The next item of business is topical questions. If a member wishes to seek a supplementary, they should press the request-to-speak button during the relevant question, by entering the letters RTS in the chat function, if online. I think that questions and answers are always looked for to get as many members in as possible. At question number one, I call Daniel Johnson. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the public sector workforce reductions that is predicted by the finance secretary on Sunday. The UK Government's autumn statement is one of austerity for public services. The Chancellor chose to ignore much-needed funding for public services in his budget, other than the £10.8 million of consequentials for health. We have had two years of high inflation and because of that, public sector paydeals have exceeded our planned expenditure. We welcome the recent report from Audit Scotland on the Scottish Government's workforce challenges and recognise the challenge that it has set out. Growth in the public sector workforce is due to a range of factors and we are committed to providing high-quality public services. However, our financial position necessitates that we need to look at reforms in the way that public bodies deliver services. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance will set out a further update in the draft Scottish budget 2024-25. The Deputy First Minister's comments in the media over the weekend will cause anxiety and nervousness for public servants across Scotland just as winter costs start to bite. They deserve clarity and candour from this Government. What level of detail are the Scottish Government's plans to reduce headcount? Will they be laid before Parliament in detail? What areas of focus are there going to be for those reductions, given that the NHS headcount will be protected? Finally, will the minister guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies and agree to meet trade unions as called for by the GMB? We are in this situation because of a range of factors. Clearly, the impact of inflation has been significant but we are also here because of the decisions taken by the UK Government. As the Deputy First Minister has already stated, we are committed to protecting health and we want to avoid compulsory redundancies. Of course, we are committed to engaging constructively with all other partners across the public sector to achieve those aims and ambitions. With regard to a further update, as I said in my original answer, the Deputy First Minister will provide more information as part of the Scottish budget process. In his answers, the minister's phrase, a range of factors is doing a huge amount of work. The reality is that this announcement brings into real question the Government's competence and lack of workforce planning. As the minister knows, since 2019, a civil service headcount in Devolve-deyrs has increased by almost 40 per cent, an increase of over 7,000. That is at a time when NHS headcount grew just by 11 per cent. A Scottish Government core headcount increased by 2,000. That is a third. Throughout Covid, the Government was adamant that Covid money was only being used on non-recurring items, but is that the case? Given the coincidence, was that money being used to grow headcount numbers? More importantly, is it not grossly incompetent, if not outright cruel, to create positions only to have to remove them just months later? What I would say is incompetent is the UK Government's handling of the UK economy, and what I would say is cruel is the budget decisions that they have taken. The reality is that with regard to the spending of public money during the Covid pandemic, as with every aspect of public finances, those are set out in a transparent process through the annual budget process and, of course, in the audited accounts that are published. I recognise that we are in a exceptionally challenging set of circumstances, but it is not unique to Scotland. Indeed, our colleagues in Wales are wrestling with very similar challenges, which is a reflection, yes, of broader macroeconomic factors, but also of the decisions of the UK Government. The minister is well aware that the finance committee has spent a great deal of its time on the question of public sector reform and questioning how that can happen. What principles does he believe should underpin that public sector reform? It is a very important question and we have committed to a 10-year programme of public service reform, but underpinning that, of course, is a desire to ensure that we are delivering it more efficient person-centred services and, of course, that we put prevention at the heart of it. I think that we recognise that that is a shared ambition and it is one that we are committed to working constructively with partners across the public sector to deliver. That is a woeful set of explanations from the minister. They have been warned for years by the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Audit Scotland about the black hole in the public finances, but they kept on recruiting people into the public services. They should be apologising to the people whose jobs are under threat now, not looking to blame Westminster. I think that we need a proper explanation from the minister when we are going to get it. As I set out in my original answer, there will be further information provided as part of the budget process, but we cannot escape the circumstances that we have found ourselves in over the last two years, which is exceptionally high inflation and is necessitated public sector pay deals that have put additional unanticipated pressure on the public finances. We are now having to contend with a return to the austerity agenda of the UK Government, but it is even an excess of the austerity agenda that was pursued by George Osborne and, indeed, Mr Rennie's party when they were in government, too. Can the minister say anything about the OBR forecasts last week? Could the autumn statement have done more to help Scotland's finances and protect jobs? The member's right to highlight it is a grim set of forecasts, which underline, yes, as I have said before, the significant external factors, but also the mismanagement of the UK economy by the UK Government. We would want to see a public spending settlement that recognises the importance of investment and predicting jobs and supporting public service reform, but that is something that the UK Government has failed to recognise in its spending plans. I can squeeze in a brief supplementary, Stephen Kerr. The minister is giving a very bad impression of someone who has slopey shoulder syndrome, blaming everybody but themselves for the situation that we are in. Does he understand and accept that if the Government does not fully fund the council tax freeze that the First Minister announced without any consultation with anybody, then there will be dire consequences for jobs and services from local government? We have committed to fully funding the council tax freeze. That is why we are engaging constructively with our partners in COSLA, and we are committed, as I say, to delivering that. What is creating particular challenges in the context that we are in currently ahead of setting our own budget next month is the fact that we have had such a paltry, pathetic settlement from the UK Government, which is not commensurate to the challenges that we face. To ask the Scottish Government, further to the finance secretary's letter to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 21 November, whether it will provide an update on the delivery of vessels and pieres projects, including the small vessels replacement programme and the port works at Addrossan and Gwyrwch Harbors. The Government remains committed to the funding of new vessels and port infrastructure to support our lifeline ferry services. The small vessels replacement programme is progressing well and, as Seymal has confirmed, it remains on track with the outline business case for phase 1 nearing completion before it moves into the procurement phase. That is a crucial part of the process, helping to ensure that we deliver value for money and that vessels and shoreside works align. Recent confirmation of in-year budgets does not impact on the overall delivery of key investments in these new ferries for our island communities, as first payments will not be due until contracts are awarded. The business case for Addrossan and Scope of the Gwyrwch port projects are under review to help to perform robust investment decisions. The different partners in the Addrossan project have further work to do in the process, following the pause in procurement related in the summer, as the scope of the necessary work has been extended. I have recently written to the Addrossan task force members on that work. We continue to make significant investments across our networks with working with Seymal and the operators to improve reliability and resilience of services as we progress. There has been extensive work from Seymal in the design and business case development of the small vessel replacement programme over the summer and autumn, including island community consultation. Working with Transport Scotland, the work is progressing well to the next planned stage of procurement. I thank the minister for the update. Let me probe a little bit about what on track means in the real world. The Scottish Government investment plan updates on two years ago made the category commitments that seven vessels of the small vessel replacement scheme would be, I quote, serving island communities within the next five years, i.e. by 2026. The Seymal chief executive responded by saying that we are not prepared to wait and wait and wait and see small vessels getting older and older. Of course, they also confirmed this weekend that, as we have heard in the chamber today, payments will only be made once the shipbuilding contract is signed. It seems like that whole process has been pushed back a year, because if the payment follows the contract, surely the work will only start once the contract has been signed. The obvious question is this. In light of the reprofiling, as it is being called, will our island communities see all of those vessels in service by 2026, as was originally planned, and for the sake of Scotland's shipbuilding yards, including Ferguson, Marine and Inverclyde, who on earth is going to build those ships? I remind members of the need to comply with the time allocated, both on part of the minister, in terms of ministerial reply and in terms of the supplementary question from the member. In relation to Seymal's published corporate plan of 2020-23, that would have indicated an earliest start date, but we all understand why those plans would not have been delivered. In terms of what Seymal is asking for, it wants to have progress, so do I. We are working with Seymal very closely. It is one of the first things that I did in my came-in-to-office was to visit Seymal and to understand what the plans were for the programme. In terms of the delivery of the vessels, clearly we are in the stage that Seymal thought that we would be in, which is the completion of the outline business case and design, and the move into procurement. In relation to the delivery of those vessels, we are delivering the funding for the overall vessel programme that we said we would do between 2021 and 2026. The small vessel replacement programme will commence the building in 2026 with the delivery in those following two years, which is the current plan and which was set out by Seymal. The funding has been promised, but the delivery of the vessels is what people are interested in. When will the vessels be sailing around their communities? It sounds like we are talking at least 2028, and I am sure that that will come as a huge disappointment to our island communities. Of course, the harbour improvements, which are also much needed, include our Drossan and Gwruch upgrades. We were told that the Drossan harbour redevelopment would be finished construction by spring or summer 2026. I quite like an update on whether that is still on track and on-plan. However, all of that contradicts comments made in the letter to the finance committee by Shona Robison that the reprofile will, I quote, push out timescales of future improvements. My next question is this. What future improvements will be pushed out or delayed in other parlants? Are those harbour redevelopment plans also going to be delayed, or are they apparently on track as well? The vessels will be delivered from 2026 as planned. There will be important alignment between overall vessel procurement and shoreside investments, which include harbour side investments, because that includes the fact that we want to move to electric ferries in terms of our desire to improve the system. In relation to a Drossan, there is a lot of detail in the questions that we are asked. He will know, as I have outlined in the chamber, that the improvement works will need to be extended from the original investment proposal, the replacement or strengthening of the wind and pier at Drossan and the Irish berth, which in certain wind conditions ferries used to manoeuvre out of the harbour, has expanded that piece of work, both north of the Ayrshire Council and the Peel Ports. The partners in that process are delivering on-going work to make sure that we have the robust investment decision that we can make in order to have that investment. I thank the minister for being aware of my support for the workforce of Ferguson's and the yard itself, and how vital the small vessel replacement programme is with regard to Ferguson's, particularly with the history of the three hybrid ferries. In addition to what has been said so far, can the minister provide an assurance at the announcement of the programme, while that will happen early in the next financial year, and the minister will be aware of the correspondence sent from local MP Ronny Cymru, Councillor Elizabeth Robertson and myself, to the cabinet secretary for all being economy, fair work and energy. Will she agree to meet with three of us to discuss the small vessel replacement programme? Clearly, Stuart McMillan wants to advocate for his constituents in the Ferguson marine yard, which he continues to do. Clearly, in terms of that yard, it has to focus on winning future work and getting itself into the state that it can win future work. In relation to Ferguson marine, the lead minister is the cabinet secretary Neil Gray, who understands and has been in correspondence with the member. Clearly, our focus in Ferguson marine has to be to secure the two new ferries, make sure that we have the future for the yard and to serve the island communities. There are opportunities quite clearly in relation to procurement of the new small vessel replacements in terms of the needs of islanders and the needs of the local economy that he represents. I understand that relationship. We are considering future vessel contracts from public agencies on a case-by-case basis. I understand that the cabinet secretary for wellbeing, economy, fair work and energy had an invitation to meet with him. I hear that there is an extension to meet with me. I would need to reflect on what stage we are in terms of the purment as to whether that might be appropriate. I am waiting six years for the Scottish Government to agree terms with Peele whilst ministers refuse to agree to the calls to bring the port back into public ownership to make progress. There is now a real concern that the Scottish Government is going to lose out to train permanently. What is the Scottish Government doing to ensure urgent consideration of a business case for the essential works at Ardrossan harbour, and why has this work been left so late? Clearly, the issue of public ownership is a different one, necessarily, to the progress of the different partners in delivering the works that will be required for Ardrossan. In relation to my responsibility, since I have been in post, I have wanted to make sure that we have the most robust business case that we can. For example, North Ayrshire Council has been liaising with the Isle of Arranfair committee and appointed consultants to provide a report. That will not be available until late November, so we could not deliver in terms of that business case as of now. However, that is what partnership working is about. There is more than one partner involved in this, and we have been working with them and also Peele ports. I am looking at the extension of the need for the Winton pier and the Irish berth, which would not have been in the original proposals that she had reflected on. We will now move on to the next item of business after a short pause to allow front-bench teams to change positions, should they wish.


I appreciate the opportunity to be here and apologize for I guess it didn't matter because the last panel ran a little late but we were voting until just a couple of minutes ago and I've got a flight to catch in just a few minutes so forgive me if this speech is a little truncated but I appreciate being here as we were talking in the back Michael Crowe was explaining that I come from the town called Snowflake so I'm a flake from Snowflake Arizona I grew up not knowing that flake was a pejorative term because the town was actually naved after my great-great grandfather William Jordan Flake and Arrasta Snow another person who helped settle that part of Arizona but when I moved out here in 1987 I was in at a reception and it came up in conversation with somebody that my that I came from Snowflake but this fellow didn't know my last name was Flake and it turned out he knew somebody from Snowflake I don't know how it's a pretty small town but that he was trying to think of the name and he struggled for the longest time and finally I thought I'd help him out and narrow it down I said was this guy a flake he said nah he seemed pretty normal to me so but I knew from that point that you know I wasn't safe anywhere and I sought a place where there were I could be comfortable around more flakes and so Congress was about the only option thought but but I appreciate the introduction I'm usually just referred to when you have the other senator McCain from Arizona I'm just usually the other senator from Arizona so I'm resigned to my lot in life but I appreciate the assignment that I was given or loose assignment to to explain how we can make social contracts great again no that wasn't no that's not yet but I haven't asked to to try to mount a conservative case for a new social contract now I know it's rarely smart to disappoint early on but I'm not sure that I can make that case mostly because I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to know exactly what a social contract between an individual and their government is I I know that there is considerable debate and that is a convenient out but at a minimum I think we can all agree that the concept concept aims to describe that relationship between an individual and their government and on that I do have a few thoughts fundamentally I believe that it's a government's role to protect and not inhibit individuals prospects for prosperity now from the agrarian to manufacturing to a silicon economy one constant in our domestic economy has been changed and much attention is being paid now to the transitioning us and global economy and we're moving it seems to digital age 2.0 but while the specifics may vary I don't think this transition alters what we should primarily expect out of government along with basic function there are steps that government can take and should take to make sure that it isn't hindering the success of the individual and by this I'm referring to the economic success of the individual I'm happy to share some of the specifics as reflected in my legislative efforts in the senate now critical to prosperity is the opportunity for employment and employment for the freedom for willing workers to join with willing employers to move up the economic ladder now unfortunately our antiquated immigrant or antiquated immigration system stymies that relationship rather than fostering it when I first arrived in the senate I decided to do something I never thought I'd do I joined a gang the so-called gang of eight I thought I'd left gang life behind after the mean streets of snowflake but but our effort there was to revise and to modernize our immigration system we've got to ensure that the US economy has access to highly skilled foreign talent that it needs now these folks are often trained in US institutions like ASU and but rather than being allowed to stay in the united states they are often forced back overseas to compete with us or against us on the global stage as our economy moves to its next stage the US simply needs to retain the status of being where the best and the brightest want to be of course we've got to do a much better job in our k-12 and our universities to promote stem education I learned recently that Mexico will graduate as many engineers as the united states will this year not in a per capita basis but in raw numbers we can't hope to compete in today's global marketplace with figures like these now I realize that this may conflict conflict with notions that we have of a need to protect the American worker but in the short to medium term we've got to until we can have a sufficient number of homegrown students in the stem fields we need to attract foreign students educate them in our university systems and provide long-term visas for them to stay long enough to be here and to create jobs and it's not just the highly skilled that with which these reforms are critical I've recently introduced legislation that fills the void that currently exists between temporary visa programs for seasonal workers and the h1b programs for highly skilled immigrants and regardless of where they fall on the skill scale I don't agree with the canard that foreigners are always taking us citizens jobs economic activity is not a zero sum game and filling positions with needed talent leads to increased opportunities for everyone I talk about trade for a minute in addition to removing barriers for the flow of talent government needs to work on reducing barriers for trade in the global marketplace the us chamber of commerce reports that more than 95 percent of the world's consumers and 80 percent of the purchasing power live and work outside of our borders in an increasingly global economy we have to think first and foremost of the financial opportunities that free trade opens up for a variety of sectors in the u.s economy and it's not just jobs related to exports in 2013 the us spent more than 450 billion dollars on research and development more than any other country on the planet and those who incessantly worry about the balance of trade with certain countries often fail to consider that a large percentage of our imports simply provide inputs into us manufactured products products that are then often exported do we really think that us companies are going to pour their hard-earned dollars into developing products and technology to sell to the u.s market alone and if they don't where do we think we'll be in the next 20 or 30 years with calls on my side of the political aisle to renegotiate nafta and circle the country with protectionist tariffs i'm trying to wrap my head around having a republican candidate for president that for all intents and purposes is running to the left of the democrat on trade issues it's a brave new world out there and not good for republicans i would argue in my book if we continue to go against free trade now the fact remains that access to global opportunities means very little if your government is burdening you with excess taxes and regulation to the point of smothering any chance of prosperity or being able to compete with your global neighbors now in that line i'm often surprised at what taxpayer dollars are being spent on something i spend quite a bit of time on is trying to curb unnecessary spending last week i put out a report on frivolous nih studies to see if drunk birds slur when they sing or to see what kind of music chimps prefer it's metallica metallica if you really want to know and drunk birds do slur when they sing your tax dollars are paying that kind of thing we're always expanding already far too generous agricultural subsidies subsidies that make it very difficult for us to enter into free trade agreements i might say with our neighbors as well we're spending millions of dollars on things like for dhs funding party buses in the hamptons a lot of this spending you just scratch your head and say why are we doing it but more than anything the ability of our government to provide opportunity for prosperity whether or not it's called a social contract depends on the federal government's ability to get our federal or i'm sorry our fiscal house in order and it's not just under the studies that we talk about and the research that we put in trying to get rid of frivolous spending i realize that's on the margins but when people ask me what really keeps me up at night i say honestly that i worry about waking up one morning and learning that the financial markets have already decided that the united states is no longer a good bet that nobody wants to buy our debt anymore and if they do they want a premium in the form of higher interest rates do you know that every quarter point of an interest rate increase means 50 billion dollars more just in debt service money that we get virtually nothing or nothing from if interest rates return to where they've traditionally been we will soon be using all of our so-called discretionary spending things that we spend for defense or transportation or education or anything that is so-called discretionary just to service the debt according to cbo if we continue on our current trajectory that will come not much longer than a decade from now if we get to that point we will become like japan where it will take decades if not a generation to dig out of that fiscal hole the only way to avoid this fate we can't breeze past 20 trillion dollars in debt while we're still running half trillion dollar deficits and avoid this fate the only way to avoid it is do what they call the grand bargain or the big deal that will involve both entitlement reform and revenue measures we all know the basic contours of such a deal some form of chain CPI coupled with an agreement to continue to raise the age for self-security along with more aggressive means testing for medicare to bring in more revenue we needn't raise tax rates but some popular deductions like we have with home mortgage interest deductions will have to be changed it behooves us to move now while we still have time now to sum up being part of the legislative branch this may sound funny but i still hold to the reagan maxim who's building we're in now that government is rarely the solution to our problems instead i believe in personal freedom and individual liberty and have faith in the capacity for striving individuals to achieve on their own what government can rarely even glimpse given that we find ourselves in the middle of a somewhat unpredictable education season to put it mildly and let me tell you people ask me sometimes what's the best thing about the senate it's a six-year term when you when you're not up every cycle like this one that's uh that's uh been nice to sit back from afar and and watch this one a little bit but we're in the middle of a very unpredictable election season now focusing on the relationship between individuals and governments is more than a thought experiment in this campaign we're grappling with these very real issues right now though i would tend to think that uh greater minds and mine are still confused about where we are or where we'll be i think the best we can hope for is the fact that uh to demand or we ought to demand that government supports rule of law and even playing field and beyond essential functions tries to stay out of the way of individual prosperity i appreciate the invitation to be here today and thank you again for having me


Hi guys, it's Monica. Thank you so much for joining me. I am going to talk to you about dry eye and What I've been doing to make it better and I'm also going to have a giveaway so be sure to watch the entire video and Be sure to like and comment and I would love it love it if you actually shared the video as well So stay tuned So back in I think it was in November Actually, it started the tail end of October, but into November I started to have some really massive changes with my eyes I noticed that my eyes were bloodshot one in particular the right side was always bloodshot And it would get worse and sometimes I would feel like I had sand inside my eye and I It got to the point where Come around Christmas time Everything all my pictures all my videos my eyes that one looked okay one looked awful It was so noticeable and the discomfort was getting worse than one day. I was driving To pick up Jay because he had driven my car to be Dropped off in the shop and it was really early in the morning and I could hardly see I mean I could see but it hurt me to look at the lights from the cars and and because it was really early and it was still you could have the lights and By the time I picked Jay up I was in total distress and I started to drive home because it was in his Jeep and by that time It had was daylight and the Sun was coming up and I was facing it and I was like my eyes were tearing I would had to was driving like this I was like actually crying and I said I cannot I cannot see we actually had to pull over on a busy road so he could get out and we could swap and That's when I called the doctor. I Called the eye doctor up. I was due for an exam and I said I have something going on with my eyes I've never had anything like this I said I've been You know, I've been doing I've been using a couple things in my eyes And it was like really concerned like it was using an eyelash serum. I was using Lumify. I love Lumify I was using Lumify before I had any issues with my eye really other than if you you know Like if you wake up and in your eyes and sometimes just naturally or a little bit of bloodshot, but I was like in total distress so he had examined me and put me on a Really expensive over there's over two hundred and forty dollar eyedrop Steroid eyedrop and it was You know, he was diagnosing it as one eye severe case of dry eye And he made a couple of recommendations of what to do with hot compress Eyedrops in between the steroids and all that so I Was talking to Sheila life with Lily simply Sheila I should say and and she was saying how because I was telling her how I was like Taking a hot wet face cloth and putting it over my eyes and it was the face cloth got cold And it would drip down and it was just because it was Awkward I didn't do it as consistently as I should have been doing it and I had I ended up having relapse because I wasn't really doing what I was supposed to be doing as far as the hot compress So Sheila said to me. She's oh my gosh.  There's one that you can do and you can put it in a microwave and You you can put it on your eyes and it's washable. It's really really nice and that's the one I bought I actually bought this off of Amazon and I actually really like this because somehow the microwave you put it in the microwave. It kind of activates Something in the little capsules or a little I really don't know what they are But there's like I want to say they're like little beady things But it actually activates them and it's called hydro heat technology Where the eye mask absorbs moisture from the air and releases it You know heat from the air and releases it as clean moist heat going into your eye So I bought this from Amazon. I want to say it might have been $20 and It's washable. I really like it. I have I put it in the microwave for like 25 seconds by the time I think the directions calls for 20 seconds and by the time I get it Out of the microwave walk back in my living room or bring it into the bedroom or wherever I'm gonna be doing it It has gone cool down a little bit, you know 20 seconds And I you know, obviously have my makeup off although I suppose you could you could put it on even if you had makeup on I would imagine but and I just put it on You know, you can strap it around your head if you need I really don't do it and don't strap it around my head unless I'm sleeping with it Well, I guess I never really understood that these kind of products were available call me Ignorant in that sense. I just had no idea. I also had no idea of what dry eye was how one could get it I'm thinking was it my eyelash serum. I'm thinking was it my loomify and my eye doctor And of course, this is by no means medical advice. You should go and satisfy yourself Obviously talk to your own doctor if you have dry eye But my eye doctor said no, he had nothing to do with the loomify and had nothing to do with my eyelash serum Had nothing to do with my makeup is everything to do with a number of different conditions that affect dry eye a lot of Chronic computer use a lot of bright lights dry heat, etc. So a combination of my lifestyle from COVID Where all of a sudden I was teaching every single day from zoom and I was working from home attending meetings from home via zoom and then when I got to go back in the office I was still attending meetings via zoom and teaching via zoom because everyone else was at home So my computer screen time went sky-high and then the winter time I have forced out of your heat So it's extremely dry So I run a humidifier at night, especially by my bed This has helped tremendously. I I've had the steroid eye drops, you know, I finished using them I got per my eye doctor's recommendation You can get anyone you want obviously, but he suggested these lubricant eye drops refresh plus and Jay bought me.  It's kind of really interesting I never realized like if you break one of these off It should be enough to give you two drops In each eye you twist the opening you squeeze it you get two drops in each eye I never realized how much two drops in each eye really was until I started using it that way Because when I was doing it from the little squeezy thing I happily was squeeze squeezing anything out or as soon as I felt that I was getting something I stopped So this has helped assure me that I'm getting the right amount of dosage So he bought my initial one on in Walgreens And even with the sale price after a while it adds up if it's something you're going to be doing every day So I found a cheaper and Amazon and that's where I've ordered this from Amazon and I really like it So I'm happy that I can still use my Lumify when I just want to brighten up my eyes But more importantly that I can still use my blink eyelash serum. I always give my eyelashes a break You know, I do like maybe a two month or one month break But this winter when my eyes started to act up I said I went off all my eyelash serum I didn't even put my castor oil on there didn't do anything I would normally do for my eyelashes because I was so afraid So I was really happy and so I've been back using my eyelash serum for about a month now and I've been been able to maintain With you know using the eye drops has really helped out an awful lot So this is a giveaway before I talk about the next product that's helped me I'm just going to tell you that this is a giveaway. I am going to give away four packages or four containers of the blink eyelash serum, please don't enter the Contest or the giveaway unless you really want to win this Eyelash serums are not for everyone. Do your research. They were all side effects for some people I'm not a doctor. I'm not an eye doctor But do your research, but I'll tell you the blank has just been it's just been awesome for me for my eyelashes I absolutely love it. So the other thing that I I have recently got which I thought was totally amazing and Because I travel and or I shouldn't say I do travel. I mean I try to travel and You know like we're we're doing a wedding and I'm thinking, you know I don't know if there's going to be a microwave. I don't know. I know most hotel rooms have microwaves Most Airbnb's have microwaves. So I'm pretty comfortable that I would have a microwave, but I kept thinking What what if I'm not or when originally I thought well, geez, what if I'm on a long flight? I'm on a long flight and I went to use and the eye mask so Mavogal and I'm not really too sure if I'm pronouncing it correctly had reached out to me And I and they have probably reached out to a number of other content creators, but for me I thought it was pretty fitting Because of my eye issue and I think I saw Clara Clara's beauty. Oh, I can't think of her name of her channel. I'll link it below She had recently done a review on this eye mask as well. But anyways, this is an electric eye mask and what you know what you do is you plug it in here really tight and it runs by USB or it has a little adapter that You can plug it into the wall if you want now the cord itself is a decent-sized cord, but the Adjuster the on off the high low is more in the middle So I find it a little bit harder To adjust while I'm using this one thing that I found that has really helped me I have a power pack and it's a power pack that I'm actually I bring it on in my pocket book Especially when I'm flying and it's just a small little power pack but I put this right into the power pack and Turn it on and it is right next to my head and I can I can adjust it up and down high and low It's amazing. So while plugging it into the wall You know was harder for me Not as readily easy as having that power adapter right next to me and just the power pack works great So they reached out to me and said would you like to try their electrocuted eye mask? And I I was like, wow How did they know I'm going through because I really haven't really talked about it at all But this is sort of a silk heated eye mask, which is perfect for dry eyes. It's a warm compress It's electric. So there's nanotubes fast heating nanotubes fast heating adjustable Timer and temperature control sleep mask It gives you it helps with your puffiness. It helps with your dark circles They've got really a lot of high ratings on Amazon. It is very reasonable. I think it's like twenty two twenty four dollars And I believe depending on what time I publish this. I have a discount code I'm not an affiliate member of this. I have used it. However for oh a week and a half and I really really like it. I like the fact that it's a mulberry silk fabric and it's really 100% quality mulberry silk. It feels really good. I can fall asleep. It auto shuts off after an hour It's cut. It has some light blocking when I put it on. I really like it a lot. It has three heat Temperatures I keep it on the highest one because of my eye issue And then again the cord is like five feet, which is probably long enough for most people But for me with the power pack next to me, it becomes perfect. It is absolutely washable. I really like it a lot. So Anyways between my eye drops and the hut compress both of the ones that I use the hut mask the ear of the eye masks Both of the ones that I use I really really like this eye mask and I'm not to show when you're gonna see this is going with me on my trip I believe I can plug this right into so if I'm flying and if I want to have a little bit of relief I can plug it right into my power or my power pack because I've done it that way and I may or may not bring this one as well. It's small doesn't take up a whole lot of room but I just I was like amazed that I had dry eye and I couldn't believe that it was I was actually using a wet-faced cloth and having it dripping all over me and Being awkward and uncomfortable for so long and not realizing that there were other alternate solutions so thank you Sheila for mentioning the eye mask to me at first and And I bought the one she recommended. I will link it below I love this mask. It's really nice and hot when you nuke it in the microwave And you can feel that moisture come right out the electric hot air. This is how electric heat mask gets really nice and hot too and Very very soothing It takes a little bit longer. Obviously this comes out of the micro microwave So it's hot right away. This takes a little bit longer I love the fact that it goes for an hour and then it shuts off. It's so affordable I love the mulberry silk and I just think wow, you know, who knew I certainly didn't know So if you want you want to be entered into my giveaway Just leave a comment below. I'm not going to answer any questions again. I'm not an expert at dry I I just wanted to share with you some of the things that I've been doing because I didn't even know I could do this and It's just a total coincidence that this eye mask company reached out to me offered to send me complimentary for review and That they have no idea how to need so it has definitely Satisfied my need. So if you have a need For the long lashes, tell me about your need below I'm going to use a random picker type thing. Make sure that you are subscribed to my channel Make sure you like you have to actually do this little checkbox and like it Leave me a comment telling me about your need for eyelashes and this is going to run probably for about a week and Then I will pull the winner and somebody will win four bottles brand new of blink eyelash So yeah, I just wanted to share all that with you. I hope you guys are having a wonderful week J and I are Well, I shouldn't say where we are, but anyway, I hope you're having a wonderful week And I will see you in my next video. Oh, remember to tell me about your need. Thanks guys


Hey, I'm gonna start with Q and welcome to the X-Fat. You know, once you get back on that mission at ASAP tomorrow, you ain't got to hear the wait for this trip to the part. Hey, come down here to the X-Fat, get to take care of 24 hours. Now, this is the part where you put that part on order. Wait for it to come in. This will get you through the mission.


Uber Elevate is designing a future product called UberAir, which is going to incorporate flying vehicles into the Uber platform, and so what we've done is develop a set of specifications for these vehicles. Like what do they need to look like, how fast do they need to go, how many people should they carry, what are the basic specifications, and how do we make them safe and cost-effective to operate. Since we worked with Hyundai to incorporate some of those ideas into this concept that we see behind us, which Hyundai is calling the SA-1, which is basically a vehicle that can work in this UberAir network that we are setting up and building out. What we're planning to do this year is work with our partners to do public demonstrations, and so we want people to be able to see this, to understand what this technology looks like in real life, but then what we're trying to do is by 2023, that's really the date that we're pushing hard on for the commercial launch. That needs the certification is probably the long-haul intent in order to be able to hit that timeline, but we're pretty optimistic that this is ambitious for sure, but achievable. The real challenge, I think, is that you have to work on all these problems at the same time. Aviation is a very highly regulated industry, it's regulated at the national level, but the type of things that we want to do, be able to take off and land from skyports like Woven into communities, is actually regulated at a local level too, so we have to engage at the national level and then at the local level in each of the places in which we're working. That's just a lot of work that has to be done, has to be done simultaneously, and any one of those pieces not working can kind of grind the whole thing to a halt. What we need to do is build a suite of products that allow people to exercise like the choice of how they want to move. Everyone has a different kind of personal elasticity to time, to price, to the mode of transportation, and we think that the best option is to create a whole suite of products that we can offer to people that they can use in different ways that they want to use, and so that's why we're made Uber Transit and we just announced that the public transit here in Las Vegas can now be booked through Uber and paid for through Uber, and so we think that's the right approach, is to do a bunch of these things and create this platform that then we can both add transportation technologies into, but then we can start to link them together, and that's a new level of magic in some sense, and that's what we're doing through UberCopter right now in New York City. That's our first truly multimodal product where we're pioneering the linking of ground to air to ground in a single trip, and so you have a single button press, and we take care of it with the technology behind the scenes, and that's just the starting of what this kind of multimodal type of operation look like.


Now, today we wanted to talk about an art-related topic that I get asked all the time, basically what are the different types of Kempo and how do they compare to American Kempo, my home art. To be honest, this one is not entirely easy to answer because the term Kempo is a little muddy in application and its context has been spun through the political blender so it is applied in a lot of ways that don't always seem related. As always, I encourage anyone to contribute to this conversation as this is just a starting point of discussion and it's impossible for me to list every single art that uses the word Kempo or its variation Kempo in its name. Now, if I don't mention the version of Kempo that you've studied or know about, it doesn't mean that I'm purposely disrespecting it, it just means that I'm trying to keep this list as broad as we can just to explore the meaning of the word or quite honestly it might be a branch that I'm unaware of, which is where I hope you'll come in and contribute. You know, I learned a lot from you guys as well. With all that being said, let's take a look at some different types of Kempo. Okay, so what are the different types of Kempo? Well, first let's take a look at the word itself since that is the first area of confusion. You may have seen two variations of spelling, Kempo with an N and Kempo with an M. So is there a difference and if so, which one is correct? Well, the word traces back to the Chinese word Fuanfa, which is the translation also found in various spellings. This word basically translates to fist law or fist method. When the word was translated into Japanese, it becomes Kenpo. Now in the rules of kanji, when the character ends with the letter N, it will be pronounced with the N sound unless it's followed by a character that starts with P and that instance, the N makes an M sound. So technically speaking, it should be spelled Kenpo, but pronounced Kempo. Now through romanization, you will sometimes find it also spelled with the M and at this point, the word has gone through enough translations that both versions can be considered correct. Through this grammar, you also sometimes come across the same thing with the word Senpai. I've also seen it spelled and pronounced as Senpai. Now there can be further distinction found and I've come across this a few times. If we go back very briefly and look at the word karate, we will find some of that political pull on the translation. Karate means empty hand, but originally the characters in Japanese meant Tong or Chinese hand. Now political relations between China and Japan weren't on the best grounds and when the Okinawan arts, which had a lot of Chinese influences in them, were brought to Japan by Gijin Funakoshi, the Japanese character for China was changed to mean empty. As a result, sometimes the word Kenpo is applied to martial art systems that come through Japan from Chinese roots. And using the term Kenpo is acknowledging the history when the word karate was altered to bury it. In addition, you will sometimes see people using the word Kenpo with an M designated spelling to refer to these arts that came through Japan as opposed to American Kenpo, which really traces its roots from China to Hawaii to mainland USA. So there is that distinction you will come across at sometimes. Interestingly, the word Kenpo doesn't hold the same meaning in Okinawa, where very often it's just an alternate way of saying karate. In Okinawa, the words karate and Kenpo are often used interchangeably. Now, when it comes to the word Kenpo in the United States, nine times out of 10, it is referring to Ed Parker's American Kenpo or some variation of it. But we're going to come back to this one. We're going to take a quick look now at some of the more common styles of Kenpo. Now, again, we are taking the objective look at this point. I know there are a lot of opinions, conjecture and politics surrounding somebody's founders, slash arts, slash practitioners. So I do ask that we focus this discussion on the history and development of these arts and leave the hate and politics out of it. Kosho Ryu Kenpo is the name of the art brought to the United States by Grandmaster James Mitosi. He was born in Hawaii and at the young age of four, he was sent to Japan for a formal education and also to study the family martial arts. Now, the Mitosi family trained in Chuanfa and through their generations, they continually modified and adapted the art until it became their own family style. Now, the complete name of the art is Kosho Shirei Ryu Kenpo, which translates to Old Pine Tree School, Fist Law. Now, at one point in time, Mitosi did refer to it as Kenpo Jujitsu and it's even known to be referred to as Shrineji Kenpo, which translates to Small Forest Temple Kenpo. This art was a blend of Chuanfa with an influence of Japanese Jujitsu and the philosophy of Ruth Deep and Buddhism. Mitosi wanted Kosho Ryu Kenpo to be more than just a fighting system. According to his family, he placed a lot of importance on internal balance as well as physical skills. Kosho Ryu Kenpo also heavily included philosophy, meditation, Japanese yoga, calligraphy, escapes, and the healing arts. Now, after training for 15 years in Japan, James Mitosi returned to Hawaii and he began teaching his family art to the public. According to the family website, Mitosi only promoted a handful of people to show it on a black belt. One of those people was William K.S. Chow, the founder of Kara Ho Kempo. Now, interestingly enough, even though William Chow was a student of James Mitosi, his philosophy behind the martial arts was very, very different. To William Chow, studying Kempo had the purpose of destroying your attacker. It was strictly about self-defense. In a quote posted to the Kara Ho Kempo website, Professor Chow once said, survival in the street first, everything else is second. Chow was born in Honolulu in 1914 and he grew up studying a variety of fighting arts, including karate, wrestling, jujitsu, and boxing. He was a tough martial artist, which had to make up for his small frame. At a height of only five-two, William Chow often demonstrated his technique and power and he was known for putting together sequences of technique combinations fired in rapid succession. Now, after he studied under James Mitosi, he formulated his art of Kara Ho Kempo. He had several notable students, such as Edmund K. Parker, Nick Serio, and Adriano Imperato. Each of whom went out to spearhead their own fighting systems. After his passing, his organization fell into the shoulders of San Kuoha, one of Chow's most dedicated and successful students. Grandmaster Kuoha continues to run the organization today, which claims to have over 5,000 students. Now, I have covered this topic extensively in a three-part series, The Origin of American Kempo, The Evolution of American Kempo, and The Kempo Crest. If you want to learn the background and development of the art, then I definitely recommend watching those. I covered the art in pretty expanded detail in the hour combined between the three episodes. Now, I have to include it on this list because it has encapsulated the word Kempo so much that when someone in the United States says the word Kempo, it is usually referring to Ed Parker American Kempo or one of its derivative styles. Ed Parker was a martial artist who grew up in Hawaii and he trained in judo, karate, boxing, and eventually with William Chow. Ed Parker combined a lot of elements of Kempo and mixed it with a lot of other arts, including Tuan Fa, and he created his own blend of techniques. This system went through so many changes over the sixties, seventies, eighties, and even still today. It once went by the names Chinese Kempo, Kempo Karate, Ed Parker's Kempo, and eventually American Kempo. The system changed greatly with Ed Parker and his disciples constantly altering and adjusting the art, adding and removing elements, and he put the system into a never-ending trend of fine-tuning, which still continues today. As a result, he has spawned many other systems that have become their own strong entities. I can't list all of them because I don't think YouTube will allow a video upload that long, but here are some of the more notable or popular or common Kempo offshoots. First, we have Tracy Kempo. Now again, I also covered this in more depth in the evolution of American Kempo video, but just to sum it up, Al and Jim Tracy were students under Ed Parker early in his system. When Mr. Parker started doing drastic changes to the art, they broke off on their own and they continued to teach their own version of Kempo, which they say is more based on the original blend that Ed Parker was working with. Their organization often calls it traditional Kempo and claims a greater connection with Hungar to retain that traditional lineage. Now the differences between Tracy and Parker Kempo can be very subtle, yet significant to those who have trained in one or both of the styles. They share a lot of the same techniques and forms, often with different names. The Tracy system also includes some forms in later ranks that bear more similarity to the Chinese forms and less to the Ed Parker long forms. Ed Parker Kempo was taught in long sequences of self-defense techniques. Approximately 150 of them depending on which version of the art you train in. Tracy Kempo claims over 600 techniques because they have shorter sequences but they modify them in A, B, C, D versions. In the end, it's about the same amount of material but it's just spread differently. The first school I studied at taught Tracy Kempo and after about four years we switched over to Ed Parker Kempo. The differences between them are sometimes hard to describe but basically they approach the same training goals but from slightly different philosophies. Kempo 5.0 is a version of American Kempo spearheaded by Jeff Spiekman, one of Mr. Parker's last students. Now Mr. Spiekman has taken Kempo forward into a very different direction by adding a lot of grappling into the system and amplifying the resistance combat training included. I also covered this in the American Kempo series and much like American Kempo it continues to adapt constantly. I had the fortune of training in Kempo 5.0 for a few years and it provided a lot of new insight and flavor to what I personally feel was already a great system. It's also very different now from when I trained in it but it continues to change and grow to this day. Kempo sub-level 4.0 is a system developed by Dr. Ron Chappelle another student of Ed Parker's Kempo who took the material and he decided to delve into another aspect of the system. The name refers to the different fighting ranges that we study in Kempo. One, out of range, two, within range usually for kicks or advancing techniques, three, punching range or medium range and four, close range. Now the concept is that this fourth range can be broken down into different sub-levels to understand and study pressure points, joint structure at a very close examination. The BKF or Black Karate Federation was founded by Sijo, Steve Muhammad and Grandmaster Donnie Williams. Both men grew up in times of extreme racism and despite those challenges they both went on to accomplish successful careers in the martial arts. Both men served in the military both accumulated along with the tournament victories and they both even had appearances in motion pictures including Enter the Dragon. Now after Williams won the title at the 1977 International Karate Championships in Long Beach he devoted himself to religion and founded the Family Church International and he continues to work as a bishop today. Steve Muhammad continues to teach and he was one of Ed Parker's most notable students. He was known for his extreme speed to the point of even Bruce Lee saying that Muhammad was one of the fastest martial artists he'd ever seen. That's saying something. But he went on to modify the material himself developed something called the five-speed theory and the 12 basic moves of Kempo and he continues to be a positive influence on the martial arts today. I had the honor of meeting him at a seminar a few years ago and he is a humbling individual. Such a rich history behind him and he's one of the most genuinely nicest people you'll ever meet. We really hope to do a video covering the BKF in the near future. Now Chuck Sullivan was yet another notable student under Ed Parker and his influences felt deeply in the Kempo community. He began the training with Mr. Parker back in 1959 and he is one of the highest ranking students to be promoted by Mr. Parker himself. Now in 1990, Mr. Sullivan founded the International Karate Connection Association with one of his top students, Vic Leroux. Together they formulated their own version of Kempo with a combination of their backgrounds. Mr. Sullivan is a lifelong student of Kempo and Mr. Leroux had a mixture of Kempo, Eskima, Huincheng, and Jikundo. Their system shares a lot of the same roots of Ed Parker's American Kempo. However, it does differ in many areas and they do refer to it as the IKCA Chinese Kempo. It is self-defense focused and it shares many of the same techniques as American Kempo, but it also features many of their own variations, concepts, modified basics, and a completely different set of self-defense-based CODIS. They also have a popular and well-established online training program, which I have spoken to a few of you about out there and I've received positive feedback about it. Now one thing I really do wanna caution on and I'm only bringing this up because I've had this conversation with multiple viewers is that many people mistake the system for Ed Parker's Kempo. The system is not American Kempo. American Kempo is specifically referring to Ed Parker's American Kempo. The IKCA is their own offshoot with their own curriculum. Many people don't realize this when they sign up because they think they're training in Ed Parker Kempo. If you ask them directly, they're very open and upfront about them not being the same system and they actually call their art Chinese Kempo on their site, but it's still an easy mistake to make if you don't already know. I have heard positive things about it and if you train in it and you wanna sign up for it then by all means give it a try but just understand this is a different art. Then we come to Thomas Conner. Now I received a lot of grief from some of you out there for not including them in my previous Kempo videos. You know who you are, this is for you. And also your reason is I wasn't that familiar with him at the time. I have had contact with a few different versions of Kempo but this was not one that I had crossed paths with. So I looked into it and I wanted to include him on this list this time around because he did have influence that is still around today. Mr. Conner started training in the martial arts at the young age of seven in Newark, New Jersey and New York. He trained in the Hungar and Wing Chung before listening to the Army during World War II. Now upon returning from the war he had become quite a successful combatant and he took up work with the US government as an operative in Central America and Mexico. He included Jiu Jitsu into his training and he retired from the government in 1960 and in 1965 he was running his own very successful martial arts program. Now Conner continued his training and he formed a partnership with Ed Parker which he called Co-Park Kempo and he became a prolific student of the art as well as adding Chinese martial arts into his own regimen. In 1970 the partnership expanded to include the Tracy brothers which so they all formed the Traco part system. Now eventually through the partnership dissolved and Conner and the Tracy's continued forward with Traco Kempo. This system became very successful and they spread out into several schools. Mr. Conner passed away in 1989 but you will still find Traco students training to this day. I also found one of their lower belt training manuals and it was quite the interesting read. It included the concept of the three circles of Kempo. The first circle composes the basics of breathing, balance and form. Now these are very important foundations to any martial art. The second circle included the development of sensitivity, the increase of energy when training and the establishment of moral conduct. The third circle encompasses using meditation as a tool and embraces compassion, commonality and controlling your ego. Now interestingly enough when I looked further at the required techniques for this entry belt level I immediately recognized them and I knew them as techniques from the Tracy system. So when it comes to Kempo in the United States you're going to find a lot of overlap in the systems and see that they influence other systems. So there's a lot of commonality between them. So that's just a very quick summary of American Kempo of some of its related systems. Now as we go down the list we can still find some other variations of Kempo. Nick Serio was one of the aforementioned students of William Chow. Mr. Serio himself is a highly respected martial artist and he had quite the mixed flavor of training. He grew up knowing struggle and worked at odd jobs at the age of 10 just to help his family get by. And he was also known to get into various street fights in the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. As a teenager he began formal training in boxing which was the beginning of his academic look in the fighting. Studying theories of angulation and concepts of motion he even had a successful fighting experience boxing while in the Air Force. Now after leaving the military in 1958 Serio added judo to his training and three years later switched to taekwondo. He didn't stop there and his resume of arts just grew to an impressive list. He trained under George Passara in the art of Karazen Pogoshin Jitsu and through his tournament career he met Ed Parker. Now Nick Serio did not train directly under Parker but the two remained close friends for almost two decades and Serio once said that, "'Ed Parker was never my instructor "'but he was like my coach. "'He was my senior because we came "'from the same Kempo family. "'I used a lot of Ed Parker's ideas in my system.'" Now his training under William Chow was not easy. Chow was known for his tough regimen and grueling training and he claimed that this instruction influenced his later teaching of his own system. After adding Hakoryu Jijitsu, Sil Lung Kung Fu and Okinawan weapons training Serio went on to establish his own system of Nick Serio's Kempo. Now his Kempo was a unique blend of all his previous experiences he'd accumulated boxing, Sim Lung Kung Fu, judo, Jijitsu and even Shodokan. Nick Serio was definitely a factor in the spread of Kempo in the United States predominantly in the New England area. I also mentioned Adriano Imperato also a student of Chow. Now technically his system isn't really a Kempo system but I would like to add it because it would be doing an injustice if I left it off this list. Mr. Imperato was a skilled fighter in Karahou Kempo and together with four of their martial artists they formed the hybrid system of Kajukenbo which is very popular today. Each founder brought with them their own martial art background to create this pretty well balanced system. The name Kajukenbo is a portmando of various arts used to combine it. Ka is for Karate. Ju is for Judo and Jijitsu. Ken is for Kempo and Bo is for boxing. Imperato brought the Karahou Kempo and a scream of contribution. Joseph Hulk brought Judo. Frank Ardoñez with Dunzen Rui Jijitsu. Peter Yong Il-Chu with Tang Sudo, boxing and Shodokan Karate and Clarence Change with Chen Na a form of Chinese joint locking. Now this is quite the intricate mix of martial arts and it was consistently adapted to keep the techniques that were effective in the street and discard the ones that weren't. Now this is another art that we're gonna be circling back to in the future but we wanted to mention it here today because it is related to Karahou Kempo and it does share some similar roots. Shurinji Kempo was mentioned earlier as one of the names James Matosi used for his Koshoriyu Kempo. Now this is not to be confused with the art of Shurinji Kempo founded by Japanese martial artist Doshin So. Doshin So formed his art as a way to raise morality among Japanese citizens following the aftermath of World War II. He blended his experience in the Chinese arts with Jujitsu and possibly elements of karate. The system is divided into three parts. Self-defense, mental training and health training. Doshin So felt that training should encompass both the physical body and the human spirit. Now even though So passed away in 1980 his art still flourishes today with several organizations continuing to teach the system. This is another one that we will come back to later and take a look at in the full detail. And now for some honorable mentions. White Tiger Kempo was founded by master John McSweeney and Thomas Saviano. Both men had various experience in different arts including the Parkers Kempo and Judo and several styles of kung fu such as Sansu, White Crane and forms of Northern Kung Fu. Their art is a unique blend of their experience. Shaolin Kempo is another very common term and an example of how the word Kempo gets blurry sometimes. In the United States Shaolin Kempo is a popular variation of the art founded by Fred Valari. Valari was a student of Nick Serial and William K.S. Chow and he used his experience to alter and create his own fighting system called Shaolin Kempo Karate. It claims to combine the five animal fighting style of Shaolin Kung Fu, the core framework of Kempo, the stances and explosive power of karate and blends in the grappling arts of Jiu Jitsu, Mongolian wrestling and the Chinese joint locking art of Jinnah. Valari focuses the training on four aspects of fighting striking, kicking, felling of takedowns and grappling. Now Valari has attracted some criticism from the various martial arts communities by appointing themselves 10th degree black belt and later 15th degree. Now I don't have any experience to have any opinion on this but if you researched this art you can expect to come across this controversy so make of it what you will just be aware that's there. In any case Valari Shaolin Kempo Karate is a unique blend and a very popular system in the United States. This is not to be confused with Shaolin American Kempo a system devised and established by Grandmaster Jim Brassard. Brassard describes his system as a mix of Shaolin American Kempo Karate, Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu and Chinese boxing. Now it doesn't seem to have much relation if any to Fred Valari Shaolin Kempo. Now I can't speak very much about the system as I am unfamiliar with it but I do urge doing further research. There are some concerning elements though on the main website such as claiming to be the most effective strength system bodybuilding and self defense program available out there and pictures such as this to advertise the program. Now I'm not sure if the focus is more on self defense or fitness and I invite anyone watching that if you have any experience with the system I would be very interested to know what your feedback is and I'm curious to know by any light that you can shed on the art. Now this is still not to be confused with Shaolin Kempo with an N established by Grandmaster Ralph Castro. Castro's Shaolin Kempo organization is often mistaken for Fred Valari Shaolin Kempo Karate system. Castro was also a student of William Chow and generally speaking, systems that use the word Shaolin in the name are usually trying to establish a lineage back to traditional Shaolin kung fu roots. And the last mention on this list is Ryu Kukenpo. Now the two common versions of this art is the first one established by Taika Seyuu Oyata and I apologize if I mispronounced that and it focuses on the close combat fighting utilizing close and striking grappling just like Jiu Jitsu and joint locking and escapes. It also utilizes Okinawan weapons training or Kabuto and it has several branches over the world. The other one is Ryu Kukenpo Tomari Te established by George Dilman. Now there is an incredible amount of controversy around his system, mainly that Dilman pushed heavy marketing and campaigns on the idea of light pressure point work and no touch knockouts. No touch knockouts are definitely a point of contention in the martial arts community and I'm not quite sure we're ready to touch on this topic just yet. See what I did there? What are you doing? So as an overview, the word Kempo has grown to take on some several meanings, origins and adaptations. It could be confusing and sometimes when you hear art subscribed to Chinese Kempo, Shaolin Kempo and the like, it's really worth the additional research to make sure you understand the exact context of it. Now I hope you enjoyed this episode and if I missed one that you know of, please by all means comment below and tell us more about it. If it has some good history, it might be one that we'll go back and pick up and develop into an individual episode. Thank you so much for watching and celebrating the law of the fist with us today. Please be sure to join us on Patreon to bring you more art based history videos and other channel goals. Warrior and scholar signing out.