Sports, hobbies and activities

Araviel

Araviel

Knowledge is power
Site Staff
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Location
Norway
Instead of high-jacking other threads (sorry @DaMulder !) let's discuss our sports, activities and hobbies here! Questions, tips, achievements, goals, all welcome.
 
Just got back to practice some martial arts since forever. Chose Jiu-jitsu because I never really trained grappling before, though I really prefer a striking discipline.

Also been doing some light hiking lately. My dog is getting old so I'd like to spend more time with him and so decided on that for a fun activity together. Mostly it is more just us sitting down outdoors than walking actually, as I don't want to push him too hard.
 
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I joined a band on Monday. I've been looking for a band since May and then I saw an online ad at 11am, wrote to them at 12 noon. Got invited to jam with them at 7pm and was officially in that band by 11pm. That was awesome! They are a lot like my old band I liked very much. Oh, I play drums by the way and haven't played music with other people in 9 years. I did give lessons last year though...

And @Araviel , what are you sorry about? Don't get it...
EDIT: Now ! get it. It became part of the "Age" thread. And now you are stealing my precious attention in my thread. But you did apologize. All good. :giggle:
 
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@Araviel Good call, I was actually thinking of asking a moderator to prune the chat from the other thread as it was definitely way off topic. :tearsofjoy:

@Deta
Deta said:
When it comes to fighting in a streets, there is two kinds of people. Those who keep their temper and try to de-escalate the conflict even if it means to get punched. And then there are people who go totally berserk. They cant control themselves. They are angry and dont care what happens in that situation. It seems that you are the first one. And thats a great thing.
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The example I gave may have made me sound much more magnanimous than I really was, the fact is the fight itself was totally avoidable and I escalated it unnecessarily out of stupidity. It helped a lot that the guy punching me didn't have a lot of space to get a good shot in, I lucked out a bit all things considered. I am a lot more level headed now thankfully.

Deta said:
Wrestling is great, any style where you can control your opponent by taking him or her down. But the thing is that fighting in a street is totally different environment compared to gym or dojo. Sure for one on one dance competition its great. It works. But if you find yourself in a street after bars closing hours, fighting. Most of the time its not you versus him. Its you versus him and whoever wants to join in. If you take the guy down and dont be aware of your surroundings, you might end up having very bad time. In these situations self defense systems like Krav Maga comes handy. When you know how to land a punch, protect yourself and you have a guts to take few hits while doing so, it gives you an opportunity to end the fight fast. Krav Maga is dirty just like every self defense system. Its dirty because you need to end the situation as fast as possible for your own safety.
But like the guy said in a video, you need to learn how to walk before you can run.
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Honestly I just love training and in terms of longevity I feel I'll be able to train longer in a grappling style than a striking one.

In terms of defending myself, I live in a relatively safe place (growing up in a shitty neighborhood this was a priority for me when settling down) and it's unlikely (I hope!) I'll be jumped by anyone, let alone a group at this point in my life. That said even if I was doing a striking discipline I wouldn't be able to utilise it fully just because of how I am, that's my experience anyway.

Araviel said:
did Kyokoshinkai Karate a decade ago and enjoyed that though got a bit bored with the katas.
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Couldn't agree more.

It's almost considered blasphemous to suggest but I don't understand why katas are even a thing in a relatively modern karate style like kyokushin.

As a spectator I love the really fast and snappy kata you see in modern competition but honestly I enjoy watching someone like Rika Usami do kata in the same way other people appreciate ballet or gymnastics but I don't rate it for improving kumite.


The thing is I don't think it will change anytime soon either as Mas Oyama thought kata was extremely important (the "trunk" of his karate "tree" if I remember) and as the founder he's extremely revered by all the old guard kyokushinkai.

In my short time studying it I experienced a few issues where there was an unwillingness to adopt a more modern approach with training, for example all that the classes began with static stretching, we had a guest instructor come take a session and he started the class with a more modern warm-up with dynamic stretching, our usual instructor later criticised this as it wasn't "traditional." This seemed a little ridiculous to me, I somewhat understand people being unwilling to make kata optional (even though I would have appreciated it) but sports science has advanced so much that it makes sense to incorporate well researched improvements into the non-karate stuff.

Keep us updated on what you decide though, I definitely think a physical activity is an important part of leading a balanced life. There's a topic on the forum about depression and it's not something I feel in any way qualified to talk about but I have my suspicions that a lack of exercise may compound mental health issues.

Araviel said:
@Bambi mhm, usually do full body, 5 x 5, including squats and deadlifts.
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My favourite beginner to intermediate program, anyone I know that tries it makes excellent strength gains, I honestly never felt the need to go onto a split (but I wasn't training for aesthetics) I just dropped to 3x3 when I stalled and added some isolation work to address a couple of shortcomings I had.
 
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fitness: im a member of one of these fitness clubs, which train in parks. been doing that for 5 years now. i train 3-5 times a week, mainly cardio but my body is still crap ( inside- my Longs/heart are probably very healthy but i dont Look athletic). - thinking about mainly getting into Weight training to bulk up.

i also go running sometimes but i find it boring. ( ive done Half marathons etc)

other hobbies: art. I studied it for many years ,i still have a strong interest in art. after many years of not to practice art, I've slowly gotten back into creating again ( paintings, drawing, sculptures ), im stillnot great yet. would Love to have a creative job because I love coming up with creative ideas but I doubt that'll ever happen. - the goal is to make money from painting but even if you're good, its very hard to do :rolleyes:
 
Bambi said:
@Araviel Good call, I was actually thinking of asking a moderator to prune the chat from the other thread as it was definitely way off topic. :tearsofjoy:

@Deta

The example I gave may have made me sound much more magnanimous than I really was, the fact is the fight itself was totally avoidable and I escalated it unnecessarily out of stupidity. It helped a lot that the guy punching me didn't have a lot of space to get a good shot in, I lucked out a bit all things considered. I am a lot more level headed now thankfully.


Honestly I just love training and in terms of longevity I feel I'll be able to train longer in a grappling style than a striking one.

In terms of defending myself, I live in a relatively safe place (growing up in a shitty neighborhood this was a priority for me when settling down) and it's unlikely (I hope!) I'll be jumped by anyone, let alone a group at this point in my life. That said even if I was doing a striking discipline I wouldn't be able to utilise it fully just because of how I am, that's my experience anyway.
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Well its a good thing that you realised that you could have done something differently there. Some people never do.

I think longevity in terms of not getting injured is a reason for many people who decide to do bjj. Its not so injure prone sport. And you can decide yourself if you want to train harder and focus on competitions. You can clearly see that it has become so much more popular compared to lets say 10 years ago. Lots of women and men in their thirties and forties training now. And why not. Its a great sport. You get in a shape and learn a lots of cool tricks.

And besides if you are level-headed enough, you probably never need to fight in a first place. Just walk away.

What comes to kata, oh man what a mess. I remember when I was younger and at that time to get a darker belt in Judo I had to start doing kata. I didnt like it at all. And after going to army I never got back to it. But lately I've been itching to start it again and get my black belt. Maybe thats a good motivation for me.
 
I practiced muay thai briefly before really falling for wing chun for a few years. Unfortunately that ended when I moved a few hundred miles up the country. I enjoy playing football and occasionally making laid back, hip hop beats with a soul or jazz influence.

Forming a collective with like minded producers on soundcloud, I put together a couple of compilations, they are free to download here https://thevisionarycollective.bandcamp.com

And my solo stuff is here if you like laid back beats..


I used to be an avid cross country runner until I took up smoking, I'm still fast, but no stamina at all these days!
 
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It's summer so all the clubs here are shut but starting in september I was thinking of doing boxing again. I used to be an alright boxer but that was years ago so it will be interesting to see if I can still throw a punch. I was thinking of doing ju jitsu alongside it too but I'm anything but supple and my legs are particularly stiff so I don't know how well I would fare in it.
 
Fitness: Weightlifting 4 times a week. I'm on the PHUL program, which is a mix of upper and lower body workouts every session. I also like to throw some cardio in there. I'm not quite where I want to be yet, but I'm definitely not as skinny fat as I used to be. Plus, it really is just a great way to let off steam after work. I have terrible depth perception, so sports and such are a no for me. I did run track in high school.

Hobbies: I've recently started to get into vinyl. I love collecting electronica, video game soundtracks, and movie scores. I'm hoping get a receiver and create a more robust hi-fi setup. I'll add a CD player so I can really get the most out of the Shenmue Limited Edition CD :)
 
I go to a gym owned by the kickboxing organization, K-1. It has kickboxing and karate and I am presently a brown belt, however, I already have black belts in judo and taekwondo. I have trained in MMA before but where I live now is mostly striking. If the change comes, I'd like to learn MMA again for fun.
 
Away from the gaming scene I'm keen supporter and participant in football (soccer). I'm a goalie and continue to Play weekly.

I Also enjoy weight lifting at the gym and go 3-4 times a week with a some cardio thrown in. I'm getting ready to attempt a deadlift pb soon.

Away from that I've played bass in a couple of bands though I've not played in over a year now. Really should get back to it.
 
Hockey and creative fiction have been my two biggest passions outside of Dreamcast/Shenmue since I was about 6 years old. Tennis and b/w film photography budded around 13. Those are my life, basically. Have a fully productive pre-to-post process darkroom and play ice hockey at least weekly. Tennis has fallen by the wayside, unfortunately, but i still love it. Virtually always writing, even if only mental notes.
 
DaMulder said:
I joined a band on Monday. I've been looking for a band since May and then I saw an online ad at 11am, wrote to them at 12 noon. Got invited to jam with them at 7pm and was officially in that band by 11pm. That was awesome! They are a lot like my old band I liked very much. Oh, I play drums by the way and haven't played music with other people in 9 years. I did give lessons last year though...
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Did you continue to practice in the meantime? Someone I know said that it can sometimes be a bit strange to play in a band again if you haven't done so for a while. Getting used again to personal dynamics and so on.
As for me, outside of gaming I guess that music is one of my main hobbies. From playing music to recording, mixing, mastering. Trying to bring a vision to "tape" (as much as possible) is challenging but interesting I think. Though I also do this partly as work so it's maybe more of an interest/activity in general?
 
Typical Manc. Got a season ticket, go to gigs, still smoke, take drugs, drink far too much etc (ended up in a bush Sunday night, think I went garden hopping for some reason, lost a pair of £80 sunglasses, ripped the fuck outta my clothes on fences n nettles, and my arms are full of scratches n grazes)

Basically I regularly make a nuisance of myself and live to regret it. Better than dying and not bein able to regret it though.
 
ys. said:
Did you continue to practice in the meantime? Someone I know said that it can sometimes be a bit strange to play in a band again if you haven't done so for a while. Getting used again to personal dynamics and so on.
As for me, outside of gaming I guess that music is one of my main hobbies. From playing music to recording, mixing, mastering. Trying to bring a vision to "tape" (as much as possible) is challenging but interesting I think. Though I also do this partly as work so it's maybe more of an interest/activity in general?
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Well, I did give lessons last year which is not quite the same... but I can't tell yet whether it's weird or not. I did not play in a band in a long time... around 9 years, but I did jam with people here and there and it still worked. Also, I only played with the new band once but the chemistry seems to be working - you know, looking at each other at some point and everyone knows that this is now the end of the song after the next 4 beats. So even though I may have "rusted" a little when it comes to drumming in bands, I don't think it will take long to get back into the flow.

Also, what do you play? You said you do mixing and mastering but also playing. What instruments?
 
I gotta get back into making music. I have a project with a friend to try and release a homebrew Dreamcast game to the community and we've been slacking hard on it...
 
I practice historical fencing, though since I've been working so much I haven't really gone to practice in like 2 months.

I've been meaning to get back into unarmed martial arts. I was looking into sambo, BJJ, and Bang Muay Thai. Ideally, I'd like to do all 3 simultaneously, but that's unrealistic both from a logistics standpoint (only the BJJ place is close and the other two are a 30 minute drive on a good day) and a training acclimatization standpoint (can't jump from training 1 day a week to 5-6 instantly).
 
Started to play an instrument. I have been playing since I was 12, but got proper lessons and noticed that my playing improved by 20 fold. I have developed bad habits over the years and now am focussing on breaking them.
 
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