greg raymond

[abstract]

2 hour shred -> 2 hour nap. feels damn good.

playing again today. amazing day, 25 degrees with an accompanying breeze.

hit lots of gyro whirls & spinning whirls yesterday. px ss osis > gyro whirl bsos. spinning osis > gyro osis rpt. gyro osis x 4. working towards double spins, spinning dexterities getting better. should try surging.

[abstract]

k, 'm jus' gonna play fer 3 mos, less talkie talk more walkie walk.

catch you folks this summah. good luck to all shredders & shreditas in your travels, training, preparations & manifestations of art through the body.

the destination is just a catalyst for the journey. carpe diem, motherlicker.

[abstract]

i really need to start having more philosophical conversations with angry people.

while dante & i were shredding @ market square, a lady in the market walks up, trying to be authoritative, & says, "Buskers & street performers are required to change locations after being in the same place for an hour, so you have to go now."

now, i knew dante was already done for the day, so didn't feel the urge to make a big deal out of it. but i know the busking by-laws in kingston, & this lady just wasn't being honest about her intentions. my response should have been something along the lines of,

"First of all, we are not asking for money. Therefore, we are not acting in the capacity of a busker or street performer, which is actually a licensed operation. Secondly, even if we were busking here, the by-law which states that a performer must move is only applicable to when performances are taking place on the sidewalks, so as to not impede foot traffic over a prolonged period of time. The market square is not a sidewalk.

Now, while your statement doesn't actually apply to us, I don't want to appear inconsiderate to your desires. So let's talk about why you REALLY want us to leave."

instead of this, however, i just played for another 10 minutes without paying her any mind. it was a passive aggressive approach that, in retrospect, wasn't nearly as entertaining as it potentially could have been. but i did hit 5 or 6 datws in one string during that period, which was a nice thing to end on.

then another market lady offered us delicious lemon custard pastries as we were packing up to leave. ample recompense for a day of fun in the sun.

[WyrmFyre]

Kinda reminds me of a moment we had last year when Matt and Nick came over. We were just about to get ourselves set up in front of one of the fair ground rides on the beach (well away from anyone, we wernt interfering in the least)....

Ride Op : "You cant do that here"

Matt : "Why?"

Ride Op : "Because its private area..... and its a public walkway"

Does that get an add for paradox? XD

[abstract]

haha yes, definitely a paradox.

people back themselves into all kinds of corners to try to accomplish something ridiculous.

i had a nickname when i played back in vancouver, "The Engine". i got this name because i would play so intensely without breaks that my body would actually start giving off steam, regardless of the season or temperature.

last night was the first time since vancouver that i once again became The Engine. i played for 40 minutes non-stop. after the 25 minute mark, i realized things around me were getting hazy, although i was still clear of mind.

i lost 3 pounds in about an hour. started at 186, went down to 183. this morning i was 182. i was 190 on monday. i think 170 is a comfortable weight for me to aim for, although in 2004, before my fracture, i was down to 156. the goal right now is 170 by the end of may. 20 pounds in a month. freestyle footbag can be the new weight loss fad.

there was a native drumming circle in the park where i was playing, so i turned off the boombox & played to their rhythm. i had a few stretches where i went dropless for 2+ minutes ( just doing easy stuff ), which makes me think i should try for once to actually plan out a routine.

i have performed routines a few times before, but never once had i actually planned anything. i just chose a track & played to it, which never really ended positively. i am certainly the type of personality that benefits from proper planning.

[abstract]

nucleus shoes are in. they feel really nice. i haven't had a session in them yet, just been wearing them everywhere for the past day to break them in a little bit.

they came with these little side rails shoe-gooed to the insteps, but they were really cheap & flimsy so I peeled them off. i feel my crank is good enough that roll-off will not be a concern, but time will tell. the side pocket for the bag is really nice ( i just rested a footbag in a clipper position & did a few swirls ).

i had a beef with the toe box when i first saw them, i'll know more after my session tonight. but that toe pocket is actually pretty decent, from just doing some casual toe stalls in pants. i'm mostly worried about the canvas reinforcement around the toe affecting uptime components.

the tread is phenomenal in comparison to Q3s. the support also feels pretty solid. can't wait to play tonight.

more to come.!

[DTank126]

I look forward to hearing your review on the nukes. I hated them at first, especially the toe. However, after taking a break from them for a month or so I tried them again today and played really decent actually. I guess it just takes time to get used to them.

You plan on going to NYFA and/or Montreal?

[abstract]

i am heading to toronto the weekend of montreal jam, but i'd like to try to make it out there at least for tam tams on sunday if i can.

sadly, the ktown crew is kind of disassembled at the moment. dante moved back to stratford for the summer & john's house framing gig takes all his available physical endurance.

i've got a pretty killer patio at my new house, surrounded by lush vegetation, a hammock & BBQ. definitely the new solo shred locale. this rain is kicking my ass though, still no session in nucleus yet.

so glad my bike is fixed. getting in about an hour or more of biking every day ( half hour to & from work every day ). down to 178 pounds. 170 by end of may is looking good.

looks sunny outside. i will try to film if it is nice after work.

[abstract]

175.

good session. nucleus have a pretty intense learning curve. i won't dismiss them at all, but they feel WAY different than quantums.

i was overestimating the ability of my crank. rolloff is a problem only if there is imperfection in body placement, which my game is full of. so in that sense, nucleus will be very helpful for tightening up bad posture. super deep clippers felt very comfortable. so long as the bag rests in that nice fabric pocket, the clipper is solid. but if it hits the side of the rubber sole, it's rolloff city. a thinner sole with a slightly bigger fabric pocket would be gravy.

toe stuff was quite good in nucleus. that little toe pocket almost feels like cheating for certain tricks, but overall i wish that canvas support around the toe was much thinner than it is. i like to feel my toes through the mesh, they feel kinda trapped in nucleus. all the same, toe positioning feels more solid.

the sole is too heavy for my taste, it reminds me of g-units in that sense, although they seem a bit lighter than those. i feel like ultimately my footbag shoe of choice will be some kind of moccasin with a semi-stiff flexible leather sole.

for whatever reason, flappers have been way easier in nucleus. i think flapper is more about the hip placement of the support leg than crank of the catching leg & maybe i'm not properly evaluating the positive effects of greater support in the sole.

i will explore nucleus further, no doubt i will appreciate them a lot more once i get this sole broken in, nice & flexible. probably will take a month of shred or so.

[abstract]

nucleus are already unlocking.

the sole is becoming more flexible. the shoes curve a bit with your crank when you curl your toes, because the sole has enough give.

stiff shoes at first, but i think they will break in well.

[Dio]

Finally replaced those quantums, your feet are safe once again!

[abstract]

i almost want to put on those beat up quantums instead of nucleus--it can be frustrating breaking in a new pair of shoes, especially a type of shoe never played in before.

the sole of nucleus is quickly becoming one of my favourite characteristics of the shoe. it's so flexible! for example, i can point my toe downwards & i can see my toe point through the rubber of the sole. yet at the same time i don't feel like the support of the shoe is compromised because of this, as the outer edge of the sole rubber is quite rigid.

things that have improved over the past week in nucleus:

swirl / rev swirl ( rev swirl in particular is far easier now )
flapper
pendulous
xbd rake
toe positioning ( easier to stay over top of the bag )

strings are still laughably weak. clippers take a massive adjustment, i feel. stepping is ludicrously difficult, but my stepping has always sucked. definitely something to work towards.

another week & i think the clipper game will start to open up again.

i did a double legover drill for about 10 minutes:

atw i/o > symple switch rpt.

after this, i hit a bunch of clean DLOs i was happy with. i should try:

far pickup > symple switch > op clip rpt as a drill for PDX DLO.

[abstract]

172.

good session.

[abstract]

at first blush, nucleus clipper seems like a "love it or hate it" scenario.

but as i play more, it seems closer to a "hate it, then love it" situation. a big part has to do with how nicely these shoes break in. the flexible sole i commented on in earlier posts actually extends to allowing greater ease in cranking your ankle. but when the shoes first come out of the box, the shoes are still stiff & do not allow for this quality of crank.

it's like, when you curl your toes for ankle crank, there are two separate parts of the sole creating surfaces at different angles from each other. the ball of your foot, where your toes are curled, creates one "sole surface", with your heel being the other surface, with the pivot point between these two surfaces being the narrowest width of the sole, located near the rear of the in-step pocket.

just working spinning & ducking back into the game now that clippers are gelling a bit better. pixie ducking was quite good yesterday, as was spinning ducking. hit some datw o/i as well on both sides, which is pretty rare for me, but i think i figured this trick out pretty well yesterday--i just need to keep working on them.

[abstract]

after 3 weeks, nucleus are getting nice. nice enough to start hitting new stuff at least.

toe whirl > pdx illusion rpt
toe whirl > spinning legover rpt
swirl > rev swirl rpt x 3, bs
fairy ss legover > pixie ss legover > parkwalk > weaving legover, bs
flapper > xbd rake, bs

flapper > xbd rake > muted atomic far clipper rpt would be rad.

been working on cleaning up fairies quite a bit, they are helping my atomics. i can hit atom smashers now, but not in strings yet.

[abstract]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM--

this game gives me the jiminies.

"Well, Johnson, what do you have to say for yourself?"

He made eye contact with the man just long enough to realize the query was aimed at him, despite his name, in fact, being Ruedecker, & not Johnson.

"Well, I think I speak for Johnsons everywhere when I say, fuck it."

so, fuck it. don't play for keeps. enjoy life! take a lesson from Johnson here. life is short, don't make it shorter!

outstandingly fun session yesterday.

atom smashers are getting easier. hit blur > legbeater bs.

swirls / rev swirls coming along nicely. symple swirls need work. drifters need work. stepping getting better. xbd rakes are better.

toe game definitely improving. i just relaced my nucleus to further open up the toe box & i think that made a big difference. fairy sets are getting WAY better, & i think that is what is helping my atomics so much lately.

met a girl playing bagpipes in the park partway through the session. we chatted for a bit then i tried playing footbag to the pipes. very strange rhythms to get used to!

i had this grand scheme in my early days of learning, that i would learn a series of tricks that were unexplored by the majority of players out there. i daydreamed of strings filled with surging & whirling sets & other cool concepts that i would rarely see, like twirl / far symp twirl. however, this was a misguided idea in the extreme, as at the time i didn't understand how all the components work together. in order to surge, both my gyro & stepping needs to be quite good. twirl needs a solid rev swirl.

so, i wasted some time in my early days of learning by trying for concepts that were above my level when i should have worked on those simpler elements that i saw everyone doing.

now, even though i'm in my late 20s, i feel as though my footbag career is still very young. i don't see my learning curve stopping any time before 40. so it's still not too late to start learning smart. i've been working fundamentals a lot, & that is probably what most of this summer will consist of. linking every basic 2 together in different combinations & understanding which moves each link will help me learn @ 3 adds.

eg.

atw i/o > symple switch -> dlo
atw o/i > symple switch -> egg
clip set mirage > ss clip -> drifter
atw o/i > atw o/i -> datw o/i
symple switch > atw o/i -> double switch

on & on...maybe when i'm 30 i'll really be ready to throw down.

there was an international meeting of doctors & scientists who sought to determine what the maximum potential for human life was, if that human led an exceptionally healthy lifestyle. the number they came to was 220 years. so really, if you want to, there is no reason for an athlete to retire as early as they often do, so long as you support your body & listen to it.

i know several 70 year olds who look like they are 40, with some very interesting habits regarding diet & exercise.

[abstract]

fairy ducking butter bsos
pixie ducking mirage bsos

vortex bsos first try

yessss!

ty jay boychuk, your shred has definitely been inspiring me lately.

NYJ10 is like heroin. it's all well & good to steer clear of NYJ10 & profess to never have fallen victim to NYJ10's seductive allure...to live a nice, clean & gentle life--raise 2.3 children, get the white picket fence & a puppy to fetch the paper to go with your morning coffee.

then there are those less fortunate ( although they would consider themselves quite fortunate, indeed ) to have been exposed to NYJ10, say, at a party, or from a trusted friend.

it's a fucking wild ride.

but that's where the similarities cease, as one is a debilitation of life, & the other is a celebration of personal growth.

note: the above analogy is not approved for all audiences. drugs r bad, k?

[abstract]

pushed myself past exhaustion yesterday. just kept putting the bag back on the shoe, i could barely lift my legs after the session was done.

after having successfully taught many passersby how to perform a toe stall, i can say that, from my experience the most helpful pointer above all others is this:

"lift from the knee."

put the bag on their toe in a resting position then ask them to lift from the knee. a little lightbulb goes on in their head after they try it for the first time. they can then immediately understand when you talk about how keeping the bag closer to you allows you to control it better.

i taught someone toe stall, inside stall & clipper stall in a 5 minute period yesterday, that felt pretty good.

i did the above explanation for toe stall. then i said to keep the stalling surface in the same place in front of your body, but turn your hip out to turn the toe stall into an inside stall.

then i slapped my support leg & said the key to the clipper stall is in the support leg. don't think about bending your catching ankle so much as bending your support leg & centring your body weight over your support leg. so, from an inside stall i had him bend his support leg to 90 degrees & wrap the inside around to a clipper, then had him straighten & bend his support leg while holding the bag in a clipper position.

not too many highlights from yesterday, just a lot of drilling. hit some more datw o/i & toe shuffle is improving. i love atomic sets, i can't wait till i can throw them in more easily. dlos are getting easier. worked on spinning drills.

spinning clipper > spinning osis rpt
gyro clipper > gyro osis rpt
gyro osis > spinning osis rpt

spinning ducking is improving, as is pixie / fairy ducking. hit assassin bsos.

towards the end, i was just doing 2s since that's all the energy i had left & tried to do them with the least energy spent possible.

stepping needs serious attention, as always, but i never take the time to solidly work on it. one of these days i will remember when i am in the moment. for now it's just haphazard ripwalks at the point where my string is breaking down anyways. i really need to drill stepping ss clip.

i also need to buy new shorts, these ones are too big for me now. they were so loaded down with sweat by the end of the session that i couldn't do energetic strings longer than 5 contacts before i'd have to "adjust". le sigh.

pretty sore today but i will play if i'm feeling strong by day's end.

adios, amigos & senoritas.

[jay7]

Mr. Raymond,

I like your dedication, and good, full posts. The second last one, of course, caught my attention. I tried to find your phone number, through Canada411.com, facebook, facebook contacts, and alas, no dice. I was going to phone-prop you, but I'll have to settle for here I guess.

Props.

Hope to see you this summer, [worlds at least?]

-Jay

[abstract]

thanks jay. worlds definitely. i am now putting all my various types of gears into perpetual motion to generate the greenbacks for the journey ahead.

the tip jar



tomorrow i will pick up my busking license. it will be the first time i've asked for money while playing. it should be interesting. there are tour buses unloading in a park where i often play. they'll never know what hit them.

the shoes



nucleus. the new lacing has helped the toe, like, whoa ( the bottom eyelet being open is key for this shoe ).

the support



bone basics: best calcium / magnesium supplement i've ever used.

from the bottle: "BB is a multi-nutrient combination designed to support bone health. It features ossein microcrystalline hydroxyapatite complex (MCHC), a lyophilized extract of bovine bone, which retains the intact microcrystalline structure of whole bone."

so, it's like putting little chunks of bone into your body, ready to be assimilated right into your bone structure.

omega-3 factors: your body loves oil. even if you think it's sticky, or makes you unpresentable. deep down, you know you want it. gives energy, repairs tissue, lubricates joints.

gla 120 primrose oil: more oil. remember about the oil? you love the oil. primrose is omega-6. helps with good cholesterol & inflammation.

vitamin c: i hate scurvy.

pycnogenol: anti-oxidant. i could write a book on anti-oxidants. but other, more qualified people already have. so instead, i just take it, & reap the sweet rewards. namely, repairing free radical damage.

citrus bioflavonoids: a more potent source of vitamin c. the main reason i take this is to strengthen my gums.

the soda



a cold green apple soda is the greatest thing on the planet after a 2+ hour session.

the matthew cross



this bag, finely crafted by the mighty matthew of clan cross, has come to be known by another name: "Monstroso". i can't tell you how much this bag weighs, but it's a lot. it's an incredible training bag. nick landes talks about training with a chain mail bag. this gives a similar effect.

a little anecdote about this bag: the night i purchased this from matthew was during the toronto jam when anssi came to visit ontario. one night at tom mosher's pad, anssi & jay were gearing up to have a night shred in the garage. anssi didn't have a footbag on him at the time & was checking out people's bags for one he wanted to play with. after sampling quite a few, i offered him Monstroso. he held it for about 2 seconds then said, "mind if i borrow this?"

Monstroso: Crafted by Cross, Anssi Approved.

on a side note, or maybe just on an entirely-new-unto-itself-note, that night shred in the garage was one of the most memorable sessions of my life. matt cross, johnny s, mosher & greenwood hanging out while anssi, jay, john bagi & myself shredded for hours. which brings me to the next stop on our ride,

the john bagi



this bag is the yin to monstroso's yang. this is one of the best bags that john bagi has ever made, & he's stitched some nice bags. it's worked in perfectly & is presently enjoying the prime of its life. much smaller bag ( a mini, i suppose? ) & very light, at least by comparison.

tonight's session was really good. but this post is long enough, i think.

for great justice, worlds will be mine.