The Fast and the Furious: Operation El Kemino, Tokyo Edition

[Matt K]

Fantastic idea, Dan.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Hahaha You guys are awesome

[Matt K]

I've had a few sessions since the last post, but nothing worth blogging about until tonight.

Had an hour-long non-shuffle session of challenges from Ivan:

Ducking Illusion>ss Dada Curve bs
Ducking DLO bs
Gyro DLO>ss Blender rpt bs
Merkon>Dolomite rpt bsos
6 contacts of Barfly>Torque bs
Diving Whirl>Far Symple Swirl rpt

I haven't had a session to hit random shit like this in years, so it was a fun and different challenge. A lot of these were sealed with good runs with a lot of solid 10+ contact genuine downtime links.

[Matt K]

Thanksgiving is a good time to be sappy: I am truly thankful for all of the time I have had in this sport, every tournament or jam I've been to, and every friend I've ever made through it. Thank you, to all involved.

[Matt K]

Haven't had much to post about until now. I've been playing once or twice a week since the last post, but the past two or three weeks of sessions had been devoted to filming for my xmas video, which released today. I'm pleased with how it turned out, and I wanted to share some trivia regarding it:
-This is my 3rd solo video for the xmas calendar (the other two being in 09 and 10)
-This is my 5th overall video for the calendar (in addition to the above 3, one with Zac in 11 and one with Nick last year)
-This is the first of my solo videos to have an actual cameraman (if only for a few shots)
-Prior to this video, the last time I played in my old shred room (the basement with colored walls) was 3 years ago.
-I've hit the bw>tomb>est drill before, and I can't believe I missed the last contact, but I'm glad I got to capture some of my self-deprecation during my sessions (and it still makes me laugh)
-The "filmed by..." credit is a nod to a similar one in David's "3 Shoes" video from 06
-This is the first video of myself that has not had a Blazing set in it since I learned it back in 2010.


Now that the video is done I can get back to normal sessions. Dan and I played together for 2.5 hours in my new shred room (he can assure you that it's bigger than it looks). Besides this one highlight, I overall had really good runs and solid form:

Gyro Whirl>Scorpion's Tail rpt

[bobgreen]

Grabbed this photo in Wyoming. I took the liberty of correcting the spelling.

[Matt K]

Thanks, Bob. There have been various misspellings and mispronunciations of my name over the years: Kemper (an insurance company), Kemner, Kepner (last name of a friend from high school, also named Matt), Kenner, Keemer, and now I can add Kemmerer to the list.


Happy new year, everyone! Here are some stats from 2014.

I went to 7 events last year (I'm counting NYJ, which I haven't gone to yet, because it's the end of the season and there isn't another event until April). I also met up with Nick and Kevin in Massachusetts for a weekend in (I think) Apirl:

PA Net event
PSU Art's Fest
US Open
East Coast Championship
PSU Halloween Jam
Boston Salsa Jam
New Years Jam

I was in Pennsylvania for the majority of my event time this year. The crew there is really fun and the weekends there are always relaxing. Four of these events were driven to (three in PA, one in Boston), 2 were flown to (USO, NYJ), and 1 train was taken (ECC). Having the car was really nice because it gave me a lot of flexibility on when to arrive/leave, and allowed me to make some last minute decisions on whether to even go to the event or not.

Though most of these events were not full-on competitions, I got better results this year than I ever have. I got two 1st places (Sick 1 and Sick 3 at USO), two 2nd places (USO circle and Boston Request 2), one 3rd place (Boston Request 1), and one prelim circle that I did not move on from (ECC). Competition doesn't give me the same high as say a music performance, but getting 2nd in circle at USO was one of my proudest moments in footbag so hopefully I can continue this trend next year.


2014 was also a surprisingly injury free year! Here are my years playing footbag and any major injuries:

2006 - Healthy
2007 - Healthy
2008 - Sprained Ankle
2009 - Groin Tendonitis (both sides, har har)
2010 - Sprained Ankle
2011 - Healthy
2012 - N/A
2013 - Groin Tendonitis (right side), and Sprained Ankle
2014 - Healthy

I was sure that I was going to sprain my ankle at some point, but I officially made it to 2015 with no injuries! Granted, of the four healthy years on that list, I played the least amount of days this year by far. I didn't keep track of hours or days, but I probably averaged about 2 sessions a week, which would put me at around 100 hours for the whole year. I don't know for sure, but i wouldn't be surprised if the other healthy years were all at least 400 hours.

As a result, one of my goals for 2015 is to play at least four times a week. I'm probably going to start having shorter sessions because my 2 hour ones destroy my legs for the next day or two. I think my body will get used to playing multiple days in a row again, but we'll see.


In terms of shred, I don't really have any stats because in many ways the previous year was a continuation of 2013's "let's get back to business." I'm very glad to be going into 2015 with a full year of playing behind me, and I'm optimistic for where it will take me. I've lost things along the way, like variety and density, but I've gained back in control and consistency. I don't have any specific things that I want to hit in the near future, but I really just want to keep having fun when I play footbag. Besides some particularly awful sessions last year, I had a really amazing time when I was playing, both alone and with friends. I'm happy with what I do with a bag because it feels so fucking good to do it.


Last but not least, the best thing about 2014 was gaining a new friend and shred partner. Dan and I started playing in early April and played pretty consistently to the end of the year. He's made great progress and I'm excited to see where this year takes him. Dan accompanied me to 4 of those events (the 3 in PA and ECC) and our travels (which include crack-of-dawn hashbrown devouring, nearly brushing the shoulder of a deer on the highway, the 50 Shades of Grey audio book, and dueling Yu-Gi-Oh on a train) are some of my favorite memories from the year. I love playing footbag enough that I could have solo sessions for the rest of my career and still have fun, but having a shred partner to enjoy the sessions with again has been the best.


Like always, thank you to all of my friends who helped to make this year so great. To those going to NYJ, see you tomorrow (!), and for those that aren't, see you soon =)

<3 matty

[Matt K]

Back from NYJ. I'm really glad that the MI team has resurrected this tournament because it was one of my old favorites. The organizers did a really great job and it was one of the most fun events of the year (yes, technically 2015, but now that I'm back I feel even stronger that this is the last event of the season).

I did a lot of judging (with Brian, we made quite a team) the first day and probably played for 4 hours overall. I played OK, but I managed to hit a couple of good strings and mostly had a fun time while I was playing.

I did fine in competition: I took second in my circle pool (under Nathan), and though I technically advanced to finals after Johnny had to scratch, I opted to sit out and continue judging. I got 3rd in request, though the combo that would have given me second (Vortex>Blurriest) should have been fairly simple for me. Oh well, I'm still happy with the result. I won a fun "Tiltless Endurance" competition, and although I have no clue how many contacts I ended up with we apparently went for a solid 2 minutes which is cool.

I finally got to play Whirlyball, which I've been hearing about for at least 5 years, and is maybe one of the only things I've done that's weirder than footbag. But it's really fucking cool. I highly recommend everyone trying to play it at some point.

Thanks to the organizers and all the attendees for a great time!

[akprice]

it was awesome to finally meet you and see your game in person. your style is so fluid and effortless. love it!

[Matt K]

As I was leaving NYJ, Paul asked me for my tips to good form and execution. I told him that I would have to think about it and that I'm more of an analyst than a teacher; I really thrive in sitting down with someone 1-on-1 and figuring out how to take what they can already do and shape it into something better.

BUT!

With that in mind, I do give out a lot of the same tips right away in my coaching sessions so I'll go over three of them that I think are important. Of course, remember that every player is different, and my coaching/analytic style is pushing in a particular direction, so these may not apply to everyone. Also please note that I am not perfect by any means, and that these points are coming from Matt the Analyst and not Matt the Player:

1. Set the bag higher / Lift your legs higher

If you're not constantly filming yourself and then analyzing the footage later, you're probably not going to notice this one. This is probably the simplest tip and the one that provides the most immediate results: more time to complete tricks, deeper dexes, slower play, smoother delays, etc. Now, obviously, if the bag is going higher, you have to lift your legs higher to match the new set height; I think this is especially important for my fellow tall and long-legged players. People tend to struggle with this, because it gets their limbs out of their established comfort zones. The tip that I find helps to break this is to set the bag/lift your legs high enough so that it is uncomfortable, and then you've probably almost set/lifted high enough. You don't want to go too high (though very few players ever have that problem), so keeping the bag and your peak-knee-height around your belly button is a good zone to shoot for (if you don't have a friend or a camera to keep you in check, grab the bag at its peak and bring it into your body to double-check the height).

2. Try harder

No, really! Footbag is a really tough sport, and you really have to exert yourself! You've all got muscles, so use them! Squeeze hard on your delays! Don't just curl the toes of your delay foot, flex your support leg! Flex your back and shoulders! If you're doing a dex, really do the dex! Don't just let it happen, make it happen!

In all seriousness, "trying hard," silly as it sounds, is really important. It takes a TON of energy at first, especially if you've been relaxing through every trick (guilty!), but it is well worth it. You have more control, more power, more attack on the bag, better sets, better downtime, and really better everything. It's also one of those techniques that is cyclical in nature. The analogy I always use is Harrison Bergeron, but nobody ever gets that, so if you read a summary I think you'll get what I mean.


3. Mentally separate components

When I work with players at events, the few times that they've told me they have to stop because they are so mentally exhausted gives me some great morbid pleasure. I hear conflicting things about mental game, but I am very much of the school that says you have to think a LOT when you play footbag. Footbag is really, really complicated, even a single trick, and therefore requires a lot of concentration. Probably the biggest problem that players have that can be helped with more concentration is mushing components together in your mind. What were you thinking about in between the Step and the Whirl of that Blurry Whirl? If you don't know, you probably weren't concentrating enough.

The absolute optimal goal of this tip is to live completely in the moment with your motions. Not to be thinking about every trick on its own, but every distinct motion on its own. I think the moment you start doing a trick as a complete unit is where the execution starts to suffer (example: doing a "Ripwalk" instead of a "Step>Butterfly"). If you have to do a Blurry Whirl, does the downtime component really affect the set? You may want slightly different set heights depending on the trick, but not really! You still have to do a Stepping set, so that's what you concentrate on in that moment. Does it matter once you're doing the Whirl what set was used before it? No! All that matters is that the bag is in the air and you have to do a whirl, so concentrate on that!

This also applies to links. The separation between where one trick ends and the other begins is just a split second and can be very hard to grasp, but make sure it exists! It's not necessary to completely stop the motion of your delay to transition to the next trick, but it IS necessary to make sure you MENTALLY stop and start. An exercise I like to give people is to verbally call out when your mental flip happens: when you stop thinking about the first trick, and when you start thinking about the next trick. It really forces you to think about the separation and teaches you that, although the line between tricks is very thin, it does exist and you can widen it with more concentration. The applications of this and the previous paragraph are really endless.




I hope some of these help. If anybody would like to work more personally, feel free to message me and we can work something out.

[Matt K]

2.5 hour session with Dan today. Good to have him back at school.

This is the year for alpine! Stuff is finally starting to click after all these years, and I hope to have at least a couple alpine highlights every session.

Assassin>Fusion bs
Stepping Mirage>Assassin>Legbeater rpt bs
Skullsmasher (one side, boo)
Tomahawk>Stepping Muted Swirl bs

[Matt K]

Had the first of many Kemmer-Hogan-Halfway-Meetup sessions. We got together in Springfield, MA, which is about 2 hours from each of us. It was really good for both us, but mostly it was a ton of fun. We played in a humongous YMCA, got told to put our shirts back on, and then rapped over some BBQ. We're shooting to do this every few weeks, so we'll see where they take us.

Atomsmasher>Assasin rpt bs
Skullsmasher, again. Better attempts on flip, but I couldn't seal the mirage.
Tomahawk>Symp Whirling Swirl bs

[Matt K]

Well I had two truly abysmal sessions the past two nights, but I did force myself to end with something good tonight:

Alpine PLO>Assassin bs

My first alpine link!

[Matt K]

OK, a good session with Dan has made up for the last two solo sessions:

Phoenix>Spikehammer (one side)
Another easy Skullsmasher (still no luck on flip)
Ripwalk>Spikehammer>Legbeater bs (good attempts at rpt, but it will take a little bit)
Blurry Whirl>Ripped Warrior bs

I had a few pretty good strings in between these highlights, and everything felt pretty good. Working on overall rhythm and breathing, but it's all starting to come together. Even most of these alpine links weren't super hard, and I'm not afraid of attempting stepping ducking anymore (!).

[Matt K]

3 hour solo session, the kind where I just want to keep playing forever =)

The first half I spent on one of my drill sets. Got a few new records, but mostly everything felt really good. The rhythm shit I'm working on is really coming together, now I need to work on the breathing so I can keep it up -_-. The second half I worked on stepping ducking; it's super exciting to be able to do it even somewhat consistently. I've got the feeling on how to do it, so now I have a good template to work off of when I'm struggling with it. Woot!

Grifter bs (from Ivan. I'm pretty sure I've never attempted it before)
Assassin>Smog bsos (from Derek)
Blurry Whirl>Bedwetter bs (from me. ugh, bedwetter feels so good)

[DC Clinks]

"Ugh, bedwetting feels so good." -Matt Kemdawgwalker Kemburglar El Kemino Jr.

[Matt K]

Another 2.5 hours with Dan today. This has been by far the best weekend in terms of shred for me in a very long time. I even feel like I leveled up between Friday and today 0_o. Most of my strings were pretty good, and plenty of them were very good. My rhythm is feeling great, and I even did OK at breathing today!

Blur>Phoenix rpt bs
Fog>Phoenix bs
Flip Skullsmasher
Blur>Skullsmasher (one side)
Ripwalk>Spikehammer>Legbeater rpt (first drill with stepping ducking)
Legbeater>Spikehammer>Atomsmasher rpt
Blurry Whirl>Fog>Legbeater rpt bs to end the session

[C-Fan]

Props on these 3 in particular:

Fog>Phoenix bs
Legbeater>Spikehammer>Atomsmasher rpt
Blurry Whirl>Fog>Legbeater rpt bs to end the session

Can't wait for alpine rubberman in one year!

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I'm glad you are realizing that Alpine Step sets are attainable for you. I could always see it. Great highlights, man. Also, love that you're ducking Pixie sets now. Hope you're doing well.

[Matt K]

Hope you are doing well as well =)

Having a full week of great sessions makes me feel amazing. 2.5 hours with Dan tonight completed (and hopefully continues) the string of good sessions from last Friday. I have definitely leveled up, and I feel like I'm still getting better in this little window.

Fusion>Food Processor bs
Blurry Whirl>Fog>Fusion bs
Blur>Fusion>Ripwalk rpt
Blur>Assassin>Phoenix>Blur bs (grr)
Legbeater>Ripped Warrior>Blur>Legbeater bs