Muffinman

[Tjuggles]

What about

torque > gyro osis > gyro clip > rpt?

[Muffinman]

Thursday, February 24th, 2011
2 hour session
-toe stalls (straight knees; spot inside) (contacts: 50)
-ducking toe stalls (contacts: 4-5)
-inside stalls   (contacts: 28-50-50)
-ducking inside stalls   (contacts: 3-3)

-atw-in (Rcontacts: 7-5-7) (Lcontacts: 5-11-11)
-atw-out (Rcontacts: 5-20-16-9) (Lcontacts: 10-20-30-23)
-jester (contacts: 3-3-4)
-cloud kick op clip (contacts: 9-7-16)

-paused osis record  (contacts: 17-12-34-34)
-spinning osii  (contacts: 6-3-6-6-23)
-gyro clipper  (contacts: 9-20-11)
-stepping clipper  (Rcontacts: 19) (Lcontacts: 9-10-17-14)
-reverse swirl (Rcontact: 2-3-3) (Lcontact: 2-3-3)
-swirl (Rcontact: 2-2) (Lcontact: 1-2-3) 
-torque (Rcontact: 2-2-5) (Lcontact: 2-2-3)
-smog (Rcontacts: 1) (Lcontacts: 1)

-osis > spinning/gyro clip (contacts: 28-20-44-34)
-far osis > trq > osis > trq repeat (contacts: 8-10-6)
-osis > rev swirl repeat (contacts: 6-9-9)
-duck osis > dive repeat (contacts: 4-6)
-spin leg > duck > m > p (contacts: 16-14-23)
-spin osis drill w/ducks > clip > butt (contacts: 20-16-23)

-pix osis > pdx m > p ss osis > pdx m repeat (cons: 9-10-8-7)
-pdx m > inspin clip repeat (contacts: 3-4-3-6)
-osis > inspin clip > butt repeat (contacts: 5-5-6)
-dsc > duck clip repeat (contacts: 2-2)
-mobius > butt > butt > mobius (contacts: )
-smear > p ss m repeat (contacts: 9-6-6-8)
-tap > as repeat (contacts: 5-7-5-8)
-blurry osis > rip > step osis > rip repeat (contacts: 6-9)

Observations
Well, it was looking like a productive training session. I broke a few records, some of which impressed myself -- the atomics, the toe inspinning, and the cloud kicks in particular. I was working on TJ's challenge (exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for, actually!), and my back started giving me sharp pain. I was doing okay, and I can certainly hit it, but I said, let's just put that off and no more torques today. I did inspinning and double spinning for a while, and all was okay, though bending over to pick up the bag was uncomfortable. Then I got a real bad tweak on ducking inside stalls (probably set from my really bad inside) and I knew that was the end of the session.


Fucked back (again)
It hurts to stand up straight and to walk. It's frightfully reminiscent of a back injury I had in Vancouver 2 summers ago. I had a session with Kung Ho, Caro, and Jorden (who happened to also be in Vancouver street performing), and later on, post-shred hangout, my back completely gave out and I needed two people to help me walk back to Kevin Regamey's where I was staying. I was in bed for, like, 5 days? And then I didn't play footbag for a year (the injury before this most recent shin splint injury...). So, yeah... I'm scared I put on Tiger Balm, and I'm icing my lower back. I stretched post-session, though a few stretches really aggravated it, so I skipped those. I'm going to have a bath and then I'm going to put on one of those Chinese rheumatism patches that's pretty similar to Tiger Balm. I'm considering back relaxant, but it's probably best if I don't numb the pain so that I can not accidentally make it worse. I don't think it's really muscular. I think it must be a pinched nerve or something. I'm gonna try to see a walk-in too, if I can get out. I have plans with my girlfriend's friends tomorrow, but I probably won't feel up to it. Good thing I don't work 'til Tuesday.
My One Shot was good again....


Movies and Skyrim
I guess I have a good excuse to watch lots of movies in bed I've a bunch lined up, actually. I'll see what I feel like. The latest movie I've seen was Monsters. It was really good, though there were barely any monsters in it, really. My girlfriend hated it for that reason. She wanted gore and horror Here's what I have to choose from, more or less:
-From Paris With Love
-Grave of the Fireflies
-Greenberg
-Heartless
-Lars and the Real Girl
-Les Miserables (grew up on the musical (I usually can't stand musicals), and the movie looks so good. Been putting it off for a while...)
-Red
-The Woodsman
-The American
-Tokyo Godfathers
-Unstoppable

Also, today the official trailer for the new Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, was released. I'm a super nerd about this series and was following a 24-hour countdown. The site was really bogged down and I didn't see it until 30 whole minutes after the countdown ended! Gasp! Needless to say I've been replaying Oblivion (the previous game in the series) for about the millionth time. The morning that Oblivion came out, I called in sick to work, went and bought the special edition of the game and played probably for a few days straight with little sleep. I think I also stayed up the night before playing Morrowind (the game previous to Oblivion). Unfortunately, Skyrim will come out while I am [hopefully] in school. I guess I know what I will be doing over Christmas break...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSRtYpNRoN0[/youtube]

Here's, also, a fan-made video as a reaction to the Skyrim Teaser that was released a while ago:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9eGtyqz4gY[/youtube]


Well, wish me luck with the back.
No hack for a while I can only assume...

[Zeb Jackson]

awwww eff yeah i LOVE those games

[sen]

That's too bad Erik. Take it easy and take care of your self. Footbag will be waiting when you're up to it again. Also, please keep posting about the random stuff you're doing in the mean time.

[Tjuggles]

That sucks about your back...it will get better though. Eat bananas, they help with joints. Not sure if it's a joint problem, but I'm sure it couldn't hurt. I'm glad you found a drill that you were looking for.

I played a ton of Morrowind when I was in uni, it was a great game...I don't really have time for games like that now though...

[Muffinman]

Graphics aside, Morrowind was easily the best of the series so far, so you haven't missed much! Skyrim will probably be further dumbed-down for console-gamers, I expect

Sciatica?
I'm pretty sure I've got sciatica, which like I thought before is basically pinched nerves. The symptoms are a bit different than sciatica, but I'm pretty convinced after some brief internet research, especially since it can be hereditary and my mom suffers from it (and we share lots of other health ailments, additionally). I cancelled work for Tuesday and I knew my boss would be really understanding, 'cause she has a fucked back too and last time missed 3 months due to it. My next shift is Thursday... I'll see how the week goes. So far I haven't left the bed except to use the bathroom. I'm not sure if I'm up to going to the walk-in, even, since every single step I take progressively restricts my movements and increases pain. I think after this has healed up significantly I will look into teaching myself yoga. I've always avoided it because taking classes just sounds too expensive. I figure, though, that I can get pointers from my uncle who lives on the other side of Toronto, whom I see every couple of months, and who is a yoga instructor. He should be able to correct my form and whatnot if I have troubles or learn improperly. Pilates may be an option too, though it's always appealed to me less. I do have a ball, though.

Movies
I watched some of the movies:
-The American
-Red
-Greenberg
-Unstoppable

Greenberg wasn't really the comedy that I was led to believe. I think I laughed once. It was okay. The American had appeal, 'cause I really like sniper movies. I recently watched Behind Enemy Lines and really enjoyed it (though the sniper was kinda crappy). The American was kind of basically just about a guy who makes sniper rifles, though... Unstoppable was pretty much exactly what I expected (another Speed rip-off). Red was also what I expected, more or less. Red was the most entertaining so far. I like the guy who plays the bad guy for most of the movie. I don't remember in what else I've seen him, though. I think Heartless will be next. I look forward to this one greatly! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGcPi6bWv_k Jim Sturgess is great. It kind of reminds me of Harry Brown a bit, which was an EXCELLENT movie!

Iguana
I have a pet lizard: http://sophocles.hackrifice.com/
It's hard to take care of her when I can barely stand.
I have her toilet trained, so instead of pooping in her giant cage she makes a big fuss and scratches at the walls when she has to poop, and I bring her to the bathtub where she does her thing. She has also been scratching when I don't feed her. Sometimes I will skip a day, especially lately on account of my back, though my girlfriend has been helping to take care of her in my feebility.

[Muffinman]

Sciatica
I've been confined to bed for 8 days now from my back pain. It's been too bad to go out to a walk-in clinic. I figure going out at all may just aggravate my back even more. Today it is feeling better enough that I can stand up straight for a moment with only mild discomfort. I wouldn't be able to maintain a standing posture, I'm sure, though. I talked to my boss last night on the phone and she was super understanding, since apparently her back pain is sciatica too, and it was a really great conversation wherein we regaled the same aspects of this stir-crazy, boring, painful, paralyzing condition. I think I may try to hit a walk-in tomorrow if I feel the same as now or better.


My thoughts on footbag
In my infirmity I've been thinking fleetingly of how I will come back in footbag -- what tricks I'll use and which I'll stop using, how I'll continue training, and maybe most importantly how this will force me to play in a way that is most enjoyable for me in the moment. I can't find the original post, but on page 53 of my blog, Ken quotes me in describing how I feel about playing footbag. I'll add the quote below. But what is neat about having passed my peak and likely not ever being able to surpass the level at which I've played in the past is that now I have less expectations of myself and can enjoy playing for the feeling more that for the video product [in addition of course to the cardio workout, which will probably remain an integral reason for why I play for the rest of my footbag "career"].

From page 53 of my footblog:

There is a funny thing about hack for me. I draw, and drawing has always kinda been my thing, but I don't really enjoy the drawing so much as the product of having a pretty picture to look at that I have made with my own hands. Footbag most of the time (especially lately with a broken body) is the same for me. I bust harder on camera because I enjoy watching what I can accomplish, more maybe than the actual accomplishment itself. And so because of this I'm thinking of putting together a DVD of myself of all of my recent footage too, because like you, it is the peak of my game, and I don't think that will last much longer. Luckily for me I have almost every session of mine from the last year-ish on video.

In summation, for the majority of my footbag career I've enjoyed the product rather than the process in playing footbag.


My footbag video history
I like the idea of having a record of my time in footbag. In addition to my footblog, which chronicles many significant times, I have a video record of every year I've played since 1999 (which is almost all in my Footbag.org gallery (link in signature)). Looking back, there are kind of two eras that are most enjoyable for me to watch. The first is around 2005 when I was first coming back after my very first serious footbag injury. I had stopped playing for a year-ish due to my hip flexor (which came from pushing too hard flip PS whirls and atomic). There isn't really anything spectacular about how I played, but it LOOKS fun, it looks relaxed and smooth, and the runs are long:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nInjY4Ffm4M[/youtube]

The second era in my footbag career that is most enjoyable for me to relive in watching old videos is a very specific time between the Spring of 2008 and the Spring of 2009. This is when I was pushing the hardest, hitting the hardest tricks and most intense combos. This also may have been amongst the most injury-riddled time I've had. Actually, right smack in the middle was my trip to Worlds 2008 in Prague where I didn't play well; I'd twisted my ankle and hadn't played for a few weeks until the first day on that Prague Stadium track, practicing clippers that still hurt. This "era" kind of opened with these two videos:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTR5VoKmaAg[/youtube]
(And June 2008 Two)
I think these 2 sessions were practically one day after the other. There's a real energy and confidence I see that I value now when my game has been so shaky and inconsistent for the past year. And then there was the video which was maybe the first outdoor session after Winter. There are a couple videos that come after this where I probably play better, but this one really stands out to me. Maybe because it was the first outdoor session and because I played as well as I did, first day out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hak42Vyak60[/youtube]

If there's anything I'm not, it's confident in myself. But I think if I didn't have injuries holding me back, i could have been one of the best. I have a drive for footbag, where nothing else comes close. I can see myself hitting whirring swirl > gauntlet, 10 fearless, beasts, and all of that good stuff.


A regular footbag video blog?
One other interesting footbag idea of which I've lately been thinking is that of, like, a regular commentary video blog of what is going on in the footbag world. Kind of like Ken's blog that is really regular, always includes fun stuff like videos, and is a consistent and reputable record of footbag history as it transpires, composed by a great player with a ton of knowledge and experience in the sport. I was inspired by a video Kevin Regamey posted on his Facebook. It was a 2-hour long video of some famous Starcraft player.. just talking about Starcraft and how it's affected his life. I watched the whole 2 hours (maybe because I'm bed-ridden anyway? -- I've never played Starcraft) It would be neat to have a daily, or weekly thing like this for footbag. I've always thought that one of the most entertaining things to watch would be a day-in-the-life of a great footbagger. Like a day in the life of Lon Smith: work, eating, relaxing, playing footbag, and then insights on life and footbag and his other life passions. I would love to do something like this, or even just a video blog, but I hate my voice and my face! I think it would be cool if Ken did this. He's very charismatic. Or The Kevin Regamey himself.

My lizard is restless.
That's not a euphamism.

[h0ag3yb3atZ]

But I think if I didn't have injuries holding me back, i could have been one of the best. I have a drive for footbag, where nothing else comes close. I can see myself hitting whirring swirl > gauntlet, 10 fearless, beasts, and all of that good stuff.

Fuck ya dude. I can dig that. Thats my constant mental state. There was a time when I thought I was gonna be good too (although my shred looks like toe stalls in flap tops compared to yours) fuck injuries, the darkside of footbag for sure. I also like how you wrote can, instead of could, gives me hope sort of, especially reading what you've been through.

I hope you dont mind me asking but how many comebacks have you had and what were your injuries?

peace.

[sen]

A regular footbag video blog sounds awesome. Something I would tune into for sure. And it's the kind of thing that could be done on youtube without a need for any other website at all. I bet that channel would get a good few subscribers. While I agree that Ken would be awesome at it, I think you sell yourself short. Really, who likes their voice? I hate mine. I think you'd be a good choice as well. I think it would have to be a player that has been on the scene for a while and has a high technical knowledge as well as knows a lot of players. Anyways, I think it's a great idea!

[Muffinman]

Ha. There have been too many injuries to remember. Let me try to recount the most notable:


2004 (April or May?): Unknown injury/Tight hip flexor?:
I pushed my flipside too hard, too fast on tricks like PS whirl and atomic. I remember my very last session was in my front yard trying flip tapping DLO over and over and over (a big reason why finally hitting this trick flipside 5 years later was a big milestone for me: tapping DLO BSOS). And up to this point I had no previous injury history, or basic knowledge on body mechanic and general health. So I had never really stretched or anything. I thought it was a pulled groin. I took, like, 2-3 months of from work because I couldn't walk? I saw a bunch of doctors. My family doctor referred me to a specialist who said it was probably my hip flexor? He was unsure, though. I had MRIs and xrays and both turned up nothing. I had athletic therapy for, like, 12 sessions, with... UV treatment or something? This was ineffective, and the doctor refunded my last handful of sessions (even though I was actually covered at that point in my life. I had 7-ish sessions of accupuncture. The doctor was a friend's mom, and so she gave me a discount and also refunded my last couple of sessions as it had no effect. I also wore this thing that was supposed to keep constant pressure on my hip to restrict over-strenuous movements. There was lots more to that injury, but that's what stands out. I was out for somewhere between 6-12 months. There were a couple times in that span where I tried to start playing again, I think, and it just aggravated it further.

I started to concentrate more on spinning and ducking and my game developed a smoother rhythm, whereas I was more of a shuffle player before ("Erik's basement, 2004"). I missed Worlds 2004, Montreal ("This one is for Erik Chan" -- Worlds '04 by Andrew Grant), because of my injuries. I regret that. I mean, Canada is vasst, and Montreal was still, like, 30-ish hours from me, but my first Worlds in Canada would have been good. Plus, it was a very notable Worlds! And my favourite player, Ricky Moran was going even though he was injured too. (I'd met him once before at the beginning of this year when he won intermediate at CSS. But by this point already, a few months later he was the Ricky Moran we know.


2004 (September~November?): Patella Femoral Syndrome:
At some point in here, too, I tried to stretch my hip and continue to push a flexibility and strength in both legs equally. But like I said I didn't know anything, and so I think that's actually how I ended up with bad knees. No confirmation on that, though. I'm also not sure when exactly this was, but I seem to remember it being in my initial hip injury period. Based on my videos, which thankfully preserved all dates in the files themselves, it looks like I'd initially injured myself with the hip in March or April. I then had a series of 10 "recovery" videos ("I pulled my groin" -- recovery video) in September-November. I think those 10 sessions were all that I had, and I think I recall knee pain in that time? I think then I stopped for a month-ish, thinking that it would be best to just heal over winter. A month later though in December, I had a few sessions that really defined my style from that point forward: Dual-camera Hackrifice session Part One and Part Two. I had another session with Andrew in January. He made a couple of videos ("Shred Reality". If you're reading this Andrew, you still have to get me the hard copy of the other video --"The Gimp", I think?). And then I didn't play until June, 2005 (First video back, 2005 -- note the video description regaling that "Lon Smith once commented on this video along the lines of, 'Hey! That's how I play!'")!


2005 (January): Hip flexor/Patella Femoral/Twisted ankle:
Around this time I also had my first bad ankle twist, I think. It was stupid how it happened. I saw people doing that flyer that is, like, a flying paradox whirl kick -- like dragonfly, but a whirl dex. I tried that to open a session in my concrete basement and immediately kicked my kicking foot with the whirl dex out of the air, straight into the ground. I was out for a month or two, if I remember. It's really hard to puzzle-piece all of these injuries together, though. The videos help, but it's hard to remember when I was playing injured and when I was played post-injury.. It should also be noted that the initial hip injury still bothers me from time to time. That's why I don't really do drifters. Thankfully that's all that the hip really prevents me from doing.

One of my favourite videos of myself came from the time right after the comeback from this absence: July 2005. And then proceeded a series of "Muffinman" videos where I learned double spinning and inspinning and put most of them to epic songs by my favourite band Nightwish (Muffinman -- what an incredible song. I sigh!). And then there was also a video I made that was all long runs, and my longest run ever up to that point (78-contact run. (I think, since then I've done 120-ish or something? That was a few years ago too though...


2006 (October): Shin Splints/Knees (Patella Femoral Syndrome):
It looks like I played more or less fine through 2006 (sans major injury that I can recall, anyway). Oh, no, wait. There is no video record of me playing whatsoever from January 2006-October. I see a video from Hackrifice 2006 of Rory Dawson performing a Pokemon routine, and that reminds me that one of these Hackrifices around here I was completely useless and only did a few single tricks for Sick 3. I may be thinking 2005, actually, since that was from Kevin Regamey's video (Hackrifice 2005). Well, so, I didn't play around Hackrifice 2005, but then it looks like I also didn't play much or at all for the whole majority of 2006. Blah blah blah. This has been an unproductive paragraph.

I went to KICKASS 2 (KICKASS Intro -- the rest of the videos from that series I made, at the bottom of the page: here) in October. I didn't play. I filmed a lot (I still kind of want to finish that video I started way back when). I don't remember what my injury was at that time, but I think in these middle years it was mostly due to shin splints, so I'll assume that was a major factor. But this must also have been when my knees really started to bother me (or rather, had been bothering me [over this whole 2006 period]). I remember Matt Cross introduced me to Tiger Balm, a menthol rub that was popular amongst footbaggers at KICKASS, and I remember using it on my knees. I can also see that starting after this point in videos I'm wearing knee braces, so I must have been seeing my specialist and got the knee braces in Winnipeg over the spring or summer. I moved to Toronto from Winnipeg in September in this year (My Toronto condo overlooking CN Tower and Skydome). I think I also saw my specialist about my shins before all of this in early/mid 2006, concerned that I had stress fractures or something. I believe I had MRI and xray again. He said that my legs were really strong and my bones looked really healthy. I'd voiced a concern that I may not get enough calcium, since I'm lactose-intolerant, but he said that my bones looked really healthy. Looking back, I don't think that specialist helped me much, other than recommending the braces that I still use now (well, I'm on a second pair now (probably needing a third)).

I went on to have a very healthy (or at least injury-free) span of time through the end of 2006. I played regularly, every second day with Mike Faille, who became a really good friend. We had a really great, fun routine. I worked until 6-ish, or something, he worked until 9-ish? He would come over, a couple blocks from work and play footbag in my condo's rec centre until just before close, when we would hit the hot tub and pool. Then we'd go play pool and drink bubble tea down the street in Chinatown. And then eat Chinese food at this great place that was open until 3AM every day. The greatest part was that Mike is a professional illustrator/comic artist, and he was basically my drawing hero, while I was his footbag hero. We often got together and nerded over comics and drawing and I got some lessons and drawing sessions with him, which was super great. That was a good year! Here's a video from that rec centre: Chan Toronto. I also had FAT over a couple of times in the gym overlooked by this area. And there's a Johnny video from here that Jay Boychuk really likes :p (Muffinman and Superman) Johnny had come just to visit and shred with me. That was really nice. Unfortunately I had to cut short post-shred hang-out on account of a sort of family dinner with my girlfriend at the time.


2007 (October): (Shin splints):
Oh man, this was the worst I'd ever had shin splints. I felt like I was just on the cusp of getting good. I had one session where I was hitting some good stuff (Amaranth), but my shins started hurting a little. I really wanted to keep playing the next day, and thought I would just concentrate on spinning and ducking to prevent shin pain, but it really just got to the point where I had to stop, and I knew it would be for a while. (Actually, as an interjection, I'm recalling the first time that I had shin splints ever. It must have been 2003. It was winter. I'd been recommended Spenco insoles, by Sam Colclough, I think, with whom I spoke to a lot online. I ordered a pair and they made a huge difference instantly. I made a video called, "Spenco" where I played a bit and then praised the insoles. I can't seem to find that one though...) As another aside, I currently use a pair of metatarsal insoles that I switch back and forth between whichever shoe I'm wearing (footbag or not), on top of another insole. These were recommended to me by Ken Somolinos, though I think we use different kinds. His sits under the ball of the foot, and mine sits under the heel.

I didn't play all fall and winter after that. I made some videos of Andrew and Manna. I usually only handheld film when I'm injured, which is a nice break, since I like to try to film and edit nicer than just tripod crap with which I don't bother. I hit Blurry Reverse Whirling Swirl in June, which was a big deal for me. I'd never been able to swirl at all before, and that day I just tried big swirl moves. I think I hit Riptide both sides, far symple swirl both sides, infinity swirls both sides, maybe some others and then I thought, "Hey. I bet I could hit Blurry Reverse Whirling Swirl! I should film that!": BRWS. And actually on another note (sorry, this is turning more into story time for myself than just a recounting of my injuries and their causes), it was in 2006/2007 in my downtown Toronto condo rec centre sessions with Mike Faille that I started playing around with reverse whirls. I must have tried them for some reason (maybe he asked about them? Or was doing them?) and found that they didn't hurt as regular whirls had started to with the advent of my knee pain.

That brings us to June, 2008, and the "Unicorn video" session. I must have started playing at least a bit before this, just with no video record. Although at this point in my "career", regaining skills after an injury only took a few sessions (not like now, where I've lost everything and not regained even after probably 9-ish months of constant play...). These were bad shin splints this time! Like, there are shin splints that hurt and maybe even prevent you from playing, and then there are shin splints where you just can't even think about playing without pain.


2008 (spring/summer): Twisted ankle:
Like with other injuries like shin splints, I'd had twisted ankles before. This one probably lasted a few months like with the one where I tried that stupid, bloody flying whirl trick (let it be said I've never once tried that trick since (and have therefore never hit it!)). At this point I knew it was just a waiting game, and had a lot more patience and acceptance. My girlfriend at the time had moved to Germany for a year to immerse herself in the language and culture (she had been studying German in school) and to visit relatives. That made the decision to go to Worlds 2008, Prague, and finally travel to Europe an easy one. My ankle wasn't too bad by that point. On the first day of Worlds I went aside and tried to clipper and practiced that carefully a bit to gauge the healing process. In the coming days I was almost fully back into it, save the grogginess from not playing in a while. A highlight was playing in a circle with my current favourite player in the world, Aleksi Airinen, and busting some good reverse whirl combos.

After Worlds, I stayed in Germany for 1.5 months or so and continued to train. I went back to Canada and continued playing as usual. There is a Christmas Calendar video from this year of me, Manna, and Andrew wherein I played some of my best that is too big to fit on .org or YouTube (at that time anyway), as it was over 100 megs and over 10 minutes. Luckily I still have it hosted on Hackrifice: Here! And then I continued to peak in my game [likely] with spring videos from 2009, particular that which I mentioned in the last post, First Day Out (named after Jere Vainikka's awesome FDO videos).


2009 (August): Back seizure/Sciatica?:
I played fine into the summer, and took a trip with my current girlfriend to Vancouver, B.C. (not to be confused with Vancouver, WA (Cale McCoy!), which I didn't really know existed, and particularly not so close to the real Vancouver...) and the Portland, Oregon area. We stayed in Red's shred house and had some good sessions with Scott Bevier, Nate Linscott (first time meeting finally??), and the crew. Nick was injured at the time, post Worlds, but we did have a fun game of Settlers of Catan. I also watched Eric Chang and Zeb Jackson's DVD there... the one that they have yet to sell me at my discounted rate, since I paid half already for a demo. I don't think that I will ever own that DVD. Sad. Anyway, then we went back up to Vancouver and stayed at Kevin Regamey's place. He's sooo cool. He told us to sleep in his bed and he went and slept on the floor in an empty room. Wow. Then he was going out of town and just let us use his place. What a guy! Jorden Moir was in town, happenstancely. I tried to coordinate with Allan and Caro for a big session. Caro made it, but was injured or something. This session was when I really fucked up my back. It was twinging throughout. I kept playing. How do you give up an opportunity to play with Jorden like that. I eventually stopped. It was dark out anyway. I hit locomotion for the first time then, too, I think. Both sides? We were going to go out to eat. Jorden had NEVER had dim sum before, so we took him to a place that looked promising. My best friend was living in Vancouver at that time too, so she came with, with one of her friends. Sitting the restaurant my back was hurting more and more. I tried to sit up straight and stretch it. Then as we were leaving it really hurt. I walked slowly, but every step I took aggravated it worse and worse to the point where I was stuck in the middle of the street and didn't feel like I could make it to the other side when the light changed. I doubled over and needed my girlfriend, Jenn, and my best friend, Willow, to support me on either side. They brought me back home and I stayed in bed for, like, 5 days or something. Basically until Kevin came back from Edmonton? Oh, a really neat moment at that restaurant, actually, was Willow saying something about how I'm famous, and I got all embarrassed with her saying that in front of Jorden. And so I said, "Oh, I'm not famous -- that's Jorden!" To which Jorden said something like, "When I started playing, it was you that I looked up to, and your videos I watched." Maybe more nice things, but I don't want to put words in his mouth if I don't recall accurately Touching!

I'd had back pain like this once before (maybe twice). The previous time was when I was living in Toronto (I should have mentioned that I lived there only from 2006-2007 for less than a year). I had to leave work early and stay in bed for a few days. And counting right now, that's three (or four) times in total that I've ever had this dibilitating back pain! Oh, also, I don't think I ever saw a doctor for this when I was in Vancouver. For one, when you're confined to bed because of pain, how are you supposed to go out to see a doctor?... Here's a video from that 2009 summer. Only a couple clips from Vancouver. It should totally be noted that all of this was filmed by Jenn on her camera of her own accord. The first session she filmed, actually, I didn't even know, and then from what she had, I put together the video. There wasn't much from Vancouver actually due to the reason mentioned in the following sentence. Kung Ho made a video (filmed by my girlfriend on his camera) of this session that he posted on Modified at some point too. Oh, this video also included a visit to Hamilton where I stayed with Mike Faille for a few days (he moved from downtown), and Johnny visited again for a session and hangout, wherein we bored him to death by forcing him into a comic shop

I didn't play footbag again until Worlds 2010, Oakland, in, what, July? Oh, really? Holy crap. Oh, right, I had a few attempts at play in that time. I learned blazing okay on my flipside, where I could only good side before. I hit Blazing Whip both sides, though I don't have a video of that. I guess I've been lazy in upkeeping Hackrifice and my Footbag.org gallery. Here is the most recent video I've uploaded to my .org gallery from the same time as the Blazing Whips, where I was trying to come back: Swirls and blenders. Oh yeah and that Symp Whipping infinity. So I tried playing at Worlds. I was crappy. Michal Ostrowski and Norek were on the elevator with me, and Michal said something, like, "I saw you play today -- you were good." And I felt so embarrassed and tried to explain that I hadn't played in a year. At Worlds my runs probably averaged 10-ish contacts, with nothing of significance. My biggest highlight (maybe only highlight) of the entire week was 20 spinning clippers and then next try 20 spinning clippers other side. That's it. I had actually just moved to the Toronto area again into my girlfriend's parents' house a week before Worlds, from Winnipeg. I came back home after Worlds and started playing regularly. Like, very regularly. And I never really ever got back to where I was in the Summer of 2009. I think I may have been coming close to regaining consistency at least with my training just as I put out my back again, now anticipating at least a few more months off. This was easily my best highlight video since Summer 2009: September 2010.

After 8 days unable to stand up, I managed to get to a walk-in last night. It was painful, literally, to sit in the waiting room, when just sitting hurt a lot. when I finally saw the doctor, he asked me to reach as far as I could to the floor. I wasn't restricted at all, since it's the other way that hurts to extend. He gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory within a few seconds and that was that. He said that it's muscular, so, if that's true (which is difficult to believe from such a brief diagnosis and a seemingly careless doctor) then that is good. But, really, everything points to sciatica. I mean, I don't know much about it, granted, but... I don't much trust the lack of diagnosis, really, I was given. I will see how the meds work, but... yeah. I'm concerned beyond that.

[Muffinman]

Having read over my own post, I realize how beneficial it is to regale my own past injuries. It gives some positive perspective on, "Oh, I've done this before, of course I'll be back playing in the not-too-distant future." (Though it does seem to never really last long before injury strikes again... (Let's see if a spinning/ducking-heavy game can turn that around!))

[Rieferman]

yikes, I thought I was dedicated for tirelessly playing despite lack of talent. But you're REALLY dedicated for tirelessly playing despite injury after injury.

or maybe we're both idiots for chasing a bean bag around (but let's call it dedicated instead ok? )

get better!!!!!

(side note from a guy with chronic back pain.. I find that getting into a swimming pool and letting my body be weightless for awhile really can help sooth the pain.. chase it with sauna and hot tub, repeat, and it can be nice therapy to go along with the nsaids from the doc)

[Muffinman]

My back is still super crap.
I can stand up and walk without much pain, but I can't for long. I've been testing it a bit. I went for a brief walk last night and it wasn't too bad, but after a while there was definite tweakage that indicated to me that I wouldn't be able to handle a whole shift of work standing on my feet and walking around without likely collapsing to the ground in pain. So I called off work again. My lameass job only gives me, like 6 hours a week anyway, so, I'm not really missing much. It would be ideal to somehow get laid off without leaving a bad impression, 'cause EI would be more than I make, and I would have an excuse to not have to look for work at the moment 'cause of my condition It's been about 3 weeks. Here is the last One Shot I did. This was the session that I put out my back. The first session after that One Shot compilation I put together:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Alfey0DWA[/youtube]


I've been drawing a lot. And I've been accepted to two of the three programs to which I've applied to prep for my Masters. (Still waiting to hear from the third.) So I'm either going to be commuting to downtown Toronto on a daily basis, or moving there with my brother who is also going to UofT this fall for his Masters. Either way I look forward to healing up and shredding with FAT regularly again!

[h0ag3yb3atZ]

Thanks for writing all that Erik. It really sucks to here that you've spent so much time out of the game and had to go through all that.

It's pretty inspirational to me though. I've only been out a year but I understand the frustration of busting your ass for something only to have your own body fuck up on you.

Good luck dude. Looking forward to more videos from you in the future.

[Muffinman]

I did some maintenance on my lizard's enclosure. I bought some silicon caulking to seal the bottom to withhold moisture and her rare, unscheduled, veritable avalanches of half-fluid poop. I specifically chose black silicon, bringing to mind that I have an unused pair of black Climacools waiting to be unleashed. My blue and white ones still have a bit of life left in them, but it's kind of a personal tradition to break in a new pair of shoes after an injury. Plus I like a lot more the way my game looks in the black. It's something to which to look forward.

[Muffinman]

I started Yoga for the first time yesterday and had my second session today. Yesterday's lesson was with my uncle who is a Yoga instructor. I'm going to take at least a few more lessons with him in the near future. His English can be weak though, and sometimes we have trouble understanding each other. So if anyone has any advice or tips (or websites!) that might help, please share!


We opened with breathing in stages with visualization, while kneeling, back straight, resting on heels with the tops of feet flat on the ground. I sat on my heels like this for probably an hour out of the 1.5 hour session. Ouch! (In a good way!!) Though my knees were a bit tender too.

He was concentrating mostly on my back, because of my injury.
So I did a similar pose, sitting on my heels, but with my hands stretched out in front of me and my back in a straight line from my butt to my hands. And I also tried with my knees apart and my toes touching, but that was a bit more intense on those lower leg/feet muscles.
-I did a bit of breathing in.. mountain pose, or something? Just standing straight and really tall with good support in the feet and tension in the quads.
-I did downward dog, which really exposed my weak upper body! Holy!
-And I did a hamstring stretch with a belt, which I'd never done before.
-We also did a couple of core strengthening stretches where I twist my torso progressively with my breathing. One was pressing against a wall, and the other was sitting in a chair, pushing off it for support -- pretty similar to a stretch I've been doing regularly anyway.

I felt so good after. He also gave me a mat.
He lives a good hour's drive away, super close to Jay Boychuk and Jorden Moir, in Burlington, which is beside Hamilton, so it's a pain to visit, especially with no money. But I think they're having me, my girlfriend, and my girlfriend's mom for an Easter dinner, which should be soon. So maybe that's when I will have my next lesson. They are also coming to Oshawa (right beside me) for a Yoga conference in mid-April.. so maybe again.

[sen]

I love yoga stretching. I don't really do the meditation stuff that goes with it for most people, but I really enjoy the stretching. Tony Horton has some good videos as part of 10 minute Trainer and P90X for sure. I know these aren't cheap if you're on a budget, but there are cheap (free) ways to acquire them if you're willing.

[Tjuggles]

My advice is to do it at least twice a day; When you wake up, and before bed. I really noticed a difference when I started stretching more than once a day.

Also, set a goal for yourself. For example, I want to be able to touch my head to my legs with good form when they are both stretched out in front of me. A goal will give you something to work towards, and reveal progress. Proximal is best though. Don't set a goal that is something like wrapping your legs around your own neck twice; if you don't see progress every now and again, you will lose motivation.

Finally, BREATHE! inhale and exhale deeply and don't hold your breathe. That will give your muscles the oxygen they need to relax and make you more flexible.

Sorry if you already knew all of that.

Good luck!

[Muffinman]

Thanks TJ.


I've been working on a big video project at Fourkast for a while on and off. It's the digitization and [free] online sharing of all of the old footbag VHS, pre-Aggressive Grounds (anything where you had to actually contact the video maker personally by snail mail to place an order, and which likely doesn't anymore bring in revenue of any sort).

I have a lot of VHS tapes myself (30 or so? Maybe more?) Emily K lent me a handful of her tapes a few years ago to contribute to the project. And Eric Reile sent me the one existing copy of a James Risden special (my all-time favourite player) called Just James a while ago too. Unfortunately, that tape didn't seem to contain anything, as far as my VHS player was concerned... Maybe a different player will tell me otherwise??

Anyway. So I've had a bunch of VHS tapes digitally backed up for a few years and didn't really do much with it. I think my computer crapped out on me and I'd stopped capturing. If I'm to continue, I'll have to at some point have my parents mail me my VHS collection from Winnipeg to wherever I'm living (the next couple years I plan to move a few times for school). I've only recently taken the project to the next step. I've got approval from video makers Sean Wingert, Eric Windsor, Eli Piltz. Eric is planning to send me the master copy of Just Shred, actually, which is the single one video I watched over and over back in, like, 2000-ish until the tape barely played (hence my copy is actually really shitty!) But he's just contacted me again asking if I can put up Natural Born Kickers too. So that's pretty exciting. I think people will be stoked to watch that for free, especially those who haven't seen it.

The biggest part of the project that needs to happen still is technical support from Fourkast. I don't have the capacity at the moment to upload these videos on their entireties, which is why I'd stagnated in the overall process of this whole thing. It's my personal opinion that this would be best done NOT in segments, but to somehow allow each original video to stream in its entirety from the site. It would actually help to have feedback on this to see what others would prefer, or if they even care. To me, watching Respect the Shred in 10 segments on YouTube just really kills the vibe of the video.

So anyway, once I get some technical issues straightened out, I'm going to debut the project with hopefully Just Shred, or maybe Whirled Shred (since my copy of Just Shred actually has crapped-out sound). A handful of these are also going to have some hardcore tracking issues. Haha. I read a post in Jay's blog recently about VHS tracking and watching tapes until they die. Good stuff.

[Asmus]

<- EXCITED!

Been a while, how are you Erik?