The Rare Gang

Since kendo is fencing based on the samurai, it requires a katana (samurai sword). However, it is not practical to use a real katana: people would die. Instead, kendoka use shinai A shinai is composed of four flat bamboo pieces. The bamboo is held together with leather and string. The string keeps the two leather pieces together. Shinai can be bought at specialized kendo stores, like E-Bogu. E-bogu is known to be one of the BEST sites to buy shinai and other kendo equiptment from. The majority or kendoka buy their equiptment from E-Bogu. Kendo, Kumdo, Kenjutsu, kendo bogu The kendo shinai must be properly taken care of or else it will pose a danger to both you and your opponent. It must be checked for splinters and oiled regularly. This helps keep the shinai from breaking and sending razor sharp shrapnel into you and your opponents faces. Its string must also be kept tight. This is to keep the top from slipping off and making the shinai go through your opponents men. When you first recieve your shinai, you should take it apart and sand the edges, this helps the wooden slats move smoothly against one another. You should then properly oil it using either lemon oil, vegetable oil, or shinai oil. If you think your shinai is damaged or not safe, do NOT use it and tell your sensei. Help keep your dojo safe for everyone

International-Kendo.com is an up and comming web site for information about Kendo, Kumdo, and Kenjutsu

The art of growing bonsais is an ancient oriental tradition, in which bonsai means “tray gardening”. There are traces of bonsais (miniature trees or bushes) in Egypt, Japan and China, and it was considered that the miniature tree would have concentrated the powers of the actual-size tree.

Bonsai trees require a lot of care. The branches, leaves and roots need regular pruning to maintain the shape of the plant. Pinching is also required and even the use of small wires to keep the branches growing in a certain way.

Because the root system is very small, bonsais need to be watered regularly and properly. They are also very sensitive to excesive heat (which makes water evaporate quicker), sun and wind.

Keeping bonsais in their shape is all an art and there are different styles that apply to different types of bonsai trees. The basic five styles are: formal upright, informal upright, cascade, semi cascade, and windswept.

The cascade style is probaby the most interesting to display, as the branches of the tree eventually reach a level below the base of the pot.

For the Japanese, bonsais have aesthetic beauty and are meant to evoke the spirit of the plant being used. This may also include the use of rocks, mountains or water features to recreate the surroundings of the actual tree in reality.

This also includes choosing the most appropriate bonsai for an environment. There are indoor and outdoor bonsais, and the Japanese placed them to suit a certain space with a type of spirit. Not all bonsai trees should be, according to this tradition, displayed in any place.

A bonsai is a very elegant tree to display outdoors, and it makes an interesting choice for an indoor spot. Get yourself started today with a Dwarf Japanese Garden Juniper (considered by some as the best bonsai for a beginner) and enhance the appearance of your chosen spot.

Cristina Diaz Garcia is the Author and Founder of the “Beautiful Gardens Email Club”. Visit her page for an useful Pot Gardening free report at www.soapystuff.com/free-garden-©©reports.html

If you are a mom at home on a diet, you will probably related to a frequent situation I encounter as a weight loss consultant. Many of my clients with children are able to keep to a healthy eating plan through most circumstances except two. It all starts to go astray when the kids come home from school, or when they are preparing school lunches.

It’s no surprise really. Kids love snacks we buy from the supermarket, and parents love them because they are quick and easy to throw into the lunchbox or for kids to grab from the shelves in the pantry. Small bags of chips, tasty bite size crackers, sodas and the like. No problem. Except when it comes to mom’s weight loss program. Mom loves them too!

These products are high in fat, high in energy and high in refined sugars. And after one, two or three nibbles it is possible to wrack up an unwanted 500 calories. This single act will probably stall your weight loss or even worse!

To stop your kids from sabotaging your weight loss efforts, here are 20 snack ideas for kids that will do far less damage to your weight loss program if mom nibbles (just a little).

1. Chop up tinned pear or other fruit in natural juice and set in 200mls of low calorie jelly. Make up into individual disposable plastic containers with lids.

2. Cut up crisp vegetable sticks with dipping sauce - ranch, peanut (satay), sweet chili or tomato.

3. Cut celery sticks 6-8 cm, fill with cottage cheese and top with sultanas or chopped nuts.

4. Combine a mixture of low fat hard cheese cubes, nuts and dried fruits in plastic wrap or a lunch bag.

5. Roll up thin slices of carrot and celery with grated cheese in a slice of cold meat. Secure with toothpick. Slice the carrot and celery with a vegetable peeler for really thin slices.

6. Cut oranges into quarters and freeze on trays. Put into plastic bags for a fruity ice block.

7. Meatball surprise. Next time you are making meatloaf, double the quantity and make a batch of meatballs. These are great in lunchboxes cold. Add a slice of pineapple with a toothpick to each meatball. Add dipping tomato sauce if required.

8. Mini quiches….make a batch of crust-less quiche and cook in muffin tray. Each ‘muffin’ will be a wonderful healthy snack for kids.

9. Chilled fruit surprise - slice a combination of strawberries, bananas, kiwi fruit, watermelon, grapes or in season fruit. Place in small resealable plastic container. Top with apple juice; do not overfill. Seal, freeze. When packed in lunchbox, will keep sandwiches cool and prove a refreshing treat on a hot day.

10. Rice cakes spread with mashed avocado, mashed banana and cinnamon, or try mashed avocado, sliced tomato and sprouts.

11. Chopped hard-boiled egg served with low fat mayo, salt, pepper on a crisp bread.

12. Leaf wrappers: wrap a cheese finger, celery stick and carrot stick in a lettuce leaf. Wrap in foil and place in lunchbox. Contents will be kept moist.

13. Low Fat tub of yoghurt.

14. Baby Bell Cheese and low fat cracker.

15. Creamy dates: slice dates lengthways, remove stone. Fill with Philadelphia cream cheese (low fat).

16. Quick sausage rolls: wrap a skinned (good quality) sausage in several sheets of filo pastry. Brush pastry with beat egg to glaze. Cut into desired lengths. Bake in moderately hot oven for 15-20 minutes. Rolls can be frozen.

17. Same as above but use fresh chicken breast strips and cut to 2″ - use tomato or favorite dipping sauce

18. After school hot snack attack: Spread a round of pita bread with tomato paste and herbs. Top with tomato, ham, mortadella, add onion, sliced mushrooms or pineapple. Sprinkle grated low fat hard cheese over pita bread. Grill to make a tasty pizza. If no pita bread is available, substitute a crisp bread.

19. Fruity kebabs: place bite size pieces of fruit in season on kebab skewers.

20. Pop top sandwich tuna tin, crisp bread, sachet of mayonnaise. Kids can put their snack together at school so that it doesn’t go soggy.

Remember fresh is best both for yourself and your children. By substituting these ideas for some of the prepackaged snack food and cookies your kids eat you will be doing both them and yourself a favor.

(c) Kim Beardsmore

Despite manufacturers’ claims to be safe, vent-free space-heaters pose numerous risks to homeowners, including dangers to safety and health, and cause costly damage to homes.

One of the most overlooked aspects of vent-free heating appliances is how they generate gallons of excess water-vapor inside the home, which leads to moisture-damage to walls and ceilings, and unsafe mold and mildew conditions.

Not realized by most people, whenever a fuel is burned, large amounts of water-vapor gets released into the air. A normal vented appliance expels this moisture through the chimney or exhaust-pipe. However, an unvented appliance, such as a vent-free space-heater, has nowhere to send this moisture but into the rooms in which you and your family live. Like the outside of a glass of ice-water, moisture condenses on wall and ceiling surfaces.

To put the amount of moisture a vent-free appliance generates in perspective, a typical family of four produces approximately 2.9 gallons of moisture through cooking, showers, etc. A 40,000 btu vent-free heater generates six gallons of moisture in a 24-hour period. This is a sure recipe for an insurance claim.

Although most vent-free units are equipped with an oxygen-depletion sensor, the purpose of which is to prevent high levels of carbon monoxide, they don’t prevent LOW levels of the toxic, odorless gas. Problems associated with low-level carbon monoxide poisoning include frequent headaches, chronic cold or flu-like symptoms and nausea.

In addition to producing carbon monoxide, vent-free heaters exhaust other unhealthy by-products, including nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and several other forms of indoor air pollution. Such compounds can cause lung-irritation, and trigger asthma or allergy attacks.

Before you think about purchasing a vent-free space-heater, think again and remember the real cost of this low-price health and safety-hazard.

The author, John Bishop, is vice president and co-founder of Enhanced Living, Inc. (http://www.enhancedliving.net), a building science consultancy and contracting firm based in Troy, NY. John is the former state marketing coordinator for the award-winning Home Performance with ENERGY STAR and New York ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes program.

The HTC P6500 has been quite popular with the public making it a winner for HTC HTC have done a excellent job on the user interface of the HTC P6500 making this mobile handset easy to use.

The HTC P6500 is that is supplied with a Standard battery, Li-Ion 1600 mAh, battery. The HTC P6500 has support for 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G HSDPA 850 / 1900 - US version . The P6500 is fitted with a 3 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus, video camera. A WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE), compatible browser is also included. This mobile phone can only be bought in Silver,. Compared to competitors phones currently on the market the HTC P6500 is one of the more compact phones on the market. This phone is bluetooth enabled making a range of devices compatible. The ring-tones enabled on the P6500 are Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3 plus a vibrating tone . Regarding the the display the mobile handset is equipped with a 3.5 inch screen, which, if you look at what else you can get for this price is a fantastic display size. The screen is a TFT touchscreen, 65K colors. There are also a number of additional features included with the HTC P6500 such as:

In spite of being a fairly recent model, the HTC P6500 is up against serious competition. Because of this it is relatively easy to pick up some great bargains on this mobile handset.

There are hundreds one off deals on offer to current handset customers. By using a site that compares mobile phones you can even get deals with 12 months free line rental deal.

Yoga has become part of Western fitness training techniques. However, there are some who have never tried it, relegating it as a hippie trend from the 60’s. Those individuals would rather look at their flexed bicep in the mirror at their gym. They look for the feedback loop from that experience which gives them the feeling of “working out”. This is definitely the group they want to be in. They consider themselves the hard core fitness enthusiasts and label yoga as something for women in white leotards. Is there any truth to this?

The answer lies in a more general definition of fitness. We need to step back and look at the big picture. Those who participate in any kind of exercise, do so to improve their physical fitness level. There is also the benefit of feeling good, mentally and emotionally. Fitness satisfies the needs of the body, mind and spirit. It is a great feedback loop to make the human being better able to handle the world around them.

Traditional Western fitness methodologies have addressed the need for cardiovascular improvements, benefits from resistance training and stretching. Cardiovascular methods are defined by those activities which increase the heart rate to a specified zone and keep it there for the duration of the activity, a minimum of 20 minutes. These activities include running, walking, cycling, swimming, and hiking as natural activities. When weather or other conditions do not permit outside activity, machines can be utilised such as cross-trainers, treadmills and stationary bikes.

All training that is carried on in Western style fitness programs are based on physical reactions to external stimuli. If your mind is not focussed on the exercise, there is still some benefit to the actions alone. However, all fitness enthusiasts are constantly reminded that they need to be focussed on the activity to obtain the greatest benefit from it. Lifting a weight still has its physical implications if the action is carried out as if one were on auto-pilot.

Yoga was invented to bring the human being to the same goal of achieving fitness through a different approach. The word Yoga means joining in Sanskrit. The science of yoga aims to join the disparate body, mind and spirit into an integrated human being who is better able to interact with the outside world in a more efficient manner. The practice was invented in India, 5000 years ago and was developed into a science by observing the effects of various body and mind states on the overall human being. In yoga, one must be focussed or the effects are simply not there. The mind acts on the physical body and it responds in turn. In order to improve the state of the being, then, both body and mind must be focussed or joined to an integral viewpoint.

In a more general sense, the Eastern science of body-mind interaction further implies that all diseases of the body can be cured through the power of yoga. Yoga is not just about the physical body. Yoga incorporates many mental techniques for gaining command over the physical body. Breathing exercises were developed to gain control over one’s own mind. Many different breathing exercises were developed in order to produce different physical results. All of them have warnings attached to them for special populations. In fact physical yogic positions or asanas are also limiting to certain special populations. Each such exercise needs to be taught in more detail to participants, rather than in a haphazard way as a general method for fitness to all populations. The exceptions should be understood so that people do not experience negative effects from the yoga asanas. It is therefore important to have a teacher who is aware of contraindicated populations for all exercises. This information is well known for traditional resistance training, but is not taught to populations studying yoga.

The beauty of yoga is its absolute dependence on nothing but the human being. No external equipment is necessary. However, it is important to focus the body and mind in an integrated way. Ultimately, ones spiritual energy is awakened. The person is better able to interact with the world in a more efficient way. This is the goal of yoga.

In those cases, where the teacher does not understand yoga properly, negative effects can occur. In the previously discussed case, the special populations need to be considered. The second problem with incorrect or incomplete information lies in the release of latent energy through the practice of breathing exercises and physical and mental practices. One’s internal spiritual energy is latent, active or energised. If the energy is not released properly, or is not directed properly, or is released from an incorrect area of the body, very detrimental effects will occur in the person.

It is in the best interests of all yoga students to seek the advice and instruction of a recognized professional from a school such as Swami Vivekananda Yoga Institute (SVYASA) which carries out research in yoga in a scientific way. It is recognized for its technical research by medical institutions all over the world.

Yoga is not just for hippies or women in white leotards. Care should be taken not to fall into the trap of someone else’s mere idea of fitness, rather than a thoroughly researched 5000 year old body of verified knowledge.

For further questions on yoga please email Shanti Consulting at sankara1@msn.com or speaksamskrit@yahoo.ca.

A variety of personal interests and professional paths have led Siva to her current role as a personal trainer and lifestyle consultant with over 20 years experience. Siva is an author, lecturer and Can-Fit-Pro certified personal trainer who specializes in body-mind-spirit consulting and training women. Currently she is writing a book which discusses her particular style of training the complete being, rather than just the physical body.

Siva is a yoga instructor, an expert on East Indian Philosophy and teacher of Sanskrit. She holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of Toronto and has balanced her time between personal training and engineering for over 20 years. In January 2005, Hema spent an intensive month studying a course for Yoga Instructors, at the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Institute in Bangalore, India to further her interest in yoga as a science of holistic living and not merely as yoga postures.

The Back Stretcher is an easy to use arc that strengthens the muscles in one’s upper and lower back. It is also an effective way to reduce tension and back compression. The arc, which is padded, uses our body weight to rectify common spinal disc compression or back pain that develops due to long periods of standing or sitting.

The Back Stretcher is scientifically designed to support, stretch and massage the lower back, neck and spine thus realigning the vertebra, relieving nerve pressure, increase blood circulation, improve flexibility and posture, and strengthen the muscles around our spine. It also enables our muscles to stretch without much strain.

The Back Stretcher comes with an instruction manual, which has details of several exercises that can be performed with the stretcher. The Back Stretcher is compact and can be effortlessly folded for easy storage. The arc comes with rolling balls that help in increasing our blood flow and relieve tension in the back and neck.

The use of Back Stretcher goes a long way in the prevention and treatment of back pain. The arc works in two ways: first, it releases muscle tension through massage and second, it improves our body posture through stretching. The Back Stretcher improves one’s flexibility and fitness. The arc-shaped stretcher comes with a five-year warranty.

For more information on Back Pain please click http://www.backpain-resources-online.com

Until fairly recently, gaming laptops were normally custom built by select companies. I pretty much doubt they sold in any earth shattering volumes but they sure generated tons of profit for the manufacturers. These desirable laptops were just too expensive. In my perspective they were the best laptop computers around. Even though that was true I reckon the prices were so expensive that we would buy laptops that were not so fast instead. Sales will improve though now that global companies are entering the sector.

Laptops for gaming are usually not affordable by everybody and large manufacturers know they can exploit the giant markup even further with their levels of production. This can be one of the few cash making products they have as they make little on the majority of others because of the giant competition. In my point of view larger brands can apply leverage to persuade potential purchasers to buy laptop computers regardless of the price. Do the smaller companies really have a chance with this kind of threat? I’m fairly confident that the established manufacturers will try to squeeze the little ones out. Purchasers will also gain a lot more peace of mind when paying a big amount of cash.

The laptops are surprisingly very good as well. Still though, for the little small players this should prove to be positive. People like to be able to customise as they can specify what is most important to them. People that buy high spec notebooks can normally see past the pointless details. More often than not the components matter when compared to the styling for these sort of people.

Certainly what’s taking place here will do good for consumers in the long run. The competitiveness between the big brands should force prices down as they try to distinguish from each other. Even though I say that, I’m not really certain of my predictions. New laptop releases should maintain expensive prices. Since the big brand companies have already begun launching gaming laptop computers, I suppose we will have to wait to see what develops.

One can see the impact of this even today. Just check out how cheap the laptops for gaming are at http://www.rizeon.com/gaming_laptops/page.php

The concept of hypnosis was long surrounded with mystics. This stems from older days when it was looked upon as a weird,
freaky and even scary practice of sensational mind control entertainment. As time has developed the perception of what the
hypnotic method really is, has been widely spread and more and more people have adopted and accepted this practise. There is
no mysticism associated with hypnotic practice any longer, but granted as a common sense way to self improvement for ordinary
people. Another good thing is that the mechanisms that are underlying all serious hypnotizing activities has been well
researched and studied by scientists and has been scientifically proven to be effective as a mean of controlling our minds.

Even the old greek philosophers knew the intimate relationship between body and mind. This is the basic knowledge that any
mind controlling technique is buildt upon. Today it is commonly accepted that thoughts are impacting our feelings. If you are thinking negative thoughts, you will feel miserable. If you are thinking positive thoughts let’s say for only 10
minutes, you’ll feel more positive and happy. Just try right now. The bottom line is that the way to change our lives goes
through changing our minds. Thanks to hypnotic and mind controlling methods, we don’t need to be convinced about this to make it happen.

These mind controlling hypnotic techniques can be used for anyone who wants to utilize the power of his or her mind for
positive changes in their lives. Areas of life where mind manipulating techniques have been used successfully on many people are

• self confidence improvement
• phobia and panic attack treatment
• weight loss
• quit smoking
• speaking skill improvement

and many other life changing purposes. In fact hypnotic techniques can be successfully used on most areas where we want to achieve something. Nowadays we see lots of different applications of this basic mind controlling method. You don’t even have to go to a hypnotherapist in person, you can have the treatment done on the telephone, via downloadable audio files
online or hypnotic CDs and tapes.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net
Terje is a Sociologist who enjoys contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self improvement issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, mind control to achieve financial independence, mind control and relationship building.

A lot of business owners I’ve spoken with lately have commented how their business is slow because of “the recession.” If you are one of these people, you might want to reconsider your position. Before blindly saying a condition is being caused by a recession, you might want to ask yourself, “What will it cost me to buy into this?” Consider if you will that your thoughts create your reality. If you doubt that, study any spiritual, religious, philosophical, writing over the last 5,000 years and you will see this lesson over and over. For example, “The destiny of man is in his own soul,” Herodotes (5th century B.C.). “Our life is what our thoughts make of it,” Marcus Aurelius (121180) and on and on throughout history, people have been carrying this message.

Once more, if your thoughts are a result of your beliefs, paraphrasing Henry Ford, whether you believe in the recession or you don’t, your right.

I learned this quite expensive lesson many years ago. At the time I had a small graphic design and advertising agency, providing services for the business community. According to the New York Times we were in a recession. I knew that for a fact because I read about it each day in the newspaper and heard about it on TV. The problem was that my clients who had outstanding invoices, also believed it. I would go out and visit with the client, excepting to be paid for a job, only to spend my time drinking coffee, commiserating with them about how bad things were. I would end up leaving, with no money. You can image the toll this was taking on my financial health. My finances \were a disaster.

Fortunately, thing began to change. The change however is not because of the recession ended; it was because I stop believing in its power over my life. I began doing a lot of personal growth work, writing and reciting affirmations, I did mirror work, visualization, I prayed, I meditated, and I did everything I could think of to shift my beliefs away from depending on outside forces for my prosperity and shift them toward pending on God and my own inner power. I canceled my subscription to The New York Time (sorry, Times!) and stopped watching the news. I stopped believing in the recession.

Amazing things began to happen. First, my back went out of alignment from the strain of the situation. This was not expected. I spent five days flat on my back getting up only to go to the chiropractor. I was actually working from the floor of my office with my telephone next to me. As my back began to feel better and I began to feel better more things happened. Fortunately, these were better things. One of my clients called with huge job that changed my financial situation immediately. Following that, several people I had been calling on “all of a sudden” were ready to proceed. My situation changed within a week or two.

When my beliefs changed, my focus changed, and what I was attracting into my life changed accordingly.

Are we in a recession? Try to get a reservation at a four star restaurant on a Saturday night, or go to an expensive department store and see if you still feel this way. Visit a luxury car dealer and ask them how their sales have been. You’ll probably find out everything is fine.

It all depends upon your beliefs, thoughts and what you focus on from minute to minute. If your concerned, or worried even, shift your attention, begin writing a list of what’s working. Invest some time each day for writing and visualizing what you want. Shift your focus away from the problem or lack of business. This is crucial! What you focus on expands, so if your focusing on a lack of business, you will by your very thought process be creating more of this lack. You don’t have to wait for the government or media to give you permission to succeed. Take charge now and reclaim your power. This time has come for you to reclaim your business and your life and to become the person you are capable of becoming.

© 2004 Jim Donovan PO Box 1147, Buckingham, PA 18912 (215) 794-3826

Jim Donovan is the author of “Handbook to a Happier Life, a motivational speaker and coach. For a no cost bonus product & more, visit http://www.JimDonovan.com

If you had all the information and tools you needed to live your dream life, would you use them? Yes?
Click here ==> http://www.jimdonovan.com/ebookoffer.html