The INTJ Mentality Regarding Sports

Hey, everyone.

I know I mentioned writing a rant about INTJs and friends/-ships, but like I said in last week's post on socio- and psychopaths, I can't remember for the life of me what the point to that rant was supposed to be. So instead I'm going to write a piece on sports and INTJs. What INTJs think about sports, if we do sports, if we're any good at them, and if we do sports, why do we do them?

But before we get into that, I want to remind you all of my Patreon. If you enjoy my content, I would like to ask that you consider becoming my patron. $1 a month would certainly help by leaps and bounds whereas $5 could work miracles. That's only .17 cents a day.

Now then...

I realize that this topic of INTJs and sports does come somewhat out of left field. Why in the hell would I want to write it? I'm not responding to someone else's post. Well, let me tell you a story.

A Story...

A couple of weeks ago, my friend John had his Dirty 30 birthday party at a bowling alley in St. Clair Shores. I've been bowling before. I'm not great, but I'm no stranger to strikes and spares. During my Vector Marketing/Cutco days, some of my fondest memories were going bowling late at night with some of my co-workers after a "phone jam" or weekly meeting. So, going to my friend's bowling party, I've got something to prove to myself and to the others in attendance, that being that Bryan C. Laesch can bowl.

I got my butt beat pretty bad in the first game, and I was not happy. I scored under 100. One of the guys bowling with us, the spouse of the sister of a guy I went to high school with, apparently does a lot of bowling. He had two balls, two gloves, his own shoes, and a bag for all his goodies. I had researched some bowling tips before I went and I had made a flippant comment after a strike that it was better to look at the floor (the arrows) than it was to look at the pins. Well, said guy gave me some free advice for the second game. He told me I was absolutely right and that I should line up my right shoulder with the arrows and then finally with the pins. He also said I had the best form of anybody there except for himself, which felt pretty good. But anyway, I took his advice, and the strikes and spares started to pile up. That second game I did something like 115 or 119. That was a great feeling.

The rest of the night wasn't anything too special. We tried to let some of the other party-goers take a turn, but they weren't interested so it was just me and the guy I went to high school with for the third-and-a-half games we played after that, except this time, I was bowling for two people and my personal score did suffer for it. But there were plenty of strikes and spares to go around. And man was I sore the next day! I felt it mostly in my legs.

So, that's why I decided to write this post on INTJs and sports--to explore the INTJ mentality regarding sports. Let's get into the meat of this topic.

What Do INTJs Think of Sports?

We don't typically think of INTJs as being sporty people. MBTI in general doesn't give real insight into the sporty or athletic aptitudes of the types, but INTJs are typically looked at like the Dr. Frankensteins of the world: we keep to ourselves, in our studies or our laboratories, and study the mysteries and complexities of the universe, sometimes committing heinous acts against nature in the process.

This really doesn't say "football scholarship" or "all-star material."

Despite that though, INTJs do have a reputation for being jacks-of-all-trades. Hell, I used that same philosophy when I came up with my twitter account name: BryanofallTrade. But we tend to throw around that term without ever really thinking about what it means. It basically means that INTJs can do everything. Not necessarily well or that we're the best, but we can do anything and know a little bit about everything. You'd be surprised what I know about women's attire. Especially lingerie.

But this jack-of-all-trades attitude extends into the wide world of sports. While I by no stretch of the imagination consider myself sporty or athletic, I've always felt that I have a working knowledge of and ability with most sports. I played baseball for two years when I was kid (I wasn't any good), I always did well in gym, I had three years of karate, my grandfather took me to a driving range a lot, I played HS soccer Freshman year (I wasn't any good), some of my fondest memories involve playing backyard basketball by myself, and I've recently taken quite the shine to archery and sport whip cracking. Plus, and I know these aren't technically sports, but I'm not half bad at pool, I've been weight lifting to get into better shape, I rollerblade, when I lose more weight I'm going to ride my bike more, and I'm self taught at HEMA.

I'm not that good.

So I'm not physically challenged. But getting back to the question at hand, what do INTJs in general think of sports? Well, we're not against sports. We have a sort of laissez-faire attitude about sports. Sports doesn't bother us, and we don't bother sports. But generally speaking, we're not big into sports. The reason for this is because most sports are team activities. Football, baseball, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, kickball, volleyball, hockey, ultimate frisbee--while these activities are fun to indulge in by yourself, the real fun to be had in them is with teams. And being INTJs, the obvious problem here should be obvious.

This team aspect is likely the single biggest reason as to why most INTJs are not into (most) sports. We don't have a lot of friends to begin with, and we're not the sort to invite ourselves or even accept an invitation to a pick-up game. Other reasons would include price, such as with leagues, equipment, and the like, (personal) time, and the fact that we don't like watching sports. Well, I don't as anytime I watch sports, I just end up wanting to play myself, so that doesn't do me any good.

Are INTJs Any Good at Sports?

Well, I've already answered this above by admitting that we're jack-of-all-trades. But how is it that we are decently good at sports if we don't actively pursue them? Well, INTJs may not be the physical sort, but we are well-aware of everything around us, including our own bodies. We know how they move and how to move them in order to get the result we want. And due to our studious nature and photographic memories, we can watch a player demonstrate proper form once and duplicate it almost perfectly. We also absorb theory like a sponge, and in a bid to do well or better at something, we will of course explore the theory behind a technique and see if we get favorable results. So, in theory, INTJs are at least decently good at most sports.

Why Do INTJs Do Sports?

But the real question is why do INTJs do sports? There are many acceptable reasons why someone may indulge in athletics: fun and diversion, to hang with friends, to excel at a skill, get a scholarship, be rich, and/or just because they like the activity. Many of these reasons are shared by INTJs--we're not that different from everyone else. We do put on our pants like everyone else does--both legs at the same time by jumping into them as they are suspended from the ceiling. But there is one other reason why people, and INTJs included, may do sports. Perhaps you picked up on it from my story above: to prove something to ourselves and others.

I personally don't consider myself a competitive person. In fact, I try not to be competitive, but let's face it, we all want to be winners and most of us are envious of them. I try to shrug off the envy because I know I'm likely to get stomped and I don't want to deal with that disappointment, so that's why I don't bother in the first place. But if your sh*t performance is out in the open for all to see, you may as well try your damnedest and prove to yourself that you have some ability.

I don't find anything wrong with this self competition, or even the subtle and farther reaching competition with everyone else. But there are some people, like my friend Jessica, who don't seem to understand it. 'Course though, she is athletic. She runs all the time. That includes 5K's, so perhaps she doesn't need to prove anything to herself as she already has. The other side of it is that it could just be natural male competitiveness. You know, the stone age principle of the strongest, fastest, smartest competitor getting to sleep with the most bang-able women without any need for a real personality. But, would INTJs allow themselves to be so base as to be influenced by a Paleolithic urge? ...Probably. It might be old as hell, but it is an essential piece of evolution.

However, might there be something else at work here? Something specifically related to INTJs? At first glance, I did suspect that it was our inferior function, Extraverted Sensing (Se), at work. After all, in my response to "The Top 7 Gift Ideas for INTJs" one of the gift ideas was stuff like wine, coffee, and chocolate as a means to please or indulge an INTJ's Se. So, I thought that that they may be a possibility, but there is a problem with that theory: sports are not just about the tactile aspect. There is a lot of strategy and theory that goes into athletics, not to mention the validation and self-worth that come from a well-played game.

So I decided to look at the INTJ function stack (Ni, Te, Fi, Se) to see if anything came to mind and I did indeed have a brain wave. I wondered if the reason why INTJs indulge in sports has anything to do with the possibility of discovering something new (Ni), coupled with the theory of how to do well (Te), along with the desire to feel good about ourselves (Fi), hitched up to the physical experience of actually having proof that we're skilled (Se). Looking from this perspective, sports become a functional stack orgy, for lack of a better term. Or, in more eloquent words, sports allows an INTJ to use all of his functions, and an INTJ wants to use all of his functions to their fullest potential, hence resulting in his intense self-competition. Of course though, that's just a theory.

A Game Theory!
Wait! No--it's an INTJ theory.

 

Conclusion

In the end, the INTJ mentality toward sports is mostly ambivalent. We aren't really for it, and we aren't really against it. Given the right motivation, we could come up with plenty of arguments both for and against the practice of sports. But there's no denying that INTJs do possess some elementary skill at athletics, and with training, we could become quite competent. And really, who doesn't like making the basket swish, seeing the ball fly over the stands, seeing the arrow hit the bull's eye, or knocking down all the pins with one throw, and knowing that you personally are responsible for making that happen?

Alright, you guys, that's it for now. I'm sorry I didn't do a second article for last week. Sh*t happens, like laziness. Although, if I had some patrons, I might be more willing to stay on the ball. Hint, hint...

But anyway, this week is a little different from most weeks. We are currently in Holy Week which means, among other things, that because Holy Thursday to the Holy Saturday Vigil Mass is a time of great solemnity and sacrifice, I will be giving up video games and frivolous videos on YouTube in honor of JC's crucifixion. Which means I'll be focusing on my writing to fill up my time. So, hopefully I will have a second INTJ article out this week. It won't be a serious article, rather something I'll write for fun, but it'll be about the perfect color to describe the INTJ personality. That should be enlightening. But until then...

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Flash Stories & Poetry Day 36: Sports "Sport Whip Cracking"

 

Hey, everyone.

So, I've got into the habit of copy and pasting these writing exercises a week in advance, and then adding the wheels the night before and spinning them then. I did that last night and got a genre, but then this morning I had another reminder of how I live in the past instead of the present and I was going to write about that. But then I decided, it would make for a better poem than a Reflection, especially since I have no idea of what I would exactly write except for the fact that I'm stuck in the past and have no present as a result, so... on with today's subject.

Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!





Today's genre is... Sports!

A'ight, so sports. I could write about NFL protests, but that's really more opinion or political than it is about sports. Which therefore leads me with just one thing to write about: sport whip cracking. Other than archery, it's the only other sport I'm into and it's not really "sport." It's more of a sport in the sense that cheerleading is a sport; that is to say, it has some of the elements of sports, but it really isn't a sport.

Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!

Firstly, what is sport whip cracking? Well, you know what a whip is, and you know what it means to crack one, but what you may not know is that there are multiple ways to crack a whip. There's the front or circus crack, the reverse crack, the flick, the underhanded flick, the side flick, the cattleman's crack which is either the front or overhead crack depending on who you learn it from, there's the reverse overhead crack, there's the slow figure-8, the fast figure-8, the overhead figure-8, volleys, and it goes on. So, sport whip cracking is essentially the "art" of combining those cracks into a seamless choreography. But, sport cracking also consists in wrapping contests and cutting contests where people try to break uncooked pieces of pasta into as many pieces as possible. So, there's a lot to it.

Something else you may not know is that there are many different kinds of whips with regards to their designs and materials. I'm sure you know of leather whips, but in recent years, nylon or paracord whips have become the most popular due to the fact they cost only a fraction of leather whips and they don't require any maintenance. You can also make a whip out of duct tape.

But in terms of design, there are three main types: blacksnake, bull, and stock whips. The main differences between them is their handles and how they generate the force to crack. Blacksnakes are 100% limp all the way through the body, called the thong, and they're the heaviest of whips because they generate their crack by having their core be weighed down by shot. You will need some initial wrist movement to crack them, but they crack thanks to their significant weight. Snake whips are mostly used for target competitions and almost never for whip combinations since they're so hard to control.

Bullwhips are the most mainstream whip. You know Indiana Jones? He uses bullwhips. These whips don't have as much shot in their core and they have a stiffened handle but it's still contained within the whip's thong. There are whips called "woody" bullwhips which are bullwhips with an exposed wooden handle; they look pretty cool actually. In terms of competition, bullwhips are used in wrapping and sometimes targeting.

Stock whips are the lightest of whips and as a result crack by means of leverage. See, these whips are complete thongs with a very light core and then attached to a long, stiff handle by a connection known as a "joint." These whips are most common in the fancy choreographies because they can be whipped around so easily. A variant on the stock whip is the Florida cow whip, which I own. It's my best whip, although I only own two real whips.

Now there are other kinds of whips, like there are whip makers at Midwest Whips who make what's known as the "Performance Hybrid" which is like a stock and bullwhip combined into one. Unfortunately, they cost $90 for one, $120 for a pair, and it will take three months to make one. It will only take a week to make it, but the waiting list is the real time killer. As a result, many whip crackers, that's what we call ourselves, are also whip makers. It's not that hard, unless you want to get super fancy with the overlay, but it is time consuming. I've made two duct tape whips myself, and it took me a week to make them.

Now, let me clear up some misconceptions about the whip:

1. When you the whip is used, it never comes into contact with whatever you're cracking at. See, the whip can only crack so long as its flight is uninterrupted. The energy has to roll down from your arm and hand into the handle and down along the thong, into the fall and then corkscrew at the cracker where the whip ends. That's how it cracks. You can hit your target after the fact, which is what most people are doing, it's just that the target is hit so soon after the crack that they seem to be happening at the same time.

2. Not all whip crackers are weird sex perverts. In fact, I know a whip maker at 21st Century Whips who if he finds out you're into that sort of crap, he'll refuse to make you a whip because he doesn't want his work used in that way. We're also not all Indiana Jones wanna-bes. We may have gotten into whips because of Indiana Jones, but we stuck around for the love of the whip.

3. Which brings up another good point; while you can wrap the end of your whip around a target and potentially grab an object, it's not always a certainty and you can't actually swing from whips. Adam "Crack" Winrich once made a whip for the sole purpose of swinging, but no natural whip can be swung on; they'll break.

4. Whips cannot be used as weapons. There's only one whip cracker that I know of, Anthony DeLongis, who says they can be used as weapons or in the case of self-defense. Now, while he does have some good points, Anthony DeLongis is a very experienced martial artist. The average person is better off with mace or a firearm than using a whip.

***

 

Stop the clock! Hm. 4:20 left. (Blaze it!) I stopped there because I couldn't think of anything else to add without getting into the fine details of whip cracking. Heck, my explanation on how a whip cracks is an extremely quick and dirty and simplified version. In fact, I only explained the physical theory on how a whip cracks and not the actual technical mechanics of how a whip cracks but that would've involved going into the bellies, plaiting, and how they control the core, and you don't need to know all that. Hell, most crackers don't even need to know how the whip cracks, they just need to know how to do it.

 



Oh, one last thing: yes, whips do break the sound barrier. Some estimates put their actual speed at past Mach 2 and if you watch the end of a whip carefully, you can actually see the sonic boom occur. It's much easier to see if the cracker is wet.

 

But anyway, that's it for today. If you want to use the wheel I made, you should be able to access it here. And if you have the time, please check out my books for sale on Amazon which you can find through my author page. The link is below. Also, I reworked my Patreon page, so why not give it a look and consider becoming my patron. I would appreciate it.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

My Works:

Amazon: My Author Page, My Influencer Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Flash Fiction & Poetry Day 15: Sports "A Beginner's Guide to Archery"

Hey, everyone.

It's time for today's writing challenge and today, I'm using the non-fiction wheel, so this will be interesting. Let's see what happens.

Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!





Today's topic is... Sports! You know, I just had a thought; what do I mean when I say "Sports?" Do I mean I'm going to talk sports like another man, or that I'm going to talk about the sports I do, or am I just going to talk about whatever I want about sports which I can do because it's so vague here? Well, I can't talk about sporting teams because I don't know anything, so that means I'm going to have to come up with something else. And to be perfectly honest, I do have an interest in some sports, such as archery and firearms which means I can talk about them. In fact, I had the idea of doing a beginner's guide to traditional archery and I wanted it done before Christmas, but I don't know if I will get it done. So, let's see if I can get a little abridged version out as a sort of test.

Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!

1. The Bow--The first thing you need to know all about in archery is the bow--the arch part in archery. Unfortunately, we can talk at length about bows, but for the sake of simplicity, when you're getting into archery, there are two main different kinds of bows you're going to come across: one if the longbow and the other is the recurve. What's the difference? Well, in terms of looks, the recurve's limb tips are curved away from the archer, although there are some longbows that do have this feature. What then is the difference? Well, the recurve limb tips curve away at sharper angle. Why do recurves have this feature? The argument is that because it puts more tension on the bow stave when strung and drawn meaning it will snap forward faster when the string is released and it will impart more energy to the arrow making it faster. In theory, if you have a recurve and longbow of comparative size, weight, material, and manufacturing, the recurve will be the "better" bow because of the curved limb tips.

1a. Now, with that settled, there's another two major different kinds of bows concept out there, and it's whether the bow you have is target bow or a hunting bow. Why does that matter? Generally, target bows will have lighter draw weights, the pressure required to pull the string back while pushing the bow stave forward, and target bows are more likely to be made from plastic or aluminum. Hunting bows almost always have higher draw weights and are made of wood, although they can be made from a composition of materials. One of my hunting recurves has a fiberglass backing on its limbs. The other major difference between hunting and target bows is that target bows are generally more inherently accurate, but hunting bows are generally cheaper. So, there are trade-offs with each kind of bow.

2. The Arrow--The second most important part of archery is the arrow, your ammunition. But how complicated can that be? Well, it can be very complicated. For starters, what kind of arrows do you get when you start shooting: aluminum, wood, or carbon fiber? Well again, each material has its pros and cons. Starting with wood, it's cheap and light weight which means it will fly faster and farther, but very few fletcher or even arrow making companies make arrows out of wood anywhere. True, it is a readily available material, but wood arrows break and snap, and believe me, as you shoot, you're going to miss so that means replacing your arrows quite often.

Aluminum arrows are cheap and readily available too, and bonus, they don't break, but aluminum arrows are heavy and will fly slower, and they do bend which means you'll have to straighten them as necessary, and once bent, an aluminum shaft will never be as strong as it once was. This brings us to carbon (fiber), what is widely regarded as the best material for arrows. It's strong, light weight, and doesn't bend. However, it does break, and carbon fiber is the most expensive option of the three, but you can find carbon arrows in a variety of prices. They can be had cheap.

2a. Now that you have a material chosen, how long do you make/cut your arrows? This is usually decided by how long your draw length is, the length from the arrow rest to your anchor point which is where you are going to draw your arrow back to every time you draw. The reason why is so that you create consistency between your shots and with practice, it will make you more accurate. Not to mention, it does help improve your aim. For most people, their anchor point is the tip of their middle finger in the corner of their mouth. Once you have that spot, now all you have to do is measure it and there are various ways of doing that which I won't go into here.

2b. But there is another thing you have to consider and that is the spine, or stiffness, of your arrow's shaft. How do you know which spine you need? Well, first you need to know what the poundage of your bow is because that's how arrow makers sell their shafts. If your bow has a draw of 38 lbs at 28 inches, then you will most likely need an arrow with a spine that fits a bow drawing somewhere between 35 and 45 pounds at 28 inches. Don't worry about picking up the right shafts; they'll be marked.

2c. Now we get to the fletchings, or the little feathers at the end of the shaft. Sometimes they're not actually feathers and are instead plastic triangles called "vanes." What's the difference between vanes and feathers? Well, not much. They do the same job, but if you do a lot of indoor shooting as opposed to outdoor shooting, you can invest in vanes instead of feathers as feathers fight the wind better when it comes to keeping your arrow flying straight. The other thing you need to keep in mind is that the longer and heavier your arrow, along with the worse or more inclement weather you're shooting in, the longer and more natural your fletchings should be. To keep things simple, I just recommend you go with feathers.

2c-a. And speaking of feathers, when you get your arrows fletched, you can choose the colors and number of your fletchings. Most people have three fletchings, but you can have four. If you're hunting birds, it will behoove you to have six or more, but you'll also need a special arrow for that called a flu-flu arrow. But if you have only three fletchings, something you have to keep in mind is that you're going to have two hen feathers and one cock feather. The cock feather will always line up with your arrow's nock and will tell you which way to nock your arrow. Pro tip: your cock feather will always point away from your bow with the two hen feathers pointed towards it. So, for this reason, it isn't uncommon for archers to get their cock and hen feathers in different colors to make nocking their arrows easier.

***

 

Stop the clock! Geez, I barely scratched the service here. If you're wondering, I only have thirty seconds left, but that is not enough to go on to the next point. Also, I apologize for being all over the place. Unfortunately, I took a nap before I started writing this and I still feel very drowsy. I also feel very hot. I don't know what my deal is. But, I didn't think that went too badly. It did show me that there are a lot of things to talk about when writing a book about archery. In fact, it might behoove me to have a section per chapter on all the different vocab words a person will need to know as they learn about archery. That would definitely help.

But anyway, that's it for today. If you want to use the wheel I made, you should be able to access it here. And if you have the time, please check out my books for sale on Amazon which you can find through my author page. The link is below. Also, I reworked my Patreon page, so why not give it a look and consider becoming my patron. I would appreciate it.

See you tomorrow.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:
Amazon: My Author Page, My Influencer Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar