As well as learning the skills of PUA, I also study martial arts (jujitsu to be more specific), and have started drawing parallels between the two in order to accelerate my progress.

During my studies of martial arts, which I have been doing for around 18 months, I have picked up a large selection of techniques which can be used in a variety of situations. However, many of them are very specific and are likely to only be useful in a small minority of circumstances.

If I were involved in a street fight, and someone threw a punch at me, or another typical form of attack, such as a kick, I have a small handful of go-to moves which I would almost always exclusively perform in these situations, ignoring the other 99% of techniques I know unless the specific situation they were designed for arose, or if the danger had passed and I felt like experimenting (for example, if the attacker was ridiculously drunk). These go-to moves are typically very effective, multi-purpose and have been repeatedly practised.

That above paragraph was simply a long way of saying that go-to moves are something I really think I should be integrating into my game - I am trying to study natural game as I have a lot of insecurities and feel a solely routines based method such as MM would just be papering over the cracks (I am well aware MM and other styles advocate multiple routines) however I think it is time I started having some basic go-to moves for default situations - at the moment when I find myself in an awkward silence with someone the only questions / things to say I can think of are the awful, awful "so what do you do?" questions which should well be avoided!

So far I have managed to think of something along the lines of "whats your favourite drink - i mean the best one you have ever tasted?" (bear in mind I do a lot of PUA in bars), and I don't think it's brilliant, but so far its all I have, it can be easily set-up as a question by talking about mine / her drink, and at the very least it's a springboard for another conversation.

I read a thread here which had some though-provoking questions such as "do penguins have knees?" which is good but I am having trouble grounding those questions and it doesn't seem natural when I set them up, or introduce them into a conversation - the person I am speaking to always seems to take a mental step back and go hang on - where the fuck did that come from? (This is a reference to above regarding some martial arts moves which I believe are only useful in very specific circumstances - in this case such as if penguins were on TV in the background!)

Essentially, I was wondering if anyone had any questions or simple routines that are easily grounded and can be easily introduced to a bar conversation with minimal set up?
Just a couple of things that can be easily introduced if the conversation is going stale or in the wrong direction - go-to moves, if you like (as I keep calling them)

This post was one fuck of a ramble so sorry for that, it's nice to just be able to just wander through what I'm thinking every now and again through the medium of text.

Anyone? This would really help me out!

good idea
im very new to PUA so im interested too!

Conversation is easy. If you get stuck just look around the room. There is always something going on that can turn into conversation. If you are into natural game, its no different than using a situational opener. Point out something on the walls, what people are wearing, the song playing, ect. Options are limitless.

Yes - I understand that is how it should be working, but surely when you start up it is good to have some sort of memory bank containing good things to say / good questions to ask for those inevitable occasions when you run out of things to stay - which happens when you are new and this is all a bit out of your comfort zone. It's these things I'm really looking for - any suggestions are more than welcome.

Maybe you should get Love systems routine manual as it has some good openers and conversations. Also look around the forum because there is a lot of routines, games, how to deal with situations, etc. It's all here, and there's a lot of it.

You can also check out the Ask (MPUA) sticky threads that are around the forum since people have asked many common questions before which have already been answered in depth.

Start reading cause it's gonna take you a couple of days to go through it all and in the end you'll be much more knowledgeable and confident because of it.

On the topic of martial arts and PUA having some similarities, I agree. It actually goes for any form of strategy. I've noticed even poker has some similarities since you have to get inside other people's heads.

Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee's martial art) is a similar way to how I look at pickup arts. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a hybrid fighting style using most other fighting styles combined into one.

There are many 'PUA styles' out there, and I'd like to think I've developed my own personal combination of all of them that works for me.

From reading your question, it sounds like you're having trouble starting a natural flowing conversation. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the opener is overrated and far too micromanaged by millions of aspiring PUAs. It really doesn't have to be anything special since half the time any women of value will throw a shit test at you (the 'WTF eyes' or the 'turns around boxing you out' are the most common). Even if you give the best opener in the world, or a simple 'Hi, I'm Jeff', her reaction will usually be the same AND YOU HAVE TO PUSH ON!!!. It's what you do afterwards that counts.

But for any newbie, getting comfortable with just starting a conversation seems like taking that first jump sky diving.

So if you must, here are too many openers for you to remember:

The Encyclopedia of Openers: http://mpua.info/openers_encyclopedia.html

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I used to be in Jiu Jitsu and Boxing as well, good to see another fighter on here. I like the parallels you're drawing here - it really does help you comprehend game on a level that propels you. I have a writer's craft class this semester in school and the parallels i draw between writing and game are pretty helpful (see my post on How to be a Better Conversationalist).

The go-to move that you are referring to is obviously a canned / prescripted opener. I don't have any right now, and I think that I need to get one or a few, because they will really help me. You know the situation where you see a girl you want to approach, but you just can't think of what to say. You could go up and say "Hey, what's up?" But that goes against everything you've learned about game, and it would just seem chody if you did something you've learned not to do for so long. So, it's good to have one or two openers that you've mastered, memorized, and practiced. One or two openers that you go to in case of sudden necessity. Other openers will obviously be used when it is planned, say going out sarging, but if you're out getting milk or something and you haven't found an opener to use, this is when you use your 'go-to move'.

Good post.

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-Sharplin
My journal:
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