Jorden's Journal

[Jorden]

-=Sunday, Jan. 13th, 2008=-

There are gonna be some big changes in 08 (for the better!).

New Year's Resolutions

- Perfect the handstand
- Compete in the IJA festival
- Build mass in arms and chest
- Stretch every day
- Have a steady job by September
- Develop a polished Circus show
- Get JordenMoir.ca up and running
- Some form of serious relationship
- Driver's License

#3 is interesting. For the first time in about 5 years I feel underweight!
It feels cool because I used to have such a hard time losing weight.
Gaining weight should be easy. Just need to up the protein and calorie level. And hit the gym.

Yeah, so I'm developing a Circus-style performance. It's actually very exciting and fun planning it. It'll be about 6 minutes long and different than any footbag routine ever created. In a way it will be similar to Pete Irish's stage show (mainly because of the skill set), but there will be lots of new and flashy tricks as well as signature stuff.

Expect a March release date for that promo vid.

I'm so thankful my Circus school is helping promote me. They're investing in some better equipment for my show as well.

Friday's session was maybe my most groundbreaking ever. As usual, my runs were interesting but a bit too short. However, single tricks and links were ON.

Don't want to give too many spoilers cuz there will be a vid, but here's a few:

- whirring swirl X 2
- gyro high plains > spinning egg
- frontside rubberman drill

And something that will probably be talked about for the next few months.

Oh yeah, update on acrobatics training! Form/strength for handstands and bridges have improved. I can hold handstand with proper form for up to 5 seconds. Also learned dive rolls and handstand to roll exit.

Calling the temp agency tomorrow to see if they still have an opportunity available. That'd be cool cuz I could sure use the money. Credit cards are dangerous, kids.

Went to Guelph to try and sell some textbooks back to the bookstore. What a fucking scam that is. The guy wasn't interested in 2 of my 3 and offered me 6 bucks for the 3rd. No, that's not a typo. 6 bucks!!! I was carrying $250 worth of textbooks paid for last year. I guess they're all previous editions now, but come on!!! The Calculus book changed in May -- since when does CALCULUS CHANGE?!!?!!?! Bullshit.

So yeah, that trip was a waste of money. Good news is I got to see my Guelph friends/housemates at their kegger party Saturday night. Fun times. I've realized my time threshold for parties isn't that long. Crashed early, around 1:30. Like, I'm good and social for 4 hours then I'm all about solo/downtime. Like juggling or reading. Anyone else like this? I find it easy to get too much of people, especially in big crowds. I find my mom's the same way. It's not an intimidation thing at all. But the more people that enter the room everyone craves more attention and does stupid uncharacteristic shit. Alcohol is obviously a component of that. I like social sitches where you can really connect with everyone. Chill one-on-one convos with someone who likes what you like are the best.
The problem is I have such wacko hobbies and life goals that I can't connect with strangers. Whatev. I'm working on that tho.
Investing loads of time in generic people is kinda like, "why bother".
But this is not a good attitude for improving social skills. Ugh.
Anyone feel the same way?

I say all this because it's probably my biggest weakness in life.
Cool thing about footbaggers is they're usually interesting and alternative people.

Speaking of the footbag community, it seems like it's becoming more 'inwards'.

What I mean by that is, all the effort players put into training/videos/stitching/promotion is geared towards OTHER footbaggers!!
But they already love hack. It's a cycle that doesn't get out sport out there.

There is huge potential for footbag in the entertainment business. People are willing to pay for intense skill, given you have the right demeanour, motivation and self-marketing skills.
Like, have we all given up on this??? We all say that footbag is much more impressive than half the shit talents out there people get paid for. Prove it

Modified makes me sad. I think I've mentioned this before. I check it a lot because I like to see where limits are being pushed and getting life updates on good friends and acquaintances.

To be honest, there isn't anything left for me to learn on the forum. I used to obsess and read every tidbit of info on every thread on modified/flipsider as a teen. That and studying the Flipsider practice room videos inside and out is how I got good. Now it's like all the BAP shred masters left and it's all youngins. Which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong.

The problem is all the players are idolizing pros that are 22 and under. And frankly, we all lack experience in promoting footbag and how to demonstrate it effectively to the general public. And to be honest, trying to imitate us might be dangerous. Hehe, who knows if we'll be able to walk when we're 60!
Like, no one's really taken a leadership position which is what our sport needs. You guys should be studying and talking Peter Irish more than anyone. He's the closest thing to bringing footbag into the mainstream that we have right now. Not to mention over 2 decades of knowledge and experience.

It seems like we're stagnating somewhat. What matters to all these new players is really stuff that in the end doesn't matter at all.

Stuff like

is super nemesis possible? (answer: NO!)
off-topic pictures that are supposed to be funny
15-year old slang (ugh)
footbag quotes
etc.

Another bad trend in the community is

videos of players going guiltless that shouldn't be guiltless.

When making a shred video, if in doubt play below your level. There's nothing worse than every trick you watch being done wildly and with bad posture. It's very painful to watch. Videos should be an update on your game, not a "watch me hit tricks I'm not ready for".

And for Pete's sake, ASK FOR ADVICE people!!
I've said time and again I have time for every player that asks for help! I'm almost positive every other pro (that still plays) is the same way.
If you're struggling with your game you're INSANE not to ask for help when it's so readily available. I don't understand it.

The ideal is when you need like 2-3 tips on your game.
Hint: you're rushing your game and hurting your style is if you need tips for virtually every move you do.

Like, if you need help with butterfly, you better not need help with clipper!
Polish your kicks and stalls before even touching dexes. This is crucial if you don't want your game to stagnate early on.

What actually matters
- exposing the sport; getting more people to discover and potentially love the game
- sponsorships, investing, and raising funds for our sport (and yourself as a player!)
- proper form (so you can play and have fun as long as possible)
- artistically pleasing and entertaining style
- innovative tricks and videos!
- personal promotional materials (website, photos, video)
- ideas on how to improve competitive formats/venues/equipment/style/training
- more articles and trick advice!
- performance tips (demos, competing, marketing yourself)
- videos of variety performances or other underground/skill sports

And if you seriously want to make a living playing footbag, I recommend learning/taking classes in

Dance
Acting
Comedy
Juggling.

That's what I'm doing/gonna do.

Jorden

P.S. Thanks for commenting in my blog guys. I usually don't respond to them but really enjoy reading! PM me if you want a response, thx

[QuantumBalance]

ftw!

[Zeb Jackson]

I wrote this whole long thing describing social skill and stuff, but then i re read what you posted and it was basically the same thing

good luck on your endeavors Jorden I wish you the best of luck.

[Jorden]

Oh man, so much bad grammar/missing words in my post!

All edited now.

[Kljopa]

Next time i post a new video, could you . heheh

I want to pick up on acting, i've been thinking about it.

Actually you could add

break dance
beatbox
acrobatics

to that list.

Cant wait for that new video.Looking forward to watching the promo video too, i might release i promo vid of myself by summer .

[BenRea]

alright, i read the section on making shred videos and trying to be guiltless when you shouldnt and such.

well me and pat are making a short shred video right now and i was planning to just post it in my blog and his but i think i'll PM it to you too. if it "hurts you" to watch it when you do then i wont post it in the vids section but if you think its cool and it looks like im controlled and playing at my level then i'll post it. i think pat plays under his level and he is uber controlled so i dont need to ask that for him.

i think what you say is true though. its no fun to watch someone shred guiltless who is soooo out of control that they can barely stay balanced.




" something that will probably be talked about for the next few month"

[mahhkohh]

woa, intense and nice big post. i realy enjoy reading posts like this that make me feel like i´m not that alone with my way of feeling about certain sttuff, we should have a chat about social interaction. i mean, i work with people, i need to talk to them, its mostly elderly guys, but when i talk to them i am "what do i care about you" all the time, thats kinda bad because i believe most old people recognize stuff like that. lets have a chat about that, when and if we are both online at the same time someday.

what you said bout the community is true, i think.

what you said about videos is also true, kinda i dont realy watch new video´s, ecept its someone in there i know he´s/she´s good

go get a job, damnit. its the best for you and society. it realy takes so much time out of your life, but you get money, and money you worked for feels much better than money your mom gave ya. at least to me.

go jorden!!!! post the video!!!!!

ps: the dvd arived, thanks!
pps: nice highlights!!!gyro highplains??? to sp egg????? what!!!!

[Christopholes]

Question, when you said if you want to persue a living in footbag, you should take acting and comedy classes. Did you mean it would make you better at footbag or the classes will help you market yourself and what not?

[Jorden]

It will make you better at performing, regardless of the skill you practice.

[Psilocybe]

I shall drill my tiltless today. Thanks for the insights.

[Sporatical_Distractions]

Went to Guelph to try and sell some textbooks back to the bookstore. What a fucking scam that is. The guy wasn't interested in 2 of my 3 and offered me 6 bucks for the 3rd. No, that's not a typo. 6 bucks!!! I was carrying $250 worth of textbooks paid for last year. I guess they're all previous editions now, but come on!!! The Calculus book changed in May -- since when does CALCULUS CHANGE?!!?!!?! Bullshit.

That's the way our school is too. However, if your textbook comes with a cd-rom, they usually take those back for 3/4 of the money.

Props on the hilights. can't wait to see what craziness you produce with that video

[Drew]

Yo Jorden, It's great to see someone so deep into the game so interested about the spread and promotion of the sport. You, more-so than other's I've heard of, are all about the spread of this Footbag way of life and it seems you're concerned with the promotion of the sport just as much as you are with your personal progress. That's says a lot about what direction this sport could head in if more people followed that attitude.



I've been stitching a bunch of bags lately, think I could send one to you and review it for me, test it out and let me know what you think of it?

[gMoney]

videos of players going guiltless that shouldn't be guiltless.

When making a shred video, if in doubt play below your level. There's nothing worse than every trick you watch being done wildly and with bad posture. It's very painful to watch. Videos should be an update on your game, not a "watch me hit tricks I'm not ready for".

I seem to notice that too. I especially started noticing hard trick>toe bail>hard trick>drop a lot in videos, instead of at least semi-solid strings. I agree that hard moves are fun, but to me it seems like some people are completely forgetting the basics altogether. And it killlllss me on the inside watching onesided videos. I started noticing a lot of that stuff the other day when I sat down and watched a shitload of shred vids on youtube.

[HG]

WHY is it important for more players to get into it? less than half of the people who get seriously interested get to be any good.

WHY do you think self promotion is important? What if someone wants to play to get better, not to live off of it?


Personally, I don't care if more people play. I don't care at all. You shouldn't feel obligated to recruit more people. I find it frustrating to "recruit". If someone is interested they will approach someone and learn by themselves, and ask for help if they need it. Trying to 'force' people to be interested is just weird and ends up failing 95% of the time.

Self promotion is a topic that i feel strongly about. So many people want to get paid for footbag, or get sponsored, or whatever you can do with a weird sport like this. If that is your passion (to get paid for footbag) then go for it, but its definitely not for everyone. I think I look alright when I play, and someone who doesn't know footbag could appreciate it, but I have no desire to gain fame or recognition for my hard work. I work hard for me, not to gain acknowledgement. It doesn't bother me that footbag will never be on TV (except for being made fun of on "Cheap Seats." It doesn't bother me that it will never be in the Olympics.




However, good luck with all of your resolutions and goals. This was a pretty negative response, but I don't feel that all of your perspectives on footbag apply to everyone, especially myself.

[C-Fan]

Henry kind of beat me to the punch: I'm glad to see you are motivated to improve in 2008, but it's not really fair to criticize or judge other footbaggers based on your individual view of what people should do/get out of footbag (ie, your lists of "what matters and doesn't matter").

A few thoughts:

1. You complain a lot about modified, but what do you do to change it? Try being a moderator for a bit and see if that helps. Or maybe write some threads in Tricks and Tips (I only found one thread you started there). It's a lot easier to complain about something than to change it.

2. I agree that people skills and humor are important if you want to make a living off of footbag. In fact, based on performers I've seen in NYC, it's more important than having any actual physical skill. The most important thing a busker/performer needs to do is to build a crowd, hold them for 10 minutes, do a few small tricks to build their excitement, pass the hat for money before their big finale, and then finish with a "big" trick. I've seen very mediocre, but very funny jugglers make a living off of this.

3. Proper form and pushing yourself are good goals in footbag, but they aren't universal. I'm sure they helped you improve and have fun, but they are not goals shared by everyone, and I'm not sure if you understand that. There are several players who I really enjoy watching, and I understand they got that good because they made footbag their top priority. But if a player chooses not to make footbag their top priority, and consequently cannot maximize their footbag potential, then I respect that too. Today more than ever it is hard to reach the top level of the game while balancing a career/family/etc. I think it's cool that you are taking a break from school to pursue footbag, but this isn't a realistic option for everybody.

4. On a similar note, promoting footbag is A good footbag goal, but it's not THE universal goal of all footbaggers. I personally try and promote footbag: I enjoy the sport so much, I want other people to share the enjoyment. That's why I took such an active role in promotion while I was in Japan, and why I've thrown so many tournaments. But I also respect people like Henry who don't make it a priority to spread the sport. Why do you want to promote footbag? How are you doing it? Are there other ways you can try and do it? For example, entering talent contests like Famecast and the other one were good exposure for footbag, but maybe you could start a club at school or throw a tournament.

5. It's interesting you identified Pete as the person who is bringing footbag into the mainstream the most. I love Pete, and he's hosted some good tournaments, but I feel that the sport really needs more Steve Goldbergs than anything. There are a ton of amazingly talented players out there, but how many good event organizers and publicists does the sport have?

I'm very happy to read that you are excited for 2008, and that you have many personal goals laid out. As a footbagger who enjoys watching you play, I hope you do improve footbagwise and continue to push yourself. I love watching the results. As a 27 year old with lots of life experience under my belt, I also hope you find success in your non-footbag goals, such as finding a god job and getting into a serious relationship. You're an incredible footbagger, but you're also a good kid. Hopefully, as you complete some of your non-footbag goals for the year, you will find new aspects of life beside footbag that are also fulfilling. Good luck Jorden.

[Senor Grommet]

So, after reading that post Jorden, I am wondering whether you will realize that being a performer is not going to make you most happy in life. What if performance, esp. "making a living off footbag," is only a way to satisfy your desire to make money without having to get a "real job." I think one day you will actually want that "real job" because you seem to be an intellectual person. Just some thoughts.

What you're doing now in life sure sounds fun. Interestingly, even though I make my living by helping kids, I still feel like I am not completely fulfilling my potential. I feel that I was given a gift of intellectual capacity or the capacity to problem solve and that I am not using that gift on a large enough scale. When you start to question what you are really doing to help the world, to what, to where, and to whom will you turn?

Do you ever think about these things now?

[Muffinman]

Like, I'm good and social for 4 hours then I'm all about solo/downtime. Like juggling or reading. Anyone else like this? I find it easy to get too much of people, especially in big crowds.

I like social sitches where you can really connect with everyone. Chill one-on-one convos with someone who likes what you like are the best.
The problem is I have such wacko hobbies and life goals that I can't connect with strangers. Whatev. I'm working on that tho.

I feel completely like this. I always feel I have to explain it to friends too, when we hang out, because I never know what people do, since all of my hobbies are single-person things. I think I suffer from depression, though (and probably have for, like, 10 years), and reclusiveness is a symptom (among others that I have).

Also, about learning something else, I have been interested in learning ballet over the past few days (spurned from re-watching Billy Elliot recently). I am constantly plagued by footbag injuries, and am so used to them that not playing doesn't even phase me anymore, because it is my norm. Ballet appeals to me because it is low impact, while also an incredible work-out that strengthens your core, and increases flexibility (ballet dancers are FIT!). I think I'm kind of really old for it, but I want to look into it, since it seems really ideal in every way.

[mosher]

Jorden, you can come by oakville for a kicky thing and maybe we could sit you down for your long awaited stitching lesson. I think knowing how to make a sweet bag really adds to ones appreciation of the sport.

Also, I was wondering what type of people usually come to your sessions? Are there other people into tricking?

You should really come check out the one that Pengpeng and I go to, even if just for one session. It's like this magical room of flying freaks, all these interesting and talented people kinda like us except all upside down and shit.

What are you doing friday night? Take the GO train to me and then we can drive to tricking!

I can do crazy flipping stuff now and you should too! haha

I know that you'll do fine with whatever you really throw yourself at. See how the performer stuff goes but at the same time think of a maybe possible university degree you wouldn't mind picking up eventually to have as insurance.

So for real, wanna come on friday?

[Eric Chang]

Man why does Super Nemesis keep coming up randomly? I dropped the topic ages and ages ago :-p

Well I apologize for bringing such a topic up. Anyways have you thought about attending any Stateside footbag events?

Peace and enjoyed the blog

[QuantumBalance]

Yo Jord.

Good times with the comedy. LAughter is relaly great, spreads good feelings and warm, and contentment. Thanks for helping all the scientists be happy enough to invent mass goodness.

CEEAP!