Month: December 2011

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Community broadband: addressing the notspots

Although some areas of the country have an excellent ICT infrastructure, in others the technology is years behind – which might as well be decades in such an important and fast-moving area. Next generation access might be an aspiration for the government, but it is far from the reality across the country. Some rural areas have little or no broadband access, or rely on antiquated copper cables capable of carrying only a fraction of the information required for the high-bandwidth use of a modern business, for example. community broadband is one way that groups of people have been able to address this disparity, sometimes referred to as the ‘digital divide’.

The regions where the ICT infrastructure is patchy are often called ‘notspots’ – the opposite of the ‘hotspots’ that enjoy a concentration of wifi networks or broadband coverage. If you live in one of these then you are likely to struggle to get online. Although there are some solutions, these can be expensive. Plus, some notspots are black areas for mobile networks as well as broadband. This means that connecting via a smartphone is a non-starter, too.

That can be a real difficulty. Whereas just fifteen years ago internet access was considered unusual, or at least a luxury, now most people could not do without it – not without major changes to their lifestyles and business practices. We rely on email for fast, easy communication. We access information about goods and services on the web. Work often heavily depends on it. Businesses trade online, orders are placed and bills paid. Broadband access is a utility, like electricity or water. Not having it is a serious disadvantage and represents a form of inequality.

community broadband involves getting together with a group of other people in the same situation as you and procuring the next generation access that much of the rest of the country enjoys without thinking about it. The group may be a collection of local residents, who require better internet access. Or it could be a cluster of businesses on the same site, who know that their bottom lines would receive a real boost from a 21st century ICT infrastructure. There are companies who can take account of these needs and address them by installing the architecture needed to bring you up to speed. These initiatives may be subsidised or organised by the government, who recognise the importance of country-wide coverage.

Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/

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A kickboxing club can teach you more than just fighting

Kickboxing is a kind of hybrid martial art. It was founded relatively recently, as these things go. Whereas lots of martial arts have centuries-long traditions attached to them, the kind of kickboxing London classes display has only been around for the last few decades, since the Second World War. It was formalised by some of the soldiers who had been stationed overseas in the Far East and had seen the excellent techniques used by the men they met there. They learned and exported back the punching, kicking and blocking and turned it into a simplified discipline suitable for teaching in a Western class.

This isn’t to say that older martial arts don’t have a lot to offer. However, kickboxing has been intentionally designed to be pretty simple and useful for certain situations. Many of the Eastern styles, such as tang soo dau or the different types of kung fu, have long patterns of movements, plus techniques with historic but very specific applications. Some are derived from the kind of place they grew up in (such as rural farming communities), and are of interest and are part of that style when taken comprehensively but are not directly needed today.
Kickboxing has stripped out much of this material, keeping the basics of punches, kicks, blocks and footwork. In that respect, the ‘syllabus’ is quite brief, meaning that you can learn it fairly quickly, then moving on to becoming proficient in these moves, putting them together in combinations, and in sparring, or fighting under controlled conditions (with pads, and to strict rules).

For this reason, kickboxing is excellent for self-defence, as well as all-round fitness – strength, speed, stamina and flexibility. You would rarely find these things in the same discipline, making it fantastic cross-training. With the awareness and self-defence techniques comes improved confidence and eased stress, something valuable in today’s high-pressure work environment.

So, kickboxing offers much besides learning to hit and kick. A kickboxing club is a great place to get fit, socialise (you will meet lots of like-minded people), work out some stress, and gain some confidence. Once you have learned the basics, there will be opportunity for sparring, but that’s always up to you – there’s generally no pressure on you to go beyond your comfort zone. At least, not too far: a good instructor will push you to achieve your best without going too far!

Please visit http://www.zendokickboxing.com/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.zendokickboxing.com/

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