Martial Arts Reddit

50 Cent once has claimed that he can beat Floyd Mayweather in a fight due to his harsh upbringing, street fighting experience, amateur boxing skills (50 Cent has learned boxing since he was 11 years old) and the fact that he survived being shot 9 times. Let's imagine that Floyd accepted the challenge and took 50 Cent's offer to fight him.

To make the fight more competitive, both 50 Cent and Floyd would be in their prime for this exact fight.

Physical stats: 50 Cent is 6'1" tall and weights ~207 lbs. Floyd Mayweather is 5'8" tall and weights ~155 lbs.

Round 1: pro boxing match. Standard boxing rules, 12 rounds.

Round 2: pro MMA fight in the octagon. Unified mixed martial arts rules. 5 rounds.

Round 3: 1 v. 1 street fight in the backyard on the grass, "Kimbo Slice" style. No rules. Winning conditions: knockout, submission, incapacitation, refusing to fight anymore or death.

Hi! Could you suggest where /how can I find someone English-speaking to go to the yoga, pool, sauna, horseriding, tennis, hiking, shooting, martial arts etc? I bought a single subscription for all of the above and would going with someone with the same interests in activities + practicing my English.

For context my whole life I have been doing martial arts, recently have taken a four year break but have been back at it for almost a year and a half. Since starting back training under my dad (who teaches) he’s had a new student whose a girl a year younger than me, I’ve never quite thought much of her but all of a sudden have started having dreams, day dreams, visions, you name it of us getting intimate kissing, sometimes doing it if you know what I mean. I don’t know what to think about these dreams so came here for some closure.

Before you ask if I am insane, the answer is yes a thousand times. The reason I chose to write this, is due to the fact that many of my family members and friends think this movie is good. As such, they are allowed to think so, but I do not. I would also like to ask not to hate to much on my grammar, as I do get a bit upset and stop caring. That being said, here are 4500 words of me hating on Kung Fu Panda 4.

To start this analysis, I will just say that this movie is not good. Dreamworks as a studio has done incredible things in the past few years, making strides in stylistic animation and storytelling. In fact, the entire entertainment industry has made leaps and bounds as of late. There are so many great movies now with genuinely memorable plots, heartwarming moments, and tense sequences.

This movie did not live up to my standards. I had incredibly high hopes for KFP4, as the previous three movies had all been masterpieces. Even the third movie in the franchise, which is often agreed upon as the worst of the three movies, was also agreed to be fantastic. The first three were phenomenal works, and this movie felt similar to Boss Baby with its lack of emotion and constant bombardment with jokes. It wasn’t a great movie and was honestly not needed for this franchise. That being said, not everything about this movie was awful. I think that this movie was not bad. It just did not live up to the standard that KFP movies should hold for themselves. That being said, let’s begin with the plot. (To preface, this is sort of a rehashing of what happened with some scattered commentary on things that I did not like)

The plot of the movie fits within the storyline of the past three movies: Po has just ascended to Dragon Warrior and has been granted the Staff of Wisdom from Master Oogway. He loves his position as the Dragon Warrior, but due to Shifu, has to find a successor, which he is reluctant to do. At the peach tree, he spots a fox thief(Zhen) who, after a fight and being arrested, tells Po that there is a new threat to Kung-Fu(The Chameleon), he uses his position to break her out of prison and they go on a mission to defeat said threat. While I believe that this is a good plot in concept, I do not think it was utilized well. Not to mention, the pacing of this story is incredibly bad. Within the first twenty minutes of the movie, you are given an overwhelming amount of information, and you are also given far too many fights, too many poorly placed jokes, and it all feels like watching a YouTube short: You are left quite confused at the end and it all goes by far too quickly. You are never given enough time to digest the information given to you. For example, in KFP2, you are given the details of Shen’s past and then given a great bit of time to digest that information, through a well-placed fight scene, that aside from being choreographed very well, also gives more vague information about Po through the careful placement of a flashback, that also doesn’t reveal too much. This is just an example of the fantastic pacing of KFP movies. Now we must cut back to the pacing of KFP4. In the first scenes of the movie, we first have a scene where Ping and Lee make additions to their shop, then we cut to Po defeating a stingray. After this, we go back to the Jade Palace, where Shifu talks to Po about how he needs to choose a successor as Dragon Warrior. He then gives Po advice that Oogway once gave him, and gives Po a peach pit. Then directly after this, there is a horribly done sequence where he chooses the dragon warrior and picks himself. I hate the first scenes in particular because they have absolutely no buildup. They are all pretty much jump cut or fade out to the next scene, where you are constantly bombarded with new information that you are not given time to digest. While this whole movie is horribly paced, I think that especially the first 20 or so minutes are the worst. However, it does not get much better. After this scene, Po goes to the Peachtree in another jump cut. Here, he thinks about how delusional Shifu must be to think he would choose a successor. Then, we meet Zhen, who is found stealing relics from the Jade Palace. Po and Zhen fight for a while and Po wins, then takes Zhen to prison. This jump cut to the prison is somehow one of the best-paced parts of the movie. Everything else about this scene is questionable. For example, her name isn’t revealed when she is taken to prison, but then later in the movie, Po directly calls her name, though the audience had not been introduced to her before. Back to the prison scene, however. Zhen gets locked in the cell. Po is about to leave, but then hears Zhen say something about a new threat to Kung-Fu called the Chameleon, who masqueraded as Tai Lung. (More about this awfully executed villain later) After some back and forth about how Zhen wouldn’t tell Po details until he let her out, Po ends up giving in and frees Zhen. Shifu spontaneously arrives and Po quickly fills him in and runs off with Zhen to Juniper City. This part in particular does not make a whole lot of sense. Why would Zhen not immediately run away from Po when she was released from jail? It is later revealed that a large reason for Zhen being at the Jade Palace was to trick Po into handing over the Staff of Wisdom. However, he does not use its power in the fight against Zhen and therefore has little reason to believe that he is who she is looking for. This, however, can be overlooked. What cannot be overlooked, is how poorly utilized the staff is in the first place. Po is the dragon warrior, and Oogway has given him the staff. Po has had this staff for likely several months as the Furious Five have gone on their own missions, he helped develop his fathers' restaurant, and he has likely gone on prior missions. That being said, Po uses the staff’s power only 6 times in the movie's duration.(More on this later) Speaking of the movie’s duration, this movie is the one with the shortest run time among the 4 KFP movies. I think this movie was far too dense with information, and would have benefitted from 10 to even 30 more minutes of run time. In fact, I think it would have benefited by being split into two parts. Obviously, some rewriting would have to be done, and some more details would have to be added, but the central plot would not have to make a drastic change. That being said, on the trip to Juniper City, Po has a vision. This part I like for its small snippet of animation and nothing else. I always have loved the 2-dimensional, almost paper look to the animation of flashbacks, visions, and important background information. This, however, I do not think was properly utilized. It was bad with the information it gave regarding the Chameleon. It essentially said that if you do not stop the Chameleon, bad things will happen. This was evident, as they are not exactly a very nice person. This scene would be fine if the villain was actually menacing and well-written, but this flashback scene is completely overwritten when we first see the Chameleon. The only “menacing” thing that we see her do is crash a meeting and throw a bear down a flight of stairs. This scene completely destroyed any chance the character had to be a good villain. This is also a recurring issue in this movie. Any moment that is supposed to be serious, emotional, or fear-inducing, is just completely muffled by a bad joke that is out of place and unwelcome. That being said, there is one part of this movie that was consistently funny and that I enjoyed quite a lot. Many of the scenes with Ping and Lee are genuinely funny and filled with a surprising amount of emotion for essentially being extras in this movie. I love their chemistry and shared love for their son which makes these scenes filled with an amazing amount of personality. Not to mention that many of the jokes in these scenes are actually quite funny and not just yelling, awkward moments, or Po being fat(which of course can be funny but in this movie was not very funny). All of the scenes with Po, in contrast to these, are not funny. Regardless, we return to Po and Zhen. The next event is when they come across a tavern on the top of a cliff. This scene is the strangest due to its first use of the Staff of Wisdom. When they reach the tavern, they enter and are confronted by pretty much the whole tavern after Zhen is caught cheating at Mahjong. I think that this scene was quite misplaced, and was more of a showcase of the Staff of Wisdom’s abilities, which by the way, is only used to push the plot forward, instead of actually being used by Po when he is in need. The staff is pretty much only used when the plot NEEDS to move on. That being said, they get on a boat with an Arowana who lives in his adoptive pelican mother’s mouth. I actually liked this character for its funny concept, but he isn't relevant to the story, and just something I liked. When they get to Juniper City, Po realizes that Zhen is a wanted criminal. They then get chased through the town by police and escape through a vent to the Thieves Den. I don’t like this part as it is not really a fight. It is more of a chase sequence with none of the fighting that KFP movies are supposed to be about. For example, even in KFP 2, where there was a chase in Gongmen City, there was still at least some martial arts. But in this chase, it felt a bit too mute. This is passable, however. Next, the two friends fall into the den. I believe that this part was underutilized and did not give enough backstory to either the Chameleon or Zhen. The bunnies were funny though. The only value that the Thieves' Den serves is to introduce Po to the people who help defeat the Chameleon. Additionally, this scene felt like a place to jam-pack jokes so that there is more engagement with the younger audience. I also think that the thieves need more of a reason to spare Zhen than just being stupid. The whole reason Zhen lives is because of Po’s failure to give good advice, and it all boils down to the thieves just being stupid. Now, I don’t pride KFP on its realism, but I think that thieves would be smarter than not understanding simple language. This is not to say that this is an unnecessary part, but rather one that could use much more refinement and elaboration, as well as some actual meaning. After this, Zhen and Po go see Han(a pangolin in the Thieves’ Den) who tells Zhen they have to leave by dawn. So they leave the next morning to the Chameleon’s palace. When they arrive at a grate, Po gives Zhen the peach pit from his lecture with Shifu. I like this as it represents one of the main themes of this movie, which is that change is difficult but good will come of it. It also foreshadows Zhen’s change after she betrays Po(More on this later). When they come to the other side of the grate, they are in a sort of courtyard filled with the chameleon’s army which are all asleep. Here we see where Dreamworks makes all of its money. They added a fart joke to Kung Fu Panda. This is sacrilege and I will not stand for it. Keep your corporate, Boss Baby, no-emotion humor out of my fat panda movie. Anyways, this fart awakens the army and Po and Zhen jump through some obstacles to run away from them, inadvertently getting Po trapped under a magically reinforced cage. When Zhen tries to help Po out of the cage, it does not work, and Po gives the Staff of Wisdom to Zhen to prop the cage up so he can get out. Zhen, however, does not help him, and it is instead revealed that Zhen’s goal was to take the staff from Po the whole time and that Zhen works for the Chameleon. The Chameleon comes out of the shadows and takes the staff from Zhen, now allowing the Chameleon to open a portal to the Spirit Realm, and thus take the Kung Fu of all of the Kung Fu masters that have come before. Po breaks the ground under the cage and fights off the Chameleon’s army. He then escapes out some doors where we see the Chameleon imitating Zhen, then throwing Po off of a cliff. The real Zhen shows up too late and regrets her actions. Then we see Po hanging on to a branch, then being saved by none other than Ping and Lee. They sit on a rooftop and Po’s fathers gives him some advice, after which he goes to face the Chameleon alone. After this, we cut to the Chameleon taking the Kung Fu of Tai Lung in a very well-done fight sequence before imprisoning him. This scene in particular adds some menace to the Chameleon, but it was truly needed much earlier in the movie. On his way to the Chameleon’s palace, he reunites with the real Zhen, who tries to stop Po from getting killed. Then there is an awful rendition of the scene between Tigress and Po in the second movie with Po and Zhen. This scene is disappointing. No other words need be uttered. Po goes to face the Chameleon alone, and Zhen thinks he will die, so she goes to get help from the Thieves’ Den, who once again, only help due to their misunderstanding of wisdom and stupidity. Po then arrives at the chamber where the Chameleon has taken the Kung Fu of many masters, and there is a face-off between the two forces. They exchange some punches. Once the Thieves’ Den has made it to the palace and is fighting the army, Zhen sneaks into the chamber. This is where Zhen interrupts the fight between the two of them. This fight goes on for a while, and while it is well done, I think it lasts a bit too long for the climax of the fight to happen, which is when the Chameleon morphs into this amalgamation that includes many Kung Fu masters. Po gets a hold of the staff, and hits the Chameleon with the staff’s powers, then, the Chameleon constructs a cage around Po, trapping him. Then Zhen steps in, takes Po’s staff one more time, this time with full intent on helping Po, and uses the staff’s powers to knock the Chameleon down again, for what seems like the last time. Po then somehow magically appears outside the cage. After some celebration and a small bit of buildup, the Chameleon leaps at Po for one last time, and Po reacts, using the staff to truly defeat her, and give back the Kung Fu to the imprisoned masters in the nearby cages. Po then sends them back to the Spirit Realm and Zhen and Po go home. They discuss with Shifu about Zhen being the Dragon Warrior and Shifu runs off angry. One thing that shows up multiple times in this movie is when the voices are in different peoples’ heads and are personified with little images. I hated these parts, and they were consistently cringe and bad. I do not think that any of that was necessary and it does not fit within the animation style of KFP. I am saying this because Shifu had one of these moments and I am upset about it.

This is where the analysis of the plot mostly ends, but in later parts, I will be talking more about the plot and things that could have been improved.

Many of the characters in this movie felt bland and unimportant. Even the main focuses of the movie felt like they had no arc and that's not even mentioning the lack of emotional maturity in this movie. It completely lacks what makes KFP movies great: good compelling characters with actual arcs. That being said, let's talk about the character with the strangest arc.

Po, as the main character, obviously should have the most complete arc. Although his arc had been complete, it was also such a boring arc, and so incredibly uninteresting. His arc had no points to it. Po’s character arc is coming from being stubborn(not wanting to give up his position as the Dragon Warrior) to choosing a successor. Another arc that Po experiences is about how trusting he is, as conveyed through Zhen. We will start with the first arc. Po’s arc in choosing a successor is not very interesting. Po is stubborn, and then he meets Zhen. They fight and then go on a quest to defeat the chameleon. They go to the palace where Po gives the peach pit, Zhen betrays Po, then Zhen apologizes, then Zhen gets Po some help through the den. They fight off Big Bad, then trust each other completely and totally, so much so to the point where Po thinks Zhen is ready to be the Dragon Warrior. None of this arc makes sense, as it all feels like a change on Zhen's part rather than a change on Po’s part. In fact, I am inclined to say that Po never was hesitant in choosing a successor, but rather that he just needed to find someone he could trust with the role. I think that more work could have been done to make this arc believable, and it is honestly a very bad arc. I think this arc really only had one point, and that was when Po gave Zhen the peach pit, but other than that, quite a bit of this felt unnecessary. Po’s other arc was about trust, and this arc was never even completed. Po still trusts everyone the same amount, or at least it would seem. We don’t get an opportunity to see whether Po still has the same amount of naivete after his journey with Zhen. Po’s arcs were underutilized at best and downright non-existent at worst. That being said, let's go to someone with a little bit more of an arc.

Zhen as a character is very annoying, as is to be expected with the often typecast voice actor of Awkwafina, but still. Zhen somehow has the best arc in this film, about when to trust people and how you can hurt people. Zhen’s arc is about putting her values as a criminal behind her and learning to trust people, despite her troubling past. We first see Zhen as quite untrusting, as she knows that she needs to trick Po into giving up the staff. Later, however, she talks to Po about how he is an easy mark and how if he is not careful, he will get hurt, directly foreshadowing how Zhen betrays Po later. They go on, and after several encounters and discussions, Zhen begins to trust Po and realizes that not everyone is out to get you, which is a direct contradiction of what her life during her struggle was like, and her current situation as a criminal. She begins to doubt what the Chameleon has taught her, and what her life in poverty was like. When Po gives Zhen the peach pit, we see her internal conflict, as she knows what she has to do next, even though her values may have changed as a result of Po’s kindness. Then, when Po gets trapped in the cage, Zhen takes the staff and hands it to the Chameleon, showing a great deal of regret, but also acceptance of her wrongdoing towards Po, almost as if she thinks that this is what she has to be. But later, when Po is thrown off the cliff, we see more regret than before, and she questions her values again, even openly to the chameleon. Later, when Zhen and the Chameleon are talking, Zhen inquires about her usefulness to the Chameleon, who says that she is nothing more than a pawn in her game of chess, after which Zhen leaves the palace, with regret weighing her down, as well as thinking that the Chameleon will now be unstoppable. The regret comes back full circle when Zhen meets Po on the bridge and expresses her regret in a poor imitation of a scene between Tigress and Po in the second movie. While less emotionally mature, it does convey Zhen’s change from an untrusting criminal to a more transparent person. Then, when Po goes to fight the Chameleon, Zhen does what a true friend would do, and helps him defeat the Chameleon, even without him asking. Then, in the chamber, Po entrusts Zhen with the staff, once more, but this time, there is no hint of betrayal, Zhen now knows what she needs to do, this time, using the trust Po has given her, to ultimately defeat the Chameleon, thus completing Zhen’s arc. This, I think is the best arc in this film, which is not exactly high praise considering there are only 2 among the 3 sort of main characters. But now the utilization of Zhen. I think that, while being a compelling character, Zhen does not have much else going for her. Zhen does not have much flair and is quite an uninteresting fighter. All of the Kung Fu masters in this franchise have their own unique way of fighting, which the entire third movie gives tribute to. But Zhen just feels like a normal human fighter; there is no interesting gimmick or style to her fighting. Furthermore, she does not even fight a lot. We only see her fighting a couple of times throughout the movie, and both are relatively bland. Fighting style aside, the arc is quite good. Now we move on to the most poorly utilized villain in the franchise.

The Chameleon(who we will now refer to as just Chameleon) has no arc. Chameleon is a purely evil character who does not really have a backstory, other than that Kung Fu Dojos said she was too small and that hurt her feelings, so instead she turned into an evil crime overlord and took over an entire city. If you are the owner of a city, I feel like you could simply control a Kung Fu dojo and make them give you lessons, but that's just me. Or you could just try and teach yourself. Or you could stage an elaborate scheme for your subordinate to befriend a mystical Kung Fu master, steal a staff that opens gates to a spirit dimension, and then use your power to take the Kung Fu of dead masters in that dimension. The third option seems much simpler. This backstory makes absolutely zero sense within the context of Chameleon’s current situation. Then again, the Chameleon is a complete fraud anyway so maybe this is true. If you don’t understand what I mean by that, then let me explain. Chameleon is a villain whose sole ambition is to do something that she has every ability to do, yet she does not. Not only this, but she is a villain without a single ounce of the things that made previous villains in the franchise good. For example, we have Tai Lung, who took on a prison with 1000 guards, one exit, and ballistas aimed at him, using nothing but a feather and his bare hands. Lord Shen had straight up committed genocide against pandas, and fully killed Master Thundering Rhino, who was the leader of a province and one of the greatest Kung Fu masters. Kai killed the creator of Kung Fu and captured the Chi of multiple of the best Kung Fu masters. What did Chameleon do? She shoved a bear down some stairs of course. That is definitely on par with the rest of our cast, 100 percent(This is sarcasm). Chameleon has zero menace and is such a lame villain. Not only this but we can kind of see how lame this villain is in the final fight because she goes down in 3 hits from the staff. I also think she is lame because she doesn’t actually do Kung Fu and therefore has no unique style, much like with Zhen. I think what would have made this movie better was already allowing her to have Kung Fu abilities and instead of being boring and taking the Kung Fu of other masters, she uses her own Kung Fu to take the Kung Fu, Much like Kai in the trilogy. This would make the movie far better in my opinion. She would also benefit from a much better backstory as expressed earlier because the current backstory makes absolutely no sense. Other than all of these roaring red flags she is a fantastic villain(This is once again sarcasm).

There are no leaps and bounds in animation regarding this movie. The lighting looks much better, as is the trend with many movies as of late. But there are not many differences in animation. There is one thing I noticed and I am not sure if this is 100 percent true, but I think that Dreamworks animated the mouths differently than normal. Among these things, there was one thing that the animators said they used that is a cardinal sin for any respectable movie and is a disgrace to Kung Fu Panda. They used AI to animate the Chameleon’s transformation. This is a sin and it cannot be overlooked. I am offended that creative liberty would be overwritten in such a way as to use a cheat code to speed up the production of this already painfully mediocre movie. I will say that the AI doesn't really bother me, as it doesn't take away from the quality.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a disappointment to people all around the world. Many praise Kung Fu Panda for its fantastic performances, again and again over the years, and needless to say, they did not deliver. The KFP franchise is known for its compelling plots, heart-wrenching emotions, and rich characters. But in this movie, the very things that people watch Kung Fu Panda for, are nowhere to be seen. This movie is truly disappointing and I am lowering my hopes for the next installment. 4/10. Do better.

Once again, your own opinions can be had, but if I have been able to convince you that this movie is subpar, then all the better. If you have any objections or disagreements, feel free to voice them. Sorry for wasting your time.

Whenever im in public I feel like I'm going to pass out of because of the dizziness, One time last year I almost did my vision got dark and almost went unconscious I'm doing a martial arts class and find that excersicing with people makes me even more dizzy what are ur recceomnadtions ?

Hello fellow femboys. I've been relatively active on this sub for a while and want to ask.. Am I too weird or not stereotypical enough to be attractive as a femboy.

20M, 5"11, homoflexible. Autistic and now disabled (Fibromyalgia)

I am feminine at heart and want to be as cute as possible, but my genetics, body, and my main goal in life often clash with the typical femboy image. I was really into body building and martial arts before deciding to embrace my femininity and have to deal with a lot of physical bulk, scars, stretch marks, and various other genetic factors that make achieving this goal harder than if I started off as a cute, slim, fairly hairless twink. I have a fairly feminine personality, legs, and face, that's all I've got going for me. I can't work out hard now to loose all the bulk, get slim, ect. My nervous system and legs are rooted. So all I can do is watch my eating, do some light walking a few times per week, have to walk with a cane most of the time, permanently fatigued, ect. I am slowly working on my wardrobe, growing out my hair, and the process most of us go through to go from masculine to fem over a few years. I am also an aspiring Black Metal musician, which really clashes with being a femboy. The genre and scene are not really all that inclusive of LGBT people or gender non-conformity. Not to mention Neo-Nazis and the fact that it is usually a hyper-masculine sausagefest most of the time, I hope I'm eventually proven wrong. As a result of this my path to femininity looks quite different. I feel like I can't wear sexy or hyperfem clothing and that I'm not attractive enough in the typical sense to be a real femboy. When it comes to clothing and how I present as a femboy, I'm pretty subtle and conservative. Baggy band shirts and oversized hoodie to cover up my bulk, leggings, women's jeans, boots, light makeup on important occasions, black nails, currently short androgynous hairstyle, and keeping up with smooth skin and femboy hygiene. Just anything to put focus on my few feminine qualities and hide the masculine ones. I blend dark and edgy with cute as an aesthetic (goth femboy metalhead). I hope one day to be able to look good in crop tops, skirts, thigh-highs and the cuter more fem clothing. I hope if my dream comes true and I end up launching my music career that I can blend femboy fashion with the Black Metal aesthetic and not look like a clusterfuck and be judged based on my music/ not being ostracised or excluded for breaking the stereotypes and what's expected while being on the Black Metal scene. I want to look good in a skirt and corpse paint God damnit. I guess I just can't get my head around the contrast of UwU I'm someone's femboy malewife and the serious, evil looking Black Metal musician. I guess I could do a more fem style of corpse paint and tone down the spikes and leather. Swap it for a cute flowing cloak or something. Sorry for the rambling wall to text, I'm just looking for some support and just trusting the process that I will eventually be cute and feminine all the time with some work, so I can get rid of my body dysphoria.

Hey, new here and interested in trying BJJ. Looking for tips on finding a good gym for beginners. I saw the beginner guide mainly suggested yelp reviews. Any other recs?

I have 2 friends who dabbled in BJJ before ... one went to a gym too far north. The other left for another martial art and didn't like the culture where he learned.

Not looking for anything competitive, and ideally good for beginners with evening classes. Preferably no gi and similar age range - adults (I'm in my 20s).

Any tips? Or if anyone is in NJ, let me know. Based on where I live and work, open to Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean. Thanks!

Ok, so this is pretty wild, but I'm prepping for my very first dnd campaign that I'd be dming, and while I was trying to think up something interesting for the campaign's premise, I thought up a really cool idea: all the players play martial classes and don't use spellcasting. Rather, they have to organically learn about a new, homebrewed magic system to replace the spell slots system.

I've been hammering away at this idea for quite a while, addressing every problem I could think of. It's gone through several different versions, and I thought that I'd write down the most recent iteration of the idea and send it to a couple different DnD homebrew forums to get feedback

This magic system works off of 'Mustering Energy'. The campaign takes place in a world completely devoid of magic, where arcane forces are alien to the people of this world. Suddenly, a black smog begins to overtake the world, with this cloud rotting everything it touches. The only safe places in the world are kingdoms atop high mountains, since this cloud is heavy and sinks to the ground; that is, until the undead begin to scale the mountains, plunging the world into deeper crisis.
Amidst this apocalypse, four adventurers of mysterious backgrounds are inflicted with wounds from strange magical beasts. These wounds infect the players, endangering their lives, but also enchants their bodies, letting them pump magic through them like blood and invoke their powers to bend the elements around them. What is the mystery behind these arcane animals? Where did this dark smog come from? What can be achieved with these mystical abilities our adventurers have obtained, and more importantly, what is the cost? These kinds of questions are the things that I want to use to intruege my players, and the magic system should contribute to answering these questions and, more importantly, building up a good mystery along the way to the answer. Those are my goals with the magic system.

In my story, the magic system is divided into the controlling of 4 elements. But these elements aren't going to be the material elements of fire, water, air, etc. Rather, they're 4 fundamental elements of reality that ensure the laws of physics and such maintain consistent.

• The Element of Energy, also known as the Red Lightning, represents one half of the energy cycle. It controls heat, movement, speed, and the transfer of energies. It manifests as arcing bolts of plasma and electricity, glowing a deep red.
• The Element of Inertia, also known as the Radiant Frost, is the Red Lightning's counterpart, representing the other half of the energy cycle. While Red Lightning is the gain of energy, Radiant Frost is the loss of it. It controls the cold, slowing of objects, the halting of processes, and the calming of energies. It manifests as glowing beams of icy-white light, cold to the touch.
• The Element of Bonding, also known as the Bonding Bubbles (favorite name of the bunch), represents one half of the material cycle. The first two elements represented hot and cold, fire and ice, and the two halves of the energy cycle, but the Element of Bonding represents the cycle that the material world goes through. The Bonding Bubbles control chemical reactions, the bonding of molecules, the mixing of ingredients, fusion of objects and mending of wounds. It manifests itself as viscous blue bubbles, performing alchemy within its soapy interior.
• The Element of Decay, also known as the Decaying Breath, represents the other half of the material cycle, and is the Bonding Bubbles' counterpart. It represents the breaking down of materials, erosion, aging, and death, but also the recycling of resources, the decomposition of dead organisms into nutrient-rich soils, and new life after death. It manifests itself as a black, gaseous smoke, and the dark smog that has descended over the world is made up of this element.

Each of these four elements will basically be a different 'school of magic'. Decaying Breath will have necromancy-inspired abilities, Bonding Bubbles will have some transmutation and abjuration, some healing too, the Red Lightning will have a whole ton of evocation, while Radiant Light also has transmutation and evocation. But they're not specifically bound by these categories, I'm just using the pre-existing DnD schools of magic to sum up what to expect from each element.

OK!! Now that the plot is finally done with, we can get to the actual mechanics of the homebrew!!!!

The main mechanic in this homebrewed magic system will be Mustering Energy Lvls. The players will be able to conjure forth energies from their bodies that would then swirl around their bodies. An Energy Lvl is a representation of the intensity of these energies, with the players getting to choose how many Energy Lvls they put into a spell in order to decide the spell's intensity. You can consider these an expendable resource, like Sorcery Points. However, before a player can use an Energy Lvl, they have to first Muster it. 'Mustering' an Energy Lvl takes a bonus action, and it basically preps the Energy Lvl for use, drawing the energy out of the character's body so that they can cast with it. Finally, once it's spent, a player can regain their Energy Lvls by spending taking the Rest action in combat. Basically, the player voluntarily gives up an action for their turn so that, at the start of their next turn, they'd regain their all their Energy Lvls for future use. This makes the Energy Lvls an infinite resource, as opposed to Spell Slots that need to recharge over long rests. However, it's balanced out by how little Energy Lvls the players will have, the fact that they need to Muster them before they even get to use them, and the fact that they recharge them by wasting an action for a turn.

At higher levels, players not only get more Energy Lvls to spend on their spells, but they also get the ability to Muster multiple Energy Lvls at once. Players can Muster a number of Energy Lvls equal to their Mustering Level, as shown by the below chart. (Also, players only get this spellcasting at Level 3).

|| || |Level|Max Energy Lvls|Mustering Level.| |3|1|1| |4|1|1| |5|2|1| |6|2|1| |7|3|1| |8|3|1| |9|4|2| |10|4|2| |11|5|2| |12|5|2| |13|6|2| |14|6|2| |15|7|3| |16|7|3| |17|8|3| |18|8|3| |19|9|3| |20|9|3|

Ok, so those are Energy Lvls and mustering them. That's how the resource for this magic system works. Onto the application.

In this magic system, I wanted to capture the feeling of a soft magic system in DnD. The resource system of Energy Lvls is very defined, but as for what the Energy Lvls do, I wanted it to be much more free-form. So, I had the plan of not actually showing the statistics of any of the spells to the players. If a spell that they have is "shoot a bolt of lightning that does 3d8 damage", then all I'd tell them about the spell is "you can shoot a bolt of lightning forward", and players would be free to be as creative as they want with what that means and try anything out, y'know. I want it to feel a bit like ATLA, if that makes sense? I'm taking notes from Avatar's bending system and the Kineticist class from Pathfinder.

There's three kinds of spells that can be cast:

1. Class Applications
   1. These are just the abilities granted to the players from the homebrewed subclass. The three classes my players will be playing as, Rogue, Fighter, and Barbarian, are each getting a homebrewed subclass that'll allow them to interact with this magic system, and they have their own unique abilities that they can spend Energy Lvls on. But I won't get into any of that.
2. Martial Applications
   1. These are the pathfinder/ATLA inspired spells. The adventurers would use a series of martial moves to weave their mustered energy together into powerful spells, capable of raining down lightning arrows on enemies, changing the flow of water, etc. These are decently powerful spells that the players can cast whenever they want, with a couple limitations. Because it requires trained movements, players cannot cast these spells while restrained in any way. Not only that, but some spells not only cost Energy Lvls to cast, but also some movement, and others require you to succeed acrobatics, performance, or athletics checks in order to succeed on casting them. Throughout the campaign, players will learn new martial arts techniques that broaden the kind of spells they're able to cast, allowing the players to gain a feeling of progression as they train themselves to be capable of casting more spells. I'll start players off with really simple Martial Applications. The first spell they'll ever get to cast will just be them extending their hand and firing a single, simple bolt of energy forward. From there, the sky's the limit as to what their character can do with their magic martial arts.
3. Crafted Applications
   1. In stark contrast with the martial-arts focused Martial Applications are the science-focused Crafted Applications. The different elements wielded by the player characters will each have vastly different effects on the environment depending on the materials that they interact with. Red lightning will burn paper, Radiant Frost will freeze water, etc. Players can take advantage of this by putting many different material components, like herbs, crystals, and precious metals together as ingredients to form a resource called Spell Pouches. The spells that are castable thanks to Crafted Applications are incredibly powerful and do not face the risk of failing to cast via a failed athletics check or anything like that. In exchange for this, it's as if every spell has a resource to cast unique to itself. These Spell Pouches that would let them cast these powerful spells are a resource that isn't regained over longrests, and instead have to be purchased, crafted, or found, becoming a resources as precious as potions or magic items. Usually, players will just be fighting with their basic melee combat and martial applications, saving these powerful Spell Pouches in the backs of their pockets for when they really need them.

The actual spell lists for Martial Applications and Crafted Applications are still works in progress, so I can't display them here. I want to get some feedback on these ideas before I get too deep in these spell lists. What parts of this homebrew do you like? Do you think it achieves the goals I set out to achieve? What are parts that could be improved, and how? Are there any things that need clarification? Please, I desperately need help!!

TL;DR: I'm going to run a campaign where the players are being introduced to a whole new homebrewed magic system that they know nothing about, and will have to learn about the magic system and new spells as it goes on. Players use a resource called Energy Lvls instead of spell slots, which must be prepared with a bonus action before use and can be regained through an action called the Rest action, which does nothing but return the players' spent Energy Lvls at the start of next turn. Players will be introduced to a flexible soft magic system that I'll be managing with my own imagination, where they're able to cast spells either through martial arts routines (passing athletics/acrobatics checks to succeed on casting) like in ATLA, or by putting together ingredients for powerful spells in Spell Pouches that can be cast whenever, but cannot be regained as a resource.

If I break this down to anyone who doesn’t know what Murim is, it’s basically Chinese/Korean equivalent to superpowers+magic? Kinda. Most cultivation manhua(comics) are about fighting agains other clans or groups of cultivators. Cultivator are people who gain power through meditating and taking in the energy of specific attributes for their own uses. Things like poison or lightning or super vague topics like yin and Yang which can mean anything from like balance in general to fire and ice. There are cultivation manuals for picking your attribute basically and martial art manuals for things ranging from swordplay to defense or movement techniques. There are also plenty of other applications like arrays which can affect an environment like making something invisible or “enchanting” weapons. You can find plenty of stuff like that in novels and the like. But I’ve never found a game that truly tries to encapsulate everything. Things like clans, and factions like the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic. A super in depth game. It doesn’t have to look good because of how complex it is but that would definitely be a plus.

So I've been playing this game, Wandering Sword. It's a grid-based turn-based Cultivation rpg. Great fun, it's got secret techniques and sects of martial artists each with their own cool themes and style and neat side quests. It's got me hankering for some cultivation to read. But! I have some qualifiers to the request. I figure this place sees six impossible story requests before breakfast, mine will probably be pretty straightforward.

I want a story that's proper cultivation. I want sprawling old-time lands full of magic and mystery, I want tons of themed factions and good and bad guys who have their own special martial arts, pills, that sort of thing. I've certainly read my share of LitRPG don't get me wrong but that's not what I'm feeling. So not Defiance of the Fall or Primal Hunter or something.

I would prefer if there is a lot of team-focused action. I like lone heroes fine but you can have so many more moving parts. It's all right if there's one hero but I want cool allies who are fully realized characters and have power too!

Please try to keep the sexism to as absolutely little as possible. None would be preferred but I understand the genre. Jade beauties are a trope, I know but I would prefer if they can ALSO throw down. Fully formed female characters who aren't all obsessed with the MC please.

And finally, somewhere I can read it. I'm not going on Web novel, can't afford that shit. I have Kindle Unlimited and can go to Royal Road, of course. Other places too as long as they are legit.

I've read Beware of Chicken, Forge of Destiny and Cradle before, just FYI. I'm not adverse to a non-Eastern story it just has to hit all the right tropes. Can you help me?

I have a weekly Judo class on Thursday nights. Usually, whoop will autodetect a workout, and I simply set the activity (I use Martial Arts) and specify where I wore my whoop.

Today, I got a pleasant surprise - the workout was auto-detected AND it had pre-selected it as a Martial Arts workout.

I'm guessing it's looking at patterns and it marks the activity as "Martial Arts" because it sees that I've logged a Martial Arts workout for the last few months at the same time Thursday nights. (Kind of how google maps asks me if I am driving to my Dojo as I get in my car before class).

Short story time: I just had this pretty awful interaction at the gym. This lady was doing walking lunges up and down what is pretty much one of the only walk ways in this small gym. I was walking to the trash can to toss a paper towel which is in her path. I realized she was coming and kind of sped up to get out of the way and throw away the towel. She didn't have to stop or anything cause I passed quickly enough.

Anyways I keep walking and this guy, probably 45(M) like three times my size waves me down and starts laying into me. Something like this.

"How bout next time show some gentlemanly courtesy and wait for her to pass"

"I'm sorry I wasn't really paying attention..."

"Exactly, no you weren't."

"Dude...." (Cause I'm kinda like why is this guy yelling at me)

"Dude" (Mockingly)

Then I just said a super half assed sorry as I walked away. I couldn't really think of anything to defend myself.

Keep in mind this guy was being very aggressive so my heart rate shot up and I got shaky and couldn't really think of anything to say back at the time. So while yes this is partly just a rant cause that was pretty upsetting, it's also got me wondering how I can get myself to be able to respond the way I want and think clearly in a situation like that. Do I just have to get more experience under pressure? Are there things that help like learning a martial arts practice or something? Is it just a need for more confidence?

About my 16 year old son:

He is 5’9”, 122lbs Very physically fit (currently enrolled in MMA and exercising 12-15 hours per week), Appendix removed at age 13, Full term baby, RSV/Pneumonia at 8 months old, Has mild pectus excavatum (pediatrician never really concerned), No family history of heart issues, No previous health issues other than listed above.

He has been doing mixed martial arts for about 1 year and 3 months. About 1 year ago, he began feeling dizzy when he stands up (but only if he has been sitting or laying for more than 30 min). Sometimes, things start to “black out” when he stands and he stumbles/falls against wall.

But here is the strange part:

When he works out (anything cardio intensive), he can open his mouth and you can hear his heartbeat from his throat. It is loud. We recorded it and played it at the dr office for his pediatrician. Four pediatricians, a medical student, and two nurses were flabbergasted today when we saw the dr. They all have never heard of it and gave us a cardiology referral. We go Tuesday but now I’m scared.

No chest pain ever. He feels fine other than what I have mentioned. What is this??? Please point this very worried mama in the right direction!

Hello there! I'm Lewis from Scotland. I'm 28 and an avid traveller. I've been all over the world to every continent except Antarctica (yet). Do let me know about your own adventures, where's the best place you've been or what's your dream destination?

I also love the outdoors and nature in general. I love cooking and baking, martial arts, sports, reading, writing, video games and much more.

I'm really interested in travel, culture, history, space, science, psychology, true crime, unsolved mysteries and all sorts, so feel free to talk about whatever takes your fancy, I enjoy hearing about people's passions and interest.

I'm looking to make some new connections with thoughtful people from all over the world. I'd like to chat a bit see where things develop. Ideally looking for friendship or short term conversation. Location and age is no issue for me.

Feel free to reach out with a message or a chat request! You can ask me anything or tell me all about yourself.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Hello there! I'm Lewis from Scotland. I'm 28 and an avid traveller. I've been all over the world to every continent except Antarctica (yet). Do let me know about your own adventures, where's the best place you've been or what's your dream destination?

I also love the outdoors and nature in general. I love cooking and baking, martial arts, sports, reading, writing, video games and much more.

I'm really interested in travel, culture, history, space, science, psychology, true crime, unsolved mysteries and all sorts, so feel free to talk about whatever takes your fancy, I enjoy hearing about people's passions and interest.

I'm looking to make some new connections with thoughtful people from all over the world. I'd like to chat a bit see where things develop. Ideally looking for friendship or short term conversation. Location and age is no issue for me.

Feel free to reach out with a message or a chat request! You can ask me anything or tell me all about yourself.

Hope to hear from you soon.

I’ve been going to the gym for 8-9 years, not fully committed but 2-3 times a week. This made me burn out, to the point where now it’s very hard for me ti even get to the gym, let alone work out. I find it very boring going alone and just not engaging my brain.

I recently became very passionate in martial arts and started going 3 times a week, I might make it 5, but I need to go to the gym too to work on building muscle that will assist in the martial arts. Anyone have any advice? I never expected this from me, but the last 3 months I went to the gym only twice, when almost every day I would set a goal to go.