155 thoughts on “20 Things You Can Do Instead Of Playing Video Games”

1. This is one of my favorite types of ROK articles. It is short and in it’s brevity delivers a huge punch of good information. There is nothing inherently wrong with video games just like there is nothing wrong with scotch. But if you drink a liter a day you are fucked…I applaud Skoll for acknowledging that he was spending too much time playing video games, quitting and replacing them with things that added to his value as a man. Also, I think these are the perfect 20 things to replace any non productive time consuming hobby. Well done.

   1. there is nothing wrong with scotch. But if you drink a liter a day you are fucked
      This is why I avoid drinking anything measured in metric units. Nothing good comes from that.

      1. I think the bottles these days usually come both with metrics and ounces.

         1. Nothing a bit of selective vision can’t cure.

         2. Come on, the alcoholic Gandalf is such a cliche.

         3. I could start shooting heroine if it would help break the mold on cliches?

         4. No, you are good. It would likely have a negative impact on your storytelling. Or, who knows, some angry GOJ detox rant.

   2. I think that hobbies are non-productive by definition since nobody pays you for them.
      I think we need to keep in mind the importance of leisure time. This is why we work after all. To finance our leisure time. Hence all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
      We shouldn’t feel guilty about having some free time to do nothing productive. We should not always feel that our time must be productive. These unproductive moments are the time where we restore our minds and bodies so that we are prepared for work when it becomes necessary.

      1. agreed but when our leisure time becomes a full time job (as many people fall into with video games or drinking or whatever) it’s no good. On his list he does add things like taking a walk, meditating and gaming women

         1. I would call that mental illness rather than leisure.

      2. Whether someone pays you has nothing to do with being productive. I write my blog without payment and yet I am being productive.
         But otherwise good point.

         1. Not economically productive. Its more that you feel “productive”. I would argue that you are merely enjoying your pastime.

         2. You are wrong. What does economy mean, that money flows? But what does money stand for, my friend? It is just a symbol. A symbol for value. And how is value defined? By people who value something, who want something, like something, need something. I write and others like it. Not all of them of course, but still. Also, others write and I like it. Win-win. Sure, there is no individual-to-individual transaction, but it still pays off. Ironically, it is a bit socialistic! But it works.

         3. Economic means that it increases your wealth. Money is just a medium of exchange. Being economically productive means that you can produce more goods with less resources, hence you are now wealthier.

         4. Mean something like this? http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/glossary/prdctvt.htm
            Does not really make any sense. Here is why: Value is subjective. Any objective measure of ‘economical productivity’ can hence only be subjective. I produce one nut and you give me two apples for my nut. So did I make a good deal? Or is one nut worth more than two apples? Who decides that?
            Ultimately, everyone is being productive by that definition as no one ever keeps engaging in a behavior that in sum has more downsides than upsides. I write my blog and I get engagement through comments. I get a lot of value from that and increase my intellectual and social wealth.

         5. Yes you made a good deal because you valued two apples more than you valued one nut. And you got your two apples. For the nutter, the value proposition is the opposite. Relative value.
            The objective measure is whether anyone is willing to pay you for your work and if consequently it improves your material well being. If it doesn’t, it is not productive, it is leisure.
            In your view of “productive activity” you consider it productive because you find it fulfilling and you enjoy it. I feel the same way about playing computer games. Btw, they just came out with a study indicating that certain video games can improve your memory, hand-eye coordination and reaction time. Productive?

         6. Why does the well being need to be material? In the end, both the nut and the apples are eaten.
            People are willing to pay me with their time, by taking theirs to comment.

         7. It has to be material otherwise you can’t measure it.

         8. But even if it is material, its value is subjective. You can say ‘Hey, I earned a million nuts’, but you may be talking to someone allergic to nuts, so it gets you nowhere.

      3. It’s always work time. Comfort is for retirement… Is the work mindset (including self-employed) that will fight laziness and keep productivity up. But I agree, my leisure time consists of socialisation and various hobbies. Work hard, play hard right

      4. Some hobbies yield more biological and personal satisfaction than others

      5. that’s not always true. Art can be a hobby or a career. Sports can be a hobby or a career. Just because you’re not getting paid to do these activities that does not mean you aren’t being productive. You’re making something beautiful or you’re improving your physical fitness. That is not a waste of time. There are many productive things we do that we do not get paid for.
         You don’t get paid when you build your own house on a plot of land but you’re still being productive.

   3. Agreed in whole.
      The one thing on this list I am not currently doing routinely is playing a sport. I shoot some hoops alone, but not with a team or anything.
      I’ll acknowledge I play video games, though infrequently nowadays (pretty much on Friday evening for an hour), it is a more viable digital option in most cases than television/movies for me. But there is ever-present PC culture creeping in.
      One thing that can be said for that “nerd” community (and I remember when playing games could make you an outcast) is that there was a massive, organized and moderately successful backlash against SJWs with the whole #gamergate thing (commented about it several times on Reaxxion). It is probably what brought the entire SJW narrative and activity to light (GG made national news for awhile even if the press was mostly negative) for many non-manosphere people and likely created quite a few newly awakened converts.

2. A week ago I made the same decision. On top of that I also quit TV and time wasting on the Internet.
   Since I’m not gaming anymore I noticed two things about myself:
   (1) I have much more free time. So much time I struggle to make effective use of it. Your list of activities gives useful advices on how to use the free time. This is of good personal use for me.
   (2) I try to compensate the lack of entertainment with various things such as frequent masturbating. I assume my body suffers from light withdrawal symptoms of endorphins.
   It is hard to quit gaming, TV and other useless entertainment completely. Its even harder to fill the gap with useful activities and stick to them.
   C.S Skull: May I refer to your article on my personal blog and quote it?

   1. Congratulations. And yes, it does takes time to re-wire your brain for the real world. Just keep yourself busy and press on.
      I don’t see a problem referring the article as long as you link it on your blog.

3. There are 34 million core gamers in the US (more than a tenth of the population). A core gamer is someone who plays at least 5 hours a week. Those core gamers spend an average of 22 hours a week playing games. Over 10% of their life is spent in a fantasy world leveling up their character instead of in the real world.
   http://bgr.com/2014/05/14/time-spent-playing-video-games/
   Gaming now has its own PR. Nerds that used to be ashamed of their guilty pleasure now insist that it is healthy, normal, and should be just as socially acceptable of a way to spend time as any other hobby. They claim that games have become more complex and artistic so they are more enriching than they were 20 years ago, when it was considered a time-waster. They are full of shit. Video games are the sensory equivalent of Doritos covered in Pixie Sticks. Just because the team who made the game created something amazing and impressive doesn’t mean that walking around punching monsters for 20 hours a week in the fake world they created isn’t lame.
   We should be dropping PS4’s with Fallout and GTAV on our enemies, not giving them to our kids for Christmas. We should give them to Muslim and African refugees to pacify them so they become less likely to get restless and rape our women. As long as gaming exists, people should make money off of it. I’m glad ROK has Reaxxion. But it’s the opiate of the masses. We should use it for that and not get high on our own supply.

4. Great article.
   This reminds me of the video by Gavin McInnes:
   
   I don’t understand where all the hate in the comments comes from. Why is sarcasm so bad?

   1. “Why is sarcasm so bad?”
      ======================
      It’s all the PC bullshit. People with hurt feelings.

   2. Was with him until he dissed comic book readers. Guess I should spend more time on my hipster suspender collection.

5. Or just play a board game instead. At least that involves social interaction and there are so many great games out there now. You don’t have to dedicate an entire weekend to a full blown game of Diplomacy (although talk about an intense, strategy and negotiation filled two days if you do). You will get more out of a two hour game of Risk then twenty hours of a first person shooter.
   Or if you really must shoot something buy an actual gun and go to the range. A real rifle is cheaper then the latest gaming console. Plus, get one now before the fed gov bans them. It will be useful to know how to use it when society eventually collapses or the second American revolution comes.

   1. Boardgames are a bad idea. You’ll wind up breaking up with your girlfriend.

      1. I dunno….Cards Against Humanity is pretty fun.

         1. Yes, it is.

         2. My wife and I played a few rounds with another couple over the weekend. It’s some good old-fashioned politically incorrect fun. If there’s an online version, I think it’d be great to get a group of ROK’ers together and play. Would need some sort of audio function so we could all talk though.

         3. I suspect that there is an online version as I believe my son was alluding to playing it online not too long ago. Worth a Bing, no doubt.
            The irony of suggesting an online game on this thread is not lost on me, heh.

         4. I fucking HATE that game. That game is just laughing at naughty phrases on a card. It’s pointless escapism for people too afraid to actually have non-PC thoughts. At least Apples to Apples requires you to read people.
            http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/blog/post/review-cards-against-humanity/

         5. Eh, to each their own. I have non-PC thoughts all the time and regularly express them. I simply find humor in the game and trying to play the funniest phrase with the cards you’re dealt.

         6. TOTALLY AGREE. Can’t stand that game or the fucking faggots who play it. There’s no fucking objective either, which drives me nuts. I’d rather play fucking monopoly.

         7. Hey don’t bash Monopoly. That games a legend.

      2. Just play them with men then. Never really had a problem though playing a game of competition with my GF though. Other results may vary however.

      3. Don’t play games with a girl ever is a pretty good rule. Never in my life have I ever seen a man handle losing a game as poorly as women do.
         And I’ve seen dudes break controllers and shit

         1. +1 to this.
            I was teaching my wife how to play Magic a while back and she got so pissed that I was beating her (quite badly), that she quit and hasn’t touched a card since. I tried explaining to her I’ve been playing this game for quite a while and there’s a learning curve but she wasn’t having any of it. Oh well, will play with my guy friends.

         2. You need to hang around with a better type of woman then. I’ve never seen my wife or any of her friends go bonkers when they lose a game.

         3. Point me in the right direction friend lol

         4. You gotta let them win. Of course if you do that, they start talking mad shit so you can’t help but to kick their ass

         5. True. It’s really a lose-lose situation. If you beat them, they get pissed. If they beat you, they talk smack about how awesome they are for beating a guy. Due to some such incidents in the past, I no longer play against girls unless it’s an entirely silly game like Cards Against Humanity and such. Anything remotely serious and competitive and they go into a tizzy.

         6. lol! Sound advice.

         7. Penis Envy.

         8. Tell her in a caring and soothing tone that you’ll lend her your penis if it will make her feel better. Sit back LoL.

         9. Same thing happened with my girl and chess. I taught her to move the men, we started playing (I’m a terrible player) and after I was winning for about 10 minutes she knocked the pieces off the board and started pouting. She just asked me the other day if I would teach her to play. Clearly, she had totally forgotten about her prior fit.

         10. Offer her something more up to her speed….like checkers.

         11. You don’t even have to concentrate when playing games against women, just figure out how to get under their skin during the Game, sit back watch them Meltdown and You win, it’s that easy!

      4. Except Twister!

      5. That’s why I bought ‘Castle Panic’: it’s an cooperative board game holding the fort against the hordes (and it’s nearly impossible to beat).

   2. Love me some Axis vs Allies.

      1. Squad Leader was my big thing growing up. Loved that game. Covered the entire kitchen floor of my friend’s house every weekend in winter it seemed like.

         1. I just recently got into Bolt Action WWII by Osprey Publishing. My son and I take over the dining room every week with it.

   3. Love board games. My buddies and I used to have a weekly Settlers of Catan night. The woman and I still regularly play a multitude of games. Good stuff.

   4. If you try a board game with women trying one of the “cooperative” style board games. There are a ton of them out now like Pandemic. If I am playing with guys I always like much more competitive style games, but these new cooperative ones you play against the board as a team (someones there is a “traitor” aspect involved which one player end up being the villain) but far less much hatred is produced the cashing in your mixed hand of Risk cards are crushing the guy who used to be your “ally” in one turn.
      If you haven’t touched a simple board game like Monopoly in many years give it a try again. Most of the newer ones that have been published in the last ten years are a ton of fun (and cheap date night too if you pick the right one).

6. Get together with your friends and go out on a grand adventure. Like the kids in “Earthbound”. It’s the kind of memories which will last and you will cherish the most.
   

7. That you illustrated your points from video game screen shots was brilliant. 😉

   1. I derived the same enjoyment out of that.

   2. finding just the right pic was probably as hard as writing the article

8. Looks like you can do all that stuff in computer games.
   I can’t believe online porn didn’t make the list!

   1. No, you can only simulate somebody else doing it.
      A rather poor substitute for actual real life and experience, if it’s the only thing somebody is doing with their free time. Their free time, yes, but the article is suggesting that there’s more to life than pixels and that people might want to consider going out and experiencing it. Nothing wrong with that.

      1. I was of course being facetious.

      2. Earning the name Iron-Grip Isely was no slick task

9. The one thing on this list that I’d really like to improve on is my debating and public speaking skills. Anyone have any recommendations for some books to read and drills I can practice either by myself or with others (without them realizing what I’m doing)?

   1. For public speaking there are a few things I used to improve when starting out as an instructor:
      Write down your outline, not the entire speech, just key points and then practice it out loud in front of a mirror.
      Go to local government and organizational events. Most town halls and quorum courts will allow questions or statements from the attendees and you can always ask to be on the agenda.
      Find video (audio if you can’t) of people you think or there seems to be a general consensus of them being effective public speakers. (Like Roosh’s Youtube videos for instance). Take notes on body language and speech: inflection, pauses, emphasis then adapt that to your own to not be monotone or otherwise boring.
      Practice tongue twisters to help with enunciation. (Mares eat oats and dos eat oats but little lambs eat ivy.)
      Research your topic adequately so that you can speak “off the cuff” about it without needing to consider over-long or fill with um…
      Work at removing qualifiers (in my opinion) and other filler (like, y’see, y’know) from your normal speaking, it will carry over. Use active voice as much as possible.

      1. Thanks for all the pointers. What’s active voice?

         1. Well, there are active and passive “voices”.
            Active is when the subject of the sentence is directly performing the action indicated by the verb. Very direct. Very clear and concise.
            Passive is when the subject of the sentence is having the action performed upon it. Very indirect. Sort of wishy-washy, clumsy, and usually more lengthy.
            A: He pressed down on the brakes.
            P: The brakes were pressed down upon by him.

         2. Thanks for the clarification.

   2. I think Toastmasters was something for public speaking. Maybe also adult night classes at a University?

      1. I’ve heard of Toastmasters before. Will have to look into that some more.

         1. Toastmasters is good- less than $100/yr, positive atmosphere, supportive people, and you can go at your own pace. Just choose your club carefully- you might want to choose one that is associated with your profession and also get a networking opportunity out of it.

         2. Good advice. Thanks. To be honest, I’d be more interested in just improving my speaking/debating skills. The networking aspect, while a plus, isn’t really a high priority for me right now.

10. ” you might as well take taichi ” what does mr skoll have against taichi . If you only new

    1. You can please some of the people some of the time….

    2. It’s only an example and really nothing against it. Stop being so sensitive and easily triggered.

11. A little off. Myself in others guys I know do the majority and still play games… Figured video games are basically a hobby, nothing more.

    1. I believe Skoll is referring to those who play multiple hours of games every single day. 2 hours a day = 14 hours of unproductive time/week.

       1. 2 hrs is not a big deal. Now if you didn’t shower, you didn’t work, you neaglect your health etc. That’s a problem.

          1. Perhaps. Admittedly, I speak from my own personal experience. 2 hours is quite a bit of my free time each day, between working a job, helping take care of my 3 kids, housework, side hustles, MA training, etc.

          2. Its definitely situational. A lot of guys that I know who are married barely have time to hangout or play games.

          3. If you’re married, you can expect the wife WILL find ways to occupy any of your free time. Always! Probably the only solitude time you’ll have is when you’re sitting on the toilet or taking a long shower. Even then, they still need to knock on the bathroom door to tell you about some nonsense shit she read on the internet or Fakebook.
             You have young kids? Forget about it. Going to the office is like a sanctuary.

          4. Shit dude…are you spying on me?

          5. I’m married with 2 small kids (with 3 older ones). I found the one easy way to stop the wife from trying to give me the “honey-do” list was to simply say “no”. She’d ask “why not?” and I’d simply say, “Not doing it”. If everything is in working order it’s not my job to make things “nice”. That’s her job.
             As for the little ones, I have them join in my hobbies. You quickly find out if they like it or they just go off on their own and not bother you for a while.

          6. My key concern is that, especially in my youth, I wasted several thousand hours on games I never fully mastered.
             If you think about it, you can get pretty ripped in 100 gym hours (if you do it right), and you can be an amazing guitarist by 1000. Heck, at just 500 words per hour you could put out a novel in just a month’s worth of game time.
             That’s my motivation – opportunity cost of time spent on games vs useful skills.
             (Except this week. I need to get all the “Fallout” out of my system)

          7. You can get ripped in 100 gym hours? Damn. Gotta start that shit.

          8. Okay, I am not getting married.

          9. If you can reach muscle failure in 15 minutes about 4 times per week, you have two years of workouts in that 100 hours.
             I saw dramatic improvements in just a few months, so imagine what almost two years should produce.

          10. I am almost sold. When I fix my mental health enough, I am going for it.

          11. She’ll try, in any event. Granted I had a lot more personal freedom when I was single, it’s not nearly as bad as you’re making out, at least in our house. She always wants to do things, yes, but I exercise the ability to say “No” as well. It used to piss her off, in the beginning, when I wouldn’t get all excited to go to the mall (or whatever insipid activity that I had no interest in doing) now she just accepts it and goes with our daughter.

          12. The answer is simple, have daughters and encourage mother-daughter time.

          13. Healthy body=healthy mind

          14. Yeah, may work for your average relatively healthy guy. I was doing Muay Thai regularly for 6 months, but eventually, my mind got the best of me.

          15. It really did work out that way. Plus some things she just knows now that I automatically will say “No thanks” to that have nothing to do with taking the daughter. I mean I could give a *rat’s ass* about going to the park of roses down in Columbus. I just don’t freaking care. It’s not like it’s a pleasant stroll amongs flowers that’s over in a couple of minutes, rather it’s this excruciating stop-read-comment upon-smell-comment upon again thing for each and every single frigging flower. While I appreciate that it’s a feminine thing for *her* to do, and I don’t mind it in that context, me personally, you can’t pay me to spend a day doing that. We balance it by me not insisting that she ride on my motorcycle when I do poker rides or charity events (she hates it).

          16. My past self would surely have to prove I am man enough to tolerate that shit. Shudder.

          17. Looks like you need some “me time”. Jogging with a pair of earbuds and some upbeat music might be a solution.
              Delving into contact sport requires a prerequisite of discipline and humbleness.

          18. I did it a couple of times. I don’t mind a stroll through a nice park with a pretty girl on my arm now and then. When it turned into this “ordeal” thing though, where gaggles of women are doing this bizarre ritual, I went ahead and opted for “No”.

          19. No, the sport was fine. Quite loved it. My body just refused to work after a while and generated psychosomatic injuries. For instance, my punching elbow inexplicably started to hurt horribly and I could do nothing about it. Stayed with me for months. Then I solved some issue of mine and it went away. So I figured I may as well take care of the complete mind first and then go full in, which turns out to be a good choice at this time.

          20. Yeah, I understand. Like it is kinda cool to walk through a city and watch everything while passing by, but when it becomes some bullshit with a tour guide where you have to narcissistically pretend to be interested who built something and then widen your eyes in surprise and curiosity and act all cultivated. Barf.

          21. Looks like you already set the boundaries with your wife and reaches some sort of agreement!!?
              It’s a whole different kettle of fish with a millennial gf; they want to occupy your time and the phone is always beeping (you cannot get away from her). Hell, they panic if you don;t respond within 4-5 minutes.
              I’m constantly making her wait and do shit she doesn’t like thinking she might get the hint but it ends up with her moaning and getting mad. Kind of like a BS test but they’re incessant and what it their way all the fricking time.

          22. Hell, they panic if you don;t respond within 4-5 minutes.
              Unless it’s something really important that actually needs a real time answer, when I get a text from the wife I let it go for hours or even days. If she wants to talk, she knows she can call (when I’m not home). Hate that texting bullshit, such an impractical way to communicate if you want to say more than “Hi!” or “Hey, meet us as the bar!”.
              I’m constantly making her wait and do shit she doesn’t like thinking she might get the hint but it ends up with her moaning and getting mad.
              So don’t play the hint game, just come right out and tell her that the phone is not a leash and lacking any urgent need for reply, you’ll answer when you have time, or maybe not at all, depending on your mood. She’ll get mad, and then eventually when you back it up with action, she’ll get over it.
              Hell man, I go for days at a time with the cell phone left on the dresser drawer back home.

          23. Exactly.

          24. As for texting, there is always that moon-mode on the iPhone.

          25. Basically, here’s what I do when I have access to a gym (if it’s basically empty, this takes about 10 to 15 minutes):
              Arm Day (1 set each, 8-12 reps to failure, add weight if I reach 12 reps twice)
              ——————————
              Lat Pulldown (machine)
              Lat Raise (bell)
              Standing Overhead Press (Bar)
              Bicep Curl (Bar or bell)
              Benchpress (Bar)
              Seated Row (machine)
              Upright Row (bell)
              Bodyweight Dips (I weigh 200, so I still use an assist machine…)
              Leg Day (same rules)
              ————————
              Lunges (bar)
              Leg Curl (machine)
              Good Mornings (bar)
              Deadlift (Bar)
              Squat (Bar)
              Heel Raise (using leg-press machine)
              Without a gym, I use bridges, handstands, pullups, pushups, squat jumps, and leg raises to keep the routine going.

          26. I don’t own an iPhone or any other “smart phone”. In fact, I just got rid of my flip phone last year. As a strange consequence, I am still able to read maps and I am able to walk down the street without falling into open sewers or walking into street signs.

          27. Thanks.

          28. Flip phones are an abomination. Once had one and it was defective all the time. Somebody would call, I would flip it up and would see the display flicker on and off for 3 times, of course practically ending the call.
              I hardly use my iPhone for anything but calls and some occasional messages. And I never fell into an open sewer – where did you see that happen?

          29. The most relaxing and solitary part of my day is during my commute, along the busiest highway in the country.

12. I used to be a big gamer, up until the age of about 17. The C64, SNES, and the N64 were my three favorite consoles. I really enjoyed video games, as a child.
    However at some point in my early 20’s (I’m now 31), I got this sense that I was wasting my time when I would invest a lot of time in a game.
    I think that games are so popular because they give men goals and a sense of achievement; things that are lacking these days in the real world. And whilst this isn’t true for ALL gamers, most of the gamers I know have big areas of their ‘real’ life where they are falling short; for example pretty much all of them are obese.
    So I think for adults, games are pretty much a waste of time. And this is coming from someone who used to be a big gamer. Treat real life as the game. Whilst my gaming friends spent their money on junk food and booze, and their time conquering imaginary worlds, I have invested my time and money travelling the world. For real.
    Achievement unlocked!

    1. Ive always preferred multiplayer to single player. The biggest thing to me which has changed since the days of Goldeneye, Super smash bros on the n64 etc is the disappearance of split screen multiplayer. Now its almost ENTIRELY internet based- so any real human interaction you used to get is gone. I always preferred climbing trees and making bows and arrows to games consoles/pc though so this isnt a gamers perspective!

       1. I prefer paintball myself.

       2. Yep, I agree completley – I think it’s a real shame that the idea of sociable multiplayer gaming, i.e. with everyone in the same room, has died out. Instead everyone sits in their basements, alone, with their headsets on.
          I’d love to get a few mates over for a few beers and a round or two of mario kart or bomberman.

       3. Those moments when a friendly game of Smash Bros turned into an actual (friendly) fight were priceless. There’s just no way to headlock your mates online.

    2. I liked those older systems so much better because you could plug and play for 10 minutes or so, get your fix, and then move on to something else. Nowadays video games require you to invest tons of time just to play.

       1. Exactly. They are designed these days to be all-consuming, especially the Massive Multiplayer ones like World of Warcraft, which are real life ruiners. It’s not the same hobby that it was when I was a child.

          1. As a former WoW addict, I endorse this comment.

       2. My all-time favorites were the first 3 Splinter Cell parts. Played through each of them like 10 times.

13. Great article and superb advice! How about adding fishing to the list too.

14. This reads like a Mayan blood sacrifice. They’d fatten those guys up for a whole year before the slaughter. Doesn’t this society consume men? Sounds like the fattest pig begging the others to eat just for the better odds. Cynacism is over 9000 today.

15. Have not played any video games in more than a year. I find the idea kinda silly by now. Then again, these things usually come in phases for me. I quit cold turkey, then I suddenly do nothing but the thing I supposedly stopped doing.

16. I have to nitpick here, but Tai Chi is far from a useless martial art. It has great locks and can put people on the ground ASAP. It gives martial artists who want to go to other disciplines an outstanding grounding in correct breathing, balance and a solid foundation in body mechanics. Lots of Tai Chi Chuan schools do spar (the one closest to me does). It’s also a martial art that excels at self improvement and you can grow old with it. Don’t know many eighty year olds doing boxing or Muay Thai (arts that I love but realize take a real toll on the body.) As a martial artist it is important not to judge or condemn any art, especially one that benefits so many.

    1. It has great locks and can put people on the ground ASAP.
       By asap you mean “in slow motion, as if the entire world slowed down to 1/20th of its current speed”, right?

       1. No, at velocity toward concrete. Like any art it comes down to who the teacher is and the curriculum. I could open the phone book and point out dozens of McDojo teaching useless ‘interpretations’ of Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, Krav Maga etc. Does that mean all of those arts are worthless? I think dismissing an art by singling out a single component of that system, in this case a health component that by the art’s own definition does not have martial application, is a bit short sighted. A huge component of Tai Chi is the health aspect, nobody will deny that and it’s part of what makes it great to be honest. But there is also a practical martial application within the system. Should you take Tai Chi if you want to quickly learn how to demolish someone in a fight? No. Tai Chi can take a long time to learn correctly. It is meant to be a journey that benefits every aspect of your life with self defense being just one goal, not the end goal. If all you want to do is learn kill someone with your bare hands forget all martial arts and go for a combative system like the Fairbairn Sykes System, Tony Blauer’s SPEAR system or Peterson’s SCARS combative. If maiming or killing is your thing those are the best three options, all war tested and all work ‘as advertised.’ If self improvement and overall health is a goal as well as self defense then Tai Chi is a great option. I like to think of it like this: martial arts deal with the aggression, combat systems deal with the aggressor.

          1. Another jest fallen flat. Agh, not my day.

          2. Don’t feel bad…I get your jokes.

          3. Sorry if you just meant it as a joke. I feel bad now. If it makes up for it in any way I think your preferred self defense method is best: carry a firearm.

          4. No worries.
             I’m actually looking to take up boxing come the new year. Nice and practical, and a tall dude like me does much better with straight forward practical use of fists than I would with anything that has me lifting my feet high in the air. I can fight and have in the past, after the biker fashion, I’d just like to formalize it a bit and learn some techniques to help me increase power and anticipate incoming shots. Considered Aikido but I’m not sure if they’re being serious or not and I’m not into mysticism. Ju Jitsu also looks interesting, but I’m not sure how practical it is compared to straight out pugilism.

          5. If I may:
             I shared your skepticism in Aikido until I starting training in it. If you can find a good instructor that doesn’t stress all the chi mumbo-jumbo, it’s pretty good. It focuses on manipulating yours and your opponent’s center of gravity, momentum, and biomechanics (think joint locks, structural weaknesses, etc). I would suggest starting with a hard style (like boxing) first and then supplementing with Aikido after you get a solid grasp of the first style. Really helps round it all out.
             Ju Jitsu is great for grappling, but I don’t like the idea of being tied up with someone on the ground. What if he has friends? I don’t want to be locking up someone on the ground and have his friends come in and curb stomp my face into oblivion. I train enough ground grappling to get me back to my feet and that’s about it.
             Food for thought.

          6. I like what appears to be the scientific basis of Aikido, yes. Finding a dojo devoid of most of the mysticism nonsense seems rational.

          7. If you want to make it down to TN….

          8. I love boxing and think you will enjoy it immensely. You will become so hard to hit due head movement that you will make an unskilled opponent miss wildly. I also think you would get a lot out of Ju Jitsu or Judo. Boxing has great footwork and great distance closing/control. Judo has great throws/ground work and great takedown defense, but isn’t good at creating distance or controlling range. I encourage you to try both. All the best with your training in the Sweet Science.

    2. “As a martial artist it is important not to judge or condemn any art.”
       Exactly.
       My contribution to my family’s martial art is the incorporation of Tai Chi Chuan and Hung Ga. Both excel at opening an opponent up for precise attack after redirecting their initial movement. It fits very well with Small Circle JuJitsu and the Intercepting Fist principles of Jeet Kun Do.
       What we are most familiar with are the stretching and taolu/kata etc. done by the elderly in parks, but there’s much more to it:
       

       1. Guy has fantastic balance and strength. Whole video I don’t think I saw him misplace a foot at any speed

    3. Try Josh Waitzkin’s book “The Art of Learning” – he was the inspiration for the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer”. What you won’t know about him is that after becoming a chess master at around 15 or so, he walked away from chess tournaments … and devoted himself to Tai Chi Chuan, winding up equal first in Hong Kong against schools who’d been training their whole lives. It’s an amazing story and an amazing art, the way he tells it.

       1. Had absolutely no idea that he was a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner, but did see Searching for Bobby Fischer (I always like to learn about extreme winners and people who were by far the best at a certain thing.) Will definitely look up ‘The Art of Learning.’ Thanks for letting me know about it.

       2. I loved that book. My theory on why he grew into Tai Chi Chuan or push hands if you will, is that he used all the mental fortitude from mastering chess and applied it to martial arts. I have heard some admirable people say that if you truly master one thing, it makes mastering something else that much easier. I guess the premise of this is that the underlying principle of mastery is the same… focus, which grows into discipline which in turn grows into mastery.

17. Yesterday, I fired up the ole PS3 after more than 1 1/5 years of dust collecting. Played GTA 5 for 30 min and then got really bored. Nothing of value in these games, in my honest opinion. A few years ago me and a bunch of mates would have PES and FIFA tournaments for money. That was fun but nowadays when I have time I make sure that I do something physical or intellectual.
    I haven’t bough a game since GTA came out and won’t be wasting money on them any time soon.

18. Props on the choice of images for this article. Very stylish.

19. You can actually learn all these 20 things? OMG, stop the presses! (Laugh of derision)

20. It would suck to give up games and have to take an arrow to the knee in real life.

    1. ….You really made that joke?

       1. I felt compelled to do so, yes.

          1. To be honest, I’m surprised someone didn’t make the joke sooner.

          2. I used to make jokes sooner, but then I took an arr…
             No, I can’t do it. A joke in mobius loop is not a good thing.

    2. Did someone say Arrow?

       1. Unhand that knee lol . And try again tomorrow.

          1. Yeah, I could have made some joke about a low kick.

    3. You lack Ambition. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b3b34bd269352f33fd4ab997ac74c05e1f97972c3d08b708537b7a7c2aec1c45.gif

21. ”….. instead of staying home and playing with your joystick by yourself ”
    i see what you did there.
    You’re right.

22. Curious if anyone has good study aids for training repair skills? I know the simple answer is “find a buddy who’s handy”, so please skip that one. Books or solid YouTube channels would be appreciated

    1. Hard to say, repair what precisely?
       If you want a large primer of how to make and fix almost anything, I highly recommend the Foxfire series of books (should be 12 or 13 of them I think).

       1. Nice, I’d never heard of those. Admittedly I was thinking more about repairing engines & carpentry, but the Foxfire series seems like useful EoTW stuff

23. No thx. I’d rather play the games. and please stop talking about martial arts when another article listed wrestling/wrestler as #1 and Wong Shun Leung (or Yip Man for that matter) was nowhere on the list.

24. 3. Go For A Walk…. Is that image from Mafia: The City Of Lost Heaven? I loved that game. Too bad I threw it away when I quit playing.

    1. That exact PC game had me hooked in elementary back in the early 2000s. Where it went? I don’t know. Shit if I got hands on it that disk belongs on my wall.

       1. Had it on PS2 years ago. There’s something about it’s old-fashioned 1930’s setting and mafia theme that had me hooked for a while.

25. I’ve decided to tech myself base guitar…I bought one with amp for 45$ and I have the greatest teaching tool in the world at my disposal…the freaking internet (including YouTube). I do not expect to turn myself into Stevie Ray Vaughn overnight, but being able to strum a few chords on a lonely nite seems a productive use of my time. In time, I might take up writing too.

    1. Get a good callous going on your fingers

    2. I know, YouTube is literally the Best Self help out there.

26. “sold my custom-made PC for a cheap netbook”
    .
    Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Never Ever, Turn your Back on Glorious PC Master Race.
    .
    Definitely Good to keep your time short on that stuff though and Learn something, limiting your time to 1-2 hrs a couple of nights a week isn’t bad, but if you play for 1 hr than read for 1hr or 2 hrs. For an aware Man who is constantly striving to improve himself it’s simply a quick form of entertainment, for the Sluggard and Sloth it is a way of life and an Opiate.

27. Add porn and fantasy sports to video games and you have the “Big Three” internet time wasters that are just ruining todays men.

28. Great article and a great list of thing to improve on

29. Lol. All those things are great, but they cost much more money. On average it costs between 20$-100$ to go do stuff. With household income at least in America at 56k meaning individual is closer to 23k then your 35% tax plus the ideological rental and housing market overpricing everything trying to make a years salary on every home, plus the rising cost of food with stagnant wages doesn’t leave much room to do a lot. This isn’t the 60s where 4$ an hour paid for everything. There are driving jobs that expect you to have a car, but don’t pay you enough to own it. The side effect. Couch potatoes and fatties the general population can’t afford to do more then one maybe two things a week let alone vacation unless they’re living a credit card reality and most people are on borrowed time who do that. One pattern of good credit coming from someone that’s seen thousands of credit reports is higher income. So it doesn’t take much to see that corporate America has shat all over the country. If they’d pay people or not push consumerism so hard we wouldn’t have a huge national debt.
    It is the sociopathic reward system and lack of respect employers have for their employees that they provide them with sub par lives. The closer people live to poverty the more degenerate and dumb society becomes over time. Women wouldn’t have to work if we were paid properly. Children could be raised by parents and children could grow up living the dream. Instead a few people have reserved that dream for themselves. You can either take it back or continue to get no credit while society relies you.

30. Anti-video game article, uses pics of video games.
    I’ve always enjoyed the humor here.

31. Watch MTV with Miley Cyrus wearing a dildo ??

32. I always have to be playing some type of strategy game, be it table top, ccg’s, poker, chess, or a strategy video game, cuz in my head I secretly want to be a battlefield tactician along the lines of A. the Great, Napolean, Caesar, etc. I also love MMA and took various forms of martial arts most of my life. I do work out. I definitely don’t let video games consume me, but i’ve fallen in the pit a few times, and honestly, it can be a cheap form of entertainment compared to a lot of other hobbies. And as I get older, I’m starting to try to baby my joints and tendons as I plan on making it to 100 years old, so most sports with any contact are out. I’ve already got my fair share of life long injuries as is, as I was pretty “rambunctious” when I was younger.

33. Once you’ve realized that you’ve maximized whatever you can accomplish and hit the ceiling of what your genetics will allow, you will return to the world of video games. At least here you can live an exciting life.

34. The graphics are good, but lacks a respawn

35. Kudos on featuring shots from Oblivion, Uru and Dragon Age… and oh shit that wasn’t the point of the article, right? 😉

36. Also got to be aware of gamer girl sluts!

37. I always found it hard to control the time I spent in front of the console, particularly with open world games. Too much time gaming was correlated with unhealthy binge eating, poor sleep patterns and high stress levels, at least for me. There was however enjoyment in the escape from life and a sense of achievement, but I get that now from losing body fat, increasing my strength and becoming a better dancer.

38. As long as men are not acting effeminate, becoming manginas or SJW’s, it’s all good. I am going to play Batman Arkham Knight in a while. I do however object to point number six. Hunting? Shooting at animals for fun only comes from a depraved and insensitive mind. Animals are cool, and while they do not have souls, they still feel, they still want to breathe, eat, and enjoy their days.

39. It’s been a while since my last log in. I’m goint to share my thoughts and criticism about this article:
    1: It’s good and important to read, It improves you. However, too much reading is extremely stressful and annoying and It deteriorates your frame.
    3: Going for a walk is good, but running or weightlifting is better.
    5: I only play individual sports. Played soccer for 20 years and don’t want to play anymore.
    6: No, thanks.
    7: It’s important to have good friends, but my time to relax, meditate and have hobby time is important too.
    11: No, thanks.
    13: It’s extremely boring.
    14: I’m not the country type. I love towns and cities. I hit the gym and play sports to feel myself “refreshed”
    15: Don’t like building at all.
    18: Don’t like dancing.
    20: Gaming women? Are you serious? Three women at the gym are all the time looking at me and I don’t talk to them, do you know why ? Because I know the kind of women We men have in the 21st century, They are not worth the effort, the time and or the money.
    To conclude: Videogames are just a hobby, and a very pleasant one. It’s not a sin to spend some hours of the week on them. Playing games helps to clear your mind, to relax, to have fun and even to exercise your mind. The points I didn’t write about are the ones that I agree with.

40. Could you recommend a similar “to-the-point” list for women? I would also enjoy good website recomendations

41. Excellent and about time! Buy a motorcycle and take hot chicks for road trips! You will never see a motorcycle parked in front of a therapist’s office.

42. meeting guys and establishing them as friends outside of work is so damn hard for some reason. I play sports, make friends with those guys, but we don’t do anything outside the sport. I make friends with my kids friend’s dads, because we all take our kids to their sports and bs during the game and stuff. I am friends with the guys at work, but rarely see them outside of work or the occasional happy hour. I miss the kind of guy friends that go on guy’s ski trips and trips to vegas and stuff. Guys that just call up and say hey want to watch the game or go to this or that. I miss that from college and stuff and the only guys that still do that stuff are my friends from college, but none of them live in my city.

43. These are all excellent ideas. May I suggest photography (wildlife or otherwise) as an alternative to hunting? I think shooting animals for fun is frivolous and therefore not a worthy pursuit for a man. However, if you eat what you kill that’s perfectly fine. If it’s the marksmanship aspect that appeals, take up clay pigeon shooting, archery, biathlon etc

44. It’s funny because i actually regret not spending more time playing video games.
    I’ve had some wild adventures….and in most cases the guys involved are dead or gone.
    But the characters in a game can last forever.

45. Excellent points. And thank you for the hearty laugh.. all the pics of “doing things” from the video game world. Lol..

46. 16. Open mic at the local comedy club is great. Putting together a funny three minudtes is great practice or life and there is absolutely no downside to bombing. In fact, bombing is great practice for life.

47. This isnt here anymore

48. I sold all my games and my game systems years ago and I don’t regret it. Games are very expensive and it adds up quick. Just one new game these days costs you sixty dollars. Other people spend thousands of dollars on gaming PCs. That’s money they could have used towards other things like buying a better car or saving up for a down payment on a house.
    Learn how to actually get out of the house and get actual life experiences. Life is too short to be playing video games all time.

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