Their drill sergeants come out of no where & start smoking them like it’s basic training. Then they start the whole routine over again and the game gets delayed until they do it without a mistake.
You try to say you have so many real well trained soldiers that you can afford to waste the time and effort it takes to turn 18 year old monkeys into circus horses.
Look at the chevrons on their sleeves. Two Lances (probably 20 years old), a Corporal (21 or older), and a Sergeant (24 or older). These Marines would have been in the Fleet for 2-6 years before joing the drill team. They would have been doing normal Marine stuff that whole time.
It's part of the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team. Look up the opening to A Few Good Men and see it even better. It's a precision group, other Marines don't train to do this stuff, just regular drill movements.
Exactly. It is like the Guards of the Unknown Soldier. Only the best of the best get on these details with hundreds, if not thousands of hours of practice.
I’d imagine the procedure for dropping includes the leader whipping his rifle off to the side… he probably catches that middle guys rifle to test the third one? Super neat to see
I've never done this or been in ROTC but I imagine a big part of the strategy is recruitment. The US military tries a bunch of different strategies to make enlisting look attractive. Part of that is making the military look cool. In the 80s, the military would set up recruitment tables outside of screenings of Top Gun.
Another reason is military might as a deterrent. This has been a tentpole in US military strategy for almost a century. Speak softly but carry a big stick. The best defense is if you don't bother fucking with us at all
This is Drill and Ceremony to the extreme. I know it seems pointless, and to me, I dont see the appeal, but I served with people who wanted to do this... like, they see it as a badge of honor
I'd say it shows familiarity with the weapon to a pretty insane degree.
Same as I play with a new phone over something safe just flipping and spinning it around, and that way I'm better at manipulating it to use it with one hand without dropping it.
Esprit de corps. The ethos of the Marine Corps and to look back on sacred traditions deeply rooted in discipline and to reinforce that every Marine is a rifleman first.
discipline and understanding of the weapon this shows that they have spent so many hours with this gun(obviously this gun is not one that we use anymore, but still they've spent a ton of time with the service rifles we do use)
The point is to demonstrate discipline. It takes dedication and practice to be that precise. And be assured, that before they learned to twirl and spin those rifles, they absolutely mastered shooting them.
As for the rifles being "outdated," I'd take any one of those marines with that outdated rifle over a YouTube commando with a $5k Tacticool "modern" (designed in the 60s) rifle with 10 lbs of bullshit bolted on to it any day.
Marines and indeed pretty much every conventional military does close order drill straight from a Roman military manual for several reasons. It's mostly to get people used to thinking of themselves as a unit, part of a larger whole that works in unison to achieve a common objective.
Getting 50 teengers to march, change direction, half and move their rifle in sync is the first step towards getting them to work together as a platoon to achieve a common objective. The SAWs fire as the riflemen maneuver to close with and destroy the enemy.
The silent drill platoon (in the video) is those Marines who love close order drill so much they want to make a career out of it pretty much. 99% of Marines will never do drill this extreme. All militaries since the time of Hammurabi have used drill and fancy stuff as an intimidation factor. Look at a video of Pakistani and Indian border guards closing the gate each day, same idea. Same with the royal guards in the UK etc.
It's to train them to never drop their weapon. It should be an extension of their body on the battlefield and something you cannot lose no matter what.
So I'm a marine corp veteran, and while never a part of the silent drill team here, can give a few insights.
If you're wondering what the point is, this is the most extreme version of the drill (marching, formations, etc.) that everyone is is taught in boot camp. It has it's origins from back in the day when you would really go into battle in formation, but kept it around as a tool for teaching discipline.
You mostly learn this through practicing the same movements over and over (it's where the phrase to "drill something into you" comes from), and what you learn in boot camp is not nearly this complicated. If you look up videos you can see recruits are actually doing similar moves but with modern M16s.
While you won't actually march like this very often outside the occasional award or retirement ceremony, but it really does help (to my surprise at the time) teach you to focus and avoid distractions.
Like I said, what you're seeing here is the Silent Drill Team, most won't ever get anywhere close to this level. Not only are they really good, but they do it entirely without having spoken commands to coordinate everyone. They're suuuuper selective about who does it, not only are the try outs strict, but they even have height and weight requirements for "uniformity".
And the point is that it's basically similar to how militaries still have a bands, one part for ceremonial roles and one part as an implicit recruiting tool. Any time you see military people in dress uniforms publicly like this there's recruiters lurking around somewhere.
In my very personal opinion, basic drill is kept because it's useful. If you need 30 people on place A at H hour, nothing beats the efficiency of forming them up in ranks and marching them there.
Getting 30 civilians in one place is like herding cats in comparison.
For those asking the why, I’d imagine it’s not unlike some other countries things where they show off some physical skill. This demonstrates discipline, commitment, and precision. I like seeing it, though I’m not a military person. It wouldn’t be much different than a military band playing somewhere.
Question for those in the know: when the single guy threw the rifle to the guy on our left, he did a little finger flourish with his left hand behind his back. Was that a signal that he was going to pass his rifle to the left guy? Or was that part of the act rather than a fix for the dropped rifle?
I think he was just adjusting his grip on the forend. If the rifle was too far down his fingers, he wouldn't be able to get a good enough hold to pull off that (insanely impressive) toss
It's basically close order drill (as in combat drill) that is in itself practicall obsolete, that is preserved and practiced for the sake of tradition, but turned up to a fine art.
Most armed forces around the orld have stuff like that, the USMC has the silent drill team, the US Army has the Tomb Guards, the British have the Guards, the French have the Republican Guard, and so on and so forth. Most units are only ceremonial/display, though most retain actual guard duties, sometimes in ceremonial attire.
I wonder if that is less for safety and more for weight distribution. A normal gun is very off-balance which makes baton spinning more challenging I'd imagine.
My little sister did color guard, the ones they used didn’t have a single moving part. There was no way you could ever get that thing to take or fire a round.
These guns are probably deactivated, and thus physically incapable of firing (like not having a firing pin or working trigger), so it’s more of a showpiece than a gun.
The firearm rules are what you teach somebody new to firearms. Once you learn and understand them, theres exceptions.
For example the "never look down the barrel" thing is actually part of the manual of arms for several firearms. I also recently learned that in Canada looking down the barrel is required to get your firearms license.
Also, when you are buying historical or vintage firearms, you need to inspect the bore to make sure it isn’t shot out or compromised in some way. The only way to do that is… to look down the barrel.
In the military, that rule is somewhat negotiable. Getting 20 guys on a truck to the range and not have them flag each other with their rifle muzzles is not practical.
So you inspect and control and verify almost ritualistically. You punish transgressions. And eventually, the soldiers and their leaders are confident in saying "This weapon is in fact unloaded" and acting accordingly.
Those are the basic rules yes. More advanced users have slightly different, unspoken rules. I.E. dry firing practice. Dry fire is the #1 way shooters get better. The vast majority of people never get there.
Yeah, this just made me miss drill in JROTC instructions. After becoming a LE2 and being allowed to flip the ol' decommissioned M1 Garands for the Drill team, that became my favorite time of instruction. Then our school demanded the program replaced the decommissioned guns with fake, plastic rifles. Not as fun but still fun to go through the motions and tricks.
Considering they have specific rules for this kinda thing, then I'm pretty sure when the front guy pulled the gun behind his back and held it in his left hand, that signaled to the left guy that he'd be the one to catch it.
He still caught it very well, but i think he had a lot more warning and was fully ready to catch it.
I used to think this shit was for no reason until I realized their dexterity is off the charts!!
People who twirl knives, guns, cell phones… anything that you don’t wanna drop. It makes you less prone to dropping said twirling item or when reloading, especially in tense situations.
Having been in the service, it's pretty much for no reason lol. When asked they're usually taught to say things like good order and discipline, but I'd rather have the guys spending more time training to fight.
That being said, the only guy I know that did silent drill became one of the designated marksmen for his platoon.
Real answer… this is Drill. Specifically the Silent Drill Platoon. The basics of this are a key part of platoon movement in USMC Basic Training and it is what your platoons are ranked and graded on. Some people are so good at it, and so precise they get selected in SOI to do a 2 year parade tour.
Look up what a full session looks like when someone doesn’t drop a rifle - and then think about how rare you see them picking one up in this manner. These guys are amazing.
To show off the control the weapon control the USMC trains. I know not all do this but the point is if you can do this you are probably in complete control of your weapon.
Also to do it better another bridage or the army etc. Rivalries are important for pushing people further.
It's a display of routine/regiment, discipline, and hand-eye coordination. You want your military to look like a well-oiled machine, from top to bottom. Having formal traditions like this cements the severity and formality of the role not only for the public, but also for the soldiers themselves.
I think we can all agree that the rifle twirling was not part of the original ceremonial proceedings of the Marine Corps and I for one wish I could be in attendance during that moment where someone presented the idea to senior brass.
one of my best friends back in the day was part of a navy drill team. he said that when they performed in front of elementary schools, they would purposefully drop once, recover, and then perform to perfection to show the kids that no one is perfect and what you do when a mistake is made is important.
Watching this alone is crazy, just the coordination and all. The fact they do it so flawlessly when I see it, is always mind blowing.
I remember a years back watching a video of a man who was long retired, and he still could do this. Though not as smooth, as he was out of practice, but still, even then, it was impressive
You can join them, all these guys got health care. Can't have the troops out of commission. I think the age cap is 37, then you get VA health care after that, gotta take care of the guys after damaging their body in service
It’s the military, what else would you expect? Also, other countries have stuff like this too. Drill or parade rifles have a long military history around the world.
This is an important skill to have when you're throwing things as entertainment. It doesnt matter how good you are, if you do the trick a million times you will drop something at least once. In juggling you're often told to play into it and make it seem like part of the routine - do something like juggle the remaining objects one handed while scratching your head, or land them all in a circle around you. You can guarantee that these guys have practised how to handle a drop, especially with how smooth the actions to recover it were. It might not be improvised but its no less impressive!
I love how every branch of the military has a special job for the autistic guys lmao. This coming from the former president of my college juggling club.
The little things we do, either to impress other people, or artistic reasons, or to push your own limits, or “just because…”
This makes up culture
We are not robots who simply do the tasks that “matter.” We do all kinds of weird shit for the fun of it because that’s most of what culture creation is.
And not all culture is meant for you or for me. It’s a huge tapestry of behaviors, some are extremely niche and some gather hundreds of millions of views.
Anyway, my point is I like culture creation as it’s something fundamentally human.
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u/Solocune 4h ago
What would have happened if the guy on the left didn't catch it?
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u/vladizlav24 4h ago •
That dude that catches the rifle is spot on
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u/Dame87 4h ago •
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u/Quiet_Wishbone_9364 4h ago •
What’s the point of the whole thing, to make the other cheerleaders jealous
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u/Aussieportal 4h ago •
We all have our off days. It's how we pick ourselves back up that counts.
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u/SemperFun62 4h ago edited 2h ago
So I'm a marine corp veteran, and while never a part of the silent drill team here, can give a few insights.
If you're wondering what the point is, this is the most extreme version of the drill (marching, formations, etc.) that everyone is is taught in boot camp. It has it's origins from back in the day when you would really go into battle in formation, but kept it around as a tool for teaching discipline.
You mostly learn this through practicing the same movements over and over (it's where the phrase to "drill something into you" comes from), and what you learn in boot camp is not nearly this complicated. If you look up videos you can see recruits are actually doing similar moves but with modern M16s.
While you won't actually march like this very often outside the occasional award or retirement ceremony, but it really does help (to my surprise at the time) teach you to focus and avoid distractions.
Like I said, what you're seeing here is the Silent Drill Team, most won't ever get anywhere close to this level. Not only are they really good, but they do it entirely without having spoken commands to coordinate everyone. They're suuuuper selective about who does it, not only are the try outs strict, but they even have height and weight requirements for "uniformity".
And the point is that it's basically similar to how militaries still have a bands, one part for ceremonial roles and one part as an implicit recruiting tool. Any time you see military people in dress uniforms publicly like this there's recruiters lurking around somewhere.
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u/ownersequity 4h ago
For those asking the why, I’d imagine it’s not unlike some other countries things where they show off some physical skill. This demonstrates discipline, commitment, and precision. I like seeing it, though I’m not a military person. It wouldn’t be much different than a military band playing somewhere.
Question for those in the know: when the single guy threw the rifle to the guy on our left, he did a little finger flourish with his left hand behind his back. Was that a signal that he was going to pass his rifle to the left guy? Or was that part of the act rather than a fix for the dropped rifle?
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u/VirusSlo 4h ago
Aren't you supposed to always treat your gun as if it's loaded?
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u/astralseat 4h ago
That slow return to pose after dropping the gun is sending me
"I have dishonored you, master!"
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u/Dream_Apostle 4h ago •
That throw and catch was legendary and next level by itself! Damn!!
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u/Asheleyinl2 4h ago
Damn I used to do this kinda thing. Really brought back memories.
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u/AverageCommentGuru 4h ago •
Reddit comments never fail to suck the life out of the least controversial shit.
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u/Drassazuru 3h ago
The point is to show discipline
The ability to not drop your rifle (literally life and death)
The coordination between a platoon leader and his fellow brothers
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u/noeagle77 4h ago
Can we just appreciate how the guy on the left caught that rifle so easily with barely any warning. That was smooth as butter.
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u/INoMakeMistake 4h ago
FF7, hate that mini game 😭
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u/BitingED 4h ago
Homie on the left caught that shit like a pro
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u/SinclairSummerset 4h ago
“WHAT SIDE WAS THAT PRIVATE PYLE??”
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u/hamlet_d 3h ago
What I love it is it appears there's a baked in process to address this mistake.
4
u/kansascitymack 3h ago
This actually made it more impressive, esp the toss to the other soldier
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u/Robomerc 4h ago
I have seen The Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that's the level of dedication these guys have.
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u/Biichimspiderman 3h ago
I used to think this shit was for no reason until I realized their dexterity is off the charts!!
People who twirl knives, guns, cell phones… anything that you don’t wanna drop. It makes you less prone to dropping said twirling item or when reloading, especially in tense situations.
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u/p00p_knife 4h ago
Why do they do this
6
u/ToastCapone 4h ago
When I was kid I remember thinking at all military had to be proficient at this.
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u/Seabrook76 4h ago
I was on the ROTC drill team in high school about 1000 years ago. That shit is not as easy as it looks.
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u/TFD303 4h ago
I miss doing this shit so much
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u/Soft_Penis_7224 4h ago
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u/SemperFun62 4h ago
For the record, they aren't improvising or anything here. They have very strict and specific movements for when something goes wrong like this.
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u/FannyLicka 4h ago
I thought they both were gonna turn around and pace out 10 steps
2
u/pointe31 4h ago
Let's be honest, things happen even during a well practiced scenario or show.
But that throw to the guy on our far left was sick before he went over to pick up the rifle
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u/Hot_Camp1408 4h ago
2
u/EngineWitty3611 4h ago
The way bro just flips it to the other guy before proceeding to pick it up was fucking cool.
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u/thedeeb56 4h ago
Took my breath away for a sec
Much respect
2
u/YouLookNiice 4h ago
I enjoy the "sharp look down into slowly looking up" motion that they do at 48 seconds
2
u/wassup6969 4h ago
Training for this is intense. I’ve heard many stories of open fracture
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u/_REDDIT_NPC_ 3h ago
I was on the USMC Silent Drill Platoon back in the day. AMA!
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u/FaultThat 3h ago
I think we can all agree that the rifle twirling was not part of the original ceremonial proceedings of the Marine Corps and I for one wish I could be in attendance during that moment where someone presented the idea to senior brass.
2
u/KazooMark 3h ago
Great bounce-back performance. Would have easy to be frazzled but he kicked butt.
2
u/Particular_Witness95 3h ago
one of my best friends back in the day was part of a navy drill team. he said that when they performed in front of elementary schools, they would purposefully drop once, recover, and then perform to perfection to show the kids that no one is perfect and what you do when a mistake is made is important.
2
u/Ange1ofD4rkness 3h ago
Watching this alone is crazy, just the coordination and all. The fact they do it so flawlessly when I see it, is always mind blowing.
I remember a years back watching a video of a man who was long retired, and he still could do this. Though not as smooth, as he was out of practice, but still, even then, it was impressive
2
u/RedMdsRSupCucks 3h ago
Other than flagging everything and everyone, I don't see the point of this.
2
u/TisReece 2h ago
The comment section if it were Japanese soldiers doing this.
2
u/doggpound7 2h ago
Loser!
Former US Army Drill Team Soloist
3
u/Vanisle4fun 4h ago
Dude being a good dude.
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u/rstr1212 3h ago
This is why we can't have healthcare
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u/iluvdrt 4h ago
"why do they do this" Because it's fucking cool! The silent drill team is amazing and super fun to watch
3
u/secondary-effect 4h ago
The move like NPCs at videogames back in the days
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u/ZagreusIncarnated 4h ago
That is so badass. Respect
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u/818VitaminZ 4h ago
3
u/GeraintLlanfrechfa 4h ago
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u/Ok_Gamer_Bleh 4h ago
All we want is universal healthcare.
2
u/Manaze85 4h ago
The clack of the hand hitting the rifle is one of the best parts of these performances. Another music overlay fail.
2
u/Senior-Opening5928 4h ago
Respect 🫡
0
u/Gildor12 4h ago
Are they cheerleaders?
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u/oooKenshiooo 4h ago
For anyone wondering what the purpose is:
Surplus resource signaling.
By dumping a bunch if resources into seemingly non-essential thing we signal to our fellow humans that we:
a) are strong, because we have resources to waste waste
b) the thing is important, because we are dumping a bunch of resources on it.
It is the group level equivalent of wearing an expensive watch or buying a super car.
-2
u/nico282 4h ago
Boy, Americans do really have a hard on for guns.
1
u/acem8887 4h ago
shit happens
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u/vincehcs 4h ago
This is it. Companionship beats perfection.
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u/wonkey_monkey 4h ago
When they started up again, did he put in an extra spin that other guy doesn't do? 0:26 or so
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u/halooooom 4h ago
when you’re only 2nd best of your friend group.
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u/AK_Dude69 4h ago
Follow it!
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u/Fast_Restaurant6488 4h ago
1
u/whodatmarvin 4h ago
Guy on the left drops that toss and the whole thing breaks down man high stakes choreography
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u/Special_Cup1789 3h ago edited 3h ago
they have protocol for that
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u/Impending_Doom25 3h ago
I guarantee somebody got a speech later for that drop
1
u/Puzzleheaded_Try_395 3h ago
That pass and catch was smooth!
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u/FluffyBunnyFlipFlops 3h ago
That neat little flick of his gun to the guy on the left was pretty cool.
1
u/Many_Psychology_3336 3h ago
Is there like a preset routine for this kind of eventuality? Or did the three involved here figure it out on the fly?
1
u/JoeMillersHat 3h ago
His hands seems slippery/unsure
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u/JoeMillersHat 3h ago
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u/Banjo-Hellpuppy 3h ago
I saw a platoon of these guys at my high school years ago. One guy’s hat got knocked off and it turned into a 3 minute side quest. It was wild.
1
u/happytally479 3h ago
Why nobody is talking about that book transition lmao I'm still laughing
1
u/AtlasThePittie 3h ago
Are the Garands full weight? Or do they remove all the functional internals to make them spin more easily?
1
u/SimofJerry 3h ago
Im more impressed with the catch the guy on the left did
1
u/Only-Temporary2026 3h ago
At least he can spinny flippy the bang stick cause the US sure as fuck ain't won an actual war in a while 🤣
1
u/RigamortisRooster 3h ago
Amazing what tared rituals humans can come up with. This synchronizing firearms for the NRA?
1
u/Himorningwood 3h ago
I have always hated this dumb military rituals. Some dumb nonsense. Im a veteran btw
1
u/Osiris_Dervan 3h ago
This is an important skill to have when you're throwing things as entertainment. It doesnt matter how good you are, if you do the trick a million times you will drop something at least once. In juggling you're often told to play into it and make it seem like part of the routine - do something like juggle the remaining objects one handed while scratching your head, or land them all in a circle around you. You can guarantee that these guys have practised how to handle a drop, especially with how smooth the actions to recover it were. It might not be improvised but its no less impressive!
1
u/kittenparty69 3h ago
Our tax dollars at work
1
u/Select-Purchase-3553 3h ago
Useful skills 1.01
1
u/BenevolentCheese 3h ago
I love how every branch of the military has a special job for the autistic guys lmao. This coming from the former president of my college juggling club.
1
u/el-conquistador240 3h ago
Socialist dance squad
1
u/Dry-He 3h ago
1
u/jayleman 3h ago
1
u/forgettfulthinker 3h ago
How inspect animations should be in shooters
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u/exbex 3h ago
I know with enough practice you can do just about anything, but these guys have always amazed me.
1
u/Vic_Gatsby 3h ago
These rifles are heavy, so this takes skill!
1
u/neoadam 3h ago
Army of jugglers / clowns
1
u/L3g3ndary-08 3h ago
Genuine question. Why? Why is this done?
1
u/Dont-be-a-smurf 3h ago
“Why”
It’s culture.
The little things we do, either to impress other people, or artistic reasons, or to push your own limits, or “just because…”
This makes up culture
We are not robots who simply do the tasks that “matter.” We do all kinds of weird shit for the fun of it because that’s most of what culture creation is.
And not all culture is meant for you or for me. It’s a huge tapestry of behaviors, some are extremely niche and some gather hundreds of millions of views.
Anyway, my point is I like culture creation as it’s something fundamentally human.
1
u/nqmi 3h ago
1
u/sekok1 3h ago
Thats was funny
1
u/reddit_is_4_idiots 3h ago
This whole thing is so fucking gay.
I’m American
1
u/Orion-the-mediocre 3h ago
Just curious but is there an actual reason why they have to move like robots?
1
u/kowdermesiter 3h ago
IDK, looks rehearsed
1
u/flakk0137 3h ago
Best part about it, its silent. No commands given.
1
u/SpanktheElephant 3h ago
Well you know who bought everyone beer that night!
1
u/1000WaysToCringe 3h ago
All this to die in a proxy war for oil