Matt Christopher - Confessions of a Shredder in London, UK

Leuch · Post by **Leuch** » 21 Oct 2005 01:38

Hey, just a little post to say that I'm glad to hear that a new UK scene is growing up!
And it's cool that you've met Nico in London! Is he still playing? do you hang out with him?? This guy was in my faculty last year, and just foud out that I was playing footbag at the end of the year...
Props for the bag you've stitched!!! it's really nice! and I wonder how you get the technique.... now you need facile!

And I think you should come to French Open: 11-12-13 of November in Paris... Most of the best european freestylers and net players! Good parties, free accomodation! It'll just be a crazy week end!! If you can do it, just come!

cheers!

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 24 Oct 2005 11:20

Charles, good to hear from you. I tried to meet up with Nico again, but his weekends seem very busy so I haven't managed to catch him yet. I'm sure I'll see him again soon. The bag you made him was damn nice. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to make the Open, but thanks for the reminder.

---

Had a good rest over the weekend, and the twinge in my left thigh has gone completely. This evening I worked on removing the unnecessary motions from my legovers and pickups, and they're starting to becoming much less laboured. More clipper practise tomorrow.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 27 Oct 2005 16:47

Today I hit illusion BS and it felt good.

max · Post by **max** » 28 Oct 2005 01:34

good job!
you should also try hitting it from clipper once you feel more confident with your clippers.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 08 Nov 2005 11:33

oh, Mr. Clipper - how you trouble me!

1) The accuracy of my setting is quite poor, so when I put some effort into a nice chest-level clipper the bag either drifts too far into my body, making it hard to position myself for the next one, or drifts too far away, again making repositioning tough.

2) My legs seem to tire quite quickly of the motion, so towards the end of a session I end up with some very low sets and my footwork is too sluggish to chain them together.

Dexes are going nicely though; my legs are really speeding up. Made a few half-hearted attempts at symposium mirage today, I don't think I'm too far from getting it.

DoctorJay · Post by **DoctorJay** » 08 Nov 2005 11:58

do not forget to bend your supported leg when you do clippers .
If you find out how this bending/unbending process is solved than you will be able to do hundreds of clippers without being exhaustet - it is a little bit like dancing - so do not forget the little "hop" before the clip.

good luck

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 09 Nov 2005 14:44

Went to a new juggling club this evening to play some footbag. Consecutive clippers clicked and I hit 10 on my strong side and 6 on my weak. It feels good to have finally broken through.

Now I'm exhausted.

max · Post by **max** » 10 Nov 2005 01:14

Consecutive clippers clicked and I hit 10 on my strong side and 6 on my weak.

PROPS MATT!!
That's *exactly* what I wanted to hear! That rocks. Do you plant after every clipper? (you should)

You may want some drills and / or extra tricks to try now that you have your clippers down:

- clipper > op clipper (aim for 10+)
- clipper > same clipper > op clipper > same clipper > op cliper etc.
- butterflies! They should be delayed in the same calm fashion as the clippers. Start off with just hand setting into a butterfly. Once you have that down both sides try butterfly > op butterfly.
- every dex you know (mirage / pickup / legover / illusion) set from clipper.

have you given osis a go?

keep me posted, and props again.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 10 Nov 2005 03:41

Cheers for the support, Max.

Yup, I'm planting after each clipper. I'll definitely start work on the op clippers now. Tamas has been pretty keen on getting me to drill osis, but I haven't made a concentrated effort yet.

Thanks for those drills, I'll be sure to implement them.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 17 Nov 2005 14:22

Fucking hell, it's getting cold over here. Scarves and gloves are being worn indoors in our student house right now... central heating's far too expensive to use. This doesn't mean I've stopped becoming a sweaty bastard at the end of my sessions however... I'll know it's getting really cold when I can see steam rising from my body.

As a right-footed man I find it very strange that it's harder to balance on my right leg. I've been working on aligning my body properly on this side, as my left clipper is suffering badly as a result of this poor balance.

Things are chugging along merrily though, I've been practising every day, and now all my mid-semester essays are out of the way so I don't even have any actual work to do.

This spells good times for footbag.

Just call me hagesy · Post by **Just call me hagesy** » 17 Nov 2005 18:25

Props
it is always good when you can see no end of playing footbag.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 24 Nov 2005 05:41

I was woken up this morning by a call from a production company. The lady asked me if I'd like to play some footbag for the music video of some little-known band.

I would've accepted but the shoot was scheduled for the day I'd arranged to attend an observation day at a secondary (high) school. boo. Still, I suppose I should prioritise my potential teaching career over spending a 16-hour day in a studio kicking a bag.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 24 Nov 2005 05:50

Matt Christopher wrote:I was woken up this morning by a call from a production company. The lady asked me if I'd like to play some footbag for the music video of some little-known band.

I would've accepted but the shoot was scheduled for the day I'd arranged to attend an observation day at a secondary (high) school. boo. Still, I suppose I should prioritise my potential teaching career over spending a 16-hour day in a studio kicking a bag.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 24 Nov 2005 07:28

Jeremy wrote:

yeah, it pretty much sucks. I would've liked the chance to give footbag some free exposure.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 28 Nov 2005 11:42

This weekend I went partying in Brighton, a town on the southern coast of England, and witnessed some contact juggling for the first time. I was very impressed and plan to give it a go to balance out all this leg training footbag provides.

Back to footbag: got to do lots of circle kicking this weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed because all this solo drilling has driven me a little stir crazy. Tonight I started drifting towards more creative jam sessions; all the rigid drilling was drawing me away from actual, spur-of-the-moment shredding. I'll try to maintain a good balance between drill and shred from now on.

max · Post by **max** » 29 Nov 2005 01:48

Yeah don't over do the drills, sometimes you have to take all you've drilled and just have fun putting it in strings and combos. I pesonnaly don't drill much myself, just try and enjoy what I'm doing really.

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 07 Dec 2005 13:23

Second session at my university 'spinners' club (poi, staff etc.) this evening. It's nice and convenient for me and my partner in shred, Tamas.

I sorted the problem that had been shafting my mirages since I started playing - my setting leg was staying firmly planted to the ground and completely stunted the move, which also made it a thoroughly unenjoyable trick to perform. I've finally added the hop to make it nice and fluid.

This paved the way for the maiden voyage of my paradox mirage, sweet. It's a nice trick. I've also been working on getting my uptime dexes rolling.

max · Post by **max** » 08 Dec 2005 01:52

props on paradox mirage!
and mirage.

It's not easy at the beggining to understand the whole weight shit from one leg to the other. Glad you got that. How are those clippers going along?

Matt Christopher · Post by **Matt Christopher** » 26 Dec 2005 12:17

I've been taking some time out to ensure that I can become a fat, Christmassy bastard. I've been drilling my dexes in bare feet, but breaking a sweat is distinctly unseasonal, I feel, so we're talking flash-in-the-pan style drilling here, guys.

Time to write some essays tomorrow, so I think I'll resume pounding myself on the footbag treadmill then.

max · Post by **max** » 27 Dec 2005 04:04

Hey Matt, I should be in London on the w.e. of the 20th maybe we can hook up for a shred and a beer. I destroyed my knee yesterday so I don't know how I'll be physically when I get there. Will let you know.