Wheezing upon arrival home. Ran home from kicking. Great. I got "exercise induced asthma". Had it since I was a kid and just tried to ignore it. I told myself it was because I never excercised when I was younger, and then I blamed it on smoking cigarettes. I am supposed to get health insurance from my job in 4 months. You know, because I am already a working full-time employee there right now, but just happened to be a temp there for the previous 3 months. When I get myself some Rx for this it's going to be on. If I have made it as far as I have without meds, I hope I can't wait to see what will come next. End Rant.
Kicked With Jake.
Weak strings. Low energy. Early shred. Lot's of off-side dynos. Lot's of screwed-up offside atomic sets. Paradons were hot on both sides.
Some of the longest, boringist strings ever.
Came close to stepping far dyno.
Accidently tried symp. paradon. It felt like it might work!
No promises.
Steel City Freestyle
New years resolutions are good this year, since I am turning thirty in about two days and I need to take control of my future.
I have officially given up playing videogames recreationally.
Eveyday I have to do at least one tutorial. Starting with Illustrator, then Flash, then Dreamweaver, then Max MSP and Jitter. I may start doing these a simultaneously. Footbag will be a reward for having done this or perhaps these the night prior.
Everyday I must do some form of upper-body exercise before going to bed.
Within the sport of footbag my goals are to school tiltless tricks. Closer in to my body. With the magic hop. Anything on top of that is gravy.
Half of my life I have been playing footbag. I have no regrets. Here's to another year!
I have officially given up playing videogames recreationally.
Eveyday I have to do at least one tutorial. Starting with Illustrator, then Flash, then Dreamweaver, then Max MSP and Jitter. I may start doing these a simultaneously. Footbag will be a reward for having done this or perhaps these the night prior.
Everyday I must do some form of upper-body exercise before going to bed.
Within the sport of footbag my goals are to school tiltless tricks. Closer in to my body. With the magic hop. Anything on top of that is gravy.
Half of my life I have been playing footbag. I have no regrets. Here's to another year!
Awesome session tonight. Ian and I played for like two hours, which is a lot for me anyway. We really took over the space tonight, moving more couches than we usually do in this little student loungey thing we play in, allowing us to play more in the lighted area, but also making the space more ours. Pitt's on vacation now, so I guess it's cool to do that, hopefully we'll be able to pull it off when they come back too.
This session was a bit of a psychology experiment for me. Rieferman said something in his blog following our session before xmas that hit a certain button in me
Bob said
So tonight I took some advice that Ian gave me, which was basically not to be lazy and put some more effort into tricks that I might otherwise take for granted, like osis for example. I extrapolated from his advice and put some effort into other tricks that are a little harder and I usually drop on, but I should really be able to do, like my weakside spins. I tried harder on those tonight and hit them alot more.
Then we played this fun game, where we'd just play while the other guy called out random tricks as we played and we'd hit them and then keep going as more tricks were named and hit. I think I had some of my longest strings all night during that game. Something about the distraction of listening kept my concentration in the spot I needed it to be to keep playing. Like I said, a psychology experiment. I'm still not sure what my hypothesis is, but I may be on to something.
Tonight was a bit of a creative night as well. Hitting tricks that fall outside of my habit range, and coming up with some neat repeat combos that I'll keep schooling:
stepping same side legover > toe whirl > repeat
paradox whirl > dlo > toe whirl > repeat
paradox illusion > toe whirl > repeat (I hit that one)
And oh yeah, I got way closer to Rubberman than anyone ever should without actually hitting it. I was on the last legbeater like 10 times. I almost had it once but I literally ran into a wall. I need to not set out in front of me so much. Ian said I looked like a moth that kept getting attracted to the wall. He's got a good sense of humor. I'm staying positive and thinking that if I came that close, I'll have to hit it soon.
Ian's living up to his new year's resolution of hitting his tricks tight and close to his body. He's also starting to own the 'magical hop' and get whirls and such down, saw him hit some nice DLOs today to, as well as the usual bling atomsmashers and paradons. Word up, can't wait to party with that dude on Friday for the big 3-0. We should shred at lava lounge, ha.
This session was a bit of a psychology experiment for me. Rieferman said something in his blog following our session before xmas that hit a certain button in me
Bob said
He's right, and I love how he threw that little bit of humor in there. I do drop on dumb ass stuff that I shouldn't. Like I'll hit blurry drifter, then drop on osis. It's really just dumb. But it's like some kind of glass barrier that I can't seem to get my mind through. It comes out alot more when I'm kicking with people I don't really know, or in competition, but it's also pretty much chronic in my game and I need to do something about it.Jake is so close to figuring out how to not drop the ball. He's got all the tricks, he just drops on dumb stuff sometimes. When he eliminates that, watch out.
So tonight I took some advice that Ian gave me, which was basically not to be lazy and put some more effort into tricks that I might otherwise take for granted, like osis for example. I extrapolated from his advice and put some effort into other tricks that are a little harder and I usually drop on, but I should really be able to do, like my weakside spins. I tried harder on those tonight and hit them alot more.
Then we played this fun game, where we'd just play while the other guy called out random tricks as we played and we'd hit them and then keep going as more tricks were named and hit. I think I had some of my longest strings all night during that game. Something about the distraction of listening kept my concentration in the spot I needed it to be to keep playing. Like I said, a psychology experiment. I'm still not sure what my hypothesis is, but I may be on to something.
Tonight was a bit of a creative night as well. Hitting tricks that fall outside of my habit range, and coming up with some neat repeat combos that I'll keep schooling:
stepping same side legover > toe whirl > repeat
paradox whirl > dlo > toe whirl > repeat
paradox illusion > toe whirl > repeat (I hit that one)
And oh yeah, I got way closer to Rubberman than anyone ever should without actually hitting it. I was on the last legbeater like 10 times. I almost had it once but I literally ran into a wall. I need to not set out in front of me so much. Ian said I looked like a moth that kept getting attracted to the wall. He's got a good sense of humor. I'm staying positive and thinking that if I came that close, I'll have to hit it soon.
Ian's living up to his new year's resolution of hitting his tricks tight and close to his body. He's also starting to own the 'magical hop' and get whirls and such down, saw him hit some nice DLOs today to, as well as the usual bling atomsmashers and paradons. Word up, can't wait to party with that dude on Friday for the big 3-0. We should shred at lava lounge, ha.
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Tonight was awesome. I have a shin splint and I was short of breathe most of the night but I still had tons of fun and made some big accomplishments.
Jake's game is good. He gets all the ladies-I mean he's hitting great strings-I mean, literally, his game that he created seems to work very well.
Jake's suggestions for combos and patience for helping me off-side whirl problem are working miracles.
So: Far osis-ripwalk on the other side. I have not repeated it but it's important and it will be great practice.
Ducking PM-flux, both sides
Many whirls on my bad side. And one that was highly set, downtime, and very deep.
Paradox whirl on good side, first or second try
uptime symposium illusion (frontside atomic toe?):lol: Thus the shin-spl...
Yeah- it sucks that my lungs are getting in the way of my game. I feel dumb that I never fessed-up to myself it was going on before. I thought if I was all bad-ass about it things would just clear up. Can't wait to get meds and see what I am really capable of.
I hope this long session thing becomes a trend. Too bad I start working nights next week.
Can't wait for Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah! Atomsmasher B2B, Frozen on my weak side. Booyah.
Jake's game is good. He gets all the ladies-I mean he's hitting great strings-I mean, literally, his game that he created seems to work very well.
Jake's suggestions for combos and patience for helping me off-side whirl problem are working miracles.
So: Far osis-ripwalk on the other side. I have not repeated it but it's important and it will be great practice.
Ducking PM-flux, both sides
Many whirls on my bad side. And one that was highly set, downtime, and very deep.
Paradox whirl on good side, first or second try
uptime symposium illusion (frontside atomic toe?):lol: Thus the shin-spl...
Yeah- it sucks that my lungs are getting in the way of my game. I feel dumb that I never fessed-up to myself it was going on before. I thought if I was all bad-ass about it things would just clear up. Can't wait to get meds and see what I am really capable of.
I hope this long session thing becomes a trend. Too bad I start working nights next week.
Can't wait for Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah! Atomsmasher B2B, Frozen on my weak side. Booyah.
After a lot of celebration last night my body was not sure what to do about me playing footbag today. At least it waited until after I was done to let me hear about.
Legbeater-far-symp.rev.whirl was nice.
There were good runs by all- Jake. Matt, me. Matt good at footbag. I'm glad he's back.
Jake has been out of control.
Legbeater-far-symp.rev.whirl was nice.
There were good runs by all- Jake. Matt, me. Matt good at footbag. I'm glad he's back.
Jake has been out of control.
lol, nice one manJake has been out of control
Nice to shred with Matt again, Ian's links are lookin' dope, I had a mad gin hangover today from celebrating Ian's b-day, but I still managed to get my foot on Vortex like twice. Oh, and I hit gyro mirage>legbeater. That's something I've wanted to hit for a long long time. woohoo!
It's 2:35 am and I just watched Peaceful Warrior. The movie was kind of lame, but I read the book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior back in highschool and it was pretty inspiring. The concept that I took away from it the most was the idea of being in Satori. I think that's borrowed from the Buddhist religion, but it's basically synonymous with being in "the zone", except Satori is a religious experience and "the zone" is something they say alot on ESPN. But someone like Michael Jordan scoring 60 points in a basketball game is pretty much an example of someone being in Satori I suppose.
I guess it's easy to apply this concept to sports cause the result is so tangible, but the point of the whole peaceful warrior thing is that you should live your entire life in Satori. I guess this would be like achieving enlightenment.
I would like to be there some day, but for now my goal is to try to achieve Satori while playing footbag. Extricating all foreign thoughts from my mind and being able to link tricks easily. Thoughts can be hard things to clear from your mind though. Maybe you just need to learn the right thoughts to focus on.
Speaking of linking tricks easily, Dave you are always welcome in the Steel City.
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Just got home from kicking with Matt. We had a really good session, despite the wet ground. It was 54 degrees out.
DOD bsos and right side, hippy legbeater. Failed on getting left side hippy legbeater.
Hit many DOD's and hippy legbeaters on both sides. Kicked hippy atomsmashers and fluxes on both sides as well but the control is not there yet. I think I need to concentrate on not leaning, where my weight is, etc, but I feel like this is a better way of kicking. Everything I am doing right now is centered around keeping my game closer in.
Can't wait to watch this new post of Clavens from Chicago.
You were right about the hippy atomic sets, Dave. And, I'm proud to say that I am making a lot of progress on whirls.
DOD bsos and right side, hippy legbeater. Failed on getting left side hippy legbeater.
Hit many DOD's and hippy legbeaters on both sides. Kicked hippy atomsmashers and fluxes on both sides as well but the control is not there yet. I think I need to concentrate on not leaning, where my weight is, etc, but I feel like this is a better way of kicking. Everything I am doing right now is centered around keeping my game closer in.
Can't wait to watch this new post of Clavens from Chicago.
You were right about the hippy atomic sets, Dave. And, I'm proud to say that I am making a lot of progress on whirls.
AM session with Matt #1. Rising and shining despite the oppressive new work schedule.
Matt did I nice alpine AS. And his whirls look good on both sides.
Started off really weak. The coffee kicked in eventually. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. My hippy atomic sets are not as good as they were Sunday. I think I should try warming up with the leggy style ones from now on an transition progressively through the session to conserve energy as my body warms up.
*hippy atomsmasher on right side. Hippy legbeaters bsos, though not really stalled as much as patted. Several on top of these, some decent.
*Ducking PM-paradon bsos.
*Paradon-dyno-torque both sides, different strings.
*footed 8 contacts of Paradon-PM in the good form paradons.
*4X ducking-infinities-decent string
*2X DOD on right side.
*uptime and downtime whirls on weak side, though both are still inconsistent.
*footed Paradon-rev. whirl-pm b2b. Nice drill.
*Leggy AS b2b first try. I think the trick is ugly and that it encourages me to not play closely into my body, compared to the hippy style. On the other hand, it enables me to hit so much more stuff, such as longer strings, atomic-eclipses/dynos,etc. I think my attitude about warming up with it will be good until I really get the hippy set. Then it will be counter-productive.
Matt is still remarkable at footbag. Jake is missed in this whole schedule crisis.
Matt did I nice alpine AS. And his whirls look good on both sides.
Started off really weak. The coffee kicked in eventually. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. My hippy atomic sets are not as good as they were Sunday. I think I should try warming up with the leggy style ones from now on an transition progressively through the session to conserve energy as my body warms up.
*hippy atomsmasher on right side. Hippy legbeaters bsos, though not really stalled as much as patted. Several on top of these, some decent.
*Ducking PM-paradon bsos.
*Paradon-dyno-torque both sides, different strings.
*footed 8 contacts of Paradon-PM in the good form paradons.
*4X ducking-infinities-decent string
*2X DOD on right side.
*uptime and downtime whirls on weak side, though both are still inconsistent.
*footed Paradon-rev. whirl-pm b2b. Nice drill.
*Leggy AS b2b first try. I think the trick is ugly and that it encourages me to not play closely into my body, compared to the hippy style. On the other hand, it enables me to hit so much more stuff, such as longer strings, atomic-eclipses/dynos,etc. I think my attitude about warming up with it will be good until I really get the hippy set. Then it will be counter-productive.
Matt is still remarkable at footbag. Jake is missed in this whole schedule crisis.
Gross, windy, cold session.
Woke up. Kicked with Matt.
Matt stepped out of both legbeaters.
I hit a bunch of hippy atomic stuff:
*legbeater bsos first try
*AS bsos (of the foot) first try
other notes
*Dynos are coming back on both sides.
*I learned how to duck-pm better on my weak side
*my stepping sets are awful because my form is shit, and I need more hop, and closer sets, with more crank. Then it will pop like an atomic set.
I know this because I made a very nice blur this way, and it is hop I naturally step out of an osis, which is usually reliable on my one side.
* If I could do a muted paradon (both dexes downtime without planting the other foot-not symposium) my game would open up a lot.
*I must school DOD.
Woke up. Kicked with Matt.
Matt stepped out of both legbeaters.
I hit a bunch of hippy atomic stuff:
*legbeater bsos first try
*AS bsos (of the foot) first try
other notes
*Dynos are coming back on both sides.
*I learned how to duck-pm better on my weak side
*my stepping sets are awful because my form is shit, and I need more hop, and closer sets, with more crank. Then it will pop like an atomic set.
I know this because I made a very nice blur this way, and it is hop I naturally step out of an osis, which is usually reliable on my one side.
* If I could do a muted paradon (both dexes downtime without planting the other foot-not symposium) my game would open up a lot.
*I must school DOD.
Kicked with Matt, first thing this Saturday morning. Was gonna call Jake but it was too early to maybe wake him up. Hopefully tomorrow we can all meet up.
Kicked in a great spot near my house. Kicked there with Jake a while back. Parking lot. Two blocks away from home.
Highlights:
Matt made it to the last part of rubberman numerous times.
Matt hit ripwalk-ripwalk
Me:
*DATW out-in both sides, multiple times.
***PM-DOD both sides
*D-PM-Inf.X3
*hippy atomsmasher/legbeater bsos
*blurs on both sides
*Weak far osis-ripwalk-far osis-miss after step on last ripwalk
*Hippy atomic ss osis bsos first try. Then once mid-string.
*Almost weak-side swirled out of my weak-side squeeze
*Dropped trying 40, but hit 30 Bop contacts-to casual handgrab. Hit 24 more later on in session.
* Schooled quantum set. Still low but I consistently kicked quantum butterfly on my good side. After about two tries I kicked it on my weak side. The move suffers from the same timing/popping problems I experience with all of my sets. Between hippy sets and all of these DOD/DATW's I intend to school in the future, I home to resolve this. Learning how to step out of my other osis may also open up the "windows' to more useful drills and perspective.
Shout out to Rieferman for the quantum-encouragement. Shout out to Yacob for the far osis-ripwalk repeat suggestion.
Chocolate helps me kick.
Kicked in a great spot near my house. Kicked there with Jake a while back. Parking lot. Two blocks away from home.
Highlights:
Matt made it to the last part of rubberman numerous times.
Matt hit ripwalk-ripwalk
Me:
*DATW out-in both sides, multiple times.
***PM-DOD both sides
*D-PM-Inf.X3
*hippy atomsmasher/legbeater bsos
*blurs on both sides
*Weak far osis-ripwalk-far osis-miss after step on last ripwalk
*Hippy atomic ss osis bsos first try. Then once mid-string.
*Almost weak-side swirled out of my weak-side squeeze
*Dropped trying 40, but hit 30 Bop contacts-to casual handgrab. Hit 24 more later on in session.
* Schooled quantum set. Still low but I consistently kicked quantum butterfly on my good side. After about two tries I kicked it on my weak side. The move suffers from the same timing/popping problems I experience with all of my sets. Between hippy sets and all of these DOD/DATW's I intend to school in the future, I home to resolve this. Learning how to step out of my other osis may also open up the "windows' to more useful drills and perspective.
Shout out to Rieferman for the quantum-encouragement. Shout out to Yacob for the far osis-ripwalk repeat suggestion.
Chocolate helps me kick.
4th day in a row. Kicked with Matt. Didn't want to stop. He made it to the last trick on Rubberman. Clean the atomic set but closed his knee-window before completing the last infinity because he "already knew he had it". He will get it real soon.
Had a break-through session today.
*One string of 41 contacts, one of 30 and another of 26 with original stuff thrown in.
*super hippy AS's and Legbeaters.
*PM-DOD-PM on the left sideX2. I did two on the other yesterday.
*DOD's.
*X weak whirl in the same string. Tripped on the second whirl on the other side.
*Torque bsos, twice in a row.
the session wasn't long enough becase I have a performance my collaborator and I are preparing for, but I am alert and developing. My body feels great too. My breathing is a lot better today. I don't know if it's air or consistent exercise. Wish I knew.
Had a break-through session today.
*One string of 41 contacts, one of 30 and another of 26 with original stuff thrown in.
*super hippy AS's and Legbeaters.
*PM-DOD-PM on the left sideX2. I did two on the other yesterday.
*DOD's.
*X weak whirl in the same string. Tripped on the second whirl on the other side.
*Torque bsos, twice in a row.
the session wasn't long enough becase I have a performance my collaborator and I are preparing for, but I am alert and developing. My body feels great too. My breathing is a lot better today. I don't know if it's air or consistent exercise. Wish I knew.
So excited about kicking for the first time in days tomorrow morning that I literally can't get to sleep. Just watched some of favorite footbag clips again, circle competition from worlds 2008 and the new Clavens vid from Chicago. I love how different both of their styles are, yet how formidable they are in a circle competition. Jordan too. Of course. Watching Dave and Jorden go against each other (and just kick together) at Cornell Jam and NYFA symposium were treats that made all these years of kicking worth it. Watching Vasek and Dave kick at Funtastiks for a late session was also a pretty big highlight. Some good memories.
Here on in PGH things have been going well too. Jake is always smooth and branching out unpredictably. It makes for an exciting session when I am constantly trying to push myself but keep getting caught off-guard by his growing list of dialed concepts. Matt came around too with just one of the most unique personalities and endless ability to master new concepts. I'm not doing too bad myself. Last week I played the best I ever had. I don't know why. I battle with short breathe sometimes and other times not as much.
Anyway, in less than 4 hours we are kicking. I wish I was asleep. NExt week My art-collaborator and I have this gig where kids will be DJ'ing electronic music by placing cut-outs on a conveyor belt. We are smart. We thought of it, wrote the code and the music. I want to take it to the next level. I have specific outlined goals that I want to accomplish. I have had some of these for decades. Some for less time, but for which I am more passionate about. It's hard to be me right now. But, I would never in a million years think about being anyone else.
: )
On another note: I love being a footbagger. And, I wonder what Caleb is up to these days.
Here on in PGH things have been going well too. Jake is always smooth and branching out unpredictably. It makes for an exciting session when I am constantly trying to push myself but keep getting caught off-guard by his growing list of dialed concepts. Matt came around too with just one of the most unique personalities and endless ability to master new concepts. I'm not doing too bad myself. Last week I played the best I ever had. I don't know why. I battle with short breathe sometimes and other times not as much.
Anyway, in less than 4 hours we are kicking. I wish I was asleep. NExt week My art-collaborator and I have this gig where kids will be DJ'ing electronic music by placing cut-outs on a conveyor belt. We are smart. We thought of it, wrote the code and the music. I want to take it to the next level. I have specific outlined goals that I want to accomplish. I have had some of these for decades. Some for less time, but for which I am more passionate about. It's hard to be me right now. But, I would never in a million years think about being anyone else.
: )
On another note: I love being a footbagger. And, I wonder what Caleb is up to these days.
Hey Bob. My last session sucked. I was throwing tantrums and feeling terrible. Low-and-behold I was getting sick . I'm at home from work right now with the flu. It's horrible. The thought of getting up for a much-needed glass of water seems too much. The thought of recreating the magic I was hitting last week seems impossible atm. But I'll make it happen, Bob.