are not out to sell you anything. You will not see Google Sense Ads here. I will not have anything for sale here.  This site is not out to "pimp" my friend's products.

Now that that is out-of-the-way, are you ready for some reviews?