It went okay except for the fact that I crashed super duper hard in the semi finals. Teena and I were quite tired. It wasn't the best showing in Philly, it was a pretty low level jam. We could've / should've made it to the finals if we were training righteously. I did cypher a good deal, but I felt none of the creativity in the battles.
After Lover's Rock
Finally a step in the right direction!
This CMU practice I made sure I had all my ducks in a row. Okay, I didn't eat breakfast, but I ate lunch and dinner at the office. Got as much work as I could in and kept hydrated before practice. Made sure I was there a bit early so I could change into my gear. Practiced some tops fairly loosely to be loose for the rest of the practice. I still crashed a good deal, but my move complexity was where it was before the winter break. I think if I practice what I know I can do with emphasis on freezes, I can be good for a showing at Lover's Rock. That is if I have a partner. Either way I need to get a boatload of real hard work in focusing on my weaknesses. I could actually have a shot at being dope on the east coast.
Rhythm Spotlight
The jam didn't go so well. We made it past prelims, but because I crashed hard twice in my set in the following round. I blame getting no sleep the night before and little sleep the night before that. I could feel the fatigue, so I need to do a better job of getting rest. I'm seeing the direction that bboying is going in with all this fad-shit dicksuckery going on. Maybe because it's a lower level jam or maybe because there were a lot of people clearly new/not into the dance there; there was so much dick riding and people doing moves as seen on tv.
6 days
I actually didn't expect to practice today and really I didn't put in a lot of hard work. Danced today at 720 Records grand opening and it was fun for a tight space. Not sure why Stealth is trying to sell the space so much. It's mediocre at best. Still CMU heads and GDG that mattered were there. Afterwards, I danced at Lauren G's birthday party which had true house music playing. I continued getting my sweat on and tried different steps, because I'm so tired of going side to side and just adding athleticism to freestyle steps. I guess I'm not going to practice today. The flexor connecting my leg and foot in the front is a bit sore, so rest maybe the best. Plus I need to do work which I still haven't started, boo.
7 days
Feeling a bit run down the morning after practice, but during practice I had a good amount of energy. I crashed a bunch, but I hit some pretty hard stuff too. swipe > headspin > stop to thread > headspin and other short power combos on that order. Dev and I drilled dancing with incorporating threads. I really like how Dev's footwork and dancing is starting to look. I on the other hand could use some work with threads in general ahaha. It was a good practice, but we both know that getting to a national level is going to require more effort, more progress. Work is killing me, gotta grind though. Sometimes I think that I can't hit / learn moves because I'm getting older, but that's some bullshit for weaker minds.
8 days
I hadn't slept the night before and was seriously dragging ass midday at work. I was lucky there was a snowstorm and I stayed in Oakland. I made it to practice after I defrosted in Scotland Yard. Kev and Luke were there cutting up and playing some pool, I was planning to get on a table but I didn't challenge anyone. I put work in, but it was mainly going into headspins in various ways. I couldn't understand why my balance point was so shitty until the very end of practice. I was keeping my legs too low in front of me, my balance comes from being in drill position. When I did swipe > headspin with my legs a bit closer together I hit a few spins and hit the hollowback afterwards. I was slow getting into it, but it was no crash. Stealth and I had a good time, I helped out with some of the students newer to bboying. I was dead tired, but it was a rewarding practice.
10 days
Practice yesterday was a bit of a let down. I fully expected to make progress on where I was when in shape. That might have been a touch unrealistic, but I couldn't even hit more than two halos. By the end of the night my 90s improved to close to where they were before I chilled on dancing. I would like to hit Stealth's house for a light practice, but I can't justify putting off chores any longer. Plus I also need to get to bed on time! Sooo sluggish today. I went pretty hard yesterday so I don't mind not dancing too much. I can look forward to Arthur teaching me some new jack swing tomorrow and another practice at CMU. Need to remember to get video for Brian.
11 days
This was a pretty chill practice at Stealth's. We started out going really hard until I ripped a hole in the vinyl and fell into one of the speakers LOL. They speaker was fine and Dev made subsequent holes in the vinyl which underscored the need for a hard surface to be applied atop the carpet. So we chilled out a bit since we couldn't get more packing tape. I thought that was the best move of the night. We refocused our efforts on new movement (namely backrock and freezes). It was really helpful to have a light practice that drilled weaknesses in my style. I think that was more valuable than going hard doing the same ass power. I came away from the practice refreshed and feeling good. I think I might be starting to take advantage of not poisoning my body, feeling good.
12 days
Almost a double practice today, started at Stealth's crib building freezes up and down. Argh being at work on lunch break I can't really be relaxed and write this. Things going well juggling the two. Not sure how much I dig going to Stealth's. I miss the resistance that a hard floor would give. I can appreciate the fact that vinyl on carpet allows me to crash hard and live to tell the tale. After that stint we went to Art Of Battle and rocked some. I wouldn't call it a practice but I got in a good number of runs. No real crashes though and if I did fall out of a move or do one incompletely I kept it moving in a real way. My power is coming back, I can hit multiple halos again. All in all a pretty good day.
13 days
Got in a pretty decent practice for being at Shadow Lounge. My shoulder is feeling a lot better, seeing I was able to attempt an airflare and hit flares. Vibe sucked but Selecta can do no wrong in his sets. He always plays engaging music, nary a cop out song. Starting to get myself into some decent shape. I definitely wasn't as gassed as I was at previous practices even though I'm rocking daily. We'll see what I have to say t-minus 8 days. I'm going to go for two practices tomorrow. A skill building one early (if I can get work and chores done) and then I'm going to try to rock out at Art of Battle. They moved that out of New Am and into Belevedere's so there will be enough space to have dancing, a bunch of people and the artists doing their thing. I'm looking forward to it. Need to have less of these green practices, but I'm still crashing and not hitting shit like I want to. The shit is on now!
14 days
Shoulder still acting up, but I was able to do alot of moves early on. Crashing alot alot. That's very disconcerting but I was able to hit moves before ending poorly. I hope that's because of being hella out of shape. I am getting back though, feeling strong in the first 30 - 45min. I was going pretty hard early on since Dev wasn't there and I was alone and showing off a bit for the Pitt students that were setting up for a party. By the 1:30 mark I was done. It was pretty wack. Tomorrow I need to do work and come up with a couple routines/commandos that Dev and I can practice later in the day. Got to make sure I get up at a decent hour.
T-minus 15 days
Well I won't bullshit myself. I landed directly on the top of my left shoulder about a week ago and it's still affecting my range of movement. Practice today I focused on cardio, but coming up woefully short of the endurance I need to show well at Rhythm Spotlight. My power is stunted from that fall and simply being out of shape. I hadn't practiced while I was in Philly and for some time after that. I've also been skipping sleep or getting it at the wrong hours. On the plus side, I stopped smoking weed/cigarettes and drinking. Again that hurts me before it helps, I've gotten used to chemically being in a relaxed mindset before practice. Now I need to make up for that in physical concentration and discipline. It'll be tough to get battle ready before the 28th (26th really) and I'll need my body to help out on the shoulder, but I'm a lucky guy.
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