Eskimo Joe's Foot Notes

[Eskimo Joe]

Holy shizz, its been a long time since i have written in here!
Where to start? Playing alot more footbag lately, simply becuase it is alot more fun that running and destroys so many more calories. Also it is fun as hell. Even when it sucks.
I am hoping to get some actual progress going, so that I can keep making new goals and reaching them.
I recently made a trip to Montreal and participated in a jam, the Eastern Canadian Freestyle Footbag Championship. A mouthful, indeed. But it was a great jam and was super happy to get to meet new people and catch up with a few others. It sucks to play solo all the time. You cant feed off of others peoples energy or their accomplishments. Also it is way easier to get tips for concepts you may be struggling with even understanding, let alone executing. I actually got super lucky and won the intermediate portion of the circle comp! Ha! First circle I ever competed in. I got lucky b/c I simply stuck with basics. Legover, pickup, BOP. But everyone else did way more difficult tricks but didnt have the contacts. I almost appealed teh decision, but hey, Ill take any win I can get at 30.

Typical Warm up
-kicks: inside, toes, a few outsides, but not many. I will also aim for like 20 of each alternating and will go as long as I keep it up until it drops.
-stalls: inside, toes, clipper, butterfly, legover, pickup, mirage, illusion, whirl. 20 alternating

Drills:
legover>same atw out to in>opp legover>same atw in>rpt aiming for 40 contacts
same drill, but with pickup an datw in
legover>opp mirage>rpt
pickup>opp illusion>rpt
butter>pdx mirage>opp butter>rpt
lo>ss pixie>opp lo>rpt
pu>ss fairy>opp pu>rpt
toe>opp osis>ss mirage?opp osis>rpt
step>opp clip>rpt
step>ssclip>opp clip>step>ss clip>rpt
clip>ss pu>pixie>opp clip>rpt
butter>ss lo> fairy>opp butter>rpt

Working on solidifying:
-whirls, drifters, datw flip, swirls, butter swirl. Whirls=pu>opp>pu>opp toe whirl>ss whirl>hand catch rpt. Drifter=when I am not too tired focusing on release, quick plant then dex, and hit at least 5-10 on flip. DATW=pu>datw out>hand catch same with lo>datw in>hand catch. Swirls=steady clip>easy flick>aim for shin dex, settle for ankle.
After that, will work:
atomic

So, heres me hoping to keep a log and keep getting better. Either way, it is way more satisfying than running.

[Eskimo Joe]

Wow, just got a new pair of lavers. No need for tehm, but think I am developing a hoarder complex in regards to Rod Lavers. I got the red lavers with white trim. Pretty friggin sweet. I amslo ordered a pair that have yet to arrive in the same colour, but those are for my daughter so that she can start kicking with her "Old Man"

So I now have lavers in the following:
-blue w white trim, modded, heavy use
-white with orange trim, 1 brand new, unmodded, one modded and are current shred shoes
-all black, new unmodded
-red w white trim
-grey w red trim, new, unmodded

Makes me wish I never got rid of the following ones:
-all red, but were a size too big
-all tan

Anywho, I have played about every other day since my last post and have stuck with pretty much the same shit and then focus on an element to master section at the end of my session.

Really getting alot better with flip whirls, can hit pdx-symp now, but not everytime. My focus still reamins on the basics and drills aiming for 40+ contacts. I almost feel like the following are almost refined really well, seeing as I can get like 40 contacts: lo>atw out, pu>atw in, lo>illusion, pu>mirage (have hit at least 80 contacts a few times)

Hit a few butter swirls, and nearly hit fairy>opp butter swirl! I am aiming to have this as my first 3 dex. Flip has better form but is still hard to get teh timing as good as flip.

My goal is for my seconf 3 dex to be set>opp eggbeater. Needs to work this alot though. Which tells me I need to drill the fuck out of symple legover and dlo.

But I need new music, I have pretty different taste though. Hit me up with your shred songs!

Music I tend to listen to while shredding:
-Kid Cudi
-Billy Talent
-Metallica
-Megadeath
-Joel Plasket
-Bloc Party
-Franz Ferdinand
-The Walkmen
-Strokes
-Nirvana
-White Stripes

There is more, but am lazy to think it all out.

Am working on alot more stiching lately too. I used to make tons of bags and sent em all over the world, but started to hate the idea of it being work after a large order for a distributor. Especially since I make so much more money at work. It just didnt feel right to make them unless I wanted to. I have no clue how many I have made over the years. I never wanted to keep count. Anyway, it feels great to make them as and when I want to with the colours I want.

I also made an ipod cover for my girlfriend that she loves.

[DTank126]

Hey man, good to see your kicking a bunch after that Montreal Jam! When you say you hit pdx-symp on your flip whirl do you mean you hit PS whirl, or pdx whirl and symp whirl on flipside? Either way props!

Do you think you'll be attending any other tournies in the near future? East Coasts is coming up... hint hint, nudge nudge.

As for music, you might like the band "Wolfmother". They're heavy rock-ish. Also, the lead singer kinda sounds like Jack White.

[Muffinman]

"Foot notes" -- brilliant

[Eskimo Joe]

Time for my annual entry....
Hopefully I start to post more in here.

I went to this years Worlds in Montreal and must say that it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was such a great event with so many great people. I cant even begin to describe how great it was.
I want to thank every single person who I spoke, played or partied with because it was such an amazing time. I was lucky that no one registered for competition because I ended up getting second place in intermediates! Haha.

I would do a write up but think too much time has passed for me to accurately remember and document the amazingness that was Worlds 2013.

I will continue to play as long as my body will alow me and I will always try to have fun. I like the idea of progression but refuse to let it be what dirves me. I need this to be fun and challenging.

So, I havent played since Worlds. I am taking my vacation from footbag, but I am eager to get back at it. Soon. I was on holidays for nearly a month and in that time I did almost no exercise besides footbag. So when I hit the gym upon my return home, I was and still am sore. I think I will need about another week of workouts before I can even contemplate playing on my off days. I use footbag for cardio. The best damn cardio ever.

I thought I was done with modified but as Ken said, if we arent adding new stuff to read, it will remain dead. So hopefully I start adding content and hopefully everyone else does too. It was my go to site when I had a few minutes (or hours) to kill at work. Oh how I miss slacking off at work while daydreaming about footbag and reading about tips, events and looking at awesome footbags.

So heres to footbag!

[Cass]

Yay footbag!!

It was super fun hanging out with you at worlds!!

You should come to my skydiving/camping/footbag event next summer. It's gonna be crazy!

[C-Fan]

It was great to finally meet you!

Hopefully I start to post more in here.

So hopefully I start adding content and hopefully everyone else does too.
So heres to footbag!

Yes, yes, and yes. I look forward to following your progress/thoughts here.

[Eskimo Joe]

Hey guys, I have already beat my post rate from last year!! Haha.

I am not sure about skydiving Cassy. I will try to make it to the jam tho. Ken, it was really great to finally meet you as well.

Today I AM going to hit fairy opp drifter and stepping opp drifter. I will report back soon.

[Eskimo Joe]

No dice.

They were right there. Both sides. Footed.

Next session.

[C-Fan]

You can DO it!

Also, stepping ss drifter (different clipper sets and catches) is called tombstone, while stepping opp drifter (same clipper sets and catches) is called blurry drifter.

[DTank126]

Ya Andrew! It was good seeing you again at Worlds, man. I don't think we really kicked that much, but it's always a great time just shootin the shit with ya. Keep the scene alive in the North Pole! (Or whatever cold, seal-clubbing, godless place it is your from )

[Eskimo Joe]

So close again! Both sides too. I am just a bit off. I started drilling drifters towards the end of my session. But it didnt help. I will keep trying and will nail it. Also messed around with barfly and paradon. Super close on my strong side but no where near it on my flip. Need to drill double swith overs and datw like mad on my flip. Had a nice 1.5 hr solo session and really just played without much of a plan. I want to start playing everyday even if it is just a half hour. But it is so hard to make time. I need to rethink my schedule. I do weights every other day and used to use footbag on the off days for cardio. But I want to play each day. Hmmm.

I drilled pixies, fairies and stepping. Also messed around with some atomic. After I figure out dso and barfly/paradon atomic will be my next mission. After that nukes. I can hit the set but just to toe both sides. Weird bc flip side atomic feels harder than nukes.

Things I need to work on:
-datw flip
-dso (have never done one)
-consecutive drifters
-dlo

I have other stuff I want to work on but will start with these.

Thank you for the trick names Ken. I have honestly never learned many names of moves just the few basics like phoenix and blur and stuff.

Doug it was awsesome to hang out. Next time we will kick more. I was staying so far away from the site that I had to plan my showers and didnt want to stank the place up.

[Eskimo Joe]

Had another session yesterday. Went pretty good but totally forgot to try my drifter stuff. I just played for the sake of playing and didnt really drill that much. Before I knew it I was 900 calories in and nearly an hour straight. Not bad. I had alot of fun just playing and not drilling or trying to hit stuff. Except at the end of my session I drilled the shit out of datw both directions both feet. I really want to be able to hit dso, paradon and barfly. Was planning on trying to play everyday for a half hour but I need more time or I need to really plan out my food schedule and have everything prepped.

So any tips on dso would be greatly appreciatted. I want to keep progressing but also want to maintain the fun.

[rjadamson]

Hey Andrew, I just wanted to say I'm really happy Worlds inspired you to really pick up playing again. I'm reading!

[Eskimo Joe]

Thanks for reading Reilley!

I have played 4 times since my last post, which is consistent, but I was really hoping to play everyday. But life is life and things happen. I have been getting so close to fairy and stepping drifter. It is getting rather frustrating so I have been practicing paradox drifter. Bah. It is weird to keep playing. I feel that each time I try to practice different components (ie DATW, Drifter) that other areas of my game diminish. It reminds me of the boxing game I loved playing years ago, Fight Night. As your fighter gets older, he can oly maintain strength while losing speed, or lose strength while gaining speed. This becomes a struggle to keep winning fights in career mode and eventually leads to retiring before you ruin your perfect record. I have gotten to 68-0 with 68 kos before. But alas, it ends in retirement.

I feel like I am nearing the end of my progression. But then I remember seeing Scott Davison play and think about how good he is and how long he has been playing. I dont ever want to stop but it is getting harder to play. I spend much of the session drilling basics and getting repeat goals and then fuck around and end the session with some drills on stuff I want to improve on. But the next session what ever I was trying to learn is a bit better, but the basics seem a bit tougher. Hmm. I need to find balance. Maybe I can go "old school" and practice tricks while waiting in line at places and take out the ole footbag during breaks. But I tend to sweat quickly and dont want to get my work clothes all sweaty.

It is also hard to play when you have a kid and a workout schedule. I have heavy days where I want to throw in some footbag but would be too tired after the workout. I would also be a bit tired to follow up footbag with a workout. It is best to be 100% for lifting. Then on my "cardio" days I play footbag. But during this day I also have a few supporting muscle exercises that I do first. I have thought about playing at lunch but my daughter comes home from school for lunch. I may see if she can go to my fathers once a week for lunch and maybe to my sisters another day. This will help in that I can footbag for 50mins, steam and shower and head back to work. Then after work I can go for a quick 30 min workout for the "supporting cast" followed by a steam and shower. Then get home and make diner. Alot of planning.

I will be playing tonight and plan on reporting back tomorrow that I have hit fairy opp and fairy same drifter, bs.

[C-Fan]

. It reminds me of the boxing game I loved playing years ago, Fight Night. As your fighter gets older, he can oly maintain strength while losing speed, or lose strength while gaining speed. This becomes a struggle to keep winning fights in career mode and eventually leads to retiring before you ruin your perfect record. I have gotten to 68-0 with 68 kos before. But alas, it ends in retirement. .

Enjoyed the analogy. I sometimes feel the same way, but other times I believe its fully mental. I've been playing over 16 years, and the last few years have been my most successful competitively. I think there may indeed be an age when a footbagger's body won't allow them to be competitive, but I think it's much older than we currently think.

Anyway, glad to hear you're still playing hard and also blogging.

[Eskimo Joe]

So I played yesterday. I was doing really long workouts and have broken them up into two days. So I now do trs, bis, up back and shoulders on my "cardio" days. So I was rather surprised that I made a second trip to the gym. But it was worth it! I had so much fun. I didnt hit my drifter stuff again but am getting closer. String length is improving as well. I stopped while I was ahead. I read somewhere that when you workout you should always "leave some in the tank". So that is what I did. It is nice to stop while you are ahead and not be crazy sore later. Anywho the happiness arises from nearly hitting nuke ss butter! Both sides are so close! But the flow and feeling on my strong side is sick! I am going to hit that shit today or tmrw. Fuck it feels so awesome and flowey. My flip still feels forced but the set easily makes it to waist height. My strong can nearly be ducked! Wt all mighty eff!!? Haha. Looks like I need to work on my ducking game now! I am super motivated now. So much pleasure and joy from struggling to play with a ball. Im simple and I like it. Ear to ear grin when I stopped. That is how every sessikn should end. But heres a virtual toast to all and to footbag!

[Eskimo Joe]

So. I played. And I hit fairy same drifter! I also hit nuke same butter! Booya! Haha, craziness. Pure silliness. I got both on film but were with my phone and I dont know how to convert .3gp to avi or a regular codec.

I am submitting the drifter to the online comp. I was so happy. but I wasnt able to hit my sick 3. I could go today but I will give my body a break until tmrw. I wanted to hit ripwalk>stepping mirage>fairy whirl

Next time.

[Eskimo Joe]

So a follow up to the post above.

I had asked my girlfriend to film for me and said that it is for an online comp. She agreed.
Here is what I said I was trying to hit:


But here is my fairy same drifter that I submitted to the contest:


And here is my nuke same butter:


Let me know what you think.

[Eskimo Joe]

Wow. I have played a couple times since my last post. I am so annoyed! I filmed fairy same drifter and sent it in, but somehow it didnt get thru and isnt even showing up in my drafts or sent folders..... I wonder what the fuck happened.

I was so excited about hitting it and also nuke same butter, which are in the above post. Damn. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have done very well. I think Cassy's was nicer anyway.

I kind of lost some motivation since my email disappeared after all the work hitting it, and trying to figure out how the fuck to get it off of my phone, how to convert it and then finally upload and email it. But none of it fucken mattered. Wow. Funny how you can ride such a high and feel fantastic and then get the wind knocked out of your sail. Fuck.