[X] My Assistant

[Mooncrow]

online anyone is 5 style black belt with several kinds of assault rifles in the closet.

It's still better than the Mythbusters forum. Everyone on there is a Ph.D in multiple science disciplines.

[Stahlseele]

fuck organized fighting sports.
brute strength brawling and going berserk si where it's at.
aside from evading, there is no defence against that stuff.

[Johnny B. Good]

I'd mention martial arts as a hobby, but that's usually as far into detail as I go. It's just as much a hobby as anything else I do, but maybe a little bit more consistent.

I forgot to mention I'm a huge music snob though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[Johnny B. Good]

fuck organized fighting sports.
brute strength brawling and going berserk si where it's at.
aside from evading, there is no defence against that stuff.

You funny.

[Doc Chase]

To quote Jimmy Pop Ali - I sing like an amputee.

Can't hold a note, can't carry a tune.

[Sharkman]

Heh...I mentioned martial arts as a passion about...1989...minus 2010 ...helluva long long time ago.
It wasn't TV martial arts, super star ninja sword wielding kung fu hero, read a book mystical horse poop.

I attended Seoul American High School on the US Army South Post and you could take P.E. (boring), Hapkido, or Tae Kwon Do (How cool is that?)

I picked Hapkido because they wore cooler uniforms than Tae Kwon Do.

I studied it for 2.5 years while my family was stationed there five days a week during the school year, and 4 days a week during the summer.

Then moved back to the US and moved on Tae Kwon Do! (or Leap depending on your sense of humor)...

Don't mention stuff though that makes you diverse! It brings out the critics.

[Smokeskin]

Exactly. The people who talk about it are the ones I imagine are lying. All the badasses I've known in real life have been humble. You would ask them how good a fighter they are and they would simply shrug. They would certainly never make an internet forum post about it.

That's BS. Fighting skills aren't some special stuff that once you get good you can't talk about it.

I know plenty of people who talks about their martial arts like any other skill. Some exagerrate, some are humble, some are honest, some are honest but delusional. I've known a few very badass fighters who did quite well in competitions, liked to to brag about it, liked to smash bottles on their shins in public and get into street fights. I remember an instructor with an obvious inferiority complex who always had to make a point about how much he could do - really bad case of short guy syndrome.

Fighters are as varied a bunch as any. Claiming otherwise is like saying all computer programmers are fat and uncouth.

[Method]

I take pride in the fact that I am what other people lie about being on the internet. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Seriously though, I think the martial arts bit is just because people are following the form set forth by earlier posters.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed this thread. Always interesting to see who is attracted to this game. One of these days I'll have to update my little blurb.

Edit: Oh, and lets try to stay on topic. I don't want to close another interesting and long-standing thread because this degenerates into arguments about martial arts training. Thanks!

[hobgoblin]

Fighters are as varied a bunch as any. Claiming otherwise is like saying all computer programmers are fat and uncouth.

And here i thought it was part of the "uniform" (alongside the beard and hair). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif)

[sabs]

I'm a White Sash (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Which means way more than you might think, and yet.. so very little.

Not everyone claims to be a Black Belt in Mixed Martial Arts (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Doc Chase]

Fighters are as varied a bunch as any. Claiming otherwise is like saying all computer programmers are fat and uncouth.

Why you laugh at Thog?

[Abigale]

Hm. I'll bite. I'm a 27-year-old student majoring in sociology. I have something of a talent for dazzling authority with bullshit, which is why I'm in university at all while shouldering the label of high-school drop-out. I'm in the poverty bracket for income and have been all my life, despite the fancy university (hooray for grants).

I've worked as a contractor for the government, florist's helper, door guard to a SCIF, sound-board operator, hip and knee vendor, and tin-foil-hat seller. I identify as a liberal, Hellenic Pagan female intellectual of mixed European genetic background. I enjoy playing casual computer games such as Plants vs. Zombies or Chuzzle as well as games like WoW, but I'm not really very intense with my games - definitely no FPS games because I find that I get too competitive and it becomes a nasty cycle because I'm bad at them but hate being beaten. I like to go hiking, swing dance, swim, bicycle, fence, read fantasy novels, cross-stitch, braise sterling (but not set 3mm stones), build sets, and play tag.

I got into Shadowrun quite recently and am still learning my way around the rules and the world. I don't have extensive RPG experience, although I've done freeform RP in some form or another since 1995. I'm certainly not comfortable enough in the setting to start bending rules around, and it's been a long while since I last wrote much, so I'm uncertain of my characterization and world-building skills.

I can vouch for a claim someone else in this thread has made, but I will name no names.

[Squiddy Attack]

I'm one of them darn kids, all runnin' around on your lawns and breaking your windows with baseballs. ;P

All joking aside, I'm a lazy student-type from North California. I've found that most of my interests have a technological bent -- currently, I'm doing some auto-repair things... Taking a class, keeping the family cars in one piece... Though I might end up deciding I want to tinker with software guts as well as car guts. I am indeed a pasty nerd who spends most of her time sitting at the computer and playing games. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Hobbies-wise, I'm something of an artist -- sketch-and-doodle-type -- but don't do a whole lot of that any more. I write occasionally. I also do a bit of parkour. It's currently a little too hot for that over here, but I intend to start again when the weather cools down enough (parkour is hard).

[CanRay]

I'm a computer tech from Northern Ontario, currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (No longer the Murder Capital of Canada! WOO!!!), currently unemployed. Over read and undereducated, full of useless knowledge. Oh, and a gun nut, which scares people in Canada, despite not owning any firearms.

I like to think of myself as an author, but am not. Other than that, I'm mostly just working on what caused me to be unemployed. Role Playing is part of that, actually.

[AStarshipforAnts]

I'm a 20 year-old university student from a very, very medical family. Everyone in my parents' generation, and those old enough in my generation, are either doctors, medical students, or married to doctors. At the moment, I'm currently dishonoring the family by not going to medical school, and instead aiming for a career in medical and scientific illustration. It was actually quite the BFD. Unlike a lot of you guys, I can't fight to save my life and I only know enough Japanese to say "It's the fuzz, cheese it!" My mother is Chinese, and my father is half Italian--making me ambiguously brown enough to get searched at pretty much every airport that I enter, regardless of the country. I'm not really old enough to have actually done anything interesting, yet.

Due to a series of amazing snafus, I'm going to get my degree in Psychology instead of Art or Biology. But, I'm going to end up with either two or three minors from the fine art school, depending on how much double-dipping I can do with credits.

I can't digest dairy products or soy, and I'm insulin resistant. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically miniature diabetes and type 2 diabetes waiting to happen. So, basically, I don't eat food. I synthesize hopes, dreams, and unicorn tears. And by those, I mean vegetables and chocolate almond milk.

Most of my skills lay in artisan work. I've got rudimentary skills in jewelry working, glassworking (kiln, mandrel, stained, and a little in glass blowing), drawing, painting, etc. I used to be decent at woodworking, but have since lost that skill. But my main hobby outside of table top is costuming and tailoring. Sometimes I sneak around and take pictures to keep my photography skills at an acceptably mediocre level. At the moment, I'm thinking of taking up flash animation, some coding, and possibly embroidery.

Videogames are a pretty casual thing for me. I started out playing D&D when I was about 14, and muddled around in a handful of systems (one or two horrible home-brews from my high school friends) before joining a Shadowrun group. Now that's most of what I play.

[Whipstitch]

I'm from Minnesota and spent most of my life in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I was an english major and art school nerd but eventually became a paramedic. I currently have one eye and a plate in my head so all things considered I rather wish we had come up with armored cyberskulls sooner since it would have saved me one hell of a headache. Then again, if this were 2070 I guess I'd probably be working for DocWagon right about now and that's a wee tad more high risk than the current gig, so maybe it evens out.

[tagz]

Ok, mine. It's a shotgun approach, trying to hit lots of points randomly.

I'm 28 year old Caucasian male. Ethnic decent would best be described as "European Mongrel", little bit of everything thrown in there.

Grew up in RI, USA. Spent a few years in doing odd jobs in Providence, playing tabletops at locations that Lovecraft frequented. You'd be surprised how much it set the mood.

Attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute for computer programming on a near full scholarship until I had a nervous breakdown, mostly because I had been slowly realizing that I hated working on computers with a passion and I had somehow laid down my life plan doing exactly that. Spent a few years "finding myself" which consisted of mostly living in a crappy, rundown apartment in Providence, barely scrapping by financially, trying the college thing a few more times in different areas (not for me I found), and making friends of the most unusual and unique people I could find. Finally I felt it was time to move on...

During my odd jobs I found I had a knack for electrical work, understanding complex concepts and troubleshooting problem situations without much difficulty. I moved to DC and went to trade school. I graduated and was immediately hired as an apprentice repair technician for commercial and industrial cooking/heating equipment. Been doing it a while now and I love the work, it requires a tech to know plumbing, electrical, steam and pressure systems, combustible gasses, mechanical know-how, and electronic circuitry on a pretty high level, having many techs having backgrounds such as Navy fighter jet mechanics for example. But in a nutshell, when these machines break they have me go find out why and fix them. The problems can range from something simple to some Cthulhu-induced-maddening experience and you never know for sure which until you get there and see.

Because of my job and the area I live in I routinely gain access to highly restricted areas (well, the kitchens, cafeterias, etc past security. And lots of places with high security offer "in-house" dining of some sort so you don't have to go through security as many times a day), so my knowledge of practical security is fairly good as well, and of a few common "holes" that seem to keep popping up.

I'm currently in a long distance relationship with another man, and hope that we can shorten that distance soon. Kinda weird sometimes, being Bi and working in a field that is rather homophobic, but I just keep my private life private since they don't need to know about any of that.

I speak two languages: English and Bad English.

I've tried to table top game since I was little, but a lack of a group made that difficult until recent years. Instead I immersed in fantasy worlds and video games. Now that I can play table tops I do. I find the various role-plays and acting to be the best parts, for me at least.

[Troysome]

Well, I just stumbled across this thread today, so I'll bite. It's kind of late for me, so this will probably be random and hard to understand.

I'm an old man for this forum: 42 going on 43. I have no martial skills. I am about 5' 7" and roughly 190-200 lbs. I used to ge physically fit, now I am just physically phhhttt!

I have a bachelors degree in music education, a masters degree in the creative arts in education, and I have taught K-6 classroom general music for the last 17 years.

I guess you could say that I am a closet RPG'er because I live in a very conservative town on the coast of Washington State, about 2 hours SW of Seattle.

I am married to a wonderful woman who tolerates my gaming passion (addiction?). I have 2 children: a 15 year old daughter and a 5 year son.I have played RPG's in one way or another since 1977 or 1978 with the original softcovered versions of D&D. I've mostly played D&D in that time with a smattering of Palladium, Deadlands, Star Wars d20, Vampire, d20 Modern, On the Edge, and maybe one or two others that I have forgotten over the years. I also play the Eve MMO and World of Warcraft in my (blessed little) spare time. I recently discovered Dumpshock and am scouring it for advice on how to GM Shadowrun and get some game ideas.

I currently play with a group of 5 others. We meet once a month for about 10 hours, drink a lot, and have a great time. We are currently playing D&D, but, come March or so, I will step up and GM some Shadowrun.

Shadowrun is my favorite world. I can't get enough of it, although I have played very little of it in my years of gaming. Maybe 1 or 2 adventures in both 2nd and 3rd edition.

I used to enjoy hiking, camping, and backpacking, but parenting has taken that (and a lot of other things) out of me. I love my children. Parenting is hard, demanding, and time intensive.

If you can send me some good Shadowrun GM'ing advice or link me some threads, I would be very appreciative.

[Scheme]

Hi All,

i am a 34 year old project manager in the automation industry. And someday i
hope that my army of evil robots will take over the world ....

Just recently i moved from good old Stuttgart, Germany, to the much
nicer meadows of the rhine valley around Freiburg,Germany.

I studied software and electrical engineering. And after some time even
got my Master degree in that. Though i still can't rember how (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Most of my hobbies are center around sport, rpg, computers and cooking.

I am myopic like hell and therefore proud owner of one of the few eye augmentations
currently on the market. Not to mention the bonelacing in both arms (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The thing i like most is a cold winter day with looooots of snow. I actually can't
get enough of that stuff. Naturally that makes me an excellent skier.
Sadly enough the winter ends far to soon and during the rest of the year i have to stick to
cycling, swimming and diving. Although i admind that there is fun in that too.

My first experience with RPG was in a school camp where the guy next to me started
talking about beeing an dwarf raised some elven cult.
It took me about an hour to get the meaning of that sentence and since then i have been
hooked on RPGs.

have fun
Scheme

P.S: Still looking for a RPG group in the area around Freiburg. So if there is anybody out there .......

This post has been edited by Scheme: Sep 9 2010, 01:06 PM

[Atomic Communist]

Guess I'll throw down. I was born in Tennessee and moved to North Carolina when I was 10 or so. I went to college for a bit, but dropped out and now I'm in the Army. Currently stationed in Ft. Gordon, GA. Been playing RPGs since I was about 13 or so, and Shadowrun was one of my first ones.

[Rand]

Born: Everett, Washington - Oct. 7, 1966 (Libra - Horse).
Lived: All over - Navy brat, then the Marine Corps. (Before the USMC: Everett, San Diego, Pensacola-Florida, Midway Island (of the famed battle), and somewhere in the NE, not sure where I was really young, possibly Vermont or New Hampshire. In the USMC: Okinawa & Oahu - yeah, it sucked to be me, oh yeah, and Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm. After USMC: Melbourne-Florida, Orlando-Florida, and now Knoxvile-Tennessee.)
Work: TV & Film Industry, mostly TV now as I work at Scripps Networks, the governing company for HGTV, Food Channel, DIY Channel, Great American Country Channel, Cooking Channel (was Fine Living), and now Travel Channel. Currently trying to get a script finalized and sold so that I can do that full time.

[Faraday]

Wow, an ancient thread my buddy Tyro OP'd? Guess I'm obligated to pitch in. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)


I am a young 6' 6", 200ish lb white guy. Working as a contract security guard and living in North Seattle. I've always lived in western Washington and expect I'll die here when I get around to that.

High school degree and some college, dropped out when I realized I didn't know what I wanted to do and figured I'd save the money for later. After that, sat around unemployed or worked retail/warehouse jobs. Eventually I met a friend who worked for a security company and I figured I'd try it out. Couple years later, I'm still doing the rounds.

Got a light touch of asperger's and clinical depression, but nothing requiring medication to function. Speak english only mostly, but I have some (very rusty) french. Trained in martial arts for 5 years during high school for the hell of it, got my black belt in senior year. I got into P&P rpgs and Magic the Gathering at the tender age of 13, got into video games at 18 (computer use/maintenance shortly thereafter). I have yet to actually play shadowrun as I have not enough folks to put a game together.

I have no idea when I'll get around to picking up a degree. :x

[PBTHHHHT]

I'm an old man for this forum: 42 going on 43. I have no martial skills. I am about 5' 7" and roughly 190-200 lbs. I used to ge physically fit, now I am just physically phhhttt!

Eh? Someone tried typing my forum handle? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Man, this thread just keeps on going. hah.

[KarmaInferno]

37 years old.

Currently taking classes in computer animation and game design.

Up until a year ago, Construction Engineering and Management. I help build skyscrapers for a few years.

Which annoys my gaming group sometimes because I know how to actually take down buildings.

Previously, graphic designer and illustrator. Which also annoyed my gaming group because I could and did identify every typeface in gaming books.

I've had an odd life.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

And I have, in fact, taken martial arts and been in competitive shooting before, but that was years ago and I probably suck at it now.


-karma

[Faraday]

Man, this thread just keeps on going. hah.

Yes, it's really quite ironic. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)