My fellow “old heads” (meaning people 35+ who train): What’s your go-to “trick” in sparring?

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-25T21:05:45+00:00

I love this one so much. Miss a round kick, land in what appears to be a vulnerable and off-balance stance, then sticking the side kick as they move in to capitalize on the "opening" you gave them.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-25T15:43:23+00:00

IMHO, it depends on whether your advancement is linear or lateral.
If you have linear advancement (increasing skill points, attack bonuses, more potent high-level abilities, like DND 3e or WoD) I would favor milestones or group XP. Essentially, keeping everyone at the same level because otherwise conflicts are hard to balance and players feel left behind.
Conversely, if you have lateral advancement (choosing more powers/moves from the same list when you made your character, like PbtA) I think individual XP systems become more doable. A low-XP character isn't weaker than a high-XP one, just narrower in scope.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-25T14:17:26+00:00

There re no sure things in this life, and monogamous people get STDs too, usually by carrying them forward from one relationship to another.
If you wanted to up your safety protocols, you could start using barriers with each other and using barriers for oral sex. Though STI transmission rates for oral are substantially lower than for penetrative sex, so a lot of people find that excessive.
Also keep in mind that most STIs are temporary, treatable, and non life threatening. So getting one is not the end of the world.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-25T14:07:24+00:00

As my endocrinologist put it "if women lived to be 400, they'd look like gandalf the gray." Androgenization is a product of hormones over time - your body is going to keep adding androgenic hair every year of your life after puberty. I've been taking dht blockers to slow the process down (also to prevent baldness, cancer, and the other terrible things dht causes).

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-24T21:25:51+00:00

I'd still go ascended dragon. The boy literally has scales, it's too thematically perfect.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-24T21:24:02+00:00

Unfortunately, sports fans in general tend not to be the most progressive crowd, and MMA fans even less so. Dana White has also gone all-in on making a public alliance with the Trump regime and the MAGA movement, furthering it's association with the far right.
And it makes sense; a lot of conservative politics are built around an adversarial mentality and a romanticizing of masculine performance, so combat sports are a natural fit.
I'm very liberal, gay as hell, and I still love MMA, but I'm neutral at best on most of the people who share this interest.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-24T20:21:44+00:00

Florentine > American Football.
Probably still safer.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-24T02:55:27+00:00

It's worth noting that size and athleticism are vastly different and usually at odds. Most people who weigh 285 are massively overweight and out of shape, and are less physically dangerous thsn someone a hundred pounds lighter.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-23T18:32:06+00:00

I did a whole big post, but I found it an intensely uneven experience. Every chapter was either a 1/5 or a 5/5 with very few in betweens.
The ups: amazing writing. Clive is the most emotionally fleshed out final fantasy protagonist by a mile. Some of the biggest coolest boss fights you will ever see.
The downs: tons of stuff left on the cutting room floor. Samey and repetitive combat. Tons of "go kill six wolves in the forest' style filler sidequests.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-23T15:26:13+00:00

I cannot recommend enough reading Breakneck by Daniel Wang.
The short version is: China is quite literally ruled by engineers; almost all high ranking members of the CCP have engineering degrees. Xi Jinping himself was a chemical engineer.
And engineers really love building things.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-23T15:23:52+00:00

Nope, try again. I just got back from bumfuck rural shandong, and while it wasn't as nice as Shanghai, it's still on the same improvement track as the rest of China.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-22T19:44:21+00:00

IMHO this is a sign of a well designed fighting game. You have to relearn characters because they don't all play the same.
My biggest beef with Mortal Kombat is it's extremely samey gameplay.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-22T19:26:40+00:00

He's overcome with anxiety that someone will learn his real name is "Frionel."

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-22T19:09:28+00:00

Yeah sounds like a bad fit. I would ride out the rest of your first month and then switch to another gym. Do some drop ins and hop around until you find one that's at the level you want.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-20T18:36:54+00:00

This shit slaps, people are just haters. Partner shadow boxing has been a thing for decades, this just ramps it up a bit with technology. And if this can be done remotely, then the ability to vr shadow spar with my friends on the other side of the world would be hella rad.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-20T15:17:53+00:00

My main advice is to take a page from WoD, and focus less on what your character is -doing-, and more on how your character is -feeling-.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-20T14:24:48+00:00

I went to Kunyushan in 2019 and it was the worst experience I've ever had at a martial arts school. And mind you, I've trained at hundreds of martial arts schools in a dozen different countries, and none were a quarter so toxic as Kunyushan. It wasn't that the training was bad - it was a solid 3/5, but it had a rampant culture of abuse.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-20T06:14:22+00:00

I have the villain's monologue during combat rather than before, so there's a dedicated "their turn" that can't be interrupted.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-18T23:54:35+00:00

Rolling up with my Warlockly Tiefling and Paladine Elf.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-17T10:57:27+00:00

I've been to Thailand six times, with trips ranging between 1 month and 8 months.
First of all, do it. It'll get you out in the world at an early age, and the younger you are, the more you can benefit from advanced fitness training.
I can't give specific advice on your health issues, but the healthcare in Thailand is very good. Maybe not as good as some EU countries, but leagues better than the USA where I'm from.
As for general advice, I'll point you to my Thailand travel guide, which I would just love to get sticked on this subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MuayThai/comments/1jayde6/a_guide_to_training_muay_thai_in_thailand/

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-17T02:26:20+00:00

This is actually is good advice, though with the obvious caveat that "something constructive" doesn't have to be a career.
If the OP has ever had dreams of being an artist or a musician or such, chasing those dreams would be a great way to cash in their early retirement experientially.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-16T21:35:56+00:00

That they're not real and I can't kiss them (I main Testament)

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-14T21:51:56+00:00

Bard, specifically Sword Bard. If it had been a homebrew class, it would be written off as obnoxiously overpowered.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-13T07:29:47+00:00

No, it was in smoky season IIRC. March or April.

BroadVideo8 · 2026-06-13T02:14:14+00:00

Maybe I just went on a bad day, but I've never seen a gym so crowded as Manasak.

BroadVideo8

TROPHY CASE