Exploring Art Museums With Children

There are many things that children are interested in when they are young, but art may not be one of them. They may love to make their own art, but they may not know how to appreciate the art that others have produced. That is why many don’t think to take their children to art museums, but that can be a mistake. There is a lot that children can take away from such a visit, and many different types of museums that they will love. You may find just what you need very close to home, or you can travel as a family to find something truly amazing.

My daughter likes art museums, and this is something that she first got when we took her to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. This is not your typical ‘paintings on the wall’ type of art museum, but rather, art made with glass almost exclusively. You would be surprised to see what can be done with glass. There are modern pieces, and there are some that date back centuries. Because there was a lot of interactive things to do, and many colorful exhibits, she was right into the experience and wants to visit more art museums.

No matter what type of art museums you choose, you can make sure that your children come away with something by engaging them at their level. Ask them what they think a painting is or what it means, and ask them to tell you what their favorite thing about each artwork might be. You can find art museums that are geared towards children, and they are always a good choice, but kids can enjoy all types of art when they are included in the process of choosing and viewing the art in question.

When your child comes home telling you that they are going to art museums for field trips, do all you can to act excited, and ask them a lot of questions when they get back. Art is essential for learning skills, and the more they love art the better they are going to do in school. When the children sense your excitement over art museums, they are going to take on some of that energy and enthusiasm into themselves. They may even decide to give some types of art a try, and that may lead them to discovering a talent or a hobby that will stay with them for life.

Martial Arts Pressure Points

There is no area of the fighting arts that is more misunderstood or mythologized than martial arts pressure points. There are many people who claim that they know a certain kind of death touch. These martial arts masters believe that they can cause someone to die simply by tapping a point lightly. Often they believe that this point will disrupt the flow of chi or ki, causing the opponent to quickly die or to slowly suffer and linger on for days.

In reality, there is nothing that mysterious about pressure points in martial arts. Some debates still continue about what precisely can be done with martial arts pressure points, but almost every agrees that they exist. There are, of course, submission points that can be used to fight with someone. For example, you can grab someone's knuckle and twist it just right so that, without breaking it, you still have completely neutralized them. They will be in too much pain to move. Martial arts pressure points are a little bit more tricky than this, however. They are spots in the body – usually connected to nerve plexuses, arteries and veins – which can disrupt blood flow or nerve signals, or cause enough pain to disable an opponent.

There are some so-called pressure point martial arts that almost completely revolve around these points. The people who practice these arts train at striking them precisely so that they can hit their opponent hard in just the right place. Martial arts pressure points are nothing to mess around with. Someone who doesn't know what they're doing can seriously injure or even kill an opponent by striking too hard or incorrectly. The purpose of the martial arts pressure point is not to kill or even wound, but to disable without injuring. You need to know what you're doing to be able to achieve this effect.

Whether or not death touch martial arts pressure points exist is subject to considerable debate. The problem is that you can't very well publicly demonstrate your ability to kill someone with a single touch. Some of the demonstrations come pretty close, however. I have seen several videos with martial arts masters striking an opponent and causing him to fall to the ground almost instantly with what looks like a very light touch. At the very least, it was impressive and a little bit scary. I certainly wouldn't want to go up against someone who knew how to do that!