Tips on playing in the early morning...

Recently I had written about the trials and whining tribulations of shredding in the early morning hours. I have been forced to play early again, as another new location is where I'll be all week for my normal 'work' day. Not knowing I can play at 'lunch' (recess) and knowing there is snow this week, I had to go for the early shred schedule.

A few things I want to remember about early morning shreds... maybe you'll find them useful too!

1) Take a shower before playing, just to wake up. That helps as it mimics my usual routine. I always feel better after a shower.
2) Do more stretching than usual. I usually stretch during and after a jam, but it seems to help to stretch for the early morning jams.
3) When I go back to my basic warm-up strings, not the new fancy strings I've been working on, I seem to get warmed up faster.
4) It will take longer to warm up, allow extra time to 'feel warm'.
5) Shred for a longer session than usual seems to feel more satisfying. I went for an hour and 15 minutes today, which felt much better at the end of the session, than at the beginning.

Felt better today with the early morning shreds becoming necessary to continue my streak. There are no excuses that are honorable, so I had to find a way to get my shred on!

Thanks for listening!
-enlightener

Shred notes: 2/21/09
Skooled plenty of unusuals, and blurr/blizzard combos with atomic endings. I want to videotape "Storque" so I can publicize it. Hit Storque-osis-Storque in one string. Gonna shred fliers today at the Riverwalk!

Another Paul Blart situation...

Winter in Chicago makes it more challenging to kick on a daily basis. It removes the entire outdoors as possible shred sites. I am fortunate to have found some great spots to shred at, and I really don't notice how good I have it until the situation deteriorates. Case in point, my temporary assignment at a location far, far away from my normal universe. I have been playing in the early morning hours to ensure a good jam that will continue my string of 1156 shred days in a row, which is another challenge all its own. Even though I shredded in the early hours, 5am, I still tried to get a casual kick in at 'lunch' (recess). So I go outside the mall by the bus stop, and within 20 minutes, the local Paul Blart analog 'busted' me. He said because they don't allow skateboarders, that I can't kick there. Clearly I was a public safety disaster waiting to happen, as my 28 years of playing has resulted in so many (0) injuries of passersby. I used to kick on Michigan Avenue every day, but I can't kick in an empty bus stop. After I looked around and saw no skateboarders, I suggested that it must then be ok that I kick there. Then I told him I was going to go kick somewhere he won't find me, and I walked to the old abandoned theater in the out-lot and practiced fliers in blue-jeans, where even the regular police left me alone. Later that day I was told of a back hallway I should try.

So on the 18th, I went to this new double secret place in the mall and had a GREAT shred! Plenty of room in the hallway here, few interruptions, no visits from paul blart.

Now I'm confident I'll get a great shred today, I can't wait!

Shred Notes: 2/17-18/10
Phobic barrage! Hit it on 17th, will film it soon. Also more basic phobic set mirage completions from flip side. Amazed at how consistent my osis to soliosis on both sides is. Skooling osis-ripwalk-osis-osis-ripwalk as warm up strings now, just about everyday. Also twirl to ripwalk is getting very easy on both sides too. Long strings! Great strings today, especially for small space. Tons of blur and pixie mirage stuff today. Blur to Juggle seamless.

Shredding early is better than not shredding at all!

I'm a big fan of getting to work early and getting home early. I don't mind getting up early, I like it. I have a pretty good routine that gets me off to work on time, but still gives me plenty of coffee and time to do the dishes. I rarely kick when I get up early in the morning, but today I did. I am working at a place where I can't be sure to have a place to shred at lunch, so I kicked this morning solidly, and again at lunch for fun. The morning jam sessions feel more like a workout than later in the day, like I am forcing it. Especially the warm up part.

I know that cyclists and runners get up early and do their 'workouts' first thing in the day. There are a couple of reasons why I try to play later in the day when possible. First, I am more comfortable kicking and enjoy it more in late morning. Secondly, when I play with people who come in from out of town, or with local shredders, it is usually later in the afternoon. I wouldn't want to habituate to kicking early, and make afternoon shreds more difficult.

I would rather kick early to keep the rally going, than miss out because of my work location. That is not a good enough excuse.

Shredding early is better than not shredding at all!

New Trick? Blender ending in cross-body sole? "Splendor"

In the process of working on Whirr sets, I realized it is the perfect set to do a blender ending in a cross-body sole! Hit it my first two tries. Has anyone hit Blender ending in X-body sole? I call it "Splendor," that is if I have the right to name it. I think it is a perfect name. I'll film it and post it soon. I love this sport.

Shred notes: 2/15/10
Got two jams in today. Skooled the hell out of soliosis, both sides. Small area, living room cluttered, still had some good strings. I don't know what made me do the 2nd session, just felt like it. And as it turned out, that was when I hit the first "Splendor" tricks. Side note, during the second jam, felt the lower back pain I have been getting every morning if I sleep more than 6 hours. Solution, don't sleep more than 6 hours at a time.

I would hire footbag shredders in a second!

Footbag Freestyle Shredders make great employees! Here's why:
The sport of footbag freestyle offers unique technical challenges that require quite a bit of effort to surpass. Players must learn the basic kicks and basic tricks. They must be self-motivated to get to the point of proficiency, and they must push themselves to achieve the next level play. They are detail oriented, because every minutiae must be considered. When they innovate a new trick, they are leading by example. They must persevere through countless hours of training. Footbag freestylers do all of this, not for the promise of fame and fortune, but for the personal satisfaction that they have achieved something that not too many others on the planet can perform. Footbag freestylers play well with others! They mentor their peers, encouraging greatness and offering suggestions to help others (even their competition) to improve. Shredders rise to the challenge of the day, because their friends make suggestions and the players attempt to achieve. Shredders are constantly improving themselves and getting better at their game. Shredders must get in front of people, and perform their art under the pressure of being judged.

Punctuality would be my only concern, but I believe that once a shredder is hired, and committed to the job, they would see that punctuality is one element in success and they would be able to get to work on time.

My footbag career came up in a recent interview, and I hope they saw the parallels of self-motivation, detail-oriented, perseverance, leadership, mentoring, self-improvement and confidence in group performance. I know that if I was looking for employees, anyone who has achieved greatness in a sport as difficult as footbag freestyle would be a shoe-in for any position.

Shred notes: 2/14/10
Blurry symposium twirl on both sides. Felt very clean too.

Winter Olympics or not, I still wish I could have been there!

I love the Olympics! It is such an open, fun place to be. There is an energy at the Olympics, generated by the atmosphere of internationalism, literally because sports fans from all over the world descend on this single location for the purpose of creating a historical event. It really is something to do. I really wish I could go to more of them.

I often go to the 'tabletop show' of large running and triathalon events to get a dose of this energy. As there is a similar, albeit less intense, 'athlete vibe'. These shows are also a great place to see what companies are sponsoring events, in the pipedream hope that I can get new sponsors for our upcoming events.

There is something about putting that many athletes and fans into a small area which generates the sensation that something great is going to happen. So much more so than when going to a baseball game, or football game.

I want to do a better job of planning for the next Olympics in London 2012. As for any of my friends who are in the Vancouver area, I would say you are CRAZY if you are not spending every spare moment at the Olympic Venues. I am sure there are public indoor areas that would be suitable to shred at. The appreciation we felt from the audiences on the streets in Atlanta '96 was palpable. Shred in public, and what better place to show off at, than the Olympics... where everyone there appreciates athletic talent.

Shred notes: 2/13/10
Almost hit Blazing Twirl today. Also working on my 'swirls' which I always apparently have been doing reverse swirls all this time. I hit Reverse Twirl today too, but it really feels 'the'.

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).

Worlds Smallest Flier... Flying Twirl

When I do a flying trick, the goal is always to contact the footbag as high in the air as possible. Arguably, the first trick ever done with a modern day footbag was a flying trick... Flying Clipper (incorrectly referred to as the 'Jester' as popularized by a late 80's Video Game called California Games).

This one is called the Flying Twirl, but it is really more like a twirling flying clipper, maybe a good street name would be Twipper. I am probably the only person who cares about this, because so many players dismiss flying tricks from their day-to-day, as well as their performances. Mostly because they are generally 'low-add' tricks, and also because the high-add variety of flying tricks are VERY difficult to link with other difficult tricks.

But any new acquisition is worth mentioning, and here it is. Do a regular Twirling motion, but instead of easing into an opp osis, I leap a tiny leap and snap at the footbag with the other foot. When done correctly, it results in the upward motion of the footbag for which I have so far only been able to produce an osis afterwards. I'll get it on film someday soon.

Shred Notes: 2/10/10
Hit tons of Whirls ending in X-body Sole. Not sure if they have a street name but I'm gonna call them Schwirls What is neat about the Schwirl is that the dex happens on the way up, which allows plenty of time to catch the x-body sole. What is neater about the dex happening on the way up is that hopefully someday I'll hit double whirl (or Whirr, I believe). This upward dexing whirl could be useful for other tricks, but I'm drawing a blank on that now.

9.8 meters per second squared (or 'Snowflakes')

Footbag freestyle is a living workshop on Physics combined with Physiology. Terminal Velocity of a falling object is 9.8 meters per second squared. That is one of the few things I remember from high-school physics class. I don't know why that stuck, but it did. I quote Wikipedia: "An object falling toward the surface of the Earth will fall 9.81 meters (or 32.18 feet) per second faster every second (an acceleration of 9.81 m/s² or 32.18 ft/s²)." I read a few other cool things at wikipedia on this topic, but most of it made my eyes roll into the back of my head.

When I think about how this plays into my footbag game, I am reminded of how I am truly the master of the obvious. Really, footbag players don't have to deal with footbags at Terminal Velocity (for a human, that is about 120mph). We deal in Apex and the beginning part of the 'falling' process. When we set the footbag, we can somewhat control the height of the set by the amount of energy we put into the set, and the Apex is split second when the footbag stops moving in mid air... think about that. Stopped in mid-air, pretty cool. Really, every trick no matter how difficult contains the Upward, Apex and Downward motions. We refer to the motion that starts the whole process as the "Set."

During the Downward portion of the path, the footbag falls at 32.18 feet per second faster... each second! When I think about how that impacts our sport, I am glad I don't EVER kick the footbag over 32 feet high! Even Net players rarely kick it that high, but because of Terminal Velocity our sports are very different. Our brains can compensate for this with enough practice, that is why not everyone can be an outfielder in professional baseball... it is a learned skill. Footbag deals primarily with the first 5 feet of downward acceleration, which tells me that I have had a lot of practice learning about the path of a footbag because almost every set is the same. Ironically though, they are all unique and I dare say that no two sets are the same. The point in space where the footbag is located at any given moment is only accurately portrayed using X, Y and Z coordinates. Even though I have done literally MILLIONS of sets, I don't think any of them were the same.

By my math, after the Apex, a footbag set at four feet would take 1/8 of a second to fall. So while most tricks have a set height of under 4 feet, that means that most of the trick happens VERY quickly after the Apex. It is amazing how many body motions can be put into such a small amount of time. I mean, I love playing and improving, but look at the last two world champions in the sport and how many micro-motions they put into the strings they do. They are truly pushing the edge. Insane.I think I'll stop now, because I am very impressed with myself and all my fellow shredders.

Shred notes: 2/6/10
Hit Blurry Symposium Whirling Cross Body Rake (7 adds) on film (somewhat thin)... hit it on my first try, pre-camera much more solidly. Also hit Blurry Whirling X-Body Rake on both sides in the same string. SWEET! Tons of rake strings today. Raked the hall.

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

Freestyle Routines: A Music Map is a guide for development

I like to use different music for each event I perform at. It has been a personal challenge that I could easily wimp out on, but it keeps things fresh and provides a constant challenge for each event.

When I prepare for a footbag event, I first have to decide on the music. I match the average Beats Per Minute that I shred at, with the pace of the music BPM, and find a piece of music that I can hear over and over and over and over again. I prefer music that has at least a few freezes in it, fast paced but a short slow section is okay.

The Music Map comes in when I am ready to figure out the flow of the routine. The Music Map contains a timeline from 0:00 to the end, and tells me which sections of the music are which. For instance:

0:00 - Open with ...
0:26 -Freeze on Xbody Sole
0:54 - Start fliers string
1:21 - Ripwalks / Blur combo
etcetera.

They help me to visualize the music. I even name the sections so I can visualize them by group, and train the groups independently of each other. When doing a routine, if you should malfunction, get off beat or out of sync with the music, it is very helpful to be able to 'get right back into it' at any point in the music, and I think this helps me to recover from potential disasters.

Shred notes: 2/2/10 - 2/3/10
Spinning Symposium Twirl... I got my foot on it twice, more like a slap than a delay. Redirected the footbag but not in a controlled fashion. It is doable though, so close. Getting warmer faster by mixing up my warmup strings. Also more 'interesting' and satisfying jam sessions too.

When what you have isn't enough...

Don't get me wrong, what I have is GREAT! And I think I am not alone in saying, "I want more!"

I want more from my sport, as I hope to continually improve my game. I want to do more outreach projects and workshops with kids and introduce more children to footbag. I am shredding every day, and we already have 3 events in the pipe for this year and pitching several more.

I want to spend as much time with my family as possible. Eat more of my wife's wonderful cooking and have more tickle 'fights' with my son.

I want to produce more videos.

I want to travel more.

I want more money, and my current strategy of waiting for it to find me hasn't happened so while it would be nice to capitalize on our sport, I need to figure out a way to make more dollars while getting closer to all the other things I want.

I want more time.

Shred Notes: 2/8/10
Today was 1145. Spent the whole time working on warm up strings. I was very warm. New combos to use like Spinning BTR to Ripwalk to Spinning BTR repeat.

Zen and the art of Balance

Sometimes I have to watch how things are flowing around me to determine how I am going to get through with the least waves.

For instance, I am shredding in my living room which is a very small area bordered by a life-sized 65" TV, a china cabinet, a couch and the xmas tree, just feeling good about rake and front-side progress I have been making lately. I stumble upon a new version of a trick for me, a toe-set whirling swirl on the same side. I hit it a couple of times, then this last time I hit it, I set it up as I was turning my head away, and I haven't seen that footbag since. Its like it went up, but didn't come down.

In this case, I feel the zen 'gods' of footbag are saying, enough for today. Something is telling me, it's time to stop for today and move on to the other great things in life, like family. I'm taking their advice, and I'm gonna blog for a minute, look for the footbag, go pick at the adhesive stuck to the in-soles of my new Lavers and get ready to go see Avatar again, this time taking public transit to Navy Pier to see it in 3D IMAX.

And the next adventure begins!

Shred notes: Jan 27-28, 09

I juggled a lot yesterday, and did a bunch of the sets that 'stream' fluidly. I came up with a name for the concept of setting into juggle fluidly, and now I have to go search for what it was... there, I found it... I called it "iJuggle", but now I realize how much I don't like that. I'm thinking of calling it 'Streaming Juggle' or 'Seamless'. I like Seamless now.
Today, I hit Phobic (fairy behind the back) (gyro) Blender. Yesterday I hit pixie same reverse swirl on both sides. Fairy twirl on both sides.

Shred notes: 1/31/10
Hit a few variants of xbody rake. Set from opp clipper, under support leg with a switch of support leg and xbody rake with original set foot. Hit toe set whirling swirl. Skooled tons of frontside stuff.

Ted Martin - Guinness World Record Holder

Ted Martin gives me a call last night out of the blue. Small world alert because his name came up in conversation at work, as one of my clients had been contacted by someone unknown about his agent services... anyway that very night, Ted gives me a call. What's up with that?

Ted Martin is the Guinness World Record Holder in the prestigious and coveted event of Singles Footbag Consecutives. Set at an event I organized back in 1997, the record still stands at 63,326 as the most number of kicks of a footbag that any human being has ever completed in a row. Ted has been featured in a special publication by Guinness called "The Top 100 Most Asked About Records" (paraphrased), and he still plays footbag net on a regular basis, along with many other sports. Ted is a true craftsman, and I consider it an honor to have been a part of his domination of the sport back in the day.

A major Trading Card manufacturer, Upper Deck, has created a card to celebrate Ted's accomplishment, and Ted is signing one for me, Valeria and Alex. We will for sure be framing that and adding it over my desk. I can't wait to see them, so I searched their site and found the image above! Awesome!

I am psyched to start shredding today, right now as I post, for the 1136th day in a row! Still, I don't think I would ever try to attempt a single string of over 63,326 kicks in a row... Ted kicks VERY fast compared to me, what took him just over 8.5 hours, would take me at least 12. That's a long session. Thanks Ted for continuing to inspire!

I've forgotten more tricks than I know...

"I've forgotten more tricks than I know!"
While this statement is not entirely true, I often struggle with keeping up with myself. I innovate all the time, and part of my process is to blog about it here. It makes my progress somehow seem more concrete and traceable. I can search to find all the instances of a certain trick, people can keep up with my progress even though I basically shred in seclusion, and I can get feedback from my peers. It is pretentious of me to think anyone would want to keep up with me, so my blogging has a dual purpose... I know there are people who do get inspired, and it is always a nice bonus to know I've inspired someone but mostly it is a 'concrete' summary of my accomplishments and failures, which is fully searchable in a way that I very much desire. It is really my diary. A review of my progress. What a great thing. Thank you google for this platform.

I am pretty sure I have hit Phobic Twirl before, and now I can search my blog to see that it has not been mentioned since I started this on my 1000th day of shred. But I am pretty sure I have hit it, now I have to search my YouTube videos because I might have posted it there. This blog lets me tie the information together so I can retrieve it.

Shred notes: 2/1/10
Using new warm-up strings to get warm fast, and really energized from it. Lots of frontside stuff.

Training with mixed sets...

I have a new theory that I'll test on myself over the next several months. I'm going to step up my warm-up strings by mixing them up.

For the past 3 years I have been getting warm the same way, consistently doing 10 infinities, 10 osis, 10 whirl/osis combos in sequence, blurs, ripwalks, paradox whirls, at least 10 in a row and then I knew I was warm. Kind of boring, but it was a reliable way to quickly warm up. It also helps me when competing to know exactly what sequences I need to do to warm up properly.

My intention is to make my warm-up combos more challenging. Osis-Whirl and Barfly to Barfly are in. Newer combos haven't all been worked out, but I'll be experimenting with these and I'll let you know...

Whirl - blender - whirl - blender
Spinning BTR - Ripwalk - Spinning BTR - Ripwalk
Ducking BTR - PWRL - Ducking BTR - PWRL
Gyro Mirage - Fairy/Pixie BTR - repeat
Barrage - BTR - Barrage - BTR
Pixie Mirage - DLO - Pixie Mirage - DLO
Gotta think about these... Try them out on the 27th. I'll let you know.

I am thinking that by stepping up the difficulty and variety of my warm-up strings that I will then be stepping my game up to the next level, and improve my overall string length and variety.

Shred Notes: 1/26/10
I hit Diving (same) Blender. Still skooling opp pixie/fairy moves, atomic sets, still struggling with Quantum. Getting closer.
See ya!

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.

Innovation is a natural process!

I love when innovation just happens. Those moments are priceless!
Today, I hit Pixie op Symposium Twirl. (and yes, on tape).. I have hit the fairy version going to its 'same' side, and I have been skooling twirls and fairy/pixie moves on a regular basis. Then there it was. I just thought, what if... and there it was. I wasn't looking to do a new trick, I was just exploring the tricks I knew and then melded them together.

Moments like this only happen because of extensive training of components (see previous posts about the importance of 'Components' in freestyle) and through the slow expansion of your game over many tries. I say slow, because for me it is a pretty deliberate process that is similar in how I train. At some point though, the proverbial peanut butter gets into the chocolate and a new trick is born.

I love when that happens. And sure, not always is it an entirely new trick, usually someone else has hit it. But sometimes it is truly unique and that is always a good feeling! However some of these tricks are just incremental add-ons to existing tricks, it is always exciting to hit one. Ultimately, while a handful of other people may have hit that trick, it is great to know I am one of the few. I also love it that I continue to innovate after all these years!


Shred notes: 1/23/10
So close to Quantum. So close. Gonna watch the video ToTT2 in slo-mo tonight to figure out what I'm missing.

Is injury lurking around every corner? Or is injury entirely avoidable?

When I was playing yesterday, I was so excited to be skooling my barfly to blizzard combos. Having fun. Feeling good. Then all the sudden, out of no where, I find myself laying on my back, staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out what went wrong.

One moment of inattention is all it took. It happened so fast and it wasn't on tape, but I think it happened because of slippery floors (see previous blog post). I didn't have the right grip on the ground when I launched and my ankle rolled.

I believe that injury is mostly avoidable. Taking risks is a necessary part of improving your skill level, but taking calculated risks after proper amounts of training is the way to reduce the risk of injury to 'somewhat under control'.


Shred notes: 1/20/10
The pain from yesterday is mostly in the inability to crank my left ankle fully inward and some pain on the left side of the left foot. The fall more seems to have hurt my hip and lower back. Should be ok, not terribly bad.

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.

Doubles Footbag Freestyle is harder to train for...

I was thinking back over the years. I have played my share of doubles freestyle, and I think it is a harder event to train for than singles. Doubles Footbag Freestyle Routines are longer than singles, and there is no room for error at any point through it. In singles, if I have to take a detour, it is between me and the footbag. In doubles, if something unintended happens, both of us have to react in unison and no matter how hard I train, I always fear an unforced error that causes confusion.

Doubles routines are mapped out more intricately, literally trick-by-trick. Singles routines are a bit more flexible in structure. Honestly, I train singles routines with the goal of a consistent end-product. The reality is that somewhere through a 2 minute performance will be an error, but getting back on track is something I can train for. My game-plan in singles is to keep moving forward, get back on track with the intended performance in cadence with the music. In doubles, this is so much harder to do. Getting on track without looking like motley fools.

I can play singles alone, but a good partner needs to live in the same general proximity as me, which has generally meant that my doubles pairings are cyclical based on the players that are strong on the scene at the time.

I can play singles any time I want, but to play doubles requires first having a nearby strong player willing to train, and juggling two schedules to make that happen.

Over the years, I have played doubles freestyle with many players you might recognize... Andy Linder, Kenny Shults, Keaton Halley, Steve Smith and Valeria Davidson. Forgive me if I forgot anyone, it has been many years.

This year I plan to pair up with Valeria for Mixed Doubles Freestyle at Worlds (if it is in the US this year, you can count on us being there.). What a better partner than my own wife, and with that, all the above criteria come together. I'll keep you posted on that.

See ya!
-Enlightener

Results for 25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships & New Years Jam

It has been more than a week since we wrapped up the 25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships & New Years Jam. Thanks to everyone who attended, it was great to shred with you all! Thanks for coming out! We had a blast as usual, and are already planning for next year.

Thanks to our Sponsors - World Footbag Association www.worldfootbag.com, Freedom Footbags www.freedomfootbags.com, www.kickforhealth.org, BRAT, Chicago's Mayors Office of Special Events, Kolo Sports, CIC and all the people who made this another event to remember!

Here is a video of day 1, Routines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj5fy8hZlIc
All the photos are at: http://gallery.me.com/enlightener#100693&bgcolor=black&view=mosaic&sel=0

More video to follow.

We introduced footbag to hundreds of interested onlookers during this event!

RESULTS:
Midwest Regional Footbag Championships Results:
Open Singles Footbag Freestyle Routines:
1st Place - Milan Benda
2nd Place - Scott Davidson
3rd Place - Ken Somolinos

Open Circle Contest:
1st Place - Ken Somolinos
2nd Place - Milan Benda
3rd Place - Matt Kemmer
4th Place - Reid Strellner

Novice Consecutive Contest:
Alex Davidson - 32 (and personal best of 102)

Intermediate Footbag Freestyle Routines:
1st Place - Joe Michels
2nd Place - Corey Allen

Intermediate Circle Contest:
1st Place - Joe Michels
2nd Place - Matt Mueller
3rd Place - Corey Allen
4th Place - Freddy Noinaj

We had tons of great prizes thanks to the sponsors!

See ya next year!
-enlightener

Playing footbag at 'lunch' requires preparation

To optimize the amount of playtime I can squeeze out of a lunchbreak, I carefully prepare every morning before work. I wear my kicking shorts under my pants and carry with me a 'shred bundle' of extra clothes. The bundle has a shirt to play in (It will get sweaty), a change of socks and underclothes & a sweat towel. Always a footbag t-shirt and always a towel from a footbag tourney.

When I leave for lunch, my strategy is to get to my shred site as quickly as possible. Shed the outer layer so I am in kicking shorts, footbag shirt, short socks and my Adidas Rod Laver shoes. I start my warm up strings just as soon as I get the music started.

By the time I finish at :50 elapsed, I rush back to work and do a quick change/cleanup and back to work.

Doesn't leave room for eating time, that is why I always put 'lunch' in quotes. It only really takes 6-10 minutes to eat a light lunch, so I figure 'that's what breaks ate for!'

Skool hard everyday. Prepare properly and it is a breeze.

I have had many times where I didn't prepare properly and had to 'roll with it' to accomplish the goal of daily shred. I've had to buy shorts because I forgot to bring them. I've had to play in work shorts and in pants. Even once I had to play in skateboard shoes, that turned out to be less productive than it was educational. Every morning I prepare my backpack in an effort to guarantee I get my daily shred.

See ya!
-Enlightener

Shred Notes: 1/6/09
Obsessed with Sympobius... Symposium mobius. Sooooo close. Did hit Gyro symposium mirage, or probably not really gyro with the plant so "Spyro Symposium Mirage" is more proper. Hit a bunch of nuclear stuff, Paradox atom smasher, reverse paradox torque done nuclear style on flipside. Blizzards still in daily routine, doing pushups too for upper body. Hit Gyrrage again. Seems Jani Walker is the same as a blender but done in the front with a totally different set of motions.

Getting warm in the cold

Part of playing everyday is learning to play in adverse conditions. Sometimes in small spaces, on slippery floors, less than ideal lighting conditions, or without my favorite footbag. The most recurring adverse condition, especially this time of year, is playing when it is cold. Half the battle is getting warm in the first place.

Playing Footbag freestyle in the cold is particularly challenging for a couple of reasons. First, it takes soooooooo long to get warm, even in medium temps around 50•. Second, it requires additional layers of clothes which compound the problem of getting warm.

It usually takes me 15-20 minutes playing alone to be fully warmed up, but the cold, at least a half hour. If I was playing in a circle I may never get warm, so I would for sure warm up alone, then join a circle.

As I get warm and start sweating profusely, I peel off the layers. First the sweater, then the thermal running tights, then the long sleeve shirt. I find that a nice thinsulate pair of liner gloves keeps the fingers warm and tricks the brain into thinking extremities are warm. The gloves look ridiculous unless I have a long sleeve shirt on. I have employed chemical hand warmers too, even under the toes to keep the feet warm. I notice that when I walk around outside in shorts in the cold that my knees get frozen first, but by flexing them they seem to be ok. This frozen knee thing is new this year as I don't remember this ever being a problem in the past.

I have shredded in sub-zero temps using these techniques, and when done right, I am literally steaming when I am done. Steam is good.

Today I'm working on frozen moves in a futilly symbolic attempt to pay homage to the cold that has blanketed our region. I am lucky to have found a hovel where they have so far tolerated my mad shredding each day, about 50 degrees but cold when the doors open.

Shred Notes: 01/04/09
Jani walker is easier now, and now that I have the magic hop in my barrages, they are being integrated into daily play now. Also hitting gyrrage regularly, and now attempting Barroque (barraging torque), paradox barrage (which I hit way back in '94 the first time I met Tuan Vu at Heart of Freestyle), and barraging toe pickup.

- enlightener

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

I can't get enough of this sport!

Is there such a thing as 'too much' freestyle? If you ask me, no. You might get a different answer from those around me, depending on when you ask the question. I think everyone would agree that my seemingly obsessive behavior surrounding Footbag ultimately has provided nothing but positive results in all areas of my life, with the possible exception of the financial area.

After a busy holiday week and a major Footbag tournament, my legs are surprisingly NOT sore. It may be partially because I gave been skooling hard every day for the past 1105 days in a row, but I think it is because I didn't get 'enough' play time at New Years Jam. As event director, getting to the site early each day and setting up, staying late to clean up is a small price to pay to bring an event like this to life. This event provides a place where other obsessed individuals such as myself can unite in our unique commonality to play together, learn from each other, reach out and teach kids, and even compete with each other. I personally believe every club should host a footbag event at least once a year! Get on it !

I'm going to do a double jam session today, lunch AND evening. Gotta return the sound system too.

Shred notes: 12/29/09 and 12/30/09
Day after a big event is usually hard to play. Not this time. Noticed a recent deficiency in barrages, skooled them. Hit Gyro Barrage. Is that called 'Garage'?


- enlightener

25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships - Wrap up and Results

Dec. 27-28, 2009.
25th Annual Midwest Regional Footbag Championships - Wrap up and Results.

About 50 players united for two days of shredding. Milan Benda from Czech Republic, Ken Somolinos from D.C., Brian, Emily and Goldberg from central CA, among others from Toledo, St. Louis, Wisconsin and nearby states!

Thanks to our sponsors!
Freedom Footbags.com
World Footbag.com (WFA)
Kolo Sport
Brat
Chicago's Mayors Office of Special Events

Results (draft)
Footbag Freestyle Routines
-1st Place - Milan Benda
-2nd Place - Scott Davidson
-3rd Place - Ken Somolinos

Circle Contest
-1st Place - Ken Somolinos
-2nd Place - Milan Benda
-3rd Place - (name temp. missing)

More results:
Trick request contest- Milan Benda
Novice Consecutives: Alex Davidson (102, personal record)

Once I get these results completed here, I'll cross post them to Footbag.org and modified.in.

- enlightener

Chicago Sports Festival starts tomorrow!

Tomorrow the Chicago Sports Festival begins at McCormick Place. Dec. 27-28, '09.
10-4 free admission, discounted parking on Martin Luther King Drive lot.

Come by and play with us!

So many great players are coming out, this is the premier footbag freestyle event in the country. We will also be introducing the sport to passersby all day.

Please come join us!

More info: http://www.footbag.org/events/show/1255269216

Best regards,
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.

Three years of playing every day!

So todays playtime concludes 3 years of footbag shredding on a daily basis. I have many insights from this experience which I won't go into right now, as I have little time at this writing. I wanted to thank my wife Valeria for allowing me the time to do this, and for doing the laundry. By my estimates, over 400 extra loads of laundry were caused by my daily obsession, and this is no small task. The only environmental impact that shredding has is all the extra laundry, but that is another topic.

3 years, yay! Now on to 4!

Shred notes: 12/19/09
Worked on routine for NYJ.

Measuring 'impact' of footbag freestyle relative to other sports...

The sport of Footbag Freestyle is underfunded and under-studied. I would love to see this change, but because of the current state of the economy and the loosely organized young players, it is unlikely we will see any new injections of funding or research anytime soon.

Other sports have been researched, and we can tell a lot about our sport by comparing it to these other sports. Among the comparable sports would be aerobics, boxing and running... to name a few.

So in future articles, I will compare some of this research and how it can be applied to the sport of footbag.

Shred notes: 12/12/09
Hit Sailing Butterfly today. That is a pixie atomic set back to the same side butterfly. SWEET!

Shred notes: 12/14/09
Hit Sailing butterfly on video today. Couple of good runs through my music for NYJ

Shred notes: 12/15/09
More good runs through NYJ music for performance.

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.

Music selection is critical!

When I train for a performance, it is imperative that i carefully pick music. There are so many variables...
First, beats per minute needs to be close to my 110bpm with rare exceptions made for the feel of the song.
Second, I look for songs without words, especially for international competitions (except I haven't gone overseas lately).
Thirdly, I like it to have periodical tempo pauses to facilitate frozen tricks done on beat
Fourthly, I need to 'relate' to the song because I'll be meditating with positive mental visualization techniques whenever I can get my headphones to my ear.
Fifthly, the audience needs to 'get it'. The relationship between player and Footbag needs to be glaringly obvious. I'll be videotaping it today and reviewing it tonight to see if, upon review, all my assumptions from above are working for me.
Not in any particular order.

When I drafted this post yesterday, I thought I knew which music I would be performing to. It had all the elements above except BPM. So it is back to searching for music. Damn.

Shred notes: 12/8/09
Skooled routines. Did 'wind shreds' for 30m. Need new music. Filmed another contest video.

- enlightener

Longevity is IN the shoes!

Literally. I wear Spenco insoles in every pair of shoes I own, and I have done this since 1985. I competed at 20 consecutive World Championships, I won the Singles Freestyle World Champion title in 1999, and have shredded hard (more intense than 'high-impact' aerobics) every day for the past 1081 days since I turned 40, and I stand all day at work, 5 days a week.

While having a sensible daily training regimen, and a healthy diet play into my longevity. When it comes down to it, every time my foot hits the ground, it has landed on a Spenco insole. A simple combination of nitrogen injected neoprene and a green fabric layer that create the experience of walking, standing and landing on clouds.

I started wearing them when my shins hurt in 1985. Made a special trip to an indoor mall in Boulder, CO, scoured several stores and found the Spencos Insoles (I prefer no arch support). My pain went away, and I keep Spencos under my every step.

I would hereby like to make an unsolicited endorsement based on empirical experience, that Spenco insoles are a huge part of the secret of my longevity. Not a secret anymore though.

I still compete (whenever I can afford to travel) and train daily in footbag freestyle, and while most of the people I am up against are half my age, I am still considered a threat when I enter a competition. And in every pair of shoes I wear, I have a set of Spenco Insoles between the ground and my feet!

Shred notes: 12/5/09
Day 1081. Stuck diving same symposium whirls on both sides and both on film. Couple of other good strings too.

- enlightener

Economy of motion

When I visualize atomic sets, I start to think about economy of motion and timing. Doing tricks that require two and three dexterity elements requires finding the most efficient path. In the case of atomic and nuclear tricks the challenge for me was to learn the 'hippy' method of reverse mirage. From there I could apply it to many tricks.

Atomic sets require throwing the first dex over the upward moving Footbag, so a traditional reverse mirage motion that happens at the apex isn't fast enough. To achieve atomic, the set and leaping hippy dex happen simultaneously.

Economy of motion is the key to refining 'tough' moves and developing new ones. Well, that is the physical challenge. Sometimes the mental block of dismissing something as 'impossible' is a larger obsticle, because if you never try something due to it's percieved impossibility, then how could you get to the part where you would refine the motion to make it possible. Believe!

Shred notes: 12/4/09
Just a typical day. Some good strings at the end. Indoors.


- enlightener

Enlightener enters video contest! Vote Now!

Footbag freestyle needs exposure. Enlightener has video camera. Well, you get the idea. I need u to vote! Now! And three times a day for the next ten days. Please! http://12seconds.tv/v/ADE8J at the upper left corner, click the vote button.

I promise to enter many more video contests, and inject Footbag into every entry!

I need access to a HD camera soon. Hmmm...

Thanks!

- enlightener

Warm-up Strings serve a purpose!

Thanks to Dennis Jones for this inspiration!
I endorse the use of drills in training. I have a need to get warm quickly, and a need to always be skooling my foundation 'set' moves like butterflies, osii, blurs and blizzards, whirls and barflies.

Back in the early 90's I was sponsored by my wife's company to go to the Heart if Freestyle tourney run by Kendall Kick and attended by Everyone! I think of this event every time I hear the song 'Love Shack', what a great event! The year prior to this I had lost 50 pounds and proved my comeback at worlds a month earlier, this is the event that I was inducted into BAP, one of my proudest moments in the sport.

Anyway, Dennis Jones was there, and he was really good at short patterns like infinity-butterfly-infinity-butterfly and osis-butterfly-osis-butterfly. When I spoke with him about it he argued that these drills help the foundation of your game, and I immediately made some drills for myself. Those drills are still great, and important for every player.

For me, these drills have evolved into what I call 'warm-up strings.'. Every day I use these strings to get warm for bigger and better strings. And because I do them every day, I am confident that they can get me warm in a predictable 15-20 minutes. They also guarantee that I practice my basics every day!

Make your own patterns, based on your skill set, and play everyday!

Big announcement today... Coming via facebook later today.

- enlightener