Pek Pongpaet

Teaching anything to little kids is always a challenge. When I say little, I’m talking about 4-6 year olds. They have really short attention spans and usually lots of energy. It’s hard to get them to do anything for any length of time. My approach for the really little kids was to just keep them busy for the one hour that I have them. This included running around, pad kicking, or obstacle course running. Basically anything to keep them moving. With a 4 year old, you can’t tell them to do a move 30 times and come back later in 5 minutes. In 5 minutes, that kid will be off in a corner climbing on something or worse.

Just recently, I’ve come across a good way to teach little kids to do stances while still keeping their attention and not losing them. I was especially proud because I managed to get this little one Grace to essentially do stances for most of the class. This little ball of energy was wiped out by the end of class much to the gratitude of her mom. I don’t even know how she deals with her little Tasmanian devil the rest of the time, but that’s another story.

Stances, a necessary component in martial arts training which builds strength and foundation, is not known to be the most exciting or fun thing to do. Getting adults to do them is one thing. They realize the benefit and value and so will put up with the arduous task. Tackling kids is a different beast altogether. The trick is to turn it into a game.

Here’s the game I came up with. I put focus mitts on and had the kids stand feet shoulder with apart. The idea is that I throw a punch (slow and softly of course) at them, and they have to dodge it. However, they can only dodge it by going down into a horse stance. They are not allowed to move back or step sideways. The only way is down and into a horse stance. They can’t bend down because then they can’t see when the next punch is coming. Mix up your throws and your little student has to be on their toes in order to avoid the focus mitts.

I did the same for drop stances (aka dragon stances). They can only dodge left and right switching from left drop stance to right drop stance. Good form is emphasized and drilled into the exercise. I also got them to do single leg stances by applying the same game. I had them stand either left foot forward or right foot forward and swiped at their front leg. They had to move their forward leg up as to not get hit by the focus mitt.

So getting little kids to do stances shouldn’t be a chore. If one can make it entertaining and require attentiveness, kids will take to it. Any thoughts or suggestions for other “games” would be appreciated.

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I’d like to announce that I am no longer in the employ of Accenture Technology Labs. After more than four and a half years, I’ve finally decided to make a career move back into the consulting world. I am now gainfully employed at Roundarch, a consulting company founded by Deloitte, which unites creative, marketing, and technical development services into one really awesome company. I was hired in as a Lead Interactive Developer and my chief duties will be lead Flex UI designer and technical architect.

Part of my decision to move was that my friends Dave Meeker and Rhazes Spell were at Roundarch and kept telling me what a cool place it was. Both of my colleagues are very talented and have worked on some really cool stuff. Dave has been working on a very exciting project called Merapi, which is an Adobe Flex/AIR to Java bridge which will allow Adobe AIR developers to be able to access even more of the desktop such as USB ports and what not. The day the site was launched, 300 developers signed up for the early beta.

Roundarch has some pretty impressive people. Once such person that stands out is Marko Hurst. Not only is his work life very distinguished – he was one of the original designers of the Microsoft Surface project, but he’s also a hardcore MMA & muay thai nut. This immediately makes us automatic friends.

As you can tell, I’m pretty excited to be working here. Look forward to more articles about my experience at Roundarch.

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I’ve been waiting for this forever. Actually I’d rather see the cinematic intro, but short of that – the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2008 is going on right now and Midway Games finally has a new trailer for the new kid on the block – Mortal Kombat vs DC Comics.

Keep an eye out for the Sonya handstand throw at 49 seconds into the trailer. That was yours truly baby.

I have to say, this is probably the one MK game that I’m most excited about. After having seen the game in development, I feel like this is the best one that we’re doing so far. The graphics are by far the best that I’ve seen. This of course is due to the fact that it’s going to be one the new platforms Xbox360 and PS3. Sadly I have neither.

For more of my articles related to Mortal Kombat click here.

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It is a period of great uncertainty. For generations, the people of Earth have consumed movies and film. With the Internet generation becoming increasingly ADD, and the demand of instant gratification increases, the old brick and mortar video rentals have become increasingly irrelevant. Several factions have risen and are fighting to gain control of the future of video rentals. With so many alternatives, the people must be forced to choose alliances which may have unforeseen repercussions …

OK, I think I’ll stop with the Star Wars reference lest you think I’m some hardcore Star Wars uber geek nerd (which I am). This post was my thoughts on the CNET article about why Blockbuster should give up. I agree with the writer and also think Blockbuster will go the way of the dinosaur unless it makes some serious strategy changes. Aside from the fact that I don’t even go to Blockbuster anymore due to Redbox, I think it’s being left in the dust by some serious players who know exactly where the market is headed.

Although the author seems to focus on Netflix as Blockbuster’s Grim Reaper with its innovations and partnerships, it’s not just Netflix. It’s the whole industry. No one wants to actually leave the house, pick up a movie, watch it and then have to return it. Netflix has proven that with its business model and has certainly done its share of damage to Blockbuster’s stock. Many believe the battle of video rentals will be won not in the store, or on the PC, but rather the set top box. People don’t want to leave the house or watch their movies on their 17″ widescreen laptops, they want to see them on their 42″ LCDs.

The Factions

Netflix and Microsoft Alliance (and Roku too)

Netflix is not taking prisoners. Its first foray into the set top box world via the Roku has proven that people are definitely clamoring for such a solution. If that wasn’t enough, Netflix has partnered with Microsoft to provide their streaming movie service through the Xbox 360. This is a great foot in the door since it doesn’t require yet ANOTHER set top box device in the living room. It’s definitely made me think twice about reinstating my Netflix service and purchasing an Xbox 360even though I don’t watch that many movies or even play games anymore.

Apple

Apple’s success with the iTunes store has made their Apple TV set top box a natural evolution of their product offerings. The fact that it’s integrated to the iTunes store and all your mac content makes it a no brainer for mac aficionados.

Sony

Not to be outdone by Microsoft, Sony has just recently added movie and TV show rentals and purchases to their PlayStation 3 game console. Although PS3 market penetration in the US is questionable at best, the fact that they won the HD wars may prove useful for someone looking for an all-in-one set top box that will allow you to play games, watch BluRay movies, and rent movies on demand.

It will be interesting to see how the video wars will play out seeing as it has already spilled into the console wars. What are your thoughts?

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When you’re engaged in a sport or a fitness activity for a long period of time, it is very easy to get demotivated. This is especially true if you’ve hit a plateau and feel like you’re not making any progress. I’ve been doing wushu for almost 10 years now, and I’ve gone through many periods where I know I definitely lost the fire that usually have. People who engage in other sports or fitness activities ask how I get over this so I thought I’d share.

1. Train with people who are better than you.

   This is a really good motivator because it gets your competitive instinct going. It forces you to step your game up so that you don’t lose face. When I was in China training with kids on the professional wushu teams, not only was I awestruck by their level, but I also wanted to show them that this “lazy Westerner” can hang with the best of them. Of course my skill level could not compare to theirs, but just by being surrounded by great athletes made me want it that much more. There is a converse of this: don’t train with sucky people or people who always grumble or whine. This just gets you down. People who are always complaining of their injury or make excuses are also demotivators.

2. Don’t make it a choice.

   During the peak of my training, I used to practice 7 days a week, 3 hours a day. I kept that pretty consistently for a good year. How does one mentally make that decision to do that? You don’t. If you get home from your 8 hours of work, sit down on your couch and ask yourself whether you should or should not go to train, I bet you probably won’t get off your butt for a significant portion of time. You can’t think about it. You just go. You have to think of it as something you do, much like eating breakfast or brushing your teeth. It just becomes another regular thing you do in the day.

3. Hear the naysayers.

   Whenever you engage in any activity, just as there will always be people who support you, there will surely be people who put you down. These people for whatever reason find it easier to try to take someone down rather than pulling themselves up. They’ll tell you that you can’t do it or that it’s not worth it or that you’ll never amount to anything. I say hear them, but don’t listen to them. For me, hearing this kind of stuff just makes me want to work that much harder to make them eat their words or prove them wrong. However, don’t listen to these people and don’t let their words sink in and actually discourage you from doing what you love and are passionate about.

4. Study it.

   In order to get better at your sport or training, practice alone is not enough. As part of your training, you should be studying it. When I was a hardcore wushu nut, I probably watched as much video footage of professional wushu athletes as much as I trained. I found this to be really motivating. Not only that, but by studying it, you will get a deeper understanding of your sport allowing you to get you through your plateau. With the advent of Youtube, you don’t even need to go far to find footage of whatever it is you train in.

5. Change your surroundings.

   This advice applies especially to bikers and runners. If you jog or ride the same trail or path over and over and over, of course you are going to get bored out of your mind that you could probably do it on autopilot. The same goes when you train in the same wushu hall. Changing your surrounds usually implies a change of people around you as well. Different people may be able to offer different advice and perspective on your training.

6. Try complimentary skills and activities.

   If you get bored with your training, you may be able to find a different sport or exercise that still works you out in a similar way. Or you might find another training regimen that augments the skills or requisite strength that you need to build for your sport. When I first got back from training in China where I trained twice a day everyday, I was very burnt out. I found that gymnastics offered me exercises to build body ability, body awareness and flexibility much like my wushu training. Even taking that once a week in the middle of the week, added enough variety to get me through my demotivated times. The gymnastics also came in handy as it helped me add some “flash” and “flare” to my routines as well as proving extremely useful for when I did my motion capture roles for the Mortal Kombat video games.

7. Train under pressure.

   If you train without a clear and specific goal in mind, it’s really easy to lose your enthusiasm after a long period of time. By signing up for a race or a competition, you force yourself to commit to a certain level of performance, but this time, you put yourself out there. I for one will not compete unless I know I will do my absolute best. Putting your reputation on the line is one heck of a motivator.

I hope this post has motivated you to get back into whatever you were into. Also, I would very much appreciate what other tips other people have in staying motivated.

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