Chris Tristano

[boyle]

Great to hear you've got an apartment lined up. Brunswick is a cool area. Hopefully some more of the freestyle football guys will get into footbag, I think it's a good opportunity for some fresh players. Which we definitely need in Australia.

[christisgodlike]

I had a great session on Sunday! I kicked at federation square with four freestyle footballers. Only two of them footbagged though. Jordan and Karl. I think they took a liking to it. Jordan had a huge bag that he got from Daniel Boyle. They had decent skills. By the end iof the session they were hitting mirages bsos and legovers. Jordan hit 3 consecutive clippers and some clipper>mirages. I ended up lending Karl one of my bags so he can practice. That's what helped me get into it so I hope it will for them. They are like 17 or 16 so that would be sweet if they started now and get good. They're almost done with school for the summer so hopefully they'll be able to kick more often.

So like I said I had a very good session. New PRs, new moves, and lengthy strings.

Highlights:
25x ss clippers strong side PR
26 contact alternating ss ATW strong side PR
lots of dynos
flip side pixie muted crossbody rake (new move)
paradon (woot!)
pixie op dyno (my first 5, I landed twice!!)

Lots of double Dex moves mid string also. Got close to diving. Had some nice ducking clippers. Good day to kick with new people.

Ohh yeah and I think I'm going to post more tricks on instagram so follow me or let me know your tag: christisgodlike

[christisgodlike]

It's been a while. I had a lot going on. Did some Backpacker livin' which was wild. Beer pong, trivia, bingo etc. Lots of drinking. I tried kicking one day and I failed. I couldn't even hold my balance. Then I moved into the new crib which is swank as hell. So swank that I forgot to kick all week (i was actually just feeling under the weather).

Today I did some badge stuff which proved difficult because my legs were weak from not playing for so long. I got stuck on same side Illusions. I have never tried them before and they are actually kinda hard. I got 3x a few times.

Level 1 requirements completed today:

mixed stalls x20, use all 3 stalls BS at least twice.
legover x6
orbit x4 BS
pickup x6
around-the-world x4 BS
mirage x4 BS
same mirage x6
illusion x3 BS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F27mRfyI0Y

[christisgodlike]

Long session today...Worked on a lot of random things that I cannot remember. Did a little more of the badge stuff. I can juggle two bags on one foot now. I hit 10 contacts on my right and 5 on my left. I think I worked on it for over an hour. It felt like a long time. i then went back to trying the same side illusions (4x...Got it!). Also got a PR for infinity (6x!!!). My Pixie sets were very high today. I was able to duck one of them ( but I didn't land anything afterwards). My ducking clippers also felt stronger. Good session overall.

Highlights:
2 bags toe juggle 10x right, 5x left
infinity PR 6x (also a badge requirement)
same side illusions 4x PR (badge requirement)

[boyle]

Great stuff on the 2 bag juggling...I am really bad at that. Living the wild backpacker life can be fun (for a bit), but as you can see, can give troubles for the shred. Where are you living now? You guys seem to have lucked out on accommodation so far!

[christisgodlike]

boyle: We are living in Brunswick. This girl's room mate is gone for the summer so we lucked out. Cool area though. Lots of live music around here. Might try an open mic night at some point.

[Kylescook]

Props on getting two bag juggling. I've spent an hour or so trying it over the last week or two and it sure is tough. Props on the PR for infinity too I have a really hard time getting past the 5th contact.

[boyle]

Brunswick is cool, fun area. Plenty of live music, well pretty much everywhere. Venues are always closing down, but new ones usually pop up to replace them. What kind of music are you into?

[christisgodlike]

boyle: Alot I think. Psychedelic Punk/Pop/folk, Experimental, Electronic, ambient, reggae etc. I usually say I like "good" music when people ask me that.

I had another good session today.

Highlights:

4x SS butterfly BS PR
-My first time ever trying same side butterflies. I got 4x on both sides which satisfies the badge requirements. I also did the 10x dex string which was much easier than the butterflies.
Blender!! (new move)
-Strange thing is I got this on my weak clipper side. This side I can't dyno yet (right leg clipper)
REVERSE SWIRL both sides woot woot!
-Landed a bunch of them. I got some footage of it but its all in slow mo.

Here's some footy highlights which include yesterdays juggling and infinities and ss illusions and all today's stuff.
http://youtu.be/_V-mXpZA2cQ

[boyle]

Reverse swirls are great, definitely one of my favourite tricks. You got any plans for your time in Melbourne? Going to start working soon? Definitely more fun to just keep kicking! Two dates for your calendar if you're interested in a big of footbag related travel, the weekend just before Christmas, Dyalan Govender will be down here (Canberra) from Sydney and we will be kicking, then on the Australia Day weekend (just before Jan 26), we will have a get together in Narooma, a small town on the NSW south coast, we do this most years and it is great, very relaxing.

I am hoping for a Melbourne trip in the near future, but I haven't got anything on the horizon, I don't know my roster far enough in advance. Definitely have to get together for a kick soon.

[christisgodlike]

Boyle: We were supposed to have started looking for jobs by now but we are slacking . We are definitely going to be hanging here for at least 3 months. We were looking at some vehicle rentals for both of the weekends and it is looking like December might be a stretch on the bank account. We are looking at Narooma and that seems much more doable. Where do you guys stay while you're there? Are there any sleeping accommodations that I should consider?

[boyle]

Depends how many are coming, I'd imagine it won't be a big get together, if so we could all stay at Copey's family's house. We will probably get a room at the YHA with the baby. It's definitely worth doing the coast drive from Melbourne to Narooma (and on to Sydney if you like). It's a place not so many people go to, really worth a look. Also where I grew up so I can show you around a bit.

I did a pretty good trip there with Andrew Grant from Canada after the Narooma Jam in 2009.

On music, it's too bad The Arthouse isn't still around, that was the best venue in Melbourne, especially for punk/metal/hardcore. The Tote is pretty good with a variety of bands, and that area is pretty good for bands.

[christisgodlike]

It will probably just be Kim and I. We looked at YHA also. We may just go to the Dalmeny campsite. It's pretty cheap. But if they have an extra room we will snag that. If it's couch or floor sleeping we will hit up a campsite most likely.

I'll definitely check out the Tote hotel at some point. It looks pretty cool.

[christisgodlike]

Good session!

So the badge has already started to payoff. My butterfly's are 'infinit[l]y' better . I started trying to link tricks together to starting with butterfly. I was surprised by how many I pulled off that I couldn't before. This was partially inspired by the swirl world videos blog that demonstrated many 2 trick links. I realize that I have been focusing more on the individual tricks than what I can do into and out of the ones I have already. I think that this is because the tricks I am learning now are much more difficult (and I haven't perfected them). Before I could learn a new trick then immediately add it into a string and I wouldn't think twice about it (ya know, the baby stuff). But now I have all these tougher moves and I can't string them together. So that's where I am at.

I took a break from the badge stuff today on purpose. It's only so much fun standing in front of a camera doing a certain trick repeatedly until you've conquered it.

Highlights:

swirl BSOS

-new links

butterfly>swirl BS
butterfly>ripwalk BS (yeah baby)
butterfly>paradox mirage>op butterfly>paradox mirage
butterfly>near pickup>op butterfly> near pickup

-new moves

parkwalk (pixie ss butterfly? I think)
pixie ss LO

Swirls are feeling much better. I still can't control it enough to do anything out of it but the butterfly>swirls were fairly consistent. I actually was messing around and got really close to a reverse swirl pick up thing (rev up I believe?) I also got a couple more reverse swirls but not in strings unfortunately.

[boyle]

Looks like all that training is paying off! Great stuff.

[christisgodlike]

Had an ok session today.

So when I used to skate heavily I hurt my right ankle pretty bad. Hyper extended it and tore some ligaments and things. It has never healed completely and it is bothering me cause my right leg (catch) clippers suck. They roll off cause I can't angle my foot so it is flat. And I am not talking the crank direction. The best way for me to describe it is to look straight down on your right foot and rotate it counter clockwise. My right foot won't turn in as much as my left. I am definitely a right foot dominant player until it comes to clippers because they aren't as consistent as my left. Some days are better than others but as of recent I can't do more than 8 consecutive ss clippers(and that's after a lot of tries). I think because of this ankle issue I am going to have to have a very specific and consistent bag location on my right foot clipper(less room for error). So I just need to vent this because I am progressing much faster with left foot clippers ( swirls, rev swirls, whirls, dynos, osis) than my right foot. My main goal in footbag is to be both-sided and this is severely restricting it. I am sure I will figure it out though.

So I think I've discovered today that my rev swirls are much better than my swirls. They feel more consistent and round. I can definitely see myself using them in strings in the near future. My swirls are kind of sloppy and not round. I'm gonna have to figure them out.

Highlights:

new links:
butterfly>reverse swirl (right foot clipper) EDIT: I meant BS

new move:
sidewalk? (stepping ss butterfly)

I did a lot of straight shredding today and it felt pretty good. I just want some more moves that I can actually use in strings.

The thirst is real!

[MetZelRio]

I'm with you there Chris, that whole ankle not healing right from skateboarding and stuff.
Sidewalk, yep.

Yeah, dude ain't it something about the hunger and thirst for improvement and consistency in this sport... like its trying to run your life...

[boyle]

You've really got the fire in your belly! That's awesome. Juho Marjo is arriving in Australia tonight, he's going to be in Melbourne when the tennis is on, you should definitely try and get in a kick with him. You should also go to the tennis, it's a fun event.

[christisgodlike]

metzelrio: Yeah man! I haven't been looking for work because of footbag.

boyle: Yeah! Get me in touch with if you can. That would be awesome!

So I went back to badge stuff today. I FINISHED the level 1 badge....but my phone died when I landed the final clipper>pincher>pickup. So aggravating (not really)! I'll get it tomorrow. I extended my session just to try and finish it. I played constant for 3 1/2 hours by my lonesome (woah). I usually play for 2 hrs but woof! My legs are on fire. I blame it on the osises(?). I was working on them for about an hour. I improved greatly! I was bitching in my last post about my right foot clippers and today I found the sweet spot!!! So now I can actually set out of osis with my right foot. It's very exciting. But we will see if it will hold out.

Highlights:

osis x6 PR

new strings:

butterfly>whirl>reverse swirl (what?!)
toe stall > knee stall BS
toe stall > lap stall
toe stall > neck stall
clipper > flying clipper > toe stall BS
clipper > pincher > pickup BS

new moves:

neck stall
pincher flipside
knee stall BS

tomorrow I'll be the owner of a shiny new digital badge (well whenever it gets reviewed and all that ish)

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Homeslice hitting rev Swirls already? I approve of this. Props on finishing the level 1 badge. That's awesome. Onto level 2 now.. I like where your game is going.