Anssi Sundberg Interview

Anssi Sundberg from Turku, Finland is a passionate footbag player, who mainly plays alone. You can see the passion when you look at his game, he is super technical and has no flipside at all. But it also shows in his hard work for our sport, he has done some of the best video tutorials on a huge variety of tricks and has also done a lot of technical and theoretical thinking and articles about footbag. Anssi might be a man of few words but he has strong opinions and an interesting approach to our sport.

Hey Anz. How are you?

Not bad.

When you first started playing you played with Felix Zenger. In what ways did he influence your game?

I had already learned my basics when we started to play, but for example he taught me to spin. Our games were really different, so I don’t think his influenced mine much.

Finland has a really rad footbag scene. What do you think is different from the finnish footbag scene to the footbag scene in other countries (other than the finnish players likes punk music )?

I don’t like punk. Finland has pretty high level. If you don’t count beginners, everyone plays guiltless. Also the styles vary a lot. I guess we really have good players, since the percentage of BAP-players is the highest in the world here, but that’s also due to the low number of players. The trick selection is also a bit different here. Just the last weekend I spent in Helsinki we told a beginner to avoid doing Stepping Far Legovers, since it’s a North American bail. Sounds harsh, but yeah.

You mentioned BAP (www.bigaddposse.com). What do you think about it? Are you getting in next year?

BAP is a good way to recognise good players and make people remember them even when they stop playing or get out of shape. I got honourable mention for BAP in 2005 and back then I was really enthusiastic about getting it, but nowadays I don’t care anymore. People recognise me already.

This summer Kevin Regamey from Canada visited you and you two travelled around Europe before worlds. How do you know Kevin and how was it to travel with him?

I had never met him before, and only spoke with him online. It was nice travelling with him for a week. We got along alright. The feature I disliked him the most was that he eats bloody slow, and he knows that!

Could you tell a bit more about the trip? Got a couple of good stories up your sleeve?

Catching of the train from Copenhagen to Berlin was quite an adventure. The night before I had been in the Bankeråt bar with Mads Hole and Kevin was in a rave party with the rest of the Danish crew. Kevin didn’t sleep nearly at all and I was hungover the next morning. It took us ages to pack our stuff and bike with broken gear to the station and find the right track. We boarded the train like twenty seconds before it took off.

Could you please give some advice to anybody planning to do a similar trip (in Europe or anywhere else in the world)?

Don’t end the trip to Worlds. If you plan to include Worlds to the trip, start from there. Traveling is very tiring. Also don’t travel with a huge party. The more people you have with you, the more transportation's you’re going to miss and the more brawls you’re going to have. It’s quite stressing.

You recently posted a huge article on training programs. The article itself is pretty self explanatory (you can read it here: http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=17541) so I won't ask you about it. But I would like to know a little of insight into how you get the idea to start working on training programs and how the progress was from the first idea till the final article?

Footbag won’t be a professional sport before people start practicing like professionals and actually have a program to follow. I spoke about training programs with a friend of mine who’s been coaching gymnastics, and did some studies from muscle memory and learning. Then I planned a couple of programs for myself and after finishing them it felt like they worked, so I started planning them for others for feedback.

In what ways have training programs helped your game?

In consistency, trick selection, both sidedness and knowledge of my own game.

What training programs are you currently self working on?

I’m just about to start a new program. It includes a lot of symposium toe moves, like Flails and Massacres.

You have also been really into pushing genuine (guiltless without the use of butterfly, pdx mirage and osis). What do you like so much about genuine?

Genuine needs more precision, caution and it’s less forgiving. Guitless is so boring with it’s big tricks and bails. Genuine is more steady and every trick is worth something. Even a Genuine run with no highlights is good, because there’s no easy tricks.

So the most important thing in our sport is pushing the difficulty of our runs?

That is what I think. During the past few year the level of big tricks has gone up, but you don’t really see much difference in general trick selection of normal circle freestyle runs. Some players think that run length is more important than the selection of tricks, but if you do four BOPs in a row in the middle of a 50 contact run, it kinda kills the whole thing.

If you could change one thing about our sport, what would that be?

Less newbies talking about unreachable tricks on forums.

You have done alot for our sport, the training program article, all your trick demonstration videos on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/AnzTrikz) and the pushing of genuine. What is your next project?

I want a highspeed video camera, probably going to purchase it in a couple of months. Then I’ll re-do all the trick tutorial videos. I’m not satisfied with most of them nowadays.

You got a footbag tattoo done on your back not to long ago. Do you have a photo of it we can see?

I do have a footbag tattoo, but I’m not going to show the pic because it would ruin it I think. If anybody wants to see it, rip my shirt off the next time you meet me. Or shred with me.

What made you want to have a footbag on your skin for the rest of your life?

I thought about it for over a year before doing it. The whole sport is a part of all us players, I guess wanted to mark myself forever. When I’m 65 years old and probably won’t have anything to do with footbag anymore, the tattoo is still on my back to remind me of something I spent at least ten hours per week in my twenties.

Is it true that at the sessions in Finland there are sometimes never said a single word?

hah! No but we don't talk much.

Why?

I don't know, there's not much to say. We just play. But for example when I show up to sessions in Helsinki, we do talk because we haven't met for a couple of months. It actually irritates me sometimes when people just talk bullshit and don't concentrate on the footbag. It's as irritating as playing with someone who watches other circles while you're playing. But seriously it's rude not to even greet someone when you go play with them. But for example when I was in Helsinki last two weeks ago, when I didn't speak with Mikko for more than two sentences. Not that I wouldn't like to speak with him, and I surely would have if we weren't on a session.

What footbag achievement of which you are most proud?

There’s a lot of things I should be proud of, but still so much more to achieve. I’m probably the most proud of being both sided – I may have not been the first one to hit some big tricks or links, but I’m bloody sure that I was the first one to hit them both sides. Yeah, your both sidedness is amazing. Thanks for the interview Anssi.

Let's do this new thing where you give me a suggestion for a question for the next person I will interview?

What was the last thing you ate?

Haha. Good one. Do you have any shout outs or anything you wanna say to all the people reading this?

No, sorry.

That is okay. Thanks for the interview Anssi.

Video of Anssi shredding

Erik Chan Interview

Erik Chan is the man! He has been playing footbag for more than 10 years and done a lot for the sport. He has a sweet website (www.hackrifice.com) with a huge pile of trick demonstrations, a well written FAQ and a good introduction to newbies. He is also a great player who have pushed the sport in many ways (currently he is making reverse whirl tricks hot). Other than that he is a great artist, an interesting blogger and a really modest guy. He is also the guy who can be found in most footbag videos on the internet.


Hey Erik.

How are you?

Hello Asmus. I am incredible.

You recently went to Europe and lived in Munich for some time.
What was that experience like?

Europe was dreamy. I didn't have much money so I didn't get to travel as much as I had obviously wanted to, but living in Munich for a couple of months was just a blast of an experience. I stayed with my German-speaking girlfriend and we had a ton of fun. It's a beautiful city, and the local freestylers are some of the nicest, sweetest people I have ever met (Shout out to Munich Footbag!). Worlds in Prague was also fun, but the weather and organization bummed out a lot of people, especially in the light of last year's amazing Terra Verde Worlds!

Do you think there is a difference between the European and the North American footbag scene?

Yeah definitely. Though I really only experienced the local scene in Munich, I find that the European players just PLAY, whereas the North American players are the ones who spend more time on Modified and write crap that subsequently turns off the European players from participating in said forums. I will have to re-answer this question next year after Berlin when I plan to travel more [and experience more European footbag].

Oh, that sounds exciting. What have you planned this far?

Nothing more than attending Worlds '09.

You have a really great style. Could you say a few words on what you think is a good style and how to get one?

Well thank you Asmus! Hmm. I think that style is mostly governed by body movement (which may sound stupid, but I mean, as opposed to trick selection or whatever, right?), and that there are specific aspects in the way in which one handles him/herself that produces either good or not as good style. The two most noticeable aspects are franticity (or the level of relaxedness) and Jorden Moir's examination of "hands". A lot of players rush into tricks one after another, barely stalling, and attack every dex (even butterflies!). I developed my current style after sustaining numerous injuries and forcing myself to learn spinning and ducking tricks, which are naturally more graceful -- this gracefulness was then more easily accessible to adapt to other freestyle elements. It's important to develop proper breathing and to know how to relax, even when busting those 7-add tricks. Bail tricks, like butterflies, should give you a chance to breathe, and recharge energy for further tricks in the run, so it's important to not attack the tricks (wasting energy), but to fall into them, or let them happen around you. (I should mention something about Jan Zimmerman (whom I watched "growing up") and how he developed his famously smooth style from injury) As for hands, Jorden made a silly video that teaches you what not to do. Try to relax. I thought that his extended index and middle fingers stance would work well in reducing hand silliness. If you watch my videos, you will notice that my right hand is perfectly relaxed, though my left is gnarled like crazy; I've been meaning to try to use his technique to remedy this.

You been injured a lot during your footbag career. What was that like? What advice can you give to other players based on these experiences?

Oh that's a good one. I wish everyone could learn from my mistakes and avoid injury! My initial injury is still kind of undetermined, but it was basically a tight hip flexor, which came from pushing flip atomic and PS whirls. My biggest mistake was never stretching. I never thought I had to because for 6 years freestyling I never had any pain. Big mistake. Other, more debilitating injuries developed from there, but the same prevention methods hold: Stretch. I'm not a health expert and only really know what I have been told by others, but from what I have been told personally, and analyzing the injuries of others, I am convinced that tight hamstrings are the cause of most injuries, and all of mine (including tight hips/groin, bad knees (patella femoral syndrome), unbearable shin splints (worse than I have ever had before), and really bad chronic lower back pain). Stretch those hammies! Multiple times every day regardless of whether you're planning to play footbag or not. Also, some freestylers who are also into personal training highly recommend cross-training [to prevent injury] for footbag, and I think this will be the norm in the future.

You have been playing for more than 10 years. How has the sport changed since you started out?

I guess the biggest change has been the internet. When I started in 1997/1998 there was footbag.org and dallasfootbag.org (and a couple smaller sites, granted). They had a handful of short clips of the pros shredding, and that was it for online videos, otherwise you would personally contact the pros to order the old style ghetto 2-hour VHS tapes. There were no forums, there was the highly-filtered .org mailing list (if you think the .org forum is militant, you wouldn't have liked the mailing list), so the community was not quite the same because people knew each other from meeting each other, not really from talking on the internet beforehand. There wasn't really advice on the internet, you had to learn tricks on your own or with your local club (I had printed the .org move list and learned tricks from reading Job's). There was no push for bothsidedness and Ryan Mulroney was the player everyone wanted to model his/her game after. Another big difference was the lack of internet shopping. So if you wanted a new footbag, you would order a Juice from WorldFootbag, or a Carol, or an Abshire, with a cheque sent via post.

What do you think is more important close knit community or more money in the sport?

Money? Who said that? Community for sure. I'd rather have fun with my friends than worry about publicizing the sport.

You recently hit a 7 add trick (Reverse Montage Rake) what is the next milestone you are going for?

Ha. That wasn't really a milestone. I just wanted to beat my student, Manna, before he hit one before me. In less than a year he will completely surpass me. That's 2 years total... Kids... I don't really have an aim for a milestone. My body is too wrecked to worry about that sort of thing. I like osis?

Osis is a strange trick. It's so basic still it seems to really divide people into groups. For example Cod (Michael Biarda from Poland) has his "No Osis Posse". I guess what I am trying to say is "Why do you like Osis?".

Well the biggest reason that I probably like it is because I was never able to really do it well or consistently. I think it opens the door to a lot of style potential. Zooming is awesome. Stepping out of osis feels incredible. Blenders (though I don't do them). If you think about it, these things are kinda tough, and lots of people avoid doing them (how many people do you see doing stepping ducking out of osis?). Most players will bail to a butterfly after osis tricks. Not to say that I don't, of course, but there is so much more that you can do with the trick. Like potatoes.

You invented/named some cool stuff like wonton/terraging mirage/blubberman what do you think you will be remembered for when your footbag career ends?

Honestly, I don't think anyone really knows what I invented or named, or why they know my name. If people will remember me it will be because they see my name a lot on the internet and think I'm someone important. Which is fine, 'cause I never figured out what the big deal is about me.

You recently said "Footbag is the truth in my soul keeping me alive". Could you say a bit more about what role footbag has in your life?

Oh yeah. Matt Cross liked that one. I just took a line from the song in that Europe video and added "footbag". But, I mean, it's basically true to form. Footbag is almost everything to me. It has remained an integral part of my life since I first found it 10-12 years ago, when other aspects of my life have come and gone, or changed. It makes me happy, inspired... well, this is perhaps how I've best described what footbag means to me: http://chan.hackrifice.com/old/020629.txt

You recently relaunched www.hackrifice.com . Why and what is the new deal?

I guess it was mostly inspired by Johnny Suderman's Johnnysuderman.com. Johnny is kind of an icon of style and power and I can't think of a single person who doesn't love his game. He started his own website which is kind of a video blog to replace his footblog on Modified.in (footbag forums). I saw this and his goal to kind of ween away from Modified, which has gone significantly downhill, and thought that it would be a neat aspect to implement into my club's website. I mentioned it to Hackrifice, and they seemed quite down with it -- blogging on our website and forsaking the old ways. I barely check Modified anymore. It's great. My girlfriend would always get irritated that I had to check all the time. It was pretty irritating of me. Even the little swooshy was inspired by the swooshy on Johnny's site. Oh, so I guess the "new deal" is that I want to keep Hackrifice fresh and interactive. Updating regularly with blog posts, weekly videos (Move of the Week), etc. (Suggestions?)

What is your next footbag project?

To form The Manitoba Footbag Association. It's down the road.

If you could change one thing or add one thing to footbag as a community or as a sport what would it be?

Credibility? To be able to say -- when someone asks, "Which sport?" -- "Footbag" and have people know exactly what it is, and not feel belittled on account of the stoner stereotypes and the stagnant image of "hacky sack". To be able to say "footbag" and have people "ooh" and "ahh" :p Naw, I don't know if that would be "the one thing". But it would be nice.

Yeah, that would be really nice. Do you have any shout outs?

Sure. First to Marita, my best friend for support and everything else in life, including being a supportive footbag girlfriend. All my love. A shout to Chad for being the first person to see freestyle in that movie and inspiring me to devote my life to hacky from that point on. Joel Dion and Mark Leeman for being my personal footbag mentors and getting me started. Ricky Moran for inspiring my game. Hackrifice, FAT, and Munich. Asmus Helms for honouring me with an interview. And everyone else in the sport and out. Love.

Video of Erik Chan in Europe:



Erik's website: www.chan.hackrifice.com

FEET ON FIRE

FEET ON FIRE is a DVD which consists mainly of Vasek Klouda footage. The DVD is from early 2008.

The video is split into 3 parts:
1. Vasek (11:31) consists of footage of Vasek in Prague. Edited by Honza
2. Praha (03:51) consists of beautiful scenery from Prague and shred by Hanka Kusnjerova, Ales Zelinka, Honza Weber and Vasek Klouda. It is filmed by Fanda Hajek and Jan Struz.
3. Africa (11:51) consists of interview and shred with Vasek. Edited and Filmed by Eliot Piltz when they where in South Africa to film for the K-Swiss commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqldzoMHjBs)

The music in the DVD varies alot from classical stuff like "Iggy Pop - Passenger" and "Bobby Mcferrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy", to modern rock like "U2 - Beautiful Day" and "Bloc Party - Like Eating Glass", to much more obscure stuff.

My favorite combo of the DVD was Mobius > Ripstein [rpt] but this is also the DVD that contains one of the hardest links ever hit (Montage > Blurry Flurry).

The DVD can be ordered here: www.planetfootbag.de and www.freedomfootbags.com
The DVD will soon be aviable on www.footbags.dk

Warming Up

Warming up is a great thing but many footbaggers don't do it or don't do it right.

You should warm up because of 3 things:
1. The most important reason is that it makes easier to avoid injuries such as shin splints and overuse injuries.
2. You will warm your muscles up to actions slowly instead of just jumping right into them. That way, you can keep up the activity longer and push your body harder.
3. The last thing you get out warming up is the psychological part of it. Your start thinking about footbag and you get more focused. Adrenalin starts its rush and you feel ready.

The thing that happens when you warm up is that the chemical reactions start going faster. Your nerve fibres responsiveness starts getting better, your muscles can stretch more and your heart is ready to put up with the strenuous exercise and pump blood and oxygen into your muscles and carry waste away from your muscles.

Warming up should take around 20 minutes. You should start out in a slow tempo for 5 minutes and then you should move on to the 2 over parts. The general part and the special part.
"The general part" is about warming up your big muscle groups, your legs, back and stomach. This should be done with normal muscle exercises, jumping and running exercises and low impact moves such as Spinning, Ducking, Stalls and BOP's ( Butterfly, Osis and Pdx Mirage)
"The special part" should be focused on the places the most people get injuries - Shins and knees. If you had problems with other parts you should also warm those up thorough!
When your finished with warming up it can be a good idea to stretch. It's also important to warm up first, then perform your stretches, otherwise you may risk over exerting, and ultimately, pulling them.

When your finished with your session it can be a good idea, to slow down slowly with BOPs and Stalls. By doing this you can maybe avoid overuse injuries and maybe reduce the pain you would feel the next day. If you can't do BOPs or you think they may be too hard for you to use as warm-up tricks just do stalls or light tiltless.

Thanks to Pengpeng Du for helping me out.

How to Piss Footbaggers Off

Or "How to get Beat Up at a Footbag Tournie.."

Here is a bunch of tips and tricks on how to have some fun while playing some bag with your fellow footbaggers.

1. The Foreigner
Talk really loudly in your own language about somebody who doesn't understand a shitcrap of what your saying.Keep on doing it for a while. Sound angry or amused.If he asks what you are talking about say something like ”Ehh, nothing dumbass?” or ”None of business twat sandwich!”If you don't speak anything other than english you can invent you own language and speak to random people passing by..

2. Shit Talk
This one is all about being creative. The reason why you wanna piss off people is because it's fun and it's more fun when you are creative.Talk to people while shredding, do it loudly and talk to them in a way that makes them feel that they should react towards you.Examples: Keep repeating challenges until they do them (far legover bsos is a good one), ask them stupid questions, talk about yourself, discusting or smartass stuff works the best (everybody hates people talking about themself.)! Basicly be creative!

3. The Ignorant Snake
This one is my fav - When A passes to B snake the bag and start a run. Stop after a couple of tricks and act like you seriously thought the bag was for you.Claim you thought it was a passback or something..Works even better second time.

4. Disgusting!
The name pretty much say itself - be a gross mofo.People care alot for their bags - use this for your advantage. Spit on the ground and on your insides and tell them about stickyness.Scratch your ass and pick up the bag with that hand etc.

5. Mess Up
This is the obvious one. Just don't follow the etique.Pass the wrong way, Toe scuffle, Self serve, Give props when you shouldn't and don't when you should etc.

Notes:
As you probably have understood already it is easy to piss off people in a circle. The real skill is to make them reaaaaally mad!Don't let them leave the circle early. Get them fired up before they leave.For example about self serving, don't do it every round. Do it untill they comment on it, then take a break for a couple of rounds and then start doing it again.And most important hold your mask!
Any resemblence to real players is intentional and should be taken serious.All of these techniques have been tested and works.
No I have never been beaten up by footbagger. But I have been close.

Have fun!

Tina Aeberli Interview

Tina Aeberli from Zurich is without discussion the best female footbag player in the world.
We here bring a short interview with her about some of her thoughts on her own carrier and the world of footbag as a whole.

Interview:

To start off to get a picture of who you are I want you to describe yourself with five words.

Do I really have to? (That's 5 words)

How did you start to play footbag? When did it occur to you that you could get really good?

I was in a sports camp and I attended a Footbag Workshop. There I had to practise 2 hours a day and I learned the easy basics. And after that camp my family moved into another apartment, right next to Manu Schmid's family. So we went together to the training of the Sole Rebels (Footbag club in Zürich) where Jan Zimmermann made us practice hard.
I never thought I was a good player until I competed at Footjam 05 where I was suddenly one of the best girls. That was when I started to practice harder, with the aim to be the best one day.

You have a pretty aggressive style, do you see yourself as an agressive person?

No not really, I'm unlikely to kill people, hehe

Who is your favorite footbag player and why?

Vasek Klouda (what a surprise...)! When Vasek plays footbag it's pure perfection!

Lately you have hit some pretty groundbreaking stuff (TATW, Nemesis and a Beast). What are you working on right now?

Right now I'm practising a lot of tricks that I can hit already, but not with very good form and not so consistent. So I'm not really practising new tricks but I try to perfect the tricks I can do already.

Why do you think there are more male than female footbag players?

Footbag is a quite arduous sport and I assume most girls think that footbag is way too difficult to learn.
That's the biggest problem. And also footbag needs a lot of practise in the beginning and I think most girl just don't want to put so much time into fooling around with a little bag. But honestly, I have no idea.

Do you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag sessions or tournaments?

Yes, sometimes a little. But I don't care because all footbagers are very nice people. At our training sessions in Zürich we are sometimes more girls than boys! And the number of girls is always increasing.

You where the second female footbag player to join BAP and the first in like 8 years. How do you feel about that? What thoughts ran through your head when you heard your new name "SwissMiss" at Worlds 2006?

I can't remember so much about the situation at Worlds. But of course it's a big honour.
I actually found out about the meaning of this name just at Worlds 2007 in Orlando. I had no idea about this chocolate powder brand before.

Recently you competed at the big Czech footbag tournament Todexon in Prague. For the first time you played in the same division as the boys.
You got third and big props for that. How was it? Why did Dexter suggest you to play with the boys?

Dexter didn't suggested me to play open, he commanded me to do it. I had no other choice.
Now I see it as an interesting experience, because if I wanted to place good, I had to play a good routine (not like in girls where I can get away with some drops). And in the open division I don't have anything to loose, so it's nice to compete without pressure.

How are you preparing for this summers big tournaments (worlds and euros) ?

I have no idea. I haven't thought about it.
But I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend Euros, because I'll have the final exams of my school around this date.

Do you feel more pressure now when you are maybe even more favorite to take the titles than Vasek than you did in the beginning?

Yes, of course. I know that I must win and that's exerting a lot of pressure, this is normal. The longer I compete at tournaments, the less pressure I feel, though. I think I'm getting used to this kind of stress. :)

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for doing this Tina.
Do you have any shout outs?

At this point I would like to thank planetfootbag for doing an awesome job promoting footbag in Europe and for supporting me. And everybody out there: just keep playing, be creative, go to tournaments and have fun!

Tina's Profile:

D.O.B: 7.11.89
Residence: Zurich, Wollishofen
BAP since: 2006
BAP Name: Swiss Miss
Footbagclub: Sole Rebels
Sponsers: CD-Design, Martin Aeberli
School: High school /Grammar school
Siblings: Sophie, Elio, Flurin
Favourite footbag players: Vasek Klouda, Juho Mario
Favourite footbag trick: Whirlingswirl
Favourite colours: Green and Orange
Favourite music artists/styles: Swiss hip hop/ old school hip hop, Mani Matter, pretty much everything that’s up-beat and fun!
Other hobbies: soccer, juggling

Tina's official website!

Jim Penske Fundraiser

Jim Penske is the current US champion and got second at the last world championships.
He recently released a video that you can buy for only 5$.
The video is over 10 minutes long and is definitely worth the money.
You buy the dvd by paying 5$ to genzu at footbag dot org using paypal.
And then they will provide you with a download link to a high quality version of the video.
Soon you will also be able to buy a dvd here.
The video has alot of locations and very subtle but nice editing.
Penske's shred is as always off the hook but there isn't really anything groundbreaking in the video.
The music is very varied which can be seen as both a good and a bad thing.
I think the first track works best but I am also a bit of a hiphop enthusiast.
The tracklist is:

• Lupe Fiasco - Superstar


• Breaking Benjamin - Blow me away


• Genaro - The Feeling's Gone

Here is a trailer.

The video is edited and filmed by Zeb Jackson who is fast becoming one of my favorite video makers in the footbag community.
He is also working on a longer DVD project with Lon Smith, Jim Penske and Jorden Moir. The video is called 3kings.
You can see a trailer for that video here.

Here are some screen caps from the Penske video:

Lise Thygesen Interview

Lise Thygesen is a freestyle footbagplayer, firespinner, big city girl and an ex shred30 world champion from Copenhagen, Denmark currently located in Africa.


Lise shredding in beautiful Copenhagen

Hey Lise
Describe a typical day in the life of Lise Thygesen?

Wake up > Beat myself up for oversleeping (and missing school) > Do nerdy stuff on my computer > Footbag > Work > More nerding or hanging out with people and having adult fun > Go to sleep late –Rpt.

Why and how did you start to play footbag?

I was always fascinated by odd skills. The human body is capable of learning so many interesting things. It never ceases to surprise me and I love that. Years back I spent lots of time hacky-sacking. Me and my hacky friends thought we were really something, inventing tricks and all..! haha. When I was finally introduced to footbag it really blew my mind. All of sudden I was seeing things I couldn’t even comprehend, and it looked so spectacular and awesome! After attending my first tournament in Frankfurt 2003 I decided to start practicing and try to learn some of those crazy skills. Have been pretty much addicted since then.

You have been to tournaments all over Europe for quite some years now.
What is the best tournament you have ever attended?

There have been so many awesome tournament experiences through the years. It’s hard to pick out a best one, but maybe Worlds 2006 in Frankfurt. That one seems to really stand out in my memory as a thoroughly fantastic week. I have a feeling Worlds in Prague this summer will be epic too.

You are known as a player with a fantastic style but what do you self like about your game?

I like to try and focus on how my game looks to non-footbaggers. This sometimes makes it a fun and interesting thing to watch, which I like. Other than that I like the ducking and diving stuff..! But to be honest I’m not a huge fan of my style. There are lots of guys out there that are way more pleasant to watch.

What do you dislike about your style?

Slurryness. Sloppyness. Out-of-balance-ness.. Makes me cringe.... almost! haha

What position does footbag have in your life right now?

I guess you could say that footbag is a pretty big part of my life. I still tend to try and make other things in my life revolve round it, although my excitement for the sport is not quite the same as it used to be. I’ve stopped spending all my money on tournaments and I guess also picked up my old party-lifestyle a bit. That being said I’m not sure I can think of a cooler sport and I still play pretty often. I really like all the people I get to hang out and play with and feel very fortunate to have met so many incredible individuals through this sport. You guys! You’re all stars.

What position do you think it will take in the future?

Hmm.. Part of what got me so excited about footbag was the fact that I could surprise myself skill wise. But I’m starting to feel that my limits have been reached, and have been thinking a lot about finding some other activity to get me excited and motivated to work hard. Could be fun… I don’t imagine I’d completely stop footbag just yet, but maybe just tone it down to a ‘secondary sport’ with focus on the social and sunny experiences.

I hear you are in Africa right now. Why is that?

Various reasons. Main one being that my dad moved here half a year ago and I wanted to come visit. I lost my heart to Africa when I was very young, having lived most of my childhood here. Also, the rest of my family is spread out all over the world and I didn’t feel like being the last one left in cold, wet and windy Denmark. I can do my school stuff from here, thanks to the www. And it seems I can do bigger tricks too!

What are your plans for this summer?

Roskilde Festival. I’ve attended this music festival since 1996 and it has always been my favourite week of the year. Also going to Portugal on a family holiday which I look very much forward to. I really like this country and I really love my family. Then of course Worlds in Prague. No need to say how cool this will be. Might have to do some work in between to afford these plans… The rest of the time I plan to be enjoying Dopenhagen, just cruisin’ and chillin’ wearing sun glasses and big smiles.

Any chance of you winning back your world shred30 champion title from Tina this year?

Sure. If Tina and the other girls all get sick or break their legs, I should have a fair chance. :D

Why do you think there are more male than female footbag players?

Girls like to chit-chat and go shopping. And send text messages and dress like they’re on MTV. And not sweat in public. Haha.. No, I really don’t know the answer to that question. I have many theories though, but I’ll spare you from my blabber.

Do you feel like a female in a male world when attending footbag session or tournaments?

Yes, sometimes. But I don’t mind too much. I like hanging out with guys.

Okay, before we end this interview - a question from Matt Cross: "Will you marry me?"

Of course.

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to do this Lise. Do you have any shout outs?

Mads and Mads for encouraging and supporting me ever since the first day we met, and doing so much for the sport in our little country. (which is a lot!)
Also my sister Anne for always being there. When I first started getting obsessed with this sport, she put up with so much talk, viewing of random videos and all sorts of other nerdyness from me. I’m sure she didn’t find it half as interesting as I did, but was just being the good sister that she is. I love her. Today she plays footbag too and I feel really lucky to be able to share the passion with one of the most important people in my life.

Lisel Footbag Video

Video by Mads Hole

Lise's website: http://www.lisethygesen.com/

Matt Cross Interview

Matt Cross is a twenty something year old shredder, stitcher, mc, beatboxer, guitarist, singer and an all out awesome guy. We here bring a short interview with him.

Matt MCing at the NYFA Freestyle Symposium, November 07.

Hey Matt!
To start out with I want you to describe yourself with lets say 5 words.

"arguably not worth the effort" I'm a bit of a strange person, and I don't really get along with most people, so it's difficult for me to make friends most of the time. However, when it comes to the people with whom I truly connect, it's totally worth the fact that it's difficult for me.

If I visited you in SUNY Fredonia, NY what would we do?

Well, first we would have a session, because there are lots of great indoor and outdoor spots to play footbag in Fredonia, and people here seem to think freestyle is pretty cool. The soccer players like to check it out and ask questions, sometimes people will sit and play guitar while Jeff Hastings and I do some kicking. Then, we would probably chill out at my house and watch Feet on Fire (which should be coming in the mail ANY DAY NOW!) and drink some delicious local beers from Ellicottville Brewing Company... you're 21, right?

Feet on Fire is looking dope I should order that aswell. I'm not 21 yet but "sshh" nobody needs to know that.
You have been playing footbag for around 10 years - How do you feel the footbag scene has changed?

I think there are a lot more younger players, and I think the younger players get a lot more respect than they used to because they are often so much more advanced than the older players these days. When I got on the freestyle scene, the VERY best players were in their early / mid 20s. Now, the best players are in their mid-late teens.

Also, there is this whole online revolution. people around the world have access to videos of the very best players for free via youtube and footbag.org, and this has really pushed the sport forward in a technical sense. It also has a way of spreading the sport and bringing it closer together at the same time. I love the internet.

I think the heart of the scene remains the same, though. It's still a tiny, friendly, close-knit sport, and I'm glad that's the case.

Word! What do you think will happen in the near future for footbag?

I don't see any earth-shaking events on the horizon. I think the technicality will continue to advance, and the sport will continue to get newer, younger players. I think more respect and more exposure will come steadily, but I don't think the sport is absolutely going to blow up all of a sudden.

You haven't been playing much lately what do you think the future of footbag has for Matt Cross? What will your role be?

I think the future of footbag has lots of friends, lots of videos, lots of tournaments, and lots of stitching for me. You're right, I haven't played much lately, although I can still throw on my lavers and hit a few new moves when I play. So, we'll see what happens with my game when the spring rolls around. I need to improve my nutrition dramatically, that is for sure. I've quit tobacco recently, so that will help a lot with endurance.

I've never been an all-star player, but I look forward to playing and having fun and enjoying all that footbag is, for a long while to come. I hope my role as someone who is good at talking about footbag (in the informative sense and in the "master of ceremonies" sense) continues to grow. I hope the same for my roles as a scene leader, tournament organizer / helper-outer, stitcher, and player, although I see the "player" role advancing the most slowly.

The summer season is coming nearer and as we all know this is the best time to be a footbagger. What are your plans for this summer?

My plan for the summer is to get an internship in the Buffalo, NY area with an arts / entertainment promotion foundation. This would be GREAT for me as a footbagger, because the Buffalo hacky sack scene is probably the strongest in NY. It may be the kicking hotspot of the northeast US right now, actually. During the spring and summer, there are two VERY well attended hacky-sack sessions in Buffalo. at one of them, there can be between fifty and one hundred kickers every week, and there is a free live rock concert.

Soon, I will know if I plan to go to Worlds or not. I really hope I do. If I'm going to do any big footbag event this summer, that is most likely going to be it.

I hope you make it to Prague! You have been stitching and selling footbags for a good time now. Why did you start with that?

I'll do anything to get some attention from Pengpeng.
Just kidding, I really started because it seemed doable, and I had access to good teachers, and I desired to be able to make my own bags and get respect and money from my friends and peers when I got good enough to sell them.

How do you feel about it now?

I love my bags. They play just like I want them to, and some players that I really respect and admire have been buying them because they also like how they play. That means a lot to me, and makes me feel really good inside.

The only other person I have planned to interview so far is Lise Thygesen.
I know you met her and later visited her in 2005. If you could ask her one question what would that be?

"will you marry me?"

Haha, I will ask her that for you. Thanks for the interview Matt. Do you have any shout outs?

Yeah, I'd like to give a shout out to my friend President George Bush. What up dog!!!

Matt Cross Music and Footbag Video

Video by Erik Chan

Personal website: www.mattcrossmusic.com
Band website: www.myspace.com/thecoh