Mike Green

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 05 May 2011 22:55

I am new to this. Started kicking around March 27, 2011. I only know what 5 tricks are called, I have no idea what dex means, and I only know two people personally that kick a footbag as much as I do. One lives out of state and the other is moving out of state in two weeks.

I do have a youtube channel to keep track of the first steps to the final kick of my lifetime. Feel free to subscribe or troll:
http://www.youtube.com/shredusair

Anyways I am not sure how to really start. My feelings for footbag are pretty primal for the time being. I like doing it, therefore I do it.

I am not much for introductions so here goes something.

Tonight I kicked for 30 minutes. The main goal was to get a butterfly to two back to back whirls (not alternating). There were a few attempts that went as planned except for landing the final stall. It was one of those nights where you feel drained and low on energy, perhaps from today's diet of bean burritos and hot dogs, but it ends up being quite a fun night.

Some goals for the weekend:
10 alternating butterflies
Back to back whirls (both sides)
Around the world to osis - both sides (I have no clue what it is called)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wG_7wJOi1c[/youtube] <<That trick!!!
Finish reading the Vasek Manual

Also I plan on going to the Green Cup in Frisco/Oakland. Anyone else going? Not sure what to expect from the footbag community. Also if anyone lives close to an airport and doesn't mind picking me up and dropping me off to shred for a couple of hours I am game!

Media:

http://youtu.be/nIOkWf3cTVw Many reasons to like this video. Erik gives of a really positive vibe. I wonder how bad his knees are.

Code: Select all

Drew · Post by **Drew** » 06 May 2011 12:00

HAHAHA. Did you get here from a reddit post ?

GJ on making a footblog, it helps a ton and you'll end up getting lots of tips and such.

You should check out 'Anz's footbag tricks' channel on youtube, he has lots of great beginner and intermediate tricks.

Being new, focus on linking toe and clipper tricks in strings and build a strong foundation of tricks to improve upon later.

browse the forums, watch videos, use the search button, and most importantly, Have fun!

RipWalker · Post by **RipWalker** » 06 May 2011 12:23

Welcome! Good to see another footblog pop up.

From the video that you posted, I'd have to say that trick looks a lot like a Refraction. As with lots of tricks, they can be done in slightly different ways that make them look quite a bit different.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 06 May 2011 12:38

I make it down to Phx/Tucson about once a year. I sometimes have business trips in Phx, and my folks live in Tucson. Josh Munsterman lives in Phx and is really good. His screenname here on modified is zeroman13.

Going to Green Cup is a great idea. Meeting players in real life is the best way to learn, and you get a feel for the community quickly through that.

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 06 May 2011 19:04

A friend who lives in LA sends videos to me. He sent this and challenged me to copy it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofap02vT ... ture=feedu[/youtube]
The knee grab to jester killed me when I first saw it. Very fun.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esueQ1Zqlyk[/youtube]

It was my first day attempting mirage, it is a pretty fun trick once you get it down. Is it necessary to plant your foot down right after tossing it up?

The session was around an hour and a half of straight shredding at work.

Tomorrow is a 10 hour work day, I should get around 4 hours of footbag in. It will be necessary to achieve the goals:

whirl>whirl (both sides)

10 alternating butterflies

Refraction (both sides)

Come up with a new trick to send to friend in LA

Should be great fun in that 100 degree weather!

Thank you everyone for the replies!

Drew: Yes that was from a reddit post. Reddit is my best worst habit. Subscribed to Anz's channel. I will continue to work on toes to clippers. Thanks for the advice!

RipWalker: Thank you for the clarification!

C-Fan: I will get in touch with Josh. Let me know when make it to Phx.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 06 May 2011 20:08

Yo man, just found this. Like I said in my blog, great job on the both sidedness and learning the basics better than I did when I first started lol I hope you're able to meet up with Josh, he's really good. You could learn a lot from him. GO TO GREEN CUP. You will learn so much and all the players are going to be extremely helpful to you. Just take the criticism they give you, thank them for it, and do what they tell you to do. YOU WILL IMPROVE SO MUCH FROM UST DOING THAT. I plan on following this blog from now on. I'm glad I caught it when it's first starting. This will actually be the first blog I'll be keeping up with from the very start. Good luck in your journey through footbag.

~Nick Polini

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 08 May 2011 09:13

Yesterday was a frightening glimpse of what improper practices in footbag could result in.
After an hour of kicking my shins felt bruised. This was the result of undeveloped muscles, over training, improper stretching routines, poor form, and thin insoles.

The goals that were set out were not met. The closest I came to any goal was 7 alternating butterflies. Once that number was reached my body was begging for any kind of recovery time. I had to rest my legs for an undetermined amount of time. As bad as this sounds I see this as a blessing in disguise.

Only after this it came to light that my body had a voice, and perhaps I should listen.

Today all I want to do, besides kicking, is read the health section of the forums. There is some great stuff in there.

Resting, stretching, relaxing, and paying a visit to family.

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 09 May 2011 19:53

Activity Insight: Kicked at work for around 3 hours today. I realized that I balance and stand on the heels of my feet. This is why I ALWAYS lose my balance when doing clippers or anything that involves standing on one foot (which is about everything). I started standing on the balls of my feet and just lightly on my heels and it made a world of a difference!

Goals: Alternating butterflies are coming very slowly. I tried for 45 minutes straight and noticed that it is easier if I toss the ball up higher as I set up for the next butterfly. Not sure if they should be mastered by now, but they are very tiring and difficult. I decided to stop once I could not focus on what was going on and was only going through motions.

Health: The shin splints are fading away. Thank goodness! My legs are sore in places I have never felt before. Cheers to muscle development!

Foundations: Also practiced left and right clippers by tossing the footbag with my hand and stalling it on each foot and doing wrap around. I feel like a baby because this stuff is still really hard for me.

Traveling: Also started planning my trip to the Green Cup. I want to go, but it would probably only be for one day in order to save money. I don't feel like paying for a hotel or taking the BART back to spend the night on the airport floor (Frisco Airport SUCKS for sleeping).

Day Dreaming: I was also playing with the thought of flying out to Philly to attend a Sunday Shred session and then taking the red eye back to Phoenix that night. Six hours of driving/waiting at the aiport and over seven hours of airtime for 3-4 hours of shredding on the other side of the country sounds like a lot to pay for a few hours of fun. Who knows what could happen!

Public Inquiry: Was learning the basics for you guys really really really hard? How long did it take to get clippers to feel natural? Butterflies?

TL:DR (Too Long: Didn't Read) Learned to stand on balls of feet. No goals met. Progress is slow. Looking forward to Traveling.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 10 May 2011 19:02

worldbound wrote:

1) Activity Insight: Kicked at work for around 3 hours today. I realized that I balance and stand on the heels of my feet. This is why I ALWAYS lose my balance when doing clippers or anything that involves standing on one foot (which is about everything). I started standing on the balls of my feet and just lightly on my heels and it made a world of a difference!

2) Goals: Alternating butterflies are coming very slowly. I tried for 45 minutes straight and noticed that it is easier if I toss the ball up higher as I set up for the next butterfly. Not sure if they should be mastered by now, but they are very tiring and difficult. I decided to stop once I could not focus on what was going on and was only going through motions.

3) Health: The shin splints are fading away. Thank goodness! My legs are sore in places I have never felt before. Cheers to muscle development!

4) Foundations: Also practiced left and right clippers by tossing the footbag with my hand and stalling it on each foot and doing wrap around. I feel like a baby because this stuff is still really hard for me.

5) Traveling: Also started planning my trip to the Green Cup. I want to go, but it would probably only be for one day in order to save money. I don't feel like paying for a hotel or taking the BART back to spend the night on the airport floor (Frisco Airport SUCKS for sleeping).

6) Day Dreaming: I was also playing with the thought of flying out to Philly to attend a Sunday Shred session and then taking the red eye back to Phoenix that night. Six hours of driving/waiting at the aiport and over seven hours of airtime for 3-4 hours of shredding on the other side of the country sounds like a lot to pay for a few hours of fun. Who knows what could happen!

7) Public Inquiry: Was learning the basics for you guys really really really hard? How long did it take to get clippers to feel natural? Butterflies?

1) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep on the balls of your feet. You will find everything so much easier.

2) To answer your ponderings about mastery of butterflies... NO WAY. You're doing very very well for yourself with how far you've come already. You should not have mastered butterflies yet, especially not on both sides. You've been playing for only a few months, right? Then yeah, you're doing better than most beginners are with their basics. Keep it up though man, you're killing it.

3) You'll get that feeling every now and again. I now have about 5 new spots on my legs that I didn't have before I started playing footbag (Here's a tip, invest in Tiger Balm. You can get it at any drugstore. You'll thank yourself for picking some of that up.)

4) Dude, don't feel like a baby. Wrap arounds will help with crank and clippers in general. Keep practicing those.

5) I hope you go to Green Cup. I would love to go, but it's too far, and I gotta work a lot. But I'd say going for one day would be awesome. At least you'd get that first jam experience. Who knows, maybe someone has free crash space. I'd ask around. You never know. Footbag players are normally very generous to other players. I had about 20 people sleeping on my floor when I threw my first jam and didn't charge anything. Hopefully you can find some free/cheap crash space.

6) That would be SO SICK! It does sound like a crazy trip, but sometimes the trip is worth it and can be the most fun part. It'd be great to meet up with you at a Sunday Sesh. We'll definitely make your trip woth it and provide you with lots of tips and a really fun day of shred. And maybe you could get some crash space with one of us and stay and shred an extra day. I stay with my parents for the Summer, so that might be a little awkward, but maybe you could crash with someone else. I'm sure one of our other members wouldn't mind. I don't want o blurt his name out immediately, just in case he can't, but I think we could find you some crash space. Turn your dreams into reality, son!

7) Basics were SO hard for me. Especially since I neglected my flipside for almost a year :\ I didn't have a flawless (it's still got some flaws) flip clipper until like last year. You're doing really well dude. Just keep up exactly what you're doing. Here's another clipper tipper: Before you go to sleep every night, hit like 50 flip clippers and 50 strong clippers. Each 10th clipper, hit it and freeze it for 5 seconds. You don't have to do 50 if you're tired, you can do as many as you want, but you'll see quick results with 50 bs. Also try to one-up your tiltless record every session, by at least one contact every time.

I enjoyed that TL:DR shortcut there haha

You're on your way dude. Hope to meet you soon.

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 10 May 2011 22:36

Today is one of the last days of the spring that will have bearable weather in Phoenix. Last day of finals for the semester too!

Sloppily landed the back to back whirls on my right side. The left side whirl is very very close. Hopefully it will be done by tomorrow.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqENxhCF9G0[/youtube]

Sent a video to my friend in L.A. to keep each other alive
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NezdJK5LyqE[/youtube]

and started to get the hang of a few of the new tricks I have learned
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMkgbr6KPYI[/youtube]

This was about 3 hours of shredding in total. Things feel like they are starting to come together. It isn't to the point where a quarter of the stuff feels natural, so patience will have to be a new best friend. Nailing the basics down does feel great.

F[uns]tylin: Thanks for following and responding to my last post! I will check out that Tiger balm stuff. Tomorrow I will check flights and see how possible it is to fly out to PA this month. I also will do the 50 clippers before bed time (I really like that idea).

Hania made a bag that blew my mind! Reminds me of an everlasting gobstopper. This will be the next footbag

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 11 May 2011 20:15

Had a very relaxing and easy going 3 hours session today.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut5BT26N60A[/youtube]
My left and right around the worlds are hideous, but I can land them every now and then. I still suffer a severe case of the wiggles and hops while trying to hold my balance.

My friend from L.A. sent me a new trick to do: ripwalk
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgmbynObEGA[/youtube]
This will be a milestone. I feel like I have a lot to learn before I try to do that trick!

I am really tired and about to start Star Wars Episode 3. I have never seen any of the Star Wars films until this week because my wife is forcing me to watch them. After this I am forced to watch the Lord of the Rings movies (which I also have not seen).

sen · Post by **sen** » 11 May 2011 20:25

worldbound wrote: I am really tired and about to start Star Wars Episode 3. I have never seen any of the Star Wars films until this week because my wife is forcing me to watch them. After this I am forced to watch the Lord of the Rings movies (which I also have not seen).

What rock have you been living under?? Just kidding. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so I'm wondering, what did you think? Or I guess, what do you think so far? What order did you watch them in?

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 11 May 2011 20:39

sen wrote:What rock have you been living under?? Just kidding. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so I'm wondering, what did you think? Or I guess, what do you think so far? What order did you watch them in?

My life was all about skateboarding growing up. I didn't watch that many movies because it meant time away from skateboarding. This went on for 14 years. So technically I was living under a skateboard. I LOVED it a lot.

The wife insists watching the films in order of the episodes. We watched episodes 1, 2, and are about to start 3. Now I know why no one likes Jar Jar Binks, and that Anakin was a punk in his teenaged years.

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 14 May 2011 06:10

Didn't post the last two days because nothing spectacular happened. I was able to film some things which will be posted after work today. Time to get back to work.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 18 May 2011 08:40

I recommend going to Green Cup for more than a day. Just go. I'm sure somebody will give you crash space if you ask around.

Re: Star Wars.

The first two episodes really suck. The third one is decent. The fourth through the sixth are great. My favorites in order are probably Empire Strikes Back, New Hope, then Return of the Jedi. Really, the first two episodes just should not have been made.

Looking forward to meeting you at Green Cup. I'll be the half asian guy complaining all the time.

RipWalker · Post by **RipWalker** » 18 May 2011 10:43

C-Fan wrote:Looking forward to meeting you at Green Cup. I'll be the half asian guy complaining all the time.

If you're really lucky, he might give you a high five during a run in circle comp while he's shredding.

Your progress is looking great Mike!

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 18 May 2011 12:35

Well this is embarrassing. I have to work a double on Sunday the 29th starting at 7:00 AM. Since I will be flying standby there is no guarantee that I can make the last flight home on Saturday. If I miss a shift because I flew out of town and am stuck there that is almost an automatic termination from my work. I will try to get this shift off but for the time being Green Cup will be on hold for me.

I have been working myself too much lately and I haven't been able to work on any new tricks. Just been playing for 10 minutes or so a day to keep my coordination until I have some free time to kill it some more.

A friend purchased a Hania bag for his birthday. It was my first time seeing a REAL footbag and I was absolutely blown away at how easy it was to kick and stall. I was in love. I am going to order one this week.

Not related to footbag: I am going to Genesis 2 in July. It is the biggest Super Smash Bros 64 tournament in the world. I will be playing in singles and in 2 vs 2 with a good friend. I will record and upload some matches for anyone who is slightly interested.

sen · Post by **sen** » 18 May 2011 20:09

I'd love to see the footage from that tourney! I've seen some crazy stuff from Smash Bros. Not gonna lie, I a little surprised that they still have tourney's for the N64 one. I thought by now all the joysticks on the controllers would be busted.

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 19 May 2011 09:53

sen wrote:I'd love to see the footage from that tourney! I've seen some crazy stuff from Smash Bros. Not gonna lie, I a little surprised that they still have tourney's for the N64 one. I thought by now all the joysticks on the controllers would be busted.

I will for sure link to the footage. They still have a LOT of tournaments for Smash 64. Most of them are online through emulators, but there are plenty in person tournaments. I missed one in Arizona last Saturday (work).

Controllers still exist! Just purchased one in mint condition yesterday

worldbound · Post by **worldbound** » 13 Aug 2011 22:07

Due to summer heat I have not kicked for 3 months (unless I went on a trip somewhere less than 115 degrees F).

I did compete in that Smash Tournament. I got 5th place which is GREAT considering the world's best was there!

Here is 1 match of the tournament (I am dookdigity aka JigglyPuff)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH9ocVtnajY&t=1m53s

I was able to kick for a few minutes yesterday, here is the product of that

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw7XGJaTUbw[/youtube]

I cannot wait to move out of these arizona summers! BRUTAL!

Mike Green

Mike Green

Mirage and Goals

Shin Splint Epiphanies

Don't stand on your heels!

Re: Don't stand on your heels!

Summer is drawing near an end! FINALLY!