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

The Mental Game: Shifting my perception of difficulty makes tricks easier!

"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical."
   -Attributed to Yogi Berra

I have written about this before, but I feel the need to repeat it from my experience today.  We all know that the mental game is important.  Personally, I need to periodically step back from my day-to-day routine and look at my game from the perspective of 'what might be', as opposed to 'what I believe I'm capable of.'

Today I was challenged by my facebook friends to work on Rubberman, along with some strings I would not have probably thought to attempt on my own.  All these tricks are based on Atomic sets, which have always been challenging for me, even though I have spent the past several years actively working on them.  So in my mind, I have built up an aura of difficulty in my mind around the notion of Atomic tricks.  I have physically worked them to the point that I can hit them 70% of the time, but I was finding myself only working them once a week due to my 'perception' that they were high impact.  I was recently skooling Paradox Symp Whirls (rainbows) and caused a compression related impact pain in my right lower back.  In my mind, the Atomic tricks were as high-impact as the PSWhirls.  In retrospect, after careful physical analysis, I have to say that while Atomic tricks are more taxing on the hamstrings and hip related dexterity, that the impact is minimal because the set foot touches down almost immediately.

Now that I have reset my perception of Atomic tricks, I have allowed myself to obsess on them.  I can't stop doing them.  I'm hitting Leg Beaters, EggPlant, and Atom Smashers.  I'm hitting Atomic tricks from all kinds of sets, and I'm hitting all kinds of tricks out of Leg Beaters now, thanks to my facebook friends challenging me.  It has caused some stress on other parts of my legs, but as long as I don't over do it, I should be okay.  I'll always rely on my cross body tricks to some extent, but it is nice to escape that.  I want to be able to throw atomic tricks in mid string confidently and from unexpected places.

Shred notes: 1/23/2011
I also skooled juggles, particularly Seamless-Legbeaters-out of juggles.  I'll keep skooling it and I'll publish a juggling video again soon.  Imagine juggle-juggle-juggle-legbeater-blur-juggle-juggle-juggle-legbeater-blur.  Working on that kind of stuff.  Seamless-in juggle, seamless-out juggle.

Trickle Up Shredology - The best tip ever!

This is the best tip ever.   Thanks to Steve Goldberg, Brat, the greatest benefactor to the sport of footbag.

This has come full circle.  I started by skooling the basics.  As I got better, I learned the "Economy of Motion" and got better at trimming time off of movement by finding and training more efficient paths.  Spending less effort to get more done.  Particularly when ending a trick, I have learned over time to catch the footbag with the minimum downward motion possible, which is one of many 'economy of motions.'  To make matters worse, I spent about week this summer focusing on 'rooted' tricks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmRXODg6Bzg which are distinguished because the catching foot is the plant.

This reduction of downward motion in catching the footbag in order to complete my most difficult tricks is causing my form to suffer when doing the most basic versions of the tricks.  For instance, it is generally more efficient to complete a Paradox Torque by expending as little effort as possible on the catch, and doing it at the last moment.  On the other hand, the trick is more 'solid' when I am able to utilize 'economy of motion' during the dexterity part of the trick and spend more time on the 'catching' part of the trick.

One of the side effects of spending years of training to reduce the distance needed to catch a footbag at the end of advanced tricks, is when you do the basic component, it looks rushed and unpolished.

As a part of my daily training (1493 in a row today), I warm up using my 'basic' staple tricks.  For instance I don't want to spend too much time training tricks I have mastered, I use those to warm up with.  I do 10 osis, 10 infinity's, 10 ripwalks, I do 10 reps of my whirl/osis combo, ripwalks, blurs/blizzards and paradox whirls.  I am getting into the zone at this time and generally just gaining the proper focus I need for the rest of my jam session.  Thanks to this new tip, I am really gaining better basic form.

In the past few weeks focusing on the depth of my clipper catches and I can really feel a difference in my control and general ability to maintain long strings.  I am really happy that a friend like Steve took the time to mention this very basic observation to me at the New Years Jam this past December.  I have been working on it every day since then and am really feeling the difference!

Shred Notes: Jan 2011
In addition to working the solidness of my clipper tricks, I have spent a lot of time working on front side tricks.  I have particularly been recategorizing Atomic tricks into low-impact.  I have always thought of Atomic tricks as high-impact, but have recently discovered that they really aren't.  I hit both Atom Smashers in a single string, which was a big barrier for me, but might seem basic for you.  I also realized that I have been hitting LegBeaters on both sides (I've been calling them atomic butterflies), and then was challenged by Tuukka to do blur, LegBeater, Blurry Whirl, Blur, LegBeater Blurry whirl and hit all those components with an extra spinning butterfly before the 2nd blur.  Very happy.

NYJ 2010 Thank You's!

Freestyle Footbag enthusiasts from around the world gathered from December 18-20 at the Hyatt McCormick Place to jam until their legs couldn't take it anymore!  We played all day and night for 3 days, and I met many new faces, and got to catch up with some old friends in the process.

This event could not have happened without the support of many people.  I wanted to put out thank you's to everyone and I hope I didn't leave anyone out...

Thanks to the players that showed up at 10am at the site so we could start teaching and make the site look alive.

Thanks to Chicago's Mayors Office of Special Events for providing the site, fencing, electricity, tables and chairs... and for the whole assemblage of excellent mini-events that make up this amazing event!  AWESOME!

Thanks to Kevin Cronk for coming down from Petosky Michigan with his family to join us, just like old times when I met Kevin back in 1990.  Two old skoolers, still playing.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Thanks to our new friends John and Sarah from Dragonfly Footbags who sponsored our event not only with enough footbags to give out to passersby who tried to play footbag, and for the great prizes... but also contributed cash prizes of $450 to make our players really go for it to win the cash!

We only handed out about 75 footbags this year to kids who took the time to try our sport.  Compared to 450 two years ago.  But the footbags were MUCH higher quality then the cheapo chinese footbags we were giving away, so that should be a better experience for all these kids who received a footbag from us.

Thanks to our players who jumped in and helped teach kids who wandered by, when I was busy doing other stuff.  Even when played casually, our sport offers a great opportunity for kids to socialize with their friends while they get their 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.

Thanks to our past sponsors such as World Footbag Association and Freedom Footbags who would have sponsored us if I had asked.  Sorry I was lazy this year and didn't even ask for their support.

Thanks to Steve (Brat) Goldberg for hosting the Hospitality Suite again!  He sacrificed his room so we would all have a place to hang out together and enjoy the times between our shreds.  Brat also sponsored the Shred Room, and made that possible!  I apologize for leaving on Sunday without specifically thanking Steve for coming out again!  I had a great time getting to spend time around the Brat.  Always a pleasure, and Thanks again!

Thanks to CIC for drumming up interest, for housing our players from out of town, for raising money to have the extra room the extra Monday to continue to play at the Hyatt Site for a third day!  Specifically Tom Kotsakos, job well done.

Thanks to Modern Music of Lisle for providing affordable rental of sound systems.  I wish Cory Current would have been at the event, he is the one who told us about Modern Music.

Some missing faces: Scot Hansen, Eric Cokee, Ted Martin, Steve Smith, Jay Claffey, PJ Lareau, Hacky Sack Jack, Larry Doyle (well, he died, but we still miss him terribly)...

Thanks to Valeria and Alex who put up with my obsessive behavior when it comes to the sport of footbag.

Thanks to all the players who took their valuable vacation time and spent it with us in Chicago.  You are the reason these events are worth hosting year after year.  It is a treat for me to have all these shredders in-town, as it is extremely difficult for me to travel to events these days.  I hope I got to shred with everyone who was there, but I doubt it.  I had a blast and thanks for coming to Chicago for the 2010 New Years Jam.

We are planning to make it an even bigger event next year, so start planning now!

See ya next year!
-enlightener
Scott Davidson

Training daily pays off daily!

I learn little things about my game just about every day.  You might think that doing something every day might get boring, but it never does because I am always achieving little goals, stumbling upon new (new to me, and sometimes actually new) tricks and generally keeping me interested.  Playing freestyle footbag everyday gives me a clear baseline on the condition of my body, and allows me to push 'initiatives' like increasing the amount of frontside tricks that I perform.

During the week of Xmas I found my daily shreds of footbag freestyle to be a great diversion from the hectic pace at my place of work.  Peace of mind.  Really.  I also developed a little showcase trick into a legitimate set... Fairy X-body sole (same) is now being worked into being a set from just about any toe, and it flows like an osis but looks crazzzzzzy!  I have been skooling the hell out of X-Body Rake moves, and after watching Evan Gatesman, I realized that indeed Rakes don't 'need' to end in a scooping toe dex, they can end more directly underneath the balance center, and do dex tricks out of them.  Thanks Evan for that insight.  I suppose I 'knew' that already, but seeing someone do it effectively and mid-string even... very nice.  Now I can do it too.

See ya!
-enlightener

Low light shredding ain't so bad...

I got used to it.  I just came to the realization that I am thankful for the great lighting I usually have available to me for shredding.  I pretty much don't worry about it.  Ever.  Well that's not true, it factors into my 'perception' of what is possible, so in a sense my perceptions are limiting me here.

Today, Valeria fell asleep on the couch right next to my living room shred zone, so I had to keep the lights low, and I tweaked my workout towards the quieter tricks today.  Lots of juggling and unusual surfaces and short fun stuff.  After about 10 minutes, the low light scenario didn't factor into my decisions at all.  I got through my warm-ups, and I immediately ran into a personal innovation... Fairy same blender.  Probably because yesterday I obsessed on double dyno style moves.  So I pulled a fairy set and thought, why not go for a whirl or a blender with the same leg as the fairy dex, of which I hit both on both sides, within minutes of stumbling upon it..  What is the name of Fairy same-leg same-side Blender?  And Fairy same-leg same-side Whirl?  I'll film them tomorrow.  I've hit Fairy-Phobic-(other leg) Blender and posted it to youtube recently, but this easier stuff is new to me.  

I also skooled a pattern that is juggle-juggle-juggle, seamless (out) Fairy DLO, to seamless (in) pixie DLO, juggle-juggle-juggle, repeat... I'll also film this tomorrow.

The moral of this story?  "Beware of perceptions, particularly those that limit belief.  Possibility is still unlimited, it is my mind that stops me most of the time."

Best regards,
-enlightener

Shred notes: See above.

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

ESPN Classic at Summerfest in Milwaukee

I was going through my stack of footbag t-shirts and I came across this black ESPN Classic shirt that I got from doing an impromptu demo for ESPN that not many of my friends know about.

I'm guessing 2005 was the year, Alex was young, but out of the stroller.  As a family, we try to make it to Summerfest (sometimes jokingly called "Bummerfest" because of all the cops that are there busting down on underage drinking etc...) because it is an amazing music festival, featuring some great performers and bands.  I don't know who was playing that night, but I'm sure Valeria will remember.  Of course, whenever we go to festivals, our alternative purpose is to shred in public, to make more people aware of the wonderment of footbag freestyle, and to have fun doing it!

We were shredding on the fair grounds when a producer from ESPN came over and asked if we would play near their live broadcast, so they would have something visually interesting to pan across as they come and go to commercials.  In return, we would have access to their VIP tent and all the accouterments thereof.  So we took a break and went with them to the booth.  We met the director and he set us up amidst the crowds of people watching the live broadcast, he put two security guards near us and little orange cones to denote a playing area that we had all to ourselves.

When they weren't filming, we were in the VIP area, which had a gourmet buffet, free beverages, and access to the stars of the live broadcast and their friends/family.  We were treated like royalty and it was awesome!  We got a signed baseball bat from some famous baseball person (who was really famous, but who I had never heard of... keeping in mind that I know NOTHING about baseball, his name still escapes me, but many of you would know it if I was to be able to pull it out of my hat right now.) and met all kinds of really great people!

It turned out that they had us shredding for at least 3 different half hour sessions, but only panned across us 4 or 5 times.  They had us under their boom camera that was on a long stick and they pan across the crowds to show how awesome the atmosphere was at the festival.  We were smack dab in the middle of the crowd, they paused on us for a couple of seconds, I can only assume they were filming us at the time.  Unfortunately, I never saw the episode so I don't know what actually aired.  This was of course, pre-facebook and I had no way to tell my friends to watch.  So here I am at least 6 years later waxing nostalgic about it.  I'll check their archives and see if I can get a copy of it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Bottom line is: We love to shred in public, and even without any active planning on our part, we seem get on TV quite often.  Life is good!

See ya!
-Enlightener

Shred notes: October 2010
Better said by video in this case.  Prolific.

Highlight reel:


Details of each trick with corrected names:

I'm a human Rube Goldberg machine...

The similarities between footbag freestyle and a Rube Goldberg machine (a deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion...) are chilling on many levels.  In Freestyle Footbag, a single trick is defined by transferring the footbag from one surface to another surface, with as many elements of difficulty in between.  Which is in line with the Rube Goldberg Machine (RGM) concept, but one trick does not a RGM make.  When we perform multiple tricks together, back to back, we call that a String of tricks.  When we combine the difficulty of performing a single trick, with the added difficulty of stringing them together, this very much resembles a RBM.  The big difference is that with RBM's the physics are pre-calculated and the variables are removed through clever engineering, and with Footbag Freestyle strings, our brains are perceiving the next trick and making minor adjustments in order to compete it, but assuming at the end of the individual trick, we are able to set properly for the next trick, an RGM is born.

Footbag freestyle practitioners are human Rube Goldberg Machines!  I am a human RGM!
What is more unnecessarily difficult than a well performed footbag freestyle string?  I can't think of many things... perhaps Rythmic Gymnastics, that is even close to the self-imposed difficulty thresholds that we place upon ourselves.  For us, the more difficult the trick and the longer the strings the better... classic RGM's.

As Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine)...

"A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg.

Since then, the expression has expanded to denote any form of overly confusing or complicated system."

Here are some links to my recent videos from Facebook and Youtube:




There's more, I just don't have time right now.  More later!!!

See ya!
-enlightener.

Lighting the fire inside...

My footbag career has spanned several decades, and I'm working on several more.  I went to world footbag championships for 20 years consecutively starting in 1985, took 2nd many times, finally won it in 1999 and had a blast in the process.  I have had many players who have inspired me to turn up level of my game which takes me in a new direction.  Starting with Andy Linder, Kenny Shults and Rippin' Rick Reese who got me truly addicted to freestyle and got my game going, then later there was Ryan Mulroney and Vasek who made me light that internal fire and step it up to the next level.  Watching Ryan come up and dominate the shred game, it really made me train hard and took me to the world title.  In the past 10 years, after Ryan disappeared and Vasek took over.  I have learned different lessons from all of them, and little lessons on the side from my other competitors like Eric Wulff (ducking), Jonathan Schneider (dragons) and too many others to mention.  They all had these things in common: They innovated because they could see the possibilities beyond the current reality.  They pushed themselves to attain great things and focused on their strengths.

Thanks to all the greats, and to all my friends who make this sport what it is!

Here is a movie I just made with the new movie software on a mac, and even though I didn't spend more than 20 minutes making this one, I think it is one of my better ones.  Enjoy!




Shred notes: 10/22/10
I've crossed the 1400 day mark.  Looking at end of January for 1500 days, but first it will be December 19th as my 4 year mark.  I've been interspersing long strings in with new trick development.  In small spaces it is easy to go to new tricks.  Gotta consciously work on long strings. I've been filming with a new Kodak Zx1 but not happy with the quality.  Been publishing crazy videos very frequently.  Using my phone and computer alternatively to publish.  Getting confused on which footage is published and what is not.  Sooooo much footage.  Gotta go through and keyword it.

World Championships 1999 Freestyle Results

No doubt that 1999 was a great year for me!  My son was 1 year old, the economy was great and I was literally peaking in career, my footbag 'game', and my life in general.

I have prepared a YouTube video that contains the performances of the top 4 finishers of the 1999 World Footbag Championships Singles Freestyle competition.  With great respect for all my competitors in this video (Ryan Mulroney, Rick Reese and Peter Irish), please enjoy...



I have to credit Ryan Mulroney for lighting a fire under my ass and making me want to win the World Title that much more.  And I have to thank Rich Abshire for supplying me with the footbag I used to win the title!  Sure I have used, and I still currently use ">Freedom Footbags on a daily basis (1396 today), but in 1999 I was using an Abshire footbag!

Shred notes: October 1-15 2010
Have been stumbling upon some great moves.  See: Phobic Da Da, Fairy same Drifter, Pixie opp Drifter [HD] and Phobic Vortex and Spyro para Drifter [HD] .  I love the creative process and now that i play indoors more, I am trying to focus on longer strings, ionically.

Pogo Symposium Mirage & Fairy Miraging Symposium Mirage

If there is something to be said about 'frontside' tricks, it is that I don't think I'll ever stop actively training them.  I need to push my game more to the front side, and in that effort, I have been training front side tricks about every other day.  Yesterday I worked almost exclusively on my flipside fairy sets and feel the burn from it today.  Nuclear, atomic, rakes and pendulums are trained almost daily.  Can't over do it on the Nukes or atomics because I have gotten minor injuries from too much of that good thing.

On day 1383 in a row shredding, I hit Pogo Symposium Mirage & Fairy Miraging Symposium Mirage, along with some other stuff, but I published those from my iphone.



Shred notes: 10/4/2010
I have been skooling frontside on alternating days, trying to stay focused on long strings rather than 'new trick development' (which tends to be very short attempts at very had tricks).  I have been playing to Talking Heads and find their music very motivating.  Especially 'And she was.'  Many new juggling tricks and still improving Seamless.

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!

The knack to Ducking Scorpion Tail

After a series of vacations, including our trip to the 25th Annual Funtastik Summer Classic, I have resumed my normal training regimen at the Mammoth Springs Footbag Freestyle Training Center (the parking lot behind the Double Tree hotel near my work).

I've been working on lots of exciting new moves for me. Some maybe new to the world, like Blurry Symposium Paradox Symposium Twirl (yes two symposium elements), and Ducking Spinning Symposium Twirl

Even just ducking paradox twirl got me pretty psyched. I hit reverse twirl today on my flip side. Ducking Twirl too:

I'm writing today about the subtleties of Ducking Scorpion Tail, which is really a Spinning Ducking Barfly. First, I found that skooling Scorpion Tail with really high sets, rather than the usual mid-body height sets really helped. Second, the perfect set will be just above my head so as I'm coming out of the spin, the duck is just a flick of the neck and it is into the barfly part.

So keep kicking! I've got a new puppy. His name is Harley.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2058260&id=1099314046&l=332d43dfb9

See ya!

Andy Linder's approach to freestyle training helped!

There is a lot to learn from the great players who preceded us in the sport of Footbag. I was lucky to have seen Andy Linder's performances during the early days of my Footbag development, they inspired me to get better, and to strive for the kind of precision that I knew was possible because he had achieved it.  After traveling to many tournaments together, we teamed up to win the Team Footbag Freestyle in 1991 World Championships, and reflecting on the training we committed to is how I came to this particular conclusion...

In a word, it's methodical. 
I'm talking about the way he approaches practicing a performance, and how helpful I am finding it to be. Once we had our routine mapped out, we not only did complete run thrus, but broke it down into segments. We would go through each segment perfectly 3 times in a row before moving to the next segment. If we got 2 good runs and dropped on 3rd, we start the count over. 

I spent an hour on two separate days getting thru my funtastik routine in this fashion. Today, I had a chance to run thru this performance and I averaged 2.5 drops in 5 attempts. I wasn't averaging quite that high before this training goal, so I think this triggered an improvement in my game. 


Now that Funtastik is over, my performances were both mired with 3 drops in different places.  You can review my performances at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkUtDTZIGQo  
I did like how it turned out overall, and it is still nice to be in the top group of shredders, able to compete with people literally less than half my age!  I'm 43-3/4, I've been skooling hard every day for 1362 days in a row, plus about 24 years before that!


Thank you Andy Linder for sharing your training techniques with me, I'm glad I can still use them to better my game!


Shred notes 9/12/10:
-I've been on vacation at New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventures, Harrisburg's last running of the Funtastik Summer Classic, the US Open Tennis Championships and got to shred in Times Square NY!  Today I refined another type of seamless juggle that I'll videotape and post soon.  It is juggle integrated with fairy-mirage and seamless back into juggle.  Also video to come of our Times Square shred!

We need more Footbag tournaments and events!

For our sport to properly develop to it's potential, we need more structured events AND we need to do more youth outreach to promote Footbag to kids and parents for it's great health and social benefits. 

This means YOU!

I sit here, saddened, outside the home of the directors of the Funtastik Summer Classic, where I can't escape the reality that this family tradition is about to see it's last repetition.  Tournaments like this, with now 25 years running have a cult following which draws out all the top players and enthusiasts to a single location, for a weekend of friendly competition and general Footbag mania. So many thanks to Brenda and Joe Solonoski for hosting this event year after year, for opening their home to us, and for bringing together so many of our friends into a single location.            It breaks my heart that this is the last Funtastik Summer Classic!

Every self-respecting club needs to run at least one event each year, and do some youth outreach for the good of mankind. 

Check www.kickforhealth.org for info about the 'Footbag Challenge' and how this can be a great vehicle to promote the health aspects of Footbag. 

If you want to run a tournament, it doesn't have to be a mammoth 3-day event, but I have been running Footbag events for 25 years in the Chicago area and I promise to help coach any aspiring tournament directors who want to have an event in your area. 

It all starts right here, right now!   We need more tournaments. Period. Contact me now!
Www.kickforhealth.org

-enlightener
Scott Davidson
1999 Freestyle World Champion

Vote Today Only for Valeria and Scott Davidson in National TV Talent Contest

Footbag on national tv today at 9am central , please vote too!
Live with Regis and Kelly show (in Chicago, 9am on ch 9 WGN) is airing a talent contest, click on "Wild and Wacky Talent Contest" and then "Vote".... You'll have to vote for a hula hoop thing, then for 'fancy footwork' We were definitely on today.
Please go online, watch and vote... Today only-you can win a daily $1000 cash prize, and we could win $30k. regisandkelly.go.com.
Post it to your facebook status!

Update:

They put us up against lame talents. We must win the category as a matter of pride! Vote and u can win $1000 (per day). Maybe toe whistler dude has tons of friends, we don't know. So vote in force! Regisandkelly.go.com. Thanks to those who have voted already, please paste this to your status or tag me. Wasn't Valeria awesome?

VOTE!

www.regisandkelly.go.com

-enlightener!!!!!

BarFlakes and triple-dex blurs

I came across these tricks that I have visited before, but never got on tape or even discussed them that I can remember.  The Barfly has always been a challenge for me to do solidly, and I have been working on them for literally 20 years now.  I've been doing a lot of Rakes lately, especially cross-body Rakes.  This past week, my peanut butter got into my chocolate and I brought Barfly together with Cross Body Rake and made a BarFlake.  I know this has another street name, as I know it has been done before, but because I live in a vacuum I don't know what it is called.  I didn't stop there, I have also done versions starting with Fairy, Pixie, Stepping-opp, Stepping-same and spinning.  All on this film, and with slo-mo to reveal the thinness.  All kind of thin, they look good from above.  It is especially noticeable since I had to use an up-angle when I was filming.

I also hit a Blur that has an extra Symposium Mirage before the toe pickup.  Also in slo-mo.  It was suggested that this is a stepping paratoxic (backside symposium) blur, I don't know what to call it, which is why I put it online for peer review.

BarFlakes & Paratoxic Blur?       



Shred notes: 1st two weeks of August...
Played through my injury from last week of July, it is no longer effecting me at all, thank goodness.  I've been obsessed with these new tricks.  Been lucky with weather!  Totally lucky, like cloudy-icky mornings turning to sun literally as I arrive at the Mammoth Springs Training Center.  Mosquitos everywhere near the river, but not on the asphalt playing surface that I utilize.  I'm going to Funtastik and I have been getting some NICE run-thru's of my routine!  I'm gonna be ready again this year and I look forward to a great event!

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 Youth Outreach - WGN TV Kids Fair August 13, 6-9am

I've been on vacation for a week, but didn't miss a day of shredding.  Had somewhat exotic shred locations and got some film too, I'll publish a video to my "footbagenlightener" youtube channel later today from my phone.

This Friday we are a part of the WGN-TV Channel 9 (in Chicago area) Kids Fair and we'll be there for the 3 hours.  The broadcasters all come out and do live shots, they incorporate it into their news show and they are bound to get to us, so watch for us.

For more information:
http://www.wgntv.com/about/station/pressrelease/wgntv-kids-fair-2010-pr,0,6035345.story

See ya!

Shred Notes: Week of Aug 1-7, 2010
Was shredding with Valeria and practicing doubles when I crashed and burned from a collision with her legs.  I fell straight onto my lowerback bone and could barely walk the next day, but I got a good shred in because I found tricks that didn't hurt so much and I did lots of them.  I will post a videotape of my recovery over the week later today.  Still hurts a week later, but of course I'm already planning my shred for today.

Lets win a $5000 Grant for Footbag!

Lucky to freestyle with my wife!

When we got married she could barely get 3 kicks in a row. Her Footbag skills have evolved over the years very nicely. She tried her feet at net but the early 90's is when I chose to commit to freestyle and she never could get me to set up a net, so that didn't last long. But she stuck with it, and with me, and here she is 19 years later getting her clipper catches solid and effectively using them as sets for all the toe based tricks she knows. Expanding her game even further!

Seeing the look on her face when she hits that trick she has been working on reminds me of the kind of reaction a child has to achievement. Being there to give her a high-five is icing on the cake. Recently we worked out a doubles keeps string that looks great on video!

Footbag offers a challenging workout with constant potential for accomplishment. Its a kind of glue We are living proof that the family that kicks together, sticks together.

Congratulations Valeria on all you have achieved in your Footbag career! I look forward to many more years of shredding with you!

-enlightener

July 2010 - Short String recaps

Bummed that I can't make Worlds2010.  Physically depressed.  But I won't let that stop me.

If I didn't videotape myself at the end of each jam session, I don't think I would remember half of what I accomplish.  This 10 minute movie may bore the uninitiated to death, but for me it is my passion.  I love freestyle footbag, as it continues to challenge both my mind and body!




These videos serve my sense of posterity.  In 20 years, I'll look back at these days in fond memory of how my game has evolved.  I fully expect to be playing freestyle footbag into my 60's, and these will serve as a nice comparison...


High speed subject (me) and new iPhone4 video camera. If I didn't make these videos, I might forget what I hit. Long strings coming tomorrow in separate video. This video contains a trick that is NEW to mankind: Spinning Ducking Xbody Whirling Rake. Seamless Juggles from Blurs, Gyro Mirages and Fairy mirages. Whirling Sole to Symposium whirl. Fairy Ducking Barfly. Blurry Whirling Cross Body Rake. Insane threading strings, including new Sewing Machine sets. Ducking Symposium Whirl. Mobius to Double Osis. Pendulum Sets into torque. (Just hit Pendulum set to paradox drifter today, not on tape yet). Fairy Ducking Cross Body Rake. Among tons of other tricks. More daily.


Shred notes: 7/20/10 - 
Looks like rain today.  Gonna jam outdoors under an overhang.  I am going to film again. 

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!

Pepsi Refresh Project - Successful submission of Footbag idea

On behalf of our youth outreach program, Kick for Health, I would like to announce that we have successfully submitted a grant request for the Pepsi Refresh Project to "Help prevent childhood obesity by giving footbags to people we teach!"

Learn about our proposal by watching this video:




Starting August 1, assuming we get approved, the voting begins.  I want to try to use the power of social networking to win this grant, so I am requesting any people with experience in reaching large audiences to please step up and help me with this.  They will give me a specific web page to send you to at that time for voting, and you can vote for 10 things or throw 10 votes at a single idea.  We will need help... watch for further plea's.


Shred notes: 7/1/10
I had a series of doctor appointments where she first sliced my toe and drained a bad infection.  Then it got reinfected.  I DID NOT MISS A DAY OF SHREDDING!  Like I said, no little hangnail is going to stop this streak.  I am now on 1289 days in a row.  I have made a series of video errors, bad lighting, bad focus.  Learning experiences.  Gonna get footage today that is good quality and compare HD to 320p.


-enlightener

Genzu's shoe modifications worked to reduce pain...

Life is teaching me a lesson about pain.  How serious it is when someone is in constant pain, please take them seriously and try to make them comfortable.  It is mentally debilitating.  It effects my every moment.  I work hard, I play hard and I love every minute of it.  My intention is to perform my best at every moment, in every aspect of my life.  To lead by example.  Even in the best of situations, it is difficult to stay in the moment.  When pain like this is present, it makes its way to the foreground and hampers my best efforts at excellent performance.  It distracts me from my focus on performing well in the moment, and makes me just try to survive it.

I tried to take a short nap before the Argentina vs. Mexico world cup game today, and I thought about how the pain is amplified by landing on my right foot.  Really, it was the shoe constricting against the swollen toe that causes the pain.  I was in so much pain when I was at work this week, standing all day in tight fitting shoes.  I would wear sandals to work, but the new rules there technically keep me from that and I think it is unsafe to wear open toe shoes when riding a xootr anyway.  It occurred to me that regardless of how it looks, I need to relieve my pain at work so just standing there doesn't make me cringe in pain, I need to convert a pair of old Rod Laver shoes into Genzu modified Rod Lavers.  I looked up Daryl's blog and found the picture that changed my day.

Today I modified a pair of old blue Rod Laver's so the right toe is open like Daryl 'Genzu' Genz's.  It worked, an orthopedic success!  Especially since the only shoes I ever wear are Rod Laver tennis shoes.  I did a footbag demo at Taste of Chicago with Alex and Valeria, and I made it through the two hours with the microphone, and another hour kicking with the CIC guys by Buckingham Fountain.  I got some good footage and will publish a movie soon.  It was hard to set the footbag off of my right toe because of the intensity of effect caused by my toe curl, but I could figure that out if I had to.  My infection did get worse and the swelling went up, but I was able to bear it.  I hope this infection passes, because living with pain like this is unfathomable.  I can't imagine what it must be like for someone with real problems like Cancer, Diabetes or heart disease.  Ouch.

-enlightener

Shred notes: 6/27/10
Just glad to be shredding.  Infection still getting worse.  Little white dot showed up in the middle of the swollen part.  Playing on grass sucks, but when doing youth outreach, you can't be picky.  Not ideal, but probably less impact on my toe too.

Injury without honor...

Hangnails are my worst fear.  Every time I cut my toenails I am conscious of the possibility of a painful hangnail, and this one has been getting worse for 10 days now.  Doesn't seem to get better.  I refuse to be stopped.  I have been skooling every day for 1285 days in a row, and I won't be stopped by a freaking hangnail.  An injury without honor.  I could see that if I got injured by playing footbag freestyle, that there would be some solace in knowing that my own obsession with the sport is the reason for breaking a streak.  If this keeps up, I'm going to have to go to a doctor.  I hate doctors, I'm pretty sure they hate me too.  They seem to be a bunch of pill pushers, or knife wielding madpeople with some hidden agenda to save their insurance overlords money so they can get that bonus and go to the Bahamas.

Today I am studying Daryl Genzu Genz, and how he laces his shoe.  My solution is to Genzu a pair of Lavers and relieve the pressure that is caused by my shoes pushing up against my big toe every time I land.  I still have another 2 hour demo this afternoon at Taste of Chicago where we shred and teach kids about the basics of footbag.




Shred notes: 6/27/2010
Just trying to be productive and play through the pain. Lots of ice on the toe to keep swelling down, lots of neosporine too. Ouch

Videotaping tips for footbag freestyle... and footbag net

I have had a videocamera since 1988, thanks to being inspired by Jay Moldenhauer, Greg Nelson, then later Steve Kremer and Josh Casey... also Dennis Jones.  I was at the beginning of my footbag career and I saw how Jay was videotaping the finals of events and the sideline shredding as well.  They were using it as an effective learning tool and accelerating their footbag game exponentially.  It was amazing.  I purchased the exact same camera that Jay had, it was a sony hi-8 camera (and I have TONS of footage to convert from the old days, just not enough room to store it, time to do it, or money to buy the thingy that converts it to digital) that served me well for many years.  I never get credited with this, but I MADE THE FIRST SHRED VIDEO EVER!  I put together the best footage I had of routines and side-shreds and made about fifty copies onto videotapes and I gave them away for free with labels on them that encouraged the recipients to make more copies and give them to their friends.  No copyrights, free distribution.  I was spreading the word.  I still am.

Videotaping has evolved since those days, youtube has made free distribution into a fun pastime.  Footbag has gotten more complicated, even faster action and still uses a very small ball that is sometimes hard to see.  Here are some tips for making videos of footbag:
1. Get a good camera.  HD quality and a wide angle lens is helpful.  See comparison of footage between a point and shoot and my new Smartest Phone from a built-in HD video camera (starts with an "i") below, just released into the wild 2 days ago.
2. Pay attention to lighting.  When shooting outdoors in direct sunlight, try to keep the sun behind you.  It is better to film on a cloudy day than in direct sunlight because the diffused light that the clouds let through is more evenly distributed across your subjects.  If you are shooting indoors there can be many shadows depending on your lighting style.  In a conference room, the fluorescent lights provide a good diffused light experience, but sometimes causes a kind of harmonic resonance when the frame rate of the camera exactly matches the flashing-cycle rates of the fluorescent lights, plus for reasons of cleanliness, conference rooms tend to have very busy patterns in the carpeting which make it bad for playing and filming.  In a garage, you are going to need lights coming from as many angles as possible to reduce the shadowing, but it can get pretty bad if you only have a few lights.  If you have a shadowing problem indoors, try to stay with your back to the best light.
3. Learn to stabilize your shots, limit movement if you don't have a self-stabilizing camera or use a tripod.
4. Get the right angle for the right shot.  Best is a straight on shot from just below hip level with the sun behind you, or good ambient diffused light indoors.  I use a lot of upward angles because I don't have a tripod with me most of the time and I balance the camera on the ground.  Angles from above are a nice novelty, but really don't give a good idea of what is going on.
5. Don't shoot from too far away.  If you use the optical zoom to 'get closer', be aware it will amplify any movements you make, so if I had to use optical zoom, I would always recommend a tripod.
6. Turn OFF digital zoom, it is useless.  Seriously, turn it off!  Now!
7. When I am taping, I keep recording until I get something worth keeping, then I stop and restart the recording.  This makes reviewing the footage go MUCH faster because rather than reviewing every second of footage, I go to the end of each clip and trim away everything before it to save space and get rid of unusable footage ASAP.
8. When using a tripod, I find that the mini ones are easy to carry around, but are hard to set up to get the right angle, only because I have to pretty much lay on the ground to see what my image frame is capturing.  So for the mini tripods, I prefer to set them up on a pedestal to make it easy to check the frame field.  Ideally, a medium size tripod puts the camera at the right height to get a good shot and be easy to set-up.  I prefer to set my tripod at about 2 feet high.
9. If you are putting your camera on the ground to film, I suggest a slight upward angle.  On my Canon point-and-shoot camera, I use the hand strap under the front of the camera which props it up at the right angle so I don't see a lot of ground in front of my feet.  On my new Phone4, I had to rest it in my extra shirt to angle it back, but I could not see through the viewing side, I had to guess at what my camera was capturing, but it turned out to be useable.
10.  Get the right distance from the player.  All cameras are different.  Think about how you are going to use your footage.  If you are doing a static tripod shot, the closer you are to the players the less range the players have to move around in, and you risk losing good footage when players drift out of frame.  On the other hand, if you put it too far away, you lose the necessary detail and sometimes can't see the footbag because it is so small.
11.  Choose a solid backdrop when possible.  If you have trees, or random objects in the background, the viewers may not be able to see the footbag as it travels across the foreground.  So if you are videotaping, and you have any 'say' in the process of picking a location, try to find something as close to a solid color for your background.

Comparison of video camera footage for your review:
Canon Powershot SD630 (about 4 years old) with 640x480 frame size 24fps:


Video from my new phone camera which is HD 720p at 30fps (this popular camera phone was released on June 24, 2010):

(make sure to click on the HD version at bottom right) It seems that youtube knocks my videos down to half quality.  Not sure why.

Footbag Net match - Finals from last weekends Windy City Cup 2010 on old Canon camera:



For videotaping footbag net, you really need two cameras that are timestamped together. I would generally like to keep the camera from moving left to right, so a long shot from either end of the court would be great for most of the match, but use the camera that is along the net line to do close ups of the arial dog fights that are the 'meat' of the matches.


Shred notes: Week of June 25th, 2010
I have had a hangnail for the past week that is killing me.  Hurts like hell every time I step down on my right foot, but it hasn't stopped me from shredding every day.  It seems to be getting worse, which means that on Monday if it hasn't gotten better, I'll be going to the doctor, which are words rarely uttered from my mouth.  Either way, we have a Kick for Health youth outreach today and tomorrow at Taste of Chicago from 4-6 and plenty of time to shred then.  Been skooling routines a lot.  Jay Claffey and his daughter came by the other day to visit me during my lunch shred, that was awesome too.

Inspired by Tricks of the Trade II

EVERYONE in Chicago area should be at Windy City Cup at Navy Pier north entrance today, Sunday, June 20 whether you freestyle or play net, this is the place to be!  10-5... this is possibly the best location for a footbag tournament that footbag net has ever seen in Chicago!  Be there!

A huge storm came through, 100's of thousands of people without power, but our Comcast went out so we had power, but no internet or cable TV.  Why did the storm come through during World Cup?  Anyway, I was looking through my DVD collection, it was early in the morning, and I threw in the Tricks of the Trade II video (if you have VHS, you can get a copy for $5) from World Footbag Association and Kenny Shults.

I am so proud and motivated by the achievements of others.  I am grateful to have been around for many of these milestones.  Not many people watch old footbag videos from past World Championships performances and are brought to tears, but I'm one of them.  Watching the greats like Sam Conlon, Peter Irish and Rippin Rick Reese do the routines that I was busy judging is inspiring to say the least.  Watching Carol Weidemier (sp?) do effortless Blurry Drifters, just amazing.  I took 2nd place behind Rippin' in that Montreal dropless routine he did, and I'm pretty sure I took 2nd behind Peter Irish in that Satellite routine too.  I love this sport!

Watching all my friends do their tricks and having Kenny Shults describe the details is especially helpful to people like me who struggle to grasp the names of some advanced tricks.  It is like having Kenny Shults as my personal coach!  Also, with advanced tricks I can pick apart the technical sequence, but I always forget the street-names of tricks and this video helps me to get the names right.

I saw a bunch more tricks that I would like to perfect, it is such a great video that every mid level player should have it, and every advanced player should study it!  Get your copy of Tricks of the Trade II video today (if you have VHS, you can get a copy for $5) from World Footbag Association and Kenny Shults.  Novice and intermediates should be careful not to try to get to these tricks too quickly.  I firmly believe that part of my longevity has to do with the amount of time I spent on each component of the more advanced tricks and my organic approach toward bettering my game.

Side note: Hey WFA!  How hard would it be to get this video available for digital purchase through iTunes Movie store?  Could be a new revenue stream for you.

To wrap this up, I want to thank all my footbag friends for continuing on this journey of athletic challenges with me!

Shred hard and prosper!

-enlightener

Shred notes: June 19, 2010
It is frustrating to spend 15 minutes on a trick and not hit it.  Quantum is my 'nemesis' (excuse the freestyler pun) these days.  I can't seem to get close.  I need to watch that frame by frame because I am missing something.  I can't skool it too hard because I don't want to cause stress injuries from new movements, so I'll keep working on it periodically.  Been skooling routines and long strings lately, mostly at Mammoth Springs Training Center.

Being 'in the Zone' is really mastering the moment!

Today is 1276 days in a row shredding.

In my most recent post, I focused on being 'in' the moment.  Mostly because upon further analysis, the moment is all we have.  In life and in footbag, being focused on the moment, while having an outline for the future and a fond recollection of the past is what makes a good person great!

When I can complete a trick that has 5 or 6 elements and follow it immediately with a series of other tricks that are similarly difficult, I know that I have mastered that moment, that I was in 'the Zone.'

To reiterate my recent postulation, I feel that my experience with footbag where I am constantly challenging myself to focus as many elements of difficulty into each moment, has helped me to realize that some of my greatest moments are when I'm just enjoying the beach with my family, eating dinner with my parents.  Different situations require varying types of mastery, but recognizing that it is the moment I am in, rather than the moment that is (in theory) coming up, which is truly valuable.

I ask myself as often as possible, how can I master 'this' moment?  I find myself going through this mental exercise more frequently during my conscious hours... In the morning, how can I be more efficient in getting things done around the kitchen while still preparing for work and enjoying it?  How do I get to work?  How can I out-perform at work?  How do I get the most value from my play time (shred sessions)?  What is the implications of my commuting decisions?  How can I be the best dad when I'm around the house in the evenings and weekends?

I think living in the moment, allows me to live without regrets.  So I find myself asking myself, "Self? How can I be 'in the Zone' in every aspect of my life?"

-enlightener

Shred notes: from Thurs, June 17th
Kicked at Mammoth Springs Training Center and worked mostly on routines for the past 2 days.  It has been fun.  Nothing new, but still hitting the barfly ending in cross body rake in many iterations daily.  Skool it baby!

This moment is all we have...

If a footbag freestyle performance isn't a great example of 'living in the moment', then I don't know what is.    From a philosophical perspective all we really have this moment right now.  The past is a memory and the future is merely conjecture.  Time is really the passing of a series of moments in rapid succession.

A footbag freestyle trick takes place in about a second and for most people, that is the equivalent of a moment.  We cram as much action as we can into the moment that a trick takes place in.  Think about it, whether the footbag simply goes from one toe catch or another, or in between delays there were three distinctly unique leg dexterity motions, a half turn and a moving toe pickup like a rake, the same amount of time has passed.  The same moment could be a boring toe delay or it could be a blurriest barfly cross body rake, and then followed by another moment of brilliance, and another.  To achieve multiple motions in a single moment is to master that moment, and I get to do this every single day!

I believe that my life is enriched by this principle.  So many people worry about the future and regret the past.  It is important to make plans to conquer the future, and to fondly remember the past.  Through footbag freestyle, I have really improved my ability to really kick back and enjoy this moment, the only moment that I am guaranteed, the moment I am in right now!

-enlightener

Shred notes for June 2010:

Have been shredding at Great America, Brookfield Zoo, Mammoth Springs Shred Center, Rehm Pool, my double-secret hallway indoor location and at Oak Street Beach.  We've been having a nice summer so far.  Also hit some killer stuff recently...  I have been going through my routine obsessively every day at the end of my shred, but also on alternating days (mostly) I work exclusively on the routine.  What is it called when you do a barfly ending in a cross-body rake?  Well I hit that in blurriest, and spinning varieties.  And on film too. Spent a day just working on threading tricks... hit threading juggles and threaded blurs.  Hit Phobic spinning xross body rake, and a butterfly version of it too.  I have a hell of a video to put together with updates on what I've been working on for the entire spring.  I love this sport!

Threading - Thanks to Gary Lautt!

I have been threading for years now.  It started literally at the VERY beginning of my footbag experience.  It is difficult to put into writing the magnitude of the effect that Gary Lautt had on my understanding of that a freestyle performance is.  Back in 1985, in the early days of VHS, it was rare to use videotape for learning purposes.  It was rare to see any valuable footage of any advanced footbag freestyle at all.  In fact, advanced freestyle at the time did not include the concept of "adds", and did not have any content beyond around-the-worlds and flying clippers.  I am not sure where I saw Gary play, probably at a WFA event associated with Worlds, but to see someone so confidently hit repeated rainbow outside kicks with effortless abandon, and spins ending in inside kicks for an NBA basketball crowd at halftime... it was awe-inspiring.  Everyone in the audience knew exactly what was happening in his performance, they related to it... I related to it.  In a big way!  

This is when I first saw Gary thread the footbag his encircled fingers in-between kicks.  I have to say, that with all of the advancement in footbag freestyle, I still see the value of what Gary's performances offer.  The simplicity of basic kicks with the added difficulty of threading it through his fingers.  It was amazing.  

It was after at least 20 solid years of shredding that I finally started applying the "Lautt-inspired" Threading concept to more advanced tricks.  I wanted to call it the "Lautt" to honor the great-one, but after years of trying, it is better known as "Threading".  I have applied the "Threading" concept to so many different tricks, I should make a list.  


Today I honored Gary by devoting my entire shred (except for the run-thru my worlds routine at the end) to Threading tricks.


Gary Lautt is a great footbag player and an amazing innovator for the sport, and although I don't know him well, I have the greatest respect for Gary.  I consider myself fortunate to be included alongside him in the Footbag Hall of Fame, and I am glad to offer an entire category of trick-modifiers called "Threading" that can be added to just about any trick, 100% inspired by Gary Lautt!


-enlightener


Example of Threading Concept


Shred notes: 6/8/10
It was all Threading, all day today!  I hit new Threading moves including Juggle-thread, which is further out front than comfortable.  It seems that if I do the comfy-thread then the threads are too close to the body, but if I do the comfy-juggle then the threads are more uncomfortable but because the juggle is tantamount, then it is more important to be uncomfortable with threading so far in front of the body to make the juggle more comfy.  Also hit both Gyro Threading Whirls in the same string and each individually several times with the right being ironically dominant.  Successful cross-training!
At the end of it all, I did a 3-drop version of my Worlds routine with about 75% accuracy vs. intent.


Footbag freestyle!  'This is not your fathers' Hacky Sack®"

Footbag Freestyle keeps the mind fresh and the body young!

I suppose all the gray hair is a telling sign of the uncontrollable elements of the aging process.  While there may be some genetic certainties, I believe that I am living proof that footbag freestyle is like a fountain of youth in taking care of the variables not predetermined by genetics.  It is not only the vigorous exercise element of advanced footbag freestyle, which is comparable to the cardiovascular requirements of high-impact aerobics... but also the mental aspect that requires a high level of creativity to create new tricks and strings of tricks which is not a requirement of most other sports.  It is the combination of the constant challenge of improving my physical performance and the constant mental challenges that not only keep the body looking and feeling young, but keep my mind engaged in the creative aspect of trick creation and string building.  While other sports like running, cycling and other forms of vigorous exercise include the exercise part but lack in variety.  Runners and cyclists can take different routes, but it is still just the same motions over and over.  Footbag freestylers use their entire body in hundreds of different positions and on both sides of their bodies.  The whole-body requirements combined with the mental challenges of innovation are what set our sport apart from others.

It is a joy to play footbag everyday, I truly believe it is large part of my great appreciation of life. I wish I could play more with my shredding friends, but I am satisfied that I get to play alone on such a regular basis.  It is an honor and a pleasure to know so many great people who are involved in this sport.  Playing since 1984, I never would have thought I'd be where I am today, but without this sport...  well lets just say that "Footbag keeps the mind fresh and the body young!"

-enlightener

Shred Notes: 6/2/2010
I've hit some more fun stuff, new for me at least.  I have much on tape and will release a spring update video soon.  Today was fairy ducking mirage, fairy ducking butterfly, fairy ducking cross-body rake, fairy diving osis.  Other great stuff too, and a pretty good run through my routine.