COME TO SHRED FOR SAVVY!
Please.
Steel City Freestyle
Matt and I kicked today. No amazing highlights really. I don't think either of us had played in like a week and a half, so we were mostly just trying to remember how to play and not die of heat exhaustion in the stuffy little room we found to play in. Matt still kicked ass though, he's a powerful dude. I did OK, had some solid runs. I like gyro clipper>drifter or dlo, I think I'm gonna do that more.
I showed this girl I know the video I made recently, her response kind of cracked me up:
"I'm impressed. Don't let it go to your head. My hackey sack experience is much more stoned hippy than freestyle breakdance. Also it reminds me of really good soccer players that can juggle a ball for a half an hour without dropping it. My question is then, why not breakdance, or play soccer? Better yet, why not breakdance fight on a soccer field. Think Micheal Jackson in "Beat it" vs. Ronaldinho. So are you all really good regular dancers too? Cause most guys I know can't move that fast, or with coordination.
Here's what I think you should do for the next one. Id like to see a pass, or a series of passes, from one person to another. This might be impossible...make it happen. It's also hard to actually see the footbag. I suggest wearing all white and using a black or brightly colored bag. Actually you probably shouldn't wear all white because, lets face it, you guys have pasty pale legs. Try all black with a white footbag. Maybe add a blacklight. It would also be fun to have someone catch it on their nose... like a dog. This is all."
She makes some good points though. In the next SCF video, look for blacklight sensitive footbags, nose catches, and spray on tan all over our legs.
I showed this girl I know the video I made recently, her response kind of cracked me up:
"I'm impressed. Don't let it go to your head. My hackey sack experience is much more stoned hippy than freestyle breakdance. Also it reminds me of really good soccer players that can juggle a ball for a half an hour without dropping it. My question is then, why not breakdance, or play soccer? Better yet, why not breakdance fight on a soccer field. Think Micheal Jackson in "Beat it" vs. Ronaldinho. So are you all really good regular dancers too? Cause most guys I know can't move that fast, or with coordination.
Here's what I think you should do for the next one. Id like to see a pass, or a series of passes, from one person to another. This might be impossible...make it happen. It's also hard to actually see the footbag. I suggest wearing all white and using a black or brightly colored bag. Actually you probably shouldn't wear all white because, lets face it, you guys have pasty pale legs. Try all black with a white footbag. Maybe add a blacklight. It would also be fun to have someone catch it on their nose... like a dog. This is all."
She makes some good points though. In the next SCF video, look for blacklight sensitive footbags, nose catches, and spray on tan all over our legs.
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Hi SCF Blog.
Matt and I represented tonight. Here is a list he sent summarizing what he hit tonight:
1. fog>egg beater
2. butterfly>pdx dlo bsos
3. blur>pixie legover>alpine smear
4. blur>alpine smear (weak side)
5. atomic ss illusion>butterfly>stepping ss mirage (without planting the miraging leg)>pixie ss mirage (no plant)
6. fear
7. osis....
I love that he still gets such a big kick out of hitting osis. I think it's important that to add that he also hit alpine smear on both sides today, and I believe they were his first times. The second was also out of his weak side blur.
I had a pretty amazing night myself, despite being under the weather big-time.
I completed some nice links:
inf - r.whirl - pdx. illusion - repeat
paradon-spinning mirageX2
some nice tricks:
spinning butterfly, spinning eclipse, DOD on one side was looking stronger again
A few good strings:
first three tries of paradon after two weeks off successful in one string, utilizing both sides.
Hitting blur bsos after a crappy record of trying to implement Jake's suggestion successfully was relieving. I know that my way might be different, and perhaps more exhausting, but after so many failed ripwalks it was nice to bust these almost out of knowhere, virtually on command. It takes a lot of energy, but as long as I sink into a clipper (hips and knees) deep enough, I can pretend I am coming out of an osis which is the most consistent method for me to execute a strong stepping set.
Here is the big news though. After over a decade (scary thought, btw) I hit one of my dream moves: Twirl. I kicked it twice on my weak side, over ten on my strong side, and in one case I sealed it with a butterfly and then executed it again that string, almost to the point of sealing it but sending it too far forward.
I asked Matt how the form looked and he said it made his head feel weird. I feel like I really did something tonight.
BTW, in the last two weeks that I did not kick I have been pushing myself harder in many ways than I ever have before. The habitual act of embracing challenges strikes me as the key to bettering myself in footbag. It's having the right attitude.
Matt and I represented tonight. Here is a list he sent summarizing what he hit tonight:
1. fog>egg beater
2. butterfly>pdx dlo bsos
3. blur>pixie legover>alpine smear
4. blur>alpine smear (weak side)
5. atomic ss illusion>butterfly>stepping ss mirage (without planting the miraging leg)>pixie ss mirage (no plant)
6. fear
7. osis....
I love that he still gets such a big kick out of hitting osis. I think it's important that to add that he also hit alpine smear on both sides today, and I believe they were his first times. The second was also out of his weak side blur.
I had a pretty amazing night myself, despite being under the weather big-time.
I completed some nice links:
inf - r.whirl - pdx. illusion - repeat
paradon-spinning mirageX2
some nice tricks:
spinning butterfly, spinning eclipse, DOD on one side was looking stronger again
A few good strings:
first three tries of paradon after two weeks off successful in one string, utilizing both sides.
Hitting blur bsos after a crappy record of trying to implement Jake's suggestion successfully was relieving. I know that my way might be different, and perhaps more exhausting, but after so many failed ripwalks it was nice to bust these almost out of knowhere, virtually on command. It takes a lot of energy, but as long as I sink into a clipper (hips and knees) deep enough, I can pretend I am coming out of an osis which is the most consistent method for me to execute a strong stepping set.
Here is the big news though. After over a decade (scary thought, btw) I hit one of my dream moves: Twirl. I kicked it twice on my weak side, over ten on my strong side, and in one case I sealed it with a butterfly and then executed it again that string, almost to the point of sealing it but sending it too far forward.
I asked Matt how the form looked and he said it made his head feel weird. I feel like I really did something tonight.
BTW, in the last two weeks that I did not kick I have been pushing myself harder in many ways than I ever have before. The habitual act of embracing challenges strikes me as the key to bettering myself in footbag. It's having the right attitude.
The advice is good. I'm glad it helped you. Eveynow and then I get it to work this method (mostly on my good side) and it is such a strong, high set that I can imagine doing great things with it. It is the form I am striving for, but it is also good to know that I can still successflly bust out of the inferior method that I spent years cultivating, like my leggy atomic set.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the advice was good and you should use it (but I can see how it would have read that way).
My post should have been like this:
"To Ian's most recent post: Nice highlights!
To Jake's recent post about form on stepping: That's helped my consistency and set height a lot"
Sorry for the confusion!
My post should have been like this:
"To Ian's most recent post: Nice highlights!
To Jake's recent post about form on stepping: That's helped my consistency and set height a lot"
Sorry for the confusion! Bob R.
Did you ever accidently edit out a previous post? I just did.
Ian From the future.
Ian From the future.
Last edited by Ian Brill on 11 Mar 2008 06:04, edited 2 times in total.
Glad you guys found my tips useful, regardless of how you choose to implement them. I'm glad I was able to share the stepping love a little bit. We'll have to have a ripwalk contest next time we all meet up 
Sorry I missed you SCF guys this Sunday, glad it was a good sess though.
word up
Sorry I missed you SCF guys this Sunday, glad it was a good sess though.
word up
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
We had a nice session today, and we may have another one tomorrow.
Matt's toe is awesome, unpredictable, both sided, and envied. By me.
Jake had some impressive strings too.
I did some stuff that I am very happy about:
*Paradox whirl, sealed. Twice on my good side, once on my bad.
*I almost hit Double-over-down-swirl. It fell off of my foot. Failed to get that close again, after 10 minutes of repetitive tries.
*I started off the session with a string where I hit my first three paradons in a row, and twirled out of the fourth.
*I sealed twirl three times with paradox mirage.
* Twirl-paradox mirage...paradon-twirl-paradox mirage.
* Drifters are looking better.
*Paradon- gyro mirage, again.
Aside from this my session was weak. I need to kick more than once a week. Hopefully more tomorrow, since my whirls are shite.
Matt's toe is awesome, unpredictable, both sided, and envied. By me.
Jake had some impressive strings too.
I did some stuff that I am very happy about:
*Paradox whirl, sealed. Twice on my good side, once on my bad.
*I almost hit Double-over-down-swirl. It fell off of my foot. Failed to get that close again, after 10 minutes of repetitive tries.
*I started off the session with a string where I hit my first three paradons in a row, and twirled out of the fourth.
*I sealed twirl three times with paradox mirage.
* Twirl-paradox mirage...paradon-twirl-paradox mirage.
* Drifters are looking better.
*Paradon- gyro mirage, again.
Aside from this my session was weak. I need to kick more than once a week. Hopefully more tomorrow, since my whirls are shite.
Two sessions. One afternoon:
Matt and I: Matt hit some frightening strings. He is learning fear now, so my guess is that he will learn the fair set in the near future. Already his game is the most unpredictable experience ever. He literally treats pixie-component tricks like they are his BOP and seems to really enjoy doing atomic tricks, double legovers and illusions. He seldom does any crossbody tricks- for example he doesn't feel comfortable doing osis (though he does it with better than average success) yet he has hit rubberman, whirls sporadically with great success rate... I don't even know where I am going with this. It likes listening to a new kind of music. Like it's jazz in an ocean of Emo. I wish he could make it to Maryland next weekend but he is going to spend time with his family. Right-on.
I hit some good stuff that session. I don't remember it though.
*Paradon-reverse swirl on my bad side. Several reverse swirls on the other side over the course of the afternoon.
*Many, many rev. whirls.
* Bunch of whirls on my weak side. Three consecutive drops of whirl-rev.whirl, where the weak-sided whirl was solid.
Kicked with Jake. Jake prefers to talk about his own game, but there were some very impressive strings. I threw him a challenge and he hit it into a very long, impressive string.
I hit some good stuff that session: I don't remember it though.
* Diving rev. whirl, on my weak diving side. Go ahead and ask me why I didn't hit it both sides. The answer: because it's not important. I need to concentrate on consistency regarding more fundamental moves first. I already know I can. I believe this was my logic. I believe this is the right attitude. I also believe this is why I did almost no twirls or stepping sets today. And, only one (and it was successful) simple swirl.
*I kept trying this combo: inf.-rev. swirl-repeat, as per Jake's request. I did not hit it, though my reverse swirls on my one side were looking awesome! This is the kind of move I want to make a more fundamental aspect of my game. It feels natural, it demands good form, and because it makes me feel good.
* I only tried torques and dynos once today and they were both executed bsos.
*Paradon-rev.twirl on my off-side, off of the foot. One of two tries twirling on that side all day. That is fine.
*P.Illusion-paradon. This was hard. I need to work on this both sides. Big time.
The goal of the day was to identify weakness and priorities.
My atomic sets are looking a 100% better, but I am not used to succeeding with a hippy form. I need to invest time into this.
My whirls on my left side are different than my right. Since my left hip seems really sore, I am going to lay off of it. This means no stepping sets at all. Either side. And I am going to be extremely conservative about my atomic sets as well, because I am OCD about keeping them both-sided each string.
Can't wait till Maryland.
Matt and I: Matt hit some frightening strings. He is learning fear now, so my guess is that he will learn the fair set in the near future. Already his game is the most unpredictable experience ever. He literally treats pixie-component tricks like they are his BOP and seems to really enjoy doing atomic tricks, double legovers and illusions. He seldom does any crossbody tricks- for example he doesn't feel comfortable doing osis (though he does it with better than average success) yet he has hit rubberman, whirls sporadically with great success rate... I don't even know where I am going with this. It likes listening to a new kind of music. Like it's jazz in an ocean of Emo. I wish he could make it to Maryland next weekend but he is going to spend time with his family. Right-on.
I hit some good stuff that session. I don't remember it though.
*Paradon-reverse swirl on my bad side. Several reverse swirls on the other side over the course of the afternoon.
*Many, many rev. whirls.
* Bunch of whirls on my weak side. Three consecutive drops of whirl-rev.whirl, where the weak-sided whirl was solid.
Kicked with Jake. Jake prefers to talk about his own game, but there were some very impressive strings. I threw him a challenge and he hit it into a very long, impressive string.
I hit some good stuff that session: I don't remember it though.
* Diving rev. whirl, on my weak diving side. Go ahead and ask me why I didn't hit it both sides. The answer: because it's not important. I need to concentrate on consistency regarding more fundamental moves first. I already know I can. I believe this was my logic. I believe this is the right attitude. I also believe this is why I did almost no twirls or stepping sets today. And, only one (and it was successful) simple swirl.
*I kept trying this combo: inf.-rev. swirl-repeat, as per Jake's request. I did not hit it, though my reverse swirls on my one side were looking awesome! This is the kind of move I want to make a more fundamental aspect of my game. It feels natural, it demands good form, and because it makes me feel good.
* I only tried torques and dynos once today and they were both executed bsos.
*Paradon-rev.twirl on my off-side, off of the foot. One of two tries twirling on that side all day. That is fine.
*P.Illusion-paradon. This was hard. I need to work on this both sides. Big time.
The goal of the day was to identify weakness and priorities.
My atomic sets are looking a 100% better, but I am not used to succeeding with a hippy form. I need to invest time into this.
My whirls on my left side are different than my right. Since my left hip seems really sore, I am going to lay off of it. This means no stepping sets at all. Either side. And I am going to be extremely conservative about my atomic sets as well, because I am OCD about keeping them both-sided each string.
Can't wait till Maryland.
Yesterday's sess with Ian was good. I definitely play better when I'm warm and sweating a little bit and the heartrate's up. Standing around and talking a bunch in between strings isn't a good thing.
Paradox DLO on one side was feeling pretty good, I hit it in a variety of scenarios that felt good. Plus, I hit stepping whirl on both sides which is something I've never really been able to do before. Some random people sat down and expressed alot of interest in what we were doing. So that was cool.
Looking forward to Maryland and Washington DC this weekend. I'm gonna try hard to stay warm.
Paradox DLO on one side was feeling pretty good, I hit it in a variety of scenarios that felt good. Plus, I hit stepping whirl on both sides which is something I've never really been able to do before. Some random people sat down and expressed alot of interest in what we were doing. So that was cool.
Looking forward to Maryland and Washington DC this weekend. I'm gonna try hard to stay warm.
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
This was an important weekend for me as both a foot-bagger and an individual. Through trial and error I learned a lot of things this weekend that I feel will improve my form. I feel I also learned some stuff that will make me a better footbag player.
Adrienne and C-Fan were both great hosts and I appreciate everything they did for us all.
Saturday was the best session I ever had.
Some Highlights:
Kicking with NYFA
Watching C-Fan shred.
Explaining in belaboring detail to Gordon why I think he is the David Elsewhere of footbag.
DC's unexpected appearance
Playing Basketball
Playing speed-chess with Vincent B.
Now to get some sleep. I hope everyone returned home safe and is resting well.
Adrienne and C-Fan were both great hosts and I appreciate everything they did for us all.
Saturday was the best session I ever had.
Some Highlights:
Kicking with NYFA
Watching C-Fan shred.
Explaining in belaboring detail to Gordon why I think he is the David Elsewhere of footbag.
DC's unexpected appearance
Playing Basketball
Playing speed-chess with Vincent B.
Now to get some sleep. I hope everyone returned home safe and is resting well.
Every now and then I get drunk and embarrass myself by telling my footbag heroes EVERY reason I love them (Vince, Ken, Flash, Dave, Pete, that guy I never met before, the fern...).
Some people get drunk and do things that are more harmful. Neither one is good. Though I don't drink very often, nor do I feel I ever had a drinking problem, I can say for a fact that I no longer feel the same way about drinking after this weekend.
I started out Saturday admiring C-Fan because of how much he does for this sport and how far he has come along. Later on I admired him because after so many years he is still increasingly bad-ass. I keep playing back his atomic ducking set in my head. It makes no sense to me at all. So bad-ass.
Later on I had to watch him be attacked for all the wrong reasons. Because he cared about the safety of others. I tried to help but I may have just interfered. Unfortunately my interference was not as effective as I would have liked.
I entered Maryland wanting to be a better footbag player, but after the events that unfolded I just wanted to be a better person. C-Fan inspires me because he is an incredible footbag player, and also because he is an incredible person.
Some people get drunk and do things that are more harmful. Neither one is good. Though I don't drink very often, nor do I feel I ever had a drinking problem, I can say for a fact that I no longer feel the same way about drinking after this weekend.
I started out Saturday admiring C-Fan because of how much he does for this sport and how far he has come along. Later on I admired him because after so many years he is still increasingly bad-ass. I keep playing back his atomic ducking set in my head. It makes no sense to me at all. So bad-ass.
Later on I had to watch him be attacked for all the wrong reasons. Because he cared about the safety of others. I tried to help but I may have just interfered. Unfortunately my interference was not as effective as I would have liked.
I entered Maryland wanting to be a better footbag player, but after the events that unfolded I just wanted to be a better person. C-Fan inspires me because he is an incredible footbag player, and also because he is an incredible person.
Ian, I couldn't phrase my words well last night because footbag to me is a very personal thing, a very personal battle. I hope you didn't get the wrong idea that I was antagonizing you and your advice. I just feel that the advice given to me conflicts with the advice that is proposed by other people. I also believe that repetition on things that I swear off and denounce on doing ever again (pixie ducking...) is something that really hits me at a hard spot sometimes. Like, it's not something that I'm ever going to do again, I don't need people to remind me why I shouldn't do it.
I don't know. I disappointed myself in intermediate comp because I had a lot of high expectations for myself to do well. It was a perfect opportunity for me to butt heads in some way, somehow, and I sort of had to vent my frustration.
I have a clear understanding on what I need to work on concerning my position in freestyle footbag. I'll try not to work too hard and just play with less pressure onto myself.
Your intentions were pure, wholehearted and back with experience. It was a really bad time for all of us, and I guess we just have a different way of coping. I think I cope in a more extreme and irrational way than other people would like to think.
Also, I really think that we both appreciate Ken in a lot of ways. He is one of my personal footbagging idols, and I guess I wanted to play to impress last weekend. You get the picture.
Sorry for causing any guilt.
I don't know. I disappointed myself in intermediate comp because I had a lot of high expectations for myself to do well. It was a perfect opportunity for me to butt heads in some way, somehow, and I sort of had to vent my frustration.
I have a clear understanding on what I need to work on concerning my position in freestyle footbag. I'll try not to work too hard and just play with less pressure onto myself.
Your intentions were pure, wholehearted and back with experience. It was a really bad time for all of us, and I guess we just have a different way of coping. I think I cope in a more extreme and irrational way than other people would like to think.
Also, I really think that we both appreciate Ken in a lot of ways. He is one of my personal footbagging idols, and I guess I wanted to play to impress last weekend. You get the picture.
Sorry for causing any guilt.
Waylon Lew - maker of Wasabi bags
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87
EDIT: Something more useful than what was originally posted.
Possible steps towards learning guitar for mastery, as a first instrument:
A) Identify strings and learn how to tune them
B) Learn open chords.
C) Learn Barre Chords.
D) Learn the Major scale across the neck, both vertically and horizontally
E) Learn how to transition from a root to a fifth using both individual notes and different shaped barre-chords. Learn similiar methods of identifying these chord mappings for other transitions. This should create more hearty associations across the fret-board than a sea of single notes.
F) Learn to read music, acquiring theory as necessary
G) Study major and minor chord progressions, as well as the mappings of minor scales.
H) Learn modes.
Possible steps towards learning guitar for mastery, as a first instrument:
A) Identify strings and learn how to tune them
B) Learn open chords.
C) Learn Barre Chords.
D) Learn the Major scale across the neck, both vertically and horizontally
E) Learn how to transition from a root to a fifth using both individual notes and different shaped barre-chords. Learn similiar methods of identifying these chord mappings for other transitions. This should create more hearty associations across the fret-board than a sea of single notes.
F) Learn to read music, acquiring theory as necessary
G) Study major and minor chord progressions, as well as the mappings of minor scales.
H) Learn modes.
Last edited by Ian Brill on 02 Apr 2008 23:20, edited 1 time in total.
Well, one thing I can say about this past weekend is that I think it helped my game a bit.
It was beautiful in Pittsburgh today and Matt and I had a nice session in Friendship Park. Matt hit his usual array of awesome toe moves, but I think he's getting a bit more consistent with his links as his strings seemed longer, which is awesome to see. The world needs to know about Matt, so I've decided to try and make a Matt special video. It might take me a little while but stay tuned cause Matt's the man.
Today I hit:
-blur>paradon>paradox dlo>sealed (I called it out first too which was cool)
-I hit eggbeater mid string, and I also hit paradox eggbeater. I never, ever do eggbeaters, so this was pretty cool for me.
-I hit spinning paradox whirl twice, neither sealed nor midstring, but I was happy nevertheless
I've got a few pics from the weekend that I'd like to post, as well as a few memories and thoughts. But seeing as how I need to be at work at 7am tomorrow to help assemble a carousel (don't ask), bed is probably a better choice than a writeup, so stay tuned.
word up
It was beautiful in Pittsburgh today and Matt and I had a nice session in Friendship Park. Matt hit his usual array of awesome toe moves, but I think he's getting a bit more consistent with his links as his strings seemed longer, which is awesome to see. The world needs to know about Matt, so I've decided to try and make a Matt special video. It might take me a little while but stay tuned cause Matt's the man.
Today I hit:
-blur>paradon>paradox dlo>sealed (I called it out first too which was cool)
-I hit eggbeater mid string, and I also hit paradox eggbeater. I never, ever do eggbeaters, so this was pretty cool for me.
-I hit spinning paradox whirl twice, neither sealed nor midstring, but I was happy nevertheless
I've got a few pics from the weekend that I'd like to post, as well as a few memories and thoughts. But seeing as how I need to be at work at 7am tomorrow to help assemble a carousel (don't ask), bed is probably a better choice than a writeup, so stay tuned.
word up
Jake Milofsky
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Steel City Freestyle [ex officio]
Awesomeyacob wrote:The world needs to know about Matt, so I've decided to try and make a Matt special video.
+1yacob wrote:Matt's the man.
Hell yeah.yacob wrote: -blur>paradon>paradox dlo>sealed (I called it out first too which was cool)
-I hit eggbeater mid string, and I also hit paradox eggbeater. I never, ever do eggbeaters, so this was pretty cool for me.
-I hit spinning paradox whirl twice, neither sealed nor midstring, but I was happy nevertheless
Can't wait.yacob wrote:I've got a few pics from the weekend that I'd like to post, as well as a few memories and thoughts.