Blog Posts



Elden Ring Surprised Me

Elden Ring

There are three popular things I haven’t been able to catch up with — JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, The Witcher, and Dark Souls. I’ve been aware of the first one since the 2000s, but never really got into it as I barely watch anime since I got more into combat sports. I missed out on playing the second one, as I have with plenty of other games, so that’s not unusual at all. As for the third one, I had plenty of chances to get into it, but never caught the bug until now with Elden Ring. (more…)

My Six Pillars of Fight Analysis

Fight Analysis

I was listening to the Lex Fridman Podcast Episode 260, where he interviewed Georges St-Pierre, John Danaher, and Gordon Ryan. Most of the talking was done by Danaher, who is one of the most cerebral coaches in MMA and submission grappling today. Lex asked the question of who would win between GSP and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Danaher broke down their strengths and weaknesses. This blog post is the result of an epiphany I had while listening to his analysis on how I can formalize the foundation of my own analysis. (more…)

Learning About Modding Mechanical Keyboards

Keychron K2 V2 and Rakk Pluma with custom PBT keycaps

After a couple of years of coveting, I recently got into custom mechanical keyboards, which I’ve avoided due to lack of funds. But now that things have opened up for me and I got some extra cash to spare, it was time to invest in my keyboard, which is the main tool of my trade. I work as a freelance writer, which means I type a whole lot. Therefore, it’s important for me to have a good keyboard that I enjoy typing with, especially since I’m trying to get better at it. (more…)

I Have to Make Up My Mind on What This Blog is About

Avoiderdragon Logo 2022

I’ve had this blog on this domain for around ten years now. I originally put this up to keep sharp both my writing and web design skills. Nowadays, I’m not sure anymore why I still keep it up since I haven’t been able to make anything out of it for a whole decade. However, I’m not ready to give up on it just yet, but I do have to start whittling it down to the bare essentials so I can actually do more with it for less and without being overwhelmed. (more…)

Not Your Usual Streaming Gear Guide

Streaming Gear

This blog needs more guides, so here’s the first one of 2022. For this streaming gear guide, I wanted to recommend gear that most other guides don’t. The problem with those guides is they’re usually written by freelance writers who are just trying to hit their quota so they can get paid. Their sources of information tend to be all the other run-in-the-mill guides you’ll find out there, so they just parrot the usual. Not this guide. While I can’t say my recommendations are the absolute best out there, but they may give you a better perspective on how flexible you can be with your choice of streaming gear. (more…)

I Made a Big Mistake by Starting Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

That’s right. I gave into temptation and joined the fray. The last MMORPG I took seriously was Ragnarok Online, which I played way back from May 2003 to January 2006. While I would try out other MMOs later on like Tantra Online, Risk Your Life, RF Online, and so on, I never took it as seriously as the game that interfered with my college life. But this time, there’s no pressure for me to keep up. Final Fantasy XIV is known to be an MMO that actually respects the player’s time, but I’ll only believe it if I see it. (more…)

The Stupid Non-Argument of Technique vs. Strength

An illustration from Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey

One day, while scrolling through Facebook again because it was just one of those days, I came across a post on a boxing training group that brought about an age-old argument. Someone posted a YouTube video on how muscles are not important in boxing at all. Context may be skipped over in my description of it, but the whole discussion does just that anyway. I’ve written about the dichotomy of technique and conditioning on this blog, but let’s look more closely at the arguments against it. (more…)

Disco Elysium Took Me Some Time to Get Into

Disco Elysium

When I got gifted Disco Elysium by a friend during the Holidays, I knew I had no other choice but to give it a go. However, it took me quite a while to actually get into it, even though it’s the kind of game I’d be into. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s the period of time in which I chose to start playing it. To be fair, I also haven’t managed to finish its spiritual predecessor, Planescape: Torment. It does take a good bit of effort to play these games. (more…)

Focus on What’s Needed, Not What Looks Good

Retsu Unohana and Dennis Rodman

While watching random videos on YouTube out of boredom, I stumbled across this short scene from Bleach. The anime series has gotten a restart thanks to Tite Kubo finally putting the finishing touches to his long-neglected work. Part of that should be the long-awaited reveal of the kindly medic Retsu Unohana as the first Kenpachi, the deadliest swordsman ever. While she had been a killer of many in the past, she chose to be a healer in this timeline. Why? (more…)

My Top 2 Games of 2021

2021

This is not really much of a blog post, but I had to post something to get things started. I only played two new games in 2021, and one of them isn’t even fully released yet. 2021 was a garbage year meant for garbage thoughts and garbage feelings. It got somewhat optimistic at the tailend of it, but then had to cap it off with things going back to the “new normal.” Of course, it had to be during the Holidays when Omicron would strike. This goes on and on in this mandatory yet late year-end blog post. (more…)

Jaime Munguia vs. Gabriel Rosado: Testing the Next Mexican Superstar

Jaime Munguia vs. Gabriel Rosado Boxing Main Event on DAZN

The upcoming showdown between Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter may have overshadowed this fight that took place a week prior. However, I had high hopes for it, even if it was just for an intercontinental title, because of the man who holds it. Jaime Munguia defended his WBO Intercontinental Middleweight title against 15-year veteran Gabriel Rosado.
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Technique and Conditioning: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Usyk vs Joshua & Volkanovski vs Ortega

Two exciting championship fights in two different combat sports with different results took place last weekend. One fight had a more skilled fighter dismantle a bigger and stronger opponent to become a new champion. The other fight saw a better conditioned athlete shake off everything his opponent could threw at him and set a blistering pace every round to retain his title.
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