What have you recently been passionate about?

[Zen Bard]

Martial arts.

Been dappling with various disciplines since I was a kid but in the last few years have taken it up seriously.

What style of Martial Arts have you been training with?

Krav Maga, currently.

Was also doing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for a year or so but sadly the gym where I as doing it went down the crapper. Currently looking for somewhere else I can take it up again.

Very cool! I trained in Muay Thai for several years and the Krav Maga guys were the only folks who could out-brutal me when sparring. Very practical, no-nonsense art. Mad respect.

Segue to OT:

Now I'm practicing Kung Fu, which is my current passion. That and getting my music side-business up and running again.

 

[Chanticoblues]

For film, I've become a bit interested in Korean film. Partly because I don't like what it's become, and think what it was (particularly in the 80's), was really beautiful and interesting.

Which ones would you recommend?

Out of curiosity, what is it you don't like about modern Korean films? Maybe it's too broad a question.

I'm still exploring, but I'd definitely recommend films by Im Kwon-Taek, who I think is a lot gentler and more interested in his country's relationship with the past than a lot of other filmmakers from Korea. Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left For the East? is another interesting film from that time, but I haven't seen it in a while. I've heard good things about a number of filmmakers from this era and they seem like a lot more my speed than what's going on right now.

I guess if I were to recommend anything from Korea, it'd probably be The Housemaid and Obaltan, because you can kind of see what their cinema is built on. Both films are socially minded, feel-bad genre films, and probably the two biggest 'classics' in the country. I just sort of feel like the more recent filmmakers have become fixated on the more unsavory or violent parts of these films without carrying any of the meaning behind them. Any film that does incorporate anything halfway important just use it as a guise for bloodshed (films like Haemoo, or The Yellow Sea for example).

Lee Chang-Dong deserves credit for making a couple of really great contemporary dramas, Bong Joon-Ho deserves credit for being the only genre filmmaker in the country who approaches his subject matter with sincerity even if I think only about half of his movies actually hit their mark, and then there's Hong Sang-Soo, who's probably the best the country has to offer and that's probably because he's the least typically Korean filmmaker working today. The guy basically makes personal films that are heavily inspired by French work.

So there's stuff I do like, but I've been hearing that "there's a great Korean thriller" every other month for a decade or so, and nearly every time I don't agree.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Feeling really good since my oldest hobby mistress, tabletop RPG's, got a shot in the arm with a new Feng Shui game and the group with it. Been a while since i've actually had any passion for my old love, and glad to have it back.

 

[crimsonspear4D]

I've always wanted to create my own monstergirl encyclopedia like Kenkou Cross's "M.G.E." and Okayado's "Monster Girls" universes, but with the girls as powerful, feral, savage, sex-crazed female monsters (exactly like how regular monsters are portrayed in hentai) rather than docile, weak-willed waifu trash for beta male otakus. It'd have profiles, in-depth cultural and species information, artistic depictions - the works. Unfortunately, the scale for such an undertaking is enormous, not only financially but mentally and physically. As of now it's a personal project by me, for me, so there's little reason to be too passionate about it.

 

[Zhukov]

Martial arts.

Been dappling with various disciplines since I was a kid but in the last few years have taken it up seriously.

What style of Martial Arts have you been training with?

Krav Maga, currently.

Was also doing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for a year or so but sadly the gym where I as doing it went down the crapper. Currently looking for somewhere else I can take it up again.

Very cool! I trained in Muay Thai for several years and the Krav Maga guys were the only folks who could out-brutal me when sparring. Very practical, no-nonsense art. Mad respect.

Thanks.

I don't have any experience with Muay Thai. My lumbering carcass doesn't have the flexibility for it. Knew a bunch of guys who did it though, mostly amateur MMA types. They could pull off some impressive shit. Was always particularly impressed with what they could do in a clinch where more traditional strikers would be at a loss.

 

[Zen Bard]

Thanks.

I don't have any experience with Muay Thai. My lumbering carcass doesn't have the flexibility for it. Knew a bunch of guys who did it though, mostly amateur MMA types. They could pull off some impressive shit. Was always particularly impressed with what they could do in a clinch where more traditional strikers would be at a loss.

I hear you. I actually chose Muay Thai because I have all the flexibility of a piece of rebar. We didn't bother with super high kicks as any kick above the gut was considered superfluous. That's what hands and elbows are for.

It's also why I'm getting my clock routinely cleaned in Kung Fu sparring! Those kids are lightening quick with their high kicks so it's tough to close distance effectively. And that nerfs my main tools (like knee strikes in a clinch).