-=Silencer=-

[boats]

Riki Oh is sweet! so much gore going on in that movie. I think Bruce and I have also thought of that part in the movie, "try harder now Riki", when we talk about your advice to try harder

[Lycanthrope]

"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. When you have fun, you can do amazing things" -Joe Namath


My brother gave my mother a calendar for a gift for Christmas, I believe. The artist, Rob Gonsalves really muddles different objects together to make them become each other, and it is wonderful. I'm a big fan. I hope you enjoy it. I thought this one was particularly interesting. My father made my nephew, Cooper, read a few chapters of a book before he was allowed to play on a tablet.



I woke up to a bunch of online activity. Cassie Taylor said that one of my previous posts had motivated her, and that made me happy to have a positive impact on her. After my quick online adventures, I went out and ran a mile on an empty stomach. If I had food in me, it would be too easy

I came home and made myself a feta/chives omelette that I learned to make from a German footbag player named Jan when I was staying at his place for Hamburg Jam last year. I will try to shred here, shortly, and although my legs are infinitely dead from training hard yesterday, I will just kick and try to have fun today. Some basics and stuff. 30-60 minutes..

When I was in Cali last weekend, Jeremy, my best friend, and I were throwing frisbee on the shoreline and having fun. I think being 'like water' involves the Ebb and Flow of the tide. That is why I don't desire to push hard today. The 'golden ratio' of fun and work definitely requires fun to move past plateaus. Also, when I aim to have fun instead of push hard, my variety changes significantly and I become a more well rounded player.

One final thought: Jim Fitzgerald, the president of Flying Clipper Footbags, has donated $100 to my crowdfunding campaign today. What a great guy. I have been receiving plenty of sponsored goods from footbag companies in recent years, and his phat tyre bags are impressive. He has sent me a whole crate of various product for me to use how I will.. I hope to sell some of these and hand off some business cards in hopes that I can help support him as well. I feel that footbag players are not great at giving back to sponsors, so that's definitely a direction in which I would like to head.

I hope this blog is not boring to you. If you have any tips on how to improve it, please let me know.

[Lycanthrope]

Today primarily consisted of playing with my nieces and nephew and sleeping, but for some reason I can't get footbag off of my mind today. All I want to do is play.

Most players at this point would say, play ever single day and make the most of every session to train, but rest is extremely important. I pretty much never take two days off in a row during training season, but I definitely take one 24 hour day off to rest sometimes to help regrow my spirit and broken down muscles. And I like to rest super hard. For this type of day, I really try not to slip into bad eating habits or anything like that, but I try to sleep a ton and do something physically and mentally relaxing. X X

Some video games might not fall into the mentally relaxing category.. By mentally relaxing I mean taking a hot shower, having some tea, watching television or reading leisurely, spending time with loved ones, or meditating under a tree somewhere. I find a lot of value in my rest days. Play hard Rest hard. Not at the same time.



I keep thinking about that movie, Big Fish. At the very beginning of the movie, they mention something about how if you contain a gold fish in a small bowl then the fish will only grow to a very small size; but if you contain the same type of fish in a massive aquarium then it can reach much larger sizes.



I've been wondering if my trip to Europe allowed me to grow more than when I was staying at home in a much 'smaller habitat'. If so, I hope this years trip will allow me to grow just as much.

[h0ag3yb3atZ]

Big Fish is the shit and so are you. I've seen definite growth in you since boston jam '12-now, just as much mentally as shred wise.

Thanks for the introspect Ev.

[Lycanthrope]

Thanks for the positivity, Hogan. It would be cool to see more of you, Matt Kemmer, and Nick Polini in circles together. Are you going to worlds this year?

[Lycanthrope]

Here are a couple gems from a post worlds session last year. Let me know if you have trouble viewing. They are from google photos... ENJOY

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zzQTh2 ... sp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/open?id=12vJ_8 ... authuser=0

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FjXQj ... authuser=0

[Max Power]

The first one worked for me put the other two didn't. I'm enjoying your bog, it's so swampy, I feel like a swamp monster could appear at any moment...

[Lycanthrope]

Alright, I think I've opened up the privacy settings for those links. I'm not sure if I have to reshare them, or if they will just work now for no reason.

[Kylescook]

The links worked for me. I love the unlimited potential of growth in footbag. Swirling Double Blender is very cool, inspiring even. props.

[Lycanthrope]

Thanks, Kyle.

So I'm in Polandia right now at Anna's house, and things seem to have never been this good. I've been taking a lot of notes on my journey, so expect a fat block of text and photos one of these days.

Also, I wanted to thank the footbag community for embracing me as a friend and colleague. I appreciate everything that you have done for me and let me become. Thank you.

[Lycanthrope]

Today I watched Raging Bull. Supposedly one of the best movies of all time. I have no reason to disagree. I enjoyed it as art and entertainment value. I can relate with the main character.

Yesterday I watched True Grit. I am not usually a fan of the Coen brothers' movies... I'm not even a fan of the Big Lebowski really. It was just too strange and lacked solid plot in my opinion. I've only watched it once which may be the problem. I didn't care for Fight Club the first time around either.

I was scrolling through the footblog list and came upon Anssi's. It's a shame he was injured during the tour. It made me think about this falling out that many players have. Some would say that it would be obviously because there is no reason to play footbag. There is no money or prizes in it. I would have to disagree.

At worlds 2011 in Helsinki when all of the competition was over I remember a talk that I had with Jeremy Mirkin. He told me about a theory that when players get really good really quickly then they end up quitting quickly as well. I wonder if it's because they push too hard. It reminds me of the quote, "The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long."

Ken and I were chatting last time he was in town, and my second place routine came up. He asked me if there was anything more that I could have done. Of course there was, but you can always say that you could have prepared more. I could have not drank wine last night with Anna. I could have practiced 12 hours today instead of 2 hours.

I really believe that we require balance of pleasure and pain, or perhaps the most successful athletes are somewhat massochistic. Lon doesn't seem to take footbag too seriously, and maybe that's how he is still playing. Ken does take footbag very seriously, but he is still playing. It seems that there is no real mold to fit yet, but I'm sure there eventually will be one.

[Lycanthrope]

Last time I was in Poland, I had just come off of the tour in which I was never alone. I felt like I finally had a footbag team, but after travelling with them, then staying at a hostel for a while, it was a huge relief to stay at Anna's with either just the two of us or just myself. This time around, I am much more lonely. Yesterday it was almost to the point of depression.

Usually it's a challenge to find a good inlet for friendships, but here, since nobody really speaks much English, I am even more challenged than ever. I've been working a bit on my Polish, and I've realized how much I learned last year.

Oh, yeah. this is a footblog. /rant

I had a really fun session this morning at this new little park that is being built a half a mile away or so. There is a little creek and trees and children playing in small playgrounds, and a basketball court which has a skate park built into it. It's lovely. I enjoyed my session most definitely. My music was on random, and I kept on getting good songs somehow.

My most notable link that I was working on was
datw > pixie muted swirl > whir > ripstein > double pickup > rpt

It felt good. Eclipses are feeling good too. I hit my sick 3 from worlds last year too. Some random Polish dude was passing and said, "dobra jest" which means, "it's good." His little phrase sounded kind of like blurriest to me. #freestyle problems.

[boyle]

It's great you have a blog Evan. I felt when I first got to Chile that playing a bit of footbag each day was something that was a real positive in my day. It was something where it's just you and the bag. It doesn't matter about any language issues, you don't need anyone else and it can be good to let of some pressure from the day.

On the money and prizes, it's an interesting topic, but I think most people play for more than that. I think most people realise from the time they find their way on to forums like this, that there is no money to be gained. In things like skating, people are looking to be sponsored, and then if they get really good, then they might make a pile of cash, but I don't think anyone is expecting that in footbag.

Only once you get to that top level, you might think - I should be winning prize money, I should be getting flown to tournaments. Etc. I think the reality is our organisation overall is pretty poor. This is because it's mainly players doing the organisation. There are not other promoters etc.

There is one guy in freestyle football in Australia and he does pretty much everything, you can see that he is after the payday which will eventually come (he's doing a lot off his own back now, but that will pay off in the end), but I think most promoters may think that in footbag there is no payday coming.

I think you are right on people getting very good very fast, then that curve of improvement drops away, and people lose interest. It's the same curve of improvement that puts many people off in the first place, they are not seeing results for their efforts.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Your comment about "why play when it doesn't pay" really made me think. I just feel like it's in me, ya know? Like once it's in you, it's in you.

It's a shame though, because some freestyle footballers just stand in front of a fucking sign with a ball and get paid. I feel like footbag will get poppin again with the remarketing from Hacky Sack. Maybe. Maybe not.

Either way, you've got great style. I've been practicing what you told me last month and it's really helping so far. My run length is increasing and I'm gaining more variety within each run. Thanks for that chat.

Peace man.

Sent from my C6916 using Tapatalk

[C-Fan]

Lon doesn't seem to take footbag too seriously, and maybe that's how he is still playing. .

I was listening to an NBA podcast this week, and the subject came up of how insane it is that LeBron was averaging 47 minutes a game, and still producing averages of 41 pts, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. The guy running the podcast then said something like: "the normal rules of basketball do not apply to LeBron." The implication being that he is a freak, an outlier, and something we may never see again in our lifetimes. I definitely feel like that applies to Lon in footbag too.

Like once it's in you, it's in you.

That poor hamster.

[Lycanthrope]

Haha. I am enjoying your responses.

Yeah, Daniel. I know what you mean by footbag giving you daily clarity and relieving some pressure from the daily. I feel myself wanting to quit when I overpressure myself, but footbag does give me a lot. And about the money: a couple years ago I might agree that there was little promise in it, but your funding for the Eurotour really made me feel like my hard work paid off. I feel that hard work always pays off in the end if you stay true and focused. It may not seem like it sometimes, but in the long term I believe that work pays almost indefinitely.

I think we need more players in general. Video games pay mostly because of the vast number of players. Although the prize pools are millions of dollars, the prizes divided by the number of players is probably about the same payout as footbag per player.

I'm happy that I could help you out, Nick. You're doing a lot for the sport, and if I can support you supporting the sport, then it's a win win.

I enjoyed the Lebron not being bound topic. =insert kinkiness here, Ken= I think we bind ourselves by imaginary limits far too often. I find that we box ourselves in by what has already been done, and it's completely unnecessary.

[Add Block]

When millions of people play a sport, the only people who win are the freaks of nature, the winners of the genetic lottery.

You're one of the best players in the world, and practice hard, but if there was a million of us, there's probably be at least 10 Vašek like players who can just shred 8 hours a day a learn 5 new tricks during that time.
There's no money is our sport, but you can always be the best if you're hardworking. You can't say that about any commercial sport, especially ones like basketball.

[boyle]

I am glad the tour got some inspiration and motivation as well as a feeling if reward for hard work invested. That was the main point of getting it going.

I would love to eventually get something going on a world level. I have a couple of ideas on that, but that will be some way off.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Lycanthrope]

I don't think genetic predisposition plays nearly the same role in footbag as someone's heart and soul in the long run. I would think that the first person that comes to mind would be Vasek. Everyone thought that he was so blessed, and that his genetics were the best and that's why he was the best, but I would bet a lot that he has sweated more buckets of sweat than any of us. He had very clear focus and goals too. And maybe there would be 10 Vaseks, but maybe there would be one Goku then. If this is the case, then how many Vojtas would there be? How many Gatesmans? Yes, this is theoretical and rhetorical

Let's take Olaf Piwowar's case as an example. Genetic advantage? Most definitely. Extremely hard working as well, no doubt. His advantage fell off after he injured himself several times, though. Maybe this goes back to the candle burning twice as bright burns half as long quote.

About the money thing. It's hard to show off your aim when others have yet to see the targets. Hard work almost always pays off in the end. It's fate, it's karma, it's thought projection. I'm not sure exactly how to define it.

Daniel, I'm very happy to have taken part in your last big project, and I hope to take part in your future projects. We had a lot of fun, and there are many more good times to have.


There is definitely some ideal balance of fun and seriousness to be found.

[Lycanthrope]

Today is a rest day for me. I'll be stretching a lot. Maybe taking a stroll through the park and going for a short walk in the park or tossing some frisbee will be the extent of my physical activity. Therefore, I will be teasing you guys with some of Anna's cooking pictures =D

One thing I've been trying to improve in my game is my diet. Here are some culinary masterpieces that I've been indulging in:


Yogurt parfait with mint leaf and fruit:


Zurek soup. "It's not a pretty soup," she says, but it's so delicious. It translates as sour rye soup, but it's so delicious. It has veggies and sausage in it. If you're looking to spice up your kitchen, this is the way. Yumm!


When Ken was in town, we went to Ichiza, a very traditional Japanese restaurant. One of the best things that we had was bacon wrapper asparagus. Less on the healthy side, but even more tasty! We put some parm cheese and black pepper on it. Simple to make and amazing.


Best girl ever.

Yesterday was so good, that I'm worried about today being relatively worse. We ran for 8 miles. Afterward I was definitely feeling the runner's high. I wonder why I don't get a post footbag high. Does anybody get that? I had a short session maybe 45-60 minutes. I did some drills. 25 barflies, 28 contacts of spinning clipper > gyro clipper, and a few other drills.

We went to the forest and had a romantic evening. She made blueberry chocolate muffins, and we drank red wine. It was fantastico. /tease