at yesterday's session, i worked the toe whirl > ss mirage rpt drill. hit about 20 contacts of it, then nailed the cleanest barrage i've ever hit in the same string.
nearly had pixie ss osis > gyro whirl bsos. the bag rolled off my foot on the 2nd gyro whirl.
training with the 5 lb weights was phenomenal. i used them off & on for the entire session. spinning was especially challenging & i could really feel what my arms were trying to do with that little bit of extra weight applied.
in particular, i could feel the differences between what each arm was conditioned to do based on habit. the weights were helping the reinforce the way my arms should actually move & i could feel when my arms were attempting to sway away from that.
hit some very clean fairy whirls. i've had problems in the past with the hip movements on this trick. the weights helped me figure it out.
it was a really good day for spinning. not necessarily for combos, but for cleanliness. the set & the spin are becoming cleanly separated & spotting the bag out of the spin is getting much easier.
this week will be interesting, re: training. i've got a lot of solo sessions ahead of me.
i will put some thought into what i'd like to focus on for each session & record the before & after in here.
greg raymond
[ before ]
tues objectives:
illusions
spinning ducking
spinning dexterities
toe spinning
inspinning
edit:
[ after ]
session: 65 minutes
illusion > ss illusion rpt x 2
pixie op toe > illusion rpt x 20
pdx illusion bsos
spinning ducking clipper bs
spinning legover bsos
pixie ss clip > gyro mirage bsos
spinning pdx mirage bs
spinning xbd rake bs
spinning whirl bsos
inspiration: aleksi "air" airinen. shit's tight.
did not work on inspinning or toe spinning. should have hit more spinning ducking tricks.
swirl > pdx whirl rpt
plo > datw i/o > fairy legover
next solo session tomorrey.
tues objectives:
illusions
spinning ducking
spinning dexterities
toe spinning
inspinning
edit:
[ after ]
session: 65 minutes
illusion > ss illusion rpt x 2
pixie op toe > illusion rpt x 20
pdx illusion bsos
spinning ducking clipper bs
spinning legover bsos
pixie ss clip > gyro mirage bsos
spinning pdx mirage bs
spinning xbd rake bs
spinning whirl bsos
inspiration: aleksi "air" airinen. shit's tight.
did not work on inspinning or toe spinning. should have hit more spinning ducking tricks.
swirl > pdx whirl rpt
plo > datw i/o > fairy legover
next solo session tomorrey.
Last edited by abstract on 13 Feb 2009 10:41, edited 1 time in total.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
i'm not sure what zipper is, hehe. is that a frozen xbd toe?
was fun chillin' & playing kickbag with you. such things shall be repeated.
i've started referring to xbd rakes as xbd toe because of something bagi told me, referring to a conversation he had with ianek at wakahakee 1.
along the lines of, there is no component for the repositioning of the bag from a xbd position to front toe position, similar ( my own addition ) to why a wrap around is a 2 add, despite the repositioning aspect seeming like a 3rd component.
i know dwelling in adds too much is ridiculous. rakes are stylish & i never learned them before, they have been fun to learn. seems like a lot of untapped potential in rake linking.
[ before ]
thurs objectives:
spinning ducking / weaving / diving / zulu
spinning illusion
edit:
[ after ]
FAILURE. i did not play this evening. stupid knee being stupid. gave it another day to get over itself.
after a follow up conversation with bagi today, i have no clue what to make of xbd toe moves! so i've gone back & edited my previous post to reflect what i actually hit.
was fun chillin' & playing kickbag with you. such things shall be repeated.
i've started referring to xbd rakes as xbd toe because of something bagi told me, referring to a conversation he had with ianek at wakahakee 1.
along the lines of, there is no component for the repositioning of the bag from a xbd position to front toe position, similar ( my own addition ) to why a wrap around is a 2 add, despite the repositioning aspect seeming like a 3rd component.
i know dwelling in adds too much is ridiculous. rakes are stylish & i never learned them before, they have been fun to learn. seems like a lot of untapped potential in rake linking.
[ before ]
thurs objectives:
spinning ducking / weaving / diving / zulu
spinning illusion
edit:
[ after ]
FAILURE. i did not play this evening. stupid knee being stupid. gave it another day to get over itself.
after a follow up conversation with bagi today, i have no clue what to make of xbd toe moves! so i've gone back & edited my previous post to reflect what i actually hit.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
solo session on sunday, mostly worked on illusions.
smudge bsos
dimwalk > pdx illusion bsos
trying to find that "sweet spot", where the bag lands comfortably in a pocket, with no stress. it is still a bit erratic. sometimes i have it, sometimes i don't. it is telling of a need for more practice. this week will also be telling of how i move forward in this sport. retrospective analysis will come on saturday.
smudge bsos
dimwalk > pdx illusion bsos
trying to find that "sweet spot", where the bag lands comfortably in a pocket, with no stress. it is still a bit erratic. sometimes i have it, sometimes i don't. it is telling of a need for more practice. this week will also be telling of how i move forward in this sport. retrospective analysis will come on saturday.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
tuesday session:
moar illusions! they're getting more relaxed. i started working on purely downtime illusion dexes, keeping my support leg firm and completing the entire dex without a hop.
worked a bit on form & balance through "freeze" strings, of which i did 2. each trick in the following was frozen.
1: clipper > infinity > clipper > infinity > clipper > whirl > clipper > whirl > clipper > drifter > clipper > drifter > clipper > ducking clipper > clipper > ducking clipper > clipper > gyro clipper > clipper > gyro clipper > clipper > hand catch.
i noticed something while freezing my gyros, which is that i dip my head too low, which causes massive energy loss during the spin, as well as dizziness with respect to consecutives. worked a bit from there on easing my spins & keeping my head straight.
2: osis > swirl rpt x 10 or so.
my osii, mostly on my left catching leg, have a tendency to be pulled or a bit slurry. freezing helped keep things crisp. i believe all of my swirls were clean.
also of note, i hit clipper > clipper > far symple swirl > clipper > clipper > far symple swirl x 2 & whirl > far symple swirl bsos.
set -> turn -> dex. more to come.
moar illusions! they're getting more relaxed. i started working on purely downtime illusion dexes, keeping my support leg firm and completing the entire dex without a hop.
worked a bit on form & balance through "freeze" strings, of which i did 2. each trick in the following was frozen.
1: clipper > infinity > clipper > infinity > clipper > whirl > clipper > whirl > clipper > drifter > clipper > drifter > clipper > ducking clipper > clipper > ducking clipper > clipper > gyro clipper > clipper > gyro clipper > clipper > hand catch.
i noticed something while freezing my gyros, which is that i dip my head too low, which causes massive energy loss during the spin, as well as dizziness with respect to consecutives. worked a bit from there on easing my spins & keeping my head straight.
2: osis > swirl rpt x 10 or so.
my osii, mostly on my left catching leg, have a tendency to be pulled or a bit slurry. freezing helped keep things crisp. i believe all of my swirls were clean.
also of note, i hit clipper > clipper > far symple swirl > clipper > clipper > far symple swirl x 2 & whirl > far symple swirl bsos.
set -> turn -> dex. more to come.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
wednesday session:
ty johnny suderman. the ease of your dexes helped me a lot yesterday.
hover.
had a convo with bagi right before the session & listened to a very interesting excerpt from an audio book i had heard some of previously, "Blink", by Malcolm Gladwell.
he is essentially talking about one's ability to instantaneously understand something without being able to verbally describe it. and, moreso, that the act of describing something actually makes it more difficult to visually understand.
this stemmed from the mini discussion in matt cross' t-jam video thread. gladwell backs up his points with a wide variety of case studies. was very thought provoking.
as a result, last night i tried not to think about any trick names, or names of concepts, or jobs, or anything. i just thought about the way that i wanted my legs to move around the bag. whenever a trick name would pop into my head, i'd disregard it but i'd retain the visual image of what the trick looks like and feels to perform.
i am unsure if this was helpful for training, but i had a hell of a lot more fun. it also made me think of last summer. by the end of the summer, i was much better than i am now. it was because of constant solo sessions, but also, i never really set out to accomplish a verbally described objective on a day to day basis. i just went out and played every day.
time to instill some of that good times into the routine.
ty johnny suderman. the ease of your dexes helped me a lot yesterday.
hover.
had a convo with bagi right before the session & listened to a very interesting excerpt from an audio book i had heard some of previously, "Blink", by Malcolm Gladwell.
he is essentially talking about one's ability to instantaneously understand something without being able to verbally describe it. and, moreso, that the act of describing something actually makes it more difficult to visually understand.
this stemmed from the mini discussion in matt cross' t-jam video thread. gladwell backs up his points with a wide variety of case studies. was very thought provoking.
as a result, last night i tried not to think about any trick names, or names of concepts, or jobs, or anything. i just thought about the way that i wanted my legs to move around the bag. whenever a trick name would pop into my head, i'd disregard it but i'd retain the visual image of what the trick looks like and feels to perform.
i am unsure if this was helpful for training, but i had a hell of a lot more fun. it also made me think of last summer. by the end of the summer, i was much better than i am now. it was because of constant solo sessions, but also, i never really set out to accomplish a verbally described objective on a day to day basis. i just went out and played every day.
time to instill some of that good times into the routine.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
MONSTROSO SESSION on saturday at royal military college, set up outside some squash courts. i was hoping to play in the main gym area with more athletic traffic, but the space worked well for us. some cute girls came & played squash in the court right in front of us, that certainly helped. 
playtime was about 2.5 hours.
DOWN WITH NAMEOLOGY.
i am hitting things now that before i would never even try, due in part to this idea of not thinking about trick names or components, especially while playing.
after several strings i'd have to have john tell me what i hit. the highlight was hitting smog & smoke -> blender -> zoom in the same string.
it's been so much fun playing without these WORDS running through my head, confusing my visual & creative capabilities.
the words can be deceiving & even a bit intimidating, especially with the way this community has viewed components over the years. when you hear "spinning ducking paradox symposium whirl", your brain has an aneurism. when really, the trick is MUCH simpler than how that phrase that makes it feel. you just turn around, let the bag pass over you & move a leg around the bag.
seeing the trick & describing the trick are totally separate concepts. it gets down to something i've believed about the component system for a long time, which is that it is a "descriptive" system ONLY, with absolutely no influence with regards to difficulty.
as a mild hypothesis, i would like to propose that "difficulty" in footbag is one of those things that breaks down & becomes harder to understand the more you attempt to define it. you see someone bust a bad ass combo & you feel, instantly, that it was "difficult". you can understand that difficulty infinitely faster than you could describe what about that string made it difficult.
this, i believe, is what makes this sport such an insane challenge to judge.
new video incoming. footage taken from february 14th. hopefully it will be finished tonight.
playtime was about 2.5 hours.
DOWN WITH NAMEOLOGY.
i am hitting things now that before i would never even try, due in part to this idea of not thinking about trick names or components, especially while playing.
after several strings i'd have to have john tell me what i hit. the highlight was hitting smog & smoke -> blender -> zoom in the same string.
it's been so much fun playing without these WORDS running through my head, confusing my visual & creative capabilities.
the words can be deceiving & even a bit intimidating, especially with the way this community has viewed components over the years. when you hear "spinning ducking paradox symposium whirl", your brain has an aneurism. when really, the trick is MUCH simpler than how that phrase that makes it feel. you just turn around, let the bag pass over you & move a leg around the bag.
seeing the trick & describing the trick are totally separate concepts. it gets down to something i've believed about the component system for a long time, which is that it is a "descriptive" system ONLY, with absolutely no influence with regards to difficulty.
as a mild hypothesis, i would like to propose that "difficulty" in footbag is one of those things that breaks down & becomes harder to understand the more you attempt to define it. you see someone bust a bad ass combo & you feel, instantly, that it was "difficult". you can understand that difficulty infinitely faster than you could describe what about that string made it difficult.
this, i believe, is what makes this sport such an insane challenge to judge.
new video incoming. footage taken from february 14th. hopefully it will be finished tonight.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
i decided earlier today that it was a good day to start working 5s again.
px ducking whirl bs
px ss blender
px op blender bs
px op blender > pdx blender ( not sealed )
pheonix > tomahawk bs ( flip not sealed )
spinning whirl bs, almost bsos
vertigo ( footed )
some dude flipped out when i hit px op blender > string. i think he's gonna buy some footbags from john & might even try playing a bit.
px ducking whirl bs
px ss blender
px op blender bs
px op blender > pdx blender ( not sealed )
pheonix > tomahawk bs ( flip not sealed )
spinning whirl bs, almost bsos
vertigo ( footed )
some dude flipped out when i hit px op blender > string. i think he's gonna buy some footbags from john & might even try playing a bit.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
lululemon demo / lesson plan:
5 minute progressive demo
kicks -> stalls -> 2s -> 3s+
5 minute introductory lesson
teaching kicks & stalls, talk about form & posture.
"skipping" leads to "the bounce".
10 to 15 minute "class"
20 to 25 people, broken into groups to kick with each other & have fun. i walk around & give tips / suggestions / props.
depending on the setup, i may try some 4 square.
5 minute progressive demo
kicks -> stalls -> 2s -> 3s+
5 minute introductory lesson
teaching kicks & stalls, talk about form & posture.
"skipping" leads to "the bounce".
10 to 15 minute "class"
20 to 25 people, broken into groups to kick with each other & have fun. i walk around & give tips / suggestions / props.
depending on the setup, i may try some 4 square.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
no-mind.
pretty much sums up my demo tonight.
i didn't plan for this demo at all & it was AMAZING.
on the spot, i started talking about casually kicking in the 60s ( it was the 70s in reality but the 60s feel set the tone better--again, no-mind so i didn't rationalize it at all ) while showing random kicks.
i started talking about people starting to try new things with the bag & broke down kicks into inside, outside, toe.
"but people weren't satisfied with that. what if they tried to control the bag?" i showed inside delays, toe delays & outside delays, ending the sequence on a clipper delay.
some of the people gasped at clipper!
"but people still weren't satisfied. what if we could move our legs around the bag?" i moved into tiltless dexterities, doing legovers, mirages & illusions. i ended on a legover to pixie hand catch to much applause.
"but still, they were not satisfied. what if we could put all of these parts together?" butterflies, pdx mirages, osii.
"and to this day, the people, they are not satisfied. the combinations of tricks available is truly staggering & is why we call it freestyle." i then did some strings. and talk about ending on a strong note, holy fuck. i hit smear > atom smasher > pixie blender. that got them pumped! ( me too, never expected to hit a new combo at a demo )
we then had a Q & A session, which was equivalently awesome. the first question was, "Who are these people?" "They reside in the dark corners of every city, if you know where to look. They also live on the internet."
the Q & A was fun & gave me a chance to catch my breath. they asked how i got started, are there tournaments, what do they need to get started, etc.
then we broke into circles & i walked around showing people how to toe kick / inside kick, & how to train for learning toe delays.
i was surprised by how many folks decided to play in bare feet! one girl, who would be amazing if she picked it up, hit toe kick > knee bump > knee bump > hand catch quite cleanly.
the only downside was that they would not let me film the demo this time around, since it was a staff meeting & many stores have policies about video cameras in the store ( still foggy on why this is? ).
was kinda funny / sad when someone said, "why is nobody filming this?!?" haha.
good times. i'm out.
pretty much sums up my demo tonight.
i didn't plan for this demo at all & it was AMAZING.
on the spot, i started talking about casually kicking in the 60s ( it was the 70s in reality but the 60s feel set the tone better--again, no-mind so i didn't rationalize it at all ) while showing random kicks.
i started talking about people starting to try new things with the bag & broke down kicks into inside, outside, toe.
"but people weren't satisfied with that. what if they tried to control the bag?" i showed inside delays, toe delays & outside delays, ending the sequence on a clipper delay.
some of the people gasped at clipper!
"but people still weren't satisfied. what if we could move our legs around the bag?" i moved into tiltless dexterities, doing legovers, mirages & illusions. i ended on a legover to pixie hand catch to much applause.
"but still, they were not satisfied. what if we could put all of these parts together?" butterflies, pdx mirages, osii.
"and to this day, the people, they are not satisfied. the combinations of tricks available is truly staggering & is why we call it freestyle." i then did some strings. and talk about ending on a strong note, holy fuck. i hit smear > atom smasher > pixie blender. that got them pumped! ( me too, never expected to hit a new combo at a demo )
we then had a Q & A session, which was equivalently awesome. the first question was, "Who are these people?" "They reside in the dark corners of every city, if you know where to look. They also live on the internet."
the Q & A was fun & gave me a chance to catch my breath. they asked how i got started, are there tournaments, what do they need to get started, etc.
then we broke into circles & i walked around showing people how to toe kick / inside kick, & how to train for learning toe delays.
i was surprised by how many folks decided to play in bare feet! one girl, who would be amazing if she picked it up, hit toe kick > knee bump > knee bump > hand catch quite cleanly.
the only downside was that they would not let me film the demo this time around, since it was a staff meeting & many stores have policies about video cameras in the store ( still foggy on why this is? ).
was kinda funny / sad when someone said, "why is nobody filming this?!?" haha.
good times. i'm out.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
for any that missed it in the video section, here is the february video update!
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=20008
i am pretty happy about how the editing turned out. shawn's filming is getting better every time we film a new session. having 2 cameras available was fun.
http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=20008
i am pretty happy about how the editing turned out. shawn's filming is getting better every time we film a new session. having 2 cameras available was fun.
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
thanks guys.
thanks john for your hard work putting those bags together in time. i'm sure most of them will sell. we are a walking advertisement for awesome @ the JDUC.
thanks matt, i watched your YTV special & your live demo with tom & adam quite a few times before the demo. you have that natural MC ability that makes these things flow.
had a strong solo session on sunday, with 1 sharp downturn.
can't remember much of what i had hit. i am returning to how i was playing last summer, just ripping it up &, while not worrying about drilling one thing in particular, always making sure that i'm doing something different during each string i'm happy with.
had a run with pixie ducking whirl, then later in the string ducking whirl > spinning whirl. blender > pdx blender bs ( i have repeated this several times in the past, but not on command ). worked on torques, dlos.
ducking pickup > fairy ss mirage > double legover was a fun combo i hit midstring.
during a longish shuffle combo, i mini-rolled my ankle. i played a bit longer after a break, but it still hurts a bit today so a day or two off looks to be the way. ( mini-roll as in, i saw the roll happening & was able to put zero pressure on it as i was going down & kinda somersaulted on the ground )
thanks john for your hard work putting those bags together in time. i'm sure most of them will sell. we are a walking advertisement for awesome @ the JDUC.
thanks matt, i watched your YTV special & your live demo with tom & adam quite a few times before the demo. you have that natural MC ability that makes these things flow.
had a strong solo session on sunday, with 1 sharp downturn.
can't remember much of what i had hit. i am returning to how i was playing last summer, just ripping it up &, while not worrying about drilling one thing in particular, always making sure that i'm doing something different during each string i'm happy with.
had a run with pixie ducking whirl, then later in the string ducking whirl > spinning whirl. blender > pdx blender bs ( i have repeated this several times in the past, but not on command ). worked on torques, dlos.
ducking pickup > fairy ss mirage > double legover was a fun combo i hit midstring.
during a longish shuffle combo, i mini-rolled my ankle. i played a bit longer after a break, but it still hurts a bit today so a day or two off looks to be the way. ( mini-roll as in, i saw the roll happening & was able to put zero pressure on it as i was going down & kinda somersaulted on the ground )
greg raymond, kingston
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
FB: Rocker Holliday
"What is it that makes a complete stranger dive into an icy river to save a solid gold baby? Maybe we'll never know." - Jack Handey
