Busted Bootflog

[busted]

Not much to report today. My you-know-what was you-know-whatting. So instead I worked on things that were not too stressful.

Today I came close to (kicked it, strong side).
DRIFTER > SPINNING CLIPPER.

I've been trying all my DRIFTERs downtime, which is why I haven't hit this yet. I've figured out that one trick to dt DRIFTER is simply to still put the dex high over the bag. Before I think I was trying to be too economical and thus having problems doing anything with dt DRIFTER after the trick is landed.

Surprisingly, I also felt pretty good about my strong side SPINNING CLIPPER. It's a good challenge that Jeremy posted for me because it's working things that I'm not good at and further doable with not so much stress.

Finally, I came very near to SWIRL > SWIRL, which will soon be a new first of mine.

Sorry for the lame session, but I gotta work within my limits.

Regards,
-David

PS If you are curious about the avatar, or just want to laugh your ass off:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/22/ugly.dog.ap/

[busted]

Well my you-know-what was still you-know-whating. So I practiced a few moves that were still challenging, but only on one side so that my you-know-what wasn't stressed, and so gets better.

Practiced BLENDER, which I may have hit a few times, but I think it's very easy to THE so I won't claim it until I have confirmation from someone else.

Practiced REAPER and felt like I had a chance a few times, but I didn't hit it. No problem, I think this move takes time.

Tried a bunch of SPINNING CLIPPERS and I had alot of success, so this is a great result of being too beat up to try my normal stuff. I actually felt like I had a chance to hit it whenever I set it straight enough and high enough.

That's all from your friendly pal Dave.

[busted]

Today was a painful day but not without its successes. As I've written, my strong stepping knee has been hurting me, so I've been trying to stay off it. Of course I still want to get my shred in so I'm only doing moves that put no real pressure on the one leg. This is much easier said then done. I feel like I'm in a rock and hard place because I want to go to the Vienna Kickmas Jam. If I take the time off to rest then my game will suck and I'll be tired super-quick. If I don't take time off then I risk my knee still hurting and not really being able to play well at all. So I'm trying to compromise. I'll let you know if it was a good strategy.

So the moves that I came up with to work on are (all one sided, of course).
DIVING CLIPPER
DIVING BUTTERFLY
SWIRL
REAPER
PIXIE CLIPPER

I hit:
DIVING CLIPPERx5
DIVING BUTTERFLYx2
SWIRLs (but not x2, like I was shooting for.)
PIXIE CLIPPER > (far) LEGOVER [rptx5]
BUTTERFLY SWIRL

And of course the best part about it all is that my knee is not any more sore than it was before I started shredding!!! And I do believe it's getting better. The last time I kicked in Vienna my OTHER knee hurt (the usual one). So then I had an excuse, I can't use the same one twice.

Regards,
-Dave

[busted]

I just got my new GUNITS today.

They shur are purtty! I havin't really played in them yet since I'm waiting for my knee to heal, which should be pretty soon now.

I easily broke my OSIS record in about 10 minutes without warming up. I guess what they say about the GUNITS is true.

I have also put up a comprehensive photo sequence on what I did to modify them. If you are interested, it's only a link away.

Kind Regards,
-David

[busted]

Well my knee is definitely better and better. Today I still stayed off of it as much as possible. I DO think I will be able to shred in Vienna this weekend!

I practiced the same old: SWIRL, DIVING CLIPPER, SPINNING CLIPPER, downtime DRIFTER. I tried PDX DRIFTER since it's a completely one-sided move, and also because I thought it might help with normal downtime DRIFTER, since the DRIFTER in PDX DRIFTER has to be downtime. It wasn't a complete disaster...

I was able to hit the majority of SWIRLS that I tried. But I simply couldn't hit two in a row, which is what I was going for. I find that the SWIRL is constantly being set too far back. One thing I have noticed is that the SWIRL is getting so good that I'm starting to dex it really far in on the body and with the ankle even! I'm excited about this development. The trick is that I'm really jumping off the plant leg, and not forcing the dexing leg to do all the work.

I'm sure I can now depend on my strong side spinning clipper. When my knee is fully healed I will focus on linking out of it.

The most important part of the shred is that I played in my new G-UNITS. They were great. I can say that I didn't play any worse in brand new G-UNITS than I did in my old lavers, and I consider that to really be saying something. The only small problem I have to solve is that my large insole sticks out on the side of the shoe and makes that playing surface slightly uneven. I'm not sure it actually made a difference, however. I can always just get smaller insoles.

Kind Regards,
-David

PdxSymp Btw, if you like my new avatar "Shedding Gumby" (which is here to stay) please let me know! It was my wife's idea and design. (I'm trying to encourage her interest in footbag.)

[busted]

Today the big news was trying to play with both legs again. It wasn't great but it wasn't so bad either. The whole point is that I really want to go to the Vienna KickMasJam but if my GODDAMNED knee isn't well then I know there are only two possibilities: 1. I play aggressively and hurt my knee more, 2. I don't play aggressively and then I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing at a sports event when I can't play sports! Of course the peeps in Vienna are very cool but I know myself.

So the prognosis will be tomorrow when I try to walk on the knee, and if there is any pain, and if so, how much. Like the Architect says in the Matrix, there are levels of survival I am prepared to accept.

I didn't run any strings today, but I hit dt DLOs from clipper on weakside, DIVING CLIPPERx5, a couple of weakside BLURs, SWIRLS.

I'm still having trouble hitting two SWIRLS in a row. The problem is that I'm constanstly sending the bag back, and while I can catch it when it's somewhat behind me, I can't really do anything with it except bail, and certainly not another SWIRL.
I think I need to decide if I'm doing a downtime SWIRL or a regular SWIRL, since I am sort of doing both, depending on the day. I read the tricktips on SWIRLS and it's clear that everybody who does them, does them uptime, small, and very fast. I guess I will aim for this myself.

Pray that my knee feels good tomorrow!

Regards,
-David

[busted]

Well, I didn't go to Vienna for the KickMasJam. Of course, I feel like a loser, but I just don't think my knee was up to it. I sure hope it gets better soon. I've never had a problem like this where staying off of it did't make it better quickly. Of course, I haven't done a very good job of staying off of it, either.

So, to that end. I am taking at least a week off of footbag. Which means that I won't kick while in Vienna for Christmas holiday. But dammit I really want to kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, maybe I'll bring my gear and have a SINGLE session with the Vienna crew, if anybody is still around for the holidays.

Oh... the life of an addict.

Check y'all in a week or so.

Kind Regards,
-David

[busted]

So today is a week since I kicked last. My knee is feeling pretty good.

The question is whether now to hold off on kicking in order to consolidate my knee, OR... kick while I'm on vacation in Vienna. Maybe once, if there is anybody around for before Christmas.

So if anybody from Vienna is interested, my wife and I will be staying in the 1st district until Monday the 26th. If peeps are kicking then I'm probably interested.

Kind Regards,
-David

[verena]

david, when are you coming to vienna?

[busted]

Hi Verena,

I'm here right now... just checked in. We've got high speed in the hotel room so I'm set!

-D

[mr.alex]

Hi David! Welcome in Vienna again!

On Friday we have a training session in the WUK (Währingerstraße 59 9th district). It's in the "Initiativenraum": Stiege 5 (door in the back on the right side. 1st floor right. Bad explanation, I know. Just ask in the office at the entrance or call me (pmed you my phone no.)

Not many will be attending cause they are away, but I'll be there for sure
Looking forward to see you again, if you can make it and your knee isn't too bad!

[busted]

Well, I had a lot of fun kicking in Vienna with Alex and Hanna. I played fairly aggressively and my knee felt basically fine while I was playing. Afterwards, however, and the next day, it was quite apparent that my knee still wasn't ready after a one week rest. So I hereby resolve to do like the IP protocol does when polling for messages over the line... I'll do wait for 2^n time and increase n by one each time that I kick and the knee feels like shit afterwards.

So far, I've tried 2 days, 4 days, and one week. So 2^n now goes to two weeks (starting from last Friday). I really hope that I feel better after two weeks cause I sure don't want to take a whole month off! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! It should be noted that I used the elliptical machine in the hotel gym and my knee didn't hurt whatsoever. So I can do exercise and stay healthy.... just not the sport I love.

Btw, I think Hanna is ready to get good real quick. She was so close to RIPWALK, a perfect step every time, a very nice PIXIE, she hit DATW first time, she just needs to start shredding the moves and use actual moves to solidify her fundamentals, which clearly she has a lot of! Oh yeah... don't forget to work that weak clipper which is really holding you back!

Will post again in about 10 days. If anybody wants to send my right knee good vibes, it's open for bidness.
-D

[busted]

Well, I'm exactly one week into my two week haitus from footbag. So far so good. When I do the 'test-my-knee-dance' (sort of like from the early 90s when KrisKross'll make you jump-jump!!!), my knee doesn't hurt. This means that I can even put good weight on it.

But now I'm going to be good and wait one more week before attempting to shred again. Wish me luck! When the pain stops the addiction really kicks in.

I have extra motivation to let my knee heal fully because my buddy Matt Isanuk is moving to Prag for the semester so I am planning some shred sessions with him.

Kind Regards and Happy New Year!
-David

[busted]

Well, I was so inspired by ana_ali's year reprisal that I thought I would do one myself.

Let's see this... this was both a good and a bad year for me in footbag. Let's start with the bad so that I can end on a high note for the year.

The BAD:

The bad was that I moved away from my homebase and the peeps that have taught me so much about footbag. Additionally, the physical resources here simply aren't up to the level that I had access to at Columbia University. As a result I really believe my game has suffered because I've been constantly battling knee injury for the last few months.

This year I sustained two serious injuries. The first was last spring, I hurt my left foot to the point that I had to take about a month off, plus all the crappy playing during the time just before I made that decision. My left foot is now completely healed. The second serious injury appears to be a patellar tendonitus, which has completely derailed my game now for about a month and half. I think it is useful to recount these injuries in the reprisal of the new year so that I can study the situation and avoid it in the future.

The GOOD:

It was the first year that I ever felt I was "good" or that I could "shred." What I mean by this is that my string length started getting longer and I started playing at a guiltless level with a variety of moves. This was most evident when I would play with Matt and Xander and (with the help of a handicap) would beat them occasionally at the game we made up... we called it "footbag", it's kinda like horse but different, someday I'll post it. Said succinctly, this was the first summer where I was proud to play in front of people in Union Square.

• * This year I felt like I have nearly mastered PIXIE and STEPPING.
  * I feel like my OSIS is 80% reliable.
  * My DUCKING and DIVING has become fairly reliable.
  * Progress was made on my shuffle game.
  * I learned to doube dex and now my DOUBLE SWITCHOVER and PARADON are reliable.
  * I learned how to hit ATOMIC sets which had baffled me for quite some time (odd since I could hit a descent QUANTUM for over a year).
  * My WHIRL came around and is now quite reliable.
  * I hit for the first time my 3-dex moves: SMOG & PIXIE PARADON.
  * I started to really focus on downtime.
  * I have started down the road of PARADOX: I hit PARADOX DLO and PARADOX WHIRL for the first time this summer.
  *I am nearly complete with learning all the fundamental concepts (excepting symposium which I stay away from for health reasons) and fairy, which despite my best efforts, continues to absolutely ellude me.

So what would I like to get out of footbag in 2006?

First and foremost I want to play for the entire year!!! This means I am striving for an injury-free year. To this end I have educated myself on various strenghening exercises that will help my knees take the stress of my 6'4'' (194cm) frame. I have started taking Glucosamin/Chondroiten/MSM supplements, and I have switched to G-Units. I promise to do my part to stay healthy, I hope my body can do its part. I also promise to stay within the principle of "implied demand" for my body.

For footbag, I would like to achieve the following:

• * Continue the work of completing the fundamental movements (until the weather is nice).
  * Continue my work with DOWNTIME.
  * Really, really, really try to get good at SPINNING.
  * Increase my run length with more difficult moves that I've learned (when the weather is nice).
  * More control and balance.
  * Hit RIP WARRIOR.
  * Make it to WORLDS! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm only 6 hours from Frankfurt you US REPUBLICAN BASTARDS AHAHAHAHA!
  * Kick more with Klemens and the Vienna scene.
  * Definitely kick with Matt Isanuk.
  * GET BETTER. SHRED HARD
  * AVOID INJURY. DO NO MOVE THAT CAUSES PAIN, DESPITE PEER PRESSURE.

Peace to all-yall.
-David

PS Did I forget to mention HAVE FUN ?

[mr.alex]

Hi David!
It was really fun kicking with you last time. Sorry to hear that your knee was hurting again afterwards.
Good luck on achieving all your plans and most importantly not getting injured again! See you sometime this year!

greetings from Vienna!!!

[Klemens]

Long time ago, since we kicked together the last time...

It's great to hear about your great plans for 2006 and i wish you all the best to attain your goals!
Maybe i could add one VERY IMPORTANT THING to your list:

We have to find a suitable place to kick during the winter. A place, with a goot surface which helps you avoid knee injuries.

I'll be back in Graz on Monday and I really want to play footbag again
The last month i think i played 4 times or something like that (kick-mas-jam included... )

so, cya!
klemens

[busted]

Hi Klemens! - Thanks for the positive response. I'm very much looking forward to kicking with you again soon. We should definitely find a place to kick. Let's stay in touch.

As for my knees, I kicked on Wednesday, which meant I was a very good boy and waited almost 3 weeks to kick. That was very hard to do. Anyways, my knees felt pretty good afterwards, so I definitely feel like I'm on the road to recovery. My plan is to start playing more frequently, but still take it slow so that I give my body the time to build up the demands that I am placing on it.

Kind Regards,
-David

[busted]

My blog is officially back and open for action! Yesterday I had my second session since my three week break and my injury of about two months ago. I felt great kicking and so did my knee, and this morning, no pain whatsoever. I even tried a BLUR or two. So, I'll continue to calmly and patiently work back to regular shredding regimen of ~3 times/work now that I feel my knee can be trusted.

The next step is for the Graz Crew to stop playing ORF Ski Challenge 06' and get busy finding a new place to shred.

Kind Regards,
-David

[busted]

I kicked twice since my last post, 3 days ago and today. I think today was the first time I've felt good about kicking in probably 2 months. I can't tell y'all how nice that is. Injury sucks. I'm so damned dependent on footbag for cardiovascular exercise and when I can't kick I just about freak out. Of course, I could go to the gym and cross train, but that's a lot harder here in Graz, Austria... trust me on this one. The idea of low fat here is butter instead of lard... Seriously, one of the main snacks that mugs eat around here is a slice of hardy bread with lard. No shit. Anyways...

Today I think I turned the corner with my new G-Units. I started to have some foot pain in my left foot about a week ago. I think it's because I took the insoles from my lavers and used them in the G-Units, even thought the G-Units are completely different shoes. So I swapped out the insoles for brand new ones that are much thinner, and I think (and hope) now that the pain will abate. Additionally, the BIG-O insoles that I had in the G-Units were interfering with the flat surface that is used for the CLIPPER stall, so they were really a double whammy.

Who remebers that show from the 80s called 'Press Your Luck'? All the contestents kept yelling "No whammies, no whammies. no whammies. STOP!!!" The whammies were these creatures that would come out and eat all their points, kind of like when a Modified mod shuts some dumbass down for acting up. Some dude had 'pwn3d' as his "adjective-below-the-name-thingy." Is there a single word for this? Perhaps whoever installed the system could look in the source-code for the name of the database field...

Injuries are kind of like whammies. I think I should start saying "No whammies, no whammies. no whammies. STOP!!!" right before I start each string in a circle. I wonder how long it would take before people threw me out of the circle?

Anyways, my knee is almost completely healed and today I felt like I shredded at maybe 70%, which is awesome considering where my knee was.

Anyways, the only new thing I hit was, and I was quite satisfied with simply it because the downtime felt as natural as well... A Goesser and a slice of hardy bread with lard on it.
(dt clipper) DLO -> ss BUTTERFLY [repeat]

Kind Regards,
-David

Btw, really, if you don't have that super ankle crank that only some people seem to have, G-Units are the shoes for you. *FUCK* all this nonsense about the shoes making the game too easy. When the game is played by half the USA, like basketball, then maybe I'll be sympathetic to that line of reasoning.

[busted]

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've posted here. I'm once in three weeks instead of the usual three per one week. The knee continues to heal, but slowly, and then I overkick and it hurts again. So now I've started to make my sessions shorter, which I think is a good solution. But I figure if I'm posting here then that's a very good sign.

Anyways, I'm very happy to say I think I hit a new move!
DOUBLE PIXIE (TERRAGE)! But I the second dex was not uptime. No big deal, I was still happy with the new move. I tried to hit it both sides, but no-go. I think it would be cool to hit TERRAGING BUTTERFLY, but we'll get there when we get there.

I also hit SPINNING CLIPPER > BOP > SPINNING CLIPPER > BOP which is new for me. Hopefully my spins will keep coming if I keep practicing them.

Finally, the other nice combo was PIXIE MIRAGE x3! (Hmmm... I wonder where the TERRAGE came from).

Kind Regards,
-David