The Bright Art of Sun Tattoo Design

A very popular design for many customers coming into a tattoo shop is a sun tattoo design. The design may be part of a much larger image that can also feature moon designs and star motifs along a celestial theme of images. Many people choose the sun tattoo design because the sun signifies life and power and that’s what many people want their tattoo choices to convey to others. The design can be a small or large version of a sun image and the tattoo can be a symbolic and traditional image of the sun or it can be a more relaxed and artistic view of the sun with perhaps a smiley face across the design.

Almost every tattoo shop in the world has images of sun, stars and moon as offerings for their customers. These designs come in a wide range of styles, designs and sizes as well as colors. Some customers prefer the traditional sun tattoo design while others are quick to choose anything but the traditional sun design jut to be more unique. This is why many tattoo shop artists have a lot of choices for their customers in the tattoo shop catalog. When a customer comes in and wants a tattoo design like this, the tattoo shop artist can simply take out the catalog and show off the many designs already drawn up. If the customer wants a more unique design the tattoo shop artist can modify the design for the client very easily in many cases.

The customer can find an image of the sun design either in a magazine or online by using one of many search engines. The images the customer finds can then be taken to a tattoo shop artist and he can create a tattoo design from these images. The created design will be much more unique than if the design was simply chosen from a tattoo design catalog. This ability to have a unique design created is what keeps many tattoo shops in business as many people are looking to have more personal and unique designs created for their tattoo images.

For many people getting a tattoo for the first time, the sun tattoo design may be one of the first choices they make for a personal tattoo. It is simple and easy to have tattooed onto your body and there’s generally only one color to the design which means that the tattooing will be over and done with fairly quickly. For the first tattoo design, this may mean a great deal especially if the person isn’t very good at tolerating any amount of pain. Most people do very well their first time getting a tattoo because they’re more aware of the fact that there will be some degree of pain involved.

Kip Goldhammer owns and operates http://www.tattoosdesignsreviews.com Sun Tattoo Design A review of resources for tattoos online.

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The Best Martial Art

It is a very difficult task to determine which martial art is the best so first of all let’s take a look what a martial art exactly is and what not.

The word “martial art” consists of 2 parts ; “martial” and “art” both of them are very important as you will see in the following lines in the determination of what a martial art exactly is.

According to the dictionary the word martial means:

1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of war.

2. Relating to or connected with the armed forces or the profession of arms.

3. Characteristic of or befitting a warrior. As you can see, martial has everything to do with war and the ways of the warrior.

The word “Art” on the other hand gives the following definition:

1. Human effort to imitate, supplements, alters, or counteracts the work of nature.

2.

a. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.

b. The study of these activities.

c. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a group.

3. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic value.

4. A field or category of art, such as music, ballet, or literature.

5. A non-scientific branch of learning; one of the liberal arts.

6.

a. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a set of activities: the art of building.

b. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the art of the lexicographer.

7.

a. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art.

b. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: “Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice” (Joyce Carol Oates).

8.

a. Arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.

b. Artful contrivance; cunning.

So combining the two this would give us “a system of war principles and war methods employed in the performance of a set of warlike activities” as a useful definition for martial art.

In short; “the training of the methods and principles of war”

It is very important that we understand this because most martial arts nowadays are not martial arts as defined by the definition above. War is not defined by rules, competition or divisions. War has only one goal; the destruction of the opponent by all necessary means in the shortest time possible.

The moment a martial art sets rules of competition, divisions, and rules of engagement or protection, the martial aspect of the martial art is lost and the martial art in question becomes a completely different thing.

Now I am not going to write about the sports derived martial arts because the question in this article is “What is the best martial art”

In my opinion the best martial art is the one that gives you the widest range of options of survival in a true case of life and dead confrontation.

This means that the martial art must be prepared to give the practitioner the possibility and means to deal with both armed as well as unarmed opponents, single or multiple attacks and so on.

This is not only done by techniques because techniques and the human capacity to perform them in the short period of time (seconds) during a true case and in constantly changing environments , situations and against different opponents makes it virtually impossible to use only techniques to overcome all sorts of attacks.

This is where the martial methods in Japan became an art. Being aware of the limitations of training (limited time and physical capacity) the Japanese bushi started to study the underlying principles of war. They found out that all human beings have similar reactions when they find themselves in similar situations.

Let me give you an example to make this clear: When someone touches a hot stove his hand automatically recoils without even having to think about pulling your hand back. Or when your head is pulled down, your body automatically will follow and to prevent falling to the floor you will resist pulling to the opposite side of the force that is pulling you down.

Knowing and understanding these concepts gave the bushi in ancient Japan an enormous advantage over their adversaries. It increased by no small amount their capacity to deal with life threatening situations.

Today this is still useful and I think it will always be useful because humans today have the same reactions as the ones 600 years ago. We still share the same fears and instinctive reflexes and the principles of war have not changed, only the means by which we engage in war.

So if you want to practice the best martial art first of all you must be prepared to do a lot of hard physical training (did you ever see a warrior with an overweight of 50 pounds?) to prepare your body. Next explore your fears and instinctive reactions and adapt or change them to fit your needs as a warrior so you will be able to use them in true combat and finally learn to understand your opponent so you can use his fears and instinctive reactions against him.

This will give you the best martial art.

Peter Vermeeren is a traditional martial arts teacher for over 30 years. His websites can be found here: Takaharu Dojo and Kamikaze | martial arts | fitness | self defense

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The Personal Side of Art

There are many reasons to buy art. You may want to decorate your home, buy a special present for someone who loves art, or you might be an independent collector and just wish to invest in art. Some people buy art because they think owning it will improve their social standing. Some people buy art because it reflects their values or philosophies of life. Regardless of your reasons for buying art, the reason you buy certain art will be no doubt be personal.

When you buy art, you will likely buy based on intuition. Certain pieces will evoke a feeling or a mood almost immediately upon viewing them. That feeling will either be good or bad. Studies indicate that art makes people feel a certain way and anyone who creates, views or collects art knows that is true.

An artist experiences their work differently than a collector; who experiences it differently than a gallery viewer. That is one of the reasons art is so interesting. Art can preserve memories and create dreams. A painting truly is worth 1,000 words. Buying art that makes you feel good feeds your spirit and makes you healthy. Art can reduce stress by adding to the beauty and tranquility of your environment and by projecting certain and appropriate moods.

Art is often important to individuals because it compliments existing surroundings or memorializes someone or something dear. Art can be healing, motivational, endearing or upsetting. It can move people to tears, to laughter or to rage. It is an outlet of expression void of words but deep in meaning and symbolism.

For some, art personifies strength and honor. Animals are a popular subject and certain animal artwork gives status to the owner, much like owning a fancy car would. Art as a means of pleasing the senses has undoubtedly been stimulating imagination and creativity for centuries. Meanings are often buried within symbols, colors and textures.

Civilizations, cultures and individuals use art as the depository of their history. Art makes people proud to live, work, and play where they do. They point to their museums, public monuments, and cultural institutions with pride, as they should. Art is a true storyteller of life through the ages.

No matter why you are buying art, feeling and intuition will play a major role in your decision to buy any particular piece.

Alberta Smith Johnson's artist blog, http://www.artworksbyalbertasmithjohnson.com/ offers photo prints of her original pastel and acrylic paintings.

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