by Crazy Ivan
We talked the other day about the severe under use of Trap moves by freestylers. I promised then to highlight all eleven trick types over the coming weeks, but before we get to the pros and cons break down, I figured I should highlight another trick type that tend to be problematic in freestyle. And that's the centrifugal.
For those who aren't up on their Myachi terminology, a Centrifugal is a move where the Myachi remains on one place on the body (usually, but not always, the back of the hand) and the body moves without disturbing the Myachi. The most common examples are moves like the Half-Pipe, the Cradle, the Vert, the Snake, the Roller Coaster and all the numerous variations on those tricks. This is the type of trick that makes up some 80% of a game of Fu.
When we talked about trap moves, I was focusing in on their relative under-use in Myachi shreds, but with Centrifugals, I wanted to tackle a different issue altogether. For the record, I do feel that Centrifugals are under-used in freestyle, but nowhere near to the extent that Traps are ignored. That being said, many freestylers make Centrifugals a center-piece of their routines and Verts and Roller Coasters find their way into many if not most long-form shred sessions.
So rather than convince people to use more Centrifugals, I instead want to spend this post convincing people to use them correctly.
It seems to me that most of the time, if I see Centrifugals in a routine, they're lumped together. It's almost like the freestyler is saying, "I can do all the centrifugals as well, see." They're very rarely used in concert with other moves unless they're used on the way into a Daredevil or some other body-cross move and usually you see several of them together.
This makes sense from the perspective of the jammer, but not from the perspective of the audience. As a jammer, I recognize where this tendency comes from. Most of the popular Centifugals use the "Tiger Fist" position where the Myachi rests between the 2nd and 3rd row of knuckles on your fingers. The Roller Coaster, Reverse Roller Coaster, Snake, Crane, Helix, Centrifuge and any number of body-cross trap/swaps all use this same hand position and virtually no non-Centrifugal move in the game uses it.
So it's simply logical that if you, in the course of your jam, find yourself in a Tiger Fist position, you would just rock out a bunch of these moves one after the other. After all, do you really want to find two or three more tricks that end in the same spot? It's far easier to lump them together.
But from the audience's vantage point, it makes for a very unsatisfying portion of the routine. Centrifugals are, like any other type of move, best peppered throughout the routine. You could do a Double Wolverine> 1080> Butterfly> Double Sonic> Double Reverse Butterfly combo in the midst of a shred and it would be awesome. But it would be far less awesome if you never did another aerial move for the rest of the routine. Imagine that instead of using the Double Sonic here (where it's not really adding much to an already complex aerial combo), you held on to it and threw it in between, say, a Toe 360 and a Wing Catch that you were already doing elsewhere in the shred. I think we can all agree that it would be far more impressive to see this unexpected aerial popping up in transition than it would be to have a 5 trick aerial combo instead of a 4 trick one.
The same is certainly true with Centrifugals. Sure, you can lock them all up in one long combo. I've often seen even the best freestylers in the world throw down something like Snake> Roller Coaster> Reverse Roller Coaster> Helix> Crane> Reverse Helix> Drop of Death. Now, if you think it all the way through, this is a sick combo. But now imagine the same combo with a transitional trick in between each move:
Snake> Double Impossible> Roller Coaster> Mantis> DarkSlide> Reverse Roller Coaster> Scorpion Strike> Helix> Cross-Over> Crane> Reverse Helix> Daredevil> Reverse MVP Daredevil> Drop of Death
Now, sure, 14 tricks are cooler than7 tricks by default, but even any series of 7 moves in the combo above would get a better audience reaction than all 7 Centrifugals smashed together.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in the above combo, the Reverse Helix would really get lost in a maze of movement and the inclusion of a Reverse Roller Coaster immediately after a Roller Coaster really diminishes the impressive nature of the Roller Coaster by itself. In other words, if you follow a pretty tough centrifugal with a really tough one, the simpler one is quickly forgotten.
So when setting up a shred, look for opportunities for one off Centrifugals. Practice landing some of your aerials directly into Tiger Fist position. Look for combos that start and end on Centrifugals with other trick types in between. This will add flavor to your routine and make it more distinctive in competitions. And for Pete's sake, learn them with your weak hand too!
Showing posts with label jamming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jamming. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Importance of Traps
by Crazy Ivan
Traditionally, there are eleven categories of tricks in Myachi; High Body Stalls, Low Body Stalls, Strikes, Aerials, Flip Tricks, Body Crosses, Grinds, Portals, Swaps, Centrifugals and Traps. While some moves combine elements of several of these categories, virtually all moves can be described using some variation of these ten broad categories.
In shreds, we usually see a lot of stalls, aerials and body-crosses. Grinds, Portals and Strikes more often show up in games of MYACH. Centrifugals pop up in both instances and are the key to Myachi Fu. Flip Tricks and Traps are often relegated to the "easy" pile and very rarely find their way into jams or skill competitions.
With flip tricks, it's clear why. These are moves that rely on the motion of the Myachi itself (such as kickflips, shove-its, hard flips, etc.) and there's no real need for those in a game of MYACH or in a shred. They're too easy for games of MYACH and they're invisible in a larger shred.
But Traps should not be dismissed so flippantly. Sure, they're illegal in Fu so you won't use them there and there are only a few traps that are legitimate scoring chances in MYACH (and most of them are primarily body-cross moves that also incorporate traps). But when it comes to a shred, traps are probably the most under utilized tricks in the game.
For those that don't know the system, a Trap is a move where you actually "trap" the Myachi between two surfaces on your body. The most common trap tricks are the Hulk, Lotus and Slingshot, but there are hundreds of possible traps using combinations of the hands, feet and body. Still, these moves aren't usually as flashy or impressive as a fast aerial or a difficult low-body stall and because of that, they are usually nowhere to be found in a jam session.
This is a real shame. Traps serve a number of purposes in a shred and they can add a lot to the overall look of the routine. Easy isn't always unimpressive and, depending on how it's framed, a Trap trick can be every bit as impressive as a much tougher foot trick or centrifugal. Let's take a look at a few of the advantages of trap moves:
#1) They Break the Action
In juggling, breaks in the action are called "applause points". These are the moments when everything stops moving for a second so that the audience can catch up and, hopefully, warm the palms of their hands with some vigorous clapping. A good juggler will litter their routine with such stop-and-go pauses so that each motion can be appreciated. It also has the added benefit of making the audience feel like they got more out of the show.
Myachi shreds are the same. If you just string all your best tricks together, the audience really doesn't have time to respond to one trick before they're being baffled by another. Sure, you could use holding pattern moves like Fusions and Fus in between the big elements of your shred, but it's far better to stop the Myachi altogether and give the audience a second to reset.
#2) They Guarantee Odd Placements
Supposing that during your routine, you want to toss in a few Fist tricks. Let's say you've got a sick Fist of Lightening to a Punsiher combo you want to use. This means that at the beginning of this part of the routine, you have to get the Myachi to your fist. There are two ways to do this; you could catch it on your fist from a throw or you could use a trap move like the Hulk and then just come out with the fist stall already in place.
Obviously, the second choice is easier, but less obvious is the fact that it's the more aesthetically pleasing idea from the audience's perspective. Think about it; the Fist of Lightening involves a Fist Catch. So even though the fist catch is more difficult, it will take away from the next trick. Your audience would much rather see two tricks, one easy and one hard, than two difficult tricks that are essentially the same.
And the decision can also be a simple one of consistency. Catching on your fist is really hard. If you have an even more difficult starting position for a trick, the knife edge of the hand, for instance, you might not be able to consistently get that catch within a jam. But you can definitely accomplish it with a Trap. By using a trap, you might actually be expanding the total number of tricks you can bring to a routine.
#3) They Look Really Cool
Odds are that if you're jamming for a crowd, most of them have never played Myachi before. They don't know which tricks are harder than others. I mean, sure, they can just look at a Toe 360 and a Hulk and tell that one is much harder than the other. But do they know that a Spiderman is a lot harder than a Lotus that ends in a Wrist stall?
One of the toughest tricks that I regularly use in freestyle is the Spidey-Sense (a Spiderman to Spiderman Daredevil). When I do it, I always start with a Lotus and do the Spidey-Sense from there. This is a bit easier than just catching a Spiderman, sure, but that's not why I use it. It simply looks cooler to do a Spidey-Sense out of a Lotus than a simple wrist catch. There's more going on. There's more to see. It looks harder even though it's easier.
#4) They Can Be Really Tough
To be sure, I'm not suggesting that you go out and start peppering every routine with a bunch of Hulk to Lotus transitions. If you throw down a Duck N Dive, you can't exactly follow it up with an Anvil to a Slingshot and think it's going to impress somebody. But you could definitely follow up a Duck N Dive with an In-Spin to an Under the Leg Hulk and get some pretty perplexed expressions.
Trap moves are only easy if you do the easy ones. An Atlas is a tough, impressive Trap move. Behind the Back Hulks (or the dreaded Hula Hulk) can be great MYACH calls, let alone Jam tricks. The Figure 4 is a spectacular foot trap. I'm sure that with only a little bit of effort, you can probably think of a tough trap trick that has never even been attempted before.
#5) Traps Are Great for 2 Sack Shreds
Most serious freestylers focus more on multiple Myachi moves than single sack shreds, but even within a 2 sack shred, it can be fun to toss in some one Myachi moves. But what do you do with the second Myachi? Sure, you can stall it on your toe or the top of your head or something just to get it out of the way, but by employing a trap move, you can actually make the dormant Myachi into part of the shred.
Traps and Portals are natural allies. Think about how much cooler a Jump Rope is if there's a second Myachi trapped in a Hulk while you do it. How much cooler is a Musketeer if the fist on the hip is trapping a Myachi? Virtually all portal moves lend themselves to trap variations, but the utility of traps isn't limited to that. Think about some high-body stall/trap combos like the Pteradon and the Headlock (Slingshot and Bodyguard simultaneously from a split).
Even low body stall work can be improved upon by adding a few simple trap variations with one sack while doing a foot shred with another. Traps and Swaps are really the only moves that can realistically be used during a foot shred, as anything else would pose some pretty super-human difficulties. But a Transformer can be executed in the middle of a River Dance without the use of any super powers.
Traditionally, there are eleven categories of tricks in Myachi; High Body Stalls, Low Body Stalls, Strikes, Aerials, Flip Tricks, Body Crosses, Grinds, Portals, Swaps, Centrifugals and Traps. While some moves combine elements of several of these categories, virtually all moves can be described using some variation of these ten broad categories.
In shreds, we usually see a lot of stalls, aerials and body-crosses. Grinds, Portals and Strikes more often show up in games of MYACH. Centrifugals pop up in both instances and are the key to Myachi Fu. Flip Tricks and Traps are often relegated to the "easy" pile and very rarely find their way into jams or skill competitions.
With flip tricks, it's clear why. These are moves that rely on the motion of the Myachi itself (such as kickflips, shove-its, hard flips, etc.) and there's no real need for those in a game of MYACH or in a shred. They're too easy for games of MYACH and they're invisible in a larger shred.
But Traps should not be dismissed so flippantly. Sure, they're illegal in Fu so you won't use them there and there are only a few traps that are legitimate scoring chances in MYACH (and most of them are primarily body-cross moves that also incorporate traps). But when it comes to a shred, traps are probably the most under utilized tricks in the game.
For those that don't know the system, a Trap is a move where you actually "trap" the Myachi between two surfaces on your body. The most common trap tricks are the Hulk, Lotus and Slingshot, but there are hundreds of possible traps using combinations of the hands, feet and body. Still, these moves aren't usually as flashy or impressive as a fast aerial or a difficult low-body stall and because of that, they are usually nowhere to be found in a jam session.
This is a real shame. Traps serve a number of purposes in a shred and they can add a lot to the overall look of the routine. Easy isn't always unimpressive and, depending on how it's framed, a Trap trick can be every bit as impressive as a much tougher foot trick or centrifugal. Let's take a look at a few of the advantages of trap moves:
#1) They Break the Action
In juggling, breaks in the action are called "applause points". These are the moments when everything stops moving for a second so that the audience can catch up and, hopefully, warm the palms of their hands with some vigorous clapping. A good juggler will litter their routine with such stop-and-go pauses so that each motion can be appreciated. It also has the added benefit of making the audience feel like they got more out of the show.
Myachi shreds are the same. If you just string all your best tricks together, the audience really doesn't have time to respond to one trick before they're being baffled by another. Sure, you could use holding pattern moves like Fusions and Fus in between the big elements of your shred, but it's far better to stop the Myachi altogether and give the audience a second to reset.
#2) They Guarantee Odd Placements
Supposing that during your routine, you want to toss in a few Fist tricks. Let's say you've got a sick Fist of Lightening to a Punsiher combo you want to use. This means that at the beginning of this part of the routine, you have to get the Myachi to your fist. There are two ways to do this; you could catch it on your fist from a throw or you could use a trap move like the Hulk and then just come out with the fist stall already in place.
Obviously, the second choice is easier, but less obvious is the fact that it's the more aesthetically pleasing idea from the audience's perspective. Think about it; the Fist of Lightening involves a Fist Catch. So even though the fist catch is more difficult, it will take away from the next trick. Your audience would much rather see two tricks, one easy and one hard, than two difficult tricks that are essentially the same.
And the decision can also be a simple one of consistency. Catching on your fist is really hard. If you have an even more difficult starting position for a trick, the knife edge of the hand, for instance, you might not be able to consistently get that catch within a jam. But you can definitely accomplish it with a Trap. By using a trap, you might actually be expanding the total number of tricks you can bring to a routine.
#3) They Look Really Cool
Odds are that if you're jamming for a crowd, most of them have never played Myachi before. They don't know which tricks are harder than others. I mean, sure, they can just look at a Toe 360 and a Hulk and tell that one is much harder than the other. But do they know that a Spiderman is a lot harder than a Lotus that ends in a Wrist stall?
One of the toughest tricks that I regularly use in freestyle is the Spidey-Sense (a Spiderman to Spiderman Daredevil). When I do it, I always start with a Lotus and do the Spidey-Sense from there. This is a bit easier than just catching a Spiderman, sure, but that's not why I use it. It simply looks cooler to do a Spidey-Sense out of a Lotus than a simple wrist catch. There's more going on. There's more to see. It looks harder even though it's easier.
#4) They Can Be Really Tough
To be sure, I'm not suggesting that you go out and start peppering every routine with a bunch of Hulk to Lotus transitions. If you throw down a Duck N Dive, you can't exactly follow it up with an Anvil to a Slingshot and think it's going to impress somebody. But you could definitely follow up a Duck N Dive with an In-Spin to an Under the Leg Hulk and get some pretty perplexed expressions.
Trap moves are only easy if you do the easy ones. An Atlas is a tough, impressive Trap move. Behind the Back Hulks (or the dreaded Hula Hulk) can be great MYACH calls, let alone Jam tricks. The Figure 4 is a spectacular foot trap. I'm sure that with only a little bit of effort, you can probably think of a tough trap trick that has never even been attempted before.
#5) Traps Are Great for 2 Sack Shreds
Most serious freestylers focus more on multiple Myachi moves than single sack shreds, but even within a 2 sack shred, it can be fun to toss in some one Myachi moves. But what do you do with the second Myachi? Sure, you can stall it on your toe or the top of your head or something just to get it out of the way, but by employing a trap move, you can actually make the dormant Myachi into part of the shred.
Traps and Portals are natural allies. Think about how much cooler a Jump Rope is if there's a second Myachi trapped in a Hulk while you do it. How much cooler is a Musketeer if the fist on the hip is trapping a Myachi? Virtually all portal moves lend themselves to trap variations, but the utility of traps isn't limited to that. Think about some high-body stall/trap combos like the Pteradon and the Headlock (Slingshot and Bodyguard simultaneously from a split).
Even low body stall work can be improved upon by adding a few simple trap variations with one sack while doing a foot shred with another. Traps and Swaps are really the only moves that can realistically be used during a foot shred, as anything else would pose some pretty super-human difficulties. But a Transformer can be executed in the middle of a River Dance without the use of any super powers.
-----
In summary, every type of Myachi Move has its place. If you're not using a lot of trap moves in your shreds, it might be fun to start rethinking that. I'll be highlighting the rest of the trick types over the next few weeks, but I really felt that the most under-rated type of trick deserved top billing on this little countdown. Look for a post highlighting Centrifugals coming soon...
Friday, September 23, 2011
Choosing My Jammers
by Crazy Ivan
One of the last things I do before I leave the House of Skills in the morning is pick out my jammers for the day. Like many of you, I have a pretty substantial collection of Myachis. I would love to say that I just reach into a pile, grab the 5 or 6 Myachis that my hands land on and stick them in my pockets.
But in reality it's far more complicated than that. Complicating matters is the fact that I have to find the right balance of jammability.
As we all know, Myachis take a little effort to break in. Some break in quickly and others break in slowly, but as a general rule, the more you jam with a Myachi, the more jammable it becomes. This is true for a Zoot Suit (a notoriously tough sack to break in) the same as it is for a Black Beard (the extreme other end of the scale), it's just that one has a much longer timeline than the other.
So if I wanted to make the decision as easy as possible, I'd simply grab the 5 or 6 most broken in Myachis I have in my collection and go from there. But I can't do that because once a Myachi is really, really broken in, I start worrying about losing it.
And I lose Myachis all the time. Whether they're claimed by elevator cracks, gutters, protrusions on buildings or the third rail, Myachis just get lost. You kick them wrong, they start flying away and you watch in painfully slow motion as they move toward a spot you know you'll never get them back from.
Of course, I could solve this dilemma pretty easily too. I could just take the sacks that have reached that "too-valued-to-use" echelon and set them aside in a special pile that I don't pick from. Then I could just take the 5 or 6 best jammers that weren't too jammable and use them.
But that doesn't work either. There are two reasons, of course. One is that I often find myself in a spot where the "Myachi Mastery" thing to do is to give away a Myachi. If I run into some cool cats on the train, for example, and they're really good at the game, I'll usually hook one of them up. If all I've got is my best jammers (or the best ones I'm willing to use), I'd be pretty hesitant to just hand them off.
There's a more important consideration as well, of course. If all I ever did was used my best jammers, I'd eventually run out of good jammers. At some point I'd lose all the ones I was willing to lose and wouldn't dare to carry any of the other good jammers with me. Then I'd wind up with nothing but tough jammers.
The balance I choose is somewhere in between. I always keep at least one spectacular jammer with me (something like a Yellow Jacket, a Hounds Tooth or a Member Solutions). That's my peak jammer and it's there just in case I wind up in a tough game of MYACH that I can't afford to lose. That one stays in my back pocket unless it's absolutely needed.
The other Myachis will be something of a spectrum of jammability. I'll have a few good jammers (because you never want to teach somebody the game using brand new sacks) and a couple that are on their way. I'll jam with them throughout the day and inch them ever closer to the promised land of SUMPOY. This way if I lose a great jammer, at least I've got another one on its way.
Lastly, I'll grab a tough jammer. When I'm on the train or in line or something, I like to have a Myachi just to fidget with. I won't necessarily jam with it; sometimes I'll just rub it in my hands or fold it over repeatedly. This is the first stage in yummification so I always try to have a few that are at that spot.
And yes, that whole process goes through my head every day when I grab my Myachis. There was a time when I just had 6 or 7 and I simply carried all of them. The decision was simpler back then, but that doesn't mean it was better. Sometimes the good old days are more "old" than "good".
One of the last things I do before I leave the House of Skills in the morning is pick out my jammers for the day. Like many of you, I have a pretty substantial collection of Myachis. I would love to say that I just reach into a pile, grab the 5 or 6 Myachis that my hands land on and stick them in my pockets.
But in reality it's far more complicated than that. Complicating matters is the fact that I have to find the right balance of jammability.
As we all know, Myachis take a little effort to break in. Some break in quickly and others break in slowly, but as a general rule, the more you jam with a Myachi, the more jammable it becomes. This is true for a Zoot Suit (a notoriously tough sack to break in) the same as it is for a Black Beard (the extreme other end of the scale), it's just that one has a much longer timeline than the other.
So if I wanted to make the decision as easy as possible, I'd simply grab the 5 or 6 most broken in Myachis I have in my collection and go from there. But I can't do that because once a Myachi is really, really broken in, I start worrying about losing it.
And I lose Myachis all the time. Whether they're claimed by elevator cracks, gutters, protrusions on buildings or the third rail, Myachis just get lost. You kick them wrong, they start flying away and you watch in painfully slow motion as they move toward a spot you know you'll never get them back from.
Of course, I could solve this dilemma pretty easily too. I could just take the sacks that have reached that "too-valued-to-use" echelon and set them aside in a special pile that I don't pick from. Then I could just take the 5 or 6 best jammers that weren't too jammable and use them.
But that doesn't work either. There are two reasons, of course. One is that I often find myself in a spot where the "Myachi Mastery" thing to do is to give away a Myachi. If I run into some cool cats on the train, for example, and they're really good at the game, I'll usually hook one of them up. If all I've got is my best jammers (or the best ones I'm willing to use), I'd be pretty hesitant to just hand them off.
There's a more important consideration as well, of course. If all I ever did was used my best jammers, I'd eventually run out of good jammers. At some point I'd lose all the ones I was willing to lose and wouldn't dare to carry any of the other good jammers with me. Then I'd wind up with nothing but tough jammers.
The balance I choose is somewhere in between. I always keep at least one spectacular jammer with me (something like a Yellow Jacket, a Hounds Tooth or a Member Solutions). That's my peak jammer and it's there just in case I wind up in a tough game of MYACH that I can't afford to lose. That one stays in my back pocket unless it's absolutely needed.
The other Myachis will be something of a spectrum of jammability. I'll have a few good jammers (because you never want to teach somebody the game using brand new sacks) and a couple that are on their way. I'll jam with them throughout the day and inch them ever closer to the promised land of SUMPOY. This way if I lose a great jammer, at least I've got another one on its way.
Lastly, I'll grab a tough jammer. When I'm on the train or in line or something, I like to have a Myachi just to fidget with. I won't necessarily jam with it; sometimes I'll just rub it in my hands or fold it over repeatedly. This is the first stage in yummification so I always try to have a few that are at that spot.
And yes, that whole process goes through my head every day when I grab my Myachis. There was a time when I just had 6 or 7 and I simply carried all of them. The decision was simpler back then, but that doesn't mean it was better. Sometimes the good old days are more "old" than "good".
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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
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:
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
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Best Myachis of All Time
by Crazy Ivan
One of the most common questions I get from newer Myachi players is "which Myachi is the best?"
If you follow this blog, you probably know that I am incapable of responding to a simple question with a simple answer, so instead I'll usually duck out of it with something like "It's mostly a matter of personal preference" and then toss out my personal favorite.
But that's because I don't want to spend 20 minutes answering a simple question. That's in the real world, of course. In the blogosphere, my goal is to spend 20 minutes answering a simple question so when Rotscale suggested this as a blog topic, I ran with it.
Of course, there is no universally accepted "Best Myachi" and each Myachi Master and Myachi player will probably give you a different answer if you ask which is the "best jammer", but there are a few sacks that almost always show up when we start discussing the greatest Myachis of all time.
Below are 5 Myachis that often get mentioned in those conversations. Like everyone, I have a personal favorite, but I'm going to try to remain objective and not spend the whole time talking about how awesome the Calvin is:
#1) The Calvin
Man, this sack is so awesome. It's awesomeness is so awesome they had to downgrade the awesomeness of other things just to keep the word relevant. Despite its unrivaled awesomeness, this sack was kind of an ugly duckling when the 1.0 series came out. Next to jammers like the Black Butter and the Dawg Diggity and striking sacks like the Royal Tiger, the Leopard Lime, the Purple Haze and the Red Stripe, the Calvin often got lost in the shuffle.
It was the worst selling Myachi in the entire series until one day when Animal finally decided to really break one in and see what it was all about. And man, let me tell you, this duckling turned into a swan. I fell in love after a few minutes of jamming with Animal's Calvin (he named her "Jezabel" and bestowed upon her the title of "the Calvin of unholy righteousness", whatever that's supposed to mean).
The Calvin is durable and gets yummier and yummier as time goes on. It takes weather well, it washes well and it turns to liquid in your hands on long distance catches. That being said, being my personal favorite doesn't make it the greatest jammer. The Calvin has since been replaced with far more jammable Myachis but it was the last Myachi that ever reigned as an undisputed Champion. For a time, virtually everyone in the game agreed that the Calvin was the best we'd ever made.
#2) The Coreyster
The Coreyster ranks high atop the list of the best jammers ever made. In a popularity contest through all of Myachidom the only thing that would stand in the way of this sack winning outright is that there aren't very many of them around and not enough jammers have used them.
Coreysters were made for a Bar Mitzvah (bet you can guess the date!) and there were only 150 of them produced. The Bar Mitzvah boy was kind enough to hook several of the Myachi Masters up with one after the party so we broke them in and were happy to discover they were awesome beyond belief.
Word made it around quickly when Monk adopted a Coreyster as his primary jammer and this sack has been a favorite ever since. Of course, because it was made in such small numbers only a small number of the people who look for these guys will ever find them.
#3) The Black Belt
I show the Eco-Kids Yellow in the picture because it was the most well known, but I would include 5 of the 6 Eco Kids Myachis in this list (the Blue one left a little to be desired jam-wise). Mostly though, I'm referring here to the original three, the Yellow, the Brown (Beige, Tan, whatever...) and the Green.
These three sacks were made for a great cause in honor of a great human being and this was one of the most rewarding fund raisers we've ever done. It really helps the memories that the Myachi I associate with it is one of my all time favorites as well.
Like the Coreyster, the Eco Kids was tossed into the lime light by Monk more than anyone else. A few ridiculous Eco Yellows in his collection left dozens of dedicated players clambering to get their hands on one (but not their palms) and it rightfully took it's place amongst the best jammers. Of course, like the last 2, this one was made in extraordinarily small numbers so it suffers from a lack of familiarity as well. The same is certainly not the case for the next contender.
#5) The Red Line
One of the most common questions I get from newer Myachi players is "which Myachi is the best?"
If you follow this blog, you probably know that I am incapable of responding to a simple question with a simple answer, so instead I'll usually duck out of it with something like "It's mostly a matter of personal preference" and then toss out my personal favorite.
But that's because I don't want to spend 20 minutes answering a simple question. That's in the real world, of course. In the blogosphere, my goal is to spend 20 minutes answering a simple question so when Rotscale suggested this as a blog topic, I ran with it.
Of course, there is no universally accepted "Best Myachi" and each Myachi Master and Myachi player will probably give you a different answer if you ask which is the "best jammer", but there are a few sacks that almost always show up when we start discussing the greatest Myachis of all time.
Below are 5 Myachis that often get mentioned in those conversations. Like everyone, I have a personal favorite, but I'm going to try to remain objective and not spend the whole time talking about how awesome the Calvin is:
#1) The Calvin
 |
| Guaranteed to break in like your favorite pair of jeans... |
It was the worst selling Myachi in the entire series until one day when Animal finally decided to really break one in and see what it was all about. And man, let me tell you, this duckling turned into a swan. I fell in love after a few minutes of jamming with Animal's Calvin (he named her "Jezabel" and bestowed upon her the title of "the Calvin of unholy righteousness", whatever that's supposed to mean).
The Calvin is durable and gets yummier and yummier as time goes on. It takes weather well, it washes well and it turns to liquid in your hands on long distance catches. That being said, being my personal favorite doesn't make it the greatest jammer. The Calvin has since been replaced with far more jammable Myachis but it was the last Myachi that ever reigned as an undisputed Champion. For a time, virtually everyone in the game agreed that the Calvin was the best we'd ever made.
#2) The Coreyster
 |
| The shame is that half the people that were at this Bar Mitzvah have one of these things and have no idea how prized it is. |
Coreysters were made for a Bar Mitzvah (bet you can guess the date!) and there were only 150 of them produced. The Bar Mitzvah boy was kind enough to hook several of the Myachi Masters up with one after the party so we broke them in and were happy to discover they were awesome beyond belief.
Word made it around quickly when Monk adopted a Coreyster as his primary jammer and this sack has been a favorite ever since. Of course, because it was made in such small numbers only a small number of the people who look for these guys will ever find them.
#3) The Black Belt
 |
| The ninja of Myachis. |
I suppose I could have just as easily substituted any of the belts here, but the connotations of the Black Belt are such that it's the obvious choice. What says "mastery of skill" like a Black Belt? Especially if it happens to be one of the most spectacularly yummy Myachi to ever grace the human hand.
Like the Coreyster, the Black Belt was made in a very small number. Only 121 of them were produced at all and even fewer White and Blue Belts were made (you'd know how many if you'd done your homework on the Sackthology!). So like the Coreyster not a large enough percentage of the Myachi population has direct knowledge of how great these guys really are.
But unlike the Coreyster, the Black Belt is a legend just for being an awesome pitch black Myachi with a glyph on it called the Black Belt that is uber-rare. Even if this thing jammed worse than a Tootsie-Roll it would be prized in the Myachi world. On top of that it's one of the greatest jammers we've ever made so word of its jammability quicky reached every corner of the Myachiverse. I'd venture to say that even most Myachi Maniacs who've never jammed with a Black Belt still know it as one of the greatest jammers.
#4) The Eco Kids
 |
| You know why the tag's blurry? I couldn't stop jamming with this thing long enough to take a still photo. That's why. |
These three sacks were made for a great cause in honor of a great human being and this was one of the most rewarding fund raisers we've ever done. It really helps the memories that the Myachi I associate with it is one of my all time favorites as well.
Like the Coreyster, the Eco Kids was tossed into the lime light by Monk more than anyone else. A few ridiculous Eco Yellows in his collection left dozens of dedicated players clambering to get their hands on one (but not their palms) and it rightfully took it's place amongst the best jammers. Of course, like the last 2, this one was made in extraordinarily small numbers so it suffers from a lack of familiarity as well. The same is certainly not the case for the next contender.
#5) The Red Line
 |
| And in a pinch you can also play little tiny checkers on them. |
To be fair, there are any number of great corduroy sacks I could have used here. The Red Line is not intrinsically better than the Finish Line or the Starting Line and one could certainly make the case that it's no better than the Gang Green, the Beards or the Yellow Jacket. I choose the Red Line as my example because it's plentiful. It's one of the most widely available corduroys ever made and it is unquestionably jammable.
It has a bit of an advantage on the last three sacks. While almost all Coreysters, Black Belts and Eco Kids became great jammers, some long-boarded a little too much and others never really broke in to a legendary playability. The Red Lines were virtually 100% jammable.
This sack was so popular that it was rereleased in several series after being accidentally released at the tail end of the 3.2 series (funny story... I'll have to tell it to you someday). They came at a time when the corduroy was just being recognized as a superior jam-fabric and their neutral pattern and top shelf jammability has made and kept them favorites for jammers since their release.
-----
There are so many more Myachis that deserve mention here. I will probably be berated in e-mails if I don't at least toss a nod to such legendary sacks as the Suffolk Downs, the recent but already legendary CMC, the Members Solutions, the Syd and any of a couple dozen corduroys. I'd love to keep going but this list has to end somewhere.
The truth is that you could never find the best jammer by looking at a list anyway. The simple answer to the simple question of "Which sack is the best jammer?" is "The one you jam with the most", and that's all there is to it. If you put enough TLC into a Fudge Stripe it will be a superior jammer even if it's never going to make anyone else's list of the best jammers of all time.
Any sack can be the best jammer if you jam with it enough.
Okay... not any sack. I'm not sold that anybody could break in a Vette, a Neo or a Candy Corn enough to make them Sumpoy but I'd love to be proven wrong.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Change Your Music, Change Your Style
by Crazy Ivan
I mentioned in a recent blog the importance of listening to music when you practice. This tends to keep you more involved in what you're doing and makes it more fun but it also gives you a tempo to follow and helps you when you're learning to link your tricks together.
A whole volume could be written on preferred jamming music. It seems like most everyone has a preferred style of music and it runs the gambit from hip-hop to jazz to rock to blues to classical to rave. It's obviously a pretty personal thing so I'm not going to make any attempt to say which genre is "best" for jamming to Myachi. I think I can say that something with a fast pace and a lot of change ups is good but after that it's all a matter of individual taste.
But there's an observation I made last night that I felt like I had to share. I'm choreographing a routine that goes to a classical Russian guitar song. I know that sounds pretty weird but with a nickname like "Crazy Ivan" you know it has to come eventually. It also helps that Andrei Krylov is one of the most impressive musicians on the planet:
(That's not the song I'm choreographing to, by the way, just the musician in question)
Anyway so I'm freestyling to this cool but radically different style of music and I notice something strange. My whole style of jamming had changed. I was doing all these crazy finger tricks in between swaps, I'm throwing in a lot of expressive kicks (something I hardly ever do), I'm using the knees a lot more than usual and I'm keeping things way more right/left balanced that normal.
My style is pretty cemented but I'm usually listening to some chill rock like Dispatch or Jack Johnson when I jam so I start wondering if the change in the music is really changing my style or if I'm just in a weird mood (it had been a weird day, after all).
So I borrow Mav's infinite iPod and start checking some other stuff. I discover that for me, the change in the style of music makes a radical and noticeable difference in the style of tricks I do in a freestyle shred. With hip-hop I'm way more measured and everything is evenly paced whereas with rock I'm more fluid and tricks tend to just run together. With jazz I'm really stop and go but with classical I'm really formulaic and rhythmic.
Anyway, it's hard to describe a style of playing Myachi in any meaningful way so I'll have to leave it with the notion that I could tell the difference. It made a big enough difference that I actually felt like I was learning new stuff when I listened to new music.
I would strongly encourage everyone who plays the game regularly to try changing up their music once in a while. Obviously it still has to be stuff you like. No sense in torturing yourself with something you hate while you're doing something you love, but exploring different genres can really open you up to some new ideas in your actual game.
I know it sounds kind of weird and I guess the only evidence I can offer is your results if you try it. If nothing else it opens you up to new music and that's usually a good thing.
Oh, and for those of you keeping score at home, that means that yes, I:
I mentioned in a recent blog the importance of listening to music when you practice. This tends to keep you more involved in what you're doing and makes it more fun but it also gives you a tempo to follow and helps you when you're learning to link your tricks together.
A whole volume could be written on preferred jamming music. It seems like most everyone has a preferred style of music and it runs the gambit from hip-hop to jazz to rock to blues to classical to rave. It's obviously a pretty personal thing so I'm not going to make any attempt to say which genre is "best" for jamming to Myachi. I think I can say that something with a fast pace and a lot of change ups is good but after that it's all a matter of individual taste.
But there's an observation I made last night that I felt like I had to share. I'm choreographing a routine that goes to a classical Russian guitar song. I know that sounds pretty weird but with a nickname like "Crazy Ivan" you know it has to come eventually. It also helps that Andrei Krylov is one of the most impressive musicians on the planet:
(That's not the song I'm choreographing to, by the way, just the musician in question)
Anyway so I'm freestyling to this cool but radically different style of music and I notice something strange. My whole style of jamming had changed. I was doing all these crazy finger tricks in between swaps, I'm throwing in a lot of expressive kicks (something I hardly ever do), I'm using the knees a lot more than usual and I'm keeping things way more right/left balanced that normal.
My style is pretty cemented but I'm usually listening to some chill rock like Dispatch or Jack Johnson when I jam so I start wondering if the change in the music is really changing my style or if I'm just in a weird mood (it had been a weird day, after all).
So I borrow Mav's infinite iPod and start checking some other stuff. I discover that for me, the change in the style of music makes a radical and noticeable difference in the style of tricks I do in a freestyle shred. With hip-hop I'm way more measured and everything is evenly paced whereas with rock I'm more fluid and tricks tend to just run together. With jazz I'm really stop and go but with classical I'm really formulaic and rhythmic.
Anyway, it's hard to describe a style of playing Myachi in any meaningful way so I'll have to leave it with the notion that I could tell the difference. It made a big enough difference that I actually felt like I was learning new stuff when I listened to new music.
I would strongly encourage everyone who plays the game regularly to try changing up their music once in a while. Obviously it still has to be stuff you like. No sense in torturing yourself with something you hate while you're doing something you love, but exploring different genres can really open you up to some new ideas in your actual game.
I know it sounds kind of weird and I guess the only evidence I can offer is your results if you try it. If nothing else it opens you up to new music and that's usually a good thing.
Oh, and for those of you keeping score at home, that means that yes, I:
- Woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning,
- spent 8.5 hours teaching gym,
- wrote a blog when I got home,
- filmed the trick of the day,
- wrote another blog and
- still found time to work on a routine I'm choreographing.
And of course, being as dedicated to your constant entertainment as I am, I also woke up early enough to write this and still be out the door by 6:15.
Your welcome...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)