My Fashion Blog

Tote bags, or totes as they are referred to colloquially, are extremely popular because they make carrying anything much easier. Rather than holding a backpack that pulls on your back and gives you aches and pains, totes make carrying items easier and that is why so many people choose tote bags for school, lunch, shopping and groceries. In fact, those four tote bag uses are probably the most popular uses for tote bags. Promotional totes represent a great opportunity for you to turn a gift to a customer, or someone you care about, into a walking billboard for your company.That is very important if you want to be a successful company. With a lot of people using school tote bags, you are advertising your company to thousands every day. Lunch totes are usually smaller but you can still advertise your company on them. These are used primarily in schools but there are plenty of people who take lunch totes to work because they keep their lunch safe and cold or warm depending on their tote type.  Many consumers love grocery totes and shopping totes because both of these items are much stronger than plastic bags, easier to carry, and can carry more. Not to mention they look great! Whether you are giving away lunch tote bags, school totes, grocery totes or shopping totes, you are helping someone carry the things they need, while at the same time promoting your company. The people who carry your tote bags become billboards for your company. They advertise your company to hundreds of people without even realizing. It is a great form of guerrilla marketing that you can use. Plus the tote bags look great.

New style Ed Hardy Boots for 2010 winter are Arrivals at Ed Hardy Online Store (edhardyguide. com), just visit it for more information and discount! More about Ed Hardy Boots: Ed Hardy Boots is based on the work of tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. Ed Hardy Boots line, which packs the punch of a tattoo without enduring the process, is manufactured by the famous designer Christian Audigier. The fantasy images of skulls, mermaids, butterflies and snakes that Don Ed Hardy includes in almost all of his works display the creative genius that has made this California tattoo artist known all over the world. Don Ed Hardy attended the San Francisco Art Institute and in 1967 received his B. F. A. degree in printmaking. He started his career as a tattoo artist in the same year but traveled to Japan 1970 to further his studies of the traditional art with a tattoo master. He lived in Japan for several years and returned during the 80s. The reason why Don Ed Hardy is called “the Godfather of the Modern Tattoo” is because of his ability to use art histories of Japanese, American and Cholo icons and pair them with designs related to tattoo, hotrod and surfing lifestyles. Don Ed Hardy’s 40 years of experience in tattoo design shows a range of perspectives that is unequalled in the world of body art. Hardy signed a license agreement with the apparel company Ku USA, Inc. in 2002 to use his designs to produce boots. After two years his artwork had begun to catch the attention of many other major boots companies as well. The tattoo themes of “Death before Dishonor” “Free” and “Love Kills Slowly” by Hardy are a few of the fantastic images that prompted Christian Audigier to seek an agreement with Don Ed Hardy. In 2004 Audigier received exclusive rights from Ed Hardy to use his designs and the Ed Hardy brand was created. Ed Hardy apparel is lifestyle couture with a street culture edge. Christian Audigier has earned the title “The King of Jeans” from his success as a designer for boots companies such as; “American Outfitters,” “Diesel”, “Fiorucci” and “Levi’s. ” Although Audigier was born in Avignon, France, Los Angeles is his true home. Before creating the Ed Hardy brand, he successfully promoted the artist Von Dutch who produced the imagery of legendary Kustom Kulture and it became a celebrity fashion “must-have. ” The entertainment world inspired many of his marketing ideas such as promoting directly to celebrity clients. Audigier’s success is partly due to this along with his charisma and close affinity to the entertainer lifestyle. Men and women wear any Ed Hardy Boots along with a full line of boots and accessories. Audigier’ company Nervous Tattoo employs more than 45,000 people worldwide who produce six other boots lines including: “Christian Audigier”, “SMET”, “Crystal Rock”, and most recently “C-Bar-A”, “Chuck Boyd”, and “Paco Chicano”. Today, you can see Ed Hardy stores here and there even if on the internet. If you log on our website and choose Ed Hardy Boots, we will provide you more discount. If you planning to purchase ed hardy boots, just visit Ed Hardy online store for more information and discounts! Editor : Ed Hardy Guide

Sticker has given us an attractive option to decorate our house but its use is not limited to home. Such attractive articles can be used for the marketing and business promotion purposes too. There are several studies that confirm the profitability of stickers in the field of advertisement. The presence of custom stickers in the marketing campaign has really increased the popularity of the brands. The color and shape of such designed stickers possess more potential to popularize and make image of the product at a very minimum cost. That’s why its business is flourishing with a great pace and many printing companies are offering a variety in the colors, shapes, and overall appearance. The use of custom stickers has enabled many companies to draw more attention and create their separate business identity by rendering much impact on the customers. People have been provided many sizes and shapes including round shape, rectangular in shape or even die cut. At the time of internet and online business, we have several stickers printing solutions online. Companies are offering a large number of attractive colors to suit with mood and occasion of the event. We can use them differently, such as in the form of brochures, business cards, calendars, door hangers, catalogues, canvas print, event tickets, invitation cards, vehicle stickers, etc. , are the popular use of such custom stickers. Through online link you can find a reliable supplier to fulfill your purpose without spending much.

While some have just joined and are still helping the business grow, the climb to the top for most others has been tricky. These women have thrown their entrepreneurial energy in to the family business and helped the firm stay ahead of the curve while taking on ever greater responsibilities on key accounts. They have broken the psychological block that a son and not a daughter is a potential successor!As, women continue to expand their role in the business world and show that they are as capable as men, fathers are giving key positions to their daughters in the family business. Very recently a succession plan was announced by the chairman of health service provider Apollo Hospitals. Prathap Reddy said his eldest daughter Preetha Reddy will take charge of the group once he retires. Reddy has four daughters and they have become the four pillars on which his pioneering enterprise stands today. His eldest daughter Preetha Reddy is Apollo Hospitals’ managing director while Suneeta Reddy is executive director (finance) and Sangita Reddy is executive director (operations). Shobana Kamineni looks after health insurance and new initiative businesses of the group. Reddy, in some of his recent media interviews, has said his daughters are brilliant and they are managing things beautifully. With a health care empire that only seems to be growing, all thanks to the dynamic four daughters, Pratap Reddy is one proud father. The eldest daughter of industrialist A Sivasailam, is the pride of her parents and a well known entrepreneur of India. Mallika Srinivasan joined her father’s Amalgamations Group in 1986. She was made the general manager of Tafe (Tractors and Farm Equipment) Company. She converted Tafe into a hi-technology-oriented company and increased the turnover substantially. The company found a niche for itself as the leading tractor manufacturer, and expanded its area of operations under her guidance. Mallika did her MA (econometrics) from Madras University. She then went abroad to pursue further studies. She did her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Married to Venu Srinivasan, the chairman and managing director of TVS Motor, she is one of the most successful women CEOs in India. She was Economic Times Businesswoman of the year 2006. Interestingly, Lakshmi Venu, daughter of Venu and Mallika Srinivasan, was recently inducted as a director on the board of auto-component maker Sundaram Clayton Ltd, TVS Motors’ holding company. This move was viewed as a succession plan for TVS Motor, India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturer by sales. Besides having successful industrialist parents, Lakshmi has impressive educational credentials. The school topper from Sishya School in Chennai, Lakshmi joined Yale and graduated in economics and is a doctorate degree-holder from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Sulajja Firodia Motwani is the joint managing director of two-wheeler firm Kinetic Motor Company, a position she inherited from her father. Being at the helm of Kinetic, she faced the challenge of leading a company after their joint venture partner, Honda, moved out. She had to deal with the market when scooters were not in fashion and motorcycles were the rave. Kinetic had to make its debut in the motorcycle business and tied up with overseas manufacturers to bring in modern scooters to lure back customers. Sulajja coped with this difficult part, made her parents proud and paved way for her siblings. Sulajja did her MBA from Carnegie Melon and worked in California for a couple of years before heading back home to join the family business. Roshni Nadar, the only daughter of tech billionaire Shiv Nadar, took over as executive director and CEO of HCL Corporation at the age of 27. This young heiress did her MBA in social enterprise management and strategy from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. After completing her education and returning back home Roshni kept herself involved in brand building and social initiatives of HCL. As her degree suggests, she has her skills set in the social enterprise management, and therefore in her role at HCL she is involved only in the development side of business, while her father and founder of HCL, Shiv Nadar has full discretion to take key decisions in the interest of the company. Roshni is involved only in the investment company HCL Corp, and not in either HCL Infosystems or HCL Technologies – both managed by a group of professionals. Interestingly, this young lady had her interests in media and had changed her major from Economics to film. She majored in radio, television and film and did internships with CNBC and CNN before she went to pursue a career in management. Another great example is Meher Pudumjee. She took the chair once occupied by Thermax founder and her grandfather AS Bhathena, nurtured by her father Rohinton Aga and preserved by her mother Anu Aga. Meher joined Thermax as a trainee engineer in August 1990. In a year’s time, she was given the responsibility to manage the company’s overseas operations in the UK. She returned to India in 1996 and became a member of the board of directors. After her stints with the treasury and working capital management functions, she moved to corporate strategic planning. In 2001, Pudumjee was appointed non-executive director of Thermax and became vice-chairperson in 2002. She learned the ins and outs of the business for 14 long years before succeeding her mother in 2004. Along with her husband (Pheroze Pudumjee), Meher has put Thermax on the path to success. Meher, is a postgraduate in chemical engineering from the Imperial College of Science & Technology, London. She was the Business Standard CEO of the Year for 2007-08. Although Anuradha Desai may have inherited her father’s empire by virtue of her birth, she has strived hard to expand into newer areas of poultry business and survived bird flu outbreaks. Daughter of late BV Rao, pioneer of organised poultry business in India, leads the Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group whereas her two younger brothers work closely in the group. Anuradha has fine tuned the vision she inherited from her father and is today the voice of the Indian poultry industry. She has increased the turnover of her father’s business manifold. She now oversees a multi-activity business including eggs, egg powder, poultry feed, animal feed, vaccines, biotech, research and development and even wine distribution and entertainment. She also added the export initiative of Venky’s Chicken to her success story. Shefali Munjal was inducted into father Sunil Kant Munjal’s Hero Group to explore the company’s greenfield projects. Where others failed, she kept the IT and ITeS businesses afloat, and added new ones to the portfolio. Besides these projects, she has been an integral part of the business development and strategic decision making team at Hero Corporate. Shefali is actively involved in strategic reviewing of operations and is a good team player. She is currently doing a senior management program at Harvard Business School, and is expected to graduate in 2011. She is also a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National Committee on Insurance and Pensions, a founding member of the CII Young Indians Council, the Entrepreneurs Organization (Delhi Chapter) and The Art of Living Foundation. Shefali is also a trained pianist, adventure sports enthusiast, amateur artist and is fluent in French. Pia Singh manages her father’s entertainment venture. Daughter of KP Singh, chairman DLF Group, heads DLF’s entertainment venture, Digital Talkies (DT) Cinema as well as handles the group’s retail business as its managing director. This multi-tasking persona worked with GE Capital in risk underwriting before joining the group. Interestingly, Pia’s inclination towards films was not newfound. During her academic days she pursued a short term film-making course from New York University after graduating from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with a major in finance. Priya Paul took the reins of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels after the untimely death of her father Surrendra Paul. Younger sister Priti Paul looked after the shipping business of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, while their brother was studying. Priya gave a new dimension to the Park Hotel chain. Priti took over the creative side, and looked after the Oxford bookstore, the Cha Bar chain and the real estate division. Brother Karan Paul is now chairman and handles other businesses. Priya is a Bachelor of Economics from Wellesley College, USA, while Priti is a Master in Design Studies, from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, minor in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. For Godrej daughters it was tough, the kids had to join as interns, prove themselves, and move ahead. Adi Godrej’s daughter Tanya Dubash is now president, marketing and executive director in Godrej Industries and younger daughter Nisha is executive vice president for development in Godrej Industries and is also on the board of Godrej Agrovet. When his son, Pirojsha, started work at Godrej properties after a three-week induction programme like all others, all his father had to say was that Pirojsha’s career would depend solely on his performance, as it would for any new entrant in the group. Same was the case with Shalaka Gulabchand, daughter of Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Company, and the man behind Bandra-Worli sea link. She joined the company in September 2000 as an executive (planning and business development). There was no time frame for the only daughter as to when she will be part of the board. It was performance based. In June 2007, Shalaka was appointed general manager-business development. Shalaka, holds a bachelors degree in international relations from Boston University. Sminu Jindal, daughter of Prithviraj Jindal and granddaughter of OP Jindal, joined the family business as a trainee at the fag end of her teens in Swastik Foils, a unit of Jindal SAW. She turned around the sick unit into a profitable venture in the very first year of joining by pioneering the production of ultra thin gauge steel that was unheard of in that era and time. She then trained her sight on Jindal SAW in 1997. Soon she was at the helm of affairs as the managing director. In spite of being confined to the wheelchair due to an accident at the age of 11, she never allowed her spirit to be chained. She initiated environment protection steps like effluent treatment plants and environment friendly processes much before the government regulatory authorities’ drive. Jindal SAW Ltd was one of the very first companies to be awarded all environmental clearances. Prakash Chauhan’s three little stars were groomed to join the Parle Agro business from the very beginning. The eldest, Schauna Chauhan did her B-schooling and joined the Parle Agro in 1999 and by 2002 she was running the business. She is now the CEO, while daddy remains the chairman. Alisha Chauhan was passionate about fitness and opened ‘V3′ a chain of health and fitness centres. She diversified the business through this venture. Meanwhile, the youngest, Nadia Chauhan, started to attend marketing meetings with her dad at the age of 11. Officially though, she joined the business in 2002. For publishing major Ashok Malhotra succession planning was never an issue. His daughters Monica Malhotra Kandhari and Sonica Malhotra took over the reins very early. A commerce graduate, Monica explored her passion for publishing by joining the family business as a trainee in the MBD group’s publishing and printing wing at the age of 16. She is now the senior executive director of MBD. Meanwhile, Sonica, executive director at MBD and an MBA in finance from International Management Institute France, handles key projects in hospitality and real estate sector, right from project planning to execution and is also responsible for branding, positioning and assisting in expansion plans of the group. Lara Balsara, joined father Sam Balsara’s Radison Communication at the age of 26. Lara did her BA from St Xaviers College in Mumbai and went to the UK to pursue her masters in marketing from Bristol University. She came back and joined Madison as a trainee in 2003. She diversified the business further and was responsible for the success of Madison Teamworks and Entertainment, Madison Retail Paradigm and Madison RKD retail/iq. Rangita Nandy joined father Pritish Nandy’s PNC as a management trainee and has progressed to creative head of the company. She has been a producer of bollywood films like Chameli, Jhankar Beats, Shabd and Pyar ke Side Effects. Meghna Puri has been a part of dad Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts from the age of 16. She helped her father fulfil his dream of setting up an institute to teach film making. Today, she is the president of the institute–Whistling Woods International. She did her business management from King’s College in London in 1999. Devita Saraf joined her father’s Zenith Computers while she was a student. The Topper Laptop, Power of Seven Laptop range, Infotainer II, Multiply and the Topper Desktop are some of Zenith’s products launched under her leadership. She currently spearheads Vu Technologies, the pioneer in the concept of ‘Luxury in Technology’. She is also executive director of Zenith Computers. Ashni Biyani, daughter of Kishore Biyani, got herself involved in the innovation and incubation division of Future Group at a young age of 22. She did her schooling at Queen Mary, studied at HR college in Mumbai, and did a course in textile designing and design management.

Society’s obsession with big-breasted women never seems to end. It’s hard to explain the attraction for big breasts simply as a fashion trend. Even after waifish fashion phenomenon Kate Moss and others of her body type set the trend of the flat-chested size zero women, men still lust after curvy women with shapely breasts, while a bigger chest size tops the wish lists of most women. Scientists believe that we are genetically programmed to view women’s breasts as a hallmark of femininity as well as the focus of sexual desire. But why is the desire for bigger breasts permeating cultures that traditionally idolize thinness as a desirable female characteristic? Chinese and Japanese women, for instance, have never been the busty or curvaceous type, yet the typical Western obsession with breast size has influenced Eastern perceptions about femininity and womanhood too. Easy access to and awareness about breast enlargement methods is primarily responsible for our collective hankering after larger bust lines. Ways to augment your breasts without surgery Most of us believe that plastic surgery is the only way to have larger breasts, but there are many women who have successfully got them through non-surgical techniques. It is possible to have firm and toned bust without going under the knife. However, although natural breast enlargement products can give you fuller breasts, they don’t really work in a couple of weeks or months. Visible improvement in breast size can take anywhere between 6-12 months. Besides, the same product may work for some women but not for others because everyone has a different chemical make-up and body type. You may have to experiment a bit before you find a product that suits you. There are many breast enlargement formulas that claim to enhance breast size naturally, but you need to choose a reputable product that has been vouched for by someone genuine who doesn’t aim to sell that product. Vacuum systems or breast pumps have been effective in many cases, but a few women have complained of discomfort and inconvenience while using them. Hypnosis is a technique that proclaims the triumph of mind over matter, and it has also worked well in a few cases of breast enlargement, but there is no scientific evidence to prove this, so approach cautiously. Breast massage for effective enlargement Breast massage is an enlargement technique that has worked successfully for a large number of women. The best thing about this technique is that it is largely free from any side effects, unlike other breast enlargement methods. Not only does breast massage give you larger breasts, it also promotes breast pliability, toning and firmness. Massage makes your bust line appear larger and more attractive and it also makes you more aware of the health of your breasts, particularly about the signs of breast cancer. Some studies have also claimed that regular breast massage is likely to keep breast cancer at bay. Moderate breast massage is a healthy method of lymphatic drainage and is usually a part of post-operative care for women who have had breast surgery or mastectomies, since it effectively heals and regenerates scar tissue. Breast massage is also a good way of assisting your lymphatic system drain out potentially cancerous toxins. Breast massage has been proved to be particularly effective when combined with breast enhancing serums, lotions or creams, as well as herbal supplements that give you larger breasts naturally. You can visit online forums dedicated to natural bust enlargement, where you can discuss your concerns with women who have already tried or benefited from these techniques and products. When you do this you will find that the best results for breast enlargement have been experienced by women who have followed a particular technique with dedication and patience.

Bangalore – IT capital of India is also known for its quality education that offers verity of degree programs in all types of major discipline like in engineering, management, medical, law, mass communication, fashion, technology, dental and so on. Bangalore is one of the beautiful cities of the nation where you can find number sightseeings, tourist attractions along with headquarters of different types of world leading companies. Bangalore is famous for city of gardens and now it is also called by Bengaluru. It is one of the ideal education destinations for outside students or international students who visit India for their higher education. As in Bangalore they will find easy accommodation, coffee houses, types of eating out places serve you with different cuisines and dishes, pizza joints, pubs, movie theatres, discos and lots more that suits international students. Along with the above facilities, Bangalore houses 400 colleges that offer diverse degree programs, awesome education environment, internship and recruitment programs of international standard, campus accommodation, seminars and on – campus projects on regular basis which in itself explains the quality of education in Bangalore. Apart from colleges, other types of education institutes and universities have played vital role in promoting higher education in Bangalore. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science, BMS College of Engineering, Garden City College, Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore Medical College, R. V College of Engineering are some of the best colleges and institutes of Bangalore. If we talk about the educational hub of India – Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kanpur, Ahmedabad are some of the world known education center of the nation. Out of these Bangalore has achieved a high literacy rate of 83. 91% that comprises higher education literacy rate of primary education, secondary and higher education among girls education. Bangalore with multi cultural, diverse and rich background provides you with best options for higher studies with a pinch of extravagant experience and a society which does not differentiate between the rich and the poor. Bangalore offers types of graduate, post graduate, certification courses, diplomas and researches in various themes that not only attracts students from India but from all over the world.

Although all of the genetic and environmental factors are important to consider, the overwhelming evidence is that breast cancer is related to lifestyle. The following paragraphs outline the negative impact and positive impact on breast cancer of several common lifestyle related issues. Post-menopausal Obesity Increases Risk: Despite the evidence on the protective effect of pre-menopausal obesity on pre-menopausal breast cancer, the evidence that obesity increases the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer is very clear and not debatable. Some have suggested that tumors are harder to find by physical exam and mammography in obese women. This theory has largely been disproved in studies looking at mammography sensitivity and specificity, as well as studies looking at breast exam diagnosis in obese patients. If the correlation between obesity and cancer mortality is entirely causal, some scientists even estimate that an overweight condition and/or obesity now may account for one in seven of cancer deaths in men and one in five in women in the US. High Fat Diet and Breast Cancer: Although breast cancer publications and the media have promulgated the idea that a low fat diet reduces cancer risk, most clinical trials have not successfully demonstrated this direct beneficial effect. There have been several methodological explanations for this failure. However, the reverse observation that a high fat diet increases breast cancer risk remains solid. For example, a large study funded by the National Institute of Health looked at 188,736 postmenopausal women and fat intake, based on both “food frequency questionnaires” and “24-hour dietary recall questionnaires”. With the food frequency questionnaires, researchers found that women who got 40% of their calories from fat had about a 15% increased risk of developing breast cancer compared with women who got 20% of their calories from fat. With the “24-hour dietary recall questionaire”, they found a 32% increased risk of breast cancer among women with a high level of fat in their diet. Alcohol: Based on scientific evidence, exposure to alcohol is associated with increased breast cancer risk in a dose-dependent fashion. Even less than one drink/day on a daily basis can be associated with up to a 30% increase in breast cancer mortality among postmenopausal women compared to non-drinkers. The risk may increase by 7% for each drink per day. Studies have shown that stopping alcohol use may reverse this risk. Exercise: Exercise has been consistently linked with reduced breast cancer risk. A regimen of approximately 30 minutes per day of moderate-intensity exercise should be adequate, and perhaps even one to two hours per week is enough to be helpful. It appears that longer duration and greater intensity of activity may bring even more health benefits. Supplements: Americans spend billions of dollars on vitamins and mineral supplements. Recent large studies, however, have demonstrated that these pills and capsules do not decrease the risk of many types of cancer. One explanation is that as long as one is not deficient of any particular vitamin or mineral, ingestion of super-normal levels of supplements does not help. Many women have low levels of vitamin D, and some data have shown that increasing its level (whether in a pill or by sun exposure) can protect somewhat against future breast cancer. In our opinion, botanical dietary supplements derived from green tea extracts represent a potentially widely available method for reducing the risk of breast cancer. Next to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, and its ingestion in reasonable doses is considered safe. Many population observation reports have shown that green tea may decrease the risk of breast cancer.

Cubic Zirconia is regarded as a popular stone among jewelry lovers; maybe you or perhaps a family member or friend also possess a form of jewelry that contains the semi-yellowish, monoclinic mineral baddeleyite form of the cubic zirconia oxide. But do you genuinely know about cubic zirconia and where it originates from? Cubic zirconia (CZ) was observed in 1892; However, CZ was rare and hard to find, consequently for a long time, it wasn’t sought after and was considered to generate minor market value. During the time, it was known to be just a mineral which organically existed on earth. In 1899, two German mineralogists uncovered a different, naturally occurring form of CZ: microscopic grains.   Cubic zirconia gems appear in a selection of colors, cuts, sizes and quality, this allows customers to find a peice that beautifully works with their particular individual style. The various colors of cubic zirconia include red (garnet), blue (tanzanite), purple (amethyst), aqua, pink, lavender, champagne, citrine yellow, white, and more. The most used CZ is the white, which could easily end up being compared to a top quality diamond. The customer can also have the chance to decide on one of several diverse cuts of their cubic zirconia which includes shapes including heart, octagon, oval, round, square, trillion (triangular), pear, plus more. In case you are looking for some wonderful yet low-cost gemstones, give the mineral cubic zirconia a try. Your jewelry are going to be stunning, resilient, as well as coveted by all of your good friends!

The Bible is unique in it’s preparation, circulation, translation, and preservation. The Bible is by far the most published book in the world. It was the first book ever printed on a printing press and has dominated the presses ever since. It was written over a period of 1,500 years by a great variety of men who were inspired of God. Associates for Biblical Research has extensively excavated Jericho. One of the interesting features about this city is that the walls appear to have fallen outward. While an invading army would typically ram the walls inward upon the debris, the Bible declares that God caused the walls to fall flat, so that the Israelites could go straight in. Skeptics once believed that the book of Daniel was in error when it discussed Belshazzar ruling Babylon. The dynasties were revealed on cuneiform tablets excavated from ancient Babylon and Belshazzar did not appear on the list. Yet Unger’s Bible Dictionary tells how a later find revealed that the sovereign, Nabonidus, traveled extensively and in his absence left his son Belshazzar to rule as co-regent. He could do no more since he was only second himself. Sir William Ramsey is regarded as one of the greatest archaeologists ever to have lived. Skeptical of the authorship and accuracy of the gospels and Acts, Ramsey set out to investigate. Yet he concluded after 30 years of study that “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.

While Asian Martial Arts have become very popular in the western world, many scientific circles do not take the study of the Martial Arts seriously as a topic of research. In some cases, they may suppose that current research efforts in aerobic and anaerobic exercise are sufficient. In other cases, they may believe that there is nothing to be gained by researching such an esoteric area, or that the research is difficult or impossible. Still others may view the Martial Arts as a means to placate violence and object for reasons of conscience. Shaler remarks (as cited by Weiser and Kutz, 1995) that the Martial Arts are ” . . . naught but [a] killing present, anger past, and misery to come in the course of one who studies these arts. ” Even so, Martial Arts are beginning to be understood and appreciated in the last 25 years in the west, primarily for the health and exercise benefits. Weiser and Kutz (1995) note “The Martial Arts (MAs) deserve recognition as worthy of being added to this list of therapeutic practices . . . and to the list of supplements to psychotherapy. ” It is my intention to add “theoretical research” to this ever-expanding list of non-combat uses for the Martial Arts, specifically research into the cognitive aspects of Martial Arts. Many studies point to the mental health benefits of Martial Arts, and the link between traditional (aerobic and anaerobic) exercise and Martial Arts has been noted. To assume that the sole utility in Martial Arts is the link with exercise would be errant since Martial Arts have “an additional and enhancing effect” (Weiser and Kutz, 1995). Further the Martial Arts are noteworthy because they not only do not produce immediate benefits, but they may actually increase anxiety before the benefits take effect (Weiser and Kutz, 1995). Weiser and Kutz (1995) also note that the literature “point[s] out the processes of MAs training . . . are similar to those of verbal psychotherapy” and that these similarities may be linked to the increase of anxiety during initial stages of training. One of the problems surrounding study into the Martial Arts is the bewildering number of styles and the disparity of training methods. In my own case I have studied Judo, American Kenpo, Chen style Tai Chi, and I am currently studying Bujinkan Taijutsu. These arts are all distinctly different, both in methodologies and in philosophy – so how does one make a meaningful claim about “the Martial Arts”?One way to do this is to study a particular portion of Martial Arts training, such as guided imagery, sparring, or weapons training. Cai (2000) did a study of Tai Chi that involved three groups. The first group studied self defense integrated with guided imagery, the second Tai Chi integrated with self-defense, and the control group studied only self-defense. In this study the first two groups “showed significantly lower anxiety and depression scores than the traditional single content program” (Cai, 2000). The study noted no significant difference between the guided imagery group and the Tai Chi group. This study shows an example of isolating specific portions of Martial Arts (in this case, guided imagery and Tai-Chi) and could be expanded on to study other specific portions of Martial Arts. This is not the whole solution, however, as the whole can not be concluded to be solely the sum of it’s parts. In the end an exhaustive study of individual Martial Arts may be deemed necessary, however examining the pieces is a good place to start. If one finds significance in various pieces, then a good hypothesis would be that there is significance in the whole. If one finds no significance in the pieces, then a good hypothesis may be that the whole produces no scientific significance. While both hypotheses require testing, they are reasonable with sufficient evidence – of which the above study provides but one data point. Most Martial Arts have a number of things in common. Kihon (“Basics”), Kata (“Forms”), and free response drills are all quite common among Martial Arts, but there are often philosophical similarities as well. Two of these philosophical similarities are Mushin and “Essence”. Mushin is often translated as “no mind”, or “empty mind” and refers to the state of mind one experiences where ones concentration is focused externally to the exclusion of “chatter” – the verbal thoughts that often fill our consciousness. Essence is much trickier concept for the martial artist, but for the psychologist there are echoes of cognitive theories. Many Martial Arts have an overriding philosophy that guides its core, and the Kata (“forms”) are said to be reflections of this “essence”. Once one knows the “essence” of the art, the Kata (“forms”) are no longer needed. Another concept in many Martial Arts is the Henka, or variation. A Henka is similar to a base form and is supposed to teach the same principles as the original. Nearly every martial art has a ranking system, or some method of setting the beginner apart from the more experienced practitioner. While this is necessary for training progression, it is also convenient for research purposes as this makes the mental differences between the skill levels easier to track. Another thing that is common among many Martial Arts is the desire to generalize what is learned in the training hall to life experiences other than combat. Vockell and Kwak (1990) give an analogy between chess masters and martial artists. They point out that many very good chess players are poor at academic skills, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. This is not to say that they are not intelligent, but rather that they have not learned to generalize to life, where as others can see the similarities between chess and real life. “One member of the famous Royal Knights chess team recently stated, ‘Chess is like life. If you have a plan, you will make fewer mistakes than you will without a plan’” (Vockell & Kwak, 1990). These commonalities give us a good place to start our investigations into the potential rewards for research into the cognitive aspects of Martial Arts. For the rest of this paper I would like to focus on the cognitive aspects of pattern matching, problem solving, prototype creatio n, perception, consciousness, and creativity. The Martial Arts offer us a unique perspective to the pattern-matching problem. Some Kata (“forms”) have been designed for two or more participants and free sparring provides a unique perspective as well. During both of these exercises, the martial artist is forced to quickly determine a number of attributes about their partner, including such things as foot position, attitude, hand position, distancing, and so on. While I have seen a number of studies published on static pattern recognition, there are much fewer on moving pattern recognition, and even fewer on moving pattern recognition under stress. What differences are there between the three states? What differences are there when movement of the subject is involved? What are the effects of stress on pattern matching? What are the effects of pattern matching under stress while simultaneously undergoing movement?Unfortunately the nature of these exercises limits the types of experimental data that can be gathered. Some methods, such as the MRI require the subject to be immobile, while others require the subject to wear expensive equipment that can be easily dislodged by vigorous activity. However technological advances may assist in this area once a need is shown. Eye tracking, for instance, has made tremendous advances. A safe device can now be created to do eye tracking on a moving subject, and this can be used to determine the visual aspects of pattern matching of the martial artist. How does eye movement differ between expert martial artists and novices? What can this tell us about pattern matching under stress?Henka (“variation”) are another potential area of pattern matching research – one which is much easier to deal with. The concept behind Henka is that it similar in principle to a Kata (“form”), but with visual dissimilarities. Interesting questions can then be posed such as “what is the accuracy rate of various practitioners in determining the base Kata from a Henka? How long does it take? How does this compare between various skill levels? How does this compare to standard visual pattern matching tasks? Is there a link between visual pattern matching efficacy and motion pattern matching efficacy?” The last question is, perhaps, the most interesting one. Problem solving is also another area of potential research. Solso (2001, p. 452) defines problem solving as “thinking that is directed toward the solving of a specific problem that involves both the formation of responses and the selection among possible responses. ” In the case of Martial Arts both free response exercises and multi-person forms may provide an interesting window into the subject, though free response exercises would seem to be the most promising. In free response exercises, there are at least two problems present: “how do I keep my opponent from defeating me?” and “how do I defeat them?”Martial artists typically have a number of responses to choose from as well, including striking, grappling, and exotic moves. The question of what goes into a successful problem response under these conditions is interesting, as is the nature of the solution and the conditions that it was derived under. Typically, there is a very small window of time, and the solution must be determined and executed within that window. Also it is generally expected that the solution is will be arrived at while in a Mushin (“chatterless”) state. In typical problem solving examples (c. f. Solso, 2001, ch. 15) the verbal thoughts are important to the solution. How is the problem solving process different when verbal thoughts are limited or disallowed completely? Given the parameters of the exercise, one may hypothesize that the process will be different, but what if it isn’t? What does that say about our problem solving process? What would it say if it was different?Another interesting possibility for research is the concept of prototype formation. What does it mean when we claim that a particular technique looks like a “Koto Ryu” technique? Does practicing Kata (“forms”) in a certain manner create a prototype of a successful response? Is this the same as what the martial artists call “essence”? Is there a link between static visual prototype formation (such as learning faces) and prototyping the “essence” of an art?Solso (2001, 132) holds that a “prototype is an abstraction of a set of stimuli that embodies many similar forms of the same pattern. ” That Martial Arts training produces a wide variety of stimuli would generally not be disputed, so the question then is whether learning the Kata (“forms”) and then testing them with free response could be related to, or the same as, prototype formation. Typically prototype matching is considered to be part of the “pattern matching” field, but what if one hypothesizes that the prototyping structures within the body-mind are available for other functions as well – such as problem solving? Would this give rise to being able to generalize more efficiently between the Martial Arts and real life?One may also wonder about generalizing other portions of pattern matching, such as gestalt theory, canonic perspectives, and feature analysis. Indeed, an alternate translation of Kata is “pattern”, so one may wonder how much of a link there is between Kata and pattern matching. Are Kata related to “cano nic perspectives”? Is feature analysis an important part of the learning process?Solso (2001, p. 138 – 39) notes that a study done by Chase and Simon on chess players discovered that the master chess players were able to “see chunks, or meaningful clusters, of chess pieces [that] made it possible for the better players to gather more information in the given time. ” One could easily do a similar study with Martial Arts Kata (“patterns”) that would attempt to determine chunking of data among various martial artists’ experience levels. Perception is another interesting topic that could be applied to the Martial Arts. One question dealing with perception is whether Martial Arts training improves the recognition of sensory signals in a meaningful way. That is, does training in Martial Arts allow one to more easily integrate the several sensory perception for more of a “total picture”? I had several experiences where someone told me that I “paid attention” better after a short period of Martial Arts training. While an interesting proposition, it nonetheless a single data point. If the training does provide training in perception as well, then why does it do so? Is this similar to dance and athletics, or different?There are other interesting questions as well, though some will likely never be studied. Within the Bujinkan the test for Godan (“fifth degree black belt”, full instructor level) is well known. The person being tested kneels in front of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, the current lineage head, with his or her back to Dr. Hatsumi and their eyes closed. Dr. Hatsumi has a bamboo shinai (split training sword) that he raises over his head. At some random point he strikes at the head of the person in front of him with full force. The test is successful if the person being tested gets out of the sword’s way without getting hit. That this phenomenon occurs cannot be seriously doubted – the test has been given more than a thousand times. And while there is much public debate (within the organization at any rate) as to the “how”, no definitive answer has been proffered. How this occurs is an interesting question that involves perception. Assuming that one discounts mystical explanations, one is left with only some sort of “subliminal perception”. How one would test this is beyond my current knowledge, however, but it may be an interesting problem to find a testable hypothesis for this situation. Consciousness is another potential, though troublesome, area of research within the Martial Arts. Consciousness research would overlap perception research somewhat as well. Solso (2001, p. 144) defines consciousness as “the awareness of environmental and cognitive events such as the sights and sounds of the world as well as one’s memories, thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. ” The awareness portion would be tested in the same way as one would test perception, but what of the rest of Solso’s definition?Within many Martial Arts is the concept of Mushin, a state involving “chatterless” concentration. How is this state different than our normal self-talk? Is this state different? Fortunately, movement is not necessary for this state to be entered, though that is an interesting question in itself. A study that compares Mushin with meditative and standard self-talk states could be revealing. Does Mushin change with movement? Is it identical to a standard meditative state? If so, much can be gleaned from the study of both meditative states. If this state is not different than a meditative state then what are the relevant differences? While thoughts would be missing, what feelings, memories, and bodily sensations would be present? What of “pictorial thoughts” (flashes of imagery that convey deep, symbolic meaning in an instantaneous manner)? Are these more common than linguistic thoughts when one enters Mushin?Creativity can also be studied with Martial Arts, though creativity in general is somewhat problematic to study. Solso (2001, p. 462) defines creativity as “a cognitive activity that results in a new or novel way of viewing a problem or situation. ” Solso (2001, p. 462) further describes the current model of creativity as a four stage process involving 1) Preparation, 2) Incubation, 3) Illumination, and 4) Verification. He also notes “empirical evidence . . . is almost nonexistent” (Solso, 2001, p. 462). Does creative response within Martial Arts follow these four steps?It is possible, however the steps would be very compact. Are the Martial Arts creative? Intuitively we may say “yes”, but what model of creativity would we use? Incubation would be the problematic step – how does one incubate in such a short period of time? Further, we could ask if the Martial Arts enhance or hinder creativity? One can design an experiment of the latter problem fairly easily by comparing a control group of non-martial artists with a group of martial artists in a test of physical and mental creativity. One might expect more physical creativity and similar mental creativity, however these results cannot be guaranteed. Does physical creativity translate into mental creativity? How about the other way around?The list that I have presented is not complete, and I expect that many more possibilities for theoretical research could be found. For instance Solso (2001, p. 479) mentions a test of general intelligence involving a subject group learning to play the game “Tetris”. In this case the Glucose Metabolic Rates (GMR) were compared both before and after a period of training. It was discovered that even though they had improved “sevenfold”, the GMR actually decreased significantly. One may ask after reading this study what would we would discover by testing the GMR of different skill levels of martial artists. General research into human intelligence is also possible. Solso (2001, 469) notes that human intelligence includes at least the following abilities: to classify patterns, to reason deductively, to modify behavior adaptively, to reason deductively, to reason inductively – to generalize, to develop and use conceptual models, to understand. The martial artist utilizes each of these abilities in his or her training. From the ability to classify patterns (Kata) to the ability to modify behavior adaptively (free response drills) each of them are used to some extent and, generally, in a unique fashion. Research into the psychological aspects of Martial Arts is becoming more popular, though at this point the literature seems to be focusing on the application of Martial Arts to therapy and various social and historical aspects. Literature has noted the similarities of studying Martial Arts to psychotherapy and has suggested that both therapist and client can utilize Martial Arts for a more productive relationship. For these reasons I have proposed that Martial Arts can be the subject of pure research as well, focusing on the topic of Cognitive Psychology. I have shown possible links between prototype formation and “essence” of a given martial art, and the relation of human intelligence to the Martial Arts. Pattern matching, problem solving, perception, and consciousness were also covered with the hope that the reader will understand some possibilities of research into cognitive aspects of Martial Arts, with the potential of discovering their own paths of research as well.