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I live in Aptos, Ca (Santa Cruz). and we have an unusual amount of the top (freeride) mountain bikers in the world in our town. I mean, I thought we were obsessive growing up riding bikes, pushing each other, but this just makes us look silly. Then again, I've always thought girls gymnastics made us look dumb.
The street soccer is unheard of! The second video is a popular one, his real name is Scott Willis.
If you want to see another freakish breakdance video, one that will blow your mind, watch David Elsewhere in this video here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoVKUVOnfQ
It is unbelievable, he is the second guy in the video. Blow your MIND!!! You can search his name on youtube for many crazy videos.
Thanks Tim
Still, I can't figure out the diagonal flip in this first video where the kid catches the ball on his instep and lands in a dribble. WTF? What happens when you mess that up?
Ouch.
Tim
Tim
I've wasted many an hour in front of YouTube watching 'urban ninja' stuff, like this dude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z34JYwNGFtw
I really wish I would have devoted some time to training my body to do just a fraction of this stuff. But I'm 32 now. I've still got the frame, but definitely not the strength. I had a 23" vertical leap in junior high. In college, at 5'10" could *nearly* slam the basket ball. But no longer.
It looks like the back of his knee.
All the videos are really amazing!
The first video is actually CG. The Ambassadors VFX, based in the Netherlands are responsible for this viral. More info available on Motionographer:
http://motionographer.com/2008/02/07/fifa-stree...
The Ambassadors:
http://www.theambassadors.nl/
By the way... love your blog and the book.
Cheers from London.
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Wow! Thanks for this, Rehan. CG is really blurring the lines of reality and Spiderman-like effects. Scary, really.
In that case, my vote for most ridiculous human acrobatics go to Junior and the rest of the next-gen bboying world. Well beyond most Olympic gymnasts. I'd like to see Thomas Flare (sp?) do flares on his elbows.
Thanks, Rehan,
Tim
The first video was my fav, really awesome.
No disrespect but regarding Lilou - it may have been my jerky internet but that guy could be part of a "Breakdancing is Uncool" video. His moves were ok but the way he moved his body, didn't like it. Breakdancing's also about style.
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Hi Melencio,
Agreed on the style, footwork, etc. I actually like "Freddie" in than same video more, but the "best in the world" in this case is just winning the BC One.
Good call,
Tim
Junior has insane power through his arms.
Oh and re: your breakdancing, nice. I was waiting for you to break something out, jerky internet but I think I saw an air flair? (sp.?) Nice.
The first video definitely isn't from France, I know I've been living there for 30 years now.
It looks more like South America.
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That would have been my vote, too, but the .fr threw me off, as it did the people who attributed it where I initially found it. Bonus points for anyone who can find the real location. The writing on the wall seemed either Spanish or Portuguese, and given the popularity of capoeira in Brazil, I would vote Brazil, probably Rio or Sao Paolo.
Brazilians are right up there with the French. Check out the semi-finals in the BC One video below for proof.
Tim
Tim, What did I win? The commercial was filmed by FIFA on the rooftops in Mexico. Let me know if you want the hyperlink with this information. Do i get a trip around the world? .... Actually I would trade that in for the one thing that is stumping me over and over again the last 6 months. I have squeezed my brain for ideas on a product. I don't like any of my ideas and am trying to find a product. I looked at my target market that I belong to: 26 year old guys who workout and read??? See what I mean...
Cheers
Jose Castro-Frenzel
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Hi Jose,
No roundtrip this time, I'm afraid! Getting "bonus points" in this case was just used in the common idiomatic sense of gets my respect, etc. Don't worry, though -- there will be some great competitions coming up soon.
Thanks for contributing to the discussion! I remember these things like an elephant :)
Tim
How do you come across all these cool things so often? That was a good location for that FIFA commercial to be filmed at: Mexico.
Jose
Pura Vida
Jose Castro-Frenzel
Best,
Skyler
(Quick Version)
Do you believe that, as a novice, irrational fear/psychology is the key limiting factor in someone's ability to master intensely physical sports? If so, interested to understand the state of mind you put yourself in when undertaking a new sport that poses a genuine physical challenge (eg: breakdancing).
(Detailed Version)
I've recently gotten involved in break, which lead me to start practicing capoeira (two things it seems you've undertaken as well). I'm realizing that, without exception, the dominant limiting factor in proficiency/mastery of these moves and techniques comes down to fear. Irrational fear. I have never broken a bone and done some crazy things in my life - backcountry snowboarding, cliff diving, BMX, climbing, etc. The moment I put myself in a mental state of fearlessness, a psychological wall breaks down and I find myself nailing a move or doing something I'd never thought myself capable of.
Martial arts, acrobatics, insane break moves - all of that seems to be not nearly as much about physical capability as it is about being fearless and realizing that the only thing standing between present (novice) state and joining the elite of any sport is the fear that stops you for risk of injury. A recent immersion into the study of neuro-linguistic programming has lead me to explore the undeniable connection between physical prowess and state of mind.
Very interested in your angle on this as pertains to mental state when you are a complete neophyte to a sport.
Cheers man, excellent post.
###
Hi David,
Great questions. I"ll try and tackle this once I get a few others posts up and running. Good luck and boa sorte (as the capoeiristas would tell you)!
Tim
David
PS Those pushups are UNREAL. I'm gonna go back through and look for support cables in the footage.
I'd believe Mexico City. How do you know?
Tim
Since everyone is interested in footy on this page right now,
Here's a very futuristic look at what football may become in the future. This is again all CG and made by the The Mill VFX in London for Puma:
http://motionographermedia.com/themill/untilthe...
And here is how this magic actually happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWXihHo5bOI
The Mill:
http://www.the-mill.com/
Cheers
and ... seriously ... who cares?
I have been studying NLP for the past 3 years and have come to the conclusion that there are some useful things you can use, though I caution not to get too caught up in it. The original founders were Dr. Richard Bandler and Dr. John Grinder. Ironically, though one of them had a severe problem with cocaine and convicted of murder. I say this to further explain that with the good there may also be bad. They self published "Frogs into Princes" a great book. Anthony Robbins was the most famous to use this technology on a grand scale. Furthermore, the book, "The Game," uses and references its roots to NLP. Good luck on your study, Hope this helps.
Best
Jose Castro-Frenzel
Ps I will send you the link Tim on my discovery, got run now.
Funny question, serious answer - I remember visiting Paris in Middle School (this was back in the 80s, don't mind revealing my age :)) and we were welcomed with an enthusiastic meal at the hotel that consisted of something like bamboo shoots, (mostly) raw peas, surely there was some bread and butter there somewhere, but that's what I remember. Maybe it was a cruel joke or something, but the parental chaperones ended up taking the group of kids to find something more American-friendly...we all know what that means...fast food.
Just a little bit of my soapbox here, but humans evolved of off the Earth, and perhaps someone with more experience with French diet can help me, but I tend to think they still eat - produce, local fresh foods - and don't cook their food all to hell. And eat way more moderately, combined with er, healthy beverages.
We eat (in America) what we are taught to eat. Rethink this.
And they don't worry about it so much :)
Cheers!
~Marcie
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1IPJdPyqSI
David Elsewhere's breakdancing isn't nearly as physically impressive, but what he does with his body is mindblowing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJBgpZT6Pgc
The viral element brings together football tricksters from Toronto’s Ryouko team and an ex-Mexico City player.
Reported to be filmed in Mexico’s “ghettos”, the tricksters use their skills to emulate the in-game moves of international footballers Ronaldinho, Rino Gattuso and Peter Crouch.
Online, users can explore ‘behind the moves’ of the footballers and find-out how they execute them.
This was one of my sources and then there was this one:
http://www.huntersword.com/article/2008-02-01-f...
Maybe I am wrong, but hopefully I am not. I checked a few other sites out and they gave the same conclusion, Mexico.
Anyways,
Sweet Clips....
Jose Castro
nice post
I saw Lilou in New Zealand a couple of years ago. That guy is a freeeek! It's like crazy extreme yoga in triple fast forward.
Mad Props to Lilou...and thanks for the post.
Naomi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hQVHN3aTc0
I don't remember eating anything special you wouldn't have in the US. I mean lamb brain, pig feet, horse steaks, baby pigeons, cancoillote, rabbit tongue, black pudding, snails, frog legs, raw milk cheese, raw seafood, fish roe, full fat products, vegetables covered by tons of butter, cream or lard and the rest are served anywhere, I guess. In real life, the only two things that ever shocked my American friends is that I eat the fries with mayonnaise instead of ketchup.
Champions come from all places. I'm not specially impressed by the average level of my compatriots.
Koreans (included the Chinese ones), OTOH, have my eternal admiration. Next month, we have an international festival, like every year, the Korean junior high school will send us about 100 dancers among their 300 students. It seems all of them can fly and are as flexible as chewing-gum. If it's caused by food, certainly your Mum should have started kimchi 9 months before you were born.
Did you hear and understand Lilou's comment ? He is boasting because he has already won many kung fu competitions and will have to find space on his shelf for the new belt. Surely, France is one of the countries with the largest number of children doing martial arts.
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Hi Kuri,
The Korea breakers are absolutely amazing. I saw Gamblers and a few others battling live in NYC and think I put a video of it up on YouTube. Just look for me by user "masterlock."
There are champions everywhere, to be sure,
Tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GszNJ1NCWo
check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhvbTeB_wnU and notice how Junior is walking with his leg.
He's still amazing nonetheless. And him having had polio before makes him only more amazing.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XMkBdFcqoY4&feat...
http://scottwills.co.uk/
@Mark: that's a clip from a famous parkour video (with some French music) from Latvia, by some guys called 'Dvinsk Clan'. They are awesome!
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=dvinsk clan&search_type=&search=Search
Insane.
I better stop eating pizza!
Noticed the famous green cab in the first vid, so I guess the french crew filmed it in Mexico City.
Tim, I used to break a few years back as well. After seeing those videos I am thinking about getting back in it, you feeling the same?
I'm thinking once I can go windmill well and do a few good handstand moves I can stop before killing myself ;)
Unreal Pure Talent*
;))
Peace*
Joseph
Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.
Joseph
Thanks for posting these videos; they're definitely inspiring.
Your book's on the way from BN.com. I've ordered five copies.
This post has lead me to your postings about muscle gain and fat loss. These are two areas I'm highly opinionated on. I've got free articles on these and peak performance at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Scott_Abbett
I really love your interview of AJ Jacobs; friggin' hillarious. The description of his "stoning" had me LMAO.
Based on your blog, I'm looking forward to your book.
Scott
But I started doing tango after seeing the video of you in Uruguay - it looked so interesting to just walk up to a girl and dance so well.
It's harder to do Parkour like that - just doing it, although I have a friend in Seattle who does Parkour in commercials and he's just amazing. (http://tysoncecka.com/archive/parkour-07-short-...).
http://tinyurl.com/2ldw9e
This guy uses his physical attributes to his advantage. He has short thin legs compared to his upper body. That allows him to swing his legs around and hold positions that look incredible.
In the last 5 seconds this guy is doing planche pushups. Normally proportioned people can only do that with years of intense strength training. This guy would be awesome on the rings or parallel bars!
Tim, go buy District 13 and treat yourself. You can hunt up some video clips from the film on YouTube, but the framerate just isn't fast enough to really capture what he can do.
thanks for the post on breakdance. It reminded me of my days of moonwalking a la Jacko and made me realise its time to go back to the gym !
Junior is insane..... a true inspiration - do you know how tall he is? I noticed his legs are quite short...
By the way how tall are you ?
Keep up the good work !
Daniele
PS: I love your posts, but the more you post, the more you get close to the 4 hours limit.... be careful ! You dont want us all overworked dudes to lose faith in the promised land !
PPS: will you be coming to the UK for the UK launch ?
Anybody who has played soccer a bit instantly knows it's fake ( the first 5 seconds are enough). If you enjoyed this, you should watch "Shaolin Soccer"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTxM8YTf_7w
Thanks for your great blog Tim, by the way.
I am not sure if this was mentionned but the song is in Spanish.
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I plead ignorance. I've seen too many seemingly impossible things to write it off, but I'm admit I was duped. Cool though, right? And yes, I dig the Spanish song, from the "Don't stop" to the "Se va, se fue..." Kinda catchy :)
Tim
@ David Walsh:
I hear what you're saying about "your mind is what's holding you back from ultimate abilities", but I have to disagree with the statement. In short: your body has to be able to back up your mental state, at least in sports like parkour or gymnastics (former gymnast/wrestler/bike racer speaking). If you can't 'snap' or tuck your body with enough force, agility, or speed, you are not going to make the trick, regardless of your mental state. Your mental state is crucial (inseparable) - but equal to your conditioning for achievement in these fields.
I remember the first time I nailed a giant swing on the high bar - such a rush. Cake after that.
The dudes jumping around and doing flips in the first video are real, but passing the soccer balls around were added in post.
Supose is Mexico...
Look at parkour videos from David Belle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsAqSJ9xzFU
Like it? Go see him, he's on tour.
http://www.djshadow.com/tour/
Impresive all I have to say...
Thank you so much!