2,500 Days in a row and still going strong!!!

Please watch my new video which summarizes my 2,500 day journey of exercising every day.  Specifically, exercising in Footbag Freestyle, a high-impact aerobic sport that requires focus and dexterity, and provides a constantly challenging, constantly unique athletic experience.

None of this would be possible without the constant support and understanding of my wife and son, who give me the time it takes to play everyday, they tolerate me dominating the computer to do the video editing and publish videos, blog and maintain my website: EarlyWorkingRetirement.com, they help me with laundry and they feed me.  I could not have maintained this kind of focus over this long of a period of time without their help. THANKS!

Today is 2511 in a row.

-enlightener

Now over 12% of my life has been spent shredding Footbag freestyle everyday!

I started this blog when I was at 1000 days into my ongoing commitment to shred Footbag freestyle every single day, I am now at 2071 days in a row. When I look at that in context with my life, where I'm 16,681 days old, it means that for the most recent 12% of my life, I've been playing Footbag every day! That is 12.41% to be exact. Find what you love to do and play everyday!

I believe I have proven my hypothesis that as we 'age', we need to continue using our physical assets on a daily basis to keep the mind fresh and the body young. Use it or lose it! I have been fortunate to keep this going for a long time, and I am in the best shape of my life and I have all the energy I need to fully enjoy my life.

I start my jams with a set of 'warm-ups' which are getting a bit repetitive, so I've been mixing them up a bit lately. I feel the need for some direction, as I've been hooked on 'new-trick development' for a while.    Then I tend to get stuck working on a trick category, and new versions of tricks because I've also proven that old dogs can learn new tricks!  I look forward to more structure, so this is what I've come up with...

I've decided to create 1-minute and 2-minute performances set to music, and I want to find the perfect music for each. I'm calling out for song suggestions. If you've always wanted to do a performance to a certain song, but never got it done, let me know what song that is.

I miss the process of Performance Development. I miss 'song selection,' I miss the creative process of finding the right tricks to fit with the song. I miss making playlists of my music segments, and I miss practicing them. It really gives me direction. What is great about this time around is that I don't have to do it in secrecy!

My next blog post will be the official call for music. Please visit my youtube channel to see any of the 170+ footbag videos there, http://www.youtube.com/footbagenlightener.

Shred notes: I've been working alot on juggling. Seamless juggle, from clippers, butterflies, spinning butterflies, working on flipside, also Vortex squared on both sides, and blurry drifters and paradox torques both sides. 2070 days in a row today.

Shred Lessons from 2011

Looking back over 2011, we travelled to Florida for vacation, my son is now a teenager, my wife and I have been married for 20 years and life is great. I have been playing freestyle everyday for 5 years and about a dozen days, and I've learned a lot about my game.

After shredding with the Finns, Jay Boychuck and Evan Gatesman at the 2011 NYJ, I realize that while my level of play has increased, my string length has decreased. It has also become apparent that there are some elements of the game that have developed over the past few years that I won't ever accomplish, at least in the context of a string.

I'm committed to working on my string length, starting tomorrow. While it may slow down the progression towards new tricks, I need to work on my endurance. I'm going to shift my training towards 'wind sprint' style. I do a 2 minute jam session followed by 1-2 minutes of kicking... repeat for 30 minutes and complete exhaustion. These jam sessions will produce the stamina I need to get to longer strings. The I'll alternate my trainings with regular jam sessions of whatever I want.

Once I get my endurance back, I'll work on the new concepts that blow my mind like Quantum, Blazing (which I've had some recent success with), Whirring and more! Currently taking suggestions (challenges).

Of course, I'm committed to continuing to play everyday. In early May, I should reach 2000 days in a row playing, I haven't figured out the day yet.

I really wish I could have played with everyone during the afternoon sessions at NYJ, but playing through Midnight on New Years Eve was awesome.

I look forward to shredding with as many others as possible this year, it really pushes my game to a new level each time.

Best regards,
Scott Davidson
-enlightener

Footbag Unions - I miss ISUFU

Remember the ISUFU?

It was an official Footbag Club of the Illinois State University.  And it had the best t-shirts ever, because they always emphasize the FU part.

Every college student should create a club at their school called, for instance, MSUFU.  Where the school's call letters are followed by FU which is a double entendre for Footbag Union and/or Fuck You.  Which I think is just edgy and disrespectful enough for todays college footbag enthusiasts.  They don't even have to register their FU with the school, although that gives them some benefits, it also creates some paperwork.  In the case of ISUFU, Scott Cheno the President actually did make it an official club at the school, and he used those privileges to do philanthropic work.  I remember going to an all night kick-a-thon at ISU where we raised money for the AHA.  It was a blast to go to, and I was honored to be a part of it.

This club was active in the late 90's.  Lets get more Footbag Unions at colleges.  It makes for a great t-shirt too!

If anyone knows what happened to Scott Cheno, have him get in touch with me.

-enlightener

1500 Days of Shred, 1.5 Million Tricks and Playing everyday!

Ever since I turned 40, I've been skooling my footbag freestyle game every single day!  It keeps the mind fresh and the body young.

This video features highlights with some of my thoughts as voiceovers.

Thanks to Theo 'DaMadGreek' Demeris for letting me use his audio tracks for background music!  Check his channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/DemadGreek


"No excuses."




The dialog from the movie is posted below:

At this point, ive been playing footbag for over 27 years, but when I turned 40 in 2006, which at this point is1500 days ago,   I decided to start playing every day, this short film is really just a compilation of  clips from practic sessions that we call shreds, with voice overs that reflect my thoughts.  I hope you have as much fun viewing it as I had making it.

I'd like to thank the mad greek for providing the background music.

During this time I've been on such shows as America's got talent and local news like wgntv in chicago.

This is my son Alex in a consecutives contest at NYJ at holiday sports festival an annual event that we host.

This is just days after my 40th biryhday when I started playing every day.

My sessions last typically about an hour, sometimes I do 2 sessions a day... but not more than 2x a week.  But at a 1000 kicks per session, comes to about 1.5 million tricks over the past 4 years or so.

When I turned 40 back in 2006, I became obsessed with the concept of "Use it or Lose it," and looked at my errratic shred session schedule, and decided to put my obsession  where my mouth is, and play every day.  So while I have been practicing the craft for the past  23 years, I had undertaken a commitment that was a great personal challenge that would lead to introspecition and some basic truths.

I've come to some conclusions, things like those little pains that never go away, you've got to play through them.   They are just a trick that the body plays on the mind as it tries to get out of work.  Little pains go away a little after starting.  Injuries are different, but I'm fortunate not to suffer from any serious ones.

Sometimes just getting started was the hardest part.  The mental game was strong here.  I found that after I made it through my warm ups, that I no longer wanted to blow off my session.  What I gained from this is an ability to recognize and overcome the mental chatter that might otherwise  supply me with excuses to skip my session.  

I also couldn't let the lack of a location become an excuse.  I boldly walk into hotels and find a spot to play at, sometimes in a forgotten stairwell.  Mainly I play at Mammoth Springs with seclusion and wind protection, at the service entrance at my workplace, or in my living room.  Whenever possible I play at festivals, concerts and promote the sport.  

When I worked downtown, I'd go out in front of my store in full body running thermals, put chemical  hand warmers under my toes just to stay warm.   And when I'd end, I'd literally have steam coming off of me.  

Whenever possible have music to kick to , it really makes it better when kicking with music.

I pretty much always warm up with the same tricks every day, I call them "Warm up strings".  10 in a row, infinity osis, ripwalk, paradox whirl, spinning butterflies and blurs and blizzards. 

I always end with a worthy "Out" string, thats utilizes the things that I had been working on that day, along with my other tricks in a really long string that would be worthwhile to publish on like say, the internet.  

Speaking to the mental part of the game, I try to think of it as play time, or recess... not really a workout.  Work is hard, it's not work, it's fun, it's play, I have a great time doing it.  

Early on, back in 2007, my hip started to hurt.  But it was a blessing in disguise as it changed my focus in a new direction... I started working on my flipside which improved my game and gave my right hip the time it needed to heal. 

I also find, that when I have a goal, something to focus on, when I get into my workout, I get warm faster, it's a strong motivator for me, and when I achieve those goals, I feel a sense of success.

In order to get the most shred time out of a single recess , which most people call lunch... I wear my kicking shorts and shirt under my work clothes, and just shed layers to get started. 

I think an hour long lunch is better spent shredding, because a 15 minute break is really twice as long as it takes to eat.

We've kicked at theme parks, like disney world, at parades in Oak park, at the Daley Center and many venues.  We'be been kicked out of many places  too, by the security there.  We call it the 'Security Test" when the Security guard passes us up and keeps walking then we've passed the security test, if not then we have to deal with security and hope we don't get kicked out.

This is footage from Lollapalloza in 2009.  

Rob McCloskey inspired me back in the day, when I lost 50 lbs. playing footbag, that was back in 1992.  He said 'Kick 1000 Kicks a Day' and I said 'How about a 1000 Tricks a Day."  And I carried a counter with me, and after I did my strings, I clicked off how many tricks I did.  And I wouldn't stop until I reached a 1000 tricks, which took a little over a half hour to complete.   

I did have a lot of accomplishments in the past 4 years or so.  Including 2nd in the World with Keaton Halley in Doubles Footbag Team Freestyle.  And while we were training for that, we went to California and filmed for Americas Got Talent, but we didn't get on the air.

Here is some rare footage of me kicking in a field

And for the first time, in 2010, I got see the footage of me winning the World Championships in 1999.  Thanks to John Hentges for that.

During this time, we attended events such as New Years Jam,  Midwest Regional Championships, Windy City Open, several Funtastik events, Taste of Chicago, Blues Fest, USOpen Tennis Championships, several apperances on WGN-TV, WGN Health fairs, jockey underwear contest, America's Got Talent, Snicker kicker, mountain dew spec ads,  won a camera from a Cheerios contest and I plan to enter more contests!

It's sometimes hard to get started, always hard to stop.

++++++++++++++

Thanks for checking it out!

See ya!

-enlightener

Single tricks from recent days... freestyle footbag...

I have been focusing recently on single tricks.  Actually more like obsessing.  I am transitioning to long string training starting today.  Here are my recent results.  I'd like to hear feedback on the Pixie (same) Twirl...

Pixie Same Twirl & Stepping Same Twirl

Atomic same Whirl

Spinning & Ducking & Phobic & more!

Specifically: .. Phobic Gyro Symposium Whirl, Phobic (opp) Blender and Reverse Twirls. 

I am fluent in many spinning tricks, and in many ducking tricks. And until recently, the only trick I had thought to combine spinning and ducking on, was SDButterfly, as featured on tricks of the trade 2. 

Tuukka challenged me last week to hit a spinning or a ducking twirl, and it got me to really skool those tricks.  This week so far, I have hit Spinning Ducking Whirls on both sides, Spinning Ducking Barfly's (ducking scorpiontail) both sides.  



This movie has: Phobic Gyro Symposium Whirl (from 2 angles), Pixie Same Swirl, Reverse Twirl (thin), Phobic (opp) Blender.  The movie was filmed with my iphone4, using apps ranging from 'camera' to 'slomo' to 'imovie extras' (for titles) and of course 'imovie'.





Keep inspiring me!  It seems to work!
Thanks!
Scott!

Vacation Freestyle Footbag Shreds - And a new trick concept

We couldn't make it to Worlds 2010.  We went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to have a mini-vacation.  I got injured on the last Saturday of July and have still played everyday.  This video is my recovery video, it shows how the range of motion improved over the week of recovery.

Congratulations to Milan and Clavens and everyone who succeeded at Worlds 2010 this year!  Wish we could have been there.  This is what I was up to... This video includes the new trick concept outline for "Spotted Tricks"... I've been doing Spotted Osis on both sides for years, but never saw the potential... check out Spotted Mirage and Spotted Torque, both feel like Gyro versions of their tricks and involve lots of twisting.  Please ignore the music.




See ya!


-enlightener

Footbag Parade Crashing!

It was Independence Day, July 4th 2010 in our hometown of Oak Park, IL and we had marched, or shredded, in the parade for the past 5 years running.  Our sponsor was not in the parade this year so we decided to just jump in as the parade gets going and fill in the gap between two floats.  It turned out that we might have been the most energetic and unique entry, and we weren't even officially there.  Check it out!



Later that day, we went to DMB at Alpine Valley and shredded in the parking lot twice and again on the deck waiting for Dave to get on stage.  Then we relaxed.  Total blast of a day.

Shred notes; 7.6.2010
This week was busy, and as I still continue to recover from my self-inflicted toe injury, I have NOT broken my streak.  Today was 1293 in a row!  We did Taste of Chicago last weekend, this weekend we did Los Lonely Boys and Los Lobos concert at Petrillo Bandshell shreds, then the Parade and DMB.  Yesterday at Great America theme park.  Shredded at lunch today, mostly routine stuff.  Can't play music and record video from iphone4 at the same time, no problem, time to whip out the old shuffle!

Olympic Footbag Experience... '96 Atlanta (Camera Magnets)

When we were invited to Adidas Haus in Atlanta to do footbag demonstrations for the officially sponsored Olympic athletes of Adidas, we were thrilled. It turns out that it may have been the experience of a lifetime!

As the Olympics are about to start tonight in Vancouver, I was thinking about our experience back in 1996, before our son was born. Cory Current was a promising freestyler, we picked him up a few hours late in Chilecothe in the middle of a flood. Cory's uncle lived just outside Atlanta and was willing to put us up in his spare room for the 4 nights we were there. We drove a few miles to a subway each day and took the train into the city. We were surprised to see the bomb-sniffing dogs and military with machine guns as we entered from so far away, but that is what it is like at the olympics. We felt our car should be safe, even though we didn't know the neighborhood.

Oh, a side note, we had a blast at this giant bump near Cory's uncles house. Stone Mountain was the catalyst for our obsession of pin-collecting. At the top of this strange bump in the east side of Atlanta, we met a Japanese guy who was 'crazy for pin-trading' and he saw Valeria's 'Kodak Olympic 1992' pin. He traded us the Nagasaki pin for the '98 Winter Olympics which turns out to be a really good trade, especially since we have another of the Kodak pins still in our collection. We have since expanded into Disney pins, and look forward to another shot at Olympic pin trading. It totally sucks that we didn't win the olympics in Chicago 2016, but it would be nice to go to Rio.

When we got downtown we experienced 'hotlanta' at its best. We got settled at Adidas Haus, a large facility maintained by Adidas for use during the NSGA Trade show and the Olympics. I wonder if it is still there? They had rooms for VIP's, party areas, decks, group meeting rooms and a secure area with all the goods for the athletes downstairs. When we were at Adidas Haus, they would have us playing footbag in the areas where the party was going on. We were the entertainment, and the athletes loved us. The Haus provided us with Adidas clothing, all we could eat in the way of food (as food was otherwise very expensive and not-so-good at the vendors) and we really put on a show. It was where we first crossed paths with David Hasselhoff, and where we had previously held the World Cup in our hands, and met soccer greats Alexi Lalos and Hans Mueller, but that is another story.

When we went out to the public areas of the Olympics and shredded, we were met with stares of amazement from onlookers of all cultures. More importantly we were video camera magnets. I estimate we were shown on tv in over 30 countries, because every time we shredded in a public place, the video cameras from around the world would come to us and shoot from all angles, and we could see in their eyes the appreciation for the coordination and athletic prowess we showed in such a unique and unknown sport. One of the places we kicked was in front of the Swatch booth, just a day before the bomb went off.

We drove home and when we got home is when we heard about the bomb going off. What a bummer, because it was the greatest experience until then. I bet after we left, the whole vibe of international coolness was gone, not because we left but because of the unknown bomber and the thoughts that maybe it wasn't an isolated incident.

Thanks to my wife Valeria for encouraging me for all these years, to Cory Current for coming with us, to Cory's uncle for housing us, and to John Stalberger for making the Adidas contact for us in the first place.


Shred notes: 2/12/10
Tons of swirls and butterfly swirls today. Strange how some tricks are sooooo much harder than others of lower add value. Case in point, 'spinning cross body rake' is 4 adds, but soooo much harder than the 'spinning butterfly rake' which is 5 adds. A strong argument for giving add values in the tenths so we can have a 4.9 up against a 5.0 (a difficult 4 would balance better against an easy 5).

Settled: Old dogs can learn new tricks (and combos)

I'm not old, I'm just aging. I hit another pretty unique trick today, I call it 'Storque', it is a torque ending in x-body sole. Proving once again, that aging dogs can not only learn new tricks, but invent them too!

Over the past 1143 days, and the 23 years before that, I have learned from so many great players, taken that physical ability and built upon it. By working on soliosis, and in the same jam, skooling my pixie and fairy sets, my mind put together pixie-soliosis (which might be new too). From there it occurred to me that it should be possible from a clipper set, and Storque was born. Now Storque might not be new, but it is new to me. I have never seen anyone do it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been done. BTW, I hit it on both sides many times and once on both sides in the same string.

I believe I can achieve, and therefore I do achieve!
And I never know what I will get, but it just comes to me when I'm in the zone. I love this sport!

Thanks to all the great players who have inspired me over the years, and to all the current players who continue to amaze! Keep it up!

See ya!
-enlightener

Picking apart my game: Bails vs. Sets

When I think about my 'game,' there are so many aspects that go into the whole picture, that today I am just going to pick apart the concept of 'Bails', what tricks I Bail to, and my strategy for managing Bails in training.

A 'The' or 'Guiltless' trick is well-defined, but Bails are different for everyone. A Bail is a trick that a player uses as their go-to trick(s), for a sense of stabilization, to quickly get centered, and to set other tricks from. A Bail also 'happens' when you go to do a big trick and you "Bail" to another (usually easier) trick. Players sometimes 'revert' to these Bail tricks to get control of the footbag. They are necessary for performances because they give the player a way to stay with the beat, still accumulate Adds and keep their difficulty ratio high.

For some people, a Bail might be as advanced as Torque, Ripwalk or Spinning Butterfly. For most people a Bail ranges from a Toe Delay in the case of a newer player, or more commonly a Paradox Mirage, Butterfly, Osis or Whirl. I noticed that in competition, that many players bail to a Toe Pick-up.

In my case, my bails are mostly Butterflies and Osii... also Paradox Whirls, Torques, Ripwalks in some cases. It also depends on the level you hold yourself to. I now play at a Guiltless level, where every trick is worth 3 or more points. For a long time, about 10 years ago, I pushed myself to play at a Tripless level where every trick is worth 4 or more points. I am not sure when I went back to a Guiltless level, but it was mostly to improve my string-length which suffered when I went Tripless. Plus when I designed routines, I never planned a trick less than 3 adds except a few Unusual Surfaces.

The bigger your 'Bail' tricks are, the higher your Add Ratio will be, which is a big part of improving your game.

A Set can force a Bail. A big difference between a Bail and a Set is whether it is employed to recover from a potential drop, or if it was intentionally performed to get to another larger trick. When Sets are executed properly, they make the next trick possible. Since every trick is a Set for the next trick, Bails are inevitable.

Another way to look at it, is that I manage Sets everyday during training by finding the most comfortable sets for specific tricks, and I train them in combination. Bails are when I use those tricks to recover from a potentially uncontrollable moment.


Shred notes: 1/25/09
Blurry Whirling Swirl to the left today. Why is it still easier to do Paradox Atom Smasher (nuclear style), than for me to do a simple Atom Smasher. Atomic tricks to the butterfly are more of a 'bail' for me because my brain thinks they are more reliable. Still not sure why Quantum still eludes me. Closer though. By using daily training of my flipside pixie and fairy, along with continuing to hit Atomic sets and Nuclear sets, and now Barrages, my game is evolving yet again.

Shredding on Slippery Floors

I find myself playing on slippery floors quite frequently. Over the past 25 years of playing footbag freestyle, I have played on just about every possible surface. From grass, sand, polished concrete, blacktop, marble, glass, wood, and even gravel... I have become a 'surface snob' as a result of it. In all cases, the surface must be flat and level. It is best to have a 'predictable' place to land, so there are less variables that could cause injury, like uneven ground or slippery spots.

My favorite and preferred surface is concrete. Rough and grippy, concrete offers the best combination of benefits. Whenever possible, I will play on concrete. I feel I can spin more liberally, and more importantly spin the other direction better.

Hardwood floors, marble, glass and polished concrete all have the same down-side. They are slippery. To counteract this, I usually put down a wet towel, or pour water in an out-of-the-way spot and then I step in it periodically to get my feet damp so they stick to the floor better. Especially good for spinning, which I do a lot of.

Grass may be best for footbag net, but it is horrendous for footbag freestyle. It is naturally uneven, and slippery. Unpredictable and inconsistent landing spots cause additional variables to figure in, and when the variables can't be predicted, it can end in injury. I always hold back on the extreme shredding when playing in grass, which is usually at a festival or large even where an ideal surface is not available.

Concrete near the beach tends to be sandy. I always thought I would not be able to play in those conditions, but as long as it isn't a measurable amount of sand, it tends to be just fine. Keep a small broom in the car at all times and you'll never worry about dirty/sandy locations. One of my favorite places to shred is at the beach, but on the cement 'near' the sand.

Use EXTREME CAUTION when kicking in dirt and gravel, on any kind of an incline, and especially in any combination of the above. Greg 'G-F-Smoothie' Nelson sprained his ankle in 1986 at World Footbag Championships at a campground, playing in less than ideal conditions.

Playing is necessary. Ideal conditions are great if you can get 'em, but be prepared to play on any surface and you'll be prepared to play anytime!

Shred notes: 01/16/10
7am shred time. 40 pushups so far. Amazed at how fast I got warmed up. Skooled flipside pixies and frontside dex's. Spinning Barflies.

Oh, that warmed-up feeling

For me, I start to feel warmed up after about 15 minutes of play. I have a system, a series of tricks and basic goals to accomplish just getting started. But there is a point during warm up where I just start to feel the pre-sweat, that is the turning point. That is when I make sure to do blur/blizzard drills, ripwalk and paradox whirl drills to get totally warm.

The point of 'first-sweat' is that moment where I can feel the sweat coming on. I am usually breathing pretty hard, and can feel my pulse in my forehead/temple area. I know at that point I can turn up the heat on the workout and really start to push it more. I suppose what I am saying is that I ease my way into my jam session every day. I stretch in small bits in the morning, and more deliberately in the afternoons.

It seems also, that when I have a clear goal to work on, one that I am mentally excited about, that it is easier to get warmed up fast.

Shred notes: 1/21/09
Paradox Torques both sides, Blurry Torques on left, unable on right. Lots of swirls, twirls, blenders and the like. Not so much noticeable pain from the other day. Thank my lucky stars.

Footbag Illustrates Life Lesson: "Believe it can be done"

I have observed such footbag greats as Ryan Mulroney, Vasek Klouda Kenny Shults and others over the years. One similarity they all have is their belief in themselves. A belief of 'possibilities.' A belief system that allows them not only conceive but achieve. Watching Vasek specifically, I think about the duality between physical ability and will to achieve, and I think maybe I missed the boat on the 'belief in myself' area.

Historically, my advancements have been based on the achievements of others. I see what can be done, and I make sure to learn it. It is how I built my footbag career over the years, with occasional bursts of creativity like Twirls that I can call my own. While I have been an innovator, my successes have been largely due to my incremental growth in the sport, based on components.

I generally work on components that build toward a larger trick, taking the careful approach When maybe I should be just believing in the possibility that just because it 'hasn't been done before' that maybe I can be the one who does it.

Moving forward, I want to keep this new revelation in the front of my mind. I want to ask my friends to keep me in check and to continue to challenge me with what they think I might be able to do. I really appreciate the feedback. Feedback is a gift. Thanks for all the gifts!

-enlightener

Shred Notes: 1/10/09 thru 1/13/10
Baroque (barraging torque) on both sides. More gyro barrages. I can see barraging mobius and sympobius in my future. So close. Crazy about barrages. They are opening up a whole new direction for variety in my game. Tons of new moves for me!

I hit Blurriest x3 today, which puts me in the ranks of Kenny Shults from 1993 at Xmas Jam in Michigan where he skooled us all on what freestyle was coming to. Glad to catch up to Kenny, even if it is 17 years later.

What keeps me going?

As 2010 rolls through (1108 days in a row as we start the new year), I think about the question... 'What motivates me? What keeps me playing everyday?'
There is no single element of footbag that keeps this childish exuberance alive. It is a combination of things, among them:
-The near-infinite variety of possible individual tricks and combinations
-The personal challenge of always pushing myself to do better, more difficult tricks and combos
-The friends I have made, the new people I meet, and the future players I might influence
-The knowledge that a very small percentage of people on the planet can do what I do, and I can and do innovate new tricks and combos that no other person on the planet has ever done before. Or at least 'very' few people.
-The meditative value of footbag cannot be overlooked. On a daily basis, I go from the distractions of daily life, into a deep somewhat-meditative state of challenge and possibility in just a matter of minutes as I get through my warmups. And for some reason, if I visualize footbag freestyle strings while I am laying down, I tend to fall asleep.
-To dip into my personal 'fountain of youth' on a daily basis
-To still be playing solidly when someone finally offers a Masters category for freestyle
-To be able to boast that I am 'the oldest shredder' and know that my game backs it up!
-To be able to pull out a footbag at any moment and show off for a camera, knowing that I am still at the top of my game.
-Because I know that while I can't 'give back' to the world from my pocketbook, but I can use kickforhealth.org as a way to position footbag as a healthy activity for kids, and to teach them to play.
-The way my family pulls together to play together, and for all the travel time we get when we go to tournaments
-All the great excuses to travel, when I would otherwise probably come up with excuses.
-For the weight I have taken off, and kept off because of the constant physical challenge footbag offers.
I play everyday because I love the way it makes me feel!

Have a great year!

-enlightener

Last shred session of the decade

Hurry up and get your shred on today, last chance of the decade!

Today is 1107 days in a row shredding with my favorite Footbags (http://www.freedomfootbags.com). I am only gonna be able to play for an hour today, so my plan is to warmup fast with shred sprints, then work on big add trix. Skool barrages and other versions of same.

Thinking back to the turn of the century, I was the Current world champion in Footbag freestyle routines. My son was 2 years old, I was working with our family business. In that time, I took another two 2nd place finishes at worlds, and managed to stay on top of my game. I now work for a major company, my son is now 11 and just got his first pair of Lavers (http://www.worldfootbag.com) and on that same day he increased his own personal best consecutive score to 102 kicks in a row. I have been married for 18 years and my wife is still a freestyler too. For both of us, Footbag freestyle is our primary exercise, Valeria does other exercise, and I am planning to work on my upper body every other day in addition to freestyle every day. We want to bring Kick For Health to play a larger role in helping to reduce childhood obesity and adult onset diabetes by doing more school workshops and more actively promoting the concept.

Thanks to everyone who made this last decade so great for us, even when the economy didn't do so well. We are fortunate to be where we are starting into this next ten year span.

I can't wait for this next decade! Bring it on!

-enlightener

Dehydration is highly avoidable!

Dehydration is a serious matter, that is entirely avoidable, especially with a bit of behavior modification. Logically, I think I am most susceptible in the summertime. But I think it is this time of the year (winter) that I am most at risk. In the summer, everyone is focused on dehydration issues, athletes at least. However in the winter, it can slip up on you without noticing it coming on. I personally drink lots of coffee in the morning, then lots of water in the afternoon, and whatever I want at night. If that includes alcohol then I will probably come out in a net negative. Coffee and alcohol are both diuretics and cause you to expel more water than you benefit from, ending in a net negative. When you drink water, without sweeteners or colors or carbonation, you can make up for that but you have to stay on top of it. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water.

I remember about 10 years ago, Sam Conlon (perhaps the greatest female footbag freestyler ever), I'm pretty sure she had to stay in the hospital because of extreme dehydration. It took her a long time to recover fully, even after her visit to the hospital.

Water toxicity can happen if you drink something like 2 gallons in 1 hour so don't over do it, but other than that there is no such thing as too much water. When I drink water, I drink large volumes of room temp h2o.

Oh, if you are dieting and feeling hungry, try drinking a large glass of water at room temperature and see how hungry you are about 3 minutes later.

Here is a site that explains it in plain language... http://dehydrationsymptoms.org/ or http://www.medicinenet.com/dehydration/article.htm

Shred Notes: 12/22/09
Worked on unusual surface strings, worried about pain that feels like a bruise in the top of left foot. Ended up getting very warm, skooled a lot of tricks that end landing on right leg. Almost hit inspinning symposium whirl.

New Years Jam is just weeks away!

The 25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships and New Years Jam is just weeks away!
Be there! We are gonna shred big time!

We also will be reaching out to the youth of Chicago, over 50,000 people, to give them an opportunity to experience this beneficial and fun sport. The benefits of health and mind are clearly tangible.

Some of the things that go into the event... Arranging the site, and insurance. Contacting sponsors, notifying the players, spreading the word. We hand out 300-500 (cheap) footbags to kids who try the "footbag challenge" (to kids who want to play 'hacky sack'), and we have a sound system that I pay for out-of-pocket. This year we are having a t-shirt for all entrants that I pay for up front out of pocket, but I hope to recover some of it through entry fees. I am making a kick for health banner for the event, inviting onlookers to come over and try the sport of footbag.

We are greatful to the City of Chicago for providing the site, and to all the players coming out. Our sponsors, Freedom Footbags and World Footbag Association (worldfootbag.com) have provided prizes for our players. To the IFPA for sanctioning the event, and to all the support that IFPA's website, www.footbag.org, provides to the event. I am greatful to all the players who have attended, and competed at the MidWest regional Footbag Championships over the years, this being our 25th year in a row. We are extremely thankful that Steve Goldberg is so committed to the sport of footbag that he took his mileage benefits to bring the current World Footbag Freestyle champion to this event which further helps us to attract new players. I have sent out a wave of press releases, and am about to send out my second wave of them. We have had great support from WGN and local television stations, and hope for more opportunities there. Of course, thanks to the CIC (Chicago Inner Circle) footbag club who have helped to promote the sport to the players and to run the events at the tournament. It is all the effort that goes into an event like this that makes it a success.

A new wrinkle, we have to provide insurance to McCormick place this year. That is an unexpected expense that is necessary to keep this event alive.

Shred notes: 12/11/09
Hit Gyro Butterfly Swirl on my solid side and almost on my flipside. Otherwise, a solid jam session.

Inspiration over Intimidation

As a tireless promoter of Footbag, if I see a random hack circle, I stop what I am doing and join them. Conversly when I am playing, I invite anyone who is interested to give it a try.

I play to inspire, not to intimidate. In order to improve, it helps to have people who are better than you to guide you through the basics. Footbag is fun, and very addictive due to the constant challenges it provides.

We need more players in the sport, and to accomplish this, we need to introduce Footbag to as many people as possible. It is a great way to have fun with your friends, to enjoy getting your daily exercise, even a great way for parents to have quality time with their kids.

I hope that my shredding inspires more people to give Footbag a try, not to be intimidated. Yes it takes effort to get good, but if you are up to the challenge, do I have the sport for you!

For more info:
www.kickforhealth.org or
www.Footbag.org

- enlightener