My two are:
Making sourdough. I personally always heard like this weird almost mysticism around making it. But I bought a $7 starter from a bakery store, and using just stuff in my kitchen and cheap bread flour I’ve been eating fresh sourdough every day and been super happy with it. Some loafs aren’t super consistent because I don’t have like temperature controlled box or anything. But they’ve all been tasty.
Drawing. I’m by no means an artist, but I always felt like people who were good at drawing were like on a different level. But I buckled down and every day for a month I tried drawing my favorite anime character following an online guide. So just 30 minutes every day. The first one was so bad I almost gave up, but I was in love with the last one and made me realize that like… yeah it really is just practice. Years and years of it to be good at drawing things consistently, quickly, and a variety of things. But I had fun and got something I enjoyed much faster than I expected. So if you want to learn to draw, I would recommend just trying to draw something you really like following a guide and just try it once a day until you are happy with the result.
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I posted here about getting into armored MMA. I can echo this sentiment. Feeling yourself getting better, and flooring the complete newbies from time to time is a wonderful experience. Or getting one good, clean takedown on your instructor, even if it was mostly a fluke. Having a good instructor makes all the difference, too. Someone that can explain the how, and the why.
It really does sound scary, and yeah - people get hurt. But that’s not the goal of the sport, at least not like, seriously. People look out, and at least in my sport, the first few classes were all how to be safe.
It also surprised me just now hard even striking can be, like you said. It sounds super easy, just got em with the sword. Or your hand. But there’s so much to just throwing a good hit, let alone while someone else is trying the same thing.
So yeah, 10/10, if anyone’s at all interested in a combat sport, take the dive.
This was awhile ago, but playing dungeons and dragons! I showed up one night at the local gaming store, asked the group playing that night if they had space, and bam! I’m playing a terrifying monk in World’s Largest Dungeon!
Playing older video games via emulation. The barrier to entry gets easier and easier as time marches on. And as long as you have disc space to download the games, you’ll likely find a repository somewhere on the Internet.
Oh yeah some even let you play in browser now. Crazy how it takes seconds, and most peoples phones can even play most everything game cube and earlier.
That is a particularly handy feature for older computer games from DOS and C64.
Reading
Thanks to e-books and the Libby app you don’t even have to physically go anywhere or pay anything to find a good book these days.
Sword fighting. I joined an armored combat gym and just went consistently. They provide the equipment, at least til you get to the point you want your own armor and weapon. Good fun, good exercise.
What kind of sword fighting?
Armored MMA! Cage fights in authentic armor, with historically accurate weapons. I’ve yet to get in armor, just soft kit sparring and pell work with the real weapons.
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Here ya go! This was from an exhibition show back in July.
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Yeah that was my reaction hahah. It’s getting more and more popular, the gyms are popping up in most areas. Maybe one day we’ll fight :D
Painting miniatures. Anyone can do it and make their board games look way nicer.
All you have to do is avoid paying New-In-Box GW prices, and avoid/minimize GW paints and the cost of the hobby drops through the floor.
Tons of skirmish games in all settings are around, many of them with free rules. Battletech is cheap because it basically needs skirmish game amounts of minis. Even playing 40k is cheap(er) embracing third party and scratchbuilding.
The bizarre culture (pun intended) around sourdough is maddening. The obsession over the “ear,” bannetons, lames, daily feeding: all bro club bullshit. This is the bread humans have been making for millennia; the only tools you need are one hot rock and one not-hot rock.
