Life

I decided I was going to be a ninja for Halloween. But I’m sick of all the people who are like “Yeah! It’s so cool to be a ninja! They’re cool and stuff.”

I wanted to be the real deal. So, I ordered a ninja uniform (thick material, actual hidden pockets for shurikans and weapons, and so on), that come with tabi boots and socks (ninja boots and socks), and a bokken (a type of wooden training sword).

Ok, well that’s pretty good for the look, also taken that I already own ninja climbing claws for the hands and feet, and an actual shurikan, wakazashi, tanto, etc. I am also partially trained in martial arts, but I wanted to really look cool. I wanted to do a wall flip. You know, the type where they run up a wall and flip.

So, I started researching. I found videos everywhere. How to spot, how to start learning, but the one they nearly all of them briefly mentioned was, “Once you have got your back flip down…”

I couldn’t do a backflip. I thought a wall flip would be easier. This was a little bit discouraging, but I decided I would learn a backflip and THEN a wall flip. Unfortunately it was a little over a week until Halloween. That’s not much time.

I started doing a few exercises to prepare myself for them. I then posted a status mentioning that I was trying to learn.

I got many responses very fast. One of them from a friend of mine who is a tumbler. He is also a swing aerials instructor, and so I thought he would be a good person to learn from.

We were talking and he decided to help me on Sunday. That brings us to yesterday.

Here are the basics of a backflip that I learned BEFORE meeting up with him:

1. Jump straight UP. Not backwards.
2. Raise your hand above your head and swing back in preparation to a jump, and swing them back when you go into it.
3. At the peak of your jump, tuck your legs to your chest.
4. Do NOT back out of it once you jump, you have to keep going.
5. Keep your head neutral, not looking back or looking forward.

So, once I was there, this was all great to know, but I had a few more things to learn.

1. When tucking your chest you’re using your abs to rotate yourself.
2. You should keep your head on something above a 90 degree angle and look for that on your way around.
3. The main thing it requires is GUTS to COMPLETELY throw yourself and HOPE you get back around. I’d say the hardest part is getting yourself to fully commit to your jump. The way I finally did it was by giving up any hope that I might be able to protect myself jumping, and just to jump and rotate as hard and fast as I can.

By the end of it, I could NEARLY do a backflip. I made it around, and hit my feet, but didn’t quite rotate enough for me to land it.

Oh, and if anyone is trying it. Get TWO spotters, one on each side. They should hold your back and rotate your legs until you can do it yourself.

Here is a good video on how to do a backflip:

Enjoy!

My business partner’s wedding was on my dance partner’s birthday. Kind of appropriate as they are both some of my best friends, and I talk with the two of them more than anyone else.

Yesterday was also somewhat appropriate as it was another friend’s birthday and a wedding of a couple other dancers. Both are friends, but not super close, and so it matched.

The wedding was probably the most creative wedding I have been to. I believe it is my 6th wedding.

The bride and groom are both gymnasts. The groom is actually an instructor, and I’ve heard a very, very good instructor. His groom men came out doing backflips (literally), and he did one himself.

They were also very good dancers, ballroom, swing, blues, everything. They had to dances with choreography they had been working on for months, and it looked so natural and so beautiful, it was great.

They also brought out a bunch of gym mats, the type you do tricks on. The groom had a team that he takes all over the world to perform, and the bride had made choreography for them to perform. It was absolutely amazing.

While we were watching and listening to toasts, a friend of mine brought to my attention that there were six tumbling coaches in front me. I had expressed a few days before that I wanted to learn how to do a back flip (back tuck). Just very interesting coincidence and helps express how unique of a wedding it was.

Finally, the garter toss came around. All the guys formed a circle and the groom made us cheer and yell for it. I had two guys in front of me, but I’m quite small. It’s pretty hard to vie, in the air, with someone is 30 pounds heavier than me. I usually just hold my ground and hope it falls through. Hadn’t worked to date.

So, he finally throws it backwards, but throws it about half the distance between him and the crowd of guys. The two guys in front of me literally leaped for it, they touched and rolled to the floor.

The garter had conveniently landed behind them. No body else moved and the two on the floor hadn’t found it yet, so I took a quick jump and grabbed it right before one of the guys on the floor found and tried to get it.

My first garter! Wasn’t caught, but apparently I’m getting married next?

Anyway, after that my friend and I took off. There was dancing at Downtown Disney (and Disneyland). We caught up with a bunch of our friends from SLO (San Luis Obispo), and danced the night away.

We had some amazing experiences, including getting caught trying to get tickets to go into Disneyland (at like 10 at night for the dancing, which we didn’t want to pay $60 per person). They simply told us to stop trying or buy a ticket.

Definitely a fun day and night.