Guest Blog: Style & Creativity

(This is our first Myachi-Maniac submitted guest blog.  Thanks to Katana for a fantastic point and some great writing.  If you'd like to submit a guest blog of your own, type it up and email it to me at crazyivan@myachi.com.)

by Katana

One day I became bored (as I often do) as I was browsing the web on my computer, so I decided to look up some jam videos on YouTube. I looked at a ton of videos and I see kids hitting insane tricks that I could never do, but there was something that they were missing: Style... they were missing style.  Here is a brief overview of what style is:

What is style? The term has been overused and abused a lot, so lets take a look at what it means:

1.   Style is individuality: The dictionary yields many definitions for style, but this one is by far my favorite, “A quality of imagination and individuality expressed in one’s actions and tastes.” This brings me to my next point:

2.   Style is adding your own personal flair to your jamming: Too many maniacs I see out there jam like robots. They hit amazing tricks, but they don’t have any individuality or creativity in their style.

3.   Style is anything you want it to be: Part of being creative is making up your own ideas. You can do that right now.

If you feel you’re guilty of any of the above, I’m here to help.  To help you better understand style, here’s a video I made specifically for the blog with an emphasis on style and creativity:

So, while this video isn’t perfect, hopefully it will help you get inspired.

·    Use “in-between” tricks: These are tricks you know you can hit easily and are great for using in between those hard tricks. Examples are: Cold Fusion, Vert, 360, Rev-Fusion, Snake, Roller Coaster, etc. These will really help complete your jam and add flow to moves and combos.

·    Get Inspired: This means to get inspired by things beside just Myachi; I for example, am being inspired by contact juggling, pop and lock, and poi. If you take some inspiration from things like these, you will easily be able to invent new moves and add increased diversity to your style.

·    Stay loose:  Keep your hands and arms lose, so that when you catch the Myachi it seems like a fluid, liquid motion. Just doing this will add a ton of style points to your jamming.

·    Get into a rhythm: As you’ll notice, in this video I allow the music to help me with my rhythm. When the bass line starts; I begin to jam with more intensity. Try to do this often to help with flow and style.

·    Use music to practice: Basically the same point as above, but continually use music and let the beat modify your speed, flow, rhythm and style.

·    Make a pattern:  Try to make combos that continuously go down points of the body, and then reverse and go back up, for example: Head Stall> Trampoline> Hulk> Knee Stall> Instep Stall> Toe Stall> Knee Pop> Melon Stall.  Or use only the arms or legs. Patterns are a great style tool, but don’t overuse them, or they can become boring.

·    Watch these videos: Here are some great examples of style and creativity in jamming, use these to get inspired:

• Mav's Shred in Washington Square
• Animal's Train Shred 
• Bones on the Subway Platform
• Monk's Myachi & Cup Shred
• Animal & Monk Jamming Together

These are all great examples of flow and creativity from the masters.  Hopefully this blog will allow you to add some style to your Crazy Leg x100 into Duck and Dive.

Thanks for reading, STWAKOJ,

Katana