nashville takraw

Lao New Year Results

2011-04-28T11:27:00.012-05:00

So we didn't win a single game... but that's no suprise. The tournament for us was more about showing 'em that we want to compete & improve. We managed not to get shut out, in fact our lowest scoring game was 4 & was by far the worst game I've played in awhile. In all of the other games we scored 7+ & a couple games we were 10+, where we actually put a scare on the opposing team. I feel comfortable at the serving position now & I know I can dish out some good sets. The big thing I need to work on is digging the spikes without sending it back over the net. We just need to brush up on our kicks & be more competitive at the next tournament.

Lao New Year Tournament

2011-04-18T16:06:00.006-05:00

In March we finally made our move over the Wat Lao Buddharan Temple. The learning curve is steep & it's a humbling experience going up against people who have played for so many years. A few of the newbs have managed to step up to the challenge, yet some have dropped off since we started kicking at the temple. When I started the training sessions back at MTSU in Nov. 2010 we were getting 6-8 white boys to show up & kick, now that number is down to 3-4. I want the takraw scene here to be competitive, so I suppose that it wound up weeding out a few recreational kickers & that's really fine by me. After footbagging all those years, I grew tired of those casual kickers that show up once a month.

This weekend we will be taking the plunge & competing in our first takraw tournament. It's the Lao New Year's Festival. The majority of the teams are local, but I think we've got a couple coming from Louisville, so I believe that makes 7 or 8 teams total. My only goal is to not have our team be shut out in any of the games. I've been playing takraw on/off for 4 years now - thanks to footbag. The other members of my team have only been playing for 3-6 months, so I've got to give it up to them for signing onto a tournament. I'll have plenty of pic. & video for the next post.

Unstoppable Tour: 30 Sports, 30 Days, 30 Cities

2011-03-18T10:25:00.002-05:00

A single athlete's journey across the country & attempts to compete in sports he's never even heard of. http://eas.com/unstoppabletour Is Sam Tickle game for this?

This is where we kick now

2011-03-18T10:15:00.003-05:00

Wat Lao Buddharan Temple

Takraw Shoes

2011-01-14T11:40:00.004-06:00

Some of you may be wondering, where can I purchase takraw shoes? Well look no further than http://www.kickersrock.net/ 3 people in our group have already bought these shoes & love'em. I had a pair of the traditional Nan Yang shoes that I wore last year when I played. After a couple months my ankles began to hurt, but only when I kicked takraw. So I ordered the speciality shoes from kickersrock, they are much more comfortable & give better support. On the downside, the soles of the shoes are less malleable or flexible than Nan Yang, regardless kickersrock feel better & certainly look better. I don't care who you are it's tough to act like a badass when your sporting some shoes that look like Keds.

Nintendo DS Includes Takraw + Nashville Update

2010-12-21T10:05:00.014-06:00

I don't have a DS, but I just think it's awesome that sepak takraw was included in the new sports package. I did watch the trailer & some kid playing it on youtube & it's doesn't look half bad. It's not that I expect this to do wonders for the sport of takraw. I mean just look at what "California Games" did for hacky sack.... We're 7 weeks into our training now, & there's now 8 of us (total) that have been learning the game. I wish we could get 8 people to a practice, but it's usually 5. No matter... that's still more than we could get to play footbag. I've tried to avoid being too coachy because I just want people to adjust to playing a new game. I also want everybody to have a good time, so we haven't been running many drills either. Well that's all about to change. Starting Jan 1st, we only have 11 weeks till the official takraw season begins. So we're going to be discussing more strategy - - with less "just kick it over the net" - - & running drills like a group of crazy people. It's my hope that this will not alienate any of our players. If we're gonna run with the big dogs, we need to step it up.

Crossing Over to the Darkside

2010-11-24T10:37:00.004-06:00

The footbag to takraw transition has been going smoother than I anticipated. Our footbag group only had 5 active members, & we were struggling to get 4 to a practice. The takraw group has only been running for 3 weeks now & we've already managed to have 2 new players - both have shown up for the last 2 sessions. One of the new guys has a background in soccer & the other is lao (who does have some limited takraw experience), but he's eager to get much better. We're not really doing much different from when we played footbag, just switched from a bag to a ball & it seems to be catching some steam.

The real challenge of this is that come mid-March these newbs are going to be playing takraw on a court with a group of guys who have spend most of their lives doing this. I only have 4.5 months, no scratch that 3.5 months now to get them ready. Thus far none of the regular takraw players from the temple know I'm training a group of hacky sackers how to play. So it would be awesome if I just show up with a carload people that can kick who they've never even seen before.

Before footbag.org

2010-11-07T09:14:00.017-06:00

I found the first footbag pictures I ever appeared in. So let's roll the dial back to '96 before footbag.org was up & running. In order to learn new tricks in those days I had to wait for the new issue of Footbag Worldwide magazine to come out. Cheers to my original running crew from Jackson, TN - Scott S. & Chris R.

2010 Takraw Season Winds to a Close

2010-11-01T16:03:00.005-05:00

As it gets cooler, & daylight is hard to come by the Lao takraw season is nearly over. It's been a fairly productive for myself since I nearly played the whole season, although not as frequently as I would've liked. Footbag has become less of a distraction... when no one is playing anymore. I talked with a few footbaggers, & we agreed that come November it was time to move onto something more locally competitive. Our footbag skills just seemed to grow stagnent & it became more recreation than sport. I'm excited about the upcoming winter sessions because some have agreed to learning how to play takraw. So if we're lucky, next the spring we'll have 3 new takraw players - that means 20+ takraw players next year!

Takraw Article Written for a College Publication

2010-10-14T11:30:00.004-05:00

I recently found an article about takraw that was published from my old college newspaper. Here's the link for the whole article plus some excellent black/white pictures - http://www.mtsusidelines.com/2.3112/pan-asian-sport-finds-home-in-murfreesboro-1.307901

My Perennial Struggle

2010-10-06T10:22:00.005-05:00

The Nashville footbag scene has been struggling the past 2 years to maintain a core membership of 4. We've had a number of people shuffle in & out the past couple years, yet we still only have the 2 dedicated players that we had way back in '08. However, I've held out hope that we might be able to turn those numbers around. Since I have a kid now my time is more valuable, and my patience is shrinking; I don't have spare time to wait around for indecisive members of the group to show up. So I'm left with the question that I've been pondering for over 2 years... why don't I just switch to takraw for good?

Nashville Pro/Am Tourney

2010-09-29T13:50:00.004-05:00

We had a little pro/am tournament with 3 teams last week in Murfreesboro. It was the first time we've had a Nashville only tournament in a long long time. I have to say it was nice to get some competition from within the group & probably something we should encourage more often. So congrats to Alex & Lee for staging a comeback in the final game.

1. Alex G./Lee S.

2. Elliott J./ Andy S.

3. Andrew C./Nikolai T.

I Cannot Find a Hacky Sack Sans Internet

2010-09-21T10:18:00.004-05:00

There aren't any retail stores (in metro Nashville at least) that sell hacky sacks anymore. I've tried going to Academy Sports, Dick's Sporting Goods, Hibbetts Sporting Goods, Target, K-Mart, & even Wal-Mart. How is this sport ever supposed to grow if you cannot even walk into a store & buy one? Do I have to go to a head shop to get a footbag? How cliche is that? I personally blame that jackass who invented the mini-soccer ball for the demise of retail footbag. Is this what we look like in the eyes of the general population!?

Entering a New Era

2010-08-14T07:45:00.005-05:00

I started a group called nashville footbag on facebook. Blogspot is a good way for me write about footbag, but I seem to be the only one using it. As technology progresses peoples attention spans keep getting shorter, and reading something more than 120 characters seems to be a chore. People have to remember to check blogspot, however, if they joined the group on facebook they'll get the update when they login to check their profile. It's just easier. I will attempt to keep using blogspot, yet I don't feel it's a very effective tool for keeping people in the loop.

69 Dead Footbaggers

2010-08-03T12:02:00.009-05:00

In my attempt to find new footbag blood, I've logged in quite a few hours in the footbag.org members section. I searched Nashville & every podunk town in about a 50 mile radius of the city. So I created an excel sheet of all the footbaggers, year joining footbag.org, e-mail, & phone numbers, and by the time I finished, I had a list with 70 people on it. I began e-mailing & calling profiles that were created all the way back in 1998. Sure there were a tons of expired e-mail accounts & disconnected phone numbers, but a few people e-mailed back. Unfortunately the most popular response was, "who are you?" followed by, "what's footbag?". Yup you guessed it... the phone calls were even worse. After it was all said & done, I found 1 person who answered the call to play some footbag & is still with us today. It was worth it - even though I discovered 69 dead footbaggers.

Tommy is Getting It!

2010-07-25T21:58:00.008-05:00

At a time when we're struggling to get more than 4 people to a practice, we have to make every minute count. There are plenty of people that like footbag, but Tommy is breathing it. Previously, I've never felt like anyone from the Nashville club has matched my enthusiam for footbag before. Tommy may have only been playing for a few months, however, he wants it more than anyone out there on the court; he stays later & trains harder than anyone I've ever met. It's just a matter of time before his drive excels him to the pro level.

Takraw Action

2010-07-09T13:11:00.003-05:00

It's still pretty quiet around here footbag-wise, so I've been playing more takraw as of late. Here's a quick little video of some action at the Wat Buddharam Temple in Murfreesboro.

Attendance Issues & the Great Flood of 2010

2010-05-17T11:58:00.005-05:00

Attendance issues are certainly nothing new to Nashville. It's plagued us time & time again. The flood forced us to cancel a session a couple weeks back, then a number of people called out on Mother's Day. It's an unfamiliar feeling to go nearly 3 weeks without footbag, but it happened. Every year I think, 'this'll be the year' & it falls short. In Janurary we had 6-8 people at every practice in winter! That's never happened before, so I took it as a really positive sign. As the year had progressed, attendance had dropped & we're struggling to find that dependable constant 4th player that we need to keep the game afloat. We have a number of part-time players that show up on occasion, however, part-time doesn't cut it. We need a steady 4.

Takraw Back in Effect

2010-05-11T17:28:00.007-05:00

The takraw season fired off again in April this year. It's always nice to get in some extra kicking whenever I can. The spring tournament was supposed to be the other week, but was cancelled due to rain. Enjoy some of the photos I took last week.

Fav. Pictures of Mud Island Belt

2010-04-28T10:24:00.018-05:00

Mud Island Belt 2010

2010-04-16T11:15:00.010-05:00

Another tournament is passed on into the records books. The turnout included 5 world champions & numerous attendees from Oakland, Santa Cruz, Montreal, New Orleans, Portland, Chicago, Memphis, & yes even Nashville (a.k.a. me). So 15 doubles teams in all. although it would have been nice to get a 16th team to round out the pools, but we wound up with 5 pools instead. Only 16 people competed in singles out of 30 competitors.

Doubles
1. P.T. Lovern/ Emmanuel Bouchard

2. Johnny Leys/ Franki Pelletier

3. Jack Harris/ Jeremy Mirken

4. Kenny Shults/ Ken Hamric

5. Martin Cote/ Luc Legualt

Singles

1. Kenny Shults

2. Franki Pelletier

3. Luc Legualt

4. Martin Cote

5. Jermey Mirken

I partned up with mike "willi" williams from Memphis. We played well during the warm-up's on friday going 6-2 (mind you most of these games were against lower level teams). The sets were coming nice & easy, but the kills/spikes were just okay - a decent % were shanked or sided out. So by the time saturday rolls around & we discover our pool contains Manu/P.T. & Tommy C./Brad W. We played Manu/P.T. first of course!

I'm happy to report that neither of us served out for both games, the problem was getting possession. During the first game it was clear that Manu/P.T. were shaking the rust off, so I was disappointed to only get 2 points on the board. I didn't really struggle with either of their serves, I was dishing out good sets to Willi with plenty of time to reach the bag. Again it was the execution. It was a shanked spike or sloppy set that ruined it & never allowed us to find the groove. The second game went much quicker as the world champions got loose & started crushing away. Once again 2 points. It was frustrating because even though I could tell what spike they were about to use & the general direction of the shot... my feet couldn't keep up with my brain.

In the second match Willi & I played Tommy C./Brad W. It was nearly an identical loss, only we weren't playing world champions. My serves & returns/sets were fine. This may have been one of the few tournaments where I actually played at my level. We should have beat them at least one game. I think there's a lot to say for chemistry in footbag. I feel that I would be able to compete better at tournaments if I had a partner I was accustomed to playing with. The past 3-4 tournaments I've partnered up with someone that I rarely kick with. We actually had time to prepare prior to the tournament & didn't use it. If I ever intend to change my tournament performance, I need to be more prepared.

Kessler Turns 50!

2010-02-25T14:18:00.008-06:00

We had a nice little birthday celebration for David over the weekend. 8 people turned out in all to get together for a little disc & footbag. It warmed up to 60 degrees over the weekend & that was all the reason I needed to go outside. Also we had 2 out-of-towners visiting, Dustin from Tullahoma & Willi from Memphis journeyed to Nashville for the special occasion. I spent some time fumbling around with my camera & finally found the motion capture function. It really helps to photograph action shots too. I've got tons of footbag pictures where I cannot find the bag, but I know it's there somewhere. Thanks for coming out people & I think we'll be seeing more of Dustin in the near future.

Nashville 2010

2010-02-02T10:36:00.004-06:00

2009 clearly marked the rise of Andrew Coleman from a freestyler into a net player. Which leads me to ask the question who does 2010 belong to? Our attendance for the year thus far has been amazing, we've had 6-8 people at the last 4 sessions! Last year we were barely getting 4 people to a practice. Tommy, Justin, & Nikolai are showing up much more consistantly this year. All of them should break the novice barrier this year if they keep turning up. Nashville has 10 active players that know how to play net, but the challenge is still getting everyone to show up. So now that we have the numbers, all I need to do is discover where modivation comes from.

How High Can You Kick? Pt. 2

2010-01-18T17:57:00.004-06:00

So this is the conclusion of the epic battle. Sure my landings might not be graceful (a boxing ring has more give than what it actually sounds like), but I really wanted to win. I spoke with everyone the following week & while all were sore in the following days, 0 people were injured. The 7'7 video that I have doesn't seem to want to load for some reason. So here's the finale!

This was where we maxed out. I'd like to think that I could go a little higher, yet I felt so beat up at this point I think I may have reached my limit. In researching other kicking games I came across the World Eskimo Indian Olympics that has a similar event. They do a one legged jumping kick event & a two legged jumping event. So far I haven't seen the record yet, but there are videos on youtube claiming 8'4. It's pretty amazing stuff. We'll be sure to have some follow up competitions in the coming weeks.

How High Can You Kick? Pt.1

2010-01-15T10:14:00.008-06:00

After some discussion about how high we thought we could kick, I decided it was time to throw down. Last weekend we had a jersey premier party & we couldn't think of a better time or place. There weren't many rules involved: standing or jumping, 3 chances, & you only had to make contact with the ball. There were 6 (out of 8) that decided to participate in the contest. We started filming at 7'0 & at that point we were already down to 3 competitors: Andrew, Neil, & myself. The commentary is mostly by Alex G. Enjoy the pain!

Nashville Footbag Gets Jerseys!

2010-01-14T16:31:00.006-06:00

The only shirts we've ever made were iron on's & even that was 4 years ago, so this has been a long time coming. It seems like every footbag jersey I've ever seen is blue/white, & I tried really hard to avoid that particular color combination. Emily made the design in photoshop & despite the rush process, I believe it turned out nicely. I decided to make 15 of these because that should cover most of the past & present footbaggers within Nashville. If we went with t-shirts we could have doubled the quantity, but i really wanted to go all out with these.

Blast From The Past: Tree Wizard

2010-01-13T12:29:00.002-06:00

We had an unexpected guest in town over the Christmas holidays. James Farmer a.k.a. the tree wizard who kicked footbag with us in '04-'05 at MTSU. He earned the nickname tree due to his inability to move quickly to the bag & wizard because...... it was just damn funny. I'm proud to say he's now serving our dear country in the United States Air Force somewhere in NC. It's been a long time & even though we didn't get to play any footbag together, we managed to knock a few beers back to the M'boro. Take care wiz & we'll see you again.

Let the Training Begin

2009-12-10T10:49:00.004-06:00

I've always enjoyed searching for footbag how-to books & there are a few out there, although they only cover the most basic moves. It seems nobody have ever taken the time to document the moves - especially for net. There's plenty of videos out there for both freestyle & net, but nothing was ever as awesome as Footbag World magazine! I found a book about takraw called, Takraw 101, Complete Instructional/Coaching Manual. Includes: lesson plans; progress charts; check lists; tests; 200+ illustrated warm ups, stretches and exercises; 120 lead-up activities, games and drills; 90 technical illustrations; step-by-step “how to” for 20 kicks and spikes; 60+ action photos; advanced training program; complete rules.

It's the most detailed documentation of any bag/ball kicking sport I've ever seen. I'm going to add a few new pieces to my regular work out routine. Sure most of the book is everything you already know about spiking & exercise, but I did pick up a few new spike tips. Plus, it details the hand stand spike & the dreaded roll spike. I need some thicker exercise mats in a hurry!

What Happened to Freestyle?

2009-12-03T12:05:00.003-06:00

Seriously what happened? I know there are plenty of kids out there kicking, but lately it just seems like there's not much activity. Why isn't there any discussion going on out there? modified.in & footbag.org appear to be at a stand still. I think footbag is just a lull. Have we seen everything there is to do with a footbag already? Did Vasek & Jordan just hit every trick imaginable? Tournaments are becoming few & far between, it feels like all the footbag players in North America got displaced & moved to Europe since Chilly Philly & CSS have died. The New Year's Jam in Chicago & U.S. Open are the last of the large scale American freestyle tournaments. Is this all because of 2012?

Summer Footage: Elliott + "Funky Chicken"

2009-10-30T10:57:00.004-05:00

This is a video Derrick Fogle made this summer when i paid him a visit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvea6hwSQM

Nashville Style Pt.2

2009-10-27T12:43:00.003-05:00

Lee Van Sickle footage

Something New

2009-10-21T10:29:00.003-05:00

This Thursday the Nashville crew will be trying something new & exciting by having two practice sessions per week. We nearly have 15 members in the metro area & after numerous dicussions I've learned that 3-4 never make it to the weekend practice due to work or family obligations. So after coordinating a dozen schedules, we've finally reached an agreement. Thursdays 6-8 P.M. at Patterson Park Community Center in Murfreesboro. I cannot wait to see you guys out there!

Nashville Style Pt.1

2009-09-25T12:01:00.010-05:00

Andrew Coleman footage

Visit to CLCK

2009-09-23T10:59:00.010-05:00

Last week Emily & I took a mini-vacation to Chicago to check out Cinematic Titanic (the new invention on Mystery Science Theater 3000 creators). This marked my first trip to Chicago that wasn't in the middle of summer or winter, so the temperature was actually enjoyable. I met up with the CLCK boys on Saturday morning to get in some footbag at Jane Adams Park. We had 4 & that's really all we needed: Cory C., Scott H., Ted M., & myself. While I did manage to lose about 90% of my games, nearly all of them were close matches. I was crushing my sunback spike, but couldn't hardly get any of my sweep spikes to cooperate. We played for a solid 3 hours! It's a shame Zeke couldn't get out of work to join us. Thanks for the good time fellas.

Holly's Back in the Circle

2009-09-02T09:17:00.007-05:00

I'm pleased to announce the return of Holly Matthews. She's joined us the past couple weeks & is getting back into footbag & stitching. Holly even played some net with us & Alex was so gracious that he gave a her a sweep spike that knocked her glasses off. Thanks for being a gentleman Alex. It's nice to have more than 2 people in the freestyle circle too. If we actually gain a couple more shredders, I might actually become a decent freestyler someday.

Tomato Art Festival

2009-07-22T16:48:00.004-05:00

It's almost that time of year again! The Tomato Art Festival is a fantastic event held here in Nashville. A summer festival where we all hail to the almighty tomato with artists, musicians, food, & vendors. Well, it's kinda like Octoberfest in August for us Tennessee folks. Last year there were more than 12,000 in attendance, so I cannot think of anything better to do than play footbag there. I'm kinda doubtful we'll have enough room for net, but more details to come. http://tomatoartfest.com/

A Week in Alabama

2009-07-14T11:37:00.009-05:00

Last week I was attending a flood hazard conference in Montgomery. On the way down I decided to drop by Huntsville to get some kicking in. Chris Ryan is a long time footbagger & juggler, I met him back in '04 at Worlds in Montreal. We hooked up at some music in the park event near downtown. I'm from Tennessee so I can handle bluegrass music, but I draw the line at barbershop quartet. In all my life I cannot recall any other genre of music that could be as distracting. There's a small juggling club in Huntsville, unfortunately, footbag is not nearly as popular in rocket town.

Party With The Nashville Rollergirls

2009-06-22T14:55:00.014-05:00

Alex G. & Elliott hit up the roller derby saturday night. It was intra-league bout so there were only 2 local teams competing. The Assualt Rivals managed to beat the Distress Damsels in a really close match. When the bout was over I went down to the floor & started talking with one of the girls "Lady Fury" and she invited us to come to the afterparty at Melrose Billiards. We hit up the pool tables, then moved over to table tennis & dominated anyone that came near that table! After working my "loop kill" shots, we joined a couple of the rollergirls "Lady Fury" & "Maulin Monroe" at the bar. We went through the drinks pretty fast & had a great time. Once the after party was over, we went to the after after party. As it turns out, I cannot operate a camera after 3 in the morning, so I don't have any footage of that.

Kicking with the "Funky Chicken"

2009-06-17T14:59:00.009-05:00

I was on vacation last week traveling around Missouri. A couple weeks before Emily & I left, I was attempting to contact footbaggers in the St. Louis area. I was lucky enough to get in touch with a couple, however we weren't able to synchronize our schedules. On the bright side when we went through Columbia, I decided to give Derrick Fogle a call. We met up on Wednesday afternoon & kicked at MIZZOU campus for a good hour. I managed to have a couple decent strings + hitting assassian & phoenix. Derrick shot some video & I had my buddy Paul take some photos.

Finding Out About Jianzi

2009-05-26T17:11:00.014-05:00

I've been trying to find out more information on jianzi here in the past couple weeks. It's the Chinese version of footbag that's played with a feathered shuttlecock. Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck finding any related English websites. The sport seems to be taking off in Eastern Europe. Nashville has a decent sized Lao & Thai communitues, but not many Chinese folks. My Grandparents in-law are missionaries in Taiwan, so when they get back I'll ask them what they know. I'd like to see in played here in Nashville.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianzi

FACIAL HUMILIATION!

Magic Bullet vs. Slap Chop

2009-05-04T12:26:00.009-05:00

Andrew Coleman explains all...

Spring Takraw Tournament

2009-04-28T12:13:00.014-05:00

Every 3 months there's a takraw tournament at the Wat Buddharam Temple in Murfreesboro, TN. It's ususally a local event, but occasionally we get some out-of-state players from the NC clubs. There are tons of vendors, food, plays, musical performances, etc. I'll be sure to get some video next time. It's really a sight to behold.

Southeastern Championships

2009-04-24T12:58:00.015-05:00

Okay so maybe the name is different now, but it'll always be Southeasterns to me. So the Mud Island Belt as it's now called took place last weekend in Memphis, TN on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was a strong turnout with numerous high caliber players from: Birmingham, Chicago, Memphis, Montreal, Nashville, Portland, San Francisco, & Vancouver.

I believe there were 6 World Champions in attendance including Kenny Shults, Emmanuel Bouchard, P.T. Lovern, Chris Siebert, Ken Hamric, & Patti Schrickel. When I'm travelling to tournaments, I rarely feel like I'm in over my head, but this certainly qualified as one of those times. The bottom line is there aren't any bigger names in footbag & I'll be interested to see if Memphis can keep up the big show for next year. Okay here are the results.

DOUBLES
1. P.T./Manu B.

2. Patti S./Ken S.
3. Jeremy M./Jack H.
4. Chris S./Steve D.
5. Walt H./Ben A.
6. Ken H./Tuan V.

SINGLES:
1. Manu B.
2. Ken S.
3. Chris S.
4. Cory C.

5. Tuan V.

6. Jack H.

Home is Where the Bag Lives

2009-04-14T13:02:00.006-05:00

We've continued with our regular practices over the past three weeks. This Easter we took a break because everyone had family plans that day. I had already called off practice when Emily said that she'd like to play some footbag. Emily played net all the time from '03-'07, & by the time 2008 came she decided to quit. I think she only played net maybe 3 times last year. So I was pretty suprised when she said she wanted to. We bought a house back in Oct. of '08, so we decided to just set up the net in our backyard. We have just enough room to kick. I've never played footbag on land that I own; it was a nice feeling.

Juggleville IV: Jugglemanji

2009-03-30T15:11:00.009-05:00

Well not much footbag this weekend to speak of, however, I did attend the opening night of Juggleville IV: Jungglemanji. It's an annual juggling performance arts showcase which features all types of juggling & exhibits a few other athletic abilities such as jump rope, break dance, etc. I was in the group that performed Juggleville II, where I incorporated footbag into the show. Jacob Weiss has been organizing these events since 2006 & it's always a good time. Thanks again Vanderbilt University for being kind enough to oblige the efforts of the Nashville juggling community. You can check out videos + more photos here http://juggleville.com/4/

Takraw Season Begins

2009-03-26T10:28:00.016-05:00

I drove out to the Wat Buddharam Temple in Murfreesboro on Sunday & I'm pleased to report that takraw season has arrived. Luckily I was just in time to play a couple games before the sun went down. I felt rusty, but I can shake that off with a couple more visits. It was a good time hanging out with the my Laos boys again.

The Last Indoor Session?

2009-03-17T13:51:00.005-05:00

It appears that Winter is finally over, & I hope that we had our last indoor session on Sunday. Justin, our boxing footbagger, is making some excellent progress on the net court. His basic kicks are coming together nicely & he can pull a wicked sole push.

I knew it would take sometime for the newer players to get used to the game. It's good to see that the effort is beginning to pay off. Our Winter sessions are averaging a 5-man turnout, but we have nearly 10 in the active roster. So it's gonna be exciting to see more kickers show up for the warmer months. We've come a long way from the duo that we had back in August. We might even get to set up 2 net courts this Summer!

Big Tuna

2009-03-09T17:08:00.004-05:00

Pic. of the week - Alex staged a solo protest of budget cuts at MTSU

We had a small, yet fruitful session on Sunday. Andrew has been playing net for 6 months straight & it shows. He set a number of sweep serves the other day & is consistantly hitting a couple different types of spikes. The overall rally is much improved when he's on the court, so I think it's safe to say he's a solid intermediate player now. If we could only get a couple more dedicated footbag players I think the skill set for our entire group could improve dramatically.

Jumping

2009-03-06T13:02:00.005-06:00

Spiking is the single most exciting thing to do in a game, especially if the person can get some air. If there's one thing I've noticed about my game, I don't jump very much. The only spikes I jump for are sole pushes & sunbacks. So I've introduced some jumping exercises into my workout routine that I trust will pay off when I'm on the court.

JUMPING EXERCISES

1. Deep Knee Bends --- Be standing. Slowly bend at the knees while keeping your back straight. Slowly crouch down as low as possible and slowly rise back up.

2. Toe Raises --- Stand regularly, then raise up onto the tips of your toes. Repeat 30-50 times. Toe-Raise with Weights --- If you have any sort of weights, holding/wearing them while doing these toe raises will help.

3. Jumping Rope--- Jumping rope definitely helps your vertical leap.

Bustin' Dustin Pays a Visit to Nashville

2009-02-25T10:00:00.005-06:00

Dustin Yanofsky made a rare appearence on Sunday to practice.

He helped to found & organize our club way back in '02. This was

the first time I've ever been able to get him to play net, & for

someone out of practice he made it look rather easy. So he cannot

pull atomic ducking tricks mid-string like the old days, but he

could change that if he wanted to.

We had a 6 man session at Patterson Park. Alex brought a new kid out named Dennis. Unfortunately, he didn't last very long & pulled his knee out of socket when stretching for toe on the net court. This was an injury he has already sustained, so nothing out of the blue. It was just a suprise becasue I've never really witnessed an injury playing footbag other than a rolled or sprained ankle. I believe he's recovering nicely, although I doubt he'll ever be convinced to play net again. It's a shame.

It's Always Better Outside

2009-02-18T09:57:00.007-06:00

We had a decent practice last weekend at the Boxing Resource Center in Nashville. It seems like whenever we kick outdoors we always have more people than indoors. I don't blame anyone, it seems like natural human instinct to stay home when it's cold outside & the weather is crap. So we only had 4 people turn out, lowest showing of the year I believe. We played several net games & shredded afterwards. Justin said he had never actually played 4-square, so we had to throw down. As usual Andrew won, but he always wins at squares. Could Andrew Coleman actually take down Steve Goldberg?

Nashville's 4 - Square Logo

2009-02-11T13:16:00.009-06:00

Photoshop can do some fantastic things. It still needs some work, but it's a good start. I know that Zeke is going to be so envious when he sees it.

We had an amazing practice in the M'boro Sunday with 7 people. The past 2 weeks we've been able to kick outside. The shred went down in the KUC after the sunset. It was worth being sore on Monday. As usual, I cannot wait until next week.

Growing scene; Sewing.

2009-01-31T18:46:00.004-06:00

Hey guys. Every week I am surprised when I realize that one could actually say we have a thriving scene here in middle TN. I think I can say that this is thanks in large part to the efforts of Elliott, no doubt that catalyst for most footbag activity in the area. I know he's put in a lot of work for the growth of the sport in the area and it's nice to see it paying off. Thanks Elliott for everything you do, we'd probably all be lazy bums on Sundays without you.

Also, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the facile fabric I ordered from Fields Fabric so that I can get to making some freestyle bags of my own. I've already started one and hopefully can fine tune the craft and put together some kickable bags. If I can get good enough at it I'd like to start selling some (with a Nashville crew discount of course), and maybe pick up some spare cash doing something footbag related (how cool). Elliott's done a great job getting us all interested in net, now maybe if I can put together some nice 32-panel bags for everyone we can start developing some advanced freestylers. Well I'll see you guys tomorrow, and maybe by next week I can have my first completed 32. Take it easy Nash-town.

Communications

2009-01-29T16:42:00.005-06:00

So for the past 4 months I've been alerting everyone about practice via e-mail. It works for some people, but actually only 1/2 of our crew bother to check their accounts. I wind up having to make a few phone calls regardless, and it takes too much time to organize if I have to speak with people individually. So next weekend I'm moving over to texts because it's faster, easier, & nearly everyone has a cell. I think this will resolve a few of our communication issues.

Elevation

2009-01-26T17:23:00.005-06:00

As the newer members are getting more experience, the level of competition is increasing. It's nice to see that everyone is growing more comfortable with at least one spike. We're beginning to see more "jousting" on the court as a result. For those unfamiliar with the term, a joust is when 2 players on opposing sides of the net both make a play for the bag. This was our first practice at Patterson Park & it went pretty well, despite Andrew nearly being stampeded by a horde of unattended children. It's a shame I don't have a picture of that as well.

Joust - Thomas vs. Alex A.

Patterson Park Community Center

2009-01-20T12:40:00.004-06:00

This Sunday we'll be kicking at a new location in Murfreesboro. Patterson Park Community Center is located at 521 Mercury Blvd. just down the road from MTSU Blvd. 615-890-5333. They have racquetball courts for net & a nice area for circle kicking. We're going to have to chip in some cash & get a premium membership; it's $60 for the card, but it's good for 30 visits & all of us can use the same card until it runs out. I'm bringing my ping pong gear for the rec. room & Andrew's gonna get a beatdown - shakehand style. See ya'll on the court.

Memphis Footworks Photo Reel

2009-01-15T15:36:00.004-06:00

Here's a nice montage of footbag in Memphis through the ages. Alex G. & I make a couple of appearances in the photos. The Memphis boys have a thing for the "monkey", in fact I'm suprised they haven't worked it into their logo somehow. I hope that explains the poor choice of music. Happy viewing....

Nashville '09

2009-01-13T11:03:00.011-06:00

We got off to an excellent start this year with six members turning out to kick. Alex G. & I did a brief clinic on sole pushes. The practice mainly consisted of drills, but we played a few games near the end of the session. I took some photos with my cell. Enjoy some blurry pics.

Nashville Originals: Elliott vs. Alex G.

New Members: Justin & Alex A.

Circle Kicking: Andrew & Nikolai

X-mas Footbag

2009-01-05T12:21:00.000-06:00

Footbag action has been pretty slow over the holidays. We took the weekend of X-mas weekend off, but we did manage to pull off a session on the 4th. I figured that Alex & I were just going to be playing singles seeing how nearly everyone else was still out of town. So I was about to set up the net, then I looked to my right & there were two people (I didn't even know) who were already kicking. We've had new people playing footbag at every practice for the past two months. I'm puzzled as to why we're recruiting more people this winter than we have in the past two years combined! Is footbag in season again or am I finally doing something right?

Merry Christmas from some of my co-workers

Boxing Resource Center

2008-12-22T17:52:00.000-06:00

Our winter practice sessions in Nashville are being held at the Boxing Resource Center. Justin (one of our new members) is a boxing coach & has been kind enough to let us use his gym for the past few weeks. At our session on Sunday one of the other newbies (John) said he wanted to step up in the ring & fight. How could Justin say no? Well..... hilariousness ensued & it looked something like this.

It's an awesome place to practice. There are tons of punching bags & plenty of medicine balls to throw at one another. It always leads to an interesting session, one way or the other. Anyway we had 7 people at our weekly practice on Sunday. Footbag is always better with friends.

Return of the Sickle

2008-12-15T13:56:00.000-06:00

This weekend marked the return of the Sickle. It's great to see him back in the circle & on the net court as well. I know it's only been 5 months or so since he left, but how many people do you know that can pull a double spinning osis mid-string? Andrew was so psyched he almost hugged him - I think. In the past 5 months we've gone from 2 to 5 regular kickers + numerous part-timers. The king of Nashville freestyle is back, so put your hands in the air!

Footbag Shoes

2008-12-08T14:38:00.000-06:00

I know there has been some discussion among our newer members about what the best shoes are for footbag. Well there are shoes for net & shoes for freestyle. So I'm gonna run down the list of what footwear to buy. You may be able to find a better deal elsewhere, so shop around before you spend $100. In fact the best place to get shoes is at Marti & Liz's Shoes in Murfreesboro. The address is 810 NW Broad St. Murfreesboro, TN 37129.

FOOTBAG NET

Nike - Air Max 90 (Difficult to find) http://www.pickyourshoes.com/size/nike_air_max_90.htm $70 - 95

New Balance - M1123 (Moderately easy to find) http://franksshoes.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=87 $120

Adidas - Superstar II (Easy to find) http://www.amazon.com/adidas-Originals-Mens-Superstar-Basketball/dp/B0007QCQA4 $45 - 65

FOOTBAG FREESTYLE

Adidas - Rod Laver (Difficult to find) http://worldfootbag.com/catalog2/showgroup/clothing $50

Quantum - 03 (Impossible to find) http://www.freedomfootbags.com/shredshop/ $80

New Blood

2008-12-01T13:33:00.000-06:00

In the past couple months we've managed to get four new people playing footbag in Nashville alone: Taylor, Justin, Nikoli, & Micah. We may have even sparked a two-man scene all the way out in Portland, TN thanks to the Willi B-Day Jam. By footbag standards this is an explosive rate of growth. We had six kickers at our practice session in Murfreesboro on Sunday & we're normally only accustomed to three. It appears that the e-mail list, blog, & footbag donation program are helping to motivate our local scene. Keep kicking it people.

Winter Footbag

2008-11-24T17:45:00.000-06:00

I finally bought an awesome indoor net set last week. The posts aren't set in the ground like some volleyball sets, no massive posts that have to be wheeled out onto the court, and it can even be set up within a racuqetball court. Ladies & gentleman may I introduce the future of indoor net.

Willi's B-Day Jam

2008-11-17T10:18:00.000-06:00

Memphis Legends - Willi & Lei Lani

Last weekend Willi Williams (Memphis Footworks legend) came to Nashville to celebrate his 50th birthday. We held a get together at Centennial Park & invited jammers, footbaggers, & a lone unicyclist to the party. There were 15 people altogether with plenty of disc & footbag to go around. We had the opportunity of meeting a few new faces & some that have been in hiding for months. Old school disc pros Ron K, David K., & Willi attracted a number of tourists' cameras with their antics. It's always amazing when all the talent shows up. Thanks for coming down Willi.

The Last White Hope

2008-11-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

The best news I had this Summer was when I heard Andrew C. was moving to Nashville to attend MTSU this Fall. If your thinking my Summer was just lame... well it's not everyday the best freestyler in the Southeast moves into town. Nashville Footbag was standing on its' last leg. The net sessions were down to me & Alex, plus Lee S. was moving to Cookeville for school. Andrew transferring here was the shot in the arm that we needed. We've seen the tide swing in Nashville from freestyle to net, & then to almost no footbag at all. So when Andrew moved here I thought, we really need to just play both freestyle & net. The footbag scene is small enough as it is, there's no need to add another wedge. We started having sessions at the start of September, & I'm pleased to announce that net players are circle kicking & freestylers are on the net court. Andrew's Foot-tastic Extravaganva was a footbag gathering back in July that welcomed Andrew to Tennessee. Here's a few photos taken from the jam.

Andrew C. & I go way back. I first met him at a little event that we threw in Chattanooga back in 2003. Andrew drove up from Atlanta with another freestyle prodigy by the name of Ben B. This was the first of many meetings between the Georgia & Tennessee boys. We were completely blown away by the endless strings & high caliber tricks he was drilling. The only event that we had that day was an intermediate shred 30, & if I recall correctly, Andrew didn't compete that day because he was already kicking at pro level. Ben B. did compete & edged out our Nashville sensation Andy C. to take top billing. Here's a photo from back in the day - Chattanooga '03

Organization + Schedule

2008-11-11T10:49:00.000-06:00

Nashville doesn't have a shortage of footbaggers, we have a lack of organization. I know that we have 15 footbaggers in the metropolitan area, but the problem lies with getting everyone to the same place & at the same time. I realize that everyone leads a busy life & there's usually something more important on the agenda i.e. family, work, & school. The reason I started the blog is to help Nashvile footbaggers communicate better. This gives everyone the opportunity to contribute their opinions & share ideas about the Nashville scene.

Schedule - Currently we are practicing on Sunday afternoons from 3-5 P.M. We alternate locations between Nashville (Centennial Park) & Murfreesboro (MTSU Campus). The schedule is coordinated around the given timetable of the active members & we try to accommodate all.

Centennial Park - 2500 West End Ave./MTSU Campus - 1301 East Main St.

About Nashville Footbag

2008-11-10T17:43:00.001-06:00

Nashville Footbag was founded in 2002 when I was attending MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). I had rediscovered footbag that year & heard about a small group of kickers in Manchester, TN. We started having regular freestyle sessions every weekend. The original members included: Andy C., Dustin Y., & myself. We picked up a few more players and grew to 7 members. It was fantastic because we all started kicking around the same time, I could see progress in every practice. Nashville maintained an excellent freestyle scene until 2005 came around. The Manchester circle broke up when they graduated from high school & moved to attend different schools.

As the freestyle scene declined, footbag net started to gain popularity at MTSU. We started with only 2 players in 2003 & had up to 9 members by 2005. It was great to have the competition & the friendships that we had formed over the years by kicking a bag around. In 2006 the bubble burst when we lost a couple members, & in 2007 we lost a few more. By the time Spring came around in 2008, we only had 2 active kickers & it was the first time we couldn't get 4 people on a net court in a long time. It was an unfamiliar feeling & I decided it was time to do something about it.