TJ`s Footbloggin` it up

[Tjuggles]

Hi. I`ve been in Japan for about 15 months. This is my routine as of September 2005:

6:30am wake up
7:00am go to work
6:30pm get home from work
7:00-9 or 10pm shred
10pm- hang out with my girlfriend and/or sleep


Ok, great.
Yesterday I played with the usual 2 kids, Kenzou and Charhan. There was another member, but I forgot his name. We played for about 6 hours (they arrived an hour after me). It was hard to warm up at first because the day before, we played for about 4 hours, so my legs were sore. Plus we play outside being that there really is nowhere indoors to shred
The good thing about the spot that we play at is that there is an overhang I guess you could call it, and at pretty much any given time there are 20 kids breakdancing, so there is music, and about 10 kids doing whats called Parapara. Imagine a dance with extremely basic footwork and lots of hand movement. Usually there are more kids though. It really gives me more motivation seeing all of that talent.

Yesterday I hit:
ps whirl
tombstone

I had a lot of long strings, but mostly just drilled the basics.
Recently I have hit:
Vertigo (bs)
p whirl x5
barfly > barfly
sailing butterfly <EDIT> diving osis (it was requested by Kenzou)
pixie ocean
dimmier (bs) (only once so far...)

There are probably others, but I cant think of them right now, so this will be the end. My legs are sore, but I like it that way.

As soon as i find someone with a video camera, I will start taking footage of everyone out here. I have definitely noticed that there is limited, if any footage of Japan. Or maybe Im just not looking in the right place...


Oh yeah, here is the link of my routine at the Japan Nationals last August in Tokyo.

http://v.footbag.org/media/819/1-jfc200 ... e_1st.wmv

HERE is where I will post my drills and consecutives for personal records and for you to see.

DRILLS
One Touch x 3
Stiller x 1
Prismatic x 1
Serpent x 1
Clippin x 2
HopHop x 1
General x 1
Antique x 3
Idol x 1
Andromeda x 1
Cracken x 1
Stargate x 1
Piratos x 1
Inquest x 1
Difience x 1
Desperado x 1
Uncle Sam x 1
Tomato x 1
Hunter x 1
Mountain x 1
Lord x 1
Master x 4
Godlike x 1
Inhuman x 2
Hardcore x 1
Drunken Pig x 1

CONSECUTIVES
2 add
legover x 100
pickup x 12
ss mirage x 102
alternating clipper x
pixie (op toe) x
fairy (op toe) x
ducking toe x
diving toe x
ss illusion x

3 add
osis x 49
far osis x 20 (Strong) x 6 (Flip)
ducking far osis x 3 (Strong) x 2 (Flip)
whirl x 10 (Strong) x 9 (Flip)
rev. whirl x 5 (Strong) x 2 (Flip)
Infinity x 154
spinning clipper x 9 (Strong) x 2 (Flip)
div. clipper > zulu clipper x 3
atomsmasher x 6
weaving clipper x 16 (Strong) x 8 (Flip)
diving clipper x 10 (Strong) x 6 (Flip)
pixie same mirage x 8
Pixie legover x 20
smear > pixie same mirage > smear > pixie same mirage x 1
ducking clipper x 34
gyro clip x 14


4 add
p. whirl x 17
ripwalk x 14
symp whirl x 2 (Strong) x 1 (Flip)
dyno x 9
barfly x close to 20

5 add
p blender x 3 (x1 flip)
far motion x 3 (x2)

[setman]

you're really good.
props on new tricks and links

especially on fairy spinning mirage. it's soo hard (are you sure that wasn't fairy gyro mirage ?)

i've just watched your routine. a belly dance was funny.
routine was pretty good, not many drops, props on that.

Desien = Sailing Butterfly

How long have You been playing ?

[Tjuggles]

Thanks for the compliments.

Its funny looking back at that routine, because I feel so much stronger now, but it was like a forty contact run before the first drop, so thats cool, even if i did repeat the same three or four tricks
This is my 6th year of freestyling, but I started kicking about 8 or 9 years ago...

Im pretty sure that it was fairy spinning mirage. the support leg does the mirage dex, not the fairy-setting leg, if that makes sense.
TJ

[Tjuggles]

Ok, I guess this is entry number 2.

I played yesterday for a couple of hours, but I had a headache, so it wasnt that intense of a shred.

I did link swirl though, and hit reverse swirl. I got my flip spinning set a little tighter too.
Today I plan to drill torques and flip swirl, reverse swirl until I get it down. Plus my legs are sore and my energy gets used up quick. I play in a train station (called Hirakata station), so its a little cold and thus harder on my knees. There are always people coming and going, so thats a plus, and the women are almost all beautiful, so that gives me motivation
Yesterday two men approached me and began asking me questions about the sport. I was pretty drained at that point, but I gave them a little show, then they gave me ten bucks! That was pretty sweet It has been a long time since I have made money playing, and it felt pretty good I felt bad taking it a first, but they insisted. Then I bought dinner with it
To be continued...

oh yeah:
nuclear butterfly (bsos)
EDIT: I forgot about ripped warrior!

[Tjuggles]

I just read a post about being on TV, and that reminded me.

There has been, on more than one occasion, people interviewed on Japan TV for footbag!
Also, about 2 months ago (i think anyway), all of us in the Osaka area, were on TV for a 5 minute segment on Yomiuri TV. It was during a segment that is called `News Scramble` where they do short shootings of different stories for 45 minutes. It was really fun, and great for showing everyone the sport!
I have the segment taped, but I dont have the technology to make it digital, so until then, I cant do anything about it

BTW, you can feel free to reply to anything that I post. Actually, I would appreciate it

[Tjuggles]

Well, yesterday was incredibly fun!
I played for about 3 hours, but unfortunately I didnt school torques like I wanted school. I mostly worked on rubberman, but I didnt hit it hit, I dont think. I offed the toe it, but I dont remember if that was before the last blur, or after the last blur. I think it was before the last blur; seems like I would remember hitting rubberman if I actually did...
I did combo swirl on my strong side, and schooled reverse swirls on my strong side. Today is definitely going to be the day that I school spins, torques and swirls, not to mention rubberman.
Oh yeah, about 15 feet from where I usually play, there is always the same group of 5 or 6 old homeless drunks, either drinking or sleeping. I got props from one of them!
It was hard to understand his japanese, plus he was wasted, but he kept telling me how great he thought I was. He said that I was really intelligent He then proceeded to say something about him dieing, so I have to do my best (at this point in the conversation, he was not accenting at all, so all of his speech was sort of one really really long word). Anyway, it still felt good to get props.
After that, I got some more props from passerby`s. At one point, I remember stretching, looking up, and this really cute girl was staring at me. As I looked closer though, it turned out to be a man! (actually that didnt happen, but it would have been funny ) anyway, I waved and smiled at the girl, and she then gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen The girl left, and about a minute later she came walking by again, this time with her mom. Her mom was even cuter than her! My face kind of went , and then which is pretty hard to do...
I then started thinking about how the three of us could...
and then I remembered that I wanted to shred, so i continued to shred.
By the end of my session, my legs felt so good, it was unusual. They didnt have much energy left, but they werent sore in the least.
oh yeah, I also schooled symp. whirls
Well, I guess that is it for now...

[SandWraith]

Nice blog! I like the funny asides and hypotheticals, and the fact that you go into detail. Keep rocking and I'll see you when I'm in Japan, if that ever happens. Or if you're in Michigan, which is more feasible for me.

[The Actual Sized E]

Hey guy, I like your blog. You hit some tough moves, vertigo bs . What's your name? Did you ever come with Greg to any of the Chicago events?

[Tjuggles]

Hey guy,
my name is Thomas Boutorwick, but I go by TJ, or princess (according to Greg)
I have not been to one event in Chicago, unfortunately, but if I am back in town during one, you best believe I will be there
This past NYJam, I was in town, but my mom wanted me to stick around for the holiday (I was only going to be in town for two weeks), so I listened.

[Colin]

Im pretty sure that it was fairy spinning mirage. the support leg does the mirage dex, not the fairy-setting leg, if that makes sense.

That's fairy gyro mirage. Still a very cool trick. A move is gyro when you dex with the leg that is closer to the bag relative to your spin. ie: gyro mirage sets from a left foot clipper, spins counterclockwise, and dexes with the left leg. That was a terrible explaination, but since I'm at an internet cafe on limited dime (and time) I won't bother to fix it up. Hopefully it was at least a little helpful.

From your name... Are you a Tekken player? Or just a regular juggler?

[Tjuggles]

I dont really play Tekken, and thus my name is related to juggling, however footbag is my main form of enjoyment.

Thanks for the clarification. I have always been confused about that, although I thought that I knew the basics of it, so I never asked.

[Zjeezy]

PRINCESS!! whats up tj, sorry we didnt get to kick when you where in town over the holidays. but next time you are at your parents house let me know, they are only like a 5 min drive from me. oh btw how long are you in japan for? i hear you are teaching english, thats cool man.

[Tjuggles]

Dont worry!
The next time Im in the states, Ill let you know
I dont know how long I will be in Japan. I really like it out here, I have a really cool girlfriend, and, well its JAPAN!!
Yes, I do teach english out here. I teach in Kyoto, in a city called Kumiyama. I teach at an elementary school with about 350 kids. I teach 1st through 6th grade. (The elementary schools in Japan go through 6th grade )

Yesterday`s shred:

Well, the day before I really pushed myself, plus I didnt get much sleep yesterday, so I didnt have that much energy. I started warming up the same way I usually do: streching, then ATW`s, butterflys, Leg overs, and juggling. It was colder than usual in the station, and I think that also played a part in something. I also love playing to loud music, but because Im in a train station, I dont think that I can play loud music, so instead I clip my Ipod to my shorts, weave the headphones under my shirt, and try not to notice that I am wearing it The problem with that is when I start to get sweaty, the material around the actual metal wire on the headphones begin to melt
anywho...
I schooled torques (still not as much as I wanted to) and swirls, rev. swirls and spins. swirls are taking a long time for me to understand, and I can only sort of do them on my strong side oh well, Ill keep trying it until I get it!!
I also hit
stepping ss illusion (bs)
Ive noticed that when I hit new tricks, I feel a lot better about the session.
Today I brought my Lavers to work, so if I have free time, Im thinking about going up to my classroom, and trying swirls some more. I really like how they feel when I hit them, and they look really nice midstring, especially if they are hit really clean.

Towards the end of my session, I noticed that two cute school girls were watching me I decided to approach them and show them my....
footbag they seemed interested, so I asked if they wanted to play, but they said they couldnt. Usually in that situation (its not the first time its happened) I ask them if they have ever played. When they say no, I then tell them `thats probably why you can`t play ` They asked me if I would shred just for a minute for them, so I did. They were both wide-eyed as they walked away. That made me feel good.
Today I plan to go down to where all of the breakdancers are, and hopefully meet up with Kenzou. If Im lucky, more people will be shredding there.
more to come.........

[SandWraith]

I dont know how long I will be in Japan. I really like it out here, I have a really cool girlfriend, and, well its JAPAN!!

Is your girlfriend Japanese? How long have you been out there? Did you already know any Japanese?

[Tjuggles]

Is your girlfriend Japanese? How long have you been out there? Did you already know any Japanese?

Yes my girlfriend is Japanese She is a 25 year old, hip-hop/ rock dancer
I have been in Japan since March of last year.
I have been studying Japanese now for 11 years, so I guess Im pretty good at it...Everyone tells me Im fluent, but I find that hard to believe.
My girlfriend doesn`t really know much english,outside of basic greetings and very basic sentences
What about you? Your profile says you like foreign languages...do you speak any Japanese

[SandWraith]

I took five years of Spanish and five years of German in high school, and continued with Spanish first semester of this year (freshman, for me), and just dropped out of second semester cause there was a course in calculus of variations that I wanted to take more (and Spanish was getting kinda dull). I've been told I write very well, but I can't speak worth crap (I've never been to a Spanish-speaking country). My German speaking had a good accent, as some of my family speaks German and I've been there twice.

I am hoping to start taking Japanese or Swahili within the next two years, cause both of them seem interesting to me.

[Tjuggles]

wow! You have taken a lot of language classes huh
Japanese is a cool language. I like thee thought process, and how different it is from English.


Now,
Yesterday's shred...
I had brought my shoes with me to work, so I could go straight to the site without going home to change The train ride took a little over an hour, so I was tired by the time I got there. As I arrived at the site, to my suprise no breakdancers were there. I went to the convenience store (konbini in Japanese) and bought a tuna sandwich and some green tea. As I began eating the sandwich, breakdancers slowly started arriving. I finished my sandwich and then began to stretch. About midway through,　assa, whom I haven`t seen in a long time, comes out of the McD`s right by where we play. He tells me he is going to finish eating, and then come back out. I nod and continue streching. Warming up was kind of slow, and my will to play as well. Plus it was really cold, so my legs were stiff.
I finally started getting into it about 45 minutes after I started kicking. My 3 adds are getting really tight. I like that. my ducks and dives, zulu, weaving all feel good too...
We start and just after 5:30, and play until 11:00. My legs had no energy after 10:15, but that is the way I like it
I hit:
spinning whirl
diving whirl (no seal)
barfly > barfly
p. whirl x5
far osis x10
flip far osis x6
ducking p. mirage bsos
whirl x10 > rev whirl x5
flip whirl x 4
flip rev. whirl x2
dyno > dyno
toe set same whirl bsos
diving leg over
ducking butterfly>zulu p legover
diving butter > ducking butter > zulu clipper (rpt)
diving butter > ducking butter > zulu butter > diving butter drop
toe blur
and other stuff too...

still no rubberman, but I feel a lot closer.

today I play alone at the station, so I will school flip spins, swirls and torques...

After the shred yesterday, well, actually during the shred, there were two cute girls doing this dance which turns out to be classified as reggae, but if you ask me it was the `when tj watches he forgets how to do anything and drool a little bit` `make your midsection move in ways that makes tj`s eyes water and spin` dance I ended up talking with them for a little bit, and they asked about footbag and what not. I love Japan
more to come...

EDIT: Next month there is a formal gathering (not a tourney) in Okinawa!
I so want to go, its just a question of money...
For those of you that dont know, Okinawa is a small island in Japan. It is the furthest island south. This means, I believe, that the weather is warm all year round! Man all I need to do is figure out if 500 dollars out of my pocket will kill me or not...

[sen]

I wanna play in Japan.

Seems like there are always cute girls watching!

I really like your blog.

[Tjuggles]

Thanks for the reply!
I dont see why you dont come out here and shred. There are tons of people, I live 20 mins from an international college that is 75% female , the scenery is beautiful, Im here , and its Japan!

Thanks for liking my blog. I like writing entries. Im really good at forgetting things, and this is a good way for me not to forget

[sen]

Thanks for the reply!
I dont see why you dont come out here and shred. There are tons of people, I live 20 mins from an international college that is 75% female , the scenery is beautiful, Im here , and its Japan!

Money is a bit of an issue . . . I'm poor.