tradesmanhelix's comments

tradesmanhelix | 2 years ago | on: Improving deep sleep may prevent dementia, study finds

Anecdotally, Steve Gibson's "Healthy Sleep Formula" [1] has been a lifesaver for me.

As I've gotten older, the biggest challenge has been falling back asleep in the middle of the night after a wake up (for whatever reason, i.e., bathroom, noises, etc.), but the Niacinamide esp. from the formula seems to fix this and I sleep great. Thank you Steve!!

[1] https://www.grc.com/health/sleep/healthy_sleep_formula.htm

tradesmanhelix | 2 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you find high quality mobile games?

New Star Games is a great little indy games publisher with multiple titles for Android and iOS. My favorite is Retro Bowl [1], a fun little retro-style American football game. They also make Retro Goal [2], a football/soccer game. There are some IAPs, but they are mainly used to unlock the full game and are very reasonably priced.

[1] https://www.newstargames.com/servlet/Content/en/text/release...

[2] https://www.newstargames.com/servlet/Content/en/text/release...

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tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: You cannot police misinformation in a fair, reproducible, and representative way

It's also good to remember that ideas like the heliocentric theory, the germ theory of disease, etc. would have been labeled as "misinformation" at one point in time. Now, they're the theories believed by the majority of people because that's where the best evidence points, which just goes to show that sometimes it takes hundreds of years for the best ideas to win. So I say let them fight.

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: How to rest well

I find that whatever I'm doing (binging a show, taking a walk, playing a video game, etc.) is much more restful when I'm fully present. For me, this means putting my phone and any other distracting technology away (or even turning it off) and just fully immersing myself in whatever I'm doing.

Additionally, I find a bit of boredom is helpful in making an activity restful. For example, I love The Expanse TV show but sometimes it's very slow moving and I find myself wanting to stimulate my brain more than it's currently being stimulated by the show if that makes sense. However, I've found that if I embrace the boredom, resist the urge to take my eyes off of the TV, and just "float" in the moment so to speak, after about 15-20 mins the discomfort fades and I lose myself in the narrative. I find this "losing of oneself" in an activity or experience to be very restful and rejuvenating.

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: How to rest well

Anecdotal, but for me this means I'm sleep deprived. When I'm getting enough sleep on a regular basis, a 20-minute "nap" (even if it's just closing my eyes and listening to something like [0]) is extremely refreshing.

[0] https://youtu.be/dPqCRyzhXn8

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: Common cold combats Covid-19

> I want a mild case to build natural immunity, which studies show provides better immunity than vaccines.

Do you have a source for this? I feel like many articles/studies I've read state the opposite, i.e., vaccine immunity > natural immunity.

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: Apple's bright idea for CSAM scanning could start persecution on a global basis

Dang I hope Linux is getting cool :D Recent releases of things like Gnome and ElementaryOS are pretty close to mainstream-ready IMO, so will be interesting to see things play out over the next few years.

> Also on phones the alternatives are shaping up nicely so do talk well about them, don't say people should swith now but say you are considering a switch next time you upgrade etc.

This is excellent advice, thank you!

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: Apple's bright idea for CSAM scanning could start persecution on a global basis

True, at some point you have to trust someone, whether it's your phone's manufacturer, your telco, or the developers of the apps you use. But when there's a flagrant disregard for users and the potential impact a system like CSAM could have on them, to me that crosses a line and means the company is no longer trustworthy:

> If a company actively screws its users in broad daylight, then what's going on behind closed doors?

At least previously Apple had the pastiche of a privacy and user-centric company. No more if this goes through.

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: The History of Karate

So where are all the successful Krav-trained strikers and grapplers in the MMA world? If the striking and grappling are as effective as other styles that have stood the test of time, it's remarkable that there are still few if any high-level MMA fighters with a Krav background.

Professional fighters aren't going to study a system where 50%+ of what they learn is disallowed in competitions. However, Krav _is_ used by/taught to various special forces and law enforcement groups. To me, this more than makes up for a lack of "professional fighters" using the discipline.

Leaving aside your questionable claim that groin shots and eye attacks are very harmful

Try going to any martial arts lesson while not wearing a cup and LMK what your thoughts are afterwards :)

all of this would only be true if the time the Krav fighter invested in training those other techniques was not at the expense of the basic striking and grappling skills.

However the big practical problem with techniques like joint locks and targeting soft spots isn't that they can't work, it's that training them to the level where they can work effectively often requires much more time to build up much more skill than just punching the other guy in the face as hard as you can or executing a basic takedown and hold on the ground. If you'd just spent that much time practising the simple, reliable striking and grappling techniques, you might get a lot more bang for your buck.

Your comment makes me wonder if either you've not actually seen proper Krav Maga or you've seen it as practiced by a McDojo type of place. I attend classes led by a Krav Maga Worldwide certified instructor. Each lesson begins with 10-15 minutes of combatives (basic kicks, palm strikes, hammer fists, etc.). It's the whole "practice 1 kick 1000x" thing. The lesson then focuses on basic skills like escape choke from the front, escape choke from the side, escape bear hug, etc. It's all very practical and focused on primal attacks/counterattacks ("punching the other guy in the face as hard as you can" like you said).

Joint locks and targeting soft spots are just tools that _can_ be used, but the mantra is "closest weapon, closest target." Hit where you can as hard as you can and don't stop until they stop. With only a couple of exceptions, no weapon disarms happen until your opponent has stopped fighting.

Bottom line is that Krav in its true form is reliable striking and grappling techniques combined with "OK let's practice how to respond in this specific scenario." It doesn't get fancy and tries not to employ techniques that require any fine motor skills.

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tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: The History of Karate

My Krav instructor was a sheriff's deputy for 20+ years and teaches Krav to law enforcement. From what he's said, the curriculum for them is slanted toward weapon disarms, choke hold escapes, take downs, etc., so Krav can be and most definitely is taught to law enforcement.

I like other disciplines/styles and plan to study BJJ and Muay Thai later on. I just don't think it's valid to say no tournaments = untested. After all:

- US Military using Krav >= competitions/tournaments

- IDF using Krav >= competitions/tournaments

- Law Enforcement using Krav >= competitions/tournaments

Right?

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tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: The History of Karate

I'm having trouble following your reasoning. It seems predicated on the assumption that Krav makes you a less skilled/unskilled striker/grappler when compared to say MMA or others, but I don't see any reason why this would be the case?

That aside, the main thrust of your argument seems to be, "If you can't land a non-lethal blow, then there's little or no chance of your landing a lethal blow." I don't think anyone disagrees with that. I think the disconnect is that once again your argument comes down to, "Krav automatically makes you less skilled than _______ (insert style here) and thus unable/unlikely to land any attacks."

But, once again, I don't think that follows unless there's a provable weakness/deficiency with Krav itself and/or you really do have a BJJ black belt vs. a level 1 Krav student, in which case I don't think anyone is going to disagree about the outcome.

Anyone who practices Krav on a regular basis and learns the techniques well can become a skilled striker, grappler, etc., in which case they will have an advantage over a straight MMA fighter of the same level simply because the Krav practitioner will be trained in very harmful attacks that MMA disallows (i.e., groin shots, eye attacks, etc.).

tradesmanhelix | 4 years ago | on: The History of Karate

Krav is widely taught to armed/special forces and law enforcement, who absolutely need a style that works in the "real world." To me, this speaks volumes more about its practicality and real world efficacy than its use by tournament/competition fighters.

Additionally, Krav has no competitive/tournament side to it, unlike most other martial arts. According to my Krav instructor, this is because the minute you add this aspect to a style, you then need rules around what is and isn't allowed. This goes against the core philosophy of Krav, which is "win the fight and get back home alive by any means necessary." It's about survival, and when fighting for survival you can't impose rules around what is and isn't allowed.

Much of what Krav focuses on (i.e., elbows, knees, groin/face attacks, etc.) isn't allowed in competitive fighting, so why would a professional fighter spend their time learning a style that they can only use say 50% of? Much better to learn something that was created with tournaments/competition in mind, where you can use 100% of what you learn, which is what I think most (all?) of them do.

So I don't think the "very few/no professional fighters learn Krav so it's no good" argument holds up, because 1) professional fighters would be wasting a lot of time learning Krav if professional fighting is their goal and 2) its widely used by many organizations outside professional/tournament fighting who arguably have an even greater need than professional fighters do for an effective self-defense methodology.

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