Your un martial arts interests?

Listening to the recent Joe Rogan podcast with GSP, he was talking about his big interest in paleontology, which his friends would find confusing as such a contrast to MMA.

I would love to hear of people's major interests outside of martial arts which may be a contrast to your martial arts?

I guess to start of, I am very much into computer tech and infrastructures, particularly the cyber security and application development side (which is very much why it's my profession).
I have often had people surprised on both sides of the fence as to my interests as they don't expect an IT geek to be into martial arts, and vice versa.
Although I found it amusing that during my time in kungfu, a large portion of the kungfu students were also much into the same as me

 

I just like abundantly nerdy things. Dungeons and dragons, audio books, computer games etc. Super excited about starting my light vehicle repair and maintenance course.

 

Nice thread! I thought about creating one like that as I was interested in what people enjoy aside from MAs, but always turned to be too lazy
Haha, IT geek an MAs is probably not the most common combination, but on the other hand that I think of it... why not

I had two main passions even before martial arts. first is birdwatching/ornithology, that's why I went to study biology - ethology eventually. The main one for me was always drawing and art more generally, mostly fantasy and wildlife (bird) things I also consider myself lucky that I am able to draw for a living, so I draw all the time now, job and other projects
And aside from karate, I enjoy sports in general - now I mostly do crossfit, but like some outdoorsy sports, too, as well as volleyball. I am a bit sad that I only get to play it very occasionally now (and therefore can't get very good at it even if I wanted )

And I also enjoy singing. Mostly in places where no one can hear me like bathroom etc

 

Pain science - all the biopsychosocial factors that contribute to a person's subjective experience of the sensation called "pain," and treatments that relieve or eliminate that experience. This interest is driven in part by my occupation as a sports therapist and also in part by my being diagnosed with CRPS.

And guns. Bit of a redneck at heart, I love shooting all types of platforms and calibres. I'm quite a fan of "3 gun" sport shooting: pistol, rifle, and shotty. My favourite weapons to shoot are any Glock (but especially the 21, 4th gen), AR 15 (anything by Daniel Defense), and Mossberg 500. I'd shoot every day if I could. Yeehaw.

 

Nice idea for a thread @axelb

I suppose my most contrasting 'physical' pursuit, that often gets a raised eyebrow, would be golf - Though it is more driving ranges than it is fairways since the girls came along.
The 'men folk' of the family (including in-laws) do still have a standing 9-hole boxing day tradition though, which is nice.

As for the non-physical, I am very interested in the field of criminal forensics (as far as my factual viewing and literature are concerned at least) which incidentally is also my wife's field of employment (which I get to enjoy vicariously, without having to deal with the stresses of the job)

Obviously I'm a bit of a massive (home) gym rat too, but I do not really see that as separate from my martial arts training.

Travess

 

Outside of MA, I read a lot of historic naval fiction (Kydd, Fox, Hornblower, Aubrey etc) and have a keen interest in sailing warships and battle tactics.

At work we have a couple of 3D printers and for the last year I've been learning and playing with them.

I also collect power ranger toys

 

Did not expect naval fiction or poetry to come up in this thread.

 

I make music - I have a record label and a related podcast.

 

I have always loved the outdoors. I enjoy camping, hiking, fishing and kayaking. I would love to do a multi-day kayaking/camping expedition at some point in my life. I've been planning one with one of my friends since we were fourteen years old.

I like Cooking and Wine. I've taken courses in both.

I'm interested in military and ancient History as well as historical fiction. I like to listen to History podcasts during commutes and road trips. I have a particular interest in World War I.

 

Computers, software, hardware, etc. I work as a backend software engineer, generally on distributed systems.
I enjoy learning about psychology, philosophy, and economics.

I generally entertain myself with video games & fantasy novels (occasionally sci-fi).
I built my last 5 computers myself, though I haven't built a new one in almost 10 years now... I am still using the one I built in 2009 for gaming, just having replaced the graphics card in the past few years. It is still good enough to run most games at 4k resolution.

Oh I used to play a lot of tabletop RPGs too (D&D, Whitewolf, etc), but haven't had time with training Muay Thai. (My old gaming group meets on a day when I want to get to class.)

 

Hopefully the mods will let you link to the podcast.

I compose music, I've also been heavily into teaching myself recording and mixing over the past decade or so.

I also have an interest in the English occult tradition, especially Austin Osman Spare (one of the great Victorian artists) and Peter J Carroll (who fascinates me with his alternative cosmology).

My interest in 3D graphics led to my current business; the biggest earner of which is scene and injury mapping for a forensics firm. Making spaceships and laser guns is more fun than staring at photos of crime scenes and fatal accidents, but they don't pay as well.

 

@Alansmurf That looks like great fun! Have you done any overnight trips or expeditions?

@Dan Bian I also have an interest in naval warfare and tactics. Have you read about the Battle of Jutland?

@Mitch I would love to buy a Motorcycle one day.

 

I've read a bit about it, watched some documentaries etc.
My main interest has always been in "age-of-sail", so battles like Trafalgar, the Nile etc.

In some ways, Jutland was similar to the build-up to Trafalgar, with the British fleet chasing the enemy across the ocean trying to force a conclusion. Sadly, we didn't get the decisive victory needed this time

 

That's interesting stuff as well. As you're a fan of historical fiction, "Sharpe's Trafalgar" is great. I love most of Bernard Cornwell's work. I imagine that you've probably already read it, though.

While the Battle of Jutland was not a decisive British victory, it served to revolutionize areas of naval gunnery and damage control considerations.

 

Reading basically anything that isn't romance, I used to write poetry, now I mostly just compose haikus about driving I see on my way to work, but they're not MAP friendly!!
I have been involved in the writing of some small films locally, as well as having a big project on the go at the moment.
The theory side of exercise is also something that interests me, and I'm looking to start qualifying in strength and conditioning over the next couple of years.
Nice thread!