John Bagi's Footblog

[jon]

Thanks for the update John. Hope to see more of your progress. If you are ever in the area hit me up.

[footbagi]

Will do Jon. Hope to see you soon.

Here's how training is: I have been training for 6 days on and 1 day off now for about 2 weeks. This is the most consistent I have ever been with footbag. Thus I have been both rewarded and warned. I'll get to that in a bit. The daily shred lasts one hour exactly (no way, it always goes a tiny bit longer), but I aim for 1 hour. This gives me about 7 hours of shred per week. If I were instead to play every other day with two hour sessions then I wouldn't be learning as efficiently. This happens because I usually don't enjoy my day if there is no exercise/shred. Also, after a day off it takes me a long time to get back into focus and really control my practicee. If I can't enjoy my day because I don't get to play then I get bothered because when practice finally comes I am rushed/hurried and not under control. It's as if I get too excited when I finally play and I forget how to relax. If one can not relax when practicing then one will not be able to preform properly.... something like that

Rewarded:
I have been very happy with progress as of late. Sidewalks and ripwalks are there whenever I call on them. I hit ripwalk>blurrywhirl mid string with out even planning it. Ferry has been coming along smoothly now. I can hit mid string ferry ss legover and ferry legover. I can now hit mid string paradox mirrage and paradox illusion comfortably. Paradon can be executed out of toe shuffle or para illusion/para mirage. Run with double overdown and paradon both BSOS. I watched the "Slow Moves" video (which is one of my favorites) and studied Sergeys double over down. Just from watching it over and over I can understand it easier and execute it properly now. Whirl>para mirage rpt. Paradon>para illusion rpt. Drifter>swirl rpt. Whirl>ripwalk rpt. Ripwalk>swirl rpt. Magellan>pix legover rpt. Smear>pix ss mirage rpt. Pix ss pickup>pix pickup rpt. Ripwalk>sidewalk rpt. Duck>dive rpt. Duck>weave rpt. Phoenix>blender bs. Blurrywhirl bs. Blender BSOS. Tap BSOS. Pixie whirl BSOS. Stepping out of drifter bs. DATW in>DATW out bs. Symp whirl bs. Flail bs. These are all some concepts/combination's that I have been becoming comfortable with.

Highlights are:
torquescrew (Greg said it was super clean)
Pixie blender bs many times
drifter>torque rpt
torque>zooming clipper
torque>swirl bs
torque>ripwalk bsos

Warned:
I have an injury that is popping up again. I had it last year at this time. I'm not sure what it is exactly yet. Some symptoms are leading me to think that it is a lower leg shin splint. It is happening about 1/3 of the way up my shin and is now beginning to show small pain at the end of my one hour sessions. It also hurts when I push in on that part of the bone. I really like footbag. I would do anything to make this go away perm.

My life:
Stefan and I are doing yoga on Wed nights. We have 4 more weeks to go in our program. We really love it so we are going to go to drop-ins on other nights. I don't know too much about yoga at the moment only that I love the work out and the confidence that I have in my body and mind when I come out of there. Once I get strong at breathing and concentration of body and spirit I will be able to meditate. This is what I need to explore more into. Yoga also allows me to push my body to new limits which in turn will have an essential effect on footbag.

[abstract]

you're advancing ridiculously fast. your attention to training solid links is commendable & it is showing in your longer strings, throwing more difficult concepts in there all the time.

get your BONE BASICS on dawg.

get your MATCHA on & be all rollin like a PEEOMP!

[mannampepo]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

[mosher]

JOOOHN BAGIII!!!

Happy Birthdayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!

AAANND, HOLY SHIT!! You're getting sooo good!

Torque zooming is soooo sexy!




While reading your last post I don't know why but my mind floated back to the park by the lake where I first met you, I don't know why but I was intrigued by you, I could tell you were specialer than just some normie. I'm so glad that you're still in my life, and I'm really glad we got to be such good friends while I was living in Kingston, you're a great guy.

Glad to hear things are still so great on the home front and that you're discovering the amazing world of yoga!

Also, I still owe fannypack for the boots!

[abstract]

i hope you're gonna post about that bad ass drill you nailed.

SINK.

[footbagi]

I sometimes forget the links I hit, like right after I hit them.

I know it went: butterfly>stepping ss leg>park walk>ripwalk>sidewalk>stepping ss leg>parkwalk> rip walk>side walk>stepping ss leg> but then it's goes fuzzy... there was a ripwalk>whirl>swirl in there too.

[ss butterfly>para mirage>atomsmasher] RPT

Here are some links I'll aim to hit next session:
1. para whirl>rip walk>duck RPT
2. whirl>ripwalk>rpt>swirl>butter>rpt
3. all toe to toe mirage, toe pick up, toe legover, and toe illusion guilts in a run
4. osis>all 4 toe (single) dex variations in a run, ex; osis>para mirage or; osis>far pick up
5. whirr both sides

My next post will reveal the results!

Thanks for all the comments everyone!

[footbagi]

Alright, I'm on track with things... so it seems. I'm finally taking a chunk out of the major renovations that I'm doing on my parents house. I hope to have the dining room completely finished for Christmas. This is important to my above average sized family of 9. Who, for 5 years, have lived in a 150 year old limestone farm house that looks about 150 years old on the inside. Well it did when we moved here 5 years ago. My Dad has single handedly performed almost all of the other renovations himself, while working his own computer job on the side, plus being in his mid 50's. I gotta hand it to him, he's good. So, after every single room in the house being completely redone (except for the upstairs hallway), I'm finally wrapping things up for him. Besides, he's too old for this stuff. It's been a long journey. Along the way I met Tom Mosher and a few other very important cats, and thats why I'm here.

Shred:
#1. = Completed, first try
#2. = Completed, first try
#3. = Completed like 5 times except always dropped the last trick, everytime?????????? soooo..... not reaaaaaalllllyy completed
#4. = Didn't get around to trying
#5. = Hit on one side twice but not on flip. Slightly pulled something in my groin on my flip

Double pick up is a great whirr trainer. It helps keep that knee really high and most importantly gives a Vasek-esque look.

I also hit:
pixie paradon (yet again)
atomsmasher>paradon
atomsmasher>legbeater BS really natural now
gyro clip>para illusion


More links/goals for next session:
1. para whirl>swirl BSOS
2. atomsmasher>paradon BSOS
3. shmoe>magellan>parkwalk>ripwalk>sidewalk> RPT
4. The same number 4 as above!

Sweet, YOGA tomorrow night.

[footbagi]

Me and Stefan finished our 6 week yoga course. I missed one of the classes due to the fact that living on an ISLAND has it's limitations. For Christmas I got an admission to a new yoga course from Fanny. Stefan is doing it too. It's going to be more advanced and contrasting. Every week we do a different type of yoga. It has enabled me to think about my body and form in a whole new way. Which in turn alters how I think and play footbag. Posture and elasticity is something that has to change in order for me to break through to the next level of shred. Yoga is the path. But God is still the light. No Buddhism stuff. My last teacher was heavy into that and I found it very interesting. I allows me to parallel with my own faith in some ways. OK too complicated.....

So I thought for a while that there was no where to practice here at my parents. Turns out the answer was right in front of me. In the KITCHEN. It's an old house so all the floors are too week to sustain heavy jumping. The kitchen however has new tiled floor with 3/4 inch plywood beneath for extra reinforcement. So instead of having to travel one hour over to Kingston on the Ferry I can now have solo sessions at home. Which means more practice time.

Hey people, did you know that it takes about 10 000 hours to successfully MASTER a skill. It was talked about in an AMAZING book I just finished called OUTLIERS. I can guarantee that Klouda has that many hours in. To put it in perspective if you wanted to reach that many hours in 5 years, you would need to get in 5.5 hours per day EVERY SINGLE DAY. The Beatles did it, Bill Gates did it, and for that matter just about every single NHL, NBA, MLB, UFC and whatever pro league you want to look at. So get going.

Here's some bags I made:















I stopped that idea of trying to hit what I said I was going to hit. If I do it again it will need to be easier stuff. Not that I can't hit the hard stuff. Just that I need to FOCUS on other things. They need not be my focal point....

I hit recently:

symp whirling swirl BS
toe butterfly symp swirl
butterfly symp swirl
and ripwalk symp swirl
osis>swirl rpt is becoming consistent
pixie ss mirage>drifter>para mirage rpt becoming consistent
phoenix>swirl bs consistenly

ok I need to watch the Jorden Christmas video and then shred now....

[footbagi]

Played two sessions yesterday. The first was the 9th solo session in a row. Those solo sessions were testing me. I was really used to the structure of having someone else there to watch, share the bag with, relate my shred to, and socialize with. The second practice session was with Greg at the local sports facility with this awesome rubberized track that we play on. Now I'm so used to playing by myself. The tables have turned it seems.

My last few posts have been very positive which I will be glad to reflect on in the future. But seriously, I'm frustrated. I'm trying to figure out why I get so angry when I play. If footbag is not something that I can rely on as being FFUUNN then it wont stand the test of time. There are three important components that have to result from whatever THING it is that you do in order for it to work. Do you understand what I just said? A person needs to get something out of what they do or else it collapses. And what they do could be striving for a spot in a law firm, knitting blankets, or training for footbag. I think that one or more of these three things is not a result I get out of footbag right now. Which in turn means that I wont progress properly. I know your probably wondering what the three components are, I'll write about them in the next post because I don't know enough to reiterate at this time. I think that it is extremely important that I had this realization. Time to make things better. Today is going to be a FUN footbag session!!!!!!!

[abstract]

funnin' it up on the ole funbox.

footbag is fun. those FootBagis are radical.

good vibes, good sessions.

i think the anger has its place. it serves to show you weakness, in some capacity. if part of the fulfillment you get from footbag is progress, then realizing shortcomings is a fairly direct path to satisfaction. sometimes it is the anger itself that is the weakness, other times it is the anger that results from a realization about another weakness.

either way, it's important not to dwell on the anger i think, but rather use it as motivation for positive change.

[daLai]

hey =)

nice bags sir, the first one is exactly the same pattern my kozlovbag has. weird

nice links and combos there, too.
have a good footbagyear 09

simon

[Asmus]

Are those my jugglybags? They look awesome!


Could we please close that deal soon?

How much do I have to paypal you for postage?

[footbagi]

Ok here we go. Toronto write-up. I’m going to try and leave out any personal opinions and thoughts and leave it up to the reader to feel out the events. So here is my whole day, Tuesday, January 6th, 2009.
Stefan and I wake up and realize that we are going to be late for the Ferry. I live on Wolfe Island and in order to get into Kingston we have to board a Ferry that shuttles us across. So we leave my house and drive 15 minutes in completely normal weather conditions to the boat. The roads are clear so I drive about 120km/h. There’s a problem when we get there because the lineup has exceeded its limit. This wouldn’t normally be a problem although today I have a dentist appointment in Toronto. Therefore missing this boat means that I will miss my appointment. Now, for some strange reason, we make it on. In 5 years I have never been so far back in the line and still made it on the ferry. Things were looking up.
So the next thing you know it Stefan and I are driving in Kingston and we spot Greg Raymond walking to his house. We crept up behind him and were driving half on the side walk half on the road. For about twenty or thirty paces he didn’t do anything, until I honked the horn. Then he just nodded his head as he continued his stroll, not looking back. He walked straight into his apartment without looking at us. Later he claimed that he knew it was me the whole time.
Finally we were on the road. Stefan had been dropped off at home which left me and Greg cruising on highway 401 on route for Toronto. We had semi planned this trip with Tom Mosher. We had told him that we would be travelling via my dentist appointment and that we wanted to exercise our right to, well, exercise. So I had asked him to round up the troops and prepare for shred. Greg and I didn’t have huge expectations; we just wanted to play footbag with some new people. I had been internet communicating with Tom the night previous to this and that’s when we found out that he had done less than nothing in preparation for our arrival. Meh, we’ll make something happen. The journey continues with us rolling down the highway.
Vrooooom. Now were at my dentist. I walk in 40 minutes late and the lady at the desk tells me to take a seat. Greg is sleeping in the car. The operation only took 20 minutes. That’s right a root canal took 20 minutes and I was nearly sleeping whilst they were poking around. I come back to the van to find Greg awake and waiting patiently. Meanwhile I am drooling out of the side of my mouth because the right side of my face is frozen. Off we go to pick up my video camera at the JVC service center. (I had dropped it off there to be fixed the last time I was in Toronto)
Next were watching the new Finish video with Anssi and Airinen at Greg’s friends’ house somewhere in the downtown grid. This was crucial considering that both of us were super stiff after the long car ride. The car ride which also included a fast food stop. Yikers, we weren’t feeling too confident about that. We also weren’t feeling to confident about the shred circle that awaited us because, well, there wasn’t one. Tom was out of touch and Camille had just cancelled because it was too late for her schedule. Jay Boychuk’s message had also confirmed that his schedule had conflicting events. Hmmmm, here we are in Toronto with Footbaggers nearby but no one able. Finally I get a hold of Adam Greenwood, the Toronto warrior if you will, and he is ready to rock. Greg, his two pals, and I grab a bite to eat at this great spot on Dundas St.. Greg stuffed his face with a huge hamburger and meal and I took it easy with sweet potato fries and the soup de jour. Keep our food choices in mind as they are definite factors later in the day.
We make it back to the friends’ hideout where Greg goes over his plan to take over the world. Then Tom Mosher calls my cell phone. But he was too busy getting ready for his bike thing to have a serious conversation. He tells me that he will call me later to get the details of where we are so that he can meet up with us during his cruise around Toronto on his fixed gear bike. After the chat I grab Greg and drive us to meet Adam at the Eaton’s center. Whooohooooo THE time is getting near.
Adam’s chilling near the escaladers when I spot him and signal for him to come out. I’m parked illegally on the side of Yonge St. so there is a sense of urgency as all three of us are running towards the van even before any of us have greeted each other. Greg and Adam had never met before so there they were loving life while shaking hands in the van.
We hit up a new shred spot. Adam says that he goes on shred spot reconnaissance missions to locate the HOT SPOTS. This was indeed an awesome hot spot located directly downtown with nice clean rubberish floors. The shred begins and doesn’t end. Well, it did, we just didn’t want it to. It lasted over three and a half hours, waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy longer than the usual one hour that me and Greg train for. Greg and Adam taper off but for some reason I have an unusual amount of energy. As they were either changed or getting changed I decided to drill osis. I complete over 130 osis repeat. Lost count at around 120 when I started to get dizzy. The sweet potato fries were definitely one of the keys to this endurance. They have more calories than any other vegetable. And I downed a whole basket of em. Key!
Adam has raised the bar on his level of shred. He hit tons of new stuff and was pumped to be playing with some new people. We talked a lot of serious talk about Footbag. Everything from how to play and how to teach and how to talk to passerbyers. Adam said that one of his new year’s resolutions was to figure out better things to say to on-lookers when they engage in conversation. One dude in a group of students hollered out “Hey are you batman?â€

[abstract]

Greg and Adam taper off but for some reason I have an unusual amount of energy.

POWERBALLZ ARE NOT THE ANSWER.

[Slowsis]

Toronto Warrior!

I could get used to that......


I'm playing with Camille later today. I'll be sure to rub it in on how awesome a shred she missed.

[footbagi]

I never thought I would do a write up like that. It really was an interesting day. Can't wait to do it all again. First I will need to get my license back.

I had a solo training session today in my kitchen. Some really relevant thoughts on how to spend my sessions more efficiently have been swirling around (no pun intended). As I have noticed, fatigue and injury have been a drama that I need to consciously avoid. Through practice (and failure) I can learn how to avoid these hindrances and gain self control. For example, my last ankle roll occurred when I was having a very poor and unfocused session in which I was pushing myself to keep going and using anger and frustration as fuel. I was also playing on slippering wood floors and I probably shouldn't have been. Another example is of how over time I wore out my lower calf muscles and suffered from a bruised bone. To this day I have issues with stepping because of this calf injury. For the first time in a while I have been having a majority of solo sessions. These have little to no structure. No one is there to keep me in line or motivated at least. I definitely rely on Greg's presence to keep me in focus. It's plain and simple people; I need to rethink every trick or combination of tricks that I use in normal practice. Usually I just go off on some tangent repeating some trick or combination that doesn't fit into my current repertoire. Not any more. I'm going to build structure. I know I know, I've tried things like this in the past but as time as drawn on I have learned a scary lesson: DON'T KCUFING PRACTICE IF YOUR NOT GOING TO PRATICE RIGHT.

There, my new motto: DON'T KCUFING PRACTICE IF YOUR NOT GOING TO PRACTICE RIGHT

I'm now being told to go and watch the new Andy Samberg skit from SNL called jizz in my pants....

Edit: Oh my, you should watch this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMPgxN_M9xI

[footbagi]

I can barely think right now. I feel like a poopscicle. I'm sitting on my couch where I sat all day.... stitching and cutting panels.... uhhhhhhhh

Footbag is what it is... footbag

kick>stall>kick> I win

That's the way I play....

But seriously, I'm lovin this game. I'm here to stay! Can't wait to play this weekend with all the cool cats from around the globin. So much dedication to a little bag of metal. So many hours spent for something that goes unnoticed. I can't believe people get ticked at Vasek for playing soccer, a real sport. No no no, this is a real sport. Where true devotion is shown brilliantly through the focused all-stars from around the world. No coaches, no team membership fees. Just you and a bag all alone. All alone and humble as can be. Just chillen, free will'en, rippen it up. Ripwalk to symp whirl or legover to outside delay, do it your way. Let's pour our hearts out into the dimensions that this world hides. Keep pouring until you pass out. Just remember when you wake up that you walk a path, that path goes where you want it to go. You can decide forever on your own but it will become like a thick dark forest. God knows how to help you through it.

........snoring......

G'night....

[james]

amazing post

good to hear you're motivated to play!

I get frustrated all the time, so don't worry about it. Not all of us are Daves or Jordens, but we're still shredding and it's still awesome.

[footbagi]

The gathering in Toronto and Oakville has come and gone. It is now a smile-causing memory. Thank you to everyone who came and added a touch of good times. If you haven't yet read Greg's write-up then read it.

Adam Greenwood: The Toronto Warrior, TW. Passing out with full beer in hand.
Jay Boychuk: Jybo Uchaky. Under his breath to Anssi "Can I have your children?".
Anssi Sundberg: The Saaaawwnuhh Warrior. "Why do I have three plates for this food?" and "What do I put on these [french toast]"
James McCullough: The Philosophy Warrior. Inspirational double beer fisting.
Matt Cross: The Way Warrior. To Anssi "Thank you for helping me overcome my fear of public nudity."
Tom Mosher: The Communal Target...... Warrior. Straight up thank you so much for housing a bunch of stinky-foot-bag-ers.
Cassey: The Serious Skills Warrior. Here's a hilarious story. Tom was walking around filming the shred when someone announced an imaginary change of setting for Tom. It was to think of Tom as a Steve Erwin (Crocodile Hunter) type, filming the dangerous "footbag species". As the imagery continued I added that the males were trying to prove themselves to the female (Cassey). Considering she was the only girl there out of like 15 of us. All waiting our turn to show our footbag skills for her seal of approval. Good times
Jorden Moir: The "Nemesis rpt would take me way too long, like 20 minutes" Warrior. Jorden wouldn't order pizza from Pizza Pizza because there was an automated voice message for ordering. He doesn't like robots.
Jon Haber: The Cat Stacking Revolutionary Warrior. We invented cat stacking together. This involves a cat and any objects near by. The object is to stack as many things on the cat without it moving. Jon set the world record.
Camille Surovy: The Discovery-Channel-Party-Hostess Warrior. At Camilles after-shred party there were huge snakes and geckos and probably monkeys being passed around the room. Anssi doesn't like snakes.
Mike Faille: THE Warrior. Representing footbag in all it's worth.
Greg Raymond: The Die Hard Warrior. Greg played an amazing amount of footbag this past weekend. Him and I normally play for an hour a day. May be two if we are sneaky. But 7 hours on Saturday, are you serious? Anssi, your impact on Greg couldn't have been more influential.
Zach Forth: The Whaaaaaatt? Warrior. Glad you could make it out Zach. I enjoyed playing with you again.

I know I'm forgetting someone.... aahhhh am I? hmmmmmmm

Most importantly though; how soon can we do this all again?