Maxblog: now officially living in Sydney!

max · Post by **max** » 19 Nov 2004 02:40

quick update:
- had a long session with Mathias Lino Schmitt from Germany the other day. He is so bothsided it's sickening. blurriests, steeping whirls, flurries, fairy same dlos.. everything both sides.. very talented shredder to say the least!

- have not had a ciggarette in 53 days (or thereabouts). And what is good is that I am only now starting to feel a difference physicaly: My run length hasn't really changed much, but my stamina has sky-rocketed! At the French Open when doing my 2 min routines, by the end of the run, I was still standing/shredding, controlling the bag, I wasn't the usual palpitating puddle of sweat I become after two minutes.
Also my session stamina has nearly doubled. I used to play for 2 hours before being flat out dead tired. Now I can play for three hours NO PROBLEM

this is getting better

max · Post by **max** » 25 Nov 2004 09:28

59 days cigarette-free
5 days without a drop of alcohol (but not to worry, this will be stopped tonight

)

had a weekly training session with Fred yesterday. We kicked about 2h30 and at the end I felt like I could have kicked for another 2, no problem. i wasn't very successfull in my runs but it was a fun training session. I hit 9x ripwalk and lots of osis combos, 20+ guiltless strings and the like.
We practised some team freestyle and we're starting to work on our routine for next Worlds. He have taken a change in direction concerning choreography and have decided to incorporate things that are more crowd pleasning than they are team-freestyle.. anyway so we toyed around with some combos and hit these:

- I set
- Fred delays on shoulder, sets it up
- I delay on neck, let it roll down my back
- Fred delays on knee, set it up
- I do a sqeeze
- Fred puts foot underneath my knees, I let the bag drop onto
- Fred's heel delay, he drops that onto my
- Sole delay and finally back to Fred's toe.

another one, that is pretty hard:
(while team-freestyling)
- I set the bag high
- Fred does a neck delay and lets the bag roll down his back
- I toe delay behind him and set the bag through his legs
- he catches that far and does a pendulum (I'm still behind him)
- I mirage out of his pendulum, as he hoops the bag (team stuff)
- he does a knee bump
- I do a drifter (he hoops that too)

it's pretty hard

Anyway so we were toying around with stuff like that.
Oh, and it is getting FREEZING in Paris and I'm not playing as much as I'd like.

max · Post by **max** » 25 Nov 2004 09:30

oh yeah also had this ROLL OFF my clipper delay:

spinning pdx dlo > toe whirling swirl

that would have been a cool combo (even cooler with a pixie before the WS)

max · Post by **max** » 14 Dec 2004 02:47

Havn't smoked a ciggie in so long I can't even remember how many weeks it's been since I quit!! It's starting to be absolutly fucking freezing here in Paris, today for example there is a high of [wait for it] 3° celsius!! Yay!

My motivation for footbagging has been faltering of late.. it's just getting too cold to kick (even indoors). Still every now and then I want to footbag so I go for a quick hour or two.

Anyway lately I've been workinbg on my flip setping set A LOT and I have been doing a considerable amount of shuffling (ripwalk x 10, ripwalk > blur > smoke [rpt] and that kind of stuff) and so there I was attempting to beat my ripwalk record when it hit me:

I REALLY DISLIKE SHUFFLING

So I'm dropping sets.
Yup dropping sets altogether with the exception of muted sets. Symps are out also.
Oh and I'm going to do 2 adds again (like far pickup, guay, symple legover, reverse swirling toe stall etc..).

And I'm going to learn to spin on my flip side.

Well I want to do all this of course but I'm footbagging maybe once a week max these days so that may take some time. On the other hand I've been hammering out the abs and the weights lately and I've got bigger arms

bon, am at work later all

max · Post by **max** » 20 Dec 2004 01:13

Ok so here's the deal, it's winter, it's freezing, I'm 26 going on 27, I have too much work, and I've been getting a bit bored with footbag of late. Hence I decided last time I kicked taht I was going to stop hitting sets (better for knees/joints) and just go out and have fun, fsck bsos, fsck guiltless, fsck conventions, I just wanted to footbag to music, to have a nice flow and to enjoy hitting smooth combos.

So that's what I did! I had a 2 hour session with these sets:

pixie: I hit 4 pixie toe moves (all linked to each other) and a couple of muted pixie sets. In 2 hours of footbag, it's NOTHING.
stepping: 0 stepping sets
atomic: 3 or 4 very styly muted atomic sets
nuclear : 0
quantum : 0
fairy: half a dozen fairy swirls (done uptime)

So I was trying different things:
- Have a good flow
- maximize control
- do smooth links
- all downtime
- no unnecessary little steps between tricks.

I ended up hitting lots of new combos I'd never done before, and sometimes while I was shredding some combos felt very very very smooth. I have to watch more Lon footage. I reember hitting long runs with lots of spins, gyros, dynos, torques, ducks, ducking/diving osis, inspins, drifters, dlos...

I did hit this:
barrage > flip paradon
drifter > pdx dlo > atomic osis (planting as late as possible)
run > spinning butterfly > merkon > spinning osis > run
run >spinning clipper > merkon > fairy swirl > spinning osis > stuff
dyno > torque > dyno
dyno > spinning osis > run
osis > the cleanest pdx torque I have ever hit

I can't remember a lot of the combos I hit but I do know that I took a big step towards smooth flowy style (I'm aiming to have a more Lon Smith / Juan Rangell type of game).

I doubt I'll kick for another 2 weeks though with all the work / christmas / freezing cold coming up.

Leuch · Post by **Leuch** » 20 Dec 2004 03:10

Where did you kick put1?? Hey, next time you play, you better call us!!
No comment about your decison...
Zerg hits Janiwalker!

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 20 Dec 2004 09:39

Ok so here's the deal, it's winter, it's freezing, I'm 26 going on 27, I have too much work, and I've been getting a bit bored with footbag of late.

Max,

27 is a good year. Its 3 to the third power. And everybody knows 3 is a lucky number. Thats why the third time is the charm, and genies always give three wishes.

And you are not bored with footbag. You've just got those frustrated winter blues. Keep playing. Try to play regularly, even if you don't play hard. When it starts to get nice out again you'll be glad that you're still in shape and not really out of practice. And psychologists say regular exercise is one of the best ways to keep those winter blues from overwhelming you.

decided last time I kicked taht I was going to stop hitting sets (better for knees/joints

I'm not going to praise or fault your decision. I do think its okay to let go of the idea that you need to learn every technique in freestyle. I once wanted to learn every trick, but for years now I've prefered to follow the path of least resistance and mostly do what feels most natural to me. I've also largely stopped doing tricks that I feel are too stressful on my poor, aging joints. I miss my ripsteins and whirling swirls alot, but I've found that there is lots of other stuff to take their place, and I wouldn't trade them back even if I could. One thing I will say about the knees/joints issue: I suspect that the moves that are worst for your joint health are simply those moves that you do too much. I believe that if you keep your techniques varied and don't do any one style too much you can probably safely do some of everything. Its just a little harder to get really good at something if you don't do it constantly. On that note, I'd say that its also okay to abondon your sets for a while to work on other techniques. You can always come back to those styles later if you want them. They'll wait for you.

Anyway, I like the sounds of your recent combos, and I want to suggest one for you:
Spinning Butterfly > Torque > Spinning Osis.
Personally, I just love those changes of momentum. For a long time I felt that it was the funnest thing the game had to offer.

Have a merry Christmas and happy new year, mon ami.

Oh, and I didn't mean to sound unsympathetic with that "you're not bored with footbag" thing, I was just trying to be a little motivating, ya know?

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 20 Dec 2004 23:06

max,
interesting to hear where you're taking your game. it's a different approach. man, thinking about going for juan style is bang on. that dewd loves his drifters, whirls, torques, and spinning osii. i love watching him play. also, lon does shuffle alot, and is one of the smoothest shufflers around. doesn't mean you should change your game plan, just pointing out that if you want control and stlye it doesn't mean you have to cut out a certain aspect of your game. are you gonna go for "franky stlye" whit that "fuck tricks and adds, it's just footbag" attitude? i like watching frank play as well. he always looks liken he's having alot of fun!
any way. i'll catch you at footjam... put1. haha!

max · Post by **max** » 21 Dec 2004 00:46

heh I think it's mostly just about doing things that feel GOOD. Yes Franky Style is all about doing whatever you want regardless of what other people think. It's a pretty sound strategy.

Jon: Yes that's exactly the kind of combos I'm looking for! I will try this next time i play if I remember (I probably will).

Andrew: Yes Lon is a very smooth shuffler, still I much much prefer his liquid spinning / osii / ducking game (à la Juan). That's what I'm aiming for. It looks a lot more impressive, it's easier to follow, it has great flow and looks easier on the joints!

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 21 Dec 2004 23:45

à la juan! haha, awesome!!! well i'm glad you're happy with your choice and i wish you the best of luck with it.

max · Post by **max** » 29 Dec 2004 01:57

I had a session yesterday!
My second since my no-set policy. It was a very fun session where I tried lots of new combos. I tried Jon's combo (spinning butterfly > torque > spinning osis) but failed to spin out of the torques. Very fun combo though.

I hit lots of flip barflies. They're still pretty new to me. Oh I did hit three new tricks:

- vertigo
- ducking pdx dlo
- tomahawk

ALL WITHOUT PLANTS. That made vertigo even easier than it was before surprisingly.
I also did

duking osis > dyno x3
dyno x4
dyno > pdx drifter (with no plants) x4

and truckloads of other combos that had nice flow to them. I've got much better control over the bag. And that's cool.

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 29 Dec 2004 22:17

i was gonna ask if you were smoking crack, because i've seen you hit blurtigo befor, but then i realized, with out plants. i still can't hit tomohawk with out planting.

max · Post by **max** » 30 Dec 2004 01:22

hehe I still havn't hit blurtigo. And I won't anytime these days. But one day I'll hit the following drill

drifter > pdx drifter > drifter > pdx drifter

but the alpine version

max · Post by **max** » 30 Dec 2004 01:50

I'm going to kick tonight. I'm not sure what I'll practice.
Probably lots of flip pdx drifters and maybe some flip vertigos.
Oh I equaled my drifter record with 12 last tuesday. I'll try and beat that again. And I want to do about a dozen diving osis, probably one of the coolest looking moves ever.

Oh yeah I remember now, I want to ducking osis out of inspinning osis.

Shit I remember now: on one side I had inspinning drifter V-E-R-Y close and I was all over inspinning torque on my other side.

I asked santa for a flip spin, but all I got were some boxer shorts ...

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 30 Dec 2004 20:56

max wrote:hehe I still havn't hit blurtigo

umm, you must have been smoking crack. because i'm pretty sure the first day at place des arts i asked you to hit it, and you did... right? right? am i smoking crack? i'll go check...

max wrote:I asked santa for a flip spin, but all I got were some boxer shorts ...

yeah i asked him for a beast but i got an iron maiden album instead.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 30 Dec 2004 23:29

I really like what I'm hearing here, Max. The dyno>p-drifter combos, the diving osis. Inspins are tres tres cool. On that note I'll try to segue into...

tried Jon's combo (spinning butterfly > torque > spinning osis) but failed to spin out

Try just the first two as its own combo. Try to do it and repeat it (same side). Then try the last two on their own. Try to do them repeating too (op side). I think these tricks are fun just as pairs, and pretty good as drills when you go for the repeat. Now, to come full circle with another segue into...
Spin to Inspin is also really fun and satisfying. Moreso, I think, when it involves a change in direction, like spinning clipper to inspinning clipper, as opposed to spinning osis to inspinning osis (which rotates all in one direction [not that there is anything wrong with that, but it just doesn't have the same thrill as that quick little back-and-forth]).
Hmm... A tangent...
The change of momentum, maybe you should be able to get an extra add, a sort of paradox add, for a combo (like "these two tricks when done back to back require an extra little something of a body move, kinda, so they get one combined paradox add between the two of them...")

And now to finish with a non-sequitor (not really):
I hope your decision to change your style does not mean that you'll stop working doubles. Doubles is so cool, it might be the most artistic and stylie way of shredding. As long as you are going to deliberately change your style, tell yourself that the change should involve MORE doubles (even if its just a little more). There has been a lot of talk lately about doing things differently, opening up new freestyle territory. Doubles probably has lots of room for new stuff. Maybe it can even be brought up to a whole new level, the way shred has seemingly risen to new levels on a regular basis over the last few years.

max · Post by **max** » 31 Dec 2004 02:08

umm, you must have been smoking crack. because i'm pretty sure the first day at place des arts i asked you to hit it, and you did... right? right? am i smoking crack? i'll go check...

Yes I believe you were smoking crack. I'd just gotten off the plane, had been coaxed into drinking unhealthy amounts of fine french wine, I could barely stand when I got to Canada!
You did call out a blurtigo and I got close.. but did not delay the bag.

Jon: Fred and I talked about doubles yesterday. We havn't played in a long time. I think tha's because over the past year ALL we've been doing is practicing a routine. And that's just not fun, we managed to take all the fun out of shredding doubles. So we decided that:
we would get back to playing doubles, but just for fun. No more practicing routines, synchro stuff, one-touch, just plain ol' having fun.

max · Post by **max** » 31 Dec 2004 02:15

Ok other combos I hit yesterday:

drifter x 22
weaving osis > weaving osis (you'll like taht one Jon no doubt)
lots of Nate-like ducks/dives all over the place

41 tricks guiltless
barfly > barrage > doble over down
flip double pickup
flip spinning osis
diving ss blender

20+ duck/dive combo(s)
diving op osis > diving osis
vortex > blender

flip vertigo on my foot about 4 times. Like void, I can delay the bag but am in such a twisted state that I can't set it up more than a couple of inches...

If like Jon you enjoy momentum changes, I tried this, and got close:

osis > gyro dyno > spinning osis

I've been doing long strings lately, and I have been doing a lot less "footwork" during my shreds. I think that my game has bean cleaned up so to speak, and I definatly have a lot more control over the bag. Fell free to submit more Juanesque combos here, I'll give them a shot if I feel I can come close.

max · Post by **max** » 14 Jan 2005 01:20

egarding Ken's post on the montreal blog, I just thought I'd point out to whoever's reading, which blogs I read:

I read Hacksterbater's and Ken's blogs because frankly they make me laugh. Not all the time but every now and then there'll be some hilarious posts (like Andrew's frozen sticker post). Ken's blog also adds a lot of oldschool footbag trivia which I must admit is fun to read.

I read up on Chan's blog because he's the oldest forum member I remember and I know he's been through a lot.

I read Tom Mosher's blog because I think he's a good guy and I'm interested to see how he's getting along with the whole school /dope /chick scenario which is not very easy to handle. I came and read the Montreal blog because I read in Tom's that Ken had posted here..

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 14 Jan 2005 01:56

Hey Max, I may be coming to France this summer, for, like, a month. It's just talk at this point, though. I don't think we would be living in Paris, either; I forget what the city is called.