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!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Best Fu Player in the Multiverse
by Crazy Ivan
First, a candid admission. I've written a lot of blog entries where the title promises the "best" of something. Whether it's the Best Myachi, Best Myachi Player, or the Best Trick, there is one thing that all of these articles have in common: I never actually get around to answering the question. I usually spend the whole time drawing "apples to oranges" comparisons to justify my unwillingness to provide a definitive answer.
So before I even get started with this entry, let me tell you in advance that at no point in the following paragraphs will I actually name a person that is the best Fu player. I'm not really going to make any effort to and if I did I would be drawing too large a conclusion based on the information that I actually have.
Instead, I want to talk here about what kind of person would likely be the best Myachi Fu player on the planet. For the purposes of this discussion there's no reason to limit ourselves to people that have actually played the game or even heard of it. What we're looking for instead is a transplant. Someone we could take from one profession and stick into a Fu battle.
The obvious first answer is a martial artist. The whole concept of Fu comes from martial arts and it stands to reason that a talented martial artist would be pretty good at the game really fast. They might not take to the trick element of Myachi as fast as some other select groups, but when it comes to playing Fu, they'll already have all the skills they need; balance, hand speed, body control, fast reactions and full-body coordination. What's more is that I've actually had the chance to play Fu against a few accomplished martial artists in my time and this anecdotal evidence definitely favors the common sense assumptions above.
But there's no reason to limit ourselves to this one sport. Anyone who was skilled in hand to hand combat would likely have a huge advantage in Fu. Sure, body blows and uppercuts wouldn't play into it, but a pugilist would have huge advantages in a game of Fu. Simply knowing how to use good footwork to dictate your opponent's actions is a major part of the game. It also doesn't hurt to be adept at blocking strikes, getting out of the way of an aggressor and redirecting a blow.
And of course, we needn't restrict ourselves to combat sports. I know from experience that football players (specifically offensive linemen) make great Fu players. They can frustrate virtually any attempt to move inside for a strike and can really wear down even a veteran player. Basketball players are fast and used to feigning in and out to get around people so they always end up popping up behind your defenses. Baseball players even have a huge advantage when it comes to catching wayward strikes and desperation passes.
But of course, we can go much further afield than that. Consider the advantage that a lax player has. Considering that cradling a lacrosse ball and verting a Myachi are almost identical skills, it doesn't require much of a stretch of the imagination to see a good lax player translating those skills to Myachi Fu. Fast centrifugal movements combined with the aggressive nature of lacrosse is a pretty likely fit for a great Fu player.
Acrobats and dancers deserve some mention as well. Considering the amount of flexibility and balance that you need to be a true master of Fu, somebody with a head start in that regard could easily surpass the crowd and become a true master of the game. For the same reason, one should consider most "extreme" athletes as well, since virtually all such sports hinge on balance foremost.
So as near as I can tell, the best Myachi Fu player in the world would be a basketball playing, lacrosse phenom ninja acrobat with a penchant for skateboarding. As for the best Fu player in the multiverse... I guess that title would simply go to the life form with the most arms.
First, a candid admission. I've written a lot of blog entries where the title promises the "best" of something. Whether it's the Best Myachi, Best Myachi Player, or the Best Trick, there is one thing that all of these articles have in common: I never actually get around to answering the question. I usually spend the whole time drawing "apples to oranges" comparisons to justify my unwillingness to provide a definitive answer.
So before I even get started with this entry, let me tell you in advance that at no point in the following paragraphs will I actually name a person that is the best Fu player. I'm not really going to make any effort to and if I did I would be drawing too large a conclusion based on the information that I actually have.
Instead, I want to talk here about what kind of person would likely be the best Myachi Fu player on the planet. For the purposes of this discussion there's no reason to limit ourselves to people that have actually played the game or even heard of it. What we're looking for instead is a transplant. Someone we could take from one profession and stick into a Fu battle.
The obvious first answer is a martial artist. The whole concept of Fu comes from martial arts and it stands to reason that a talented martial artist would be pretty good at the game really fast. They might not take to the trick element of Myachi as fast as some other select groups, but when it comes to playing Fu, they'll already have all the skills they need; balance, hand speed, body control, fast reactions and full-body coordination. What's more is that I've actually had the chance to play Fu against a few accomplished martial artists in my time and this anecdotal evidence definitely favors the common sense assumptions above.
But there's no reason to limit ourselves to this one sport. Anyone who was skilled in hand to hand combat would likely have a huge advantage in Fu. Sure, body blows and uppercuts wouldn't play into it, but a pugilist would have huge advantages in a game of Fu. Simply knowing how to use good footwork to dictate your opponent's actions is a major part of the game. It also doesn't hurt to be adept at blocking strikes, getting out of the way of an aggressor and redirecting a blow.
And of course, we needn't restrict ourselves to combat sports. I know from experience that football players (specifically offensive linemen) make great Fu players. They can frustrate virtually any attempt to move inside for a strike and can really wear down even a veteran player. Basketball players are fast and used to feigning in and out to get around people so they always end up popping up behind your defenses. Baseball players even have a huge advantage when it comes to catching wayward strikes and desperation passes.
But of course, we can go much further afield than that. Consider the advantage that a lax player has. Considering that cradling a lacrosse ball and verting a Myachi are almost identical skills, it doesn't require much of a stretch of the imagination to see a good lax player translating those skills to Myachi Fu. Fast centrifugal movements combined with the aggressive nature of lacrosse is a pretty likely fit for a great Fu player.
Acrobats and dancers deserve some mention as well. Considering the amount of flexibility and balance that you need to be a true master of Fu, somebody with a head start in that regard could easily surpass the crowd and become a true master of the game. For the same reason, one should consider most "extreme" athletes as well, since virtually all such sports hinge on balance foremost.
So as near as I can tell, the best Myachi Fu player in the world would be a basketball playing, lacrosse phenom ninja acrobat with a penchant for skateboarding. As for the best Fu player in the multiverse... I guess that title would simply go to the life form with the most arms.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Myachi Boot Camp
by Crazy Ivan
The next Myachi Boot Camp is only 2 days away so if you're (a) in driving distance of Myachi HQ, (b) off of school on Friday the 13th and (c) looking for something fun to do from 1 to 3, you are strongly advised to grab your collection, brush up on your MYACH sets and head over to HQ for some absolute Myachi overload. Kid Myach, Pinky, Monk and Maverick will all be there running workshops, hosting contests, brokering trades, teaching tricks, posing challenges and showing off. There will be rares, trades, tricks, games and food. Pretty much everything a Myachi Maniac needs to survive.
This will be the 11th Myachi Boot Camp we've hosted (if I've got my count right), and it occurs to me now that I've yet to mention them here on the blog. This isn't as strange as it might seem; I usually try to keep the articles here "general interest". According to the stats Google gives us, we've got regular readers in 14 countries here and our US readership comes from all over the nation. If I write an article about using Traps in your jam, that's info that every one of our readers can use. If I write about an event that's happening at HQ, at most, only 15% of our readers can really act on that.
That being said, the Boot Camps are a big part of what we do and I'd like to think that a reader in Switzerland or Australia or Minnesota is still interested enough in the movement to want to know the extent of the ways we spread the word. So even if you can't come to the Boot Camp, at least you can know that such things exist. Of course, I'm sorry to anyone who reads this and thinks "Man, I'd love to go, but it's about 4,600 miles away...", but I'd be even sorrier if that person 4,600 miles away never even knew we did Boot Camps.
I'm sure that by now, many of you are wondering exactly what a Myachi Boot Camp consists of. Is it a tournament? Is it a class? Is it a party? Well, the short answer to all those questions is "yes". There are three main goals at Boot Camps and I'll list them in order of importance:
The next Myachi Boot Camp is only 2 days away so if you're (a) in driving distance of Myachi HQ, (b) off of school on Friday the 13th and (c) looking for something fun to do from 1 to 3, you are strongly advised to grab your collection, brush up on your MYACH sets and head over to HQ for some absolute Myachi overload. Kid Myach, Pinky, Monk and Maverick will all be there running workshops, hosting contests, brokering trades, teaching tricks, posing challenges and showing off. There will be rares, trades, tricks, games and food. Pretty much everything a Myachi Maniac needs to survive.
This will be the 11th Myachi Boot Camp we've hosted (if I've got my count right), and it occurs to me now that I've yet to mention them here on the blog. This isn't as strange as it might seem; I usually try to keep the articles here "general interest". According to the stats Google gives us, we've got regular readers in 14 countries here and our US readership comes from all over the nation. If I write an article about using Traps in your jam, that's info that every one of our readers can use. If I write about an event that's happening at HQ, at most, only 15% of our readers can really act on that.
That being said, the Boot Camps are a big part of what we do and I'd like to think that a reader in Switzerland or Australia or Minnesota is still interested enough in the movement to want to know the extent of the ways we spread the word. So even if you can't come to the Boot Camp, at least you can know that such things exist. Of course, I'm sorry to anyone who reads this and thinks "Man, I'd love to go, but it's about 4,600 miles away...", but I'd be even sorrier if that person 4,600 miles away never even knew we did Boot Camps.
I'm sure that by now, many of you are wondering exactly what a Myachi Boot Camp consists of. Is it a tournament? Is it a class? Is it a party? Well, the short answer to all those questions is "yes". There are three main goals at Boot Camps and I'll list them in order of importance:
- Have Insane Amounts of Fun
- Improve Everyone's Myachi Skills
- Reward Everyone's Myachi Skills
Contests are part of Boot Camp, but it is not a tournament. We have tournaments and those are awesome, but the goal there is to test everyone's Myachi Skills and reward the people who stand above the rest. The first goal of having insane amounts of fun is the same at tournaments, but unlike a Boot Camp, tournaments aren't so much about learning new skills as they are about exhibiting current skills.
But a Boot Camp is just what is sounds like: Intensive immersion in Myachi. You will learn new tricks and you'll learn new ways to challenge yourself with existing tricks. You'll be given a chance to set world records and be given the tools to help you do so. You'll learn from two of the three best Myachi freestylers in the world (and I'll leave it to you to decide who's who there) and through it all, you'll be earning a chance to win rare Myachis that can be obtained only through tournaments and Boot Camps.
And as cool as that all sounds, the real fun of the Boot Camp is something else altogether. It's a class and it's a tournament, but it's also a party. You'll be getting together with Myachi Maniacs from all over the NY area and odds are pretty good that you'll meet a lot of solid jammers you've never met before. You'll learn not only from the Masters, but also from your peers. You'll make new friends with common interests and you'll get some great chances to improve your collection through trades. You'll put faces to the names you encounter on the forum and the Facebook page and you'll learn new moves and teach new tricks to people who share your passion for the game.
So if your interest is piqued, here's all the info you'll need:
Boot Camp begins at 1 and goes to 3 at Myachi HQ (1 Shore Rd., Glenwood Landing, NY). It's $15 per person or, if you're coming in a group, you can get a discount of 4 people for $50.
If you want more information, contact HQ at (516) 801-4949 or email us at MyachiHQ@myachi.com for more details.
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.
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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...
Monday, April 9, 2012
Where Can I Buy Rare Myachis?
by Crazy Ivan
First, let me throw out a quick apology to my regular readers. I won't be presenting much in the way of new information in this particular post, so if you've been reading this blog for a while, I'm just going to spend the next few paragraphs telling you stuff that you already know.
My goal with this post is actually to draw in new readers. My hope is that this blog will show up near the top of the page whenever people Google "Where can I find rare Myachis?" or "Where can I buy rare Myachis?". This is, after all, the single most common question on our Facebook page, our forum, my in-box, my private messages and on Twitter. People always want to know where they can find rare Myachis.
Of course, there are really only two reliable places; E-Bay and Myachi Maniacs. Maniacs will often have tradable rare and semi-rare sacks and when old collectors whittle down their collections, they usually offer a few up on E-Bay. These are the only consistent ways to find rare Myachis. But generally, the people who ask this question aren't satisfied by that answer.
There is another option, of course, but it's difficult, time-consuming and has no guarantee of success. I'll get to that in a minute, but before I do, let me present two facts that will seem stupidly self-evident, but which still must be addressed:
#1) Rare Myachis are rare.
#2) The rarer a Myachi is, the rarer that Myachi is.
Again, I apologize if it seems like I'm being silly or pedantic, but that it seems that a lot of people don't fully understand that. The term "rare Myachi" gets throw around as though it were simply a type of Myachi, rather than a distinction of availability.
The point is that if there were some website where one could simply go and purchase rare Myachis, they wouldn't be rare. They would be currently available on some website. If there was a store that sold rare Myachis, they wouldn't really be rare... they would be available at that store.
Rare Myachis are rare specifically because there isn't a store or a website where you can buy them. And if you're lucky enough to find a website that has retired Myachis, odds are pretty good that they'll be, at best, semi-rare.
All Myachis are made in limited editions. For example, in the current 5.2 series, there are exactly 4,200 of each type of Myachi. There are 4,200 Gr8ful Shred Blacks, 4,200 Comic Cammos, 4,200 Red Dragons, etc. There are 12 types of Myachi in the series, which means that in total , there are 50,400 Myachis in the series.
Once all those sell out, they're gone. We won't make any more 5.2s so if you didn't get a Comic Cammo then, you're not going to easily find one.
Of course, once Myachi sells out of the 5.2s, they won't automatically become rare. We sell most of our Myachis to stores rather than to individual collectors, so after Myachi runs out as a company, there will still be hundreds of stores all over the world that still have 5.2s for sale. Depending on how quickly Myachis sell out of each store, they might still be available for 3-6 months after we're sold out on our website.
After that, the 5.2 series will be "Semi-rare". That's a distinction we put on a series that is, for the most part, sold out in all stores. But it is still widely available to collectors because pretty much everyone has one in their collection and it's not old enough to be a prized sack. So if you want, for example, a Hot Lava Yellow, you'll probably still be able to get one even if most stores have sold it out.
But if you fast forward a couple of years, it will be a heck of a lot harder to find that particular Myachi. The Hot Lava Yellow would have sold out of stores years earlier and the only ones that would still be around would be sitting in people's collections. By then it would be a pretty rare Myachi so Maniacs wouldn't want to give it up for nothing. If you had your heart set on a Hot Lava Yellow in 2015, your only real options would be to find a collector with one he or she would trade or sell, or keep a close eye on auction sites with hopes that one will come available.
So if you look backwards along the Myachi timeline, you can see sacks at all different strata of rarity. If you want a Night Rider (a 5.0), you're going to have some trouble finding it. It's already sold out of stores, but there might be one available through some online retailer that hasn't been selling a lot of Myachis lately. Heck, there might even be some stores in less Myachi-dense areas that still have the whole 5.0 series available.
If you're desire was a Rolling Thunder (a 4.2), it's probably too late to happen upon it in a store or on a website. This series was sold out years ago and now the only ones in existence are probably the ones in people's collections. Keep in mind that for non-collectors, Myachis get lost constantly. You toss one too high, it gets caught in a tree and you're out of luck. The older a Myachi is, the more of them that will have been lost to trees, gutters, elevator shafts, dogs, really messy bedrooms, rooftops, large bodies of water and other various booby traps that litter the world when you play a lot of Myachi.
The further back you go, of course, the harder each sack is to find. And everybody who is looking for rare Myachis is looking for really rare Myachis. People are always coming in asking me where they can find a White Belt or a Slick Black Leather or a Hunter Green Paper Tag. And I have to simply shrug. There were only 85 White Belts ever made and that was in 2006. It's estimated that by now only about 50 or 60 of them are still around and virtually all of those are in the hands of pretty serious Myachi collectors. There is absolutely no chance that you will ever find a White Belt for sale in a store. And odds are pretty good that if anybody has decided to sell one, it's somebody who knows exactly how rare it is.
So to bring this whole thing full circle, rare Myachis are rare and extremely rare Myachis are extremely rare. There is no easy way to find a particular rare Myachi you're looking for and there's probably no cheap way to buy it.
But there are two other ways one can obtain rare Myachis. One is to hunt. The hunt can be fun, but it takes a lot of time. There are a few small stores that buy Myachis once at a trade show or something then take them home to some town where nobody knows what a Myachi is. These stores will sit on them for a really long time. Now, most stores won't let anything sit on their shelves for years. So if the Myachis don't sell for a long enough period, they'll give them away as a "free gift with purchase" or they'll donate them to a Christmas Toy Drive or something like that. But every once in a while, they'll hold on to them. And every once in a while you can find those stores.
The odds are overwhelmingly against you. You can pick through our store locator and try to find some of the older entries. You can call around and research locally owned stores online. You can focus in on historic Myachi hot-spots like Virginia Beach; Ocean City, Maryland; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Cocoa Beach, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia and, of course, New York, New York. You can keep your eyes peeled every time you travel and go into as many independent toy and hobby stores you can find and eventually, with a lot of persistence and a little luck, you may come across an absolute gem.
Of course, it's more likely that you'll come across a bunch of semi-rare sacks from a few series ago, but picking up a bunch of those will give you great trade material to pick up an even older sack from a collector. Two 4.2s could probably net you a 4.0 and a 4.0 plus two more 4.2s will likely earn you a 3.1. So if you decide to go the hunting route, it's best to be ready to pick up whatever you find. Don't go looking specifically for a Red Beard, but rather, get to know your series and simply look for older Myachis.
There's a second method that requires a lot more time and a lot less effort. I only mention it because when I explain how difficult it is to build a collection of rare Myachis, people always want to know how I managed it. After all, I have one of the biggest collections of old Myachis in the world. How did I get all my rare Myachis? Simple. I just got them when they were common.
The second method is simple patience. Any Myachi you get will be rare in time.
First, let me throw out a quick apology to my regular readers. I won't be presenting much in the way of new information in this particular post, so if you've been reading this blog for a while, I'm just going to spend the next few paragraphs telling you stuff that you already know.
My goal with this post is actually to draw in new readers. My hope is that this blog will show up near the top of the page whenever people Google "Where can I find rare Myachis?" or "Where can I buy rare Myachis?". This is, after all, the single most common question on our Facebook page, our forum, my in-box, my private messages and on Twitter. People always want to know where they can find rare Myachis.
Of course, there are really only two reliable places; E-Bay and Myachi Maniacs. Maniacs will often have tradable rare and semi-rare sacks and when old collectors whittle down their collections, they usually offer a few up on E-Bay. These are the only consistent ways to find rare Myachis. But generally, the people who ask this question aren't satisfied by that answer.
There is another option, of course, but it's difficult, time-consuming and has no guarantee of success. I'll get to that in a minute, but before I do, let me present two facts that will seem stupidly self-evident, but which still must be addressed:
#1) Rare Myachis are rare.
#2) The rarer a Myachi is, the rarer that Myachi is.
Again, I apologize if it seems like I'm being silly or pedantic, but that it seems that a lot of people don't fully understand that. The term "rare Myachi" gets throw around as though it were simply a type of Myachi, rather than a distinction of availability.
The point is that if there were some website where one could simply go and purchase rare Myachis, they wouldn't be rare. They would be currently available on some website. If there was a store that sold rare Myachis, they wouldn't really be rare... they would be available at that store.
Rare Myachis are rare specifically because there isn't a store or a website where you can buy them. And if you're lucky enough to find a website that has retired Myachis, odds are pretty good that they'll be, at best, semi-rare.
All Myachis are made in limited editions. For example, in the current 5.2 series, there are exactly 4,200 of each type of Myachi. There are 4,200 Gr8ful Shred Blacks, 4,200 Comic Cammos, 4,200 Red Dragons, etc. There are 12 types of Myachi in the series, which means that in total , there are 50,400 Myachis in the series.
Once all those sell out, they're gone. We won't make any more 5.2s so if you didn't get a Comic Cammo then, you're not going to easily find one.
Of course, once Myachi sells out of the 5.2s, they won't automatically become rare. We sell most of our Myachis to stores rather than to individual collectors, so after Myachi runs out as a company, there will still be hundreds of stores all over the world that still have 5.2s for sale. Depending on how quickly Myachis sell out of each store, they might still be available for 3-6 months after we're sold out on our website.
After that, the 5.2 series will be "Semi-rare". That's a distinction we put on a series that is, for the most part, sold out in all stores. But it is still widely available to collectors because pretty much everyone has one in their collection and it's not old enough to be a prized sack. So if you want, for example, a Hot Lava Yellow, you'll probably still be able to get one even if most stores have sold it out.
But if you fast forward a couple of years, it will be a heck of a lot harder to find that particular Myachi. The Hot Lava Yellow would have sold out of stores years earlier and the only ones that would still be around would be sitting in people's collections. By then it would be a pretty rare Myachi so Maniacs wouldn't want to give it up for nothing. If you had your heart set on a Hot Lava Yellow in 2015, your only real options would be to find a collector with one he or she would trade or sell, or keep a close eye on auction sites with hopes that one will come available.
So if you look backwards along the Myachi timeline, you can see sacks at all different strata of rarity. If you want a Night Rider (a 5.0), you're going to have some trouble finding it. It's already sold out of stores, but there might be one available through some online retailer that hasn't been selling a lot of Myachis lately. Heck, there might even be some stores in less Myachi-dense areas that still have the whole 5.0 series available.
If you're desire was a Rolling Thunder (a 4.2), it's probably too late to happen upon it in a store or on a website. This series was sold out years ago and now the only ones in existence are probably the ones in people's collections. Keep in mind that for non-collectors, Myachis get lost constantly. You toss one too high, it gets caught in a tree and you're out of luck. The older a Myachi is, the more of them that will have been lost to trees, gutters, elevator shafts, dogs, really messy bedrooms, rooftops, large bodies of water and other various booby traps that litter the world when you play a lot of Myachi.
The further back you go, of course, the harder each sack is to find. And everybody who is looking for rare Myachis is looking for really rare Myachis. People are always coming in asking me where they can find a White Belt or a Slick Black Leather or a Hunter Green Paper Tag. And I have to simply shrug. There were only 85 White Belts ever made and that was in 2006. It's estimated that by now only about 50 or 60 of them are still around and virtually all of those are in the hands of pretty serious Myachi collectors. There is absolutely no chance that you will ever find a White Belt for sale in a store. And odds are pretty good that if anybody has decided to sell one, it's somebody who knows exactly how rare it is.
So to bring this whole thing full circle, rare Myachis are rare and extremely rare Myachis are extremely rare. There is no easy way to find a particular rare Myachi you're looking for and there's probably no cheap way to buy it.
But there are two other ways one can obtain rare Myachis. One is to hunt. The hunt can be fun, but it takes a lot of time. There are a few small stores that buy Myachis once at a trade show or something then take them home to some town where nobody knows what a Myachi is. These stores will sit on them for a really long time. Now, most stores won't let anything sit on their shelves for years. So if the Myachis don't sell for a long enough period, they'll give them away as a "free gift with purchase" or they'll donate them to a Christmas Toy Drive or something like that. But every once in a while, they'll hold on to them. And every once in a while you can find those stores.
The odds are overwhelmingly against you. You can pick through our store locator and try to find some of the older entries. You can call around and research locally owned stores online. You can focus in on historic Myachi hot-spots like Virginia Beach; Ocean City, Maryland; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Cocoa Beach, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia and, of course, New York, New York. You can keep your eyes peeled every time you travel and go into as many independent toy and hobby stores you can find and eventually, with a lot of persistence and a little luck, you may come across an absolute gem.
Of course, it's more likely that you'll come across a bunch of semi-rare sacks from a few series ago, but picking up a bunch of those will give you great trade material to pick up an even older sack from a collector. Two 4.2s could probably net you a 4.0 and a 4.0 plus two more 4.2s will likely earn you a 3.1. So if you decide to go the hunting route, it's best to be ready to pick up whatever you find. Don't go looking specifically for a Red Beard, but rather, get to know your series and simply look for older Myachis.
There's a second method that requires a lot more time and a lot less effort. I only mention it because when I explain how difficult it is to build a collection of rare Myachis, people always want to know how I managed it. After all, I have one of the biggest collections of old Myachis in the world. How did I get all my rare Myachis? Simple. I just got them when they were common.
The second method is simple patience. Any Myachi you get will be rare in time.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Bones Overtakes Maverick!
by Crazy Ivan
It's no mistake that the title of this post is so sensational, but I'll spare you the suspense and let you know right away that we're not talking skills here. Bones is one of the most promising young freestylers in the world right now and there is a chance that he will someday overtake Maverick in overall Myachi skills, but Maverick is still raising the bar and there's a lot of catch-up to do.
But Bones has overtaken Mav in a different and very important metric. He's jumped ahead of him on You-Tube.
If you search Myachi on YouTube and sort by relevance (the default setting), the top rated video is the Myachi commercial. But right below that, you'll see the video below... a video that Bones shot with Bamboo in Monk's room and posted back in February of 2010.
For years we've watched this video creep up the ranks and while the skills he and Bamboo exhibit here are utterly dwarfed by what they can do now, the video has remained popular and has actually gained momentum over the last year. A few months ago, it overtook one of the most popular Myachi shred videos ever recorded, a classic jam from Maverick in Washington Square:
This video had enjoyed top YouTube billing for quite a while and still ranks at #3, right below Bones and Bamboo. It's an epic shred to be sure, but is equally eclipsed by Mav's current level of skill. I have a feeling that in both cases, the stars of the videos find the tricks that seemed hard back then quaint in comparison to what they can do now.
I should note that Bones' video hasn't actually overtaken Mav's in total view count. Mav still has an advantage of some 8000 views as of this writing. But that's increasingly irrelevant. If you search Myachi videos by view count, the top 9 videos have nothing to do with Myachi. Three of them are highlights of Japanese football phenom Ryo Miyaichi and the others are all but inexplicable. In fact, the only actual Myachi video that cracks the top 10 in view count is a 4 year old video of Caffeine demonstrating a 360, a 720 and some very questionable attempts at higher rotations.
I'm not sure what factors are figured in to You-Tube's calculation of the most "relevant" video, but i can tell you that this top honor is a source of pride within the House of Skills. We all ceck in from time to time to see where we're ranking. As of this moment, the top 10 breaks down as follows:
It's no mistake that the title of this post is so sensational, but I'll spare you the suspense and let you know right away that we're not talking skills here. Bones is one of the most promising young freestylers in the world right now and there is a chance that he will someday overtake Maverick in overall Myachi skills, but Maverick is still raising the bar and there's a lot of catch-up to do.
But Bones has overtaken Mav in a different and very important metric. He's jumped ahead of him on You-Tube.
If you search Myachi on YouTube and sort by relevance (the default setting), the top rated video is the Myachi commercial. But right below that, you'll see the video below... a video that Bones shot with Bamboo in Monk's room and posted back in February of 2010.
For years we've watched this video creep up the ranks and while the skills he and Bamboo exhibit here are utterly dwarfed by what they can do now, the video has remained popular and has actually gained momentum over the last year. A few months ago, it overtook one of the most popular Myachi shred videos ever recorded, a classic jam from Maverick in Washington Square:
This video had enjoyed top YouTube billing for quite a while and still ranks at #3, right below Bones and Bamboo. It's an epic shred to be sure, but is equally eclipsed by Mav's current level of skill. I have a feeling that in both cases, the stars of the videos find the tricks that seemed hard back then quaint in comparison to what they can do now.
I should note that Bones' video hasn't actually overtaken Mav's in total view count. Mav still has an advantage of some 8000 views as of this writing. But that's increasingly irrelevant. If you search Myachi videos by view count, the top 9 videos have nothing to do with Myachi. Three of them are highlights of Japanese football phenom Ryo Miyaichi and the others are all but inexplicable. In fact, the only actual Myachi video that cracks the top 10 in view count is a 4 year old video of Caffeine demonstrating a 360, a 720 and some very questionable attempts at higher rotations.
I'm not sure what factors are figured in to You-Tube's calculation of the most "relevant" video, but i can tell you that this top honor is a source of pride within the House of Skills. We all ceck in from time to time to see where we're ranking. As of this moment, the top 10 breaks down as follows:
- The Official Myachi Commercial
- Bones' Tough Myachi Tricks (Bones, Bamboo)
- Mav's Washington Square Shred (Mav)
- Myachi in NYC (Myachi Man, Kid, Big Dog)
- Myachi Sales 101 (Kid)
- Meeting Night (Everybody)
- Old Myachi Video (Myachi Man and Big Dog)
- Monk and I in tandem (Monk and I)
- Battle Paddle Promo video
- My 1st Collection Video
There are always a few shuffles and changes here and there, but we're all always looking to crack that top 3. Which leads me to the call to action. Do you have a favorite Myachi Master? Do you think Mav's video should be above Bones? Do you think Bones and Bamboo have earned the top spot? Do you think Monk's Myachi and Cup shred should make the top 10? How about Sack Center?
You can, of course, help to decide. I'm not sure all the metrics that enter in to it, but I'm willing to bet that you can influence the top 10 just by watching, liking and sharing the video that you think most deserves the top honor. If you have a blog, you can embed it. If you have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, you can share it. If you have a Google Plus account... let me know how that's working out for you.
Anyway, I'll be updating this top 10 standing from time to time and hopefully some new entries will find their way into the honored spots. If nothing else, I'd love to see both Bones and Mav make follow up videos to these classics.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The 4 Essential Tricks for Myachi Fu
by Crazy Ivan
One of the many ways we track the evolution of Myachi is through the popular games that we play with it. As the game gets bigger, the preeminent Myachi game has shifted 3 times and we seem to be in the middle of a fourth epic shift. Over the years Chaos gave way to Golf and Golf gave way to MYACH and now it seems clear that Fu is sweeping in and overtaking MYACH as the most popular game in Myachi.
I don't think the shift is complete quite yet. I would guess that there are still more MYACH players than Myachi Fu players, if for no other reason than the game is spread out and you can't play Fu over your webcam, but there are many indicators that the Fu will soon supplant MYACH.
The first place that we've seen this shift historically is within the Myachi movement. When I joined the company, Golf was still the most popular Myachi game but Animal, Butter and I favored MYACH. It might be hard to believe now, but back then, we represented the younger generation of Myachi Masters (even though I'm 10 years older than Animal).
Today we're seeing a similar shift as our newest generation of masters slowly gravitate more to Fu than MYACH. Again, we're not talking about a transition that has happened, but rather about one that is happening currently. I'm actually having a lot of fun watching the signposts that are marking this shift and I saw one the other day at FAO. For the first time, I met a dude who played Myachi. When I asked him what his favorite trick was, he said, "I don't really do tricks, but I'm good at Fu."
And he was. I played him 3 rounds on the spot (it was slow) and he was quick with super-fast hand switches and really competent leg work. But he couldn't do a 360 and when I showed him an under the leg, he was trying it for the first time.
In the past that would be unthinkable... somebody who plays Myachi but doesn't know tricks? Even when the game was primarily Chaos and it was all about the toss and catch, everyone still knew the Under the Leg and the 360. But this dude had clearly spent some serious time with a Myachi on his hand and it had never really occurred to him to do an Under the Leg.
I was really fired up about this. He'd seen people doing tricks and that hadn't interested him, but when he saw a few friends playing Fu, he wanted in. He's a martial artist and he saw the benefits (and point) of the game right away. And (I can't emphasize this enough) he was good. Not just "I'm-a-grown-up-and-he's-14-so-I'm-being-nice" good, but actually, genuinely good. He scored a solid point on me when I wasn't even close to "going easy" mode.
So now that I know that there's at least one person who just plays Fu and doesn't focus on the tricks, I think it's a safe assumption that there are more. And if not, there will be. So it's about time to start representing them here on the Myachi Blog.
Obviously, if you want to be good at Fu, there are a few tricks you will have to know. Even if freestyle isn't your thing, you can no more master Fu without these tricks than you could master basketball without learning to dribble. These aren't usually the 4 basics we teach because they're not the most important moves to learn first if you're going to do a bunch of freestyle shredding, but if your only goal is to be a great Fu player, here's where you should start:
#1) The Half Pipe
This move is essentially the "dribble" of Fu. You can never afford to let your hand rest in a game of Fu. It should almost always be in motion and you need control during that motion. The Half Pipe is a super-easy move to do, sure, but it isn't as easy to master. You need to be able to Half Pipe really quickly and, just as important, you need how to stop the Half Pipe motion on a dime to react to your opponents attack.
Just as important is being ambidextrous. In Fu, everybody has to be a South Paw from time to time and you've got to have equal control with both hands. After all, if you're protecting your Myachi with your dominant hand, you'll never have it free for attacks.
And, of course, that same motion will be employed in the next move, which is actually more important, but not as easy to learn right away.
#2) The Vert
If you can't Vert, you can't win against someone who can. Being able to raise your Myachi up and out of trouble without losing control of it is essential if you're going against an experienced opponent. In fact, mastering a lefty and righty Vert can be enough to completely wipe out a height advantage in a game against a player without a Vert.
The reason is obvious. If you can't Vert, you're in serious trouble every time you have to raise the Myachi above your chest. That just gives you less space in which to work your defense. A quick Vert will also allow you to correct a bad catch without leaving yourself open to attack.
If I had to list a single, quintessential move for mastering Fu, this would be it. Practice this one a lot and go for speed. Use both hands (obviously) and try to do as many full Verts as you can in 60 seconds. Then try to do more. Then try to do more. If you can Vert fast enough, you'll find yourself making attacks with the hand you have your Myachi on. That makes for a nearly unbeatable offense... unless your opponent has a Vert as fast as yours.
#3) The Fu
Pretty obvious that in a game called "Myachi Fu", you're going to have to know how to do the move called "The Fu", but despite that, a lot of players underestimate its importance. To illustrate it, let me start with something really obvious. If your opponent is attacking your right hand, the best defense is to have the Myachi in your left hand.
Considering that, you need to have a super fast way to switch from one hand to another. The Fu is the swap move that offers you the most control. A Fusion move relies on gravity so you have to wait for the Myachi to come to you, but a Fu uses centrifugal force so you can move as fast as your hands will allow without sacrificing control of the Myachi.
Now, usually when people think about the Fu, they think of it as a continuous swap back and forth. That's useful in a game because you can stand back from your opponent quickly swapping so they don't know what hand you're going to attack with. Once they commit, you can come out of your furiously fast Fu and attack with whichever hand suits you. But even more important than having a fast back and forth is having a single, quick, controlled exchange.
I know it sounds weird, but don't just practice going back and forth. You also need to practice just doing one Fu and then going into some lefty centrifugals (and, of course, going back and going straight into some righty centrifugals). You have to be able to instantaneously switch hands and have control of that Myachi right away. Good Half-Pipe and Vert work will help you defensively, but a fast enough Fu will set you up for some great offense as well.
#4) The Slash
This is definitely the most underestimated move in Fu and that's odd because it's probably also the most common. It is so common and so rarely talked about that a lot of Fu players probably do that move without even realizing that it is a move.
The reason is clear. The Slash is virtually never used in freestyle. It's a utilitarian move; you use it because you need to, not because you want to. You would never call a Slash in a MYACH combo. You would never add it to your freestyle program. But if you want to master the game of Fu, you'll need it to be as natural as walking.
I don't want to over-emphasize the importance of a good slash, but I've played several games of Fu where a Slash has made the difference between winning and losing. If you move in close to your opponent, it can be easy to isolate their "attack" hand. Basically you just move one of your shoulders in between their shoulders. This allows you to focus in on their defensive hand and it doesn't allow them to pull off a hand switch (unless they go crazy and do a Dare Devil).
Of course, if you have a solid Slash, it's easy to get out of this. You can move the Myachi to the opposing side of your body quickly without switching hands at all and this completely negates such an attack. In fact, in a sense it reverses it, since now both of your hands are on the side opposite your opponent's attacking hand.
If you doubt the utility of this move, just watch two friends playing Fu and count up the times you see it. Odds are that even if they've never heard of such a move, they'll use it several times. But of course, if they haven't practiced it, it might be to their detriment. It's easy to overdo this move and not stop the forward momentum of the Myachi. This results in the Myachi flying off your hand at the end and scoring a point against you. Thus the importance of practicing.
Honorable Mention) Behind the Back
I hesitate to mention this one because you could play a dozen rounds of Fu without ever using a Behind the Back, but the effect is so devastating when you do that it's worth inclusion on this list. Some people accuse you of "show boating" if you do a Behind the Back in the middle of a Fu battle. It just looks so good and seems so flashy that it almost has to be show boating right?
Well, to be honest, a lot of the time it is. I would say that only about 1 out of 3 Behind the Backs I see in Fu are legitimately strategic moves. After all, you're taking your eye off the ball no matter how you look at it. It's a dangerous move for a lot of reasons, but foremost of these is that it is a move that relies on gravity. You have to wait for the Myachi to come to you and that means you're at a serious momentary disadvantage.
So why would you ever do it? Well, if you're good enough at it and you do it at the right time, it will all but guarantee you a point. Here's how: you get your opponent to a point where they're defending with the hand that mirrors you. Let's say they're defending lefty and you're defending righty. You're in a pretty standard position, doing Verts out behind you with your left hand in front and your opponent is circling around toward your right hand.
Now here's the kill shot: You let him or her in. They see an opportunity that they think was a mistake and as they pursue it they step past your offensive hand. If you can snap a quick behind the back here, they're chasing an empty hand and, if you can bring your Myachi under control fast enough to spin out of it, they're standing with their back to you and their Myachi out behind them.
It is a devastating blow that almost always earns a point, but that's not the only time you'll find a need for a Behind the Back. Any time you're in serious trouble it's an option worth considering. It negates any advantage someone might have gained on you immediately, but only if you're really fast and really accurate. You have to really snap that behind the back over your shoulder and your left hand has to be able to go straight into some defensive work, but if you master it, it will drive your opponents crazy.
One of the many ways we track the evolution of Myachi is through the popular games that we play with it. As the game gets bigger, the preeminent Myachi game has shifted 3 times and we seem to be in the middle of a fourth epic shift. Over the years Chaos gave way to Golf and Golf gave way to MYACH and now it seems clear that Fu is sweeping in and overtaking MYACH as the most popular game in Myachi.
I don't think the shift is complete quite yet. I would guess that there are still more MYACH players than Myachi Fu players, if for no other reason than the game is spread out and you can't play Fu over your webcam, but there are many indicators that the Fu will soon supplant MYACH.
The first place that we've seen this shift historically is within the Myachi movement. When I joined the company, Golf was still the most popular Myachi game but Animal, Butter and I favored MYACH. It might be hard to believe now, but back then, we represented the younger generation of Myachi Masters (even though I'm 10 years older than Animal).
Today we're seeing a similar shift as our newest generation of masters slowly gravitate more to Fu than MYACH. Again, we're not talking about a transition that has happened, but rather about one that is happening currently. I'm actually having a lot of fun watching the signposts that are marking this shift and I saw one the other day at FAO. For the first time, I met a dude who played Myachi. When I asked him what his favorite trick was, he said, "I don't really do tricks, but I'm good at Fu."
And he was. I played him 3 rounds on the spot (it was slow) and he was quick with super-fast hand switches and really competent leg work. But he couldn't do a 360 and when I showed him an under the leg, he was trying it for the first time.
In the past that would be unthinkable... somebody who plays Myachi but doesn't know tricks? Even when the game was primarily Chaos and it was all about the toss and catch, everyone still knew the Under the Leg and the 360. But this dude had clearly spent some serious time with a Myachi on his hand and it had never really occurred to him to do an Under the Leg.
I was really fired up about this. He'd seen people doing tricks and that hadn't interested him, but when he saw a few friends playing Fu, he wanted in. He's a martial artist and he saw the benefits (and point) of the game right away. And (I can't emphasize this enough) he was good. Not just "I'm-a-grown-up-and-he's-14-so-I'm-being-nice" good, but actually, genuinely good. He scored a solid point on me when I wasn't even close to "going easy" mode.
So now that I know that there's at least one person who just plays Fu and doesn't focus on the tricks, I think it's a safe assumption that there are more. And if not, there will be. So it's about time to start representing them here on the Myachi Blog.
Obviously, if you want to be good at Fu, there are a few tricks you will have to know. Even if freestyle isn't your thing, you can no more master Fu without these tricks than you could master basketball without learning to dribble. These aren't usually the 4 basics we teach because they're not the most important moves to learn first if you're going to do a bunch of freestyle shredding, but if your only goal is to be a great Fu player, here's where you should start:
#1) The Half Pipe
This move is essentially the "dribble" of Fu. You can never afford to let your hand rest in a game of Fu. It should almost always be in motion and you need control during that motion. The Half Pipe is a super-easy move to do, sure, but it isn't as easy to master. You need to be able to Half Pipe really quickly and, just as important, you need how to stop the Half Pipe motion on a dime to react to your opponents attack.
Just as important is being ambidextrous. In Fu, everybody has to be a South Paw from time to time and you've got to have equal control with both hands. After all, if you're protecting your Myachi with your dominant hand, you'll never have it free for attacks.
And, of course, that same motion will be employed in the next move, which is actually more important, but not as easy to learn right away.
#2) The Vert
If you can't Vert, you can't win against someone who can. Being able to raise your Myachi up and out of trouble without losing control of it is essential if you're going against an experienced opponent. In fact, mastering a lefty and righty Vert can be enough to completely wipe out a height advantage in a game against a player without a Vert.
The reason is obvious. If you can't Vert, you're in serious trouble every time you have to raise the Myachi above your chest. That just gives you less space in which to work your defense. A quick Vert will also allow you to correct a bad catch without leaving yourself open to attack.
If I had to list a single, quintessential move for mastering Fu, this would be it. Practice this one a lot and go for speed. Use both hands (obviously) and try to do as many full Verts as you can in 60 seconds. Then try to do more. Then try to do more. If you can Vert fast enough, you'll find yourself making attacks with the hand you have your Myachi on. That makes for a nearly unbeatable offense... unless your opponent has a Vert as fast as yours.
#3) The Fu
Pretty obvious that in a game called "Myachi Fu", you're going to have to know how to do the move called "The Fu", but despite that, a lot of players underestimate its importance. To illustrate it, let me start with something really obvious. If your opponent is attacking your right hand, the best defense is to have the Myachi in your left hand.
Considering that, you need to have a super fast way to switch from one hand to another. The Fu is the swap move that offers you the most control. A Fusion move relies on gravity so you have to wait for the Myachi to come to you, but a Fu uses centrifugal force so you can move as fast as your hands will allow without sacrificing control of the Myachi.
Now, usually when people think about the Fu, they think of it as a continuous swap back and forth. That's useful in a game because you can stand back from your opponent quickly swapping so they don't know what hand you're going to attack with. Once they commit, you can come out of your furiously fast Fu and attack with whichever hand suits you. But even more important than having a fast back and forth is having a single, quick, controlled exchange.
I know it sounds weird, but don't just practice going back and forth. You also need to practice just doing one Fu and then going into some lefty centrifugals (and, of course, going back and going straight into some righty centrifugals). You have to be able to instantaneously switch hands and have control of that Myachi right away. Good Half-Pipe and Vert work will help you defensively, but a fast enough Fu will set you up for some great offense as well.
#4) The Slash
This is definitely the most underestimated move in Fu and that's odd because it's probably also the most common. It is so common and so rarely talked about that a lot of Fu players probably do that move without even realizing that it is a move.
The reason is clear. The Slash is virtually never used in freestyle. It's a utilitarian move; you use it because you need to, not because you want to. You would never call a Slash in a MYACH combo. You would never add it to your freestyle program. But if you want to master the game of Fu, you'll need it to be as natural as walking.
I don't want to over-emphasize the importance of a good slash, but I've played several games of Fu where a Slash has made the difference between winning and losing. If you move in close to your opponent, it can be easy to isolate their "attack" hand. Basically you just move one of your shoulders in between their shoulders. This allows you to focus in on their defensive hand and it doesn't allow them to pull off a hand switch (unless they go crazy and do a Dare Devil).
Of course, if you have a solid Slash, it's easy to get out of this. You can move the Myachi to the opposing side of your body quickly without switching hands at all and this completely negates such an attack. In fact, in a sense it reverses it, since now both of your hands are on the side opposite your opponent's attacking hand.
If you doubt the utility of this move, just watch two friends playing Fu and count up the times you see it. Odds are that even if they've never heard of such a move, they'll use it several times. But of course, if they haven't practiced it, it might be to their detriment. It's easy to overdo this move and not stop the forward momentum of the Myachi. This results in the Myachi flying off your hand at the end and scoring a point against you. Thus the importance of practicing.
Honorable Mention) Behind the Back
I hesitate to mention this one because you could play a dozen rounds of Fu without ever using a Behind the Back, but the effect is so devastating when you do that it's worth inclusion on this list. Some people accuse you of "show boating" if you do a Behind the Back in the middle of a Fu battle. It just looks so good and seems so flashy that it almost has to be show boating right?
Well, to be honest, a lot of the time it is. I would say that only about 1 out of 3 Behind the Backs I see in Fu are legitimately strategic moves. After all, you're taking your eye off the ball no matter how you look at it. It's a dangerous move for a lot of reasons, but foremost of these is that it is a move that relies on gravity. You have to wait for the Myachi to come to you and that means you're at a serious momentary disadvantage.
So why would you ever do it? Well, if you're good enough at it and you do it at the right time, it will all but guarantee you a point. Here's how: you get your opponent to a point where they're defending with the hand that mirrors you. Let's say they're defending lefty and you're defending righty. You're in a pretty standard position, doing Verts out behind you with your left hand in front and your opponent is circling around toward your right hand.
Now here's the kill shot: You let him or her in. They see an opportunity that they think was a mistake and as they pursue it they step past your offensive hand. If you can snap a quick behind the back here, they're chasing an empty hand and, if you can bring your Myachi under control fast enough to spin out of it, they're standing with their back to you and their Myachi out behind them.
It is a devastating blow that almost always earns a point, but that's not the only time you'll find a need for a Behind the Back. Any time you're in serious trouble it's an option worth considering. It negates any advantage someone might have gained on you immediately, but only if you're really fast and really accurate. You have to really snap that behind the back over your shoulder and your left hand has to be able to go straight into some defensive work, but if you master it, it will drive your opponents crazy.
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There are, of course, plenty of other moves that we could add to this list. A solid Heartbeat, a really solid Daredevil, Cross-Overs, Ninjas, etc. But ultimately anything you learn freestyling will benefit you when you're playing Fu. Because when all the chips are down and your Myachi is flying through the air undefended, the only thing that matters is if you can catch it when things go wrong. And that's something freestylers have to learn early.
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