How Cool is Myachi HQ?

by Crazy Ivan

One of the local moms got lost today on their way to meet up for the commercial shoot.  She wound up on the wrong side of the parking lot and had to walk up from the side road.  No big deal.  She made it in time. Turns out it was fortuitous because if she hadn't come up that way, nobody would have seen the back of the HQ today.

"Have you seen the storm drain out back?" she asks me.

"Why, no," I reply.

Actually, that's probably not at all what I said.  But it was something like that.  We call that a paraphrase.  Anyway, after her brief and impassioned description I had to run out back and when I did I had to run back around the front and grab Pinky's camera.

And with that camera I captured this:

I'm just guessing that as cool as that looks, it's bad for our roof.

Now, because this was awesome beyond measure, I had to get a little closer.  I did so at great peril.  It's been snowing all month and nobody's exactly plowed out behind the office.  What's worse is that it's situated in a spot that gets about ten seconds of sun a day so nothing's melted since December 26th.  There's a thin layer of ice covering the snow so it feels solid until you put your weight on it.

How deep was the snow?  About three and a half feet, actually.  How do I know that?  Because I measured the spot on my stomach where the snow line was when I finished sinking in.  I was literally up to my waist in snow when I took these two pics:

See how I did that crazy double layer thing?  I'm artsy like that.

As I'm standing there feeling the ice encrusted snow slip into my high tops, I'm thinking, "I love snow and ice.  They make you remember how awesome it is when there's no snow and ice."

How to do a Behind the Back

by Crazy Ivan

The first thing I do every morning is check my various in-boxes.  First I check my email, then I check my pms on the Myachi forum, then I check my messages on Facebook, then I check Myachi's messages on Facebook and our @mentions on Twitter, then I check my messages on YouTube then I check Myachi's messages on YouTube.  We get a lot of cool, unique comments and questions, but as you can imagine there are a lot of questions we hear over and over again. 

One of the things I hope to do with this blog is provide a good resource to direct people to when we hear those familiar inquiries.  I take pride in the fact that every message that gets sent our way gets read and almost all of them get answered, but I can't always be as detailed as I'd like when I return the message.  By addressing a few of these questions on the Myachi Blog, I can go into as much detail as I need to (complete with pics and video) and then refer people back to the blog when we hear those questions.

The questions I get usually fall into two categories: Tricks and Trades.  Over the next few weeks I plan to plump this blog up with several articles that hit the key questions in both categories and this blog will start things off.  There are a lot of tricks I get asked about quite often, but perhaps none is as common as the Behind the Back.

The Behind the Back:

This move is easy for some and drives others crazy.  Like many Myachi moves, the difficulty in this one is going to depend on your body type.  If you're thin and flexible (like me) you'll probably nail this one without much trouble.  If you're normal (like Animal or Monk), it will challenge you a little bit more.  Fear not, mesomorphs among the masses, for you too can learn to hit this move quickly and (relatively) painlessly.

The key to nailing the Behind the Back is in how you hold the Myachi.  If you're having trouble doing it from a Lotus position, you can try a little trick that Monk hit upon to make the toss much easier.  Start with the Myachi resting between your thumb and your index finger and then form your hand as though you were holding a book.

Is that a 5.0 Hound's Tooth?  I'm so jealous!

By holding your hand this way you'll be making the toss a lot easier because the reach behind your back will be far less awkward.  For many people who are having trouble with this move, simply changing to this hand position will solve the problem and they will hit it immediately afterwards.  Go ahead and give it a try.

Alright, so maybe you got it, maybe you didn't.  If you missed, I'm willing to wager it was because the Myachi hit your shoulder after you threw it.  That's a pretty common problem and it usually comes from not throwing high enough.  It can also be the byproduct of improper form.  For some reason, people's instinct when they go for a behind the back is to lean back, but in truth, that's the opposite of what you want to do.

See, when you lean back you are moving your shoulder into the path you want the Myachi to take.  Instead of leaning back (which is instinctual for most), you want to lean forward (see figure B).

See?  Figure B.

One of the big impediments to doing a Behind the Back is your other arm.  If you're throwing from your right hand, your left arm will get in the way.  If you're throwing from your left arm, it will be the right arm messing things up.  It's like you can't win.  But fear not, fair Maniac, because I wouldn't have brought up the problem if I didn't have a solution.

There are actually two ways you can go about getting your opposite arm out of the way as well.  The most common is what you see in the picture above.  Actually, more accurately what you don't see in the picture above.  You can't see the left arm at all because it is draped across the body where it can get the heck out of the way.  This is probably the best way to go when you're learning, but there is also another stance that works equally well.

Instead of moving your left arm to the right (or your right arm to the left), you can also lift it up like you see in the photo below.  If you lift your arm high and move it back you'll be able to get a Behind the Back to go through the voided space between your body and your arm.  This is easier for some people, but for a lot of Behind the Back variations it won't work very well.  It's perfect for things like the Musketeer but it won't work if you're trying to go from the Behind the Back to, say, a Melon Stall.

Only reach as far as you comfortably can.  Believe me, it's
not worth pulling a muscle just to do a Myachi trick.

The only other thing you'll need to master this move is practice.  You've got all the know-how you need.  Just pay particular attention to the height that you're throwing to.  If you're missing, ask yourself how you're missing.  Is the Myachi not going far enough behind you?  Is it coming in too fast?  Is your throw inconsistent?  By asking yourself these questions (and more importantly, by answering them) you'll be able to act as your own tutor and you'll master it in no time.

Remember the old Juggler's Rule as well: If you learn it on the right side, be sure to try it on the left side as well.  You don't have a move mastered until it's ambidextrous.

The Commercial Shoot Part Two

by Crazy Ivan

So we just wrapped day 1 of the commercial shoot and man, this is going to be one awesome ad!

The shoot was hectic and crazy the way these things always are.  Many of the kids in the commercial had to hang out for some 5 hours before we actually got them in front of the camera.  Luckily they are more patient than me because they all seemed pretty stoked even that deep into the day.

We did the first chunk of shooting here at the HQ.  MM, Kid, Pinky, Kore, Mav, Animal, Monk and I all got in here and there (they let me wear my stilts!!!) and we even did some 2, 3 and 4 person jams.  Mantis threw down a 4 sack juggle for them, Charles and Jacksib threw down sick shreds, Iceman tossed in a mini-shred (we were running late) and his little sister and Jacksib's little sister also threw out a tandem jam that was pretty sick.

But the star of the show didn't show up until late.  I know what you're thinking.  Who could be more impressive than Mantis or Jacksib?  Who could outdo Mav and Monk?  Who could be cooler than Animal or Kore?  Well, I'll tell you since you asked.

Her name is Jessica (Myachi Name: Jazz, short for DJ Jazzy Jess), she's 9 years old and she's got mad skills.  She also happens to be adorable, but she wasn't resting on the laurels of cuteness.  She threw down an Instep Stall > Toe Stall > Outside Stall > Wolverine.  And she's 9 Years Old!  The whole place erupted after we saw her throw down.

Afterwards, the gang loaded up and headed to the second location, Northshore Middle School.  We got special permission to shoot in the halls and we grabbed all the many Maniacs and headed that way.  Actually, when I say we I should exclude me.  Pinky and I had to stay back and man the office but truth be told, I was happy that we did.  Obviously we had done our on-camera part and we both still had some work to get done today so we let MM and Kid take it from there.

They finished up about half an hour ago.  Junkie just swung by on his way from the shoot (did I mention that Junkie is also in the commercial?  Talk about star power!) and picked up a couple of 5.0s (did I mention that 5.0s are also in the commercial?  What a cast!).  I'm going on his word here, but he said it was awesome and everyone had a blast.

We still have one more day of shooting so I'm trying to stay amped up for that one as well.  Easy to do because we're all so excited about this commercial.  Could be the biggest thing that ever happened to Myachi.  They say that Fushigi sold 3,000,000 units with their commercial and we have a product that is (a) far less expensive, (b) easier to use, (c) less likely to break, (d) more original and (e) more awesome.  That should be worth 30 million sales at least!

To give you an idea how busy it's been with the commercial shoot and the new series coming out, until Jacksib mentioned it this afternoon, I forgot that the Superbowl is only 3 days away.  Man, what a week!

The Commercial Shoot Part One

by Crazy Ivan

Here I sit, typing as quietly as I can.  Less than 15 feet away from me Myachi Man is sweating under some heavy lights and repeating his line over and over while they try to work out the kinks on the camera.  In the game room just beyond many of the world's greatest Myachi players are trying their best to keep quiet.

Mantis, Iceman, CM, Jacksib and their various siblings are chilling right now waiting for their turn to jump in front of the black box and throw down.  Unfortunately, right now we're in "hurry up and wait" mode.  Everybody was mad stoked about being here, but like most things we look forward to it turns out to be a lot more boring than we expected.

I have a bit of an advantage; I've done this before.  Back in 07 we filmed the last commercial and we eagerly anticipated it for weeks.  MM, Kid and I all stayed up late every night reworking the script, practicing our tricks and working out so we could be buff for the camera.  Of course, once we got to the shoot we abandoned the script, did completely unexpected tricks and wore long sleeved shirts.

The point is that we're getting exactly what I expected.  We're spending a lot of time teaching each other new tricks and challenging one anothers aim but mostly we're whispering and tip-toeing so that our footfalls don't interfere with the soundtrack for the commercial.  I have a suspicion that we will enjoy the memories of today more than we enjoy the day itself.

It has been really cool, though.  This is the first time I've met Jacksib and after watching all his great YouTube videos I feel like I already knew him.  He's a pretty cool dude but I can hardly tell because since he got here we've been in whisper mode.  The sound issue also means we have to keep our drops to a minimum so nobody's trying the tough stuff.

One of those awesome videos I was talking about.

There's not much to report yet, but I'll get back on later today and fill in some of the details, complete with photos and hopefully a behind the scenes video or two.  Apparently my typing is getting too loud because the production guys are starting to give me dirty looks.



A Quiz to Help You Choose Your Myachi

Gotta Love Facebook! Check out this new quiz that helps Myachi Maniacs decide which Myachi would be best for them and be sure to check back every Wednesday for a new quiz:

Edit: For some reason when I embedded the newer quiz, it replaced this quiz with that one.  If you'd like to take the "Which Myachi is best for you?" quiz, you can find it on this Facebook Page assuming you have a FB account.

Sorry for the inconvenience.  I promise to be smarter eventually and figure out how to embed multiple quizzes on this site.

The 5.0 Series Has Arrived

by Crazy Ivan

Man, what a huge week!  We already have all the craziness of the commercial shoot hanging over us (not to mention the debut of the new Myachi Blog) and now we've got a brand new series pulling in!

The truck is literally pulling in at this moment.  He's having trouble on the icy parking lot and Kid Myach is out there freezing his butt off directing and helping the delivery driver.  I'll be hopping off mid-blog to help them unload and I honestly can't wait.

We're all pretty stoked about the new series.  I mean, we're always excited when a new series comes out but this is the most exciting series we've gotten in years.  It's not just 12 new colors and fabrics (which is plenty enough to get a house full of Myachi Masters jumping up and down) but there's also a brand new package design.

I'll be reviewing a few of the new sacks over the next couple of days and before the day's out we should be getting pictures up on Facebook and here on the blog.  I can't stress enough the amount of effort that our visual artist Adrian went through to find a package design that everybody could agree on.  It's a pretty massive departure from the old design.  We still have the cartoon characters on the pack but gone is the brick wall and the backdrop of Myachi City.

Myachi Man says we don't need to be breaking through the brick wall any more.  After more than a decade in business, it's safe to say that we've already broken through the wall.  Now it's more about building new foundations rather than tearing old ones down.

I'll be adding another blog yet today complete with pictures and teasers reviews.  Man what a week to start this blog!

EDIT:

I promised pictures, didn't I?  Well, here are a few but if you want to see all of them, check out our Facebook Page.

But here are a few teasers:

We're calling this bad boy the "Ripped and Zipped".

Isn't it about time we made a "Hound's Tooth" pattern?

Siezing on the popularity of the Guatemalan Black, we are
happy to introduce the "Night Rider".

Mother Nature Delays the Commercial

by Crazy Ivan

It really doesn't matter how carefully you plan it.  If Mother Nature decides to change your schedule, she'll change your schedule.

We were all really excited about the filming of the new Myachi commercial.  As we've drawn closer and closer to the big day it's gone from the dominant topic of conversation to the only topic of conversation.  It's a huge opportunity for Myachi and if it's anything like the last commercial we made it's going to be a ton of fun as well.

But it's going to come a day late.

A massive blizzard just dumped entire ice-ages worth of snow on the midwest and unfortunately the team of guys and gals we have coming out to shoot this commercial are coming from the midwest.  That means delays.  Flights are delayed, travel is almost impossible and already they've postponed the start of filming by a day.

I guess waiting one more day isn't that bad.  I mean, I figured I'd be waking up tomorrow and spending the whole day jamming for a camera and playing games of MYACH in between.  Now I have to wait another day.  It should be something I can just shrug off, but it isn't.  Imagine that after all the anticipation somebody suddenly announced that Christmas was being postponed by a day.  You still get all the presents and everything, you just have to wait until the 26th.  You'd get over it, but you probably wouldn't be able to just shrug it off.

Still, I'm super excited about everything that's going on.  I'll be getting a chance to meet a bunch of maniacs I've never met before.  I'm sure there will be awesome new tricks and crazy trades and many stories to share.  They'll just all come a day late.