{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "user_comment": "This feed allows you to read the posts from this site in any feed reader that supports the JSON Feed format. To add this feed to your reader, copy the following URL -- https://modified.in/bsos/category/oldterviews/feed/json -- and add it your reader.", "home_page_url": "https://modified.in/bsos/category/oldterviews", "feed_url": "https://modified.in/bsos/category/oldterviews/feed/json", "title": "BSOS", "description": "BOTH SIDES ONE STRING", "items": [ { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/09/18/oldterviews-milan-benda/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/09/18/oldterviews-milan-benda/", "title": "Oldterviews: Milan Benda", "content_html": "

Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Milan Benda.

\n

Note: This interview came out a little later than the others – 2012. Milan is a great dude and I think this interview shows\u00a0his “no bullshit” way of life.

\n

Milan Benda was born in 1991 and is from Jesen\u00edk, Czech Republic. He is the current World Champion and one of the styliest and funniest dudes in footbag today.

\n

Hey Milan. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

\n

Hi, I\u00b4m sorry for late, but I was kinda busy.

\n

Describe a typical day in the life of Milan Benda? What do you do? What do you eat? Etc.

\n

Hehe, cool question. I will not write the shit like I wake up or something like that Right now I\u00b4m going to school, it takes like half of my day. It\u00b4s high school, so there isn\u2019t much homework or something like that for me, than I have a time for footbag! I\u00b4m practicing straightly 2 hours 6 times in week\u2026 My training has no rules, just hard shred, I\u00b4m doing whatever I like, feel good\u2026 And than, every second day I go to gym for 1 hour\u2026 (girls love it)

\n

Let\u2019s start at the beginning. When and how did you start playing?

\n

It\u00b4s a long story, but 5.5 year ago, I\u2019d started to kick with friends at school and when we had holiday. I had to play alone, than I checked the Internet. There I saw my first footbag movie- Shred with Sunil, it was a real massacre for me and that time I knew that I want to be as good as they were.

\n

What was your first dream move / drill? Do you have any dream goals you can\u2019t hit?

\n

Hehe, now I remember, in fact I was watching every day on Flipsider section Massive tricks, that made me crazy, I was too horny, I wanted to do all of the moves from there\u2026 like Nemesis, Gauntlet\u2026 I was keen on drills much in the beginning, for me were mostly important single tricks.

\n

You came onto the scene a bit out of the blue, and were really good right away. Was it by choice by you to first come to international tournaments when you reached a certain level?

\n

Well, that happened because I was playing let\u2019s say like half a year at home, everyday for 2 hours until I felt that my skill weren\u2019t bad. Due to that everyday shred, I reached a point where I was ready to compete.

\n

How did the Dictators help you in the beginning?

\n

Yes, at first I remember that, I was that kid who tried every move from Vasek\u00b4s repertoire. As I said for me single moves were important\u2026 so like Honza didn\u2019t give me any advice. Vasek didn\u2019t give me any advice in beginning too, because I didn\u2019t see him much and who wants to give advice, to a young stupid kid But Ales gave me a lot of them, he was like hero for me! He was really patient.

\n

Are there other people who have been important to your footbag progress?

\n

Yes, Steven Lee Goldberg for taking me to first worlds, Dexter for everything, and right now it\u00b4s Honza, he understand how the life goes : )

\n

Could you tell a little about how practice? And if it has changed over time \u2013 how?

\n

You have to practice hard but not stupidly.

\n

What advice would you give someone learning a trick like far whirl for the first time?

\n

Well it is paradox whirl-
\nI love that old system\u2026Set it and than immediately, go to whirl- set should be as high as your hips are.

\n

Congratulations on winning the World Champs. To me it was a really close call between you and David. Were you sure you would win?

\n

It\u00b4s a long story, but I had mixed feelings, firstly- right after finals I thought I would win it, but than I saw some judges papers and I didn\u2019t feel good, but others of them told me\u2026

\n

Now you are the World Champion. What is your next goal?

\n

Still play footbag on the highest level, win every tournament\u2026 and hit more than 300 pts. hundred in shred.

\n

If you could change one thing about footbag what would it be?

\n

I would like to have prize money on tournaments, I think it could kick footbag higher. Not like the junky sport it is right now :/

\n

Could you tell a little about your footbag freestyle philosophy?

\n

I don\u00b4t have any\u2026

\n

You have one of my favorite styles. Did that come naturally or is it something you have worked on?

\n

You should work on it, but anyway it is also about your body.

\n

What equipment do you use?

\n

Lavers, Footfighter

\n

One of the things I always do is let the last person, ask the next person interviewed a question \u2013 What do you wanna ask the next person?

\n

Ok, my question is: What\u00b4s the name of your fucking mother?

\n

You are seen as a big party-guy (which I really like) but do you have a problem with that?

\n

NO, because I don\u2019t party much, I live the sports life. When some party is happening however, I do it the most hard as I can\u2026 but no drugs, just alcohol.

\n

Do you have any final comments or shout-outs?

\n

I\u00b4m so tired from all interview, so NO.
\nThank you for asking man.

\n

Interview by Asmus Helms

\n", "content_text": "Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Milan Benda.\nNote: This interview came out a little later than the others – 2012. Milan is a great dude and I think this interview shows\u00a0his “no bullshit” way of life.\nMilan Benda was born in 1991 and is from Jesen\u00edk, Czech Republic. He is the current World Champion and one of the styliest and funniest dudes in footbag today.\nHey Milan. Thanks for taking the time to do this.\nHi, I\u00b4m sorry for late, but I was kinda busy.\nDescribe a typical day in the life of Milan Benda? What do you do? What do you eat? Etc.\nHehe, cool question. I will not write the shit like I wake up or something like that Right now I\u00b4m going to school, it takes like half of my day. It\u00b4s high school, so there isn\u2019t much homework or something like that for me, than I have a time for footbag! I\u00b4m practicing straightly 2 hours 6 times in week\u2026 My training has no rules, just hard shred, I\u00b4m doing whatever I like, feel good\u2026 And than, every second day I go to gym for 1 hour\u2026 (girls love it)\nLet\u2019s start at the beginning. When and how did you start playing?\nIt\u00b4s a long story, but 5.5 year ago, I\u2019d started to kick with friends at school and when we had holiday. I had to play alone, than I checked the Internet. There I saw my first footbag movie- Shred with Sunil, it was a real massacre for me and that time I knew that I want to be as good as they were.\nWhat was your first dream move / drill? Do you have any dream goals you can\u2019t hit?\nHehe, now I remember, in fact I was watching every day on Flipsider section Massive tricks, that made me crazy, I was too horny, I wanted to do all of the moves from there\u2026 like Nemesis, Gauntlet\u2026 I was keen on drills much in the beginning, for me were mostly important single tricks.\nYou came onto the scene a bit out of the blue, and were really good right away. Was it by choice by you to first come to international tournaments when you reached a certain level?\nWell, that happened because I was playing let\u2019s say like half a year at home, everyday for 2 hours until I felt that my skill weren\u2019t bad. Due to that everyday shred, I reached a point where I was ready to compete.\nHow did the Dictators help you in the beginning?\nYes, at first I remember that, I was that kid who tried every move from Vasek\u00b4s repertoire. As I said for me single moves were important\u2026 so like Honza didn\u2019t give me any advice. Vasek didn\u2019t give me any advice in beginning too, because I didn\u2019t see him much and who wants to give advice, to a young stupid kid But Ales gave me a lot of them, he was like hero for me! He was really patient.\nAre there other people who have been important to your footbag progress?\nYes, Steven Lee Goldberg for taking me to first worlds, Dexter for everything, and right now it\u00b4s Honza, he understand how the life goes : )\nCould you tell a little about how practice? And if it has changed over time \u2013 how?\nYou have to practice hard but not stupidly.\nWhat advice would you give someone learning a trick like far whirl for the first time?\nWell it is paradox whirl-\nI love that old system\u2026Set it and than immediately, go to whirl- set should be as high as your hips are.\nCongratulations on winning the World Champs. To me it was a really close call between you and David. Were you sure you would win?\nIt\u00b4s a long story, but I had mixed feelings, firstly- right after finals I thought I would win it, but than I saw some judges papers and I didn\u2019t feel good, but others of them told me\u2026\nNow you are the World Champion. What is your next goal?\nStill play footbag on the highest level, win every tournament\u2026 and hit more than 300 pts. hundred in shred.\nIf you could change one thing about footbag what would it be?\nI would like to have prize money on tournaments, I think it could kick footbag higher. Not like the junky sport it is right now :/\nCould you tell a little about your footbag freestyle philosophy?\nI don\u00b4t have any\u2026\nYou have one of my favorite styles. Did that come naturally or is it something you have worked on?\nYou should work on it, but anyway it is also about your body.\nWhat equipment do you use?\nLavers, Footfighter\nOne of the things I always do is let the last person, ask the next person interviewed a question \u2013 What do you wanna ask the next person?\nOk, my question is: What\u00b4s the name of your fucking mother?\nYou are seen as a big party-guy (which I really like) but do you have a problem with that?\nNO, because I don\u2019t party much, I live the sports life. When some party is happening however, I do it the most hard as I can\u2026 but no drugs, just alcohol.\nDo you have any final comments or shout-outs?\nI\u00b4m so tired from all interview, so NO.\nThank you for asking man.\nInterview by Asmus Helms", "date_published": "2014-09-18T09:59:18+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-09-18T09:59:18+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/09/1374872_588423957886823_2053205591_n.jpg", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/08/03/oldterviews-honza-weber/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/08/03/oldterviews-honza-weber/", "title": "Oldterviews: Honza Weber", "content_html": "

Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Honza Weber.

\n

Hello Honza. How are you?

\n

Hello, thanks for asking, I am doing very well. Just today I played foosball with Rippin`s friend, who is like number 2 in the World and came here for the Czech Foosball Champs, so it was a great experience.

\n

Let’s start at the beginning. You started playing footbag back in 2001. How did that happen?

\n

Long story short ? I was lucky to be attending the same high school as couple of guys, who were the first ones to play in Czech. I was kinda shy back then to ask them if I can join their circle, so I was just watching them and started playing some time later with my classmate and after 2 months I was better than those guys, which was great feeling ?

\n

And then next year you got 2. at euros and the year after that 4th at worlds. How was it attending your first worlds?

\n

Ye, it was astonishing! I was really really happy about my 2nd place at Euros 02 in Budapest, it was a huge success for me because the competition was just so tough that year- all the german players came as well as the Finns, simply amazing tournament and experience.
\nActually my first Worlds attendance was also in 02 in San Francisco, but I was eliminated in the semis. I had good routine and was quite in shape, but I was just unexperienced and there was some mess up with the schedule, so I had to go on the stage without warming up and I did not do well ? The next year I came a lot stronger with better style and routine, but knee injury held me back. Actually I figured out I had still been unexperienced and just practiced too much during couple weeks before the tournament. I still should have been 3rd because my routine was just a lot better and harder than Yacine`s who was actually 3rd. I guess I would not care that much, but since it was first big tournament in my home city, where my friends and parents could see me, I wanted a podium finish which I deserved, but the judging was very sad and disappointing for me..

\n

What where your goals and thoughts on the sport in those early years?

\n

I was just so obessesed with the sport! I wanted to compete, to go to every tournament, to win as much as possible, to beat the best players, to prove I could also be one of the best, to invent new moves, to make videos and DVDs, to leave legacy, to be remembered! It was just unbelievable! Wonderful time, but a lot yet to achieve..

\n

You, Ales and Vasek really blew up back then. How was your relationship, was it friendly competition? In what ways did you influence each other?

\n

Well, occasionally we had some fights because we were young and silly, but overall we really supported each other and we were giving each other advices on routines and for example I chose them music and did the basic choreography for their doubles routine in 03 and also for their singles in 03 and 04 in Montreal. In return they helped me with my style and some moves I was not able to hit like eggbeaters, quantums and symposiums. I think the strongest relationship was between 02 and 04. We formed a great team and I really enjoy to remember those times!

\n

Last year at worlds you looked in better shape than ever. Do you agree and why was that?

\n

True, I was about to quit in the whole 2007 because I could not find any motivation and neither inspiration for the game and after another dissapointment with the results at Worlds 07 I was almost sure I was gonna quit, but decided to wait for another year and to think it through. I was kinda lost in the whole 08 and did not do well at tournaments and did not achieve much in other parts of my life, so I decided to make radical life changes. Instead of quitting I started to take it seriously, I lost 12 kilos in 3 months and that helped my game a lot. I have also changed the attitude and you could have seen the results during the summer in Berlin. This year I expect to be even much stronger in much better shape for the summer, but to be able to go to Worlds I still need to get some sponsor because it is just too expensive for us in Czech. So if anyone is interested\u2026? \"\ud83d\ude09\"

\n

Now, back to the future. How does an average day in the life of Honza look like?

\n

Well, I usually wake up at 8 and immediately go to check my email, which wakes me up even more. Then I have a cup of coca or mint tea with honey ? I do not really eat in the morning, so after the morning beverage I start to either work on some articles for the school lessons (I am doing masters in economic policies and history) or when I have time I work on some footbag promotional materials- I am trying to put together some professional material for potential sponsors, which is actually a lot of work if you want to do it properly. After the lunch I go to school for couple hours (I am just sooo happy I managed to schedule all the lessons in the afternoon, so I do not have to wake up early ? ) When I get back I usually go to kick and workout and then I have a dinner. I watch the news in the evening and then it depends how tired I am. Sometimes I still do some work to school or for the promotion or I just watch a movie and fall asleep ?

\n

What part of your game are you working on right now?

\n

Actually I am not really trying to practice new moves or combos anymore. Instead I have just been practicing some cool moves, which look good for the audience, trying to hit the normal stuff with big bags I have for demos (either the glowing bags or juggling bags I got from Peter Irish). Lately I have been also practicing freestyle with football because people demand it during the demos. Of course I still go for a normal session, but I just enjoy the stuff I can already hit and just trying to make it cleaner with better style. Style is everything! When 2 people are doing the same it is definitely not the same! I wish people could understand that and stop trying to hit insanities with no style and execution.. :/

\n

In the video above you play in the new Nucleus shoe. What do you think about it?

\n

Ye, actually I was quite surprised by the quality of the shoes. I was a little skeptical when I saw the first pictures, but since I tried them and my heels did not come out of the shoes after landing some moves just like in Quantums I was quite impressed ? In the video I managed to hit some new moves and fresh combos, which I was satisfied with considering I have not really played the first 2 months of this year due to the injury and I just started playing more often before Todexon. Also it was just second session I had in the shoes. I guess I will still keep playing in lavers because I am just so used to them, but I can recommend Nucleus as a solid footbag shoes. They might also help to improve style and execution as well, which I find the most important!

\n

Could you talk a little about what place footbag have in your life right now?

\n

After the decision to get back to the game is footbag very big part of my life. I found a way how to enjoy the game much more and the new footbag generation inspired and for example it is quite a big motivation to keep up with guys like Milan. Especially Milan because after Vasek got more interested in freestyle football these days Milan became the best player in the World. I can now see the disagreeing faces of many ?, but without any doubts or questions he is the best player at the moment! His stamina is magnificent, his execution is spectacular and the combos are just insane! That is actually why we teamed up for doubles this year ?, so hopefully we will be able to find time to prepare nice and solid routine.

\n

If you could change one thing in footbag what would it be?

\n

It is so hard to pick just one thing. I would love to have professional judges in the sport, but I would also like the sport to be more famous with better acceptance from the general public, which would probably bring more professionality. More mature people with organising skills could help as well. On the other hand it is hard to guess what would be the consequences of that.
\nIt is very hard question, however I would probably want the sport to be more commercial and we will see what would happen ?

\n

Thanks to Honza Weber
\nInterview by Asmus Helms

\n", "content_text": "Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Honza Weber.\nHello Honza. How are you?\nHello, thanks for asking, I am doing very well. Just today I played foosball with Rippin`s friend, who is like number 2 in the World and came here for the Czech Foosball Champs, so it was a great experience.\nLet’s start at the beginning. You started playing footbag back in 2001. How did that happen?\nLong story short ? I was lucky to be attending the same high school as couple of guys, who were the first ones to play in Czech. I was kinda shy back then to ask them if I can join their circle, so I was just watching them and started playing some time later with my classmate and after 2 months I was better than those guys, which was great feeling ?\nAnd then next year you got 2. at euros and the year after that 4th at worlds. How was it attending your first worlds?\nYe, it was astonishing! I was really really happy about my 2nd place at Euros 02 in Budapest, it was a huge success for me because the competition was just so tough that year- all the german players came as well as the Finns, simply amazing tournament and experience.\nActually my first Worlds attendance was also in 02 in San Francisco, but I was eliminated in the semis. I had good routine and was quite in shape, but I was just unexperienced and there was some mess up with the schedule, so I had to go on the stage without warming up and I did not do well ? The next year I came a lot stronger with better style and routine, but knee injury held me back. Actually I figured out I had still been unexperienced and just practiced too much during couple weeks before the tournament. I still should have been 3rd because my routine was just a lot better and harder than Yacine`s who was actually 3rd. I guess I would not care that much, but since it was first big tournament in my home city, where my friends and parents could see me, I wanted a podium finish which I deserved, but the judging was very sad and disappointing for me..\nWhat where your goals and thoughts on the sport in those early years?\nI was just so obessesed with the sport! I wanted to compete, to go to every tournament, to win as much as possible, to beat the best players, to prove I could also be one of the best, to invent new moves, to make videos and DVDs, to leave legacy, to be remembered! It was just unbelievable! Wonderful time, but a lot yet to achieve..\nYou, Ales and Vasek really blew up back then. How was your relationship, was it friendly competition? In what ways did you influence each other?\nWell, occasionally we had some fights because we were young and silly, but overall we really supported each other and we were giving each other advices on routines and for example I chose them music and did the basic choreography for their doubles routine in 03 and also for their singles in 03 and 04 in Montreal. In return they helped me with my style and some moves I was not able to hit like eggbeaters, quantums and symposiums. I think the strongest relationship was between 02 and 04. We formed a great team and I really enjoy to remember those times!\nLast year at worlds you looked in better shape than ever. Do you agree and why was that?\nTrue, I was about to quit in the whole 2007 because I could not find any motivation and neither inspiration for the game and after another dissapointment with the results at Worlds 07 I was almost sure I was gonna quit, but decided to wait for another year and to think it through. I was kinda lost in the whole 08 and did not do well at tournaments and did not achieve much in other parts of my life, so I decided to make radical life changes. Instead of quitting I started to take it seriously, I lost 12 kilos in 3 months and that helped my game a lot. I have also changed the attitude and you could have seen the results during the summer in Berlin. This year I expect to be even much stronger in much better shape for the summer, but to be able to go to Worlds I still need to get some sponsor because it is just too expensive for us in Czech. So if anyone is interested\u2026? \nNow, back to the future. How does an average day in the life of Honza look like?\nWell, I usually wake up at 8 and immediately go to check my email, which wakes me up even more. Then I have a cup of coca or mint tea with honey ? I do not really eat in the morning, so after the morning beverage I start to either work on some articles for the school lessons (I am doing masters in economic policies and history) or when I have time I work on some footbag promotional materials- I am trying to put together some professional material for potential sponsors, which is actually a lot of work if you want to do it properly. After the lunch I go to school for couple hours (I am just sooo happy I managed to schedule all the lessons in the afternoon, so I do not have to wake up early ? ) When I get back I usually go to kick and workout and then I have a dinner. I watch the news in the evening and then it depends how tired I am. Sometimes I still do some work to school or for the promotion or I just watch a movie and fall asleep ?\nWhat part of your game are you working on right now?\nActually I am not really trying to practice new moves or combos anymore. Instead I have just been practicing some cool moves, which look good for the audience, trying to hit the normal stuff with big bags I have for demos (either the glowing bags or juggling bags I got from Peter Irish). Lately I have been also practicing freestyle with football because people demand it during the demos. Of course I still go for a normal session, but I just enjoy the stuff I can already hit and just trying to make it cleaner with better style. Style is everything! When 2 people are doing the same it is definitely not the same! I wish people could understand that and stop trying to hit insanities with no style and execution.. :/\nIn the video above you play in the new Nucleus shoe. What do you think about it?\nYe, actually I was quite surprised by the quality of the shoes. I was a little skeptical when I saw the first pictures, but since I tried them and my heels did not come out of the shoes after landing some moves just like in Quantums I was quite impressed ? In the video I managed to hit some new moves and fresh combos, which I was satisfied with considering I have not really played the first 2 months of this year due to the injury and I just started playing more often before Todexon. Also it was just second session I had in the shoes. I guess I will still keep playing in lavers because I am just so used to them, but I can recommend Nucleus as a solid footbag shoes. They might also help to improve style and execution as well, which I find the most important!\nCould you talk a little about what place footbag have in your life right now?\nAfter the decision to get back to the game is footbag very big part of my life. I found a way how to enjoy the game much more and the new footbag generation inspired and for example it is quite a big motivation to keep up with guys like Milan. Especially Milan because after Vasek got more interested in freestyle football these days Milan became the best player in the World. I can now see the disagreeing faces of many ?, but without any doubts or questions he is the best player at the moment! His stamina is magnificent, his execution is spectacular and the combos are just insane! That is actually why we teamed up for doubles this year ?, so hopefully we will be able to find time to prepare nice and solid routine.\nIf you could change one thing in footbag what would it be?\nIt is so hard to pick just one thing. I would love to have professional judges in the sport, but I would also like the sport to be more famous with better acceptance from the general public, which would probably bring more professionality. More mature people with organising skills could help as well. On the other hand it is hard to guess what would be the consequences of that.\nIt is very hard question, however I would probably want the sport to be more commercial and we will see what would happen ?\nThanks to Honza Weber\nInterview by Asmus Helms", "date_published": "2014-08-03T12:39:53+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-08-03T12:39:53+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/08/back3-1.jpg", "tags": [ "Equipment", "Inspiration", "Knowledge", "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/07/04/oldterviews-david-clavens/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/07/04/oldterviews-david-clavens/", "title": "Oldterviews: David Clavens", "content_html": "

Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with David Clavens.

\n

David Clavens is a freestyler from Pennsylvania not residing in California. He is one of the best sideline and routine players in the world and have won countless tournaments like the US Open, Euros, Funtastisk and Worlds (Circle). Other than that he works for Google, is an amateur magician and he is a great guy who is always willing to throw down or give tips when requested. I hung out with him this summer and got inspired to interview him. Without any further ado I give you my interview with David \u201cThe Cleaver\u201d Clavens:

\n

Hey David. How are you?

\n

Great, how about yourself?

\n

I\u2019m good bro. This summer you went to Europe, to compete at Euros and to visit footbaggers all over the continent. As far as I know you went to Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Prague and Copenhagen? Could you in a few words sum up the different cities – the people you met there and how it was? I know you could probably write a book about this trip but I would like to hear a little more.

\n

Man, I could totally write a book about this. You got the countries right. I had a blast spending time with the clubs in all of the cities. I have to thank Paul C., Ales Z., Serge K., Mads, Rasmus, Kim, and you for hosting me while I was abroad which made thetrip so much better. Footbag kindness was at an all time high. My trip would not have been nearly as amazing if I didn\u2019t have the help of all the international footbag players.

\n

All of the cities had their own individual flavor and each one gave me different memories. In some I walked around with the locals and in others I ventured out on my own \u2013 making for two distinct versions of seeing a city, but both equally as amazing. I got to see a lot of the famous sites but also a look into the day to day lives of everyone who lived in the cities. It was a blast to be with people outside of the tournament setting, playing and hanging out in a more laid back setting. I think my trip was the perfect mix between playing footbag, hanging out, and sight seeing.

\n

In Prague you played at Honzas infamous backyard spot, how was it to play with Honza and Ales there?

\n

It was really great to play in a spot that I had seen on videos for years. It was a similar feeling to the first time I played at the water temple in Portland. Honza and Ales are a blast to play with and it was really nice to see Honza play in a setting where we weren\u2019t both worried about competition. I really wish that I could play with him more, because the atmosophere is quite serious and has a really good \u201ctraining\u201d feel. I felt like I really had to be on my toes when I played with him and I think we both pushed each other a bit. It is great that he has been pushing it for 8 years now. Ales, although not in the form of a few years ago, can still hold his own in the circle and his form is so good I would watch him do butterflies and be happy.

\n

In Copenhagen you went busking with Mads Hole like Ryan used to do it. How did you get that idea? What was that experience like?

\n

The busking in Copenhagen was quite possibly the highlight of my trip. Basically, I had heard that Mulroney did quite well on the streets a few summers back and I had of course seen the Vasek videos in the same shopping area. When I asked Mads if I could try street performing he was more than happy to help me, outfitting me with a Frisbee and a boombox to get things started. I ended up performing three days in a row in a busy shopping area in Copenhagen, doing 2 minutes routines to some of my old songs plus the new Kesha one. The experience was great and definitely gave me a new appreciation for busking and how difficult it is. It took me about a day to really get down my speech and how to present footbag, but I think people really dug the 2 minute format, allowing them to see talent but not waste a half hour of their day. I ended up getting paid quite well and it helped me finance a fair bit of my trip. It also built up my endurance, as I was doing routines over and over without really stopping, never wanting to miss the next crowd.

\n

I’ve been to Paris myself, staying at Arthur\u2019s place; one of my highlights was making late night crepes and shooting the shit with them. Did you try homemade crepes? Did you try making them yourself? Can you do the crepe flip trick?

\n

Unfortunately I did not dive into the art of crepe making as deep as you did. I had one while I was sightseeing one day but that was it. In regards to my highlight, it was definitely getting to know Serge Kaldany, who actually works in a similar profession as I do except for Yahoo. It was really cool hanging out with him and learning about his background and also talking about careers, something I don\u2019t do with footbag players too often. Perhaps I will skool my crepe tricks next time I visit Paris.

\n

During your trip you also won the European champs, as the first American ever if I am not mistaken. How did the top European freestylers take that?

\n

I think Ryan was the first American to do it in the early 2000\u2019s, making me the second. I think that going into the tournament everyone was so evenly matched that it was anyone\u2019s game (similar to worlds this year). I do not believe that anyone in Europe was disappointed that an American won, and I am of course not upset that Damian won US Open Circle. It is just the nature of our game, this is bound to happen when top players can travel to international tournaments. I think it is a good thing in the end, and only pushes the level higher and higher.

\n

I know you have wanted to come and compete in Europe for a long time (and we have really wanted to see you against the dictators and polish guys for some time). Did it live up to your expectations?

\n

To begin, I feel that Europe is so diverse that I can\u2019t really say I even got a good feel of it during my month that I was there. Like anywhere, I truly feel you would have to live in each place to get the full taste of what the country has to offer. Each country in Europe is so distinct that it would be unfair to group them all together as \u201cEurope\u201d. However, I will say that meeting and talking with many Europeans over my years in footbag made the transition less dramatic. I imagine some Americans who have had little European contact come overseas and are blown away, but to me I had already experienced language and cultural differences through events like worlds and such. The thing that blew me away the most were things like the architecture, seeing as we don\u2019t really have many old buildings here in the states. Another thing that surprised me was how friendly people were to Americans. All footbag players have treated me with great kindness, but I was not sure how I would be treated by locals. I was happily surprised that I fit right in and everyone treated me like I was one of the gang.

\n

A while ago you wrote in your blog that you wish you had the energy and drive again that you used to have. Have this summer of you traveling and playing a lot fueled this drive?

\n

It goes in waves, and things I write in my blog are sometimes true one week but different the next. I have a very inconsistent relationship with footbag these days, going from playing 4 times a week to not playing at all. I think going to Europe kind of forced me to take it more seriously because I did not want to show up to Worlds and drop a lot. Now, with the major tournaments over and work I am not sure what role footbag will play in my life. However, there are moments where I wish I had the time and energy of my 15 year old self, as I feel there is so much unexplored area in this game.

\n

Having traveled around Europe this summer, what do you see as the main differences between the European and the North American scene?

\n

Great question. Having only been at Euros, it is tough to say. I think smaller tournaments like Polish Champs or Todexon would help me get the full flavor of the European scene. I think there are differences in trick selection, average skill level, and the social side of things. I think both scenes are great for their own reasons and have more similarities than differences.

\n

You just got back\u00a0from worlds and I am sure it was an amazing week as always. Want to share some highlights of your week?

\n

The highlights of my week mostly involved competing at the highest level I had seen in quite a while. Just watching everyone do amazing routines and bust in circles was a pleasure. I think this year I spread myself fairly well in hanging out with a lot of different people and I also feel that personally I was not as hard on myself as I normally am. I wish I played more in circles but I think that is how I always feel.

\n

At worlds you did a workshop, which I think is an awesome idea. How was the response? Did you feel that you got anything out of it?

\n

The response was pretty good and I hope that one day the footage is released. I covered some sets and my basic ideas on skooling. It was great to see 50 people on the floor wanting to hear what I had to say, that meant a lot. The thing I got out of it was that everyone thinks of things differently and that there is no magic formula. I hope that my words helped at least a few people.

\n

I heard you spoke about your general way to train can you tell us a little about that as I and I am sure a lot of the others who wasn’t at worlds are really interested in this subject.

\n

I could write a book about my thoughts on training, and perhaps will leave this question open ended in hopes that the workshop will be posted. I imagine one day I will have the time to sit down and write out most of my theories on footbag. In a nutshell, it revolves around high repetitions of movements and hitting things in a style that is easily reproducible. It is focused on building a good foundation. I have not read all of the vasek manual, but there are a lot of similarities in our thinking. I am sure any advice he has on the topic would be as good if not better than mine.

\n

And now the next chapter of you life is about to begin, working at Google, live at Steve Goldberg\u2019s house, enjoying the Californian sun. You and Steve Goldberg seem really close. Could you tell me a little about your relationship with him?

\n

I met steve about 7 years ago at a Funtastik Summer Classic. The story is worth typing. It was my first tournament and I had been playing for 6 months and I was competing in intermediate. I went out and dropped a ton but I tried to use the music a little bit. I remember my dad standing next to Bob Riefer watching me, and Bob telling me to just be calm and keep it off the ground. I did the routine and had that throw up feeling in my stomach that I am sure everyone has had during the first times they compete for an audience. I was not very optimistic about making finals with my performance. I remember going up to the judges table and there was Steve in his typical sunglasses. I didn\u2019t know who he was but I knew he had judged, and I remember asking \u201cHey, I think I\u2019m leaving tonight, but I just wanted to know if I made finals\u201d. Steve looked at me and said \u201cof course you did, man\u201d. I tried to argue, saying that I had a bunch of drops and the other competitors probably had taken the spots in the finals. And Steve just kept saying \u201cno, you\u2019re good man, you did great\u201d.

\n

This event represents a lot and I didn\u2019t realize it until recently. Basically, I was just some random 15 year old who probably did a bad routine but Steve had the utmost faith that I would make finals and didn\u2019t hesitate to tell me what a great job I had done. He continued to support me, taking me aside the next year at East Coasts and breaking down my style and telling me what I was doing wrong. While he might not be able to do ps whirl, Goldberg did have a keen eye for kinks in my style and helped me fix them. Something as simple as him taking 2 hours to walk me through the correct hop on clipper really meant a lot. Since that night in Peter Irish\u2019s basement being told how to lean forward on clipper, I have interacted with Goldberg a lot. Our friendship spans 7 years and probably more than 20 tournaments. He has helped me in aspects of my life from footbag to school.

\n

He had the faith in me that I could get a job at somewhere like Google and has been super supportive of my move to the West Coast. I currently live on the bottom floor of his house and we hang out a couple times a week, playing footbag and making pizza. This year at worlds I finished my finals routine and there was Steve, just like at every tournament, offering praise and advice. I never really thanked Steve for his kindness and support of the sport, and I doubt many of us have. A lot of it is behind the scenes and I can only glimpse it now as I interact with him on a weekly basis. I am happy that he is in this sport and I don\u2019t think I would be where I am without him. I wouldn\u2019t of had a footbag.org to watch videos on when I was 14 or a contact at Google to ask about potential interview questions when I was 21. I look forward to living in the Bay Area for a while and hanging out more with Steve and the whole Standford footbag club.

\n

One of the things I always do in these interviews is to get a question from the previous person I interviewed to ask the next one. Tuukkas question was: “When are you coming to Finland’s New Year’s Jam?”

\n

I don\u2019t get a lot of days off\u2026 so\u2026 yeah.

\n

And what do you want to ask the next person?

\n

If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be?

\n

Do you have any final comments or shot-outs?

\n

Footbag is small. Let\u2019s value each other. We can\u2019t afford to lose anyone who has devoted time into this game.

\n

Thanks for the interview buddy and best of luck at Google.

\n

Thank you, Asmus.

\n", "content_text": "Editor\u2019s note: From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with David Clavens.\nDavid Clavens is a freestyler from Pennsylvania not residing in California. He is one of the best sideline and routine players in the world and have won countless tournaments like the US Open, Euros, Funtastisk and Worlds (Circle). Other than that he works for Google, is an amateur magician and he is a great guy who is always willing to throw down or give tips when requested. I hung out with him this summer and got inspired to interview him. Without any further ado I give you my interview with David \u201cThe Cleaver\u201d Clavens:\nHey David. How are you?\nGreat, how about yourself?\nI\u2019m good bro. This summer you went to Europe, to compete at Euros and to visit footbaggers all over the continent. As far as I know you went to Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Prague and Copenhagen? Could you in a few words sum up the different cities – the people you met there and how it was? I know you could probably write a book about this trip but I would like to hear a little more.\nMan, I could totally write a book about this. You got the countries right. I had a blast spending time with the clubs in all of the cities. I have to thank Paul C., Ales Z., Serge K., Mads, Rasmus, Kim, and you for hosting me while I was abroad which made thetrip so much better. Footbag kindness was at an all time high. My trip would not have been nearly as amazing if I didn\u2019t have the help of all the international footbag players.\nAll of the cities had their own individual flavor and each one gave me different memories. In some I walked around with the locals and in others I ventured out on my own \u2013 making for two distinct versions of seeing a city, but both equally as amazing. I got to see a lot of the famous sites but also a look into the day to day lives of everyone who lived in the cities. It was a blast to be with people outside of the tournament setting, playing and hanging out in a more laid back setting. I think my trip was the perfect mix between playing footbag, hanging out, and sight seeing.\nIn Prague you played at Honzas infamous backyard spot, how was it to play with Honza and Ales there?\nIt was really great to play in a spot that I had seen on videos for years. It was a similar feeling to the first time I played at the water temple in Portland. Honza and Ales are a blast to play with and it was really nice to see Honza play in a setting where we weren\u2019t both worried about competition. I really wish that I could play with him more, because the atmosophere is quite serious and has a really good \u201ctraining\u201d feel. I felt like I really had to be on my toes when I played with him and I think we both pushed each other a bit. It is great that he has been pushing it for 8 years now. Ales, although not in the form of a few years ago, can still hold his own in the circle and his form is so good I would watch him do butterflies and be happy.\nIn Copenhagen you went busking with Mads Hole like Ryan used to do it. How did you get that idea? What was that experience like?\nThe busking in Copenhagen was quite possibly the highlight of my trip. Basically, I had heard that Mulroney did quite well on the streets a few summers back and I had of course seen the Vasek videos in the same shopping area. When I asked Mads if I could try street performing he was more than happy to help me, outfitting me with a Frisbee and a boombox to get things started. I ended up performing three days in a row in a busy shopping area in Copenhagen, doing 2 minutes routines to some of my old songs plus the new Kesha one. The experience was great and definitely gave me a new appreciation for busking and how difficult it is. It took me about a day to really get down my speech and how to present footbag, but I think people really dug the 2 minute format, allowing them to see talent but not waste a half hour of their day. I ended up getting paid quite well and it helped me finance a fair bit of my trip. It also built up my endurance, as I was doing routines over and over without really stopping, never wanting to miss the next crowd.\nI’ve been to Paris myself, staying at Arthur\u2019s place; one of my highlights was making late night crepes and shooting the shit with them. Did you try homemade crepes? Did you try making them yourself? Can you do the crepe flip trick?\nUnfortunately I did not dive into the art of crepe making as deep as you did. I had one while I was sightseeing one day but that was it. In regards to my highlight, it was definitely getting to know Serge Kaldany, who actually works in a similar profession as I do except for Yahoo. It was really cool hanging out with him and learning about his background and also talking about careers, something I don\u2019t do with footbag players too often. Perhaps I will skool my crepe tricks next time I visit Paris.\nDuring your trip you also won the European champs, as the first American ever if I am not mistaken. How did the top European freestylers take that?\nI think Ryan was the first American to do it in the early 2000\u2019s, making me the second. I think that going into the tournament everyone was so evenly matched that it was anyone\u2019s game (similar to worlds this year). I do not believe that anyone in Europe was disappointed that an American won, and I am of course not upset that Damian won US Open Circle. It is just the nature of our game, this is bound to happen when top players can travel to international tournaments. I think it is a good thing in the end, and only pushes the level higher and higher.\nI know you have wanted to come and compete in Europe for a long time (and we have really wanted to see you against the dictators and polish guys for some time). Did it live up to your expectations?\nTo begin, I feel that Europe is so diverse that I can\u2019t really say I even got a good feel of it during my month that I was there. Like anywhere, I truly feel you would have to live in each place to get the full taste of what the country has to offer. Each country in Europe is so distinct that it would be unfair to group them all together as \u201cEurope\u201d. However, I will say that meeting and talking with many Europeans over my years in footbag made the transition less dramatic. I imagine some Americans who have had little European contact come overseas and are blown away, but to me I had already experienced language and cultural differences through events like worlds and such. The thing that blew me away the most were things like the architecture, seeing as we don\u2019t really have many old buildings here in the states. Another thing that surprised me was how friendly people were to Americans. All footbag players have treated me with great kindness, but I was not sure how I would be treated by locals. I was happily surprised that I fit right in and everyone treated me like I was one of the gang.\nA while ago you wrote in your blog that you wish you had the energy and drive again that you used to have. Have this summer of you traveling and playing a lot fueled this drive?\nIt goes in waves, and things I write in my blog are sometimes true one week but different the next. I have a very inconsistent relationship with footbag these days, going from playing 4 times a week to not playing at all. I think going to Europe kind of forced me to take it more seriously because I did not want to show up to Worlds and drop a lot. Now, with the major tournaments over and work I am not sure what role footbag will play in my life. However, there are moments where I wish I had the time and energy of my 15 year old self, as I feel there is so much unexplored area in this game.\nHaving traveled around Europe this summer, what do you see as the main differences between the European and the North American scene?\nGreat question. Having only been at Euros, it is tough to say. I think smaller tournaments like Polish Champs or Todexon would help me get the full flavor of the European scene. I think there are differences in trick selection, average skill level, and the social side of things. I think both scenes are great for their own reasons and have more similarities than differences.\nYou just got back\u00a0from worlds and I am sure it was an amazing week as always. Want to share some highlights of your week?\nThe highlights of my week mostly involved competing at the highest level I had seen in quite a while. Just watching everyone do amazing routines and bust in circles was a pleasure. I think this year I spread myself fairly well in hanging out with a lot of different people and I also feel that personally I was not as hard on myself as I normally am. I wish I played more in circles but I think that is how I always feel.\nAt worlds you did a workshop, which I think is an awesome idea. How was the response? Did you feel that you got anything out of it?\nThe response was pretty good and I hope that one day the footage is released. I covered some sets and my basic ideas on skooling. It was great to see 50 people on the floor wanting to hear what I had to say, that meant a lot. The thing I got out of it was that everyone thinks of things differently and that there is no magic formula. I hope that my words helped at least a few people.\nI heard you spoke about your general way to train can you tell us a little about that as I and I am sure a lot of the others who wasn’t at worlds are really interested in this subject.\nI could write a book about my thoughts on training, and perhaps will leave this question open ended in hopes that the workshop will be posted. I imagine one day I will have the time to sit down and write out most of my theories on footbag. In a nutshell, it revolves around high repetitions of movements and hitting things in a style that is easily reproducible. It is focused on building a good foundation. I have not read all of the vasek manual, but there are a lot of similarities in our thinking. I am sure any advice he has on the topic would be as good if not better than mine.\nAnd now the next chapter of you life is about to begin, working at Google, live at Steve Goldberg\u2019s house, enjoying the Californian sun. You and Steve Goldberg seem really close. Could you tell me a little about your relationship with him?\nI met steve about 7 years ago at a Funtastik Summer Classic. The story is worth typing. It was my first tournament and I had been playing for 6 months and I was competing in intermediate. I went out and dropped a ton but I tried to use the music a little bit. I remember my dad standing next to Bob Riefer watching me, and Bob telling me to just be calm and keep it off the ground. I did the routine and had that throw up feeling in my stomach that I am sure everyone has had during the first times they compete for an audience. I was not very optimistic about making finals with my performance. I remember going up to the judges table and there was Steve in his typical sunglasses. I didn\u2019t know who he was but I knew he had judged, and I remember asking \u201cHey, I think I\u2019m leaving tonight, but I just wanted to know if I made finals\u201d. Steve looked at me and said \u201cof course you did, man\u201d. I tried to argue, saying that I had a bunch of drops and the other competitors probably had taken the spots in the finals. And Steve just kept saying \u201cno, you\u2019re good man, you did great\u201d.\nThis event represents a lot and I didn\u2019t realize it until recently. Basically, I was just some random 15 year old who probably did a bad routine but Steve had the utmost faith that I would make finals and didn\u2019t hesitate to tell me what a great job I had done. He continued to support me, taking me aside the next year at East Coasts and breaking down my style and telling me what I was doing wrong. While he might not be able to do ps whirl, Goldberg did have a keen eye for kinks in my style and helped me fix them. Something as simple as him taking 2 hours to walk me through the correct hop on clipper really meant a lot. Since that night in Peter Irish\u2019s basement being told how to lean forward on clipper, I have interacted with Goldberg a lot. Our friendship spans 7 years and probably more than 20 tournaments. He has helped me in aspects of my life from footbag to school.\nHe had the faith in me that I could get a job at somewhere like Google and has been super supportive of my move to the West Coast. I currently live on the bottom floor of his house and we hang out a couple times a week, playing footbag and making pizza. This year at worlds I finished my finals routine and there was Steve, just like at every tournament, offering praise and advice. I never really thanked Steve for his kindness and support of the sport, and I doubt many of us have. A lot of it is behind the scenes and I can only glimpse it now as I interact with him on a weekly basis. I am happy that he is in this sport and I don\u2019t think I would be where I am without him. I wouldn\u2019t of had a footbag.org to watch videos on when I was 14 or a contact at Google to ask about potential interview questions when I was 21. I look forward to living in the Bay Area for a while and hanging out more with Steve and the whole Standford footbag club.\nOne of the things I always do in these interviews is to get a question from the previous person I interviewed to ask the next one. Tuukkas question was: “When are you coming to Finland’s New Year’s Jam?”\nI don\u2019t get a lot of days off\u2026 so\u2026 yeah.\nAnd what do you want to ask the next person?\nIf you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be?\nDo you have any final comments or shot-outs?\nFootbag is small. Let\u2019s value each other. We can\u2019t afford to lose anyone who has devoted time into this game.\nThanks for the interview buddy and best of luck at Google.\nThank you, Asmus.", "date_published": "2014-07-04T07:25:58+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-07-04T07:25:58+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/07/dc2.png", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/06/13/oldterviews-tuukka-antikainen/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/06/13/oldterviews-tuukka-antikainen/", "title": "Oldterviews: Tuukka Antikainen", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Tuukka Antikainen.

\n

Tuukka is from Oulo, Finland. He has been playing footbag for almost 10 years. He is my personal footbag archnemesis, one of the nicest guys in footbag and has one of the most interesting styles in Europe.

\n

Hello Tuukka, How are you?

\n

Yo Yo Yo! I’m great! Enjoying a free day.

\n

Let\u2019s start with some history. When and how did you start to play footbag?

\n

I had kicked some hacky at school ’99, but didn’t really start back then as I was too much into football(soccer). Summer 2000 I was kicking hacky with my friend and we got idea to look for it from internet. We found footbag.org and watched some move clips. I remember watching ripwalk and thinking: “it would be awesome to learn that trick”. Next day I was at a midsummer festival and I saw some guys playing footbag. Those guys were Ville Laakso, Janne Pesonen with some of their friends. I walked closer to witness Ville hitting 8 ripwalks in a row! It was mind-blowing for me in that moment and I really got hooked instantly.

\n

You got into BAP back in 2003. How did you do that? What was the experience like?

\n

Year 2003 Euros were held in Frankfurt and Worlds in Prague. I had practiced hard and was excited to meet all my footbag heroes for the first time. I had attended 2002 Euros and met the Czech posse, but back then by footbag heroes I meant North-American players. I had watched Pure Freestyle, Sultans of shred, Worlds 99 and Aggressive Grounds through over and over again, and players like Rick Reese, Ryan Mulroney, Peter Irish, Sunil and Ahren were my ultimate heroes. So when I entered my first circle at Euros with Sunil, Ales and Ahren\u2026 wow.

\n

About getting into BAP\u2026 To be honest it was bit of a surprise for me when I was chosen. I had quite a unique trick selection back then, using a lot of inspins, ducking downtime moves and toe shuffle. I was also shredding a lot, especially during Worlds. I remember having great sessions with Yacine, Sunil and Tuan. Tuan and I played almost the whole night together. Still I wasn\u2019t really trying for BAP yet; I thought maybe next year I will try to convince everyone. So when it was time to announce new BAP players I just kept shredding in a circle until in the middle of a run I heard my name. I can\u2019t remember if I dropped, I was shocked from excitement as I walked to meet my new posse members.

\n

You have an interesting and varied game how did you attain that? Could you tell a little about your footbag freestyle philosophy?

\n

I’ve always been interested in hitting not so popular tricks. Scott Bevier has really been an inspiration for me with his trick selection. I have quite good basics from the earlier years and now I just tryout different stuff, watch a lot of videos and try to use tricks I find fun. These days my footbag philosophy is to have fun. Not to take it too seriously anymore, play for myself, enjoy it.

\n

Where do you see you in your freestyle career right now? What place does footbag have in your life right now? Where do you want to take your game?

\n

I’ve played freestyle almost 10 years now. I’m not trying to reach the stars anymore. I still want to improve and learn new stuff, but I also listen to my body and don’t try to do stuff that hurts. I also don’t feel obligated to learn everything. So what if I can’t hit something on my flipside, I couldn’t care less. When I was really practicing hard (before 2006) I tried to learn everything, but now I rather concentrate on elements I enjoy. Lots of inspins, symp dlos, weird stuff like strange rakes, fairy swirling, whizzs, gyro toes, downtime ducking stuff accompanied with my basic shuffle shred. I really enjoy playing now when I have given myself a freedom to choose what I want to learn and what I don’t have to. Freestyle is still very important for me and I will keep playing for many more years if my body allows it. I’m also going to compete for a couple more years for sure.

\n

Finland seems to have one of the strongest scenes at the moment, with both young talent and a lot of older great players. Who do you think make people in Finland so good at footbag?

\n

Who or what? I don’t know. I think other countries have amazing freestylers (and net players) as well. It is the dedication to the sport what makes you good. Of course if you are talented that helps a lot too, but people who are really dedicated to practice hard and also think what they are practicing will become great players for sure. Think about Vasek, Clavens, Felix, Jorden, Milan, Anssi and Jay (he will be rocking soon). Practice, practice, practice.

\n

In Finland many players have a good style and I think it’s kind of a Finnish trademark or something. That is something Finnish scene might have created as we always call “the” tricks and try to help younger players to clean their styles. As hard it is to imagine Felix and Juho didn’t always have a perfect style.
\nAlso I have to say that Finnish Footbag Association has worked well in past organizing tournaments, supporting players\u2019 trips abroad etc.

\n

It seems like everybody can beat everybody in competition in Finland. Who do you think is the best at the moment?

\n

Hah, well that’s a hard question. It depends on what we are looking for. In my opinion Felix and Juho are the two best routine players in Finland as they really know what a good show is about. They are both also very technical circle players. But when it comes to technicality Anssi and Toni are there too. They both also have very good consistency. In competitions anything can happen and if you make mistakes then there are a lot of players ready to take the chance like Aleksi, I, Tuomas, Santeri, Samu, Lauri… Everyone is capable of winning the whole thing.
\nThe best… for me it is still Felix, he is still just an amazing player.

\n

You made a really good long video from the NY Jam in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4. How was that jam?

\n

As an organizer I think the jam worked out well. We had 3 sessions with total of 13 hours time to play. The best Finnish players were there accompanied with Jay Boychuck and Matt Bailey. On the sidelines we had some sauna and swimming in the icy water action going on and some parties of course. NYJ is the biggest freestyle event in Finland and we work on making it better every year. We also welcome foreign players to join the fun next year. We’ve had a couple of guests in the past years and all of them said they loved it.

\n

I hear Felix was there. How is he doing?

\n

He is doing great. I think you have to ask Felix to get more detailed answer as I don’t feel it is my place to talk about him too much. Let’s stick with me.

\n

You have currently been to 50 footbag jams/tournaments. What was your favorite?

\n

I have so many good memories from different tournaments. All the NYJs have been a lot of fun. Berlin Worlds were really nice. Finnish Champs 2000 was my tournament, Budapest 2002 my first Euros, Prague 2003 my first Worlds and for that reason they all have a special meaning for me. Basically every Worlds I’ve attended has been awesome. Finally I think Worlds 2003 is my favorite. First Worlds, meeting many of my footbag heroes (Ryan, Rippin, Kenny Shults, Sunil, Peter Irish, Yacine and so on),shredding with them every day, being chosen into BAP, hanging out with Honza and Ales, getting to know the scene for real. Yes that was an awesome tournament for me.

\n

You just went to the Open De France. How was it?

\n

It was my first time in Paris. I really enjoyed the city. I want to thank the organizers: the tournament was well organized, there was food available, gym was good, lots of players. What didn’t work was the Schedule as there were some delays every day. I know that it is quite common with footbag tournaments, but I think we should really work on following the schedule. After all it is only fair for the athletes who have practiced countless of hours to do their best. Maybe we really need to start scratching people who are late as it really isn’t so hard to come on time.

\n

One of my favorite things about footbag is how we are like one big family. One of my best examples of that is when you one late night at worlds 2006 came up to me and some of the Swiss crew and told us you where getting married. What is your favorite thing about footbag?

\n

Yes. We truly are one big family. Everyone is nice and whenever you meet a new player you come along instantly. Even if I can’t attend so many international tournaments and I haven’t seen some of the people for a year or three, when we finally reunite it feels like we are best friends. I really love that in footbag community.

\n

For me footbag freestyle itself is also a way to express myself and to relax. When you shred you must have 100% concentration on it and all the worries will fade away. It is good place to escape the cruel world \"\ud83d\ude42\"

\n

So favorite things:
\n1. Friendly community = own family
\n2. The possibilities footbag gives to express yourself are endless

\n

What is your least favorite thing?

\n

1. Injuries. They kill the joy. I quit freestyling for almost 2 years because I lost the fun as it hurt to play.
\nDuring the break I found the fun of footbag net though.

\n

2. Incapability. Sometimes it is very annoying to having these wonderful ideas in your mind and as you try to express yourself you just fail as you can’t hit what you want. Incapability to hit what I want pushes me forward the most at the moment.

\n

One of the things I always do in these interviews is to ask the last person I interview to come up with a question for the next. The last person I interviewed was Ethan \u201cRed\u201d Husted. His question is \u201cWhat simple footbag move gives/gave you the most problems? (What is your secret shame move?)\u201d
\nWell, what it is?

\n

Hah, a secret shame move \"\ud83d\ude42\" I think it must be flipside pixie set. I really skooled it like crazy back in the days, but it is still really not consistent at all, which is funny since my better pixie is the strongest element in my shred. Actually it is not a secret, but fits the description otherwise. The trick could be for example flip smear.

\n

What do you want to ask the next person?

\n

When are you coming to Finland’s New Year’s Jam?

\n

Do you have any shout-outs? Any final comments?

\n

If you want to be one of the bests, keep on pushing it day after day. It is not fun all the time, but it will pay off later. Remember to listen to your body. Injuries suck. If you lose motivation in freestyle try footbag net instead. Many freestylers have found new aspects from it. Ask S\u00e9bastien Duchesne, Yves Kreil, Karim Daouk, Jemery Mirken…

\n

Thanks to Tuukka Antikainen.
\nPhoto by Heli Lindroos
\nInterview by Asmus Helms

\n

The European Footbag Champs are in Finland this July. You should come.

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Tuukka Antikainen.\nTuukka is from Oulo, Finland. He has been playing footbag for almost 10 years. He is my personal footbag archnemesis, one of the nicest guys in footbag and has one of the most interesting styles in Europe.\nHello Tuukka, How are you?\nYo Yo Yo! I’m great! Enjoying a free day.\nLet\u2019s start with some history. When and how did you start to play footbag?\nI had kicked some hacky at school ’99, but didn’t really start back then as I was too much into football(soccer). Summer 2000 I was kicking hacky with my friend and we got idea to look for it from internet. We found footbag.org and watched some move clips. I remember watching ripwalk and thinking: “it would be awesome to learn that trick”. Next day I was at a midsummer festival and I saw some guys playing footbag. Those guys were Ville Laakso, Janne Pesonen with some of their friends. I walked closer to witness Ville hitting 8 ripwalks in a row! It was mind-blowing for me in that moment and I really got hooked instantly.\nYou got into BAP back in 2003. How did you do that? What was the experience like?\nYear 2003 Euros were held in Frankfurt and Worlds in Prague. I had practiced hard and was excited to meet all my footbag heroes for the first time. I had attended 2002 Euros and met the Czech posse, but back then by footbag heroes I meant North-American players. I had watched Pure Freestyle, Sultans of shred, Worlds 99 and Aggressive Grounds through over and over again, and players like Rick Reese, Ryan Mulroney, Peter Irish, Sunil and Ahren were my ultimate heroes. So when I entered my first circle at Euros with Sunil, Ales and Ahren\u2026 wow.\nAbout getting into BAP\u2026 To be honest it was bit of a surprise for me when I was chosen. I had quite a unique trick selection back then, using a lot of inspins, ducking downtime moves and toe shuffle. I was also shredding a lot, especially during Worlds. I remember having great sessions with Yacine, Sunil and Tuan. Tuan and I played almost the whole night together. Still I wasn\u2019t really trying for BAP yet; I thought maybe next year I will try to convince everyone. So when it was time to announce new BAP players I just kept shredding in a circle until in the middle of a run I heard my name. I can\u2019t remember if I dropped, I was shocked from excitement as I walked to meet my new posse members.\nYou have an interesting and varied game how did you attain that? Could you tell a little about your footbag freestyle philosophy?\nI’ve always been interested in hitting not so popular tricks. Scott Bevier has really been an inspiration for me with his trick selection. I have quite good basics from the earlier years and now I just tryout different stuff, watch a lot of videos and try to use tricks I find fun. These days my footbag philosophy is to have fun. Not to take it too seriously anymore, play for myself, enjoy it.\nWhere do you see you in your freestyle career right now? What place does footbag have in your life right now? Where do you want to take your game?\nI’ve played freestyle almost 10 years now. I’m not trying to reach the stars anymore. I still want to improve and learn new stuff, but I also listen to my body and don’t try to do stuff that hurts. I also don’t feel obligated to learn everything. So what if I can’t hit something on my flipside, I couldn’t care less. When I was really practicing hard (before 2006) I tried to learn everything, but now I rather concentrate on elements I enjoy. Lots of inspins, symp dlos, weird stuff like strange rakes, fairy swirling, whizzs, gyro toes, downtime ducking stuff accompanied with my basic shuffle shred. I really enjoy playing now when I have given myself a freedom to choose what I want to learn and what I don’t have to. Freestyle is still very important for me and I will keep playing for many more years if my body allows it. I’m also going to compete for a couple more years for sure.\nFinland seems to have one of the strongest scenes at the moment, with both young talent and a lot of older great players. Who do you think make people in Finland so good at footbag?\nWho or what? I don’t know. I think other countries have amazing freestylers (and net players) as well. It is the dedication to the sport what makes you good. Of course if you are talented that helps a lot too, but people who are really dedicated to practice hard and also think what they are practicing will become great players for sure. Think about Vasek, Clavens, Felix, Jorden, Milan, Anssi and Jay (he will be rocking soon). Practice, practice, practice.\nIn Finland many players have a good style and I think it’s kind of a Finnish trademark or something. That is something Finnish scene might have created as we always call “the” tricks and try to help younger players to clean their styles. As hard it is to imagine Felix and Juho didn’t always have a perfect style.\nAlso I have to say that Finnish Footbag Association has worked well in past organizing tournaments, supporting players\u2019 trips abroad etc.\nIt seems like everybody can beat everybody in competition in Finland. Who do you think is the best at the moment?\nHah, well that’s a hard question. It depends on what we are looking for. In my opinion Felix and Juho are the two best routine players in Finland as they really know what a good show is about. They are both also very technical circle players. But when it comes to technicality Anssi and Toni are there too. They both also have very good consistency. In competitions anything can happen and if you make mistakes then there are a lot of players ready to take the chance like Aleksi, I, Tuomas, Santeri, Samu, Lauri… Everyone is capable of winning the whole thing.\nThe best… for me it is still Felix, he is still just an amazing player.\nYou made a really good long video from the NY Jam in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4. How was that jam?\nAs an organizer I think the jam worked out well. We had 3 sessions with total of 13 hours time to play. The best Finnish players were there accompanied with Jay Boychuck and Matt Bailey. On the sidelines we had some sauna and swimming in the icy water action going on and some parties of course. NYJ is the biggest freestyle event in Finland and we work on making it better every year. We also welcome foreign players to join the fun next year. We’ve had a couple of guests in the past years and all of them said they loved it.\nI hear Felix was there. How is he doing?\nHe is doing great. I think you have to ask Felix to get more detailed answer as I don’t feel it is my place to talk about him too much. Let’s stick with me.\nYou have currently been to 50 footbag jams/tournaments. What was your favorite?\nI have so many good memories from different tournaments. All the NYJs have been a lot of fun. Berlin Worlds were really nice. Finnish Champs 2000 was my tournament, Budapest 2002 my first Euros, Prague 2003 my first Worlds and for that reason they all have a special meaning for me. Basically every Worlds I’ve attended has been awesome. Finally I think Worlds 2003 is my favorite. First Worlds, meeting many of my footbag heroes (Ryan, Rippin, Kenny Shults, Sunil, Peter Irish, Yacine and so on),shredding with them every day, being chosen into BAP, hanging out with Honza and Ales, getting to know the scene for real. Yes that was an awesome tournament for me.\nYou just went to the Open De France. How was it?\nIt was my first time in Paris. I really enjoyed the city. I want to thank the organizers: the tournament was well organized, there was food available, gym was good, lots of players. What didn’t work was the Schedule as there were some delays every day. I know that it is quite common with footbag tournaments, but I think we should really work on following the schedule. After all it is only fair for the athletes who have practiced countless of hours to do their best. Maybe we really need to start scratching people who are late as it really isn’t so hard to come on time.\nOne of my favorite things about footbag is how we are like one big family. One of my best examples of that is when you one late night at worlds 2006 came up to me and some of the Swiss crew and told us you where getting married. What is your favorite thing about footbag?\nYes. We truly are one big family. Everyone is nice and whenever you meet a new player you come along instantly. Even if I can’t attend so many international tournaments and I haven’t seen some of the people for a year or three, when we finally reunite it feels like we are best friends. I really love that in footbag community.\nFor me footbag freestyle itself is also a way to express myself and to relax. When you shred you must have 100% concentration on it and all the worries will fade away. It is good place to escape the cruel world \nSo favorite things:\n1. Friendly community = own family\n2. The possibilities footbag gives to express yourself are endless\nWhat is your least favorite thing?\n1. Injuries. They kill the joy. I quit freestyling for almost 2 years because I lost the fun as it hurt to play.\nDuring the break I found the fun of footbag net though.\n2. Incapability. Sometimes it is very annoying to having these wonderful ideas in your mind and as you try to express yourself you just fail as you can’t hit what you want. Incapability to hit what I want pushes me forward the most at the moment.\nOne of the things I always do in these interviews is to ask the last person I interview to come up with a question for the next. The last person I interviewed was Ethan \u201cRed\u201d Husted. His question is \u201cWhat simple footbag move gives/gave you the most problems? (What is your secret shame move?)\u201d\nWell, what it is?\nHah, a secret shame move I think it must be flipside pixie set. I really skooled it like crazy back in the days, but it is still really not consistent at all, which is funny since my better pixie is the strongest element in my shred. Actually it is not a secret, but fits the description otherwise. The trick could be for example flip smear.\nWhat do you want to ask the next person?\nWhen are you coming to Finland’s New Year’s Jam?\nDo you have any shout-outs? Any final comments?\nIf you want to be one of the bests, keep on pushing it day after day. It is not fun all the time, but it will pay off later. Remember to listen to your body. Injuries suck. If you lose motivation in freestyle try footbag net instead. Many freestylers have found new aspects from it. Ask S\u00e9bastien Duchesne, Yves Kreil, Karim Daouk, Jemery Mirken…\nThanks to Tuukka Antikainen.\nPhoto by Heli Lindroos\nInterview by Asmus Helms\nThe European Footbag Champs are in Finland this July. You should come.", "date_published": "2014-06-13T06:13:33+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-06-13T06:13:33+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/06/tuuk.png", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/05/21/oldterview-ethan-red-husted/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/05/21/oldterview-ethan-red-husted/", "title": "Oldterviews: Ethan \u201cRed\u201d Husted", "content_html": "

From January 2009 till March 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is from\u00a0February 8th 2009 and is with Ethan “Red” Husted.

\n

Description of Red from the Sole Purpose website:

\n

An 11 year veteran of the sport, Frederick Ethan Mason Husted began his freestyle career in the liberal college town of Columbia, MO. After quickly becoming obsessed with the sport, Ethan latched onto the top local freestylers of the time, Joe Marshall, Derrick Fogle, and Rally ??? In 1996, he moved to San Diego CA., and practiced regularly with the area’s freestyle representative, Richie Abshire. Ethan then relocated to what was at that time the freestyle capital of the world, San Francisco CA. During this “golden era”, the Bay Area was home to many of the sport’s top athletes, including Peter Irish, Carol Wedemeyer, Eric Wulff, Tuan Vu, and Tim Kelly. Along with practicing with the current professionals, Ethan played a great amount with other young up-and-comers such as Sunil Jani, Ryan Mulroney, and Tu Vu.

\n

In 1997 here in Portland OR, he was inducted into the professional class group, the Big Add Posse. Since then Red has been associated with many freestyle groups, including the Boulder Blades group, which included fellow BAPers Ellis Piltz, Dave Holton, John Schneider, Rick Reese, Daryl Genz, and on occasion, Brian Mckenzie.

\n

After graduating college Red relocated to the northwest, and currently resides in Portland OR, where he schools with a new and promising generation of up-and-coming talent. Now in his “fourth prime”, Red works full time promoting the Northwest footbag scene and it’s rich wealth of players.

\n

Interview:

\n

Let’s start with a bit of history. First how did you start playing footbag?

\n
\n

I first started playing footbag sometime in 1994 I believe, in the town I was raised in, Columbia Missouri. It was kind of ironic, I actually got into playing footbag a bit later than my friends in my social group. In high school they would get up and play whether it was in lunch or study hall, I would simply hang out and really had no interest in it at all. I didn’t think ill of it, but again it simply did not capture my interest in any real way. After we all graduated my friends continued to play constantly, and I still did not really get into it. I remember what really kicked it off (pun intended) was one day near Christmas. We were all at my sister’s house hanging out, they got up in the living room and started playing. It was with a typical crochet Sipa footbag, the casual kicking bag of choice in the early and mid 1990’s. Anyway, they ended up losing control of the bag and sent it flying into the Christmas tree, where they essentially failed to retrieve it. We all forgot about the footbag pretty quick after that. My sister was bad about getting rid of her Christmas tree that year, so there it sat undisturbed. Finally some months later, Rachael decided to kick the tree to the curb, and of course it was at that point I rediscovered the dormant footbag. At that time, it was late winter, and I was really bored and looking for something new other than what I had been doing, which was mainly partying and getting into trouble with my old high school friends. I had already taken a step back from my old social circle, we were still contact but I knew that it wasn’t healthy to continue my previous party lifestyle. So when I found that forgotten footbag in the old Christmas tree, that is really when I discovered the game. I began to practice mildly, then with more frequency to the point I was playing everyday. Slowly I became obsessed with it. I proceeded to track down the best players in our town and started kicking with them. There were three players, each one’s kung fu was a little better than the last. The first player’s name was Raleigh Green, a local legend for known for being a master of the game. We kicked for some time. As I got better, I learned about Joe Marshall, a freestyler that had recently moved to town for college. He was the next step up in skill level, able to do more complex tricks and such. I learned a fair amount from Joe, including that fact that there was yet an even more powerful jedi in Columbia, one that no one knew about but was absolutely the best. Joe took me to meet future Hall of Fame member Derrick Fogle, and my head about exploded. Now I realize he was only doing 20 move contact runs or so, but I remember telling my mom “there was this guy that could do tricks for like 10 minutes straight!” Not quite, but that is how open my eyes were. Also around that time I was actively researching it online, and found a new website called footbag.org. That clued me into Kenny Shults, Peter Irish, and all the rest. I got a hold of the first Tricks of the Trade, and that was that. I went back to kick with my original buddies soon after, and they were floored by where I was with it. Since then, my life has certainly been altered by the sport. Footbag in many ways enlightened me, and continues to do so to this day.

\n
\n

You later moved to San Diego and played with Richard Abshire. What was that time like?

\n
\n

San Diego was my first venture into the larger world outside my town. One of the few things I knew in my teens was that I didn’t really know anything. I wanted to find out what was out there though, thus when an aunt offered to let me move in with her and her husband in SD, I jumped at the chance. By then I had advanced to the point I was ready to find more players, find a larger pond essentially. California seemed like the right place. I got to San Diego and immediately began searching for serious players, but apparently I was a few years too late, the scene had gone out and the players had moved on. I had to perform some detective work, and eventually tracked down one Richie Abshire, who at that point had gone into retirement. I had to actually go to his house in Oceanside (30 miles up from San Diego), to get him to play. We clicked as friends immediately, Richie is a really good guy. I could tell he was burnt out on the game though, luckily he got back into it the more we played. Abshire was very instrumental in cluing me in on a lot of the behind the scenes stuff in the footbag world, as much as he knew and saw at least. We shredded a great deal and both advanced strongly. I still have some of his older footbags around, they are much different then the Abshires people kick with today. Anyway, I remember a pretty pivotal story Richie and I both tell from time to time involving another player from southern California coming into our knowledge. I was actually at Richie’s house when the call came in. Some kid from L.A. phoned and was in town for the weekend, and wanted to kick with Richie and crew. The kid proceeded to tell Richie he looked forward to meeting up, and that “he didn’t just do around the worlds.” At that time Abshire and I were pretty confident of our skills in the southern California area, so after the call ended, we were both like “who’s this guy?” Well, we found out, it was Ryan Mulroney. At that time, he was still doing many two add moves, but it wasn’t the moves that he was doing, it was how he was doing them that was scary. Watching intermediate Ryan at 17 was like watching the future of footbag. Anyway, we all hit it off, and continued to meet up and progress. We later met Chad Devlahovich and Eric Windsor, and more or less formed the Socal freestyle crew. It was a fun time, I had a crappy car detail job, and very little responsibility. That meant a lot of time to practice.

\n
\n

Then you moved to San Francisco CA, when that city was the freestyle capital of the world? Who did you play with back then? How was the scene?

\n
\n

First of all I have to say the scene in San Francisco around that time was phenomenal. I would like to think a situation like that will exist again, I think it has come close a few times. In the mid 90’s, SF was the capital of footbag in general, with more top/ground breaking players than I can remember. To name a few, there was; Peter Irish, Tim Kelly, Dennis Jones and Demetri (co-founders of BAP more or less), Sam Conlon, Carol Wedemeyer, Eric Wulff, Tuan Vu, Ahren Gehrman (a little later), Tu Vu, Sunil Jani, Josh Casey (for a short time), Lisa McDaniel, Lisa Monte, Steve Goldberg and the Stanford crew, John Leys and the Berkeley crew, Ryan Mulroney, Mike Niday, Chris Ott, a small army of net players, a few other long time legends of the sport, and quite a few up and coming freestylers. There was even good amount of casual kickers, especially at ‘Hippy Hill’ in Golden Gate Park. These days I refer to that time as the Golden Age, it was a wealth of talent. Really I moved up to the Bay Area for one reason; to train with the professionals. The second tournament I even attended was in Santa Cruz, where I essentially met Peter, Tim, Dennis, Carol, and Steve. I was pretty wide eyed, Peter and Tim did not officially compete at that event, but the individual demos they performed dropped my jaw. To this day certain elements of my style I feel are derived from playing with Tim Kelly. Anyway, I packed my car from SD and drove up to San Fran on a Saturday, on Sunday I attended my first session with the group in Golden Gate Park. Routinely after I would contact Abshire trying to sell him on joining the BAFL scene, but Richie’s home truly is San Diego, he has done a fine job keeping that scene going. Back to point, though I mentioned all of the names in the SF group above, it was not exactly like everyone attended every session. That would have been nice, but it was more like within BAFL (Bay Area Footbag League), there were many regional groups like Stanford and Berkeley that had their own sessions throughout the week. Sunday was the big meet up time, but even then it was rare to see all of those people in one spot. But most were accessible, which was good enough for me. I would simply go where the session was. Many of my long running friendships in this sport generated from that time. Peter, Tim, and Wulffy were already giants in the game, and though they were my friends, that was the light I saw them in; footbag statesmen. I was part of the incoming generation, this fact allowed me to form some great friendships with my fellow newbies. Sunil and I shredded a great deal when he arrived, same with Ryan. I played footbag with Peter and Tim as much as I could, but schooled with SJ and Mulroney. We were all coming up together, pushing each other to get better. Having Steve running the great Western Regionals helped, there I met Daryl Genz, Dave Holton, Kenny Shults, and a bunch of other good individuals. In 1999 I moved to Colorado to finish out college at CU Boulder, but SF and those days never left me, those were some of the best days of footbag in my life for sure.

\n
\n

In 1997 you got into BAP. Why and how?

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In 1997 I attended my first Worlds, here in Portland Oregon. Man, that was an event. We drove up from SF, and stayed with a friend’s cousin. I was pretty excited, but had made a rookie mistake; I over schooled for the event. By the time Worlds came around, I had done some damage to my legs with the amount of schooling I had put in. I needed a solid month off to rebuild, and that was before the tournament. I still played a great amount, pain be damned. It was almost an overload, there were so many players there. I met Brian McKenzie at that event, and met back up with my old mentors Joe Marshall and Derrick Fogle. I kicked my heart out, and had some fun sessions at the various locations we played around Portland, including at the Boys and Girls Club gym where Ryan hit his now classic dropless semis routine (also the same location I now teach footbag and chess at). By the end of the event I was a shell of a freestyler, I had kicked a lot that week in all the circles, and with fellow player Dave Holton (still the greatest Teva kicker of all time). Physically, I was toast. There were a lot of reasonably good new schoolers at that event, pretty much gunning for BAP as well. The new generation was coming up, and between these shredders we wanted to see who was going to first make the cut. From that week, I knew that I was more skilled than many of them, save a few. Those seven days I thought I played decent, but not as good as back in SF. Irish, Kelly, and the other BAPers from the Bay Area had watched my progression and seen a great deal of what I was capable of throughout our sessions, which helped in the end I think. At the end of the week, we were all on Portland’s waterfront where finals were happening, I remember clearly Dave and I were standing around chomping on pizza and chatting when Peter Irish walked up to us and said “you guys are going to want to stick around”. At that point Dave and I could only guess one thing. Sure enough, they ran the BAP inductions shortly thereafter in front of the crowds watching the net event, and we were inducted into the group, along with most of the guys I had thought kicked well. I believe some of the other inductees were Holton of course, also Tu Vu, Chad Devlahovich, Noah D., and Ryan. If I am not mistaken I do hold one record in the BAP continuum, I was the first freestyler to be inducted into the group at their first Worlds. Now days it happens all the time, but back then people usually paid some dues and attended a Worlds or two before being inducted. With the ’97 gents, most of those guys went on to have a good run in the sport, but BAP was different in those days than it is now. First, the numbers were a lot smaller then, before our gen there were under 15 players in the group, less than that were active in 1997. Also, there something that I called the ‘rookie status’. For the most part, a new good player coming in probably was not going to be at Peter or Wulff’s skill level, at that time everyone was still figuring out linking higher add moves. Not even Ryan was quite at that top level by the ’97 inductions. I believe some of the things the previous gen of BAPer’s were looking for was of course a strong skill level, but also the promise that the player was going to advance. That seemed to be the golden rule, if you got BAPed in, you were expected to come back even better the next year, to clarify that the right decision was made and their faith in you was upheld. I can say it sucks to see someone get really good, even to the point of getting into the group, then disappear right after. I always felt bummed when that happened, someone would achieve a high skill level but then just quit, what a loss to the sport! Anyway, I don’t think it is greatly different now on that point. Aside from skill level inflation, most BAP inductees are not expected to be just as good as Vasek, but still have to bring some real game. From the 1997 generation though, I feel most of us held to that golden rule and made a few contributions.

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How did you get the nickname “Red”?

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This is perhaps the number one question I am asked, I usually answer it’s a really uninteresting story. From a young age I was always interested in the idea of having different aliases. My full name is Frederick Ethan Mason Husted, and I have pretty much gone by all of those names at one point or another, especially when I was younger. When footbag came along I was pretty burnt out with my life as it was, you could say the typical angsty teen trying to figure it out. I wasn’t happy in my life and it’s direction, so when I found footbag, it was a new path and start. With that I decided on a new alias, one that was going to leave the things I didn’t like behind, and focus on the new. It wasn’t really until I went to San Diego that I started going by Red, I have to admit it was fun. As Red, I could be fully focused on freestyle, it was an adventure so to speak. I shaved my hair really short and was nothing but footbag for a couple of years, as much of a disciple to the game as I could be. That was as physically cut for the sport as I ever got. It wasn’t all healthy, again by Worlds ’97 I had run my body into the ground. It wasn’t until after 1997 Worlds that I stepped back, took six months off, and rested. After that Red was pretty much done, I started going by my original name again, which is Ethan. By then though it was too late, the name stuck. As either Richie and Ryan put it, “nope, you’re Red”. I don’t mind it though, whenever someone new addresses me as Red, I recognize exactly how they know me. These days I go by either name, it’s not really something I think about much in the present. As for why that particular name, ha, completely random!

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How do you feel about BAP today?

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Well, again it’s much different now. I mentioned early a few things that were similar in regards to the group now and then, but today it’s more like the world around BAP has changed. Back before and when I got in, the lines of skill level were more clearly divided; there were intermediate to just getting good shredders, and then there were really good players that had a good shot at getting into the group, or were already in. Also there were a lot less footbag players in general, mainly focused in North America. Now, there are countless really good shredders all over the world. More recently there has been a lot of gray area about where the line was to get into BAP. We had a meeting at Worlds 2007 about the process and how it should go. The general consensus was that the since the average level of good had gone way up, the standards for the group had to go up a bit as well. Again, the player doesn’t have to be quite Vaska level, but does have to rise above the pack in skill level and mastery (not an easy task with all the great players out there). That’s the main reason it was David only in 2007, there were a good deal of sick shredders at Worlds that year (I was impressed), but he was just on another level. That is where it is now for the most part. Honza Weber has kept us informed on the European side of BAP, he has been good about handling it. Another conclusion the group came to was the locations of BAP entry. Mostly it has been just Worlds, but the problem with that is accessibility for many players. They simply cannot afford to travel that great distance for a shot at the group. Thus as it stands, if Worlds is in North America, inductions can occur at the Euros, if there are enough BAPers to give a reasonable vote. Vis versa, if Worlds is in Europe, inductions can occur at the US Open with a good BAP representation. This actually has been active for the last year. That is pretty much the state of the group now.

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Personally, I was honored that the guys in the group believed in me enough to bring me into the Posse, so I of course honor that by continuing to help with the organization of it when I can. I am big on respecting tradition, whether it is with BAP or with the footbag generations in general. There is always the long running debate whether the group is good for the sport or not, this goes waaaaay back. In fact, a heavy critic of if was one of the people I kicked with in the beginning, Derrick Fogle. I have to say there are some things that I did not dig from the old days, the idea of the ‘BAP circle’ never sat right with me. That hasn’t been seen in a while, thankfully. I want to kick with everyone, they don’t even have to be close to the same skill level. Truth is, these days, it is not as relevant an issue to debate the importance of BAP I don’t believe, the sport has grown too big (compared to the old days) for it to be a make or break issue regarding the scene. There are a lot of great players out there, some hardly know what the group is. Getting in should not be a player’s sole objective, it can be something to shoot for, but can’t be the everything. A good way to look at is; “great, got in, let’s go kick,” or “great, didn’t get in, let’s go kick.” It shouldn’t be a deal breaker for players though, and I don’t really think it is with this many good shredders out there. Again, I think the sport has grown beyond having to really debate the influence of the Big Add Posse. It’s there, but is also simply one of many things in our ever increasing sport.

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Then you ended up playing with the Boulder Blades group with Ellis Piltz, John Schneider, Rick Reese and Daryl Genz. What was those years like?

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Good times as well, looking back I am honored to have been a part of all these groups at one time or another. The Boulder Blades group was no exception, there was some serious schooling going on. Some really good things got accomplished during that time frame. There was some intense shred, I had the honor of watching Dave Holton hit the first seven add move, and also see him the first Alpine Blurry Torque. We had Brian McKenzie come and live with us for a summer time, that was really a sharp time at the shred house. Brian at that point was really second only to Ryan Mulroney in circle shred (this was before Lon and Sunil came up), and watching him play was pretty ill. Another highlight from that time was kicking with world champion Rick Reese. Rick had an endless amount of energy, and was a complete natural. The guy was the poster boy for footbag for a good deal of time really, and it was easy to see why. At that time in his mid thirties, he schooled pretty much all of us younger shredders and then some. Everyone seemed to be making their contributions in the group; Ellis started the Colorado Shred Symposium (which really put shred 30 into the forefront at the time), Daryl was just getting Freedom Footbags going, John Schneider was working on quite a few creative moves and such, Rick and Daryl were winning Worlds doubles events, and Brian and Dave were just tearing it up. A lot of good old school freestyle videos were produced in our basement as well, Ellis and Dave would work for hours upon hours putting them together. Those videos were hot back then, I still love Sultans of Shred (brings back memories!). For a couple of years or so we were riding high, but eventually one by one everyone began to move away, finally myself included. I think the group officially concluded when Daryl left for Idaho.

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In 2001 you hit the first quad dex ever (shooting barfly) had you moved to Portland then?

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Nope, I was still living in Boulder at the time. I wouldn’t move to Oregon for another three years.

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Can you tell us a little about this first quad dex ever. When did you first realize you would be able to hit it? How did it feel when you did?

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I was officially on hiatus when that move happened. After 1999 Worlds, I needed a break again, mentally this time more than anything. That was actually the longest break I ever took, I wasn’t sure I was coming back. Those guys were still shredding it up in our basement and garage, but I took to juggling and skateboarding. Previous to my hiatus, I had gotten pretty good with the Shooting set, and been able to do a variety of tricks with it. Interesting side note, many people thing it was Tuan Vu who invented that set. That would be incorrect, he only popularized it. Kenny Shults was actually the first to hit it, in the early ’90’s I believe. Watching Tuan though is where I picked it up, he was only one of a few people playing around with the set back then. Anyway, the night I actually hit that particular move was pretty random. I hadn’t kicked much in three or four months, but really was simply bored and wanted to get some exercise in. The weather was crap outside, so I decided to head down to the basement and play some long neglected footbag. None of the guys were home, so it was a solo session. I don’t think I was in proper form to do any long combos, so I ended up experimenting with different moves and sets individually. I got around to the Shooting set, and was getting some pretty high sets out of it. Pretty much when they were getting consistently waist level is when I really started feeling I could get a double down off of it. For about an hour or so I kept going for it, and had a few somewhat hit, but I wasn’t content with the cleanliness of either the double down or the set, so they were thrown out. Those attempts did tell me I was close, so I basically thought to myself, “f it, I am going to stay down here until I hit this move”. That was pretty much it, after countless tries, I nailed it to my satisfaction. I felt pretty good about the first one I hit, but needed an extra pair of eyes for input and/or confirmation. Luckily, John Schneider came home and trotted down to the basement to say hi. I asked him to tell me if the move I was doing was clean. Well, I guess when you first hit a move, every time after is at least a little bit easier. I was able to hit it for him pretty quick. John was known for being straight up with his opinion, so I was happy he was the one to witness. He confirmed the move, and that was it. As for the name, there was a meteor shower that night, and it was Schneider that came up with the title, Shooting Star. It sounded good to me, after that I got cleaned up and went down to the park to watch the shower. Apparently word got around pretty quick about the move, and I started receiving calls and emails congratulating, I remember a really good one from Sunil, which I won’t repeat here. As for how I felt about hitting the move, I was happy about it, but still on hiatus, thus I did not kick much after. In fact, after I hit it, it was something that almost kept me from coming back ironically. In my head, I thought that was a good move to go out on, best to hang it up on a high note. Luckily the kicking bug bit me again about a year later.

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What happened from then and till you got to Portland?

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Well, again I did not kick seriously for another year, but eventually got back into it. I ended up taking the reigns of the group after Ellis left, and ran my first tournament with Brad Kaplan, the third annual Colorado Shred Symposium. That event was a great success I felt, and really helped push me down the path of doing behind the scenes organization. I graduated college at the end of 2002, and in 2003 moved to Portland Oregon where my mom lived.

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You then became part of or started the Sole Purpose club in Portland?

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I definitely didn’t start Sole Purpose. The Portland group is one of the longest running footbag groups in the world, it pretty much started when Johnny began promoting the sport in the early to mid seventies. The name has changed a few times, but there has always been a footbag group in Portland. In the early ’90’s Kendall KIC somewhat reinvented it for the times and gave it the current name it has now, the Sole Purpose Footbag Group. When I came along, the net portion was still decent, but the freestyle scene was in flux, there were some willing players but not much organization. Kenny and Kendall had moved away to the east coast, and the two next generation players were traveling or away at college. I wanted someone to kick with though, and there was an abundance of casual kickers down at Pioneer Square, pretty much any day of the week. From there we reformed the group, people started buying Lavers and we officially began to meet up twice a week. Soon after Andrew McCargar and Noah Jay-Bonn returned, and Kenny and Kendall moved back. I got another shred house with a few local kickers, and things continued to build from there.

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The scene in Portland seems to be super active. What is your advice on how to get an active scene up and running in some city?

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I am very happy with our scene here at the moment, we have a wealth of talent. In fact, as I write this we are gearing up for a session with some old friends from out of town. Portland has been very good to us, this town really supports the footbag scene. I guess I should have expected no less, footbag has always been here since the day Johnny invented it. I have never lived in a place where people disliked footbag, but have lived in locations where people on the street simply had no interest in what we were doing. Luckily that is not the case in Portland. People really dig what we do, I think it is just the open nature of the city. We usually have an article written about us once a year, I am contacted fairly often about performing shows or demos, and a lot of people seem to come out of the woodwork to play. Again though, I have not always lived in such a responsive footbag environment. There were certainly times in the past we really had to put in our work to get people interested. I can offer a bit of advice for people seeking to get a scene active in their area.

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-First, it really takes leg work (pun again intended). You have to examine what you want to accomplish, mainly get more people into it and get more exposure. For increasing your numbers, being aggressive helps. Find out what high schools or middle schools in the area have clubs, people kicking, or are simply willing to let you come in and perform demos and workshops. It helps to have some sort of short show or presentation put together. Call those schools up, find the proper contact person, send out emails, and follow up. If you know any students that attend those schools, see if they can help you set something up.

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-If you are in high school or college, check in with admin about how to create an official club. Advertise on campus. The school might support your group in more ways than just allotting space.

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-Kick in public places of course, and be as welcoming and approachable as possible. This means really considering what you think will be inviting about what you are doing. Unfortunately I have found that shirtless sweaty dudes are a tough sell when it comes to newcomers and onlookers. When we kick in public places, we always wear shirts or jerseys and try to look as professional as possible. That’s another thing, jerseys or team t-shirts are great for your group, even if it is just two players. It shows organization. This is something that I have a great interest; the marketing of footbag. I want to maximize the appeal factor of the sport to the masses (while keeping what we value in the sport). This is not just to increase numbers, but also to get our players more gigs and paying work. That is what a lot of my focus will be on in the next couple of years.

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-Back to local promotion, another good avenue is to find outlets such as non profits like the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, or regular old community centers and offer up your skill set. I have found some of these places are really looking to bring in new things to offer the kids and people. You might even get paid for it!

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-Check if there is a local juggling club or such, and try to join up and cross promote with them. If not, maybe start your own. People know and approach juggling more easily it seems, you can get some cross over players from that. Also it helps to increase your own skill set for future shows and performances.

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-Online promotion is a huge plus. Numero uno is having a local website with contact information and meeting times. It helps a great deal. You can also put posts up on craigslist or any other local community boards. Heck, set up a facebook and/or myspace account for the group.

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-Contact local media. See if the local newpapers have any interest. Footbag is a very colorful thing, you could get a story written out of it.

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-Create and circulate online videos of your group kicking, be sure to note where you are playing in the video information. Some kid could see that online and realize you are in their area!

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-Run and promote an event. Even if it is a small one, show something is happening. Be sure to get the word out, and again even if it is small and has no budget, keep it as organized as possible. Another thing, footbag works very well with a built in audience, so working to get some time in a larger local event can be good. Many a tournament I have run has been joined in a larger festival or event. It can also keep overhead costs down, and you might get some sponsorship out of it. The exposure will certainly be better.

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Anyway, those are a few things I can think of off hand. I am happy to give advice when needed, we all have to work together to promote this thing!

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Sole Purpose might not have the same line up of players as the Boulder Blades had but a list of you, Jake Wren, Nick Landes, Kenny Shults and more is still really sick. Could you tell us a bit about the different profiles in Sole Purpose and what role they take?

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Good question. We do have a colorful cast of characters here, that’s for sure. There are many generations of player, dating back to Johnny through Kenny and up to Nick Landes and crew. It is really a family tree, and in certain ways a hierarchy. I call Johnny’s generation the Founders, all of the players from the early to mid 1970’s. And though I make certain decisions as the current president of the group, I respectfully run a certain amount of the larger decisions by the previous gen members that still take an active interest. These people I call ‘The Powers That Be’. It doesn’t come up much, but one good example of their influence is a couple of years ago I wanted to change the name of the US Open to the North American Footbag Championships, but got shot down by those higher up on the totem poll than myself. Who was I to come in and rename the event they started? He wasn’t involved in that decision, but when someone like Kenny has something to say, that is pretty much law. Not because he is enforcing it, but it is more out of respect on our end. I am honored to kick with Kenny, as I am proud to watch Nick Landes kick. Nick’s role is to play the star for the group, and he does a great job with that. When I arrived in Portland and for the next two and half years, I was the top skill player in the area. I won the Eugene Open, which pretty much was the Oregon state championships. I always joke with Nick that I am still the current Oregon champion, as they have not had another one. That’s the role I took in the area at that time, but there were some good younger players coming up, namely Noah Jay-Bonn. It looked like Noah was going to take the mantle of top shredder, he really put in his work and tore it up. In 2005 I took a break again, at the same time Noah stopped playing for a little while. But not Nick. Previous to that time, Nick was a promising up-and-comer, but Noah still had him in flat out skill level and experience. We didn’t see Nick a great deal that winter, but that spring we sure did, he had schooled his butt off and stepped it up. He and Noah were pretty much at the same level, but as Noah started losing interest, Landes just kept getting better. In early 2006 after a session I pulled him aside and told him how proud I was of him, and that he was now the best player in Oregon. That’s about the time I turned the camera away from myself and started filming Nick regularly. Not much later ‘Nick Landes vs. the Gorillaz’ was released. I have trained with many up-and-comers, but thus far Nick and this batch of players are the greatest of them I have seen, including among others Jake Wren, Brian Cooper, and Alex Bernstein. I was happy to pass the torch along as a player in the group, and now am happy to see the successes of our newest generation. That is really what it is all about in the Sole Purpose Group, respect for the generations.

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German super shredder Stefan Siegert stayed with you for a year a while back? How was it to have him as part of the club?

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Stefan Siegert is a great player and fun person in general. In 2005 I was contacted by a shredder in Germany saying he was thinking about coming out in less than a year’s time, I was happy to hear that, but wasn’t sure it was really going to happen. Well, in a little less than a year, Stefan was here. He had his choice of either going to Portland or Reno Nevada, I think he made the right decision. We joked that we had a footbag exchange program; one of our guys, Andrew McCargar, had gone over to Germany just before Stefan had come over here. Andrew sadly still has not returned, but the time Stefan spent here rocked. When he arrived, I was in Idaho doing some business with Daryl, but I got the report from Nick that he was just as good as we had hoped. We played a great deal when he was here, and traveled to a few events. Stefan was committed to the group, the only thing he did not get used to was what I call ‘footbag time’; players usually show up only in the area of the time they are supposed to be there, not on the dot. Stefan didn’t like that, he always got there on time, and if he wasn’t there, that meant he had already been there and decided to move on when no one else showed up on time. None the less, he was a great addition, his technical skill was high, and he could perform foot/hand juggling second only to Peter I believe. The kick juggling was really his thing, and I think that is now his main interested. We miss Stefan, he left right before the 2007 US Open but still got a Sole Purpose jersey, which he most certainly earned. Much love to Stefan!

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You and the rest of the Sole Purpose club started and hosted the US Championship for the last few years. What was the experience like?

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Well, the US Open had been around for some time, but just as a net event. I attended my first US Open in 2005, it was in a park 20 minutes down the road from Portland. It was fun, but did not have much exposure. In previous years they had gotten into some larger venues in the area, I liked the idea of that better. That year Stalberger and I had run the Northwest Fest/Founder’s Cup event, in which we flew a bunch of players out to compete at a larger event. There was also a well attended footbag jam attached. It was a great success, and we talked about possibly putting it on again the next year. Back at the 2005 Open, the net director of the group, Chris Siebert, had recently moved back to town, and also wanted to build the event to larger proportions. We chatted for a moment at that event about adding freestyle to the mix, and both agreed the combined effort would increase numbers and sponsorship. It took a lot of meetings and feet-to-the-street sponsorship work, but finally in 2006 we launched the newly revised US Open Footbag Championships, and it went off pretty darn well. Kenny won net, and David won freestyle. A personal highlight was watching Jim, David, and Jorden throw down throughout that tournament. It was a real battle, and everyone tore it up. That event was a lot of work, but the pay off was good.

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How did you get that idea?

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One thing I thought was lacking in the US (especially after Europe rose up) was a national/regional event that would crown an official champion. We simply needed that in freestyle, for promotional purposes if nothing else. We also really needed some kind of official US ranking. The US needed more pro tournaments, in the mid 2000’s it seemed there were fewer official competitions, and many more jams. I love jams for sure, but professional competitions are important for promotion, it shows organization and conveys the sport is serious. These days, I think regional events such as the US Open and Euros are very important, it is simply expensive for the average player to travel around the globe to attend Worlds every year. For that reason there needs to be these larger events that are accessible to the kickers in their region, big tournaments they can afford to travel to. If you can travel to Worlds, by all means go. It is quite an experience. But if a player cannot make Worlds (and even if they can) these large regional events are available for them. As of right now we plan to continue the US Open indefinitely. There may be a day when it is not always in Portland however, just as Euros moves around. Even in that case I will always be down to help out with it. I enjoy the experience!

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What are the plans for the future tournament wise?

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In the near future we are looking to increase sponsorship. I think the group has done a terrific job thus far in getting decent sponsorship, but there is always more that can be accomplished. Right now we are looking to attain a much higher level of sponsorship from a few big companies, hopefully that will go through for 2009. Getting companies and large sponsorship takes time though, sometimes the results aren’t seen until a year or so later as these companies budget far in advance. The crash in the economy certainly hasn’t helped with this (or with other projects slated), so we really have to put our work in. With events inside the US Open, we will probably switch some things up for 2009, we had our trilogy of tourneys (2006, 2007, 2008) that all were in the same vein and alike. We want to keep it fresh, thus some actual events in the tournament are going to get changed up, locations might also change a bit as we try out some new stuff. Keeping it official, current and most importantly fun is top priority for us.

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You did the awesome Fourkast footbag DVD back in 2004. Do you have any future footbag video projects?

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First, thanks for the kind words about Fourkast, it was a good but long process to make. Really when I was making Fourkast I was learning what video editing was. For some time I had wanted to make a freestyle video, when I got to Portland I made the jump and bought a camera and computer for the specific purpose of creating the Fourkast video. We shot footage for about a year, and it took close to a year of editing all of it together. You can actually see the progression of some players throughout that video a bit. In regards to the editing of the Fourkast, at the time I was working on it, the Kill Bill films had been released, and certain aspects of Fourkast were influenced by those movies. Making that video was really an experience to me, I didn’t really know what I was going to do with it once it was done. Truth be told, I have made very little money (if any at all) off of it. It really was a gift to Daryl, I told him he could do with it as he pleased. Luckily, he decided to distribute it. My interests in it were of course not monetary, if you really pay attention the whole movie pays homage to Peter Irish. Everything in it really builds up to his finale. Daryl did a fine job getting it out there, I received a good amount of feedback from people who really liked the video. It was a nice response. 2004 was a good year for footbag DVD’s really, Sick 03 (my personal favorite), The Champions League, and Fourkast all were release close to the same time. All were long videos as well, close to the same running time of close to an hour and a half or so. With new projects, I do have plans for Fourkast, it is already the name we operate under in footbag financial matters (we don’t use the name Sole Purpose in profit matters, as it is pretty much a non profit thing, and I will not always be running it). There is a fair amount of stuff cooking right now, since footbag in it’s modern form originated from here, we are looking to have more things promoting the sport come out of Portland Oregon. As for future DVD projects, people in the group have tossed around a few ideas. I may commission someone to produce the next Fourkast film. If I do it myself, I have what I want to accomplish pretty well mapped out. I guess I can say it is on the list of to do’s, but there are a few more pressing thing that we are working on right now. Good times!

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That sounds interesting. Could you talk a bit more on these “more pressing things”?

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Well, there’s a bit going on. I try not to talk about every detail as things truly can be subject to change. Luckily there are a few points I can openly chat about. Right now there are quite a few footbag related projects in the works, not all based out of Portland, but some very promising things. Some I am directly involved in, some I am providing aid, and a few I am simply watching evolve. I have always had a passion for marketing and promotion, thus it is very exciting to see this new push in promoting the sport. At the moment a few things are being trademarked, pertaining to both profit and non profit endeavors, from a variety of parties. In the near future, one project Stalberger and I have been gearing up for is a more developed footbag tour. Things have been pretty successful with our recent ventures, we increasingly have been contacted by schools and random entities further and further out from our local area. Johnny still goes under the name Mr. Hacky Sack when it is beneficial, he really knows how to promote that. We basically will be expanding the range of the shows/workshops we offer, and will be marketing to a large range of schools and corporate gigs. It won’t be an on the road tour, we will still be based out of Portland and simply fly down the coast if necessary. There is actually an on the road tour planned for the next couple of years, but that is a project I will only be assisting with. A bit has to be done with that before it launches, but I certainly look forward to seeing it come to fruition. We have also created a relationship with the athletic company Nautilus, and at the moment are gearing up to run the 2009 US Open out of their HQ sports facility. We also will be marketing and promoting footbag under their banner, 2009 is really a foot-in-the-door year with them. Another thing not many people in the community know is that we sell product/footbags at this very moment. It is mainly wholesale to various companies and schools, medium to larger order transactions depending. Half of our income from the shows is derived from footbag sales. Anyway, there is certainly room to grow, we will be expanding our market base in the coming year, coinciding with the increase in our footbag activity. This includes stronger online representation (a few new sites) to support what we are doing. The content of these sites will be a mix of informational, commercial, and media related subjects. The backing/support from the Portland footbag community as well as Stalberger’s influence have been great assets, one of the things I value most in footbag right now is my interaction with Johnny. I have learned some great things watching him work, he really knows how to create opportunities. The guy’s name alone opens some good avenues. Not all of my footbag business is with Johnny, but with the projects we have worked on together, we have done very well by one another. Our ideas and ambitions are similar I think, it’s an honor working with him. Anyway, there are also some good connections we have developed with local media companies in the area. Specifically, about six months ago we shot a short experimental footbag video using spherical filming technology. The camera itself was created by the company, at the cost of about 100,000$ from what I am told. Well, the results were a trip, so much so that we are still figuring out how to utilize the camera/filming method completely. To wrap up with what is happening here, it’s one of those things where it’s a situation of ‘right place right time’ for us. Having the resources, personnel, and location, combined with the support we have received have created some great opportunities. I didn’t really move to Portland with the intent of making footbag a major business interest, but it has been going that way more recently. This may not always be the case (I have a few other interests, and firmly believe in not putting all your eggs in one basket), but in the present it has been a very rewarding experience. I love getting out there and promoting the sport, getting people interested and creating greater awareness. My personal motivation is simple; footbag is something I believe in, thus I am easily inspired to promote it. Anyway, those are a few things happening. There are a couple of other things I am truly excited about, but can’t really remark as I would like to, mainly due to obligations. I can say I feel honored with the run I’ve had in the sport thus far. Footbag has certainly changed my life on a whole, and I am always thrilled to give something back.

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Anssi’s question: “What was the last thing you ate?”

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Smoothie and a bowl of cereal!

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What is your question to the next one that will be interviewed on this site?

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What simple footbag move gives/gave you the most problems? (what is your secret shame move?)

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Thanks for the great interview Ethan. Do you have any shout-outs? Any final comments?

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Random facts:

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-My secret shame: It took ten years to learn flip whirling swirl.

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-I have scoliosis.

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-We were on the set of the Zohan project for two weeks, I wish more had made the final cut! (it was fun anyway)

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-I still play two to three times a week.

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-Have retired three times, but keep coming back!

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Thanks, for a final comment, I would like to give a big shout out to all of the new school players, they are keeping this sport going for us. Much love to our own Sole Purpose team, and to Stalberger and his enthusiasm for starting this whole thing. Also respect to all the organizers of the sport, Steve Goldberg, Chris Ott, the European guys, as well as the new school thinkers/promoters working to make the game better. And much love to our icons such as Kenny, Peter, and Rick, who have done an inspiring job representing the face of our sport. In the last 14 years I have been lucky enough to watch footbag grow quite a bit. I believe it continues to do so today thanks to the work put in by the people in the community. If we all keep pushing this thing along, I whole heartedly believe we can see this sport continue to new heights. I am excited to see what the future holds!

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\n", "content_text": "From January 2009 till March 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is from\u00a0February 8th 2009 and is with Ethan “Red” Husted.\nDescription of Red from the Sole Purpose website:\nAn 11 year veteran of the sport, Frederick Ethan Mason Husted began his freestyle career in the liberal college town of Columbia, MO. After quickly becoming obsessed with the sport, Ethan latched onto the top local freestylers of the time, Joe Marshall, Derrick Fogle, and Rally ??? In 1996, he moved to San Diego CA., and practiced regularly with the area’s freestyle representative, Richie Abshire. Ethan then relocated to what was at that time the freestyle capital of the world, San Francisco CA. During this “golden era”, the Bay Area was home to many of the sport’s top athletes, including Peter Irish, Carol Wedemeyer, Eric Wulff, Tuan Vu, and Tim Kelly. Along with practicing with the current professionals, Ethan played a great amount with other young up-and-comers such as Sunil Jani, Ryan Mulroney, and Tu Vu.\nIn 1997 here in Portland OR, he was inducted into the professional class group, the Big Add Posse. Since then Red has been associated with many freestyle groups, including the Boulder Blades group, which included fellow BAPers Ellis Piltz, Dave Holton, John Schneider, Rick Reese, Daryl Genz, and on occasion, Brian Mckenzie.\nAfter graduating college Red relocated to the northwest, and currently resides in Portland OR, where he schools with a new and promising generation of up-and-coming talent. Now in his “fourth prime”, Red works full time promoting the Northwest footbag scene and it’s rich wealth of players.\nInterview:\nLet’s start with a bit of history. First how did you start playing footbag?\n\nI first started playing footbag sometime in 1994 I believe, in the town I was raised in, Columbia Missouri. It was kind of ironic, I actually got into playing footbag a bit later than my friends in my social group. In high school they would get up and play whether it was in lunch or study hall, I would simply hang out and really had no interest in it at all. I didn’t think ill of it, but again it simply did not capture my interest in any real way. After we all graduated my friends continued to play constantly, and I still did not really get into it. I remember what really kicked it off (pun intended) was one day near Christmas. We were all at my sister’s house hanging out, they got up in the living room and started playing. It was with a typical crochet Sipa footbag, the casual kicking bag of choice in the early and mid 1990’s. Anyway, they ended up losing control of the bag and sent it flying into the Christmas tree, where they essentially failed to retrieve it. We all forgot about the footbag pretty quick after that. My sister was bad about getting rid of her Christmas tree that year, so there it sat undisturbed. Finally some months later, Rachael decided to kick the tree to the curb, and of course it was at that point I rediscovered the dormant footbag. At that time, it was late winter, and I was really bored and looking for something new other than what I had been doing, which was mainly partying and getting into trouble with my old high school friends. I had already taken a step back from my old social circle, we were still contact but I knew that it wasn’t healthy to continue my previous party lifestyle. So when I found that forgotten footbag in the old Christmas tree, that is really when I discovered the game. I began to practice mildly, then with more frequency to the point I was playing everyday. Slowly I became obsessed with it. I proceeded to track down the best players in our town and started kicking with them. There were three players, each one’s kung fu was a little better than the last. The first player’s name was Raleigh Green, a local legend for known for being a master of the game. We kicked for some time. As I got better, I learned about Joe Marshall, a freestyler that had recently moved to town for college. He was the next step up in skill level, able to do more complex tricks and such. I learned a fair amount from Joe, including that fact that there was yet an even more powerful jedi in Columbia, one that no one knew about but was absolutely the best. Joe took me to meet future Hall of Fame member Derrick Fogle, and my head about exploded. Now I realize he was only doing 20 move contact runs or so, but I remember telling my mom “there was this guy that could do tricks for like 10 minutes straight!” Not quite, but that is how open my eyes were. Also around that time I was actively researching it online, and found a new website called footbag.org. That clued me into Kenny Shults, Peter Irish, and all the rest. I got a hold of the first Tricks of the Trade, and that was that. I went back to kick with my original buddies soon after, and they were floored by where I was with it. Since then, my life has certainly been altered by the sport. Footbag in many ways enlightened me, and continues to do so to this day.\n\nYou later moved to San Diego and played with Richard Abshire. What was that time like?\n\nSan Diego was my first venture into the larger world outside my town. One of the few things I knew in my teens was that I didn’t really know anything. I wanted to find out what was out there though, thus when an aunt offered to let me move in with her and her husband in SD, I jumped at the chance. By then I had advanced to the point I was ready to find more players, find a larger pond essentially. California seemed like the right place. I got to San Diego and immediately began searching for serious players, but apparently I was a few years too late, the scene had gone out and the players had moved on. I had to perform some detective work, and eventually tracked down one Richie Abshire, who at that point had gone into retirement. I had to actually go to his house in Oceanside (30 miles up from San Diego), to get him to play. We clicked as friends immediately, Richie is a really good guy. I could tell he was burnt out on the game though, luckily he got back into it the more we played. Abshire was very instrumental in cluing me in on a lot of the behind the scenes stuff in the footbag world, as much as he knew and saw at least. We shredded a great deal and both advanced strongly. I still have some of his older footbags around, they are much different then the Abshires people kick with today. Anyway, I remember a pretty pivotal story Richie and I both tell from time to time involving another player from southern California coming into our knowledge. I was actually at Richie’s house when the call came in. Some kid from L.A. phoned and was in town for the weekend, and wanted to kick with Richie and crew. The kid proceeded to tell Richie he looked forward to meeting up, and that “he didn’t just do around the worlds.” At that time Abshire and I were pretty confident of our skills in the southern California area, so after the call ended, we were both like “who’s this guy?” Well, we found out, it was Ryan Mulroney. At that time, he was still doing many two add moves, but it wasn’t the moves that he was doing, it was how he was doing them that was scary. Watching intermediate Ryan at 17 was like watching the future of footbag. Anyway, we all hit it off, and continued to meet up and progress. We later met Chad Devlahovich and Eric Windsor, and more or less formed the Socal freestyle crew. It was a fun time, I had a crappy car detail job, and very little responsibility. That meant a lot of time to practice.\n\nThen you moved to San Francisco CA, when that city was the freestyle capital of the world? Who did you play with back then? How was the scene?\n\nFirst of all I have to say the scene in San Francisco around that time was phenomenal. I would like to think a situation like that will exist again, I think it has come close a few times. In the mid 90’s, SF was the capital of footbag in general, with more top/ground breaking players than I can remember. To name a few, there was; Peter Irish, Tim Kelly, Dennis Jones and Demetri (co-founders of BAP more or less), Sam Conlon, Carol Wedemeyer, Eric Wulff, Tuan Vu, Ahren Gehrman (a little later), Tu Vu, Sunil Jani, Josh Casey (for a short time), Lisa McDaniel, Lisa Monte, Steve Goldberg and the Stanford crew, John Leys and the Berkeley crew, Ryan Mulroney, Mike Niday, Chris Ott, a small army of net players, a few other long time legends of the sport, and quite a few up and coming freestylers. There was even good amount of casual kickers, especially at ‘Hippy Hill’ in Golden Gate Park. These days I refer to that time as the Golden Age, it was a wealth of talent. Really I moved up to the Bay Area for one reason; to train with the professionals. The second tournament I even attended was in Santa Cruz, where I essentially met Peter, Tim, Dennis, Carol, and Steve. I was pretty wide eyed, Peter and Tim did not officially compete at that event, but the individual demos they performed dropped my jaw. To this day certain elements of my style I feel are derived from playing with Tim Kelly. Anyway, I packed my car from SD and drove up to San Fran on a Saturday, on Sunday I attended my first session with the group in Golden Gate Park. Routinely after I would contact Abshire trying to sell him on joining the BAFL scene, but Richie’s home truly is San Diego, he has done a fine job keeping that scene going. Back to point, though I mentioned all of the names in the SF group above, it was not exactly like everyone attended every session. That would have been nice, but it was more like within BAFL (Bay Area Footbag League), there were many regional groups like Stanford and Berkeley that had their own sessions throughout the week. Sunday was the big meet up time, but even then it was rare to see all of those people in one spot. But most were accessible, which was good enough for me. I would simply go where the session was. Many of my long running friendships in this sport generated from that time. Peter, Tim, and Wulffy were already giants in the game, and though they were my friends, that was the light I saw them in; footbag statesmen. I was part of the incoming generation, this fact allowed me to form some great friendships with my fellow newbies. Sunil and I shredded a great deal when he arrived, same with Ryan. I played footbag with Peter and Tim as much as I could, but schooled with SJ and Mulroney. We were all coming up together, pushing each other to get better. Having Steve running the great Western Regionals helped, there I met Daryl Genz, Dave Holton, Kenny Shults, and a bunch of other good individuals. In 1999 I moved to Colorado to finish out college at CU Boulder, but SF and those days never left me, those were some of the best days of footbag in my life for sure.\n\nIn 1997 you got into BAP. Why and how?\n\nIn 1997 I attended my first Worlds, here in Portland Oregon. Man, that was an event. We drove up from SF, and stayed with a friend’s cousin. I was pretty excited, but had made a rookie mistake; I over schooled for the event. By the time Worlds came around, I had done some damage to my legs with the amount of schooling I had put in. I needed a solid month off to rebuild, and that was before the tournament. I still played a great amount, pain be damned. It was almost an overload, there were so many players there. I met Brian McKenzie at that event, and met back up with my old mentors Joe Marshall and Derrick Fogle. I kicked my heart out, and had some fun sessions at the various locations we played around Portland, including at the Boys and Girls Club gym where Ryan hit his now classic dropless semis routine (also the same location I now teach footbag and chess at). By the end of the event I was a shell of a freestyler, I had kicked a lot that week in all the circles, and with fellow player Dave Holton (still the greatest Teva kicker of all time). Physically, I was toast. There were a lot of reasonably good new schoolers at that event, pretty much gunning for BAP as well. The new generation was coming up, and between these shredders we wanted to see who was going to first make the cut. From that week, I knew that I was more skilled than many of them, save a few. Those seven days I thought I played decent, but not as good as back in SF. Irish, Kelly, and the other BAPers from the Bay Area had watched my progression and seen a great deal of what I was capable of throughout our sessions, which helped in the end I think. At the end of the week, we were all on Portland’s waterfront where finals were happening, I remember clearly Dave and I were standing around chomping on pizza and chatting when Peter Irish walked up to us and said “you guys are going to want to stick around”. At that point Dave and I could only guess one thing. Sure enough, they ran the BAP inductions shortly thereafter in front of the crowds watching the net event, and we were inducted into the group, along with most of the guys I had thought kicked well. I believe some of the other inductees were Holton of course, also Tu Vu, Chad Devlahovich, Noah D., and Ryan. If I am not mistaken I do hold one record in the BAP continuum, I was the first freestyler to be inducted into the group at their first Worlds. Now days it happens all the time, but back then people usually paid some dues and attended a Worlds or two before being inducted. With the ’97 gents, most of those guys went on to have a good run in the sport, but BAP was different in those days than it is now. First, the numbers were a lot smaller then, before our gen there were under 15 players in the group, less than that were active in 1997. Also, there something that I called the ‘rookie status’. For the most part, a new good player coming in probably was not going to be at Peter or Wulff’s skill level, at that time everyone was still figuring out linking higher add moves. Not even Ryan was quite at that top level by the ’97 inductions. I believe some of the things the previous gen of BAPer’s were looking for was of course a strong skill level, but also the promise that the player was going to advance. That seemed to be the golden rule, if you got BAPed in, you were expected to come back even better the next year, to clarify that the right decision was made and their faith in you was upheld. I can say it sucks to see someone get really good, even to the point of getting into the group, then disappear right after. I always felt bummed when that happened, someone would achieve a high skill level but then just quit, what a loss to the sport! Anyway, I don’t think it is greatly different now on that point. Aside from skill level inflation, most BAP inductees are not expected to be just as good as Vasek, but still have to bring some real game. From the 1997 generation though, I feel most of us held to that golden rule and made a few contributions.\n\nHow did you get the nickname “Red”?\n\nThis is perhaps the number one question I am asked, I usually answer it’s a really uninteresting story. From a young age I was always interested in the idea of having different aliases. My full name is Frederick Ethan Mason Husted, and I have pretty much gone by all of those names at one point or another, especially when I was younger. When footbag came along I was pretty burnt out with my life as it was, you could say the typical angsty teen trying to figure it out. I wasn’t happy in my life and it’s direction, so when I found footbag, it was a new path and start. With that I decided on a new alias, one that was going to leave the things I didn’t like behind, and focus on the new. It wasn’t really until I went to San Diego that I started going by Red, I have to admit it was fun. As Red, I could be fully focused on freestyle, it was an adventure so to speak. I shaved my hair really short and was nothing but footbag for a couple of years, as much of a disciple to the game as I could be. That was as physically cut for the sport as I ever got. It wasn’t all healthy, again by Worlds ’97 I had run my body into the ground. It wasn’t until after 1997 Worlds that I stepped back, took six months off, and rested. After that Red was pretty much done, I started going by my original name again, which is Ethan. By then though it was too late, the name stuck. As either Richie and Ryan put it, “nope, you’re Red”. I don’t mind it though, whenever someone new addresses me as Red, I recognize exactly how they know me. These days I go by either name, it’s not really something I think about much in the present. As for why that particular name, ha, completely random!\n\nHow do you feel about BAP today?\n\nWell, again it’s much different now. I mentioned early a few things that were similar in regards to the group now and then, but today it’s more like the world around BAP has changed. Back before and when I got in, the lines of skill level were more clearly divided; there were intermediate to just getting good shredders, and then there were really good players that had a good shot at getting into the group, or were already in. Also there were a lot less footbag players in general, mainly focused in North America. Now, there are countless really good shredders all over the world. More recently there has been a lot of gray area about where the line was to get into BAP. We had a meeting at Worlds 2007 about the process and how it should go. The general consensus was that the since the average level of good had gone way up, the standards for the group had to go up a bit as well. Again, the player doesn’t have to be quite Vaska level, but does have to rise above the pack in skill level and mastery (not an easy task with all the great players out there). That’s the main reason it was David only in 2007, there were a good deal of sick shredders at Worlds that year (I was impressed), but he was just on another level. That is where it is now for the most part. Honza Weber has kept us informed on the European side of BAP, he has been good about handling it. Another conclusion the group came to was the locations of BAP entry. Mostly it has been just Worlds, but the problem with that is accessibility for many players. They simply cannot afford to travel that great distance for a shot at the group. Thus as it stands, if Worlds is in North America, inductions can occur at the Euros, if there are enough BAPers to give a reasonable vote. Vis versa, if Worlds is in Europe, inductions can occur at the US Open with a good BAP representation. This actually has been active for the last year. That is pretty much the state of the group now.\nPersonally, I was honored that the guys in the group believed in me enough to bring me into the Posse, so I of course honor that by continuing to help with the organization of it when I can. I am big on respecting tradition, whether it is with BAP or with the footbag generations in general. There is always the long running debate whether the group is good for the sport or not, this goes waaaaay back. In fact, a heavy critic of if was one of the people I kicked with in the beginning, Derrick Fogle. I have to say there are some things that I did not dig from the old days, the idea of the ‘BAP circle’ never sat right with me. That hasn’t been seen in a while, thankfully. I want to kick with everyone, they don’t even have to be close to the same skill level. Truth is, these days, it is not as relevant an issue to debate the importance of BAP I don’t believe, the sport has grown too big (compared to the old days) for it to be a make or break issue regarding the scene. There are a lot of great players out there, some hardly know what the group is. Getting in should not be a player’s sole objective, it can be something to shoot for, but can’t be the everything. A good way to look at is; “great, got in, let’s go kick,” or “great, didn’t get in, let’s go kick.” It shouldn’t be a deal breaker for players though, and I don’t really think it is with this many good shredders out there. Again, I think the sport has grown beyond having to really debate the influence of the Big Add Posse. It’s there, but is also simply one of many things in our ever increasing sport.\n\nThen you ended up playing with the Boulder Blades group with Ellis Piltz, John Schneider, Rick Reese and Daryl Genz. What was those years like?\n\nGood times as well, looking back I am honored to have been a part of all these groups at one time or another. The Boulder Blades group was no exception, there was some serious schooling going on. Some really good things got accomplished during that time frame. There was some intense shred, I had the honor of watching Dave Holton hit the first seven add move, and also see him the first Alpine Blurry Torque. We had Brian McKenzie come and live with us for a summer time, that was really a sharp time at the shred house. Brian at that point was really second only to Ryan Mulroney in circle shred (this was before Lon and Sunil came up), and watching him play was pretty ill. Another highlight from that time was kicking with world champion Rick Reese. Rick had an endless amount of energy, and was a complete natural. The guy was the poster boy for footbag for a good deal of time really, and it was easy to see why. At that time in his mid thirties, he schooled pretty much all of us younger shredders and then some. Everyone seemed to be making their contributions in the group; Ellis started the Colorado Shred Symposium (which really put shred 30 into the forefront at the time), Daryl was just getting Freedom Footbags going, John Schneider was working on quite a few creative moves and such, Rick and Daryl were winning Worlds doubles events, and Brian and Dave were just tearing it up. A lot of good old school freestyle videos were produced in our basement as well, Ellis and Dave would work for hours upon hours putting them together. Those videos were hot back then, I still love Sultans of Shred (brings back memories!). For a couple of years or so we were riding high, but eventually one by one everyone began to move away, finally myself included. I think the group officially concluded when Daryl left for Idaho.\n\nIn 2001 you hit the first quad dex ever (shooting barfly) had you moved to Portland then?\n\nNope, I was still living in Boulder at the time. I wouldn’t move to Oregon for another three years.\n\nCan you tell us a little about this first quad dex ever. When did you first realize you would be able to hit it? How did it feel when you did?\n\nI was officially on hiatus when that move happened. After 1999 Worlds, I needed a break again, mentally this time more than anything. That was actually the longest break I ever took, I wasn’t sure I was coming back. Those guys were still shredding it up in our basement and garage, but I took to juggling and skateboarding. Previous to my hiatus, I had gotten pretty good with the Shooting set, and been able to do a variety of tricks with it. Interesting side note, many people thing it was Tuan Vu who invented that set. That would be incorrect, he only popularized it. Kenny Shults was actually the first to hit it, in the early ’90’s I believe. Watching Tuan though is where I picked it up, he was only one of a few people playing around with the set back then. Anyway, the night I actually hit that particular move was pretty random. I hadn’t kicked much in three or four months, but really was simply bored and wanted to get some exercise in. The weather was crap outside, so I decided to head down to the basement and play some long neglected footbag. None of the guys were home, so it was a solo session. I don’t think I was in proper form to do any long combos, so I ended up experimenting with different moves and sets individually. I got around to the Shooting set, and was getting some pretty high sets out of it. Pretty much when they were getting consistently waist level is when I really started feeling I could get a double down off of it. For about an hour or so I kept going for it, and had a few somewhat hit, but I wasn’t content with the cleanliness of either the double down or the set, so they were thrown out. Those attempts did tell me I was close, so I basically thought to myself, “f it, I am going to stay down here until I hit this move”. That was pretty much it, after countless tries, I nailed it to my satisfaction. I felt pretty good about the first one I hit, but needed an extra pair of eyes for input and/or confirmation. Luckily, John Schneider came home and trotted down to the basement to say hi. I asked him to tell me if the move I was doing was clean. Well, I guess when you first hit a move, every time after is at least a little bit easier. I was able to hit it for him pretty quick. John was known for being straight up with his opinion, so I was happy he was the one to witness. He confirmed the move, and that was it. As for the name, there was a meteor shower that night, and it was Schneider that came up with the title, Shooting Star. It sounded good to me, after that I got cleaned up and went down to the park to watch the shower. Apparently word got around pretty quick about the move, and I started receiving calls and emails congratulating, I remember a really good one from Sunil, which I won’t repeat here. As for how I felt about hitting the move, I was happy about it, but still on hiatus, thus I did not kick much after. In fact, after I hit it, it was something that almost kept me from coming back ironically. In my head, I thought that was a good move to go out on, best to hang it up on a high note. Luckily the kicking bug bit me again about a year later.\n\nWhat happened from then and till you got to Portland?\n\nWell, again I did not kick seriously for another year, but eventually got back into it. I ended up taking the reigns of the group after Ellis left, and ran my first tournament with Brad Kaplan, the third annual Colorado Shred Symposium. That event was a great success I felt, and really helped push me down the path of doing behind the scenes organization. I graduated college at the end of 2002, and in 2003 moved to Portland Oregon where my mom lived.\n\nYou then became part of or started the Sole Purpose club in Portland?\n\nI definitely didn’t start Sole Purpose. The Portland group is one of the longest running footbag groups in the world, it pretty much started when Johnny began promoting the sport in the early to mid seventies. The name has changed a few times, but there has always been a footbag group in Portland. In the early ’90’s Kendall KIC somewhat reinvented it for the times and gave it the current name it has now, the Sole Purpose Footbag Group. When I came along, the net portion was still decent, but the freestyle scene was in flux, there were some willing players but not much organization. Kenny and Kendall had moved away to the east coast, and the two next generation players were traveling or away at college. I wanted someone to kick with though, and there was an abundance of casual kickers down at Pioneer Square, pretty much any day of the week. From there we reformed the group, people started buying Lavers and we officially began to meet up twice a week. Soon after Andrew McCargar and Noah Jay-Bonn returned, and Kenny and Kendall moved back. I got another shred house with a few local kickers, and things continued to build from there.\n\nThe scene in Portland seems to be super active. What is your advice on how to get an active scene up and running in some city?\n\nI am very happy with our scene here at the moment, we have a wealth of talent. In fact, as I write this we are gearing up for a session with some old friends from out of town. Portland has been very good to us, this town really supports the footbag scene. I guess I should have expected no less, footbag has always been here since the day Johnny invented it. I have never lived in a place where people disliked footbag, but have lived in locations where people on the street simply had no interest in what we were doing. Luckily that is not the case in Portland. People really dig what we do, I think it is just the open nature of the city. We usually have an article written about us once a year, I am contacted fairly often about performing shows or demos, and a lot of people seem to come out of the woodwork to play. Again though, I have not always lived in such a responsive footbag environment. There were certainly times in the past we really had to put in our work to get people interested. I can offer a bit of advice for people seeking to get a scene active in their area.\n-First, it really takes leg work (pun again intended). You have to examine what you want to accomplish, mainly get more people into it and get more exposure. For increasing your numbers, being aggressive helps. Find out what high schools or middle schools in the area have clubs, people kicking, or are simply willing to let you come in and perform demos and workshops. It helps to have some sort of short show or presentation put together. Call those schools up, find the proper contact person, send out emails, and follow up. If you know any students that attend those schools, see if they can help you set something up.\n-If you are in high school or college, check in with admin about how to create an official club. Advertise on campus. The school might support your group in more ways than just allotting space.\n-Kick in public places of course, and be as welcoming and approachable as possible. This means really considering what you think will be inviting about what you are doing. Unfortunately I have found that shirtless sweaty dudes are a tough sell when it comes to newcomers and onlookers. When we kick in public places, we always wear shirts or jerseys and try to look as professional as possible. That’s another thing, jerseys or team t-shirts are great for your group, even if it is just two players. It shows organization. This is something that I have a great interest; the marketing of footbag. I want to maximize the appeal factor of the sport to the masses (while keeping what we value in the sport). This is not just to increase numbers, but also to get our players more gigs and paying work. That is what a lot of my focus will be on in the next couple of years.\n-Back to local promotion, another good avenue is to find outlets such as non profits like the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, or regular old community centers and offer up your skill set. I have found some of these places are really looking to bring in new things to offer the kids and people. You might even get paid for it!\n-Check if there is a local juggling club or such, and try to join up and cross promote with them. If not, maybe start your own. People know and approach juggling more easily it seems, you can get some cross over players from that. Also it helps to increase your own skill set for future shows and performances.\n-Online promotion is a huge plus. Numero uno is having a local website with contact information and meeting times. It helps a great deal. You can also put posts up on craigslist or any other local community boards. Heck, set up a facebook and/or myspace account for the group.\n-Contact local media. See if the local newpapers have any interest. Footbag is a very colorful thing, you could get a story written out of it.\n-Create and circulate online videos of your group kicking, be sure to note where you are playing in the video information. Some kid could see that online and realize you are in their area!\n-Run and promote an event. Even if it is a small one, show something is happening. Be sure to get the word out, and again even if it is small and has no budget, keep it as organized as possible. Another thing, footbag works very well with a built in audience, so working to get some time in a larger local event can be good. Many a tournament I have run has been joined in a larger festival or event. It can also keep overhead costs down, and you might get some sponsorship out of it. The exposure will certainly be better.\nAnyway, those are a few things I can think of off hand. I am happy to give advice when needed, we all have to work together to promote this thing!\n\nSole Purpose might not have the same line up of players as the Boulder Blades had but a list of you, Jake Wren, Nick Landes, Kenny Shults and more is still really sick. Could you tell us a bit about the different profiles in Sole Purpose and what role they take?\n\nGood question. We do have a colorful cast of characters here, that’s for sure. There are many generations of player, dating back to Johnny through Kenny and up to Nick Landes and crew. It is really a family tree, and in certain ways a hierarchy. I call Johnny’s generation the Founders, all of the players from the early to mid 1970’s. And though I make certain decisions as the current president of the group, I respectfully run a certain amount of the larger decisions by the previous gen members that still take an active interest. These people I call ‘The Powers That Be’. It doesn’t come up much, but one good example of their influence is a couple of years ago I wanted to change the name of the US Open to the North American Footbag Championships, but got shot down by those higher up on the totem poll than myself. Who was I to come in and rename the event they started? He wasn’t involved in that decision, but when someone like Kenny has something to say, that is pretty much law. Not because he is enforcing it, but it is more out of respect on our end. I am honored to kick with Kenny, as I am proud to watch Nick Landes kick. Nick’s role is to play the star for the group, and he does a great job with that. When I arrived in Portland and for the next two and half years, I was the top skill player in the area. I won the Eugene Open, which pretty much was the Oregon state championships. I always joke with Nick that I am still the current Oregon champion, as they have not had another one. That’s the role I took in the area at that time, but there were some good younger players coming up, namely Noah Jay-Bonn. It looked like Noah was going to take the mantle of top shredder, he really put in his work and tore it up. In 2005 I took a break again, at the same time Noah stopped playing for a little while. But not Nick. Previous to that time, Nick was a promising up-and-comer, but Noah still had him in flat out skill level and experience. We didn’t see Nick a great deal that winter, but that spring we sure did, he had schooled his butt off and stepped it up. He and Noah were pretty much at the same level, but as Noah started losing interest, Landes just kept getting better. In early 2006 after a session I pulled him aside and told him how proud I was of him, and that he was now the best player in Oregon. That’s about the time I turned the camera away from myself and started filming Nick regularly. Not much later ‘Nick Landes vs. the Gorillaz’ was released. I have trained with many up-and-comers, but thus far Nick and this batch of players are the greatest of them I have seen, including among others Jake Wren, Brian Cooper, and Alex Bernstein. I was happy to pass the torch along as a player in the group, and now am happy to see the successes of our newest generation. That is really what it is all about in the Sole Purpose Group, respect for the generations.\n\nGerman super shredder Stefan Siegert stayed with you for a year a while back? How was it to have him as part of the club?\n\nStefan Siegert is a great player and fun person in general. In 2005 I was contacted by a shredder in Germany saying he was thinking about coming out in less than a year’s time, I was happy to hear that, but wasn’t sure it was really going to happen. Well, in a little less than a year, Stefan was here. He had his choice of either going to Portland or Reno Nevada, I think he made the right decision. We joked that we had a footbag exchange program; one of our guys, Andrew McCargar, had gone over to Germany just before Stefan had come over here. Andrew sadly still has not returned, but the time Stefan spent here rocked. When he arrived, I was in Idaho doing some business with Daryl, but I got the report from Nick that he was just as good as we had hoped. We played a great deal when he was here, and traveled to a few events. Stefan was committed to the group, the only thing he did not get used to was what I call ‘footbag time’; players usually show up only in the area of the time they are supposed to be there, not on the dot. Stefan didn’t like that, he always got there on time, and if he wasn’t there, that meant he had already been there and decided to move on when no one else showed up on time. None the less, he was a great addition, his technical skill was high, and he could perform foot/hand juggling second only to Peter I believe. The kick juggling was really his thing, and I think that is now his main interested. We miss Stefan, he left right before the 2007 US Open but still got a Sole Purpose jersey, which he most certainly earned. Much love to Stefan!\n\nYou and the rest of the Sole Purpose club started and hosted the US Championship for the last few years. What was the experience like?\n\nWell, the US Open had been around for some time, but just as a net event. I attended my first US Open in 2005, it was in a park 20 minutes down the road from Portland. It was fun, but did not have much exposure. In previous years they had gotten into some larger venues in the area, I liked the idea of that better. That year Stalberger and I had run the Northwest Fest/Founder’s Cup event, in which we flew a bunch of players out to compete at a larger event. There was also a well attended footbag jam attached. It was a great success, and we talked about possibly putting it on again the next year. Back at the 2005 Open, the net director of the group, Chris Siebert, had recently moved back to town, and also wanted to build the event to larger proportions. We chatted for a moment at that event about adding freestyle to the mix, and both agreed the combined effort would increase numbers and sponsorship. It took a lot of meetings and feet-to-the-street sponsorship work, but finally in 2006 we launched the newly revised US Open Footbag Championships, and it went off pretty darn well. Kenny won net, and David won freestyle. A personal highlight was watching Jim, David, and Jorden throw down throughout that tournament. It was a real battle, and everyone tore it up. That event was a lot of work, but the pay off was good.\n\nHow did you get that idea?\n\nOne thing I thought was lacking in the US (especially after Europe rose up) was a national/regional event that would crown an official champion. We simply needed that in freestyle, for promotional purposes if nothing else. We also really needed some kind of official US ranking. The US needed more pro tournaments, in the mid 2000’s it seemed there were fewer official competitions, and many more jams. I love jams for sure, but professional competitions are important for promotion, it shows organization and conveys the sport is serious. These days, I think regional events such as the US Open and Euros are very important, it is simply expensive for the average player to travel around the globe to attend Worlds every year. For that reason there needs to be these larger events that are accessible to the kickers in their region, big tournaments they can afford to travel to. If you can travel to Worlds, by all means go. It is quite an experience. But if a player cannot make Worlds (and even if they can) these large regional events are available for them. As of right now we plan to continue the US Open indefinitely. There may be a day when it is not always in Portland however, just as Euros moves around. Even in that case I will always be down to help out with it. I enjoy the experience!\n\nWhat are the plans for the future tournament wise?\n\nIn the near future we are looking to increase sponsorship. I think the group has done a terrific job thus far in getting decent sponsorship, but there is always more that can be accomplished. Right now we are looking to attain a much higher level of sponsorship from a few big companies, hopefully that will go through for 2009. Getting companies and large sponsorship takes time though, sometimes the results aren’t seen until a year or so later as these companies budget far in advance. The crash in the economy certainly hasn’t helped with this (or with other projects slated), so we really have to put our work in. With events inside the US Open, we will probably switch some things up for 2009, we had our trilogy of tourneys (2006, 2007, 2008) that all were in the same vein and alike. We want to keep it fresh, thus some actual events in the tournament are going to get changed up, locations might also change a bit as we try out some new stuff. Keeping it official, current and most importantly fun is top priority for us.\n\nYou did the awesome Fourkast footbag DVD back in 2004. Do you have any future footbag video projects?\n\nFirst, thanks for the kind words about Fourkast, it was a good but long process to make. Really when I was making Fourkast I was learning what video editing was. For some time I had wanted to make a freestyle video, when I got to Portland I made the jump and bought a camera and computer for the specific purpose of creating the Fourkast video. We shot footage for about a year, and it took close to a year of editing all of it together. You can actually see the progression of some players throughout that video a bit. In regards to the editing of the Fourkast, at the time I was working on it, the Kill Bill films had been released, and certain aspects of Fourkast were influenced by those movies. Making that video was really an experience to me, I didn’t really know what I was going to do with it once it was done. Truth be told, I have made very little money (if any at all) off of it. It really was a gift to Daryl, I told him he could do with it as he pleased. Luckily, he decided to distribute it. My interests in it were of course not monetary, if you really pay attention the whole movie pays homage to Peter Irish. Everything in it really builds up to his finale. Daryl did a fine job getting it out there, I received a good amount of feedback from people who really liked the video. It was a nice response. 2004 was a good year for footbag DVD’s really, Sick 03 (my personal favorite), The Champions League, and Fourkast all were release close to the same time. All were long videos as well, close to the same running time of close to an hour and a half or so. With new projects, I do have plans for Fourkast, it is already the name we operate under in footbag financial matters (we don’t use the name Sole Purpose in profit matters, as it is pretty much a non profit thing, and I will not always be running it). There is a fair amount of stuff cooking right now, since footbag in it’s modern form originated from here, we are looking to have more things promoting the sport come out of Portland Oregon. As for future DVD projects, people in the group have tossed around a few ideas. I may commission someone to produce the next Fourkast film. If I do it myself, I have what I want to accomplish pretty well mapped out. I guess I can say it is on the list of to do’s, but there are a few more pressing thing that we are working on right now. Good times!\n\nThat sounds interesting. Could you talk a bit more on these “more pressing things”?\n\nWell, there’s a bit going on. I try not to talk about every detail as things truly can be subject to change. Luckily there are a few points I can openly chat about. Right now there are quite a few footbag related projects in the works, not all based out of Portland, but some very promising things. Some I am directly involved in, some I am providing aid, and a few I am simply watching evolve. I have always had a passion for marketing and promotion, thus it is very exciting to see this new push in promoting the sport. At the moment a few things are being trademarked, pertaining to both profit and non profit endeavors, from a variety of parties. In the near future, one project Stalberger and I have been gearing up for is a more developed footbag tour. Things have been pretty successful with our recent ventures, we increasingly have been contacted by schools and random entities further and further out from our local area. Johnny still goes under the name Mr. Hacky Sack when it is beneficial, he really knows how to promote that. We basically will be expanding the range of the shows/workshops we offer, and will be marketing to a large range of schools and corporate gigs. It won’t be an on the road tour, we will still be based out of Portland and simply fly down the coast if necessary. There is actually an on the road tour planned for the next couple of years, but that is a project I will only be assisting with. A bit has to be done with that before it launches, but I certainly look forward to seeing it come to fruition. We have also created a relationship with the athletic company Nautilus, and at the moment are gearing up to run the 2009 US Open out of their HQ sports facility. We also will be marketing and promoting footbag under their banner, 2009 is really a foot-in-the-door year with them. Another thing not many people in the community know is that we sell product/footbags at this very moment. It is mainly wholesale to various companies and schools, medium to larger order transactions depending. Half of our income from the shows is derived from footbag sales. Anyway, there is certainly room to grow, we will be expanding our market base in the coming year, coinciding with the increase in our footbag activity. This includes stronger online representation (a few new sites) to support what we are doing. The content of these sites will be a mix of informational, commercial, and media related subjects. The backing/support from the Portland footbag community as well as Stalberger’s influence have been great assets, one of the things I value most in footbag right now is my interaction with Johnny. I have learned some great things watching him work, he really knows how to create opportunities. The guy’s name alone opens some good avenues. Not all of my footbag business is with Johnny, but with the projects we have worked on together, we have done very well by one another. Our ideas and ambitions are similar I think, it’s an honor working with him. Anyway, there are also some good connections we have developed with local media companies in the area. Specifically, about six months ago we shot a short experimental footbag video using spherical filming technology. The camera itself was created by the company, at the cost of about 100,000$ from what I am told. Well, the results were a trip, so much so that we are still figuring out how to utilize the camera/filming method completely. To wrap up with what is happening here, it’s one of those things where it’s a situation of ‘right place right time’ for us. Having the resources, personnel, and location, combined with the support we have received have created some great opportunities. I didn’t really move to Portland with the intent of making footbag a major business interest, but it has been going that way more recently. This may not always be the case (I have a few other interests, and firmly believe in not putting all your eggs in one basket), but in the present it has been a very rewarding experience. I love getting out there and promoting the sport, getting people interested and creating greater awareness. My personal motivation is simple; footbag is something I believe in, thus I am easily inspired to promote it. Anyway, those are a few things happening. There are a couple of other things I am truly excited about, but can’t really remark as I would like to, mainly due to obligations. I can say I feel honored with the run I’ve had in the sport thus far. Footbag has certainly changed my life on a whole, and I am always thrilled to give something back.\n\nAnssi’s question: “What was the last thing you ate?”\n\nSmoothie and a bowl of cereal!\n\nWhat is your question to the next one that will be interviewed on this site?\n\nWhat simple footbag move gives/gave you the most problems? (what is your secret shame move?)\n\nThanks for the great interview Ethan. Do you have any shout-outs? Any final comments?\n\nRandom facts:\n-My secret shame: It took ten years to learn flip whirling swirl.\n-I have scoliosis.\n-We were on the set of the Zohan project for two weeks, I wish more had made the final cut! (it was fun anyway)\n-I still play two to three times a week.\n-Have retired three times, but keep coming back!\nThanks, for a final comment, I would like to give a big shout out to all of the new school players, they are keeping this sport going for us. Much love to our own Sole Purpose team, and to Stalberger and his enthusiasm for starting this whole thing. Also respect to all the organizers of the sport, Steve Goldberg, Chris Ott, the European guys, as well as the new school thinkers/promoters working to make the game better. And much love to our icons such as Kenny, Peter, and Rick, who have done an inspiring job representing the face of our sport. In the last 14 years I have been lucky enough to watch footbag grow quite a bit. I believe it continues to do so today thanks to the work put in by the people in the community. If we all keep pushing this thing along, I whole heartedly believe we can see this sport continue to new heights. I am excited to see what the future holds!", "date_published": "2014-05-21T09:21:04+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-05-21T09:21:04+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/05/sole.png", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/05/07/oldterviews-erik-chan/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/05/07/oldterviews-erik-chan/", "title": "Oldterviews: Erik Chan", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0
\nSome of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Erik Chan.

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Erik Chan is the man! He has been playing footbag for more than 10 years and done a lot for the sport. He has a sweet website (www.hackrifice.com) with a huge pile of trick demonstrations, a well written FAQ and a good introduction to newbies. He is also a great player who have pushed the sport in many ways (currently he is making reverse whirl tricks hot). Other than that he is a great artist, an interesting blogger and a really modest guy. He is also the guy who can be found in most footbag videos on the internet.

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Hey Erik.

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How are you?

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Hello Asmus. I am incredible.

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You recently went to Europe and lived in Munich for some time.\u00a0What was that experience like?

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Europe was dreamy. I didn’t have much money so I didn’t get to travel as much as I had obviously wanted to, but living in Munich for a couple of months was just a blast of an experience. I stayed with my German-speaking girlfriend and we had a ton of fun. It’s a beautiful city, and the local freestylers are some of the nicest, sweetest people I have ever met (Shout out to Munich Footbag!). Worlds in Prague was also fun, but the weather and organization bummed out a lot of people, especially in the light of last year’s amazing Terra Verde Worlds!

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Do you think there is a difference between the European and the North American footbag scene?

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Yeah definitely. Though I really only experienced the local scene in Munich, I find that the European players just PLAY, whereas the North American players are the ones who spend more time on Modified and write crap that subsequently turns off the European players from participating in said forums. I will have to re-answer this question next year after Berlin when I plan to travel more [and experience more European footbag].

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Oh, that sounds exciting. What have you planned this far?

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Nothing more than attending Worlds ’09.

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You have a really great style. Could you say a few words on what you think is a good style and how to get one?

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Well thank you Asmus! Hmm. I think that style is mostly governed by body movement (which may sound stupid, but I mean, as opposed to trick selection or whatever, right?), and that there are specific aspects in the way in which one handles him/herself that produces either good or not as good style. The two most noticeable aspects are franticity (or the level of relaxedness) and Jorden Moir’s examination of “hands”. A lot of players rush into tricks one after another, barely stalling, and attack every dex (even butterflies!). I developed my current style after sustaining numerous injuries and forcing myself to learn spinning and ducking tricks, which are naturally more graceful — this gracefulness was then more easily accessible to adapt to other freestyle elements. It’s important to develop proper breathing and to know how to relax, even when busting those 7-add tricks. Bail tricks, like butterflies, should give you a chance to breathe, and recharge energy for further tricks in the run, so it’s important to not attack the tricks (wasting energy), but to fall into them, or let them happen around you. (I should mention something about Jan Zimmerman (whom I watched “growing up”) and how he developed his famously smooth style from injury) As for hands, Jorden made a silly video that teaches you what not to do. Try to relax. I thought that his extended index and middle fingers stance would work well in reducing hand silliness. If you watch my videos, you will notice that my right hand is perfectly relaxed, though my left is gnarled like crazy; I’ve been meaning to try to use his technique to remedy this.

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You been injured a lot during your footbag career. What was that like? What advice can you give to other players based on these experiences?

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Oh that’s a good one. I wish everyone could learn from my mistakes and avoid injury! My initial injury is still kind of undetermined, but it was basically a tight hip flexor, which came from pushing flip atomic and PS whirls. My biggest mistake was never stretching. I never thought I had to because for 6 years freestyling I never had any pain. Big mistake. Other, more debilitating injuries developed from there, but the same prevention methods hold: Stretch. I’m not a health expert and only really know what I have been told by others, but from what I have been told personally, and analyzing the injuries of others, I am convinced that tight hamstrings are the cause of most injuries, and all of mine (including tight hips/groin, bad knees (patella femoral syndrome), unbearable shin splints (worse than I have ever had before), and really bad chronic lower back pain). Stretch those hammies! Multiple times every day regardless of whether you’re planning to play footbag or not. Also, some freestylers who are also into personal training highly recommend cross-training [to prevent injury] for footbag, and I think this will be the norm in the future.

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You have been playing for more than 10 years. How has the sport changed since you started out?

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I guess the biggest change has been the internet. When I started in 1997/1998 there was footbag.org and dallasfootbag.org (and a couple smaller sites, granted). They had a handful of short clips of the pros shredding, and that was it for online videos, otherwise you would personally contact the pros to order the old style ghetto 2-hour VHS tapes. There were no forums, there was the highly-filtered .org mailing list (if you think the .org forum is militant, you wouldn’t have liked the mailing list), so the community was not quite the same because people knew each other from meeting each other, not really from talking on the internet beforehand. There wasn’t really advice on the internet, you had to learn tricks on your own or with your local club (I had printed the .org move list and learned tricks from reading Job’s). There was no push for bothsidedness and Ryan Mulroney was the player everyone wanted to model his/her game after. Another big difference was the lack of internet shopping. So if you wanted a new footbag, you would order a Juice from WorldFootbag, or a Carol, or an Abshire, with a cheque sent via post.

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What do you think is more important close knit community or more money in the sport?

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Money? Who said that? Community for sure. I’d rather have fun with my friends than worry about publicizing the sport.

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You recently hit a 7 add trick (Reverse Montage Rake) what is the next milestone you are going for?

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Ha. That wasn’t really a milestone. I just wanted to beat my student, Manna, before he hit one before me. In less than a year he will completely surpass me. That’s 2 years total… Kids… I don’t really have an aim for a milestone. My body is too wrecked to worry about that sort of thing. I like osis?

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Osis is a strange trick. It’s so basic still it seems to really divide people into groups. For example Cod (Michael Biarda from Poland) has his “No Osis Posse”. I guess what I am trying to say is “Why do you like Osis?”.

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Well the biggest reason that I probably like it is because I was never able to really do it well or consistently. I think it opens the door to a lot of style potential. Zooming is awesome. Stepping out of osis feels incredible. Blenders (though I don’t do them). If you think about it, these things are kinda tough, and lots of people avoid doing them (how many people do you see doing stepping ducking out of osis?). Most players will bail to a butterfly after osis tricks. Not to say that I don’t, of course, but there is so much more that you can do with the trick. Like potatoes.

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You invented/named some cool stuff like wonton/terraging mirage/blubberman what do you think you will be remembered for when your footbag career ends?

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Honestly, I don’t think anyone really knows what I invented or named, or why they know my name. If people will remember me it will be because they see my name a lot on the internet and think I’m someone important. Which is fine, ’cause I never figured out what the big deal is about me.

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You recently said “Footbag is the truth in my soul keeping me alive”. Could you say a bit more about what role footbag has in your life?

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Oh yeah. Matt Cross liked that one. I just took a line from the song in that Europe video and added “footbag”. But, I mean, it’s basically true to form. Footbag is almost everything to me. It has remained an integral part of my life since I first found it 10-12 years ago, when other aspects of my life have come and gone, or changed. It makes me happy, inspired… well, this is perhaps how I’ve best described what footbag means to me: http://chan.hackrifice.com/old/020629.txt\u00a0 (Note: Link is inactive)

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You recently relaunched www.hackrifice.com. Why and what is the new deal?

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I guess it was mostly inspired by Johnny Suderman’s Johnnysuderman.com. (Note: Link is inactive) Johnny is kind of an icon of style and power and I can’t think of a single person who doesn’t love his game. He started his own website which is kind of a video blog to replace his footblog on Modified.in (footbag forums). I saw this and his goal to kind of ween away from Modified, which has gone significantly downhill, and thought that it would be a neat aspect to implement into my club’s website. I mentioned it to Hackrifice, and they seemed quite down with it — blogging on our website and forsaking the old ways. I barely check Modified anymore. It’s great. My girlfriend would always get irritated that I had to check all the time. It was pretty irritating of me. Even the little swooshy was inspired by the swooshy on Johnny’s site. Oh, so I guess the “new deal” is that I want to keep Hackrifice fresh and interactive. Updating regularly with blog posts, weekly videos (Move of the Week), etc. (Suggestions?)

\n
\n

What is your next footbag project?

\n
\n

To form The Manitoba Footbag Association. It’s down the road.

\n
\n

If you could change one thing or add one thing to footbag as a community or as a sport what would it be?

\n
\n

Credibility? To be able to say — when someone asks, “Which sport?” — “Footbag” and have people know exactly what it is, and not feel belittled on account of the stoner stereotypes and the stagnant image of “hacky sack”. To be able to say “footbag” and have people “ooh” and “ahh” :p Naw, I don’t know if that would be “the one thing”. But it would be nice.

\n
\n

Yeah, that would be really nice. Do you have any shout outs?

\n
\n

Sure. First to Marita, my best friend for support and everything else in life, including being a supportive footbag girlfriend. All my love. A shout to Chad for being the first person to see freestyle in that movie and inspiring me to devote my life to hacky from that point on. Joel Dion and Mark Leeman for being my personal footbag mentors and getting me started. Ricky Moran for inspiring my game. Hackrifice, FAT, and Munich. Asmus Helms for honouring me with an interview. And everyone else in the sport and out. Love.

\n
\n

Written by Asmus Helms

\n

Drawing by Erik Chan

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series of interviews with some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0\nSome of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Erik Chan.\nErik Chan is the man! He has been playing footbag for more than 10 years and done a lot for the sport. He has a sweet website (www.hackrifice.com) with a huge pile of trick demonstrations, a well written FAQ and a good introduction to newbies. He is also a great player who have pushed the sport in many ways (currently he is making reverse whirl tricks hot). Other than that he is a great artist, an interesting blogger and a really modest guy. He is also the guy who can be found in most footbag videos on the internet.\nHey Erik.\nHow are you?\n\nHello Asmus. I am incredible.\n\nYou recently went to Europe and lived in Munich for some time.\u00a0What was that experience like?\n\nEurope was dreamy. I didn’t have much money so I didn’t get to travel as much as I had obviously wanted to, but living in Munich for a couple of months was just a blast of an experience. I stayed with my German-speaking girlfriend and we had a ton of fun. It’s a beautiful city, and the local freestylers are some of the nicest, sweetest people I have ever met (Shout out to Munich Footbag!). Worlds in Prague was also fun, but the weather and organization bummed out a lot of people, especially in the light of last year’s amazing Terra Verde Worlds!\n\nDo you think there is a difference between the European and the North American footbag scene?\n\nYeah definitely. Though I really only experienced the local scene in Munich, I find that the European players just PLAY, whereas the North American players are the ones who spend more time on Modified and write crap that subsequently turns off the European players from participating in said forums. I will have to re-answer this question next year after Berlin when I plan to travel more [and experience more European footbag].\n\nOh, that sounds exciting. What have you planned this far?\n\nNothing more than attending Worlds ’09.\n\nYou have a really great style. Could you say a few words on what you think is a good style and how to get one?\n\nWell thank you Asmus! Hmm. I think that style is mostly governed by body movement (which may sound stupid, but I mean, as opposed to trick selection or whatever, right?), and that there are specific aspects in the way in which one handles him/herself that produces either good or not as good style. The two most noticeable aspects are franticity (or the level of relaxedness) and Jorden Moir’s examination of “hands”. A lot of players rush into tricks one after another, barely stalling, and attack every dex (even butterflies!). I developed my current style after sustaining numerous injuries and forcing myself to learn spinning and ducking tricks, which are naturally more graceful — this gracefulness was then more easily accessible to adapt to other freestyle elements. It’s important to develop proper breathing and to know how to relax, even when busting those 7-add tricks. Bail tricks, like butterflies, should give you a chance to breathe, and recharge energy for further tricks in the run, so it’s important to not attack the tricks (wasting energy), but to fall into them, or let them happen around you. (I should mention something about Jan Zimmerman (whom I watched “growing up”) and how he developed his famously smooth style from injury) As for hands, Jorden made a silly video that teaches you what not to do. Try to relax. I thought that his extended index and middle fingers stance would work well in reducing hand silliness. If you watch my videos, you will notice that my right hand is perfectly relaxed, though my left is gnarled like crazy; I’ve been meaning to try to use his technique to remedy this.\n\nYou been injured a lot during your footbag career. What was that like? What advice can you give to other players based on these experiences?\n\nOh that’s a good one. I wish everyone could learn from my mistakes and avoid injury! My initial injury is still kind of undetermined, but it was basically a tight hip flexor, which came from pushing flip atomic and PS whirls. My biggest mistake was never stretching. I never thought I had to because for 6 years freestyling I never had any pain. Big mistake. Other, more debilitating injuries developed from there, but the same prevention methods hold: Stretch. I’m not a health expert and only really know what I have been told by others, but from what I have been told personally, and analyzing the injuries of others, I am convinced that tight hamstrings are the cause of most injuries, and all of mine (including tight hips/groin, bad knees (patella femoral syndrome), unbearable shin splints (worse than I have ever had before), and really bad chronic lower back pain). Stretch those hammies! Multiple times every day regardless of whether you’re planning to play footbag or not. Also, some freestylers who are also into personal training highly recommend cross-training [to prevent injury] for footbag, and I think this will be the norm in the future.\n\nYou have been playing for more than 10 years. How has the sport changed since you started out?\n\nI guess the biggest change has been the internet. When I started in 1997/1998 there was footbag.org and dallasfootbag.org (and a couple smaller sites, granted). They had a handful of short clips of the pros shredding, and that was it for online videos, otherwise you would personally contact the pros to order the old style ghetto 2-hour VHS tapes. There were no forums, there was the highly-filtered .org mailing list (if you think the .org forum is militant, you wouldn’t have liked the mailing list), so the community was not quite the same because people knew each other from meeting each other, not really from talking on the internet beforehand. There wasn’t really advice on the internet, you had to learn tricks on your own or with your local club (I had printed the .org move list and learned tricks from reading Job’s). There was no push for bothsidedness and Ryan Mulroney was the player everyone wanted to model his/her game after. Another big difference was the lack of internet shopping. So if you wanted a new footbag, you would order a Juice from WorldFootbag, or a Carol, or an Abshire, with a cheque sent via post.\n\nWhat do you think is more important close knit community or more money in the sport?\n\nMoney? Who said that? Community for sure. I’d rather have fun with my friends than worry about publicizing the sport.\n\nYou recently hit a 7 add trick (Reverse Montage Rake) what is the next milestone you are going for?\n\nHa. That wasn’t really a milestone. I just wanted to beat my student, Manna, before he hit one before me. In less than a year he will completely surpass me. That’s 2 years total… Kids… I don’t really have an aim for a milestone. My body is too wrecked to worry about that sort of thing. I like osis?\n\nOsis is a strange trick. It’s so basic still it seems to really divide people into groups. For example Cod (Michael Biarda from Poland) has his “No Osis Posse”. I guess what I am trying to say is “Why do you like Osis?”.\n\nWell the biggest reason that I probably like it is because I was never able to really do it well or consistently. I think it opens the door to a lot of style potential. Zooming is awesome. Stepping out of osis feels incredible. Blenders (though I don’t do them). If you think about it, these things are kinda tough, and lots of people avoid doing them (how many people do you see doing stepping ducking out of osis?). Most players will bail to a butterfly after osis tricks. Not to say that I don’t, of course, but there is so much more that you can do with the trick. Like potatoes.\n\nYou invented/named some cool stuff like wonton/terraging mirage/blubberman what do you think you will be remembered for when your footbag career ends?\n\nHonestly, I don’t think anyone really knows what I invented or named, or why they know my name. If people will remember me it will be because they see my name a lot on the internet and think I’m someone important. Which is fine, ’cause I never figured out what the big deal is about me.\n\nYou recently said “Footbag is the truth in my soul keeping me alive”. Could you say a bit more about what role footbag has in your life?\n\nOh yeah. Matt Cross liked that one. I just took a line from the song in that Europe video and added “footbag”. But, I mean, it’s basically true to form. Footbag is almost everything to me. It has remained an integral part of my life since I first found it 10-12 years ago, when other aspects of my life have come and gone, or changed. It makes me happy, inspired… well, this is perhaps how I’ve best described what footbag means to me: http://chan.hackrifice.com/old/020629.txt\u00a0 (Note: Link is inactive)\n\nYou recently relaunched www.hackrifice.com. Why and what is the new deal?\n\nI guess it was mostly inspired by Johnny Suderman’s Johnnysuderman.com. (Note: Link is inactive) Johnny is kind of an icon of style and power and I can’t think of a single person who doesn’t love his game. He started his own website which is kind of a video blog to replace his footblog on Modified.in (footbag forums). I saw this and his goal to kind of ween away from Modified, which has gone significantly downhill, and thought that it would be a neat aspect to implement into my club’s website. I mentioned it to Hackrifice, and they seemed quite down with it — blogging on our website and forsaking the old ways. I barely check Modified anymore. It’s great. My girlfriend would always get irritated that I had to check all the time. It was pretty irritating of me. Even the little swooshy was inspired by the swooshy on Johnny’s site. Oh, so I guess the “new deal” is that I want to keep Hackrifice fresh and interactive. Updating regularly with blog posts, weekly videos (Move of the Week), etc. (Suggestions?)\n\nWhat is your next footbag project?\n\nTo form The Manitoba Footbag Association. It’s down the road.\n\nIf you could change one thing or add one thing to footbag as a community or as a sport what would it be?\n\nCredibility? To be able to say — when someone asks, “Which sport?” — “Footbag” and have people know exactly what it is, and not feel belittled on account of the stoner stereotypes and the stagnant image of “hacky sack”. To be able to say “footbag” and have people “ooh” and “ahh” :p Naw, I don’t know if that would be “the one thing”. But it would be nice.\n\nYeah, that would be really nice. Do you have any shout outs?\n\nSure. First to Marita, my best friend for support and everything else in life, including being a supportive footbag girlfriend. All my love. A shout to Chad for being the first person to see freestyle in that movie and inspiring me to devote my life to hacky from that point on. Joel Dion and Mark Leeman for being my personal footbag mentors and getting me started. Ricky Moran for inspiring my game. Hackrifice, FAT, and Munich. Asmus Helms for honouring me with an interview. And everyone else in the sport and out. Love.\n\nWritten by Asmus Helms\nDrawing by Erik Chan", "date_published": "2014-05-07T16:22:39+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-05-07T16:22:39+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/05/chanman.jpg", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/27/oldterviews-anssi-sundberg/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/27/oldterviews-anssi-sundberg/", "title": "Oldterviews: Anssi Sundberg", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Anssi Sundberg. Here we go:

\n

Anssi Sundberg from Turku, Finland is a passionate footbag player, who mainly plays alone. You can see the passion when you look at his game, he is super technical and has no flipside at all. But it also shows in his hard work for our sport, he has done some of the best video tutorials on a huge variety of tricks and has also done a lot of technical and theoretical thinking and articles about footbag. Anssi might be a man of few words but he has strong opinions and an interesting approach to our sport.

\n

Hey Anz. How are you?

\n
\n

Not bad.

\n
\n

When you first started playing you played with Felix Zenger. In what ways did he influence your game?

\n
\n

I had already learned my basics when we started to play, but for example he taught me to spin. Our games were really different, so I don\u2019t think his influenced mine much.

\n
\n

Finland has a really rad footbag scene. What do you think is different from the finnish footbag scene to the footbag scene in other countries (other than the finnish players likes punk music )?

\n
\n

I don\u2019t like punk. Finland has pretty high level. If you don\u2019t count beginners, everyone plays guiltless. Also the styles vary a lot. I guess we really have good players, since the percentage of BAP-players is the highest in the world here, but that\u2019s also due to the low number of players. The trick selection is also a bit different here. Just the last weekend I spent in Helsinki we told a beginner to avoid doing Stepping Far Legovers, since it\u2019s a North American bail. Sounds harsh, but yeah.

\n
\n

You mentioned BAP (www.bigaddposse.com). What do you think about it? Are you getting in next year?

\n
\n

BAP is a good way to recognise good players and make people remember them even when they stop playing or get out of shape. I got honourable mention for BAP in 2005 and back then I was really enthusiastic about getting it, but nowadays I don\u2019t care anymore. People recognise me already.

\n
\n

This summer Kevin Regamey from Canada visited you and you two travelled around Europe before worlds. How do you know Kevin and how was it to travel with him?

\n
\n

I had never met him before, and only spoke with him online. It was nice travelling with him for a week. We got along alright. The feature I disliked him the most was that he eats bloody slow, and he knows that!

\n
\n

Could you tell a bit more about the trip? Got a couple of good stories up your sleeve?

\n
\n

Catching of the train from Copenhagen to Berlin was quite an adventure. The night before I had been in the Banker\u00e5t bar with Mads Hole and Kevin was in a rave party with the rest of the Danish crew. Kevin didn\u2019t sleep nearly at all and I was hungover the next morning. It took us ages to pack our stuff and bike with broken gear to the station and find the right track. We boarded the train like twenty seconds before it took off.

\n
\n

Could you please give some advice to anybody planning to do a similar trip (in Europe or anywhere else in the world)?

\n
\n

Don\u2019t end the trip to Worlds. If you plan to include Worlds to the trip, start from there. Traveling is very tiring. Also don\u2019t travel with a huge party. The more people you have with you, the more transportation’s you\u2019re going to miss and the more brawls you\u2019re going to have. It\u2019s quite stressing.

\n
\n

You recently posted a huge article on training programs. The article itself is pretty self explanatory (you can read it here: http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=17541) so I won’t ask you about it. But I would like to know a little of insight into how you get the idea to start working on training programs and how the progress was from the first idea till the final article?

\n
\n

Footbag won\u2019t be a professional sport before people start practicing like professionals and actually have a program to follow. I spoke about training programs with a friend of mine who\u2019s been coaching gymnastics, and did some studies from muscle memory and learning. Then I planned a couple of programs for myself and after finishing them it felt like they worked, so I started planning them for others for feedback.

\n
\n

In what ways have training programs helped your game?

\n
\n

In consistency, trick selection, both sidedness and knowledge of my own game.

\n
\n

What training programs are you currently self working on?

\n
\n

I\u2019m just about to start a new program. It includes a lot of symposium toe moves, like Flails and Massacres.

\n
\n

You have also been really into pushing genuine (guiltless without the use of butterfly, pdx mirage and osis). What do you like so much about genuine?

\n
\n

Genuine needs more precision, caution and it\u2019s less forgiving. Guitless is so boring with it\u2019s big tricks and bails. Genuine is more steady and every trick is worth something. Even a Genuine run with no highlights is good, because there\u2019s no easy tricks.

\n
\n

So the most important thing in our sport is pushing the difficulty of our runs?

\n
\n

That is what I think. During the past few year the level of big tricks has gone up, but you don\u2019t really see much difference in general trick selection of normal circle freestyle runs. Some players think that run length is more important than the selection of tricks, but if you do four BOPs in a row in the middle of a 50 contact run, it kinda kills the whole thing.

\n
\n

If you could change one thing about our sport, what would that be?

\n
\n

Less newbies talking about unreachable tricks on forums.

\n
\n

You have done alot for our sport, the training program article, all your trick demonstration videos on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/AnzTrikz) and the pushing of genuine. What is your next project?

\n
\n

I want a highspeed video camera, probably going to purchase it in a couple of months. Then I\u2019ll re-do all the trick tutorial videos. I\u2019m not satisfied with most of them nowadays.

\n
\n

You got a footbag tattoo done on your back not to long ago. Do you have a photo of it we can see?

\n
\n

I do have a footbag tattoo, but I\u2019m not going to show the pic because it would ruin it I think. If anybody wants to see it, rip my shirt off the next time you meet me. Or shred with me.

\n
\n

What made you want to have a footbag on your skin for the rest of your life?

\n
\n

I thought about it for over a year before doing it. The whole sport is a part of all us players, I guess wanted to mark myself forever. When I\u2019m 65 years old and probably won\u2019t have anything to do with footbag anymore, the tattoo is still on my back to remind me of something I spent at least ten hours per week in my twenties.

\n
\n

Is it true that at the sessions in Finland there are sometimes never said a single word?

\n
\n

hah! No but we don’t talk much.

\n
\n

Why?

\n
\n

I don’t know, there’s not much to say. We just play. But for example when I show up to sessions in Helsinki, we do talk because we haven’t met for a couple of months. It actually irritates me sometimes when people just talk bullshit and don’t concentrate on the footbag. It’s as irritating as playing with someone who watches other circles while you’re playing. But seriously it’s rude not to even greet someone when you go play with them. But for example when I was in Helsinki last two weeks ago, when I didn’t speak with Mikko for more than two sentences. Not that I wouldn’t like to speak with him, and I surely would have if we weren’t on a session.

\n
\n

What footbag achievement of which you are most proud?

\n
\n

There\u2019s a lot of things I should be proud of, but still so much more to achieve. I\u2019m probably the most proud of being both sided \u2013 I may have not been the first one to hit some big tricks or links, but I\u2019m bloody sure that I was the first one to hit them both sides.

\n
\n

Yeah, your both sidedness is amazing. Thanks for the interview Anssi.\u00a0Let’s do this new thing where you give me a suggestion for a question for the next person I will interview?

\n
\n

What was the last thing you ate?

\n
\n

Haha. Good one. Do you have any shout outs or anything you wanna say to all the people reading this?

\n
\n

No, sorry.

\n
\n

That is okay. Thanks for the interview Anssi.

\n

Written by Asmus Helms

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Anssi Sundberg. Here we go:\nAnssi Sundberg from Turku, Finland is a passionate footbag player, who mainly plays alone. You can see the passion when you look at his game, he is super technical and has no flipside at all. But it also shows in his hard work for our sport, he has done some of the best video tutorials on a huge variety of tricks and has also done a lot of technical and theoretical thinking and articles about footbag. Anssi might be a man of few words but he has strong opinions and an interesting approach to our sport.\nHey Anz. How are you?\n\nNot bad.\n\nWhen you first started playing you played with Felix Zenger. In what ways did he influence your game?\n\nI had already learned my basics when we started to play, but for example he taught me to spin. Our games were really different, so I don\u2019t think his influenced mine much.\n\nFinland has a really rad footbag scene. What do you think is different from the finnish footbag scene to the footbag scene in other countries (other than the finnish players likes punk music )?\n\nI don\u2019t like punk. Finland has pretty high level. If you don\u2019t count beginners, everyone plays guiltless. Also the styles vary a lot. I guess we really have good players, since the percentage of BAP-players is the highest in the world here, but that\u2019s also due to the low number of players. The trick selection is also a bit different here. Just the last weekend I spent in Helsinki we told a beginner to avoid doing Stepping Far Legovers, since it\u2019s a North American bail. Sounds harsh, but yeah.\n\nYou mentioned BAP (www.bigaddposse.com). What do you think about it? Are you getting in next year?\n\nBAP is a good way to recognise good players and make people remember them even when they stop playing or get out of shape. I got honourable mention for BAP in 2005 and back then I was really enthusiastic about getting it, but nowadays I don\u2019t care anymore. People recognise me already.\n\nThis summer Kevin Regamey from Canada visited you and you two travelled around Europe before worlds. How do you know Kevin and how was it to travel with him?\n\nI had never met him before, and only spoke with him online. It was nice travelling with him for a week. We got along alright. The feature I disliked him the most was that he eats bloody slow, and he knows that!\n\nCould you tell a bit more about the trip? Got a couple of good stories up your sleeve?\n\nCatching of the train from Copenhagen to Berlin was quite an adventure. The night before I had been in the Banker\u00e5t bar with Mads Hole and Kevin was in a rave party with the rest of the Danish crew. Kevin didn\u2019t sleep nearly at all and I was hungover the next morning. It took us ages to pack our stuff and bike with broken gear to the station and find the right track. We boarded the train like twenty seconds before it took off.\n\nCould you please give some advice to anybody planning to do a similar trip (in Europe or anywhere else in the world)?\n\nDon\u2019t end the trip to Worlds. If you plan to include Worlds to the trip, start from there. Traveling is very tiring. Also don\u2019t travel with a huge party. The more people you have with you, the more transportation’s you\u2019re going to miss and the more brawls you\u2019re going to have. It\u2019s quite stressing.\n\nYou recently posted a huge article on training programs. The article itself is pretty self explanatory (you can read it here: http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=17541) so I won’t ask you about it. But I would like to know a little of insight into how you get the idea to start working on training programs and how the progress was from the first idea till the final article?\n\nFootbag won\u2019t be a professional sport before people start practicing like professionals and actually have a program to follow. I spoke about training programs with a friend of mine who\u2019s been coaching gymnastics, and did some studies from muscle memory and learning. Then I planned a couple of programs for myself and after finishing them it felt like they worked, so I started planning them for others for feedback.\n\nIn what ways have training programs helped your game?\n\nIn consistency, trick selection, both sidedness and knowledge of my own game.\n\nWhat training programs are you currently self working on?\n\nI\u2019m just about to start a new program. It includes a lot of symposium toe moves, like Flails and Massacres.\n\nYou have also been really into pushing genuine (guiltless without the use of butterfly, pdx mirage and osis). What do you like so much about genuine?\n\nGenuine needs more precision, caution and it\u2019s less forgiving. Guitless is so boring with it\u2019s big tricks and bails. Genuine is more steady and every trick is worth something. Even a Genuine run with no highlights is good, because there\u2019s no easy tricks.\n\nSo the most important thing in our sport is pushing the difficulty of our runs?\n\nThat is what I think. During the past few year the level of big tricks has gone up, but you don\u2019t really see much difference in general trick selection of normal circle freestyle runs. Some players think that run length is more important than the selection of tricks, but if you do four BOPs in a row in the middle of a 50 contact run, it kinda kills the whole thing.\n\nIf you could change one thing about our sport, what would that be?\n\nLess newbies talking about unreachable tricks on forums.\n\nYou have done alot for our sport, the training program article, all your trick demonstration videos on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/AnzTrikz) and the pushing of genuine. What is your next project?\n\nI want a highspeed video camera, probably going to purchase it in a couple of months. Then I\u2019ll re-do all the trick tutorial videos. I\u2019m not satisfied with most of them nowadays.\n\nYou got a footbag tattoo done on your back not to long ago. Do you have a photo of it we can see?\n\nI do have a footbag tattoo, but I\u2019m not going to show the pic because it would ruin it I think. If anybody wants to see it, rip my shirt off the next time you meet me. Or shred with me.\n\nWhat made you want to have a footbag on your skin for the rest of your life?\n\nI thought about it for over a year before doing it. The whole sport is a part of all us players, I guess wanted to mark myself forever. When I\u2019m 65 years old and probably won\u2019t have anything to do with footbag anymore, the tattoo is still on my back to remind me of something I spent at least ten hours per week in my twenties.\n\nIs it true that at the sessions in Finland there are sometimes never said a single word?\n\nhah! No but we don’t talk much.\n\nWhy?\n\nI don’t know, there’s not much to say. We just play. But for example when I show up to sessions in Helsinki, we do talk because we haven’t met for a couple of months. It actually irritates me sometimes when people just talk bullshit and don’t concentrate on the footbag. It’s as irritating as playing with someone who watches other circles while you’re playing. But seriously it’s rude not to even greet someone when you go play with them. But for example when I was in Helsinki last two weeks ago, when I didn’t speak with Mikko for more than two sentences. Not that I wouldn’t like to speak with him, and I surely would have if we weren’t on a session.\n\nWhat footbag achievement of which you are most proud?\n\nThere\u2019s a lot of things I should be proud of, but still so much more to achieve. I\u2019m probably the most proud of being both sided \u2013 I may have not been the first one to hit some big tricks or links, but I\u2019m bloody sure that I was the first one to hit them both sides.\n\nYeah, your both sidedness is amazing. Thanks for the interview Anssi.\u00a0Let’s do this new thing where you give me a suggestion for a question for the next person I will interview?\n\nWhat was the last thing you ate?\n\nHaha. Good one. Do you have any shout outs or anything you wanna say to all the people reading this?\n\nNo, sorry.\n\nThat is okay. Thanks for the interview Anssi.\nWritten by Asmus Helms", "date_published": "2014-04-27T11:00:49+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-04-27T11:00:49+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/04/accelerator.jpg", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/22/oldterviews-tina-aeberli/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/22/oldterviews-tina-aeberli/", "title": "Oldterviews: Tina Aeberli", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Tina Aeberli. Here we go:

\n

Tina Aeberli from Zurich is without discussion the best female footbag player in the world.

\n

We here bring a short interview with her about some of her thoughts on her own carrier and the world of footbag as a whole.

\n

Interview:

\n

To start off to get a picture of who you are I want you to describe yourself with five words.

\n
\n

Do I really have to? (That’s 5 words)

\n
\n

How did you start to play footbag? When did it occur to you that you could get really good?

\n
\n

I was in a sports camp and I attended a Footbag Workshop. There I had to practise 2 hours a day and I learned the easy basics. And after that camp my family moved into another apartment, right next to Manu Schmid’s family. So we went together to the training of the Sole Rebels (Footbag club in Z\u00fcrich) where Jan Zimmermann made us practice hard.

\n

I never thought I was a good player until I competed at Footjam 05 where I was suddenly one of the best girls. That was when I started to practice harder, with the aim to be the best one day.

\n
\n

You have a pretty aggressive style, do you see yourself as an agressive person?

\n
\n

No not really, I’m unlikely to kill people, hehe

\n
\n

Who is your favorite footbag player and why?

\n
\n

Vasek Klouda (what a surprise…)! When Vasek plays footbag it’s pure perfection!

\n
\n

Lately you have hit some pretty groundbreaking stuff (TATW, Nemesis and a Beast). What are you working on right now?

\n
\n

Right now I’m practising a lot of tricks that I can hit already, but not with very good form and not so consistent. So I’m not really practising new tricks but I try to perfect the tricks I can do already.

\n
\n

Why do you think there are more male than female footbag players?

\n
\n

Footbag is a quite arduous sport and I assume most girls think that footbag is way too difficult to learn.

\n

That’s the biggest problem. And also footbag needs a lot of practise in the beginning and I think most girl just don’t want to put so much time into fooling around with a little bag. But honestly, I have no idea.

\n
\n

Do you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag sessions or tournaments?

\n
\n

Yes, sometimes a little. But I don’t care because all footbagers are very nice people. At our training sessions in Z\u00fcrich we are sometimes more girls than boys! And the number of girls is always increasing.

\n
\n

You where the second female footbag player to join BAP and the first in like 8 years. How do you feel about that? What thoughts ran through your head when you heard your new name “SwissMiss” at Worlds 2006?

\n
\n

I can’t remember so much about the situation at Worlds. But of course it’s a big honour.

\n

I actually found out about the meaning of this name just at Worlds 2007 in Orlando. I had no idea about this chocolate powder brand before.

\n
\n

Recently you competed at the big Czech footbag tournament Todexon in Prague. For the first time you played in the same division as the boys.

\n

You got third and big props for that. How was it? Why did Dexter suggest you to play with the boys?

\n
\n

Dexter didn’t suggested me to play open, he commanded me to do it. I had no other choice.

\n

Now I see it as an interesting experience, because if I wanted to place good, I had to play a good routine (not like in girls where I can get away with some drops). And in the open division I don’t have anything to loose, so it’s nice to compete without pressure.

\n
\n

How are you preparing for this summers big tournaments (worlds and euros) ?

\n
\n

I have no idea. I haven’t thought about it.

\n

But I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend Euros, because I’ll have the final exams of my school around this date.

\n
\n

Do you feel more pressure now when you are maybe even more favorite to take the titles than Vasek than you did in the beginning?

\n
\n

Yes, of course. I know that I must win and that’s exerting a lot of pressure, this is normal. The longer I compete at tournaments, the less pressure I feel, though. I think I’m getting used to this kind of stress. \"\ud83d\ude42\"

\n
\n

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for doing this Tina.

\n

Do you have any shout outs?

\n
\n

At this point I would like to thank planetfootbag for doing an awesome job promoting footbag in Europe and for supporting me. And everybody out there: just keep playing, be creative, go to tournaments and have fun!

\n
\n

Tina’s official website!

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Tina Aeberli. Here we go:\nTina Aeberli from Zurich is without discussion the best female footbag player in the world.\nWe here bring a short interview with her about some of her thoughts on her own carrier and the world of footbag as a whole.\nInterview:\nTo start off to get a picture of who you are I want you to describe yourself with five words.\n\nDo I really have to? (That’s 5 words)\n\nHow did you start to play footbag? When did it occur to you that you could get really good?\n\nI was in a sports camp and I attended a Footbag Workshop. There I had to practise 2 hours a day and I learned the easy basics. And after that camp my family moved into another apartment, right next to Manu Schmid’s family. So we went together to the training of the Sole Rebels (Footbag club in Z\u00fcrich) where Jan Zimmermann made us practice hard.\nI never thought I was a good player until I competed at Footjam 05 where I was suddenly one of the best girls. That was when I started to practice harder, with the aim to be the best one day.\n\nYou have a pretty aggressive style, do you see yourself as an agressive person?\n\nNo not really, I’m unlikely to kill people, hehe\n\nWho is your favorite footbag player and why?\n\nVasek Klouda (what a surprise…)! When Vasek plays footbag it’s pure perfection!\n\nLately you have hit some pretty groundbreaking stuff (TATW, Nemesis and a Beast). What are you working on right now?\n\nRight now I’m practising a lot of tricks that I can hit already, but not with very good form and not so consistent. So I’m not really practising new tricks but I try to perfect the tricks I can do already.\n\nWhy do you think there are more male than female footbag players?\n\nFootbag is a quite arduous sport and I assume most girls think that footbag is way too difficult to learn.\nThat’s the biggest problem. And also footbag needs a lot of practise in the beginning and I think most girl just don’t want to put so much time into fooling around with a little bag. But honestly, I have no idea.\n\nDo you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag sessions or tournaments?\n\nYes, sometimes a little. But I don’t care because all footbagers are very nice people. At our training sessions in Z\u00fcrich we are sometimes more girls than boys! And the number of girls is always increasing.\n\nYou where the second female footbag player to join BAP and the first in like 8 years. How do you feel about that? What thoughts ran through your head when you heard your new name “SwissMiss” at Worlds 2006?\n\nI can’t remember so much about the situation at Worlds. But of course it’s a big honour.\nI actually found out about the meaning of this name just at Worlds 2007 in Orlando. I had no idea about this chocolate powder brand before.\n\nRecently you competed at the big Czech footbag tournament Todexon in Prague. For the first time you played in the same division as the boys.\nYou got third and big props for that. How was it? Why did Dexter suggest you to play with the boys?\n\nDexter didn’t suggested me to play open, he commanded me to do it. I had no other choice.\nNow I see it as an interesting experience, because if I wanted to place good, I had to play a good routine (not like in girls where I can get away with some drops). And in the open division I don’t have anything to loose, so it’s nice to compete without pressure.\n\nHow are you preparing for this summers big tournaments (worlds and euros) ?\n\nI have no idea. I haven’t thought about it.\nBut I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend Euros, because I’ll have the final exams of my school around this date.\n\nDo you feel more pressure now when you are maybe even more favorite to take the titles than Vasek than you did in the beginning?\n\nYes, of course. I know that I must win and that’s exerting a lot of pressure, this is normal. The longer I compete at tournaments, the less pressure I feel, though. I think I’m getting used to this kind of stress. \n\nThanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for doing this Tina.\nDo you have any shout outs?\n\nAt this point I would like to thank planetfootbag for doing an awesome job promoting footbag in Europe and for supporting me. And everybody out there: just keep playing, be creative, go to tournaments and have fun!\n\nTina’s official website!", "date_published": "2014-04-22T15:07:48+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-04-22T15:07:48+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/04/tinaimage.jpg", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/08/oldterviews-lise-thygesen/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/04/08/oldterviews-lise-thygesen/", "title": "Oldterviews: Lise Thygesen", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Lise Thygesen. Here we go:

\n

Lise Thygesen is a freestyle footbagplayer, firespinner, big city girl and an ex shred30 world champion from Copenhagen, Denmark currently located in Africa.

\n

Hey Lise

\n

Describe a typical day in the life of Lise Thygesen?

\n
\n

Wake up > Beat myself up for oversleeping (and missing school) > Do nerdy stuff on my computer > Footbag > Work > More nerding or hanging out with people and having adult fun > Go to sleep late \u2013Rpt.

\n
\n

Why and how did you start to play footbag?

\n
\n

I was always fascinated by odd skills. The human body is capable of learning so many interesting things. It never ceases to surprise me and I love that. Years back I spent lots of time hacky-sacking. Me and my hacky friends thought we were really something, inventing tricks and all..! haha. When I was finally introduced to footbag it really blew my mind. All of sudden I was seeing things I couldn\u2019t even comprehend, and it looked so spectacular and awesome! After attending my first tournament in Frankfurt 2003 I decided to start practicing and try to learn some of those crazy skills. Have been pretty much addicted since then.

\n
\n

You have been to tournaments all over Europe for quite some years now. What is the best tournament you have ever attended?

\n
\n

There have been so many awesome tournament experiences through the years. It\u2019s hard to pick out a best one, but maybe Worlds 2006 in Frankfurt. That one seems to really stand out in my memory as a thoroughly fantastic week. I have a feeling Worlds in Prague this summer will be epic too.

\n
\n

You are known as a player with a fantastic style but what do you self like about your game?

\n
\n

I like to try and focus on how my game looks to non-footbaggers. This sometimes makes it a fun and interesting thing to watch, which I like. Other than that I like the ducking and diving stuff..! But to be honest I\u2019m not a huge fan of my style. There are lots of guys out there that are way more pleasant to watch.

\n
\n

What do you dislike about your style?

\n
\n

Slurryness. Sloppyness. Out-of-balance-ness.. Makes me cringe…. almost! haha

\n
\n

What position does footbag have in your life right now?

\n
\n

I guess you could say that footbag is a pretty big part of my life. I still tend to try and make other things in my life revolve round it, although my excitement for the sport is not quite the same as it used to be. I\u2019ve stopped spending all my money on tournaments and I guess also picked up my old party-lifestyle a bit. That being said I\u2019m not sure I can think of a cooler sport and I still play pretty often. I really like all the people I get to hang out and play with and feel very fortunate to have met so many incredible individuals through this sport. You guys! You\u2019re all stars.

\n
\n

What position do you think it will take in the future?

\n
\n

Hmm.. Part of what got me so excited about footbag was the fact that I could surprise myself skill wise. But I\u2019m starting to feel that my limits have been reached, and have been thinking a lot about finding some other activity to get me excited and motivated to work hard. Could be fun\u2026 I don\u2019t imagine I\u2019d completely stop footbag just yet, but maybe just tone it down to a \u2018secondary sport\u2019 with focus on the social and sunny experiences.

\n
\n

I hear you are in Africa right now. Why is that?

\n
\n

Various reasons. Main one being that my dad moved here half a year ago and I wanted to come visit. I lost my heart to Africa when I was very young, having lived most of my childhood here. Also, the rest of my family is spread out all over the world and I didn\u2019t feel like being the last one left in cold, wet and windy Denmark. I can do my school stuff from here, thanks to the www. And it seems I can do bigger tricks too!

\n
\n

What are your plans for this summer?

\n
\n

Roskilde Festival. I\u2019ve attended this music festival since 1996 and it has always been my favourite week of the year. Also going to Portugal on a family holiday which I look very much forward to. I really like this country and I really love my family. Then of course Worlds in Prague. No need to say how cool this will be. Might have to do some work in between to afford these plans\u2026 The rest of the time I plan to be enjoying Dopenhagen, just cruisin\u2019 and chillin\u2019 wearing sun glasses and big smiles.

\n
\n

Any chance of you winning back your world shred30 champion title from Tina this year?

\n
\n

Sure. If Tina and the other girls all get sick or break their legs, I should have a fair chance. \"\ud83d\ude00\"

\n
\n

Why do you think there are more male than female footbag players?

\n
\n

Girls like to chit-chat and go shopping. And send text messages and dress like they\u2019re on MTV. And not sweat in public. Haha.. No, I really don\u2019t know the answer to that question. I have many theories though, but I\u2019ll spare you from my blabber.

\n
\n

Do you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag session or tournaments?

\n
\n

Yes, sometimes. But I don\u2019t mind too much. I like hanging out with guys.

\n
\n

Okay, before we end this interview – a question from Matt Cross: “Will you marry me?”

\n
\n

Of course.

\n
\n

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to do this Lise. Do you have any shout outs?

\n
\n

Mads and Mads for encouraging and supporting me ever since the first day we met, and doing so much for the sport in our little country. (which is a lot!)

\n

Also my sister Anne for always being there. When I first started getting obsessed with this sport, she put up with so much talk, viewing of random videos and all sorts of other nerdyness from me. I\u2019m sure she didn\u2019t find it half as interesting as I did, but was just being the good sister that she is. I love her. Today she plays footbag too and I feel really lucky to be able to share the passion with one of the most important people in my life.

\n
\n

Video by Mads Hole

\n

Lise’s website: http://www.lisethygesen.com/

\n

Written by Asmus Helms

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site.\u00a0Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Lise Thygesen. Here we go:\nLise Thygesen is a freestyle footbagplayer, firespinner, big city girl and an ex shred30 world champion from Copenhagen, Denmark currently located in Africa.\nHey Lise\nDescribe a typical day in the life of Lise Thygesen?\n\nWake up > Beat myself up for oversleeping (and missing school) > Do nerdy stuff on my computer > Footbag > Work > More nerding or hanging out with people and having adult fun > Go to sleep late \u2013Rpt.\n\nWhy and how did you start to play footbag?\n\nI was always fascinated by odd skills. The human body is capable of learning so many interesting things. It never ceases to surprise me and I love that. Years back I spent lots of time hacky-sacking. Me and my hacky friends thought we were really something, inventing tricks and all..! haha. When I was finally introduced to footbag it really blew my mind. All of sudden I was seeing things I couldn\u2019t even comprehend, and it looked so spectacular and awesome! After attending my first tournament in Frankfurt 2003 I decided to start practicing and try to learn some of those crazy skills. Have been pretty much addicted since then.\n\nYou have been to tournaments all over Europe for quite some years now. What is the best tournament you have ever attended?\n\nThere have been so many awesome tournament experiences through the years. It\u2019s hard to pick out a best one, but maybe Worlds 2006 in Frankfurt. That one seems to really stand out in my memory as a thoroughly fantastic week. I have a feeling Worlds in Prague this summer will be epic too.\n\nYou are known as a player with a fantastic style but what do you self like about your game?\n\nI like to try and focus on how my game looks to non-footbaggers. This sometimes makes it a fun and interesting thing to watch, which I like. Other than that I like the ducking and diving stuff..! But to be honest I\u2019m not a huge fan of my style. There are lots of guys out there that are way more pleasant to watch.\n\nWhat do you dislike about your style?\n\nSlurryness. Sloppyness. Out-of-balance-ness.. Makes me cringe…. almost! haha\n\nWhat position does footbag have in your life right now?\n\nI guess you could say that footbag is a pretty big part of my life. I still tend to try and make other things in my life revolve round it, although my excitement for the sport is not quite the same as it used to be. I\u2019ve stopped spending all my money on tournaments and I guess also picked up my old party-lifestyle a bit. That being said I\u2019m not sure I can think of a cooler sport and I still play pretty often. I really like all the people I get to hang out and play with and feel very fortunate to have met so many incredible individuals through this sport. You guys! You\u2019re all stars.\n\nWhat position do you think it will take in the future?\n\nHmm.. Part of what got me so excited about footbag was the fact that I could surprise myself skill wise. But I\u2019m starting to feel that my limits have been reached, and have been thinking a lot about finding some other activity to get me excited and motivated to work hard. Could be fun\u2026 I don\u2019t imagine I\u2019d completely stop footbag just yet, but maybe just tone it down to a \u2018secondary sport\u2019 with focus on the social and sunny experiences.\n\nI hear you are in Africa right now. Why is that?\n\nVarious reasons. Main one being that my dad moved here half a year ago and I wanted to come visit. I lost my heart to Africa when I was very young, having lived most of my childhood here. Also, the rest of my family is spread out all over the world and I didn\u2019t feel like being the last one left in cold, wet and windy Denmark. I can do my school stuff from here, thanks to the www. And it seems I can do bigger tricks too!\n\nWhat are your plans for this summer?\n\nRoskilde Festival. I\u2019ve attended this music festival since 1996 and it has always been my favourite week of the year. Also going to Portugal on a family holiday which I look very much forward to. I really like this country and I really love my family. Then of course Worlds in Prague. No need to say how cool this will be. Might have to do some work in between to afford these plans\u2026 The rest of the time I plan to be enjoying Dopenhagen, just cruisin\u2019 and chillin\u2019 wearing sun glasses and big smiles.\n\nAny chance of you winning back your world shred30 champion title from Tina this year?\n\nSure. If Tina and the other girls all get sick or break their legs, I should have a fair chance. \n\nWhy do you think there are more male than female footbag players?\n\nGirls like to chit-chat and go shopping. And send text messages and dress like they\u2019re on MTV. And not sweat in public. Haha.. No, I really don\u2019t know the answer to that question. I have many theories though, but I\u2019ll spare you from my blabber.\n\nDo you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag session or tournaments?\n\nYes, sometimes. But I don\u2019t mind too much. I like hanging out with guys.\n\nOkay, before we end this interview – a question from Matt Cross: “Will you marry me?”\n\nOf course.\n\nThanks a bunch for taking the time to do this Lise. Do you have any shout outs?\n\nMads and Mads for encouraging and supporting me ever since the first day we met, and doing so much for the sport in our little country. (which is a lot!)\nAlso my sister Anne for always being there. When I first started getting obsessed with this sport, she put up with so much talk, viewing of random videos and all sorts of other nerdyness from me. I\u2019m sure she didn\u2019t find it half as interesting as I did, but was just being the good sister that she is. I love her. Today she plays footbag too and I feel really lucky to be able to share the passion with one of the most important people in my life.\n\nVideo by Mads Hole\nLise’s website: http://www.lisethygesen.com/\nWritten by Asmus Helms", "date_published": "2014-04-08T15:14:42+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-04-08T15:14:42+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/04/lz.png", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] }, { "id": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/03/04/oldterviews-matt-cross/", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/2014/03/04/oldterviews-matt-cross/", "title": "Oldterviews: Matt Cross", "content_html": "

From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Matt Cross.

\n

Matt Cross is a twenty something year old shredder, stitcher, mc, beatboxer, guitarist, singer and an all out awesome guy. We here bring a short interview with him.

\n

Matt MCing at the NYFA Freestyle Symposium, November 07.

\n

Hey Matt!\u00a0To start out with I want you to describe yourself with lets say 5 words.

\n
\n

“arguably not worth the effort” I’m a bit of a strange person, and I don’t really get along with most people, so it’s difficult for me to make friends most of the time. However, when it comes to the people with whom I truly connect, it’s totally worth the fact that it’s difficult for me.

\n
\n

If I visited you in SUNY Fredonia, NY what would we do?

\n
\n

Well, first we would have a session, because there are lots of great indoor and outdoor spots to play footbag in Fredonia, and people here seem to think freestyle is pretty cool. The soccer players like to check it out and ask questions, sometimes people will sit and play guitar while Jeff Hastings and I do some kicking. Then, we would probably chill out at my house and watch Feet on Fire (which should be coming in the mail ANY DAY NOW!) and drink some delicious local beers from Ellicottville Brewing Company… you’re 21, right?

\n
\n

Feet on Fire is looking dope I should order that aswell. I’m not 21 yet but “sshh” nobody needs to know that.\u00a0You have been playing footbag for around 10 years – How do you feel the footbag scene has changed?

\n
\n

I think there are a lot more younger players, and I think the younger players get a lot more respect than they used to because they are often so much more advanced than the older players these days. When I got on the freestyle scene, the VERY best players were in their early / mid 20s. Now, the best players are in their mid-late teens.

\n

Also, there is this whole online revolution. people around the world have access to videos of the very best players for free via youtube and footbag.org, and this has really pushed the sport forward in a technical sense. It also has a way of spreading the sport and bringing it closer together at the same time. I love the internet.

\n

I think the heart of the scene remains the same, though. It’s still a tiny, friendly, close-knit sport, and I’m glad that’s the case.

\n
\n

Word! What do you think will happen in the near future for footbag?

\n
\n

I don’t see any earth-shaking events on the horizon. I think the technicality will continue to advance, and the sport will continue to get newer, younger players. I think more respect and more exposure will come steadily, but I don’t think the sport is absolutely going to blow up all of a sudden.

\n
\n

You haven’t been playing much lately what do you think the future of footbag has for Matt Cross? What will your role be?

\n
\n

I think the future of footbag has lots of friends, lots of videos, lots of tournaments, and lots of stitching for me. You’re right, I haven’t played much lately, although I can still throw on my lavers and hit a few new moves when I play. So, we’ll see what happens with my game when the spring rolls around. I need to improve my nutrition dramatically, that is for sure. I’ve quit tobacco recently, so that will help a lot with endurance.

\n

I’ve never been an all-star player, but I look forward to playing and having fun and enjoying all that footbag is, for a long while to come. I hope my role as someone who is good at talking about footbag (in the informative sense and in the “master of ceremonies” sense) continues to grow. I hope the same for my roles as a scene leader, tournament organizer / helper-outer, stitcher, and player, although I see the “player” role advancing the most slowly.

\n
\n

The summer season is coming nearer and as we all know this is the best time to be a footbagger. What are your plans for this summer?

\n
\n

My plan for the summer is to get an internship in the Buffalo, NY area with an arts / entertainment promotion foundation. This would be GREAT for me as a footbagger, because the Buffalo hacky sack scene is probably the strongest in NY. It may be the kicking hotspot of the northeast US right now, actually. During the spring and summer, there are two VERY well attended hacky-sack sessions in Buffalo. at one of them, there can be between fifty and one hundred kickers every week, and there is a free live rock concert.

\n

Soon, I will know if I plan to go to Worlds or not. I really hope I do. If I’m going to do any big footbag event this summer, that is most likely going to be it.

\n
\n

I hope you make it to Prague! You have been stitching and selling footbags for a good time now. Why did you start with that?

\n
\n

I’ll do anything to get some attention from Pengpeng.

\n

Just kidding, I really started because it seemed doable, and I had access to good teachers, and I desired to be able to make my own bags and get respect and money from my friends and peers when I got good enough to sell them.

\n
\n

How do you feel about it now?

\n
\n

I love my bags. They play just like I want them to, and some players that I really respect and admire have been buying them because they also like how they play. That means a lot to me, and makes me feel really good inside.

\n
\n

The only other person I have planned to interview so far is Lise Thygesen.\u00a0I know you met her and later visited her in 2005. If you could ask her one question what would that be?

\n
\n

“will you marry me?”

\n
\n

Haha, I will ask her that for you. Thanks for the interview Matt. Do you have any shout outs?

\n
\n

Yeah, I’d like to give a shout out to my friend President George Bush. What up dog!!!

\n

\n

\n

Written by Asmus Helms

\n", "content_text": "From 2009 till 2010 I did a series interviews of some of the best players, go-getters, organizers and all around important people of our sport at that point. I now bring all of the interviews, for the first time collected, chronologically here on the site. Some of the people are as relevant today as they were back then, others have faded a little, but all of the interviews contain strong opinions, an interesting look into a footbag life and/or great advice about our sport. This week\u2019s interview is with Matt Cross.\nMatt Cross is a twenty something year old shredder, stitcher, mc, beatboxer, guitarist, singer and an all out awesome guy. We here bring a short interview with him.\nMatt MCing at the NYFA Freestyle Symposium, November 07.\nHey Matt!\u00a0To start out with I want you to describe yourself with lets say 5 words.\n\n“arguably not worth the effort” I’m a bit of a strange person, and I don’t really get along with most people, so it’s difficult for me to make friends most of the time. However, when it comes to the people with whom I truly connect, it’s totally worth the fact that it’s difficult for me.\n\nIf I visited you in SUNY Fredonia, NY what would we do?\n\nWell, first we would have a session, because there are lots of great indoor and outdoor spots to play footbag in Fredonia, and people here seem to think freestyle is pretty cool. The soccer players like to check it out and ask questions, sometimes people will sit and play guitar while Jeff Hastings and I do some kicking. Then, we would probably chill out at my house and watch Feet on Fire (which should be coming in the mail ANY DAY NOW!) and drink some delicious local beers from Ellicottville Brewing Company… you’re 21, right?\n\nFeet on Fire is looking dope I should order that aswell. I’m not 21 yet but “sshh” nobody needs to know that.\u00a0You have been playing footbag for around 10 years – How do you feel the footbag scene has changed?\n\nI think there are a lot more younger players, and I think the younger players get a lot more respect than they used to because they are often so much more advanced than the older players these days. When I got on the freestyle scene, the VERY best players were in their early / mid 20s. Now, the best players are in their mid-late teens.\nAlso, there is this whole online revolution. people around the world have access to videos of the very best players for free via youtube and footbag.org, and this has really pushed the sport forward in a technical sense. It also has a way of spreading the sport and bringing it closer together at the same time. I love the internet.\nI think the heart of the scene remains the same, though. It’s still a tiny, friendly, close-knit sport, and I’m glad that’s the case.\n\nWord! What do you think will happen in the near future for footbag?\n\nI don’t see any earth-shaking events on the horizon. I think the technicality will continue to advance, and the sport will continue to get newer, younger players. I think more respect and more exposure will come steadily, but I don’t think the sport is absolutely going to blow up all of a sudden.\n\nYou haven’t been playing much lately what do you think the future of footbag has for Matt Cross? What will your role be?\n\nI think the future of footbag has lots of friends, lots of videos, lots of tournaments, and lots of stitching for me. You’re right, I haven’t played much lately, although I can still throw on my lavers and hit a few new moves when I play. So, we’ll see what happens with my game when the spring rolls around. I need to improve my nutrition dramatically, that is for sure. I’ve quit tobacco recently, so that will help a lot with endurance.\nI’ve never been an all-star player, but I look forward to playing and having fun and enjoying all that footbag is, for a long while to come. I hope my role as someone who is good at talking about footbag (in the informative sense and in the “master of ceremonies” sense) continues to grow. I hope the same for my roles as a scene leader, tournament organizer / helper-outer, stitcher, and player, although I see the “player” role advancing the most slowly.\n\nThe summer season is coming nearer and as we all know this is the best time to be a footbagger. What are your plans for this summer?\n\nMy plan for the summer is to get an internship in the Buffalo, NY area with an arts / entertainment promotion foundation. This would be GREAT for me as a footbagger, because the Buffalo hacky sack scene is probably the strongest in NY. It may be the kicking hotspot of the northeast US right now, actually. During the spring and summer, there are two VERY well attended hacky-sack sessions in Buffalo. at one of them, there can be between fifty and one hundred kickers every week, and there is a free live rock concert.\nSoon, I will know if I plan to go to Worlds or not. I really hope I do. If I’m going to do any big footbag event this summer, that is most likely going to be it.\n\nI hope you make it to Prague! You have been stitching and selling footbags for a good time now. Why did you start with that?\n\nI’ll do anything to get some attention from Pengpeng.\nJust kidding, I really started because it seemed doable, and I had access to good teachers, and I desired to be able to make my own bags and get respect and money from my friends and peers when I got good enough to sell them.\n\nHow do you feel about it now?\n\nI love my bags. They play just like I want them to, and some players that I really respect and admire have been buying them because they also like how they play. That means a lot to me, and makes me feel really good inside.\n\nThe only other person I have planned to interview so far is Lise Thygesen.\u00a0I know you met her and later visited her in 2005. If you could ask her one question what would that be?\n\n“will you marry me?”\n\nHaha, I will ask her that for you. Thanks for the interview Matt. Do you have any shout outs?\n\nYeah, I’d like to give a shout out to my friend President George Bush. What up dog!!!\n\n\nWritten by Asmus Helms", "date_published": "2014-03-04T13:30:12+00:00", "date_modified": "2014-03-04T13:30:12+00:00", "author": { "name": "asmus", "url": "https://modified.in/bsos/author/asmus/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/04c37ae2f760408975cf17dc683e43c4?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://modified.in/bsos/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2014/03/mattc.png", "tags": [ "Oldterviews" ] } ] }