Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt

I'm humbled and honored to have been promoted to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt by professor Alan Teo. Persistence and consistency do pay off. 

Thankful for all the coaches, training partners and loved ones throughout this last decade of training. I'm always grateful to be able to continue on this journey.

BJJ Brown 1
BJJ Brown 2
BJJ Brown 3
BJJ Brown 4

2019 New York International Auto Show Highlights

The highlights from the 2019 NY Auto Show. Went on a Saturday, shooting free hand on a smartphone and the place being crowded was a bit of a challenge. Would need to invest in a gimbal and camera equipment for future videos.

Tetsuo speedpainting on the iPad

I have been wanting to get into digital art for a while as I have always been awed and inspired by the talented digital artists out there.

While painting on the latest Wacom cintiqs would have been ideal. The most accessible way to get into digital art in recent years have been with either two-in-ones like the Microsoft surface or tablets like the iPad or MediaPads. Companies like Apple, Huawei and Microsoft all have quality pressure sensitive styluses on the market. Even the base iPads which retail for around $300 can support the Apple pencils. And this is what I used here.

Akira is an iconic animation film and Tetsuo is one of my favorite characters, this is about 3 hours in and still a work in progress. Obviously, there is much to learn and practice before I can get anywhere near decent at digital art.

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Alan Teo Highlight

Edited this Highlight video for Professor Alan Teo. He is an accomplished and talented Grappler and my BJJ instructor. He is a third degree black belt under Renzo Gracie and is the head instructor of Renzo Gracie Fort Lee/Teo BJJ in Fort Lee, NJ.

The Move Pens are coming back

Hope everyone is having a good start to the summer.

Well, you guys asked for it, so the move pens are now coming back in stock. They are being machined as we speak and will be ready to ship out next month (June, 2017). Thanks to everyone who emailed me letting me know that there is interest in the product. Every production run is for you guys.

Shinya Aoki [One Championship] Highlight

Made this video for ONE Championship Highlight editing competition. 

A black belt in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Shinya Aoki is a grappling wizard known for his creative and often brutal submission finishes in the MMA world. He was consistently ranked as one of the top Lightweight fighters in the world during his prime and one of the top MMA talents to have come out of Japan. 

He is the former Shooto Welterweight champion, former WAMMA Lightweight champion, former DREAM Lightweight champion and the current ONE Lightweight champion. He has won several grappling tournaments including All Japan Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Budo Open and ADCC and is a veteran of PRIDE, DEEP, Strikeforce, Bellator and Rizin. 
 

Top 10 Fourth-Generation Jet Fighters

Some beautiful war machines. 4th generation is what I consider to be the golden age of piloted jet fighter designs, before stealth and drones take over in the following generations.

2016 New York International Auto Show Highlights

Just finished editing the highlight video for this year's New York International Auto Show. I remember going to the show back in 2002 and was impressed then. The show seems to be more impressive and draws larger crowds every year.

Move Pen review by The-Gadgeteer

A review of the Move Pen by Julie Strietelmeier of the The-Gadgeteer. Thanks for the review. I try to read each and every review of the move pen out there and will keep improving it based on the feedback and comments.

Review link

The Move Pens are back

You guys have requested it, so here they are! Well, they are almost here. All variation of the move pens are available for ordering now in the shop, but they won't be available for shipping out until early to mid August.

So you can place an order now if you don't want to miss out again. We really appreciate your interests in the pen, guys.

WWII Military Models (Set 1)

T-34, Jagdtiger & StuG III

This is the first three in my WWII military models collection.  Like most fans of military history, WWII remains one of my favorite eras in terms of design innovation.  The only true global war in human history. The existential threat to the main countries involved meant that the best and brightest of each were given enormous amount of resources and freedom to engineer and produce these mechanical monsters.

StuG III Ausf. F/8 (Assualt Gun):

This is a model of the StuG (Sturmgeschütz) III Ausg. F/8 Assualt Gun. The StuG III served with the artillery arm of the Wehrmacht and the Panzer Corps of the Waffen SS in WWII.  It was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during the war.  It was highly successful in both its originally intended role as a mobile assault gun as well as the role of a Panzerjäger (Tank-Hunter).

Built on the chassis of the reliable Panzer III, it features a casemate design as opposed to the turret design on a panzer (tank). Originally designed as an assault gun for close infantry support, it was fitted with a low-velocity 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 gun to destroy soft-skin targets and fortifications and fired mostly high-explosive rounds at enemy infantry.

However, after the Wehrmacht encountered the previously unknown and surprisingly capable Soviet armours such as the T-34 and KV-1 during Operation Barbarossa, large numbers of StuGs were urgently modified for the tank-hunter role. Its casemate design meant it could carry more powerful guns than a turret design like the Panzer III. Together with its low profile, good armour, reliability and mobility enabled it to be on par and even outperform the later JadgPanzers in combat effectiveness.

The Ausf. F/8 variant of the StuG III was fitted with a 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. With this gun, the StuG was able to confront the T-34 tanks and other Soviet armours as a tank-destroyer effectively.  In fact, the StuGs achieved a claimed kill number of 20,000 tanks by 1944, more than any Panzers or JadgPanzers.  Although it doesn’t have the same fearsome reputation as the later Panther and Tiger tanks, StuG III was without a doubt one of Germany’s best armoured fighting vehicle designs of the war.  

Jagdtiger (Tank-Hunter):

This model shows a Jagdtiger of the Wehrmacht with a Henschel chassis. It is shown in three tone camouflage paint without Zimmerit coating. Unlike the StuG III, The Jadgtiger was designed as a true Panzerjäger (Tank-hunter). In fact, it was the ultimate tank-hunter of WWII in terms of specifications, better armoured and better armed than its little cousins the JagdPanther and JagdPanzer IV. It can easily outgun any tank fielded in WWII.  

Its main armament is a modified version of the high velocity 128 mm PaK 44 L/55 heavy anti-tank gun. With it, the Jagdtiger could easily penetrate all enemy armours, including the formidable Soviet IS-series heavy tanks at a distance. It is equally well armoured, with 250 mm of frontal armor and 150 mm on the well-sloped glacis plate.  It is a heavyweight that no tanks would want to trade shots with directly.  

This is a true monster, at 72 tons, it was the heaviest armored vehicle of any type to go into production, heavier than even the Sturmtiger and Tiger II heavy tank (King Tiger), which it is based on. Like all Tiger variants, the Jagdtiger was excessively heavy and underpowered and was continuously plagued with mechanical problems.  

Although it achieved an impressive kill ratio in combat. By the time of its arrival on the field, the overall dire situation of the German military meant that the Jagdtiger came too little too late for the Wehrmacht.  It was nowhere near as effective as the smaller Jagdpanther, its heavy weight meant it could not travel easily on many bridges and roads in Europe. Only around 88 Jagdtigers were built, and more were lost to mechanical failures and lack of fuel than from enemy fire.

T-34/76 (Medium Tank):

The T-34 of the Soviet red army is widely regarded as the best tank of WWII.  It was the most widely produced and most influential tank design of the war.  When it arrived at the scene, it had an unmatched combination of firepower, mobility, protection, and ruggedness. German tank general von Kleist called it "the finest tank in the world" and Friedrich von Mellenthin admitted that there was nothing comparable in the German arsenal at the time.  Hitler was furious that the T-34 and other soviet weapons such as the Katyusha Rocket Launchers were unknown to German intelligence prior to the invasion of the USSR.  

Despite the overwhelming success of the early stages of Operation Barbarossa in which German Panzer groups easily steamrolled over older Soviet armour. When the Whermacht first encountered the T-34 tanks, there were little in their arsenal to deal with this new tank, a problem that became more and more apparent as the number of T-34s increased and Luftwaffe’s ability for close air support decreased.

The T-34 tank was not a refined tank, it was crude in many ways compared to its early German counterparts such as the Panzer III’s and IV’s. The crew of the T-34 suffered from poor ergonomic designs, poor visibility and a poor 2-man crew layout that overwhelmed the tank commander during combat, greatly reducing its advantages in the early days. Regardless, the combat effectiveness of the T-34 continued to increase throughout the war. Its wide tracks and powerful diesel engine gave it excellent cross-country performance when compared to the thin-tracked panzers. This version of the T-34 was fitted with a F-34 76.2 mm gun, hence the name T-34/76. With this firepower, it could easily penetrate early German armour at normal combat distances.

One of its best known features was its well-sloped armour that gave it exceptional protection.  Enemy shells would often be unable to penetrate this relatively thick armour even at close distances, and some would even be deflected off due to the extreme angle of the armour plates. The sloped armour would later influence all modern tank designs.  Together with its overall ruggedness, it would earn a legendary status among the history of tank designs and is a symbol of Soviet resilience and might.

TED Talks - How martial arts can help you achieve greatness in life by Chatri Sityodtong

This is a great TED talk by Chatri Sityodtong, who is the founder of Evolve MMA in Singapore. He examined how training martial arts has been beneficial to his own life and why he believes martial arts is the greatest platform to unleash human potential. Even with the sport of mixed martial arts becoming mainstream in many parts of the world, fighters and combat sport athletes are still being stereotyped negatively and the life-changing benefits of learning martial arts remains out of reach for most people simply due to negative preconceived notions. 

As Chatri mentioned in his presentation, the true essence of martial arts is not about fighting, it is about developing self-confidence and striving to be the best one can be. Check it out.

A picture of my BJJ match at the 2014 New York Summer Open. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has definitely changed my life positively. 

A picture of my BJJ match at the 2014 New York Summer Open. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has definitely changed my life positively. 

Have a great holidays and let's look forward to 2015. 

-Oliver Sha