So i want to know what you consider the most nerd-compatible sports. And what nerd-Sports you are doing.
I'll start:
Last autum I startet with atarashii naginata. i think the best way to describe it would be Japanese Lance fencing. Its really exhausting and very good in clearing my brain
Its a very rare sport in germany (less than 100 people).
And i dont know about Japan (or other countrys) but a lot of the people who practise naginata here is some kind of nerd, be it gaming (that would be me), Roleplayers, Tabletopplayers....you name it. So its a very nice environment.
+ we have a lot of girls ~50% + you can hit people with a long stick :D
naginatas were weapons used during Japanese warfare. they were essentially slightly longer spears that could be more easily used for close range combat as opposed to the regular yari. They are romantically seen as being a weapon for women because the females that defended castles often used naginata as their primary weapon.
well i think the wikipedialink has that covered. "Japanese Lance fencing" is just what i tend to tell people who never heard about it (99,99% of the german population :D)
And actually they are shorter than most spears and got mostly replaced by it later on. Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata (I have some books on the topic, but that would lead to far)
I think rock climbing is a great gaming-related sport, because it has physical as well as huge problem solving and theorycrafting elements. Every climbing problem is different so there is no room for boredom. You can do it singleplayer with no competitive aspect at all or you can go to comps and crush face.
On February 03 2012 04:04 sob3k wrote: I think rock climbing is a great gaming-related sport, because it has physical as well as huge problem solving and theorycrafting elements. Every climbing problem is different so there is no room for boredom. You can do it singleplayer with no competitive aspect at all or you can go to comps and crush face.
also you get ripped son
+1 on rock climbing for best gaming sport. Climbing has such an awesome community in general compared to other sports. Socially gaged towards self improvement fits TL's mantra well. I think we need a thread for this in the fitness subforum!
For me it's Badmington, no body who is good at other sports plays it (like me!), so its just the domain of the out of shape but enthusiastic. Still a really fun sport though.
Tabletennis ! Its fast, it needs good reactions, it requires a lot of technique, and although its more exhausting than a lot of people think, it does not really need great physical strength. I love it. Little video in spoilers why tt is so amazing ...
I've been playing Basketball for nearly 20 years now. Not really nerdy i guess but the only sport i've got to get quite good in. I need contact and only team-sports are fun to me.
Disc Golf makes a pretty awesome nerd sport. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf It's pretty relaxing, has elements of strategy and technique to master, can be competitive or casual and gives a good opportunity for us basement nerds to get outdoors. Because the disc actually flies, technique is more important than raw strength and once you get a smooth consistent motion, it's not hard to throw the disc accurately 100-200feet or more. I'm not sure how popular it is in other areas of the world, but here, there are a number of free courses that are well used. Starting costs are pretty cheap as well, $20 gets you a good set of starter discs from amazon.com.
Muay Thai isn't really a nerd sport imo :D Sports I do- Muay Thai, Wrestling, Football and BJJ I forgot about paintball in the summer Nerd Sports I do- none :D
Awesome to hear you started naginata! I'm a practitioner of kendo and like naginata, it is extremely taxing physically and mentally. Although I feel that you are much more lucky, as my dojo is mostly little children and burly men! XD
Played basketball from the time I was four until I went to college, and even played my freshman year at school (intermurals and such, I go to a big basketball school =x.) Now I've picked up weightlifting and rugby. I wouldn't call any of the three "nerd" sports, but then I wouldn't call myself a nerd or say I have nerd hobbies either, besides watching BW/SC2 when I wake up early/go to bed late. I don't even play either of them anymore.
Juggling! Even without mentioning other juggling-like props (diabolo, devil sticks, etc) there are so many different directions you can take it. Balls/clubs/rings, numbers/siteswaps/body tricks, competitive/artistic, and so on.
Right now the internet's favorite juggler seems to be Lauge Benjaminsen: (video) + Show Spoiler +
Another fencer here, also a foilist, sword fighting for the win.
Seriously a great arboic exercise for anyone who wants to try it out. More intensive then most sports i have done if you want it to be, but can be done at a slower pace for "bronze" league equivelent recreation.
interesting to see another foilist, seems everyone in north america is sabre with some epee thrown in. But i like my complicated right of way rules and small target damnit respect GGQ.
That naginata fencing actually looks super cool. How does one get involved in that?
Well, i was looking for a new martial art. And i wanted something without much focus on selfdefence (i think i covered that that with 10 years of Ju-Jutsu, an german form of japanese jujutsu, developed for the police). So i asked the allmighty computer, and found out about Kendo and naginata, wich are kinda close (there are even mixed fights shinai (sword) vs. naginata.)
I went with naginata because i have an old injury on my left knee, and in kendo your left leg is allways in the back, and all attacks gain their power from there. In naginata you get your momentum from body turns and change sides constantly. +you have the longer stick :D
Very few people do it; very few people know how to do it properly and even fewer do it well. Anyway, there are a lot of barriers to entry when it comes to rowing and it isn't for everyone.
Besides that, the dress code might be unappealing to some.
On February 03 2012 05:43 ragnorr wrote: Wakeboarding, caught on it 1½ year ago when i moved almost next to a cablepark.
I wouldn't consider Wakeboarding to be unpopular. It's actually very popular in the States and Canada. That and it has massive appeal. Thus, it goes back to your flag. Denmark which I assume has a similar climate to that of Canada. Never been to Denmark, so I cannot really comment. I guess it just hasn't catched on like the rest of the world, or not everyone has the privilege to a boat.
Come to think of it, a lot of sports people are listing off don't necessarily lack appeal.
For instance, I'm assuming the guys with the Chinese flag are actually living in the States because badminton is really popular in China just like table tennis.
Paintballing is pretty big in the States as well.
Perhaps you guys should be provide more details on location and why you think your sport is unappealing. ._.
Trampolining I can see because it's in gymnastics and many public schools cannot afford that kind of programming and as a result very few people get into gymnastics, etc.
your never to old for matrial arts, especally the traditional japanese ones. our oldest club member is a 45year old lady, she just startet a few years ago, and she is really good. at the local kendo club there is a 70 year old . both sports are alot about timing, not necessarily about beeing fast
Startet Running like 6 months ago, its very nice to just go to your aerobic Treshold when taking the next step becomes your everything. And if anybody wouldve told me a year ago that i could run 1 hour straigth now, i wouldve been laughing (i was pretty overwheight)
I played football for 10 years. I took it very serious and would have played if I had gone to college, Penn State even invited me to a recruitment camp before my senior year of highschool.
I'm considering college in the fall but I'd feel weird playing since I'm 23 =\
The only sport I´ve ever been practising is football/soccer, which I´ve been doing for about 18 years now (minus 2-3 years for some breaks). I had the dream like everyone else of going pro when I was a teenager, but that didn´t happen obviously. My clubs home stadium is actually a speedway arena, with average attendances of 5500 people on speedway matches. When our team play homegames, there won´t be more than 60 people watching. :D
I bboy (some of you might know it as breakdancing, but the correct terms are "bboying" or "breaking", but feel free to say whatever you want, im sticking with bboying!). I don't know if it really helps my gameplay, but it's the best feeling in the world when you nail a new move. I started ~1 year ago and I still love it as much as the first time! Some day, I want to be like these guys:
it's a little less 'nerdy' now that MMA has exploded but still, jiu-jitsu guys are pretty nerdy. Joe Rogan had a nice piece on his podcast about how to get in shape and avoid douchebags, you should do BJJ. The douchers who think they are so macho and the baddest dudes can't do the sport because they can't 'tap out.' They can't handle being newbs and getting choked out all the time by people. I think he made a fair point. When you first start BJJ you're going to get owned and tap a LOT. Not unlike firing up SC for the first time. People who are generally assholes can't handle losing over and over, ego is too big.
+1 Fencing, also foil. I'd probably get killed doing sabre T.T slashing is hard work >.< And Taekidokai is good for those who don't have the body type to do anything except sting like a bee :p, although apparently it's pretty much only here in Australia and NZ O.o, didn't realize until I googled it just now.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Naginata_sune.jpg)
