Omen's Doo'hicky
Omen's Doo'hicky
I hope this works right, was unsure how to start it
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
Ahh, so it works, cool. I have been considering starting this thing for a while but couldn't find the time. However, today I found myself with a free 3 hours so I figured why not now?
Here is my story:
I started Hacky Sack based on a friend telling me I was good at it in November 02 (10th grade for me). I would hacky sack at school all lunch and thought I was the shit for my around the world kicks. Near the end of 10th grade I found out, Josh Mouser, a good old friend of mine from middle school was good at hacking it up. So me, thinking I was the shit decided to hang with him one day to try and show him up. What a mistake, however fortunate it was. Back then it was just mirages but I soon found my place under him.
That summer I got into it, trying moves that he and friend (now my good friend) Danny Williams could show me. Basically these were terrible mirages and clippers but I was hypnotized fer sher. One day they mentioned the word "flipsider" a few times. When I questioned what it was, they told me to look at flipsider.com when I got home.
When I saw this all the stuff flipsider had too offer I almost fainted. What a cool sport. I found a link to Worldfootbag and bought Tricks of the Trade 1 the next day. That summer it was just clippers and pendulems but I was ok with that. Also that summer I bought some leather lavers 2 sizes too big.... what a kid I was back then, dumb and stupid....
So anyway, things slowly continued on, I still hacky sacked but now I could drive! So one day Josh called me up and said, "Dude, there is a huge fest tomorow, lets go", I had no problems with it so I agree'd and the next morning around 8, I picked up Josh and Danny and we went to the 2nd Annual Seattle Footbag and Juggling Festival. It was one of the best days of my life, I seriosuly loved every minute and I decided right then and there that I was all about footbag, no more hacky sack. At that festival I gave Peter Irish Props and 4 sqaured with Daryl Genz, I had no idea who they were until I saw them in the public show that Saturday night. That was November of 03, my 11th grade year.
A couple weeks after I went to Mountlake Terrace High School for some kicking, Josh had invited me to come check out their best, Ricky Moran, Justin Dale, Miles Kelly, and many, many other advanced kickers. Turned out it was a Rain City Shred session back when they used to meet at MTHS. Seeing these kicker totally discouraged me and when I joined a circle I didn't really do anything. I felt soo dumb being there and not being able to do anything close to them that I didn't go to many meetings and even quit kicking all-together that winter.
Late winter, around early Febuary and whatnot I decided to give footbag another shot when I picked up my bag and did a mirage... well almost. I got online and ordered some Mesh Lavers that were my size, blue. I started showing up and meetings and kicking 24/7 again, it felt good and was the best decision I ever made. I started hitting up sessions in Seattle about 3 times a week.
Time moved on and I was advancing slowy yet learning key basics, fundamentles and Ideas such as "patience, and hard work". That summer of 04 is when I really started to advance quickly, my pixies were really good on my right side due to all those ATW's from hacky sack, I took advantage of that and started double dex moves, I remember my exact thoughts were "shit, I didn't think of doing that after my pixie".
All I kept hearing that summer was "Do it Flipside" and I am glad I did, I learned leg over, pick up and an "iffy" mirage both sides along with clippers on both sides and a right side butterfly. Near mid summer, I started rakes and ducks then then as well and started linking moves together.
Late summer was kind, it seemed every session I could see myself progressing, I was doing Atomics and everything was getting better on both sides. I then heard Chris Pinkus, a bad ass kicker from Cali was coming up to visit us and wanted to kick, his timing was perfect, he came right in on a three day Music Fest at Alki Beach in west Seattle. I kicked all three days with him, about 5 hours each day, I loved it. After he left I was still somehow able to lift my legs so I tried butterflies, something I figured I wouldn't ever be able to hit and that night I linked 2 to make an infinity! It was amazing in itself but also that night I started hitting huge steps on both sides, something I really hadn't tried much at all before. I learned then that every session can be significant, and kicking with new and advanced people can make you better in a heartbeat.
I continued on this path for a bit, figuring out that I love footbag, its my life and the friends I had made are friends I am going to have for life. I discovered life principals that have helped me every day since to be open mided and positive because anything is possible. TALK ABOUT AN EPIPHANY!
Anywho, I heard there was an Oregon shred session going down in September and told Josh and Danny immediatly about it. They were in and it was our first Road Trip as the "Montlake Crew". Three hours of singing at the top of our lungs to TBS and talking about random life issues, it was the best. We arrived in Portland and met Red Husted, Nate Linscott and many many other really good kickers from all over Oregon and Cali. We didnt actually kick for long but I tried spins that day, turns out they were pretty decent but still needed alot of work. We actually kicked a lot by ourselves that day, we didn't want to bother the good kickers in the other circle competing for who could get 50 contacts first, so we stayed in our own..... sucks we had to travel 200 miles for that but hey, it wasn't all about kicking, it was about getting out on the road, getting out of Washington and seeing new places. After hanging at Red's for a while we departed and went home, but not before stopping in Olympia and kicking for an hour.
A few days later I tried spins again and was spinning so fast I was hitting myself in the face with the bag. Another example of a significant session helping with my personal improvment.
Soon after that I started talking to Ricky more, turns out he is a lot cooler than I thought and even though injured wasn't a gimp. Ricky, Josh, Danny and myself sessioned a few times with him at Top Foods and he was still amazing. He told me some tips of his for spins and they helped, a day after that second session with him I hit, Spinning Osis, Spinning Butterfly, Spinning Mirage and many others. I was mad happy with where I was but wanted more. I knew my Osis's were not strong at all so I went to Ricky's one night and he helped me with them, within a few days I had them almost down on both sides.
I thought Osis would help my spins..... it didn't, it actually messed them up horribly. One night I was doing double spinning toe stalls, the next I couldn't spin at all. It was sad, I was sad.
This pretty much brings us to the present, or at least whenever this entry was written. My spins are back thank god, and they are better too, still havn't done double spins again though, I don't know how I was doing those when I was.... guess I am just magical.
What is happening now:
I just found out the secret to reverse Whirl last night and started doing reverse blenders. I am still working on flipside for those but my knee's cant take it. My steps are even and I almost hit a Stepping Duck a while back. My pixies on my good side can go as high as I wish and I am working on my flip for those, they are indeed getting there though.
A couple months back, Miles Kelly who stated he was going to quit footbag to pursue other things in life gave me his New Balances CT300's, perfectly Mod'ed and ready to kick in, they are what I use and am best in these days. He also gave me some videos and I am eternally greatfull to him for that and for being a good friend/footbag mentor. He is still around and will kick every now and then for fun but he is pretty much out of the sport for good. I am sad he is gone but happy he is doing things to make him better and happy with himself.
I still kick with Josh and Danny when I can but I work these days and have classes, I am in college now due to dropping out, getting a diploma and starting college early. I got a good dose of life and found out I can't kick all the time. I havn't been to a Seattle session in months, its all been local sessions since last summer.
Other than that thats my story and some recent updates of where I am at. I will try to udate a bunch but only when I can.
And yes, I know..... "I wrote a book".
Here is my story:
I started Hacky Sack based on a friend telling me I was good at it in November 02 (10th grade for me). I would hacky sack at school all lunch and thought I was the shit for my around the world kicks. Near the end of 10th grade I found out, Josh Mouser, a good old friend of mine from middle school was good at hacking it up. So me, thinking I was the shit decided to hang with him one day to try and show him up. What a mistake, however fortunate it was. Back then it was just mirages but I soon found my place under him.
That summer I got into it, trying moves that he and friend (now my good friend) Danny Williams could show me. Basically these were terrible mirages and clippers but I was hypnotized fer sher. One day they mentioned the word "flipsider" a few times. When I questioned what it was, they told me to look at flipsider.com when I got home.
When I saw this all the stuff flipsider had too offer I almost fainted. What a cool sport. I found a link to Worldfootbag and bought Tricks of the Trade 1 the next day. That summer it was just clippers and pendulems but I was ok with that. Also that summer I bought some leather lavers 2 sizes too big.... what a kid I was back then, dumb and stupid....
So anyway, things slowly continued on, I still hacky sacked but now I could drive! So one day Josh called me up and said, "Dude, there is a huge fest tomorow, lets go", I had no problems with it so I agree'd and the next morning around 8, I picked up Josh and Danny and we went to the 2nd Annual Seattle Footbag and Juggling Festival. It was one of the best days of my life, I seriosuly loved every minute and I decided right then and there that I was all about footbag, no more hacky sack. At that festival I gave Peter Irish Props and 4 sqaured with Daryl Genz, I had no idea who they were until I saw them in the public show that Saturday night. That was November of 03, my 11th grade year.
A couple weeks after I went to Mountlake Terrace High School for some kicking, Josh had invited me to come check out their best, Ricky Moran, Justin Dale, Miles Kelly, and many, many other advanced kickers. Turned out it was a Rain City Shred session back when they used to meet at MTHS. Seeing these kicker totally discouraged me and when I joined a circle I didn't really do anything. I felt soo dumb being there and not being able to do anything close to them that I didn't go to many meetings and even quit kicking all-together that winter.
Late winter, around early Febuary and whatnot I decided to give footbag another shot when I picked up my bag and did a mirage... well almost. I got online and ordered some Mesh Lavers that were my size, blue. I started showing up and meetings and kicking 24/7 again, it felt good and was the best decision I ever made. I started hitting up sessions in Seattle about 3 times a week.
Time moved on and I was advancing slowy yet learning key basics, fundamentles and Ideas such as "patience, and hard work". That summer of 04 is when I really started to advance quickly, my pixies were really good on my right side due to all those ATW's from hacky sack, I took advantage of that and started double dex moves, I remember my exact thoughts were "shit, I didn't think of doing that after my pixie".
All I kept hearing that summer was "Do it Flipside" and I am glad I did, I learned leg over, pick up and an "iffy" mirage both sides along with clippers on both sides and a right side butterfly. Near mid summer, I started rakes and ducks then then as well and started linking moves together.
Late summer was kind, it seemed every session I could see myself progressing, I was doing Atomics and everything was getting better on both sides. I then heard Chris Pinkus, a bad ass kicker from Cali was coming up to visit us and wanted to kick, his timing was perfect, he came right in on a three day Music Fest at Alki Beach in west Seattle. I kicked all three days with him, about 5 hours each day, I loved it. After he left I was still somehow able to lift my legs so I tried butterflies, something I figured I wouldn't ever be able to hit and that night I linked 2 to make an infinity! It was amazing in itself but also that night I started hitting huge steps on both sides, something I really hadn't tried much at all before. I learned then that every session can be significant, and kicking with new and advanced people can make you better in a heartbeat.
I continued on this path for a bit, figuring out that I love footbag, its my life and the friends I had made are friends I am going to have for life. I discovered life principals that have helped me every day since to be open mided and positive because anything is possible. TALK ABOUT AN EPIPHANY!
Anywho, I heard there was an Oregon shred session going down in September and told Josh and Danny immediatly about it. They were in and it was our first Road Trip as the "Montlake Crew". Three hours of singing at the top of our lungs to TBS and talking about random life issues, it was the best. We arrived in Portland and met Red Husted, Nate Linscott and many many other really good kickers from all over Oregon and Cali. We didnt actually kick for long but I tried spins that day, turns out they were pretty decent but still needed alot of work. We actually kicked a lot by ourselves that day, we didn't want to bother the good kickers in the other circle competing for who could get 50 contacts first, so we stayed in our own..... sucks we had to travel 200 miles for that but hey, it wasn't all about kicking, it was about getting out on the road, getting out of Washington and seeing new places. After hanging at Red's for a while we departed and went home, but not before stopping in Olympia and kicking for an hour.
A few days later I tried spins again and was spinning so fast I was hitting myself in the face with the bag. Another example of a significant session helping with my personal improvment.
Soon after that I started talking to Ricky more, turns out he is a lot cooler than I thought and even though injured wasn't a gimp. Ricky, Josh, Danny and myself sessioned a few times with him at Top Foods and he was still amazing. He told me some tips of his for spins and they helped, a day after that second session with him I hit, Spinning Osis, Spinning Butterfly, Spinning Mirage and many others. I was mad happy with where I was but wanted more. I knew my Osis's were not strong at all so I went to Ricky's one night and he helped me with them, within a few days I had them almost down on both sides.
I thought Osis would help my spins..... it didn't, it actually messed them up horribly. One night I was doing double spinning toe stalls, the next I couldn't spin at all. It was sad, I was sad.
This pretty much brings us to the present, or at least whenever this entry was written. My spins are back thank god, and they are better too, still havn't done double spins again though, I don't know how I was doing those when I was.... guess I am just magical.
What is happening now:
I just found out the secret to reverse Whirl last night and started doing reverse blenders. I am still working on flipside for those but my knee's cant take it. My steps are even and I almost hit a Stepping Duck a while back. My pixies on my good side can go as high as I wish and I am working on my flip for those, they are indeed getting there though.
A couple months back, Miles Kelly who stated he was going to quit footbag to pursue other things in life gave me his New Balances CT300's, perfectly Mod'ed and ready to kick in, they are what I use and am best in these days. He also gave me some videos and I am eternally greatfull to him for that and for being a good friend/footbag mentor. He is still around and will kick every now and then for fun but he is pretty much out of the sport for good. I am sad he is gone but happy he is doing things to make him better and happy with himself.
I still kick with Josh and Danny when I can but I work these days and have classes, I am in college now due to dropping out, getting a diploma and starting college early. I got a good dose of life and found out I can't kick all the time. I havn't been to a Seattle session in months, its all been local sessions since last summer.
Other than that thats my story and some recent updates of where I am at. I will try to udate a bunch but only when I can.
And yes, I know..... "I wrote a book".
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
Seattle Juggling and Footbag Fest is next weekend, it will be my one year anniversery of being a footbagger. I wonder if I should buy myself some wine and take myself out for a night on the town?
Anywho, sadly I can barely make it to any of the festivities and will barely be able to kick. My boss has me working almost all weekend and I am desperatly trying to get out of it. Even if I can't make most of it I will be thankfull to make any of it. Better some than none at all right?
I am mad excited like I said though.... hmmm, I havn't had a session in about 2 weeks with anyone other than myself. I don't have the time, it sucks. I don't even kick by myself that much anymore but it seems everytime I do I hit some new stuff and advance a lot. Its like I don't even have to practice to get better, just the fact that footbag is on my mind 24/7 is enough to get better at the sport. I must have immortal blood running through my veins.
Anywho, sadly I can barely make it to any of the festivities and will barely be able to kick. My boss has me working almost all weekend and I am desperatly trying to get out of it. Even if I can't make most of it I will be thankfull to make any of it. Better some than none at all right?
I am mad excited like I said though.... hmmm, I havn't had a session in about 2 weeks with anyone other than myself. I don't have the time, it sucks. I don't even kick by myself that much anymore but it seems everytime I do I hit some new stuff and advance a lot. Its like I don't even have to practice to get better, just the fact that footbag is on my mind 24/7 is enough to get better at the sport. I must have immortal blood running through my veins.
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
This is where I can put all my financial planning!
So I was just doing some late night number crunching and figured out I could almost make it to CSS6, whether or not plans of a full van of kickers (to share cost) go through on tips alone! Well, maybe some pocket change as well. I estimate I can make 2 dollars average a day working, working 5 days a week. 10 dollars a week times 8 weeks, 80 bucks plus a quarter a day pocket change deposit would equal about 30 bucks by CSS. 80 + 30 = 110 which is almost what I need.
Thats one way, another is to save a dollar a day until CSS. Either way, the jar is getting fuller everyday.
Here are my numbers though.
1370 miles total
300 miles per tank (0 - 40 mile saftey net)
4.56 fill ups needed @ 40 dollars a fill up (0 - 5 dollar saftey net)
$182 x 2 (there and back) = $365.333 on gas (with plenty of saftey net, up to 83 dollars)
Amount of gas money per person based on total amount of people.
for 6 - $60.888
for 5 - $73.0666
for 4 - $91.333
Of course, there is event cost, merch cost, hotel cost (hopefully we can crash at somebodys house or find a hotel that will let 6 people share a room), food cost, the cost of driving around the city and micalanious cost. There is no way I can predict, know or do most of these costs yet, things are looking good though, thats fer sher.
So I was just doing some late night number crunching and figured out I could almost make it to CSS6, whether or not plans of a full van of kickers (to share cost) go through on tips alone! Well, maybe some pocket change as well. I estimate I can make 2 dollars average a day working, working 5 days a week. 10 dollars a week times 8 weeks, 80 bucks plus a quarter a day pocket change deposit would equal about 30 bucks by CSS. 80 + 30 = 110 which is almost what I need.
Thats one way, another is to save a dollar a day until CSS. Either way, the jar is getting fuller everyday.
Here are my numbers though.
1370 miles total
300 miles per tank (0 - 40 mile saftey net)
4.56 fill ups needed @ 40 dollars a fill up (0 - 5 dollar saftey net)
$182 x 2 (there and back) = $365.333 on gas (with plenty of saftey net, up to 83 dollars)
Amount of gas money per person based on total amount of people.
for 6 - $60.888
for 5 - $73.0666
for 4 - $91.333
Of course, there is event cost, merch cost, hotel cost (hopefully we can crash at somebodys house or find a hotel that will let 6 people share a room), food cost, the cost of driving around the city and micalanious cost. There is no way I can predict, know or do most of these costs yet, things are looking good though, thats fer sher.
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
So yeah, SJFF is going down. I havn't seen much of it and I am ok with that. It seems transparent this year, like not there. The people I looked up too have dissapointed me too much, I mean, there is nothing like seeing your idol, inspiration or even hero when they are at their worst and you are at your best. I never understood that, why athletes ruin thier life on drugs and drinking.
The renegade show was homo, sad to say it but it was really dissapointing. It was lame entertainment put on by people who had been drinking and doing other recreational activities all night long. It also seemed to be a isolated group social type thing, unwelcome and an "in crowd" type event.
The Public show was alright, I saw the last half of it. Peter Irish is truely amazing.
I figured out my flipside atomic is better then I thought. I was just trying it today and somebody, a person I had never seen before said "nice, that was clean", I was like, "nah, it was totally leggy" and he replied "so, you still did it". Wow... I never thought of that, all I ever heard was, "too leggy", "more like this", "more like your right side" or "more like my way". All along I could have been doing flipside atomics and not feeling like an idiot. I tried it agian and set it high enough to duck (actually about 2 inches low for my taste). Clean dex all the way, why wasn't anyone saying this kind of stuff to me in the begining insted of "wrong" in not so many words. Sure my right and left atomics are different but they work for me and they look decent.
The renegade show was homo, sad to say it but it was really dissapointing. It was lame entertainment put on by people who had been drinking and doing other recreational activities all night long. It also seemed to be a isolated group social type thing, unwelcome and an "in crowd" type event.
The Public show was alright, I saw the last half of it. Peter Irish is truely amazing.
I figured out my flipside atomic is better then I thought. I was just trying it today and somebody, a person I had never seen before said "nice, that was clean", I was like, "nah, it was totally leggy" and he replied "so, you still did it". Wow... I never thought of that, all I ever heard was, "too leggy", "more like this", "more like your right side" or "more like my way". All along I could have been doing flipside atomics and not feeling like an idiot. I tried it agian and set it high enough to duck (actually about 2 inches low for my taste). Clean dex all the way, why wasn't anyone saying this kind of stuff to me in the begining insted of "wrong" in not so many words. Sure my right and left atomics are different but they work for me and they look decent.
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
I am dissapointed in how slow I am advancing. I can't wait till school is out after this quarter, the stress level will be down and I will have 3 weeks to kick hardcore and try to catch up to where I think I should be now.
Where should I be now? Ripwalks almost on demand, both sides.... thats not happening at all.
I have gone back to basics. My biggest problem is flipside butterfly, everything else is coming along except those. I started working on clippers again but now with a 122 panel bag given to me by Miles. For the next couple weeks I am working on clipper holds then butterfly holds. I feel working with such a difficult bag will help me control my moves, and learn to not depend on the easy stall of a sandbag, but rather my skill.
I am already seeing improvment in two days of kicking (about 2 hours actually).
Where should I be now? Ripwalks almost on demand, both sides.... thats not happening at all.
I have gone back to basics. My biggest problem is flipside butterfly, everything else is coming along except those. I started working on clippers again but now with a 122 panel bag given to me by Miles. For the next couple weeks I am working on clipper holds then butterfly holds. I feel working with such a difficult bag will help me control my moves, and learn to not depend on the easy stall of a sandbag, but rather my skill.
I am already seeing improvment in two days of kicking (about 2 hours actually).
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm
Thanks for posting, it was a fun read. I had been having trouble with my flip butterflies and working that clipper helped me tons.
Last edited by Moxie on 15 Sep 2008 15:34, edited 1 time in total.
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Emily Kulczyk
Emily Kulczyk
I was at Ricky's the other night and he totally help me school my flipside atomic. No more Mr. Leggy atomic for Damien, No sir, Atom Smasher > Atom Smasher here I come.
.... and maybe sometime ducking atomic? They are chest high and keep getting higher...
He also gave me advice on infinitys that helped a bunch as well, that kid. He is so freaking fast at juggling now too, its his new footbag activity, at least he found one similar to replace it while he is injured right?
And Justin still has my Camcorder from the fest, I want that back, I need it actually. I guess his phone is out of servicie so its eithier email or just stopping by his place sometime.
.... and maybe sometime ducking atomic? They are chest high and keep getting higher...
He also gave me advice on infinitys that helped a bunch as well, that kid. He is so freaking fast at juggling now too, its his new footbag activity, at least he found one similar to replace it while he is injured right?
And Justin still has my Camcorder from the fest, I want that back, I need it actually. I guess his phone is out of servicie so its eithier email or just stopping by his place sometime.
Its all or nothing
Damien Schlobohm
Damien Schlobohm