So Obama is a TKD guy?

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

Our country is run by a TKD guy? That is scarry!!



Martial artist in chief, President Obama
January 22, 5:48 PM
by Nancy Robinson, Martial Arts Examiner

Congratulations, President Obama. Your martial arts constituents are pleased to know that you trained in Taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art. Here are some other famous or celebrity martial artists of note:

Criss Angel is a magician with a hit television show which highlights his illusions. It is not, however, an illusion that his martial arts background includes training in karate, taekwondo and kung fu.

James Cagney, the actor, died in 1986 but still lives in the many films he made. He was a black belt in Judo.

Actor Robert Downey, Jr. trains in kung-fu and hopes to become an instructor.

Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, famous for the "Buffy" television series, is a black belt in taekwondo. She also has training in kickboxing, figure skating and gymnastics.

A veteran martial artist, Ed O'Neill (Al Bundy in Married with Children), has trained for more than fifteen years with Rorian Gracie and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

President Theodore Roosevelt made no secret of his martial arts roots. He studied judo and jiu-jitsu.

You are in good company, Mr. President.

[Lucas]

how long did he train though?

[GeneChing]

...until the thread got locked (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=908103&postcount=18).

Lemme tell ya, this here forum is supported by MartialArtMart.com (http://www.MartialArtMart.com), which is mostly financed by TKD. All I have to say about that is WTF (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-sb001.html)? :p

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

...until the thread got locked (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=908103&postcount=18).

Lemme tell ya, this here forum is supported by MartialArtMart.com (http://www.MartialArtMart.com), which is mostly financed by TKD. All I have to say about that is WTF (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-sb001.html)? :p

Reply]
Ok, I will stop talkin now. :D

[Lucas]

...until the thread got locked (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=908103&postcount=18).

Lemme tell ya, this here forum is supported by MartialArtMart.com (http://www.MartialArtMart.com), which is mostly financed by TKD. All I have to say about that is WTF (http://www.martialartsmart.net/dvd-sb001.html)? :p

at least tkd is good for something.

:p

j/k of course, respect for sure.

[golden arhat]

putin would so own him.;)

[Lucas]

putin would so own him.;)

you got that right.

[Hardwork108]

you got that right.

Yes, I am suprised too!:p

[GeneChing]

Dobrzynski could have really ran with the TKD connect for this article...

Art Lessons For Obama (http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/24/obama-arts-support-oped-cx_jhd_0125dobrzynski.html)
Judith H. Dobrzynski, 01.24.09, 03:00 PM EST
Instructions in patronage from Putin?

To suggest that President Obama should even remotely emulate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seems like off-the-wall heresy, contrary to what most people voted for when they pulled the Democratic lever last fall. But the autocratic, steely-eyed Putin has just done something that could inspire the new President, and it came--of all places--in the area of the arts.

Putin, whose expertise in the arts heretofore has been martial (he holds a black belt in judo), recently drew a folklore-inspired picture in pastels for a "celebrity painting" auction to raise money for a cultural group in St. Petersburg. Apparently, his effort wasn't half bad: One British critic noted that it was painted with "confidence" and said there was "nothing childish or naïve about this picture." It ended up fetching more than $1 million in the auction.

Obama's artistic talents are unknown, but he wouldn't have to put them on display to take a lesson from Putin. It's Putin's act of participating in the arts that's notable. Unusually, the Obama campaign actually had an arts policy, the very existence of which has raised expectations in the cultural world. Since the election, many art mavens have called for the naming of a secretary of the arts; the creation of a White House Office of the Arts; increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts; the creation of a fund to help museums cover operating expenses; the restoration of direct federal grants to musicians, artists and writers, which were curtailed in the culture wars of the 1990s, when many people objected to federal funding of "art" like performance artist Karen Finley's dance in nothing but smeared chocolate; an economic stimulus plan that employs artists, like the old Works Progress Administration; and a federal health care plan that covers artists, who are largely self-employed or part-time workers.

Some of the requests have merit; others don't. Who wants to start the culture wars all over again--or, to avoid them, impose federal "decency" standards for art? That could well be the result of some proposed measures. Obama wants to unite, rather than divide, remember? Besides, both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities have grown in spending power and in stature during the last few years of the Bush Administration, and a new bureaucracy could easily undermine their status. And what does it matter if the U.S. does not spend as many tax dollars per capita on the arts as European countries--the rationale of many art advocates. It isn't hard to argue that arts institutions in America, until recent Wall Street woes hit philanthropy, were healthier than their counterparts abroad.

Rather than radically increasing funding to the arts, President Obama should take his cue from Putin's example and demonstrate his personal support for the arts. He should ignore the American political tradition, a remnant of the Andrew Jackson era, of shying away from connections with high culture, for he is in a nearly unique position here. In a manner not seen in decades, Americans are looking to their President as an example--not only as someone to respect, but as someone to follow.

Obama could provide monumental support for the arts if he became an avid and public consumer of them. Just as his affinity for basketball is expected to create new fans for the sport, his regular appearance at the opera, at classical music concerts and at the National Gallery of Art would do wonders for America's arts institutions. Having Michelle at his side will leave an even greater impression, given her roots in working-class America.

Support for local arts institutions is even more essential. When Obama visits, say, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the state that gave his campaign life, why not stop in to see the studio used by American Gothic painter Grant Woods, along with the standard factory tour? When he has a stop in San Francisco or Houston, how about an evening at the ballet?
Comment On This Story

Obama has already veered in this direction by enlisting Yale University professor Elizabeth Alexander to read a new poem at his inauguration. He has shown that he understands the importance of gesture with his symbolic train ride from Philadelphia to Washington on Saturday, among other things. He has also shown a willingness to break stereotypes, not just in race, but by refusing to blur his membership in the "elite" class of Ivy League graduates with hokey ploys (pork rinds, anyone?). If President Obama made the arts "cool," he would enrich the lives of Americans in a way no White House Office of the Arts ever could, and the arts institutions would benefit from much more than money.

[golden arhat]

Yes, I am suprised too!:p

your beginning to bore me,

try and keep particular arguments confined to their respective threads

especcially when i'm not addressing you, child.

[Lucas]

Putin a cross trainer??!?!

Shaolin Putin (http://english.people.com.cn/200603/23/images/putin5.jpg) :eek:

[Hardwork108]

your beginning to bore me,

try and keep particular arguments confined to their respective threads

especcially when i'm not addressing you, child.

My post was "addressed" to Lucas and not you!