Who has your favorite style?

mohkale · Post by **mohkale** » 15 Feb 2008 05:49

Eric Wulff
Jeremy Mirken
Justin Sexton

MAtti

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 15 Feb 2008 07:21

RawSko wrote:If this thread is about style, I think a definition of style is in order. What does "style" mean to you? What's important in a player's style?

For me
Absolutely the most important thing when I think of style: Form...

Anyone disagree?

ME!

Indulge me here for a minute.

Footbag is all about rhythm. It is music we play with our bodies and hear with both our ears and our eyes. The way I figure, it can be divided into three layers.

First, we play a game against gravity. We push up, gravity pushes down. We vary, gravity doesn't. The music of footbag is founded on the conscious variance of our counterpoint to gravity's monotonous drone. Up, down, up, down. Peek, delay, peek, delay. Same thing. Not necessarily a steady beat, of course, although it happens sometimes and is cool. Constant steady beats are for musicians. Music is boring (relatively speaking).

The second layer is footwork. This is the part we actually hear. The punctuation. Tap tap SLAM tap SLAM etc. I guess we also hear the bag hitting the foot, but it's less pronounced, and more easily seen in any case.

The third includes the first two and everything else. It's the movement of the body. Imagine that Dave Clavens' shins were lightsaber blades. What does nemesis sound like? Genesis? You hear the difference? Torque? DATW? Now replace the lightsaber sound with something pleasant. Or hell, forget the sound, and just hear it with your eyes. Hear the rest of the game too, feet hitting the ground, bag rising, peeking, descending, body spinning, arms flailing, EVERYTHING.

This is how I watch footbag.

EoghanMcDowell · Post by **EoghanMcDowell** » 15 Feb 2008 07:48

I don't know if you intended for it, Colin, but what you said is strangely poetic. I like your perspective, and it makes me wonder how i truly see footbag. Thanks for sparking some serious thoughts

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 15 Feb 2008 10:39

Yeah, I second that. Nice post Colin.

professor · Post by **professor** » 15 Feb 2008 11:14

What annoys me is when people say someone has a good style because of the tricks they choose to do. Style is not the tricks you hit, it's the way you hit them. Like that one Czech kid who does all sole stalls. Everyone was saying how good his "style" was because he did sole stalls. That's not style, that's trick selection.

Post by **Zac Miley** » 15 Feb 2008 12:50

I disagree, to an extent.

Like since Johnny is really good at muted nuclear/fairy type stuff, he does it a lot. No one else really does it, which really I think is one of the main reasons I like his style so much.

I agree on the Czech kid thing though.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 15 Feb 2008 13:04

Yeah, I don't agree with that. Style is what you do and how you do it. example: Jon Schneider has style because his realm of favorite tricks is unique to see, and because he does those tricks so nicely.

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 15 Feb 2008 16:53

it's a mix between trick selection and how you do them. But mostly how you do them. Yeah, Colin. Definitely a nice post. I think we'd all agree /slash/ have said a few times (I know that's how I watch footbag myself).

I like style.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 15 Feb 2008 20:02

http://www.freedomfootbags.com/blog/pronunciation/

Some interesting thoughts on form and style from Allan.

TheLast · Post by **TheLast** » 16 Feb 2008 16:22

agreed with you Colin

and for me the style is the form that you chose and combine your tricks and how do you do them... Style is mark in a part for everything what you do with ur body when you shred

at least for me

sry for the bad english

Just call me hagesy · Post by **Just call me hagesy** » 16 Feb 2008 17:39

Ryan Mulroney

The true pioneer of big add shredding

Dave Clavens

I think i enjoy watching david play more than anyone else.

Jesse Malouf

WHen this kid was playing, he would make footbag look so effortless. He could have been one of the best.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 16 Feb 2008 18:15

Petrarch once said: "we are what we say, and we are the way we say it."

I think the same applies for footbag.

bdams19 · Post by **bdams19** » 17 Feb 2008 01:16

mulroney
ricky moran
cleaver
lon
peter irish
sunil
jim

sure im forgetting a ton

Darkshredder · Post by **Darkshredder** » 17 Feb 2008 11:07

:side note: Jesse's not playing!? Daaaang I was wondering why he wasn't posting anymore.

He WAS going to be one of the best. I could see it too.

and I forgot to mention a few others of mine:
Pete Irish (can't believe he slipped my mind)
Nick Landes

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 17 Feb 2008 11:47

I agree to an extent with Ben. It's mostly how a player moves to me, not trick selection, although trick selection affects how you play, like I find players like Ricky, Luis, and Lon to be amongst the most styley for me because they flow and move gracefully with spinning and ducking tricks that can be done with little effort and flailing and huge speed. It seems like more of a dance to me. Like shuffle moves are precision and spinning and ducking are beauty, and I find style more in that.

There was a radical run of Lon's in someone's Worlds video that should somehow be incorporated into a definition of style in footbag. It was that one run in the party house garage where he was just shredding, and then did some plantless moves where you could barely hear his feet, and then ended that with a symp hatchet, which went BOOM and reverberated through the whole room... it was like he broke through the conventions of style in footbag and rather than being defined by move selection or movement he was expressing himself through sound... it was so cool. And innovative.

Cod · Post by **Cod** » 17 Feb 2008 12:31

I really like Serge Kaldany's style. He looks like a bird while shredding. I like Marcin Bujko's style. When he spin he looks like a ballet dancer. I like Lon Smith's style. When he shred it looks like a bag have a lot of fun with him. I like Yves Kreil's style. He has so perfect executed sets and it looks like a bag is a part of him.

I don't actually like Vasek's style. He looks like a robot while busting his crazy runs. There's nothing poetic in his style. I still think he's the best, though. I don't like Damian Gielnicki's style. He has awesome tricks selection but he looks like a stake while playing. I don't really like Jorden Moir's style. He bust so unique things and I love to watch it but it looks like a poem without rhymes.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 17 Feb 2008 12:36

Erik, I totally know exactly what run you mean, and wanted to mention it in this thread as well. I even commented against that thread at the time that the run by Lon was one of my favorites ever. Nice call. If I get time, I'll try to go find which vid that was

akalazou · Post by **akalazou** » 17 Feb 2008 14:12

i thought about this topic before to post my players who have my favorite style, here it is:

Peter Irish
Yacine Merzouk
Elis Piltz
Jorden Moir
Jim Penske
WIll Digges

footjam_heger · Post by **footjam_heger** » 17 Feb 2008 14:13

nobody mentioned me. damn it

Renato Zulli (CH)
Allan Haggett (USA)
Felix Zenger (FIN)
Gorden Bevier (USA)
Yves Kreil (GER)

forgot
Juho Marjo, Chad D., Aleksi Airinen, Ales Zelinka, Yacine Merzouk and Lon Smith

Vasek is probably everyone's fav...

mc · Post by mc » 17 Feb 2008 15:18

I'd like to add Matthias Lino-Schmidt to my list. His clippers are so precise (well, his whole style is) and his illusions are so deep and vertical - awesome.

edit: oh yeah, and Mike Anello. I watched him step onto the board at square 1, and I've seen him every step of the way. He's really fluid, both sided, and his body type makes for a unique, recognizable, cool style. Go RFA!