It is that time of the year again. The months before Christmas, when we start wondering about the presents, we can gift our friends or kids. I’ll refer to friends for the rest of this page. Dancers tend to care a lot more about their skills and motivation to practise instead of material things, so it’s often hard to find the perfect thing. But no worries, I got you covered in case you are lacking inspiration yourself.

1. Workshops and classes

Did I mention that dancers often care about their skills? They really do. Most dancers will be delighted to take an additional class with their favourite teacher or a workshop with a pioneer or expert in their specific dance style. You might need to do a little bit of research to find out which class or teacher is the right one. If there is a name popping up regularly, you know who to pick.

A gift certificate or voucher is the easiest way to package a workshop or class. If you are design-savvy, you will have an easy time making it happen. Otherwise, you can pick up a voucher template and customize it.

2. Workout gear or tools

An essential part of being prepared to dance as good as possible is to keep the body in shape. Some dancers rely on dancing only, but the majority work out in addition.

Tools that almost all dancers can apply in their training are Resistance Bands or a Deuserband. Both are made from elastic rubber-like fabric, and both can be applied in stretching or strength training.

In case your dancer friend is specifically into strength training, you could also pick up a kettlebell, which is simply a big weight with a handle. There are tons of exercises you can do with them, and there are hundreds of tutorials on Youtube to get started.

Got a friend who suffers from unnecessary body tension? Grab a Blackroll or another tool for fascia relief.

3. Books

There is a plethora of books that would make a good gift for your dancer friends. This can be books about the dance itself and how to improve your skills, but it could also be about the history of the dance, the scene the dance originates from or a photography collection.

Here are some recommendations:

• Dance Smart (I wrote this one, by picking it up, you have a gift for your friends and me. Win-Win)
• The Tao of Wu
• Hip Hop Raised Me
• Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
• Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America
• Hip Hop Navigator
• Performance Skills
• Dancers among us and Dancers after Dark

4. Event tickets or travel expenses

Dancers love travelling to dance events all around the globe. Often these travels have to happen on a budget. If you can provide the event tickets or pay for some of the travel expenses, your friends will surely be happy.

If the event tickets are not yet available, you can, once again, go for a voucher.

5. Fresh gear or apparel

The term style usually means the individual interpretation of the dance, but there is also style in fashion and gear. Looking fresh is an essential part of most freestyle dances, and many dancers elevate the curation of their outfits into an art form.

The number one spot in the gear section is the sneaker. The variety of available shoes and personal taste makes it difficult to shoot from the hip, but you will get an idea of their preferred model if you take a look at their existing sneaker collection. The best-case scenario is probably taking the trip to the sneaker store together.

In my opinion, the second best guess is either headgear or accessories. Watch how your friend dresses at events, and you will know which one it is. Not going to dance events with your friend? A swipe through their social media might help as well.

6. Wall art

If nothing else seems to fit, you might want to consider some kind of poster. It can be a fantastic dance image, a motivational quote or a combination of both. Maybe it is a really big print of their favourite dance photo of themselves.

Many options are available for the seeker of presents. Depending on your budget, you can go for a digital download to print at home, for a framed museum-quality print or anything in between.

If you have additional ideas, meaning more Christmas presents for dancers, let us know in the comments.

The links in this article contain affiliate links which take you to amazon or etsy stores.

Der Beitrag Best Christmas Presents for Dancers in 2023 erschien zuerst auf FraGue Moser-Kindler - Dancer, Artist & Qi Gong Teacher based in Salzburg, Austria.

Find out what they need most

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for a writer or author, start by asking them what they need most. You may be surprised by their answer—they might not even realize that they need something until you bring it up. Ask them to lay out their writing goals and then try to find a way to help them reach those goals by buying them something related.

If you are not into asking or they don’t give you an answer, you can work with, read on.

Bookmarks

Writers and authors are also avid readers. Many of them jump from book to book, depending on their mood and what they need at the moment to get inspired. Bookmarks are a great way to keep up with the progress in all your books, and they can inspire if motives are chosen well. They’re also the perfect gift for anyone who’s ever lost their place in a novel. Books need bookmarks, so we highly recommend giving them as gifts!

Bookmarks come in all shapes, sizes and colours – you can choose between hardcover or paperback, palm-sized or full page; red paper or green; glittery gold stars on a black background or plain white paper with nothing but an elastic band around it. And they make excellent stocking stuffers!

Books

As mentioned above, good writers are good readers. Gifting books that help an author’s progress or play well into the topic of the book/articles he is writing are always welcome.

As I don’t know what topics your friend is into, here are some general recommendations about writing.

• “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
• “On Writing” by Stephen King
• “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
• “Plot & Structure” by James Scott Bell
• “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron

Paraphernalia

Paraphernalia are all the things that your friends need to make the magic happen. These are highly individual. Some people need coffee, some only write with a special pen, some need a specific poster on the wall, and some want to smoke special tobacco in a pipe. This can be everything.

You’ll get an idea of the writing paraphernalia of an author by looking at the space she writes in. Use your detective senses and add to that collection.

Inspirational quotes and role models

Inspirational quotes are an excellent way to inspire writers.

You can shop around for amazing posters with quotes or design your own.

Journals, notepads and notebooks

Journals and notepads are great gifts as well. They can be used as diaries, so if you know someone who’s been meaning to start a diary but hasn’t gotten around to it yet, this would be a fantastic gift idea. Or if you’re looking for something specific like character traits, plot ideas, dialogue or research notes – and let’s face it: all of us need more notebooks.

Hopefully, this list has given you some ideas about what would be a great gift for an author or writer. Even if you do not know exactly what they need, I am sure one of these gifts will be a hit.

The links in this article are affiliate links and take you to Amazon or Etsy.

Der Beitrag Best Christmas presents for authors and writers erschien zuerst auf FraGue Moser-Kindler - Dancer, Artist & Qi Gong Teacher based in Salzburg, Austria.

1. Workshops and classes

Martial artists care for their personal skill development. So naturally, working on those comes first. If you totally run out of ideas, you can always pay for their regular classes or book them a workshop with their favourite sifu or sensei.

A gift certificate or voucher is the easiest way to package a workshop or class. Many schools offer these, especially around Christmas. If they don’t you can create one on your own when you are design-savvy or simply use a template.

2. Workout gear or tools

An essential part of being prepared to fight (be it in a cage, harder sparring or in self-defense situations) is to keep your body in shape. Some martial artists only rely on their practice, but most of the work out too.

A jump rope (better a speed jump rope) is essential for boxing and kickboxing but will be helpful with most modern fighting sports. Even though traditional martial arts rarely use them, the strength, coordination and stamina they build are helpful for all martial arts practitioners.

A new contender in the ring is the Octomoves Flow Rope, which feels like a jump rope without jumping. It works the core, the back, the arms and the shoulders and has some similar techniques to traditional weapons like the rope dart or meteor hammer. If your friends are into flow exercises with any martial arts weapon, they will love this thing.

Almost all fighters can apply rubber bands in their training. Common ones are Resistance Bands or a Deuserband, which support numerous higher kicks and stretching exercises. The resistance bands can be used to work on your punches as well.

A kettlebell, which is simply a big weight with a handle, is also a very versatile tool. There are tons of exercises you can do with them, and there are hundreds of tutorials on Youtube to get started.

Got a friend who suffers from unnecessary body tension? Grab a Blackroll or another tool for fascia relief.

3. Books

A plethora of books would make a good gift for your fighter friends. This can be books about their preferred fighting style, about some fighting-related philosophy or about known martial artists.

Here are some recommendations:

• Musashi’s Dokkodo
• The Art of War
• Hagakure
• The Little Black Book of Violence or The Bloody Big Book of Violence
• The Anatomy of Martial Arts
• The Evolution of Martial Arts in Combat Sports
• The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s

4. Weapons or Fighting Gear

Many traditional martial arts use weapons like the staff, sticks or knives. There are also fancier ones like the chain whip, three-section staff or nunchucks. Find out which ones they want, before buying.

Boxing Gloves, Pads or a Heavy Bag might also be the right thing.

Also, if you have a specialised store in town where you can get good customer service, prefer this one over ordering from the internet.

5. Wall art

If nothing else seems to fit, you might want to consider some kind of poster. It can be a fantastic fighting image, a motivational quote or a combination of both.

Many options are available for the seeker of presents. Depending on your budget, you can go for a digital download to print at home, a framed museum-quality print or anything in between.

If you have additional ideas, meaning more Christmas presents for fighters, let us know in the comments.

The links in this article are affiliate links which take you to Amazon or Etsy.

Der Beitrag Amazing Christmas Gifts and Presents for Martial Artists and Fighters erschien zuerst auf FraGue Moser-Kindler - Dancer, Artist & Qi Gong Teacher based in Salzburg, Austria.