Statement of Purpose #3

Fourth quarter has already started with only more than two months left and it is almost summer. Every year it seems like the year is just passing by quickly. For the first semester, using writers block must been easy for everyone to write up 300 words. I was getting use to it but now we have to write up to 500 words for blogs every week. Over the third quarter I was able to extend my writing because i feel forced to write 500 words to get a grade. My grammar and vocabulary is still the same. Since, we are doing lit circle reading it helped me a little to write more from our letter groups.
For my blog topics ill probably still continue what I am writing like things that interests me and what I do in life. In the past couple of weeks I been running out of ideas to blog about so I try to remember what I did in my past life or write about something I am planning to do in the future. I try to think about a topic to blog about and be done with it so I don't have to worry about it until next week. But when I do my blog I always end up posting my blog at the last minute. Every Friday I would probably start doing my blog at like nine o'clock. I don't post my blog often before Friday and it is probably because I am lazy and tired. School is stressful sometimes with all the homework I have to do and it would take about two hours to finish it. Sometimes it would take me about four and a half hour to finish my homework when I fall a sleep for like two hours. For writing I need to proof read my blogs which I haven't been doing lately and expand my vocabulary.
For next years goal I just want to keep my grade higher than a C. Third quarter I been doing good maintaining four A's but two C's. For the rest of fourth quarter be higher than a C and for the same thing for my junior year. Ill will be taking Spanish 3 which probably be a little hard for me because I didn't really learn much this year in Spanish 2. I am still in the process of learning some as we go but not all. Algebra 2 ill be taking for math and I don't think I would have a problem with math as long as I am paying attention. US History would probably be boring but some of the topics are interesting. Physiology I will be taking for science and it seems fun to learn about the human body and how the body system functions each part. I hope i get in because Mr. Wilson is teaching it and a lot of people would probably sign up for that class. English 3 might be hard because we won't be working with writer's block and be dealing with a lot of essays and vocabulary workbooks. My last class I will be taking is current life and ethnic studies.

Monthly Review

8. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.

The character that interests me the most in my book, Maximum Ride is Max. Max is a fourteen year old girl who is intelligent, strong, and caring. Max is the oldest in her family of six. She lives with Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. They call themselves the flocks. They were being experimented when they were born and they turned into mutants with wings. The flocks had escaped from the scientists lab with one of the scientist Jeb. He brought them to the hills where there is a house for them to live in. He raised them as his own kids and taught them how to fly, learn how to behave, and defend themselves when they being attacked. The flocks loved Jeb especially Max, but four years later he disappeared. Max has to take care of her family and make sure they are safe. He would do anything to make sure they aren't in danger. When they escaped the lab erasers were after them which are half human and half wolf mutants. They have to be aware that the erasers will come and it's been four years they haven't hunt them down yet. Later, some erasers found them and the flocks were ambushed. The flocks tried to battle them off but there were too many of them. Max tries to fight for her life to keep the flocks safe, but the erasers took Angel, the youngest in the family. Max blames herself because she was responsible for her family. Max makes a plan to rescue Angel with the flocks. They went off flying towards the scientist lab held in a school. As they were flying Max sees a girl in trouble and she knows that she needs to save Angel before the scientist will start experimenting on her again. Max decides to make the others wait for while she goes to save the girl. When max is down there she beats up the guys and she got shot by one of them. Max was brave enough to protect this girl. The girl, Ella, thanks Max for saving her and Ella wanted Max to come over to her house so Her mom can help her with her wounded shot. After Max feels better she continues with the flocks on their mission to save Angel from the horrible scientists trying to collect DNA from Angel to make more experiments.

2. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)

The audience for this kind of book should be a level for twelve or thirteen years old and up. This book has action and adventure. The kind of book people who like to read books that similar to this one and should start reading Maximum Ride. Some people don't like to read like me and it could be boring. In my opinion, reading can be fun when you are into the book or you want to read the topics that interest your. I would say this book is a good starter for people who enjoy reading and should continue the series. As you read more and more about the story you just want to continue to see what will happen next. This would help younger kids read better with at the images that pop up into their heads while they read. They have good imagination and it would help them understand what's going on in the book. The book involves a lot of flying parts and some fighting scenes. There is actually a lot of fighting scene with the erasers after the flocks. In some parts of the book takes a while to get to the point like when Max got shot and she went Ella's house to get help from her mom. It took about 23 chapters (the chapters are short)until she started to continue her mission. There was another one were it took the flocks about two chapters from California to New York. I find that weird and interesting when the author wrote it that way. If you a friend who likes to read these kind of books tell him or her to read Maximum Ride. I would recommend this book and feel free to check it out.

9. Why did you choose this book? What do you think about this book?

Why did I choose this book Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment? When we were assign to pick a book and reading partners who are Bobby, Brandon, and me. We went to the library to pick out a book. I was browsing around for books until Bobby suggests we should read the book Maximum Ride because he said it was a good book. I went to go take a look at the book and read the summary. I thought it was an interesting book to read and it's good to try out new variety book. Since I am not a reading kind of person it would be good for me to try out this book. When I first started to read this book the beginning caught my attention with some intense action while adding images in my mind. When I was reading, I found out that Maximum Ride is a girl and I thought it was a boy. It was interesting when I read the part where Max and Jeb were talking. Max could choose any name for herself. I was wondering why her name was Maximum and that was when I did not know she was a girl in the beginning of the book. Throughout the book it's awesome the character has some cool powers with their mutation especially Angel. They can all fly and they have like triple the size of a normal human's stomach so they could eat a lot. I would like to have wings to fly where ever I want to go and a huge stomach to feast off of delicious food. Angel is a tough six year old girl. She can read people's minds and talk to them. Later in the book, she discovered a new ability that she could breath underwater when the flocks went to the beach. Since, I have finish reading my book I think this was a good book.

Last Letter of Maximum Ride

Now I reached the ending of the my book. So far Max and the flocks are in New York City to find the Institute. They were wondering in the city and they found a toy store that they had never been to in their lives. Angel found a teddy bear that she wanted. Angel asked Max if she could get the bear, but Max said no because it was too expensive. Angel went up to a random lady and told her to buy the bear for her in her mind and she did. They head over to a restaurant to get some food. The waiter guy takes their order but he starts to be rude because the flocks were ordering a lot of food. He thought they wouldn't be able to pay for all of it but Max was able to pay for all of it. He calls the cops. When the cops arrived two of them were erasers and the flocks tried to escape. Angel drops her teddy bear and she wanted it back badly but she couldn't. They went to set for camp to spend the night.
The next morning they went to the beach to play and Angel wanted to swim. Angel finds out that she could breath under water when she was swallowed the sea water. Later, Ari comes tracking them down at the beach. Ari was holding Angel's bear and she tried to get it back from him. The flocks and the erasers started to fight. Max and Ari were fighting and they go threw a tunnel while Max was chasing after Ari. They went up in the sky fighting and as they were going down Max was holding onto his head. When they went down she heard Ari's neck snapped on the tunnel. She didn't think she could of killed him and she killed Jeb's son. They just went flying to get far away from them. Later they found the Institute where there was information about them. They looked up their name and found information about who their parents were. They were so happy but there was no information for Max and Iggy.

What Do You Want To Do B4 You Die?

What do you want to do before you die? Some of you guys might be familiar with the TV series The Buried Life. These four guys who been friends for a long time made a list with 100 things they want to do before they die. In their show they try to achieve one of their goals from their list and they also help a random person on the street to accomplish what they want to do before they die. They travel in their purple bus around countries and states. They have one question, four guys, and 100 things to do before you die.
On my number one list I want to do before I die is to stay at a ski resort and snowboard for at least one month or the whole winter season with my sister. She would love to do this with me. It would be fun to do this in the future only if we had a lot of money. I would enjoy that moment of my life to stay there for that long at a ski resort. Even though I have gone a few times and now at least once a year. It would be a good work out for our legs snowboarding everyday and even try snowboarding at night to make it more intense. Hopefully I don't hurt especially breaking any of my bones in the cold which I have never broken any before.
My sister said you could rent a cabin that looks like a regular house for about four days that cost around 450 dollars. Last time she had done it for 250 dollars staying for two or three days. She and her friends got a good deal because one of her friend’s dads owns the house. It would be awesome to rent one of those cabins and there is a maid to clean up when you’re gone. I have a lot of time to practice snowboarding and try to learn how to snowboard on my toes. We could go explore around the area and play in the soft snow that would be nice. I would try to go down one of the advance trail to see how it is like. I am only an intermediate. I want to get better at snowboarding and practicing getting off the lift ski because I start to lose balance. Only a few times I get off without falling. I need to work on my steering and when I turn I slow down a lot, work on my speed, and try some tricks starting off with a jump.
In the snow I'd like to ride on a snow mobile through the forest with my family. I think it is about 90 dollars to rent a snow mobile for the whole day, that's not bad. If the buried life guys came up to me and ask what do I want to do before I die I would tell them about my snowboarding trip for a month or more. I wonder if they would actually do it for me and in their show when they ask someone they join them. Will they join me? That is what I want to do before I die.

Maximum Ride part 2

So far in the second part of the book, Max had left Ella's house and found out she had a chip in her body. She went to go meet up with Fang and Nudge in Arizona. By the time she arrive there the Gasman and Iggy was with Fang and Nudge. The Gasman and Iggy was supposed to stay at the house but the Erasers came. They try to fight them off but they could not defeat them all and they flew over to Fang and Nudge. The five of them went to continue their mission to save Angel at the school where the scientist are keeping her. As they were heading over to Angel, the five of them had to take a break and they stole some guys credit card. Max tried to hack the ATM to gain access for money and she typed in the four digit code. It did not work so Iggy tried to guess the code and he access into the ATM. Max deposit $200.
They all went to the forest to spend the night. They woke up and headed to the school to save Angel. When they got to the school they busted out Angel and flew high up into the sky so the Erasers can not track them down. They went to the hill side to rest and Angel looking a mess. Angel knew some information about the Institute that she over heard the scientist talking. There was information files about them that was located somewhere in New York. They wanted to know where this Institute was and they flew to New York. When they arrive there they saw a night concert and Nudge wanted to go. New York was a busy city and if an Eraser spots them they could lose them easily. They went to the library to use the computers to find out where the Institute was located. Max could tell that there weren't a lot of people who were disguise as Erasers.

Karate

The World of Martial Arts Karate is my recent book I have read by Jim Ollhoff. A term for all fighting styles is called Martial Arts. There many different fighting styles for Martial Arts and the most popular one is karate. Karate means "empty hand". People who practice karate for a long time over the years are known as karatekas. Karate started about 400 years ago on Okinawa, in the Pacific Ocean of the largest island on Ryukyu chain of islands. The most common styles are shorin-ryu karate, gojo-ryu karate, kenpo karate, and shotokan karate. There is no organization that controls any karate associations. The word that describes karate is power and known for their speed. Karatekas have powerful kicks and punches with their wide stances that help them strike with power. They also practice breaking wooden boards or blocked cements to improve their one-punch knockouts.

The history of karate is hard to know its full story because there many legends about the beginning of karate but few facts. For hundreds of years, karate was to remain a secret because a master taught a few students. They couldn’t practice in public or share any of their techniques they had learned in karate. In the 1800s, the secrecy began to lift at an end, but a lot of the history’s knowledge was lost. In 1904,the secrecy lifted completely, when karate was open to the public schools being taught in Okinawa’s. Legends had sprung up about the lack of knowledge and the origins of karate because sometimes it is difficult to know which legends are right or wrong.

The most often-told legend for karate in Okinawa was the Japanese invading Okinawa in 1609. The legend says that the Japanese forbade anyone who owns a weapon and whoever gets caught was punished. The Okinawans had to learn how to defend themselves with their bare hands and feet. The Okinawan farmers had no weapons; they had to use their farming tools to defend themselves like a seed planter called the sai. The Okinawans already had a primitive martial art called te which means hand. The Okinawan te masters and Chinese kung fu maters combined their skills making a new martial arts called kara-te.

The idea of peace-loving Okinawans learning how to use farming tools has a weapon. The Okinawans were not the first people to invent these kinds of weapons and the Chinese also had been using these types of weapons for hundreds of years. By the late 1800s, karate has become an effective well developed way of fighting styles. During and after the World War II, many U.S. servicemen lived and worked in Okinawan. The servicemen also learned karate while they were there. 1946, in the United States, the first karate school was opened in Phoenix, Arizona, by Robert Trias. By the 1960s, the U.S. karate tournaments became popular even in movies.

All different types of martial arts are being taught all around the world. I never knew karate means empty hand and I wonder what it means. Karate came from the Okinawan te masters and the Chinese kung fu masters who blended their skills together making a new kind of martial arts. I was surprised to the legends about Japanese were forbidden to own any weapons and could not own a sword. They would get punished if they were seen with a weapon. The Okinawans had to defend themselves with karate and back then they must be lucky to learn karate. It was probably difficult to learn all these new different skills for a while but it takes practice to succeed over the years.

It is interesting that there is not an organization for these karate schools and I did not know that any high black belt degree can open their own school or a small class to teach people. I take martial arts and I have notice that my uncle opened his own small class in his garage. All martial arts involve power and good stances. Almost all of the martial arts are similar or have similar techniques to each other.

Maximum Ride

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a great fictional novel book by James Patterson. This book is about six main characters Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel who were involved in an experiment. The scientist were doing an experiment that turned them into mutants with wings. All six of them escaped from the scientist lab and other mutants called erasers which are half human half wolf went to hunt them down. The erasers ambushed their house and they have taken Angel. The five of the characters are trying to rescue her.

When I started reading this book, it felt intense and I can imagine what's going in the story. In the beginning of the book, the author starts with first person as Max and I liked it when he describes the details where shes going and what's hitting her. I was into the book but when it said,"I jolted upright in bed, gasping, my hand over my heart." (pg8) That line kind of ruined it because I wanted to know what was going to happen but it was a dream. Another part of the book that surprised and worried me was when Max was shot by the person trying to attack Ella. Max went over to Ella's house to get help from her mom who is a vet, Dr. Martinez. When Dr. Martinez was patching up her wound Dr. Martinez saw her wings and started asking some questions. I thought Max was going to get in trouble but good thing Dr. Martinez didn't call the cops or something. She decides to help her out.

You guys know how many sequels there are for this book? Because I would like to read more about Maximum Ride. I am excited to know what will happen in the next two thirds of the book.

Vovinam Tournament 2009

Vovinam is a type of Vietnamese Martial Arts that I have taken for a few years. July 2009, I competed in the 9th World Championship Tournament in San Jose against LA, Oakland, San Jose, 4 people from Hayward including me and I think that's about it. I don't remember. I was competing with a Vietnamese form and a sparing match.

In the morning I went to my Uncle's house and left with his family to the tournament. We were maybe about an hour late because of traffic and the schedule said it starts at 10 o'clock but it was 9 o'clock but we didn't miss any of our performances. We only missed the first part of the partner performance where they have a mini fighting skit (one of the performance here).I like watching those skits but to bad I wasn't there in person to see it and I had to watch it on you tube. We we came it was already break time and I had some food. After, Vicky (teacher assistant) and I practice outside with some attacking combos when I compete.

Break time was over and it's was time for Vietnamese form performances. There were two performances going on at the same time, one side with the older kids and the other with the younger kids. I'm not sure how many forms there are but people were performing their third form and up. I was supposed to perform my second form but I couldn't perform it because it was yesterday. The day before the tournament is a seminar I think, and my teacher said I didn't need to go. On that day was my second form performance and I didn't know. My teacher knows the judge well and he told them if I could perform the next day and the judge was okay with it. He said that Vicky will remind them. She remembered to tell the judge if I get perform but they didn't let me and there was no re-takes.

The sparing match was about to begin. The high ranked teachers (also judges) started to weight everyone who were competing and this match is a free fight tournament. The judges announced the order of the fighters and I was last. The rules were no using knees, elbows, and no kicking below the belt line. I was observing some of the sparing matches and I did not see any people using techniques. Most were just kicking and punching continuously and jumping on each other. I know it's a free fight but they should do some techniques. Later, it was my turn and I was nervous because my opponent looked about a year or two older than me and some people said he was good and really strong. I put on my sparing gear and step into the ring. Round 1 started and I get hit within the first 5 seconds and I started punching him in the face. It looked like I pissed him off and he started to corner me while punching me. I tried to dodge some of them but it was a bad idea because I have some open spots for him to get me and when he cornered me he got me down. The ref stopped the match and brought us to the middle to start again. As he came closer I did a spinning back heel to him and pushed him a few feet back and that gave me a chance to combo him. I came up to him and did a upper cut, double punch, and a front snap kick but he dodged it. He some how cornered me again while he was walking up to me and punching. I started punching got some good hits but I fell on the crowed of people. The ref stopped it again and put us in the middle of the mat. The judges ringed the gong and I end up losing.When the tournament was over everyone lined up and sat down for medals. I heard my name for third place and I was surprised that I got a bronze. I'm not sure not how the judging goes but I think I got more points from other players. I was happy that I got a bronze and I would have probably gotten a silver medal if I done my form.