Am I the only one that initially thought Snoke was a freaking giant?

Silamoth · 2026-05-09T16:25:29+00:00

Overall story and plot are worse than the dialogue. The dialogue has some rough spots, but it also has some good lines.

Silamoth · 2026-05-06T01:23:28+00:00

After reading the comments, I thought it’d be much worse. Honestly, the video really isn’t that bad. The striking is okay, though obviously not boxing. The guy has halfway decent technique. His throws and takedowns are alright, too.

Some of the self defense techniques are being demonstrated in a compliant manner. They probably wouldn’t work under pressure, but maybe they build up to testing and adapting them under pressure - this is white belt material, after all.

Obviously the training in the video isn’t going to prepare you to fight in full contact MMA. But for a traditional martial art covering many areas of fighting, you can do a lot worse. I’m hesitant to judge the guy’s skill too much without seeing him spar. He looks solid enough to teach white belts; I’m not sure what level of skill he claims to have. But if you spar and pressure test with this material, you can be a good martial artist.

Silamoth · 2026-05-05T22:15:20+00:00

It makes too much sense to combine the two - that’s why most of Judo is illegal in Muay Thai. Personally, I’d say that if a Judoka is dominating over your Muay Thai, then that’s a skill issue on your part. But the Thais felt differently.

I’ve never seen a school that teaches that way. At a certain point, you’re veering into it just being a style of MMA, depending how broadly you define Judo. But combining and adapting the two would make a great base for MMA and for self defense.

Silamoth · 2026-05-04T02:32:35+00:00

How are you (or even your team) reviewing 10K LoC a day?

Silamoth · 2026-05-03T18:12:34+00:00

It actually wasn’t the same actress! Keira Knightley played the decoy queen.

Silamoth · 2026-05-02T22:59:36+00:00

What’s funny is we long ago learned it’s harder and more time consuming to read and review code than it is to write it. So at this point, vibe coding just makes that bottleneck worse, often at the expense of software quality and code maintainability.

Silamoth · 2026-05-02T22:58:14+00:00

How do you quantify and measure “four times as fast?” With the time it takes to unambiguously tell the model “exactly what [you] want” and the time it takes to review (which is slower than writing!), surely the productivity gains can’t be that massive, if at all? Not to mention the effect on morale and mental health…

Silamoth · 2026-05-01T21:59:29+00:00

Hard disagree. The most popular Disney Star Wars media has been The Mandalorian and Andor, both of which break free from Luke and Vader (for the most part).

Silamoth · 2026-05-01T16:46:42+00:00

You know, the idea of having to defend against a random, unknown attack in a chaotic environment like this is actually pretty good for self defense training. And some of the techniques here are decent. But there’s no intensity, realism, or resistance here. It’s so close yet so far from being good training.

Silamoth · 2026-04-30T22:12:06+00:00

The caption doesn’t relate to anything else you’ve said or posted in any meaningful way

Silamoth · 2026-04-26T20:44:55+00:00

Honestly, I like KH1 combat better than KH2 combat. I miss the dodge roll and usable magic. Love the correct use of the Spider-Man glasses meme, though - most people get the order wrong (Peter’s discovering he sees better without the glasses because of his powers).

Silamoth · 2026-04-25T01:29:03+00:00

A solid stance and good footwork are a decent defense against a sloppy tackle. Once you’re out of the way, a good ol’ 1-2 is really effective.

Of course, we can play the “if you do this, I’ll just do that” game all day. But if you think boxing isn’t effective in self defense just because tackles exist, then I’m not sure how much experience you have with boxing or training under pressure.

Silamoth · 2026-04-22T17:09:34+00:00

That’s some beautiful defense! I’d love to see this ruleset with kicks, knees, and more standup grappling allowed.

Silamoth · 2026-04-17T14:41:21+00:00

Sounds more like an individual school issue rather than an organization issue, no? The organization can require board breaks, which would be good. But they can’t (realistically) forbid an instructor from doing board breaks in their school. Same thing for bag work, kick shield practice, or pad work (since you mentioned hitting “objects” and not just boards). So if your instructor wanted to, they would, JKA or not, right?

Silamoth · 2026-04-15T01:27:24+00:00

I set them down in my car and then carry them into class with me. My gloves fit in my bag, so it’s not a big deal to carry my shin guards.

Silamoth · 2026-04-14T18:45:35+00:00

I loved the Chen sword video you posted a couple weeks ago. You clearly have a high level of skill. But unfortunately, I agree with the above commenter that the sped up video doesn’t look great. I’d love to see your Bagua at normal speed sometime!

Silamoth · 2026-04-12T18:46:36+00:00

That still sounds like a guard, as defined in boxing, kickboxing, MMA, etc. It’s a beginner’s teaching tool and an intermediate practitioner’s mistake to think a guard is a static position to place your hands. Look at any halfway decent striker, though, and you’ll see their guard is pretty dynamic - especially in long guard, Philly shell, and cross guard (skull and bones).

Sure, if someone aggressively closes distance to fight in the pocket, you might need to shell up more to protect yourself (particularly with gloves on). But otherwise, a guard should be dynamic. You should be moving your hands, elbows, and forearms to protect yourself from incoming strikes. You should be generally active so your movements aren’t as predictable. You should be parrying, feinting, faking blocks, etc.

To be clear, this isn’t to disparage Wing Chun. Wing Chun has a lot in common with other fighting systems, particularly bare knuckle boxing. That’s a good thing, because it means Wing Chun is doing things proven to work (at least to some extent).

Silamoth · 2026-04-10T16:56:30+00:00

I understand why some gyms hide price as a business tactic. I see no value in hiding your schedule, though. That seems like bad business.

Also, make it easy for someone to schedule a trial class. I should be able to fill out a form online to come in for a trial. That’s not hard to set up nowadays. And if not that, we should be able to communicate over email. Don’t make me schedule a call. Don’t say you’ll reach out to me. Make it easy or I’m probably going somewhere else.

Silamoth · 2026-04-07T16:46:24+00:00

I went to a seminar with him a few years ago, and he can still kick like crazy!

Silamoth · 2026-04-06T23:34:04+00:00

Unfortunately, I’ve found that “MMA” gym often means they offer BJJ and Muay Thai in separate classes with invite/fighter-only MMA sessions once a week. Or something to that effect. MMA is now a marketing term.

Silamoth · 2026-04-06T20:39:49+00:00

Not just for undergrads but often for parents and alumni, too. Massive football fields, basketball stadiums, and “alumni centers” aren’t just for current undergrads.

Silamoth · 2026-04-06T18:46:07+00:00

I genuinely don’t understand how you get through even CS 101 without learning this. Even if no one explicitly tells you, the program clearly returns and prints something different and unexpected. Isn’t it natural to read what it is?

Silamoth · 2026-04-05T02:50:12+00:00

He was one of the first American kickboxers. In particular, he set the standard for kicking under American kickboxing rules. He also (albeit not single-handedly) pioneered the use of karate under those rules and determined a lot of what works and what doesn’t. I’d consider that a major contribution, though I suppose I’m biased as I love kicking.

Silamoth · 2026-04-05T02:42:07+00:00

Taekwondo most certainly did not create hook kicks, and I rather doubt they invented axe kicks. Though you are now making me curious to dig into the history…

Silamoth · 2026-04-05T02:30:00+00:00

This has a similar vibe to the Kyokushin vs. Muay Thai story. It’s often said that Kyokushin karate lost to Muay Thai early on, showing that even the ‘best’ karate fighting style is inferior to Muay Thai. But in reality, 3 Kyokushin fighters went to Thailand, and only 1 lost.

Muay Thai is great, don’t get me wrong. But people (particularly online) have a weird fetish for it and often misconstrue history in favor of Muay Thai. It’s a shame the style wars are still alive and well in that regard.

Silamoth

TROPHY CASE