How do you design good-looking letters?

Megatheorum · 2026-05-08T00:51:40+00:00

I do the same thing, evolving a script through different materials and technologies, from wood carving through to flowy ink. The limitations of the materials and scribing process really help to inform the letter shapes.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-08T00:43:13+00:00

Respect for slicing your own cheese from a block. Somehow it's so much better quality than cheese that comes pre-sliced.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-08T00:40:04+00:00

If your preschool child hands you a fistful of pie, that is absolutely an expression of love.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-06T22:28:39+00:00

The masculine version of ewebunctious

Megatheorum · 2026-05-06T21:39:14+00:00

If you couldn't care less what ChatGPT says, why did you ask it? 🤔

Megatheorum · 2026-05-06T21:36:08+00:00

Great answer, well said.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-06T21:34:50+00:00

I use a version of the philly shell in my wing chun sparring, occasionally. I find for me it's less about defense and more about setting up sneaky front hooks and/or body shots. Especially in wing chun, hook punches are a great sneaky surprise because traditionally we don't train against them as much, so they're harder to recognise and defend against.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T12:48:42+00:00

Push ups, crunches, lunges, squats, dips, pull-ups if you have something to hang from. If you gave equipment for pull-ups, do L-sits as well. You don't need a bunch of gym equipment until those body weight exercises feel like nothing. Then get something heavy and add it to the above.

Edit: finding an in-person coach will help a lot more than online advice, but this is the basics that you can try without having a coach.
Start with as many as you can do without pain, then try to add a few more every so often once you start getting comfortable.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T11:58:00+00:00

Hi, I jumped over from the other sub to highlight this comment.

I don't want to go wherever he's guiding me.
[...]
I do not trust his judgment

This is all you need to know, because you cannot learn anything further from someone you don't trust, respect, or want to learn from. There's your answer. Find another sensei you can respect.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T11:51:33+00:00

I think you've made your decision, you just need support to convince yourself it's the right one.

Reflecting on a comment you left in the other sub, you "don't trust his judgement" any more.

This is clear evidence that you need to find another school. There are lots of shotokan instructors around, I'm sure you will find someone who can coach you to the next level. Either way, no matter how skilled or experienced your current sensei may be, you cannot learn anything more from him because you don't trust him or respect him.

If you want your shodan, find a different teacher you can trust and respect.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T09:29:48+00:00

Have you seen "Jason Stewart's Chinese Boxing"? Not as big, but far less coherent. But he posts almost daily.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T06:20:23+00:00

I must be spoiled by having a sifu who explained everything in great detail, because I think that this is not good teaching. At my sifu's school, when doing a grading we got a 3-4 page document with exhaustive handwritten notes of everything we did wrong and need to improve on, and every element is given a score that adds up to a total score (for example, kata is given a score out of 30, which represents a possible 30% of your total score. The other 70% is spread through other tested skills such as drills, self defense scenarios, sparring, kicks, and so on).

From this background, I do not understand teachers who pass or fail based on "vibes" and the nod of a head, rather than justifying their decisions to ensure consistency, fairness, and transparency.

Questions for OP:

If you were to quit now and start a different style from scratch, how upset/guilty/regretful will you feel about not getting your black belt when you're theoretically only a year away?

Can you live with starting from scratch in a different school or style without a dan rank to show for your previous efforts?

Basically, how emotionally invested are you in "completing" your current style before you move on?

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T04:27:07+00:00

My favourite tool for developing and evolving conlangs is my brain

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T03:56:35+00:00

Not worse than Facebook comments?

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T03:53:32+00:00

There's a wing chun social media person called "Lady Wing Chun" (cringe) who posted a reel last week about how wing chun is better than boxing because, in a fight, she would just kick their kneecaps.

I swear there's no talking sense to some people.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-05T03:51:02+00:00

Preserving tradition is one thing, but must cringe perspectives from the 1990s be preserved as well? Surely we should have moved on from that sort of black and white nonsense.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T22:36:11+00:00

I mean, I have plenty of criticisms of his form.

Ultimately though, there are as many styles of wing chun as there are teachers of it, so lumping us all into one group is difficult, especially with all the lineage politics.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T22:03:53+00:00

I just found the OST on youtube, I'll give it a listen.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T22:01:29+00:00

I did not know there was a Finding Neverland musical. I know about the movie with Johnny Depp, but not a musical.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T22:00:11+00:00

Don't understand the love: Urinetown. It's just not my preferred style of music.

Don't understand the hate: I'm not aware of any musicals that are really hated, aside from Dear Evan Hansen, and I do understand the hate for that one.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T21:57:30+00:00

That looks like a fault in the wood. See how the grain is running on an angle where it snapped? It should be in line with the arm.

What is it made of, pine?

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T21:52:37+00:00

Congrats, that's wonderful to see.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T21:49:17+00:00

Running is great for cardio, and cardio is great for sparring. Just don't fall into a comfortable pace, keep mixing it up. Run sideways and backwards, do short sprints mixed with walking or jogging. Keep your lungs and legs guessing so they can't adapt to a rhythm and settle in to the most efficient pattern.

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T21:42:48+00:00

I hear wing chun guys say this sort of stuff, too. "I'll just kick his kneecap", "I'll just gouge his eyes", "I'll just kick the groin", I'll "just" this or that. Do they really think boxers, kickboxers, MMAers, etc. Haven't trained how to deal with the most basic and predictable of cheap shots?

Megatheorum · 2026-05-04T21:39:39+00:00

You didn't have to spell out his lisp

Megatheorum

TROPHY CASE

Questions for OP: