King Monkey's Ramblings

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 26 Jun 2004 20:46

werd up... my name is Ian Pritchard, live in Sydney, Australia, and love playing and watching and reading about and thinking about footbag. Alot.

Approximately guiltless, my first 5 add was Ducking PS Mirage, my biggest move ive hit is Scorpions Tail, my favourite move i can hit is PS Whirl.
In 2004 i was the Australian Intermediate Champion in Routines and Sick3

Some recent new moves: Phoenix, Smog, Atom Smasher>Atom Smasher

We currently have a huge 2 players in Sydney, but we have one or two randoms every now and then. Myself and Dyalan are the only regular freestylers. We have had the priveledge though to play with some really good players like Max Boucoiran from France (French Connexion doubles), Max Kerkhoff from Germany, and Erik Engeberg from Washington, who we learnt alot from.

I'm getting to the point of guiltlessness now, or so i try anyway. every now and then a mirage or clipper set mirage sneaks in but usually after a bigger combo or move than i am used to hitting. recently hit some guiltless runs around 15 contacts

My Problems: clipper flatness, BUTTERFLIES, Stepping sets, flip Atomic sets (knee popping issues), strongside Whirling moves (pdx, toe set, blurry) because the form is such that I 'the' it alot
This is all stuff i am working on at the moment

New moves for the near future: mid-run Atomic moves and combos, Tapping DLO or Witchdoctor, some consistent mid-run stepping combos and shuffling

My Goal in Footbag: I have no illusions about being in BAP or being top-ranked, i know even at 19 y.o im a bit passed it for that goal, and im not really physically designed for it (damn clipper flatness) despite my light build and size. Really i just want to be a strong guiltless shredder with all my standard moves and sets on both sides, with maybe seven or eight 5 add moves that i can bust out in runs without much trouble. id like to have a better shuffling game too and solid stepping. most of all id like to be able to go into a circle of any group of shredders and hold my own.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 29 Jun 2004 02:02

played with Jesse from QLD today, it was pretty good. he has alot of potential and will be very good when he gets a bit taller and keeps practicing!

hit Atom smasher and legbeater both sides in crappy runs today.. also tap down bsos. This is a pretty good achievement for me, at least i know i am capable of it now so i should expect some more atomic runs in the coming weeks

stepping still sucks like nothing else

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 02 Jul 2004 00:52

my second and last session with Jesse today, it was a good 'un. hit a run with atom smashers both sides and almost legbeaters both sides
also barfly bsos
i think i am almost ready to declare myself guiltless, maybe a couple more weeks solidifying things a bit more esp with my abshire which isnt really breaking in much for me i dont think

also, a big milestone for me:

WHIRLWIND!! my first 6 add
best thing ive ever hit... felt so cool

max · Post by **max** » 02 Jul 2004 01:16

sweet Ian!
a nice move for sure!

oh and well done on Vortex too, that's a favorite of mine!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 02 Jul 2004 10:40

You're getting so good Ian.

Keep it up, and you're gonna get BAPtized!

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 03 Jul 2004 08:56

hahah thanks for the encouragement Nathan, but i will never make BAP. my clippers will stop me in my tracks

plus my strings are completely not hard with no shuffle
and these phat moves are only one offs at the moment.. but i will improve them and try to make them a bit more useful!

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 15 Jul 2004 23:52

hitting Whirlwind the other week, then fooling around with Atomic ducking sets and trying to hit Tapping DLO for a laugh in the last couple of sessions, have caused me to damage some kind of muscle in the top of my leg, near where it joins the hip. it hurts to walk, climb stairs, lift my leg up much... and that means footbag is very difficult. we had a session yesterday but i couldnt go above tiltless and even some of that hurt... so i gotta take prob a week off... stretching and Deep-Heating my leg to see if i can get rid of it... i guess it was from trying too difficult moves too early (with regards to atomic)

hopefully its nothing like Erik has had to go through but im still paranoid that it might be...

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 16 Jul 2004 18:09

Do you stretch before sessions? If you are going to try something new, I recommend stretching a lot before, and practicing the requisite components of the move separately. You may also want to space out your attempts over a couple sessions, its seldom a good idea to drill any move too hard, especially if it is a new move.

Get well soon.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 16 Jul 2004 20:20

hey thanks Ken... yeh i think the thing that did it was Atomic ducking, which id only tried once or twice previously, so thats probably why
i always stretch alot before and after sessions cos it is so good to do... but i guess i didnt think about what atomic ducking could do to my muscles

B_Man · Post by **B_Man** » 17 Jul 2004 11:40

I find that doing a real good warm up works well, then afterwards I usually stretch for 5 min while listenign to some music.

I've heard somewhere that stretching before a strenous activity doesn't help to prevent injury but it's how circulated the muscles are that really matters. Stretching after the activity helps to loosent he muscles aferwards which prevents the build up of (insert scientific name here) which causes your muscles to be stiff and sore.

Sorry for the intrusion Chopper

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 17 Jul 2004 23:53

no no please, everyone intrude whenever they like!

feedback is the best

yeh i heard that too.. but i guess im so used to stretching before and after i just do it anyway... i dont stretch as much beforehand anymore, just a quick once over on the calves, thighs, and a groin stretch
oh and ankles.. always with the ankle stretching

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 21 Jul 2004 04:43

leg is still fucked.. very frustrating... however i have played on it twice this week, mostly working flip stepping and flip pixies... some datw work... a few paradons..some spinning a little... still hurts alot but maybe not as bad as last week

i hit toe drifter>pdx drifter tonite which felt pretty cool... its the only good thing thats happened lately

flip stepping is a bit better i guess..

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 27 Jul 2004 22:14

looks like im gonna have to go see the doctor about my leg... its still screwed completely
last nite it felt like, the best it has been in 2 weeks, i thought perhaps i was getting there.. then today at university im walking a fair bit, and it starts hurting.. then more.. then more... by the time i left uni i was limping to the train station.. when i sit down for like 10 min then walk again its fine.. but within about 1 min it starts up again and goes back to the same pain again

it hurts to walk, climb stairs, lift my leg straight up, twist side to side... its now as bad as it was 2weeks ago.. all this rest time seems to be wasted

im gonna be so shit (well, shitter than as shit as i was

) when i finally get through this... and that will depend on what the doctor says i guess

)

sPinko-Mania · Post by **sPinko-Mania** » 28 Jul 2004 00:49

Hey Ian, I'm sorry to hear about your injury, I hope the doctor sorts you out good n proper. Atomics definitely feel to me like something you can hurt yourself on. I couldn't even try weak atomic for ages because my knee would pop and hurt when I tried, but I've slowly moved into them a bit (and I stress 'a bit'

)

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 29 Jul 2004 09:15

yeh i had the exact same problem spink, so i took my atomics back to basics and just did illusions alot... and gradually picked up power, speed, height until i could do them without knee pop... going well till my stupid injury

played a little with some moves not using my bad leg.. tried some swirls with good success.. hit toe set far swirl a bunch of times... pixie>mirage>far swirl first attempt (worst combo but wanted to see if i could hit it on command lol)
also butterfly swirl 3 times from toe and once from op clipper
tried reverse swirl but its too slow

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 29 Jul 2004 23:52

so i went to the doctors today, which i should have done last week but i thought i could rest my way thru it... he said its not too serious, he thinks just a muscular or ligamental sprain. he prescribed me some anti-inflammatries which should ease the pain and calm the inflammation of my groin down, the course of tabs last 10 days, one per day. he said should be all good my about 2 weeks, but if not then come back to consider some physio.
so good news really... he said mild to medium exercise is fine as long as it doesnt make it hurt more

so ill prob play some light sessions mostly flipside, until its better

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 31 Jul 2004 20:52

played for 2 hrs yesterday... prob went a bit harder than i should have cos now im pretty sore in my leg... did atomic which was prob my other mistake, but it felt so good hitting tap>atom smasher and atom>atom again..lots of fun
also did spinning, drifters and pixie set stuff.. will prob take 3-4 days off now to really let these drugs kick in

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 11 Aug 2004 17:35

well my course of tablets ran out last Sunday, so im on my own at the moment. it didnt feel like my leg was getting much better, but i guess it is cos it doesnt hurt to walk around Uni anymore etc... it only hurts when i do more intensive moves, it gets inflammed

i played for the first time since like a week ago, on Tuesday nite, and hit Flurry! that was awesome, i always wanted a barraging move
hit it again on camera last nite
after that my leg felt warm but not sore at all so i played, even doing some ripwalks and blurs without pain which was excellent
i think perhaps it could be getting better!
ill prob play again on friday and see if that is true

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 22 Aug 2004 18:50

leg is doing pretty well these days, ive played a few long (1.5-2hrs) sessions over the past week or two and its going well... i get stiffness a bit after playing but its not pain as such
have started to work on Osis finally, after avoiding it for so long cos i find it way too hard and boring.. ive hit 3 consec hahahaha... and managed to do butter>osis>pdx mirage>butter rpt. its annoying and boring, but when i pull off a few good osii or hit it out of something, it feels pretty excellent!

schooled up my barflies last two sessions, flipside getting much better i think due to some pre-work hitting Reaper weakside. this helped speed my dexes up, and also worked on the strength needed to hold ur leg up more when dexing for barfly
strongside barfly = cake at the moment, its great

butterflies also getting better i believe, ive started trying to get into position earlier, like switch feet faster as i alternate butterflies to get the catching foot ready earlier, it seems to be pretty effective. i hit 20 on friday and 22 last nite so its pretty cool. dont know what it looks like style-wise but im just happy to be catching the bag more consistently!

obligatory fooling around with phat moves at the end of sessions yielded Blurriest strongside again on second attempt and again a few minutes later but not weakside yet.
week before last i hit Pixie ss double down and Paradon Swirl which was

so yeh, things seem to be looking up at the moment which is good.. lets hope this continues and gets even better!

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 22 Aug 2004 18:52

darned no edit button!
schooling barflies led to Barfly>Barfly on the weekend
and half of Plasticman drill