Kankeri Japan

[Tjuggles]

Thanks! I watched it twice so far. Great vid, great memories!

[Tjuggles]

Just under two weeks left before my one-year paternity leave ends! I can't believe it has been one year already. That went by fast, and likely in part because two kids is a ton of work!

I am looking forward to getting back on a schedule that doesn't include staying at home all day. Things will be busy still, but busy in a different way, and at the very least I will have more than 5 minutes of focus time before a rugrat cries or needs attention.

Until then, here is a post from the projects thread: I released ShredLog!

RELEASED! Download (or update) and try it today!

I am satisfied with the status of the app and have released it for iOS and Android! It Feels great to complete my goal of getting this out before my paternity leave ends (in less than two weeks!). For reference, here are links to the respective app stores:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... icktionary
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/footbag-d ... 1586795106

Alternatively, navigate to the App Store and search "ShredLog". As I write this, only the Android version is currently available; the iOS version is still under review. It should be available in the next day or two.

Here is the information I added to the app stores about the app:
________________________________________________
Why ShredLog?
To have a tool that will help you to reason about your game. The more you know about how you are kicking (e.g., tricks you are hitting), the more you can adjust your game to, for example, practice tricks or concepts you haven't practiced a lot. This will help you become a more well-rounded player. The idea for the app came about over many years of kicking experience...I started kicking in the late 1990s. I have early memories, just a few, of doing mirages and butterflies during lunchtime at High School. When I entered university in 2000, I was blessed to be just down the road from Greg "GFSmoothie" Nelson. He changed the course of my life to one that would include footbag for decades to come (and still going!). During my footbag career thus far, I have had numerous notebooks with notes from footbag sessions, including tricks I hit, how many times I hit them, etc. As I completed one notebook, I would buy another and the old notebook would eventually get lost to time. As a result, I don't have any history of the kinds of tricks I was hitting, say, 5 years ago. If I had a way to save all of my notes into one place, and be able to reason about it (e.g., by having summary statistics about the tricks I wrote down), I believe I would be a much stronger player. This was the motivation for developing this app: Give Footbaggers, both newcomers and seasoned veterans, a tool to help them remember and reason about their game.

ShredLog has four main features, each described below: A. GOALS, B. JOURNAL, C. STATISTICS, D. DICTIONARY.

A. GOALS

Set and manage goals. A goal consists of the following:
1. A trick name (NOTE: Tricks must be selected from the dropdown menu)
2. Set foot (i.e., which foot the trick starts on)
3. How many times you want to hit the trick
4. A start date and end date (i.e., a timeframe in which you want to hit the trick)

Goals can be in one of four states:
1. TODO (A goal has been created with zero progress towards completion)
2. STARTED (A goal has been created with some progress towards completion, but not complete yet)
3. COMPLETED (A goal has 100% progress, and is therefore finished)
4. EXPIRED (A goal's end date is in the past)

How goals work:
1. Set a goal (e.g., left-foot-set mirage x 10, from today until next week)
2. Enter tricks in your journal as you hit them (e.g., left-foot-set mirage x 5, today)
3. The app automatically updates your goals based on your journal entries, allowing you to focus on what you love: kicking! You will be congratulated once you complete a goal.

B. JOURNAL ENTRIES

ShredLog provides a journal for you to record all the tricks you hit. A journal entry consists of the following:
1. A trick name
2. How may times you hit the trick
3. The date you hit the trick

How to use the journal:
1. Enter a trick (NOTE: Tricks must be selected from the dropdown menu)
2. Select the set foot (i.e., the foot that the trick starts on)
3. Enter how many times you hit the trick
4. Enter the day you hit the trick (NOTE: by default the day is set for the current day)
ShredLog updates your goal progress for you based on your journal entries.

C. STATISTICS

ShredLog amalgamates your goal and journal data into useful summary statistics. It gives you information about the following:
1. Streaks (e.g., the longest number of days you have kicked in a row)
2. Goals (i.e., How many goals you currently have in each of the four states a goal can be in)
3. Journal (e.g., How many total tricks you have hit)
4. Most-practiced trick (What trick have you hit the most, how many times, and more)

D. DICTIONARY

ShredLog provides a searchable dictionary of information for over 700 footbag tricks. For each trick, this includes the following:
1. Trick name
2. Alternate names
3. How many adds the trick is
4. Job's notation (that is, an explanation of how to do the trick)

I hope that you find ShredLog beneficial. Keep kicking!

TJ
________________________________________________

I expect there will be features/attributes that are less appealing than others, and I am open to feedback. I have some ideas for future updates that I will share in the near future, once some people start using it.

[boyle]

This looks like a great lot of work. I just downloaded and having a play around with it. I think it will be pretty useful. Congratulations on putting it out - huge effort.

[CIC flurry]

Might be cool to put the badges on there too.

Did you hear, worlds maybe in Japan next year?

[Tjuggles]

Might be cool to put the badges on there too.

Good idea! Who do I talk to about those? I assume I need permission?

Did you hear, worlds maybe in Japan next year?

I did. I chatted with Taishi yesterday. That would be incredible. I would likely be heavily involved since the other members' English may not be up to par for hosting a tournament solely in English.

[acxel22]

If japan happens I also offered full support to Taishi, so count on me

[boyle]

Did you happen to go to Japanese championships? I believe they were on this weekend.

I would really love to see Worlds in Japan (it being more accessible to me is a good reason but probably like #20 on my list of ideas of why it would be good.

[Tjuggles]

If japan happens I also offered full support to Taishi, so count on me

Yay! That will be a big help. Fingers crossed!

[Tjuggles]

Did you happen to go to Japanese championships? I believe they were on this weekend.

I did not; I just got back from a conference the week before and my wife took care of both kids while I was gone. I didn't wanna rock the boat even more...but next year is a strong maybe!

I would really love to see Worlds in Japan (it being more accessible to me is a good reason but probably like #20 on my list of ideas of why it would be good.

I would love to see it in Japan, too, in part for similar reasons. But also because it is about time? Not sure if that is a valid reason. I know that Jorden might disagree with the location based on what he was saying in a post somewhere on here not too long ago. Assuming we do get the bid, I think there are a few additional avenues we can go to get some funding for, e.g., bringing a player or two here. Don't quote me on that though. I am currently on a committee that will host a conference in a couple of years and we have found at least one organization that has agreed to help us financially, so hopefully we use them for Worlds, too.

[Tjuggles]

I have been back at work for a month now, which thinking about it now is crazy; it feels like just a week or so ago. Classes started this past Monday, and it is great to be in the classroom again with the students. I have been kicking about twice a week or so since I have been back at work. That also feels great; I developed a dad body from being more or less sedentary while taking care of two hoodlums for the last year. Things are starting to improve in terms of exercise, and boy does it feel good. Looking forward to turning things up a notch and getting my ass back into shape. A huge stimulus for this would be learning that Worlds will be in Japan next year.

[boyle]

looks like your stimulus has been activated. Get training for Worlds in Japan!

[Tjuggles]

I am stimulated!

I also injured my inner meniscus somehow, and it has been acting up for a few weeks now. I am hoping that building muscle around the knee will help; I haven't kicked in like a week or so because of Influenza, but my knee is still not better.

[Tjuggles]

So my knee is mostly better, but I am still a bit unsure about blenders because I think that is how I injured it, not sure. Anyway, that range of motion targets the area where the pain was, so I am trying to stay away from whirls and blenders (which is too bad because I was getting better at incorporating blenders into my runs). I have been doing squats recently to help build up muscle, and I think that has helped.

My family came down with the tummy a week or two back, so no footbag for like a week, but other than that I have been playing pretty consistently, about 3-5 times a week for about 30 minutes on average. I am lucky because I have a heated location to kick in the student hall at the uni where I work. Low traffic, non-abrasive (but slightly slippery) flooring, and control over the room temperature. On that note, I will be moving to Hiroshima in March to start a new job. One of the things I need to find is a new shred spot.

I am committed to improving my game in a methodical way since finding out about Worlds being in Japan and so have been doing 100 toe stalls, then (most recently) ATW in-out and out-in both sides x25. I really want to improve my foundation because I think that will give me the fastest progress towards bigger tricks, most notably my left toe. I want my game to be in A-form when worlds comes, and it is coming quick! I plan to compete in Routines for sure, and unsure what else I will do. I have a song picked out for my routine, and also have some sections sketched out, but they involve blenders, so not sure if I will refine them or what.

[Tjuggles]

Modified has been quiet recently (i.e., Dan and Erik haven't been posting...). Good news: my knee is 99% better. Bad news: I was filming and landed oddly last week and hurt the outside of my left knee. Good news: It wasn't as bad as I thought and was find in a couple of days.

I think I kicked 4 days last week, always doing the same warm-up drills to get my flipside up to speed. It is a slow process, but glad to be in the habit of doing it every session. I watch Ken's videos and worry that I won't be ready for Worlds by summer, but what are you gonna do; only 24 hours in a day.

I plan on writing up some info for players coming here for worlds regarding things to do and see, etiquette, etc. For example, I'd be keen on taking people to a hot spring once or thrice.

Anyway, I have been recording at the end of the last two sessions, so will try to upload soon. I forgot how it feels to kick on film; you want to push harder for bigger tricks (and thus I landed oddly on my knee and twisted it slightly as I mentioned). Ah middle age...

[Dio]

Hey TJ, hope your knee recovers soon. I've found that by working on hip flexibility and keeping my dexes within a safety window, I've minimized my own knee strain. It has changed my game a bit but I consider this an adaptation of middle age!

Filming your practice is totally different than a meditative, private session. You are 'putting on an audience' at all times. I plan to film myself (and maybe upload the good parts!) as preparation for Worlds. I want to nail a routine and this is like everyone has their cameras on you!

Your advice for those of us travelling to Japan would be most welcome, as would an outing to a hot spring at some point for the physical (and mental) benefits. Devon and I are so excited for the trip and can't stop throwing new ideas around about what to do... where to go.

I forget to check Modified but keep it on my Bookmarks bar. I am consciously pulling back from Facebook more and more but it's nice to stay connected through writing.

[boyle]

Good news on the knee TJ. I'm looking for to going to Japan - I think a little guide like that would be excellent. Just looking at booking my tickets in the coming days but the flights are probably not as well priced as I was hoping.

[Tjuggles]

Hey TJ, hope your knee recovers soon. I've found that by working on hip flexibility and keeping my dexes within a safety window, I've minimized my own knee strain. It has changed my game a bit but I consider this an adaptation of middle age!

Thanks, Dante. I have been focusing on basics to improve form, which I think will also help keep my dexes in that safety window. Just thankful to still be able to kick!

Filming your practice is totally different than a meditative, private session. You are 'putting on an audience' at all times. I plan to film myself (and maybe upload the good parts!) as preparation for Worlds. I want to nail a routine and this is like everyone has their cameras on you!

I agree completely; I feel the need to do tricks I rarely practice, or at least hit combos that I don't think of when I am not recording.

So stoked you are coming out here! It is going to be so fun! At the moment, and probably until April, things are so busy with me that shredding will probably be on the back burner. Today is likely my last day in my office, meaning I need to finish cleaning, pack the rest of my stuff up, then go home and do the same thing for our move this coming Sunday.

Your advice for those of us travelling to Japan would be most welcome, as would an outing to a hot spring at some point for the physical (and mental) benefits. Devon and I are so excited for the trip and can't stop throwing new ideas around about what to do... where to go.

I love hot springs. I will try to find a couple good ones. I couldn't seem to find any right near the venue, but will keep looking.

[Tjuggles]

Good news on the knee TJ. I'm looking for to going to Japan - I think a little guide like that would be excellent. Just looking at booking my tickets in the coming days but the flights are probably not as well priced as I was hoping.

Will do. Yeah ticket prices...

[Tjuggles]

I have finished moving from Okayama to Hiroshima. We have a nice place with a great view. I had my first session in about 3 weeks yesterday and it felt great. I used the gym for the first time and unfortunately the floor is quite slippery. I may try to find somewhere else, we will see. The system here is interesting. Anytime you want to use a facility (e.g., weight room, gym, etc), you need to write your name down and the security room gives you a key to the location. When you finish you return it, and write the time that you returned it. Just a small hurdle, but I am used to being able to walk around freely from my last employer.

Anyway, need to get into a schedule so I am as ready as I can be for World's!

[Dio]

Moving is exhausting - I just finished moving an hour away from my last place. Okayama looks like its more than twice as far from Hiroshima. Hope it went smooth and congrats!

Gym policies can be a bummer - we've been kicked out of yoga rooms before for unauthorized usage. Sometimes you just gotta know someone (like the custodian) who will let you have free run of the place. At least it sounds like you get decent privacy when shredding?

Hope you find your flow with training. I'm coming off 4 days straight shred at the Canadian Closed (2) and with the warmer weather finally hitting in Ontario, it's maximally motivating. I suppose it's already pretty warm over there (cherry blossom season?).