The Art of the French Revolution

Arts blogger

The art of pre-revolutionary France was decidedly frivolous in its subject matter and deliciously detailed in style. Paintings were commissioned by the wealthy for their grant chateaus and palaces in delicate pastel colors. This period of art was called “rococo,” from the French decorative term rocaille, and was highly ornamental. Common subjects of rococo art include young lovers, pastoral scenes, outdoor games, and then-fashionable portraits. Cherubs are omnipresent in rococo art, and more often than not are accompanied by scrolls, inexplicable clouds of flower petals, and swathes of fabric. One highly recognizable piece of Rococo art is a painting called The Swing by Jean Honor-Fragonard. It depicts a woman in a voluminous pink dress enjoying a ride on a swing, while two men look on cheerfully. The subtle sexual undertones of the painting – it’s implied that the woman isn’t wearing undergarments – made the painting a scandalous success when it debuted.

Rococo decorative art was exceptionally elaborate and very expensively made. Rococo pieces are the pride of decorative arts collections in museums worldwide. The palace of Versailles was decorated in the Rococo style. Versailles is ornately detailed, and can best be described as a palace of luxury overload. Floors are made of intricately tiled panels of marble. Mirrors are several feet tall, and many feature intricate cherub sculptures at the corners. Busts of Roman emperors are prominent as the classical period was very fashionable in the eighteenth century. Even sofas, upholstered in finest floral silk are trimmed by gilded wooden sculptures of leaves. Asymmetry was popular in Rococo designs, which meant that the leaves on one side of the sofa were unlikely to mirror exactly the leaves on the other side.

A shift in the political climate meant a shift in aesthetic preference. After the political upheaval of the French Revolution, the lower classes wanted nothing to do with the oppressively wealthy upper classes and their prissy art preference. The levity of Rococo art was abandoned in favor of emotional, intense imagery with a revolutionary energy about it. This period of art was known as Baroque art, from a French word describing irregularly shaped pearls. An easily recognizable piece of Baroque art is the cover of the recent Coldplay album, whatsthepaintingsname. In this painting, a rather disheveled woman is depicted leading fervent troops to battle. Enemy corpses are being trampled upon as the proud woman raises the French flag. This painting contains all the hallmarks of Baroque painting – excitement on a grand emotional level, with violent undertones.

While there certainly was nothing wrong with the art of the Rococo era, the lower classes understandably found fault with the unequal distribution of wealth in French society. Marie Antoinette famously had little regard for the welfare of her subjects. Rococo art represented to the French revolutionaries all that was wrong with French society at the time. It was no wonder then that the Revolutionaries set about hacking to pieces Rococo portraits of nobility as they stormed the estates of Paris.

How To Get The Gunfighter Mentality In Martial Arts!

Arts blogger

One of the most important things you can have, if you want to be a good fighter, inside the ring or out, is the gunfighter mentality. The best fighters, like Chuck Lidells and Anderson Silva, have this intuitively in their personality. The losers don’t.

Interestingly enough, the Gunfighter Mentality used to be central to learning the classical martial arts. I remember training back in the sixties, and everything we did was pointed towards building this ability. While there were many factors involved in the death of the Gunfighter Mentality in training, people like Bruce Lee probably drove home the spike.

Bruce Lee added circling and bouncing to the martial arts. The Gunfighter Mentality depends on stillness, being coiled like a snake, and here was this fellow acting like Mohammad Ali, circling and jabbing and destroying the mindset of the Gunfighter. Now Bruce Lee would have won most any fight anyway, but a generation copied him, and they gave up the deadly zen stillness of the Gunfighter.

Now stillness is the heart of true fighting, when it comes to the martial arts, and there are several good reasons or this. There was much interchange between karate and zen principles in Japan, and people who sat in the zen position for long hours began to see the benefits of sitting, waiting, and cultivating silence. In the silence one could better perceive, could empty themselves enough that their intuitive nature would take over.

When one is silent, just sitting, when one just relaxes, the senses begin to work better, and the world begins to open up. Try it, just sit in a chair comfortably and just relax for a while. The world will start to make itself known, tell you things, and you will become brighter, sharper, calmer.

Once the student begins to appreciate that his perceptions will work better, the true martial arts can be developed. In the silence we learned how to set our stances, to sink them into the ground, and search for the angle set of the leg, the best position to spring from. In the silence we would examine the position of the foot and the turn of the hips, trying to make every single part of our bodies into responsive and explosive machines.

Freestyle matches, instead of dancing around and wasting energy, would be subtle shifts of the body and edgings forward. Instead of throwing a hundred punches, many of which would miss, we would set up to throw one punch, but every ounce of our might would be instilled in that one punch. And, most important, we walked away from the dojo as different people, aware people, patient people.

The Gunfighter Mentality in the martial arts pretty are much dead, and it is unfortunate. Because I believe that if the fighters of today began developing the Gunfighter Mentality the Martial Arts would take a turn for the better. This might not be good for mixed martial artists in such places as the UFC, however, as the techniques might become too deadly.

Positions in the Recording Arts Arena

Arts blogger

With today’s technological advances, recording arts provides a variety of positions for career opportunities. Most people associate recording arts with the music industry, but it also includes working in sound for film, music and television. The sound technology is used to enhance the visual storytelling in these mediums.

There are a variety of career paths available if you decide to pursue a career in the recording arts. Attending a college or university to seek a well-rounded picture of the opportunities available is a good idea. There are many colleges out there that offer degree programs specializing in this area.

In lower level classes, you may gain hands on experience by learning to play the keyboard. You will probably also take a course or two that focuses on the basics of music theory. You will learn how music has made an impact on our world over the course of the years.

Many of the higher level courses give more technical knowledge. You can study the science of how sound behaves. You also might learn about the art of reproduction and modification. The techniques you learn can be applied to careers in the movie and television production industry. They can also be used if you desire to pursue a career in the music recording arena.

You have several different career choices when you obtain a recording arts degree. A music producer is one of the most common that comes to mind. But keep in mind that you are just restricted to the music industry. There are many technical jobs that are required in film and television production.

You will find the need for Post Production Engineers in the music industry, but they can also be involved in the technology used to combine the sounds found in a television program or motion picture. This type of position requires and understanding of the various technologies used, but also leaves way for creativity.

Once you’ve spent years mastering your craft, you might aspire to become a Master Engineer. In this position, you would be responsible for taking the final mix provided by the Mix Engineer and analyze it for consistency throughout the entire album, or the production. Although there is equipment available that claims to accomplish this task, they can never replace the experienced ear of a real live Master Engineer.

No matter what your aspirations are in the recording arts industry, it will require at minimum some technical training. As with most careers, you will get your start in an entry level position. With perseverance, hard work, and determination you can advance through the ranks to someday visualize your dreams

MMA Houston – Exactly Why Is ‘Bam Bam Martial Arts’ The Greatest Around

Arts blogger

As a sport, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has really become increasingly popular nowadays. It is now among the list of fastest growing sports in america, especially within the younger generation. Anyone can take up the sport. You simply need an effective instructor, a willingness to dedicate time to practice and the determination to learn. If you are living in the Houston part of Texas and looking forward to learning a little more about MMA, then you need to look no further than ‘Bam Bam Martial Arts’ at the Mixed Martial Arts Center.

‘Bam Bam Martial Arts’ is owned and run by former heavyweight kickboxing and shootboxing champion Scott “Bam Bam” Sullivan, that way you can make certain you’re in good hands. Scott is a professional Muay Thai instructor, holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and teaches MMA as a living. It is safe to say that he really knows his stuff! You don’t need to have any experience to get involved with MMA and above all, the rewards, both in a fitness sense and as a self-defense strategy are numerous. If you’d like to truly experience MMA in the Houston area, Scott Sullivan is the man.

Mixed Martial Arts has attained a recent rush of popularity, not only in the Houston area but in the rest of the USA. It is largely due to past unnecessary regulations being relaxed, making the sport available to more people. MMA is very well known at a local level and is often called Ultimate Fighting after the top promotion in the USA, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The primary objective of MMA is to bring martial artists from unique backgrounds together to determine who the best overall fighter or the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ is. It means that you can see athletes with backgrounds in wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing, judo and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu on any given night! The idea isn’t to see which discipline is the most reliable rather, which athlete has the ability to use their specific skills and experience in order to defeat their competitors.

Throughout a fight, the competitors are encased in an eight-sided caged ring and have to battle it out to claim victory. To accomplish this, they must either knock their opponent out, or cause him to quit by executing a submission technique. An excellent submission technique on the part of the opponent could be accomplished by imposing a lot of pain to that opponent to the level that they cannot take it anymore. The submission technique is done by tapping the mat to end the fight. With more than 25 years of martial arts experience to impart, Scott Sullivan helps to train prospective fighters located in the Houston area and others for any eventuality. He teaches a number of different MMA methods as well as the best ways to apply them to be able to win fights.

If you’re in the Houston area, you possibly can pay a visit to one of his classes but if you aren’t in the area, you can still get involved. Scott has produced an instructional DVD that is well suited for anyone planning to study the art of MMA. The DVD will guide you through methods from a whole host of numerous martial arts, plus a few carefully selected moves chosen by Scott such as the ones he has found most reliable in all his many years of being involved in the sport.

MMA is a fantastic sport to get involved with. It teaches dedication, stamina, strength and fitness. It might take many years before you turn into a successful professional fighter but along the way, you will learn techniques that will stay with you all through life.

Training MMA in Houston at Bam Bam’s is a blast!

For more information about MMA Houston , call (713) 307-5375 or visit http://www.BamBamMartialArts.com for a free trial class.

MMA Houston – The Reason Why ‘Bam Bam Martial Arts’ The Greatest Around?

Jump Training for Martial Arts

Arts blogger

Are you a Martial arts practitioner looking to add some form of workout to heighten your training? Plyometric (jump training) will supply an extreme cardiovascular workout that incorporates power and agility while working the entire body. All you need to do is add a 20 minute plyometric routine three times per week to improve strength and quickness.

Jump training incorporates the way the muscles work with elasticity and uses it to produce strength for the athlete. When your muscles get stretched to capacity they automatically contract. When the athlete forces this movement, the muscle reacts by creating a faster contraction, loading the power, and giving the individual the added benefits of the stretch.

Plyometric training with a rope is the perfect way to incorporate the use of the legs and get an amazing workout. The right way to perform this exercise is to barely jump of the floor and land on the toes softly. This movement will be done repetitively and various jump movements can be done to change it up. Begin slowly and aim to go for 5 minutes 3-4 times a week until you can work the time to the goal you have set.

Doing a push up with a clap will focus all the resistance on the top part of the body. Begin in the push up position, bend your arms and bring your chest to the ground and forcefully push yourself up to make your hands leave the floor. Brace yourself on the way down with your hands and return to the starting position.

Slamming a ball is an exciting way to get a plyometric workout. There are many variations that require you to slam the ball to the ground, against a wall, or toss it up in the air. The key to this particular movement is maintaining good form and continues motion to get the greatest benefits.

If jump training is not trained properly, this form of exercise can cause injury because of the amount of stress put on the muscles and tendons. You must be at the proper level of fitness to start a plyometric training regimen. This will not be an issue for most martial arts practitioners because of the physical routines performed in their type of discipline.

How do you reach a level of fitness to start jump training? A workout designed to build strength and cardio endurance is the proper program to follow. Stick with basic body weight exercises and use free-weights such as a barbell or dumbbells that will require you to use coordination in order to balance the weight as you lift and lower it. Sprint training is the best and stay away from long distance run: they are counterproductive to the type of conditioning needed for plyometric.

Guidelines to follow when performing Jump training:

Stay in control and keep good form. You want to execute the moves quickly as possible, but don’t flail your body around.

Wear proper footwear and don’t do jump training barefoot in order to prevent permanent damage to your feet.

Protect your joints by landing softly with knees slightly bent.

Incorporate upper body plyometric training into the circuit to work the whole body.

If your are looking to increase explosive power and strength, then adding plyometric training is the best exercises for you. Perform plyometric training two to three times a week and watch as you become quicker and explosive with movements during your regular martial arts training.