Japanese Footbag fundraiser closed: $835 donated!

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 10 Apr 2011 14:23

On March 11th, Japan was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, followed by a tsunami. Estimates put the death toll over 10,000 people, and the estimated cost of damage at over 230 billion (with a b) dollars. As if this weren't tragic enough, the tsunami damaged a nuclear reactor north of Tokyo, which the country is struggling to contain, as the cores are melting down and releasing radiation into the food and water supply. This week Japan was hit by an aftershock of the original quake...this time a 7.1.

One small bit of good news, is that all Japanese footbaggers have been accounted for. They're dealing with rolling blackouts (to lessen the demands on the power grid), gasoline rationing, and problems such as how to best protect their children. One footbagger has evacuated his wife and kids to Okinawa to protect them from any aftershocks/radiation contaminated water in Tokyo.

Even in the face of logistical and psychological hardships, the Japanese Footbag Association is still planning on running their two major footbag tournaments this year (they have occurred annually since 2003). In the face of incredible stress, they are using footbag as a way to reestablish a sense of community, a sense of normalcy. I find this to be nothing short of inspirational, and in an attempt to support our friends in the Japanese footbag scene, I have made a fundraiser video.

Over the years, I've posted almost 1900 footbag videos to YouTube, including several edited videos. Filming, editing, and uploading these videos has taken a lot of time and energy, but has always been a labor of love. I have never asked for a cent for any of them; indeed I'm also releasing this fundraiser video for free. That said, if you enjoyed this video, or any video I've ever posted, would you consider supporting the Japanese Footbag Association with a small donation? I myself have donated $300 to the JFA, but even small donations would have a big logistical and emotional impact. I figure that if I can find 20-30 footbaggers willing to make a small donation, that would in essence double my donation, and also show the JFA that the footbag community supports them.

To donate to the Japanese Footbag Association, paypal: kim-jp@footbag.org

Thank you for watching, and thank you for your support of the Japanese footbag community.

Special thank you to Sam King for letting me use his song for the video.

健 (Ken)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVvhlFXsZvs[/youtube]

jay7 · Post by **jay7** » 10 Apr 2011 15:29

I fully support this. Thank you Ken for allowing us to do this in a directly useful manner.

Jay, you have sent $25.00 CAD to Eisuke Kimuro.

fatbagger · Post by **fatbagger** » 10 Apr 2011 17:52

I didn't have a paypal account but was planning on setting one up. This just gave me a reason to do so. I enjoy Kens vids, (the most recent ones especially) so how could I not donate. I just sent $30 usd, not much but all I can afford. If everyone on modified did the same I'm sure we could make a difference for at least some of the people in Japan. Great idea Ken, and that was one sweet vid.

Footbaggers Unite!!!

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 11 Apr 2011 06:54

Wow guys, just wow. I was hoping a few people would make donations between $2-10, so I was touched/surprised to see the first two posts already put us over $50. That's amazing. Adobe gave me fits with this project, and I was tempted at one point to just quit, but I really wanted to do something to help out the Japanese footbag community. I now feel like it was totally worth it, just based on your generosity.

As I said in my first post, my intent with this project is twofold:

1. Raise money to ease the logistical burden of hosting the Japanese Footbag Championships.
2. Show the Japanese scene that the worldwide footbag community supports them.

A small donation accomplishes both, but if you can't afford to help out financially, feel free to leave a message in this thread, as I'm sending it to the JFA soon. Today is the one month mark of the quake, and Japan is still a long ways away from returning to normal. While hosting a footbag tournament won't magically make everything right again, I think it has the power to do a lot of good for the psyche of Japanese footbag.

Thanks again everybody.

PS: also feel free to post any comments on the video itself.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 12 Apr 2011 06:16

Update: yesterday Japan got hit by a 6.6 quake, and today Japan upgraded the severity of the nuclear situation to a 7. That's the same level as Chernobyl. So to summarize the last month for Japan: 9.0 quake, tsunami, 7.0 and 6.6 quakes, and a nuclear disaster on par with Chernobyl. 25,000 presumed dead in the last month.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not even looking for big donations to help out the JFA. If you can't donate at all, even a comment of support would mean something. But yeah, if 20 people contributed $3, that'd be $60 that could go towards renting a gym, and would also show the Japanese footbag community that 20 footbaggers care about them.

I've posted a lot of videos over the years, always for free. If you've enjoyed any of them, won't you consider donating something to show support for Japanese footbag?

simplyqueen1 · Post by **simplyqueen1** » 12 Apr 2011 12:39

Queency, you have sent $150.00 USD to Eisuke Kimuro.

Thank you Ken for organizing this. I fully support your relief efforts for Japan Footbaggers. Please keep us updated.

Anexthesis · Post by **Anexthesis** » 13 Apr 2011 10:41

I sent $7 (US). Wish I could send more but it's all I have right now. Best of luck to those in your club and anyone affected by the tragedies. I sincerely hope things get better for you.

Great shred by the way.

matt_bailey · Post by **matt_bailey** » 13 Apr 2011 11:01

Thanks for the video Ken and thanks for giving a direct contact for donations

I especially liked the combo at 2:00, and am happy to see your work on mobius and other spinning torques paying off!

The song was rad too

Muffinman · Post by **Muffinman** » 13 Apr 2011 22:42

Erik, you have sent $10.00 CAD to Eisuke Kimuro.

I'm trying to get a student loan for school, so I'm dead broke/super in debt, but seeing more videos of the destruction made $10 seem so insignificant. I enjoy your videos Ken, and I send happy thoughts to my friends in Japan! Good luck with the event!

Cod · Post by **Cod** » 14 Apr 2011 02:18

You're doing a great thing, Ken! I hope my donation will help somehow.

Plus, the video is awesome. I like the most Mullet > Mullet > Weird Double Peeking Move combo

.

haseken · Post by **haseken** » 15 Apr 2011 05:11

Ken and footbaggers all over the world.

Thank you very much.
I express my appreciation for all footbagger’s warm feelings.

This earthquake and tsunami is a tremendous disaster.
And even now, nuclear power plants in Fukushima have many problems.
But, Japanese people are working hard to recover from this tragedy, with the help from worldwide.
We believe to overcome the disaster.

As far as I know, fortunately, all Japanese footbaggers were safe.
Japanese footbag community is doing well.

About two weeks later, on May 4th, Tokyo Shredder Gathering (TSG) 9 will take place again this year.
And, in September, Japan Footbag Championships (JFC) will be held in Osaka. JFC2011 will be a big event.
Nippon(=Japan) Footbag Association’s Board members (Suekichi, Chomeken, Nagisa, Wakana, and Waka) started to prepare for JFC already.

Also, in the summer, probably some Japanese shredders will go to Worlds in Helsinki.

Excuse me for my poor English.
After TSG9, I will post some videos of Japanese footbaggers at TSG9.

From Tokyo.
Nippon Footbag Association(NFA) auditor, Haseken.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 15 Apr 2011 10:47

Ken, I'm in! Donation sent -- it took a little doing -- I have a paypal account, but I had not used this since 2005 -- I had to figure out how to use this account all over again, and it takes days for money to move from one account to another.

Ya know, I wasn't sure if I should donate. At first I was like "man, this bogus video is just Upular with different music" but you changed my mind with Bev-Clickity! Word to the whirling unusuals!

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 15 Apr 2011 13:40

My deepest thanks to everybody who showed support by donating and/or posting in this thread. I finally sent the thread to the NFA yesterday and told them to check their paypal, and they were touched and surprised to find donations from so many people. The last total I heard from the NFA, was $636, which means modified more than matched my donation. I'll try and find out the final total soon. Any way you look at it though, modified did a great job of rallying to support our footbag friends in Japan. I'm proud of our community, and you all should be proud of yourselves.

I'd also like to give a shout out to Queency, for her especially generous donation. When a single person's donation is responsible for getting you to 50% of your goal in one fell swoop, that deserves a shout out. Thank you for going above and beyond Queency.

Thank you for the updates from Japan, Haseken. As I mentioned earlier, I think it's inspiring that the NFA is still going ahead with the two biggest and longest running Japanese tournaments, in the face of all the challenges they face. I'm looking forward to seeing video from TSG9. Ame nimo makezu.

On a personal note, I also wanted to thank everybody for watching my video, and for the nice comments on my game (both here and in PMs).

Cod wrote: I like the most Mullet > Mullet > Weird Double Peeking Move combo .

Thanks. I usually refer to that trick as "double peeking osis," but recently I've enjoyed calling it "paranoia," since you look over your shoulders three times in that one trick.

taishi · Post by **taishi** » 18 Apr 2011 06:27

OMG

Thanks ken and all footbaggers all over the world!!
I've just seen this thread.
I'm really appriciated guys

Now still earthquake is coming.at first that is north of japan.But getting lower to come earthquake.Tokyo as well.
So now really scared...
and you know guys atomic power plant is danger as well.

We don't know when will be safe.

Anyway,I really want to see you guys.

h0ag3yb3atZ · Post by **h0ag3yb3atZ** » 18 Apr 2011 22:06

My favorite part of the video was that hard spinning trick b2b. I think it's cool that you put mob>mob in such a meaningful video as opposed to a 30 second blog vid.

Props Ken, shred for a good cause.

DTank126 · Post by **DTank126** » 26 Apr 2011 19:36

Wow, that is freakin awesome that the Japanese scene is still going to host a couple jams this year. Donation sent. HUGE props to them for using footbag as a way to sorta unite and tell mother nature to suck it.

Also, props on the video. So many hard links. I'm jealous of your ps whirling swirls... and stepping whirling swirls... don't forget that deal we made about trading trick selections in the near future. No take-backs.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 08 May 2011 09:47

Just got an email from the JFA, including a spreadsheet of the donations they got. I am thrilled to announce that modified raised around $535 for Japanese footbag, not counting my $300 donation. So all told, the JFA received around $835, which they will use to run the next Japanese Footbag Championships, in September.

I have been asked by the JFA to cut off donations at this time. They have enough funds to run nationals, and Kim doesn't want to keep checking/transferring funds from his paypal to the JFA's bank account. So thank you again to everybody that donated or posted words of encouragement.

It's hard for me to express how touched I am by the community's generosity. There were a lot of names on the donor list of people who did not post in this thread, and I thank every one of you for your anonymous generosity. Seeing the global footbag community rally to help out our friends in the Japanese footbag community really meant a lot to me. Thank you.

Thank you also for all the kind words on the shred/video too.

takumi · Post by **takumi** » 15 May 2011 06:26

Sorry fot late post...

Japan is far country.
We can't speak English well.
Japanese culture is difference from European and American.
There is little common feature between you and Japan.

But you acted for us.
Thanks for your kindness!
I was very impressed.
I will NEVER forget this!

Ken, I respect you as not only footbagger but also a man.
ありがとう健！

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 16 Jun 2011 03:44

Good show, sir.

Japanese Footbag fundraiser closed: $835 donated!

Japanese Footbag fundraiser closed: $835 donated!

A gratitude letter from Japan

Re: A gratitude letter from Japan