Fanzine

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 13 Jun 2008 13:00

Love the run with all the eggbeater variations!

Challenge: Do your 2 of 4 dropless thing... but pick someplace super public to do it. Not that you need to announce that you're doing a routine or be that formal about it, but I think it would help you test your adrenaline theory.

Tjuggles · Post by **Tjuggles** » 14 Jun 2008 01:10

Great stuff Ken! I liked the spinning pdlo > tobius video especially because of the anger after the second attempt; I know exactly what that feels like.

Actually, while I'm at it, I want to make a request. In one of your upcoming videos, I want to see you use less floor space during a string. I notice that you move around a lot, and for something like routines it's really good, but for shredding, I'd like to see you in more or less one spot.

Thanks,

TJ

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 14 Jun 2008 16:19

I like the idea of practicing my routine in public, but I don't know how logistically feasible that is. In all my youtube videos, my music source is my computer. I don't have any other speaker system (and I can't do flyers with my ipod) and don't feel comfortable taking my computer out, so for now my routine practice will have to continue indoors.

Had a short, 1 hour session today dedicated to routines. I learned a few things which I think will help me as I continue to practice for USO:

1. I am going to strictly limit myself to 4 tries. If I don't go dropless at all in that span, then I'll add one more attempt. The goal is 2/4 dropless, and eventually I'll hope it gets to 3/4.
2. On days when I only practice routines, I should practice juggling and other routine sections before I get into my official routine attempts.

My mental game was really off today. My first attempt at a routine had 2 drops in the first 80 seconds, so I just stopped there. I think there's value continuing after 1 drop, but after 2 I feel like it's a waste of my practice time. I then did 2 dropless in a row in my next two tries. My fourth routine wasn't so good, but even though I had reached my quota, I continued. I think I did another 4 routines before I went dropless again, and I felt really frustrated. I got 2 single drops in that span, so it wasn't terrible, but I was just real frustrated. If I had to blame something other than my mental game, I would say that my lack of a good secondary juggle bag messed me up a few times. My secondary bag is the right size and is made well, but it keeps spitting beads. It's too light now, so I need to fill it up again, and then make sure it's a decent weight before I go to Portland. I may just borrow another bag the day of the event. Frustrating.

I didn't get in much shred because it was a routines day, but I did hit this drill which I hadn't done in a while:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=lmwj7xAADBQ&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 15 Jun 2008 20:17

Light shred tonight. Mostly worked on routines, but got in a few runs too. I skooled scorpion's tail for a bit. I usually play into it with ducking clipper, and out of it with a BOP, so tonight I tried to play in and out of it with other stuff. I managed to play into it with pdx whirl a few times, and out of it with pdlo and pdx torque. Still very hard for me. Need to make a point to keep doing it each session so I get better at it.

Routine practice went well. I stuck to my 2 rules I elaborated last time:

C-Fan wrote:
1. I am going to strictly limit myself to 4 tries. If I don't go dropless at all in that span, then I'll add one more attempt. The goal is 2/4 dropless, and eventually I'll hope it gets to 3/4.
2. On days when I only practice routines, I should practice juggling and other routine sections before I get into my official routine attempts.

My first attempt tonight had one drop, because the bag hit my shirt?!? That hadn't happened to me in a long time, and never in this shirt before. I should make a note to tuck in my shirt before comp, or to pick a shirt I know won't do that to me. I'd hate for my wardrobe to rob me of a personal milestone. My second runthrough was dropless. Try 3 had 2 drops? 4th try was dropless. So 2/4 dropless. I think my new goal should be to have 2/4 dropless, and if I do drop, limit it to a single drop.

Here's a leftover run from last time. I'll upload my highlights from tonight later.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mre-_GuEBY4[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 16 Jun 2008 18:08

Another 1 hour solo shred tonight. Lately I've been having trouble getting into a rhythm with my shred, and I suspect it may be due to my shred room being excessively air conditioned. It's literally 60 degrees in there, which is a colossal waste of energy given that the room is empty a good 95% of the time. I'm going to mention it to the building manager and see what they can do. With my crappy blood circulation, it's really hard to get warm and then stay warm through a session.

Despite my inability to get into a good shred rhythm today, my routines were on point. I was good about sticking to my limit of 4 attempts, and I spaced them out today so I wouldn't get mentally burned out on them either. My first routine was dropless, which felt good because I'm going to need to go dropless first try when it counts. My second routine was also dropless! This took some pressure off, because I knew I made quota already. Third runthrough... also dropless! My final runthrough had 2 drops, but still, 3/4 dropless is a banner day for me. And 3 dropless in a row is a personal record.

Shredwise I can't recall much. Here are 2 of my better runs from last session:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVHFB3qy8O8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFsYddNtSh4[/youtube]
I was pretty happy with that first combo, because it was my flip toe gyro, and also because I never do fairy legover.

max · Post by **max** » 17 Jun 2008 00:31

This camera has to be the best present anyone EVER gave you

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 17 Jun 2008 05:18

max wrote:This camera has to be the best present anyone EVER gave you

I was thinking more like the best present anyone ever gave US, haha!

Spinning pdlo> toebius is such a dope combo!!!!! I loved the cursing, because i always see you playing and get the idea that you're calm and collected. It's nice to know that you're pushing hard for those new combos! Big ups.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 17 Jun 2008 17:40

1. Your comment really made my day Andrew. While I definitely shoot highlights for myself so I can improve (and so I can reminisce in the future), it also makes me happy that other people watch and enjoy my snapshots.

2. My blog cracked 60,000 views!

I think half of those though are Paul Munger checking in to make sure I'm still a douche.

I do my best to not let people down.

3. Brief shred tonight. My first routine run through was essentially dropless. That is to say, I hit the whole thing perfectly, but I bobbled the easy handcatch off the final trick. Like, I hit it perfect and it came to my hand, but I just bobbled it. Would that count as a drop in competition? Yes. Should I beat myself up over it in practice? No. I had one other dropless in my 4 attempts, so I consider today's practice to preeeetty much make quota. Whatever.

Here's a run from my last session:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tz02XcZFd5w&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 19 Jun 2008 19:52

Feel like I've been in a bit of a footbag funk lately. I still have the desire to play, but when I do play, I don't have as much fun as I think I should. I don't know why I'm in a funk. Maybe I am too worked up about my footbag routine, and once I get a dropless one out of the way the pressure will be off and I'll play better.

My first 2 routine run throughs went well: they were both dropless. My next 2 were single drops, but strong. For reasons I don't feel like getting into, I decided to do one extra routine, and that one was dropless. So I finished today with 3/5 dropless.

Here's one of the few runs that was close to decent today:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=vcTKREGVNSU&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 22 Jun 2008 15:50

I took the last 2 days off of footbag, and didn't set a time-limit on today's session. I came away with good results: I was satisfied with my shred, and routines were excellent.

I started off the session by messing around with flip blender, which is one of my weakest flip downtime tricks. Happily, they were pretty strong today. I tried stuff like blender-far swirl, which I couldn't bsos, and drills like blender-pdx drifter repeat which I hit pretty easily.

Routines went well. First one was dropless, second had 2 drops, third was dropless, and fourth was dropless. 3/4 is solid. I just wish USO would happen sooner. It's like when you study for a test, and you feel prepared, but you can't stop studying before it happens, because you don't want to get out of practice. I'm just really hoping all this practice pays off and I go dropless at least once this summer.

Here's one of my better runs from today:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=79p7Ofj1hS8&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 23 Jun 2008 18:11

My footbag room is WAY over air conditioned. If I didn't have to practice routines, I think I'd just abandon it and play outside. It's ridiculous really; you could hang meat in there. What a waste of energy. It doesn't help that I have bad circulation...there are videos of me playing in gloves for just that reason.

Anyway, these days my footbag practice consists of trying to warm up, doing my routines, and then pretty much giving up afterwards. It's very unsatisfying, but at least my routines are getting consistent. Hopefully I can get in a session in NYC next weekend on my way to visiting my sister. I could really use an actual shred session where I can cut loose and get warmed up.

This was probably my favorite run from today:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=BHPmVKON_OI&fmt=18[/youtube]

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 24 Jun 2008 10:18

Justin Sexton would like your game because you got fliers mid-string.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 24 Jun 2008 20:08

Mostly just posting to let NYFA know I will be in NYC on Saturday, and will be free to play from 1 pm to 4 pm or so. Hope to see you there.

Talked to Vince tonight; he got some small speakers which should enable us to play outside with music. Hopefully that will help with my AC room problem, and also give me a chance to practice my routine in front of actual audiences. Pretty excited at this prospect.

No footbag tonight, but I will train a bit tomorrow.

Here's a run just for checking out my blog:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=80VFKX1I4IE&fmt=18[/youtube][/quote]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 25 Jun 2008 17:00

Still feel like I'm in a bit of a footbag funk. Took yesterday off, so my legs were spry today, but the room was still too cold, and there were people studying there, so I couldn't play with music. I didn't stick to my routine regimen, but given the extenuating circumstances, i don't feel too guilty about it. I ended up getting 3 dropless routines and one single drop, but I also had 3 routines which I aborted prematurely. Still, I'm roughly at 50% with my attempts, if not a little over. I'm hoping the adrenaline of actually being at a tournament and doing the damn thing will help focus me and result in a dropless performance.

A little drill from today that I liked:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5pt8Mrj1os&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 27 Jun 2008 17:20

Legs have been feeling weird the last couple days, so no footbag. Hopefully I'll feel up to playing tomorrow, since I'll be in NYC which is a rare opportunity.

Here's a blast from the past. This was Tokyo Shredder Gathering 1, back in 2003. There have been 5 more TSGs since then, which makes me real happy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlrlCcTTfNE&fmt=18[/youtube]

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 29 Jun 2008 18:43

My dad is on the East Coast this weekend on his way to Spain, which was all the excuse I needed to go visit him and my sister this weekend. My sister is 5 months pregnant and just bought a house, so it was really exciting to see her and the house. I feel bad I missed Flash's jam, because I would have liked to do my routine under pressure once before USO, but family first.

I did manage to sneak in a 2.5 hour session with NYFA, which was super fun. I really needed a session outside, with good friends, a crowd, and some adrenaline. I hadn't had a truly fun or good session in a while, so it felt fantastic to play well this weekend. I hit 6 unique fearless a couple times (different combos each time), and I was getting some combos like vertigo bsos which I normally find tricky. I shot a few runs; here's one of the better ones:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-yATwPv13I&fmt=18[/youtube]

Today I watched the Euro soccer championships, which was fun. I'm half Spanish, so it was great watching the game with my dad, sister and brother in law. The game was pleasantly entertaining, and we won which is always nice.

I got in a solo session today too, but mostly just did it for exercise. I did a dropless run-through of my routine without the music, and only using one footbag. That was my only routine practice of the weekend. I hit 2 new tricks this weekend too, which was nice: whirling ss dyno, and ducking eggbeater. Neither is particularly hard, but it's still fun to hit something new.

I also bought some new footbag gear at an outlet mall. I got some climacool shorts for $8, and a really cool Dwyane Wade jersey for $10. I'll show them off in a youtube video soon, I promise.

Sporatical_Distractions · Post by **Sporatical_Distractions** » 29 Jun 2008 18:51

OMG Ken! Those sick3's from Tokyo Shredder Gathering 1 were insane. Especially the last one.

and the string from your last entry was awesome!

[quote="C-Fan]...and ducking eggbeater. Neither is particularly hard, but it's still fun to hit something new. [/quote]

What planet are you from? props on the new trick.

Ian Brill · Post by **Ian Brill** » 29 Jun 2008 19:07

I had a really good time in Spain and I wanted to let you know that. In case you are interested. We spent three days in Madrid took a night train to Barecelona for three more. The landscape and old, surviving architecture was both haunting and beautiful. By the time I got to Cologne I had such a good feeling from my experince in Spain that I was rooting for their Football team in my hotel, as they took on Sweden.

I look forward to kicking with you in NYC for the NYFA Jam.

I also look forward to seeing the footage that you intended to post tonight

Deleted about 5 "double posts", to keep some context for Adrienne's post

-Erik

Erik- Thank you very much for taking care of this. Now I am aware that just because a post says it is still waiting to be sent, it may have already been.

Ken- thank you for your patience.

colefieldhouse22 · Post by **colefieldhouse22** » 29 Jun 2008 20:32

wow, Ian, guess you had a really good time in Spain!

Felicidades on the Spain win in the Euro cup. Â¡Viva EspaÃ±a!

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 30 Jun 2008 17:16

If any mods read my blog, could they please delete Ian's multiple posts?

Ian: Glad you liked Spain. If you took photos, I'd love to see them at Barrett's jam. I'm really excited to play with you and Bruce at that event. I can't believe I met you guys 11 years ago and that we are all still playing. That's really pretty incredible.

Kevin: Thanks for the props. In the TSG1 video I actually think the last Sick3 is the easiest by far. The first one which is all triple dexes is still the hardest for me.

Over the weekend my dad brought me a carry-on worth of work clothes and other stuff I needed from Arizona, including my last pair of G-Units. I should buy another pair while they are still on the market. This last pair is the navy and white Yankee pattern, which I don't really like visually, but they were cheap when I bought them like 2 years ago. I'm hoping my current pair of G6s last me at least through USO, and then I'll start breaking in my new pair.

Here's another vid from NYC:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6fhI5zk2aA[/youtube]