Ask HN: Sports You Play Outside of Technology | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Sports You Play Outside of Technology

2 pointsAngeloAnolin3 comments

I believe majority of the people here in HN would have heard the news about Kobe Bryant's death yesterday. This kind of hit hard as outside of technology, playing basketball is one of my go to outlet for my physical and mental well-being.

Basketball is an ultra-competitive, physical contact sport. But there's also that mental toughness that is required to strategize on how to outplay your opponent. It also serves as a good model on being able to play with your colleagues and making sure to adjust your game accordingly so that the team as a whole gathers the win (and learns graciously in defeat).

I want to know with our fellow HN people here, what other physical activity serves as your outlet and why.

Thanks,

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I compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I also train and do sparring in Muay Thai, but do not actively have fights.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a great sport, not only for the physical activity, but also as it requires constant learning and humbles you very quickly.

You learn to let go of your ego, regularly getting tapped out by smaller people, including women, and forces you to reflect on your mistakes and learn from them.

I feel as though it is equivalent to a real-life RPG, where you're constantly grinding and gaining experience and gaining abilities to take down better opponents. It's also a ton of fun and stress reliever after a long day at work.

It's always interesting to see the dynamic at the beginning of class where everyone is significantly more quiet, as compared to after several rounds of hard rolling and submissions. Everyone is in a great mood and talking to each other about how they were caught in an impressive and sneaky choke or asking for open criticism from others.

I feel as though this has translated well in my professional life, realizing that situations are not as bad and I believe and can take a step back, relax, and assess the best course of action.

Highly recommend giving it a shot if you want to be challenged to an extreme and learn every single day.

I haven't played sports since being on the swim team in high school. Likewise, I have no interest in watching sports. Competitive sports creep me out a little.

My physical activity is bicycle-riding. I don't do it recreationally much, but intentionally got rid of my car in order to force me to ride a bike, to ensure that I get enough routine exercise.

Intramural softball was my way of getting off the tush and being more active during the week (and because I love baseball). Runner ups in league play this year, which was awesome! I'm thinking of looking for a newbie friendly soccer team this summer, having recently come to appreciate the sport on a whole new level thanks to a new coworker who moved here from Portugal and schooled me on the mechanics of the game after work a few times.

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