Acroyoga Festival day 1
Oct. 8th, 2010 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonI'm back at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rifmeister's place after the first day of the acroyoga festival, and not feeling quite the way I expected to feel. Today was a single workshop from 9 to 5 taught by the founders Jason and Jenny, and it focused on "washing machines". Awesome, except for two things: first, I wound up basing all day instead of flying, and second, somehow the giant room full of really high-level people left me feeling kind of negative about the Boston scene.
That said, who cares -- San Francisco is beautiful, I got to see people I haven't seen since last year, and I was stronger and better than I was at last year's intensive. The basing was hard on my wrists and shoulders, but with my flying muscles still sore from Ido Portal it may have been all right to let those ones rest. We also did some great flows that I want to remember and take back home.
Reverse tumbleweed: back bird, star, (lower feet to hands to) low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through the flyer's legs and) back to back bird.
Tumbleweed: star, back bird, (base grabs the feet and) stand to low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through, flyer bends over and brings shoulders down to feet to get back up to) star.
Four step.
"Whip" -- reverse throne, death drop to straddle bat, through to reverse bird, stand up to low foot to hand, back to reverse throne.
"no name yet" = Flyer lifts up into a tuck over the base's feet, optional pike, flyer places self in reverse throne. Waterfall, but with hands up on shoulders, into weird hand-grip shoulderstand, done in a straddle. Then, straddle bat. And through to reverse bird, then low foot-to-hand. I think the flyer then lifts themselves through to reverse throne again.
Catherine wheel -- Back bird, low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through forward, drop flyer into) bird, free shoulderstand, (flyer reverse grip and scorpion over to) back bird.
Maha Catherine wheel -- reverse star, (scorpion over and drop feet into base's hands, POP up to) high reverse foot-to-hand. Base's feet float through, flyer bends way over and presses back to reverse star.
J&J said it was the most such things they'd ever taught in one day, and the only one I know that they didn't teach is spider roll.
Also seen: ninja star, which hasn't been taught but I'm hoping to figure out anyway.
The rest of the festival is going to break each day into pieces, and I'll make sure I get to fly some of those pieces.
rifmeister's place after the first day of the acroyoga festival, and not feeling quite the way I expected to feel. Today was a single workshop from 9 to 5 taught by the founders Jason and Jenny, and it focused on "washing machines". Awesome, except for two things: first, I wound up basing all day instead of flying, and second, somehow the giant room full of really high-level people left me feeling kind of negative about the Boston scene.That said, who cares -- San Francisco is beautiful, I got to see people I haven't seen since last year, and I was stronger and better than I was at last year's intensive. The basing was hard on my wrists and shoulders, but with my flying muscles still sore from Ido Portal it may have been all right to let those ones rest. We also did some great flows that I want to remember and take back home.
Reverse tumbleweed: back bird, star, (lower feet to hands to) low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through the flyer's legs and) back to back bird.
Tumbleweed: star, back bird, (base grabs the feet and) stand to low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through, flyer bends over and brings shoulders down to feet to get back up to) star.
Four step.
"Whip" -- reverse throne, death drop to straddle bat, through to reverse bird, stand up to low foot to hand, back to reverse throne.
"no name yet" = Flyer lifts up into a tuck over the base's feet, optional pike, flyer places self in reverse throne. Waterfall, but with hands up on shoulders, into weird hand-grip shoulderstand, done in a straddle. Then, straddle bat. And through to reverse bird, then low foot-to-hand. I think the flyer then lifts themselves through to reverse throne again.
Catherine wheel -- Back bird, low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through forward, drop flyer into) bird, free shoulderstand, (flyer reverse grip and scorpion over to) back bird.
Maha Catherine wheel -- reverse star, (scorpion over and drop feet into base's hands, POP up to) high reverse foot-to-hand. Base's feet float through, flyer bends way over and presses back to reverse star.
J&J said it was the most such things they'd ever taught in one day, and the only one I know that they didn't teach is spider roll.
Also seen: ninja star, which hasn't been taught but I'm hoping to figure out anyway.
The rest of the festival is going to break each day into pieces, and I'll make sure I get to fly some of those pieces.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-09 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-09 02:19 pm (UTC)reverse tumbleweed makes perfect sense to me. to go from star to low foot to hand, do you have to be able to balance your star with no hands? or maybe you can keep holding hands until the last minute as the flyer lowers her feet, and then switch to feet?
i can't grok tumbleweed. is it a back and backwards-facing bird (so the flyer is on her back and her feet are pointing toward the base's head)? if so then it makes a lot more sense to me, although i'm confused how a star works with the flyer facing that opposite direction. if it's not a backwards-facing back bird then i have no idea.
what's four step?
"whip" is blowing my mind. reverse throne = flyer sitting on feet and facing away from the base? you can drop from there to bat?! you can go from bat to back bird? (i guess by taking hands and then as the flyer sends each leg back, the base adjusts feet?) i never thought to go from standing in hands to throne, either!
"no name yet" lost me. flyer lifts up into throne HOW? also what is waterfall?
i want to get a catherine wheel so bad, but for some reason i cannot base laura in a free shoulderstand. i haven't really based that trick before so i don't know if the problem is her or me. SIGH.
maha catherine wheel = crazy! don't think i'll be training this without a spot.
and yeah, ninja star is totally on my to-do list.
most recently i'm psyched that we figured out airplane to whale (is that what acroyogis call them? :44 to :54 in the seer of truth video you linked to).
how long is the festival? i'm so excited that you're there. it IS a bummer that you are basing when you usually fly, but also so cool that you have the talents and skills to play both parts.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-10 07:41 pm (UTC)I will answer all of the above in a series of nauseatingly detailed comments when I have time.
Tumbleweeds, reverse and non
Date: 2010-10-24 06:15 pm (UTC)reverse tumbleweed makes perfect sense to me. to go from star to low foot to hand, do you have to be able to balance your star with no hands? or maybe you can keep holding hands until the last minute as the flyer lowers her feet, and then switch to feet?
I've done it hands-free in the past -- you don't quite have to be able to balance it to keep the descent slow. At the festival though, the flyer and base kept holding hands. The flyer brought the feet down to within a couple of inches of the hands, and the base's hands kind of inchwormed across from hands to feet, with no sudden moves.
Tumbleweed: star, back bird, (base grabs the feet and) stand to low foot-to-hand, (base's feet float through, flyer bends over and brings shoulders down to feet to get back up to) star.
i can't grok tumbleweed. is it a back and backwards-facing bird (so the flyer is on her back and her feet are pointing toward the base's head)? if so then it makes a lot more sense to me, although i'm confused how a star works with the flyer facing that opposite direction. if it's not a backwards-facing back bird then i have no idea.
Well, there is such a thing as reverse star... flyer just holds on to the base's legs. :) But no, this is the exact same series of poses as in reverse tumbleweed. Back bird is plain old back flying -- flyer is in a backbend, head is above the base's chest. The transition from there to LFTH (low foot-to-hand) is a bit weird but it works... as a base you grab their feet and pull them, and with your feet help them stand up. I didn't get to fly this, but I bet it feels quite strange to the flyer too.
what's four step?
Date: 2010-10-24 06:20 pm (UTC)I've learned a couple of tricks to make it easier that they're not doing there. Still, that's the trick. Step 1: shin. Step 2: back of thigh or back of knee. Step 3: lower back. Step 4: shoulder.
Whip
Date: 2010-10-24 06:32 pm (UTC)"whip" is blowing my mind. reverse throne = flyer sitting on feet and facing away from the base? you can drop from there to bat?!
Yes, reverse throne is flyer sitting on feet and facing away from the base. To drop from there to bat, the flyer straightens their legs (straddle pike position), puts arms straight out to the side and falls backward. It's important for the base's toes to be free to slide around (and for the base to do so, vigorously). Important for the flyer to pike hard and not squeak in fear.
(This is kind of a fast move, obviously, and the first few attempts for any partnership usually end with the flyer going plunk on their feet over the base's head. A spotter is recommended, standing about 2 inches in front of the flyer with arms hooked under the flyer's thighs. Spotter doesn't have to move, but should be prepared to slow a fall by leaning back.)
you can go from bat to back bird? (i guess by taking hands and then as the flyer sends each leg back, the base adjusts feet?)
Tee hee, no... it's from bat to reverse bird. Reverse bird is belly-down, but head facing away from the base. The base has to flex their feet.
The transition from bat can be clumsy, as the flyer's torso has to move backward through between the base's legs. Once through, they can grab the base's calves to help push their chest higher.
(Jason and Jenny can go from straddle throne, and use the momentum of the death drop to come straight through to this -- but we didn't even try that level of crazy.)
i never thought to go from standing in hands to throne, either!
That part at least is easy. :) You just bring your feet to their thighs and they sit down.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-24 06:43 pm (UTC)"no name yet" lost me. flyer lifts up into throne HOW? also what is waterfall?
The flyer's lift into throne is a strength move. They're supported on their hands (which are on the base's feet) doing an L-sit or whatever -- then they straddle their legs and basically sit on their own hands. Extracting the hands can be a little awkward.
They hook their feet, and then this is waterfall:
In fact, that's me doing waterfall. :) Just a backbend to get the shoulders down to the base's hands. But unlike the video, the flyer wants hands up to their own shoulders, and it goes into a sort of hand-to-hand balance. I'm not quite sure why do this instead of just a shoulderstand -- that would work too. Anything with the flyer there over the base's hands and in a pike straddle, then from there it's easy to fall or shift to straddle bat.
Going through to reverse bird, as in the last flow, the flyer's torso has to move backward through the base's legs. Base flexes feet, flyer lifts their chest. Then with some relief (nobody really loves reverse bird), the flyer pikes to lower their feet to the base's hands and stand up.
From there, it's flyer showoff time again -- put hands on the base's feet and lift unaided through to an L-sit or whatever, straddle the legs and sit down, and get the hands out. Repeat. Repeat.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-24 11:52 pm (UTC)Interesting. I'll fly it on you in December when I'm there and we'll figure it out. I could spot you and Laura too if you want to make it a trio thing... might be safer, and with a spot we could do ALL this stuff. Well, except maybe the maha catherine wheel.
and yeah, ninja star is totally on my to-do list.
I did find someone to do it to me on my last day, finally, and it was super fun. I only flew it though, didn't base it, and I think basing must be the harder part. We could definitely TRY that in December though.
And now my many responses are done. :)