Trent

Bill, The US did not respond to Germany's European war UNTIL they were attacked by Japan. We then declared war on Japan, then Germany declared war with the US. There were plenty of people like the ones we see here, shouting that we should ONLY go to war with Japan since they were the only ones to attack the US. In fact, the US was officially neutral until then. Is it any more ethical and morally correct to think that atrocities and invasions are all okay as long as they don't affect us? What if we had listened to people who said we should stay the hell out of Europe? What will happen if we listen to people who say we should stay out of the middle east? Leave them to their own devices? Many of you forget that for every bastard country and terrorist organization, there are thousands and millions of people in those countries who DO NOT agree with their leaders, who are desperately looking for help. Who is going to help them? Could you go to Iraq and tell someone who's life has been destroyed by Saddam's regime, "Sorry, pal, not our business! Just wait another few years for the UN to decide if you're worth helping." Let me anticipate the response of "It's the OIL we're after, not the people"... The US imports more oil from Venezuela than the middle east. Iraq's oil may help out in the future, or lower prices slightly... but most of that oil is contracted (by Saddam's gov't) to the very European countries who disagree with the US's desire to overthrow Saddam. Maybe, I'm ignorant (you probably think so already), but I will not believe that ANY US President would think, "Hey, the economy sucks... let's go fuck someone up!" Not even the shadiest of presidents. There are still humans in charge of this country, and I do not believe they take any of this lightly. The situation is what it is, no matter what we do... people will be pissed off one way or the other. Oh, hello again!

"We can't stop the violence; the best we can do is avoid it." Isn't it a good thing that the isolationists didn't win the argument to join World War 2? Avoiding it just passes the buck to the people in the future who WILL eventually have to deal with a mess that we didn't clean up. With irrational people and irrational agendas, there is no avoiding conflict. They will, and did, find a way to make sure of that. Bill, you seem to think that there is a way to take the moral high-ground in this terrorist/middle-east thing. There isn't. They don't care who they kill, civilians and military are all the same to them. Nor do they care about killing their own people. It would seem that the standards for this conflict were set by the terrorists and dictators of the middle east. Again, if you know a better way to SOLVE these problems, instead of saying that we shouldn't be in this situation to begin with, let us know. We can't change the past, what can we do in the future? Oh, hello again!

I hear a lot of bashing here on the US's policy on what's going on lately. Be it reasons for going to war with Iraq, the action in Afghanistan, or the elimination of terrorists wherever they are. How about these naysayers and anti-anything-Bush-does people make a few reasonable suggestions on what they'd like to see happening. It seems that people put a lot of thought into what they don't like. It would be interesting to see if transferring that energy to thinking about productive, reasonable, and feasible alternatives would yield anything of value. Oh, hello again!

Maybe next year, and we'll have a new name too since nobody could pronounce or spell our name right this year.... Oh, hello again!

Since individual competitions, like the Space Games aren't around anymore... it's difficult to tell which individual flyer is the best. As teams go? Alchemy seems to be the best in the world at this point. They have awesome skills, creativity, and they're nice guys too. What I've seen from Babylon and other European teams is awesome too, but look at the World Cup results from Vienna and Empuriabrava... Alchemy smoked everyone in Vienna and AZ tore up the Empuriabrava meet as guests (Alchemy wasn't there). My vote stays with Alchemy. Oh, hello again!

Real Life Situation: It could be any street, any time. Not just a deserted one. Oh, hello again!

In response to PhreeZone's comments about Mike Ortiz being unable to answer people on recdot... I had an opportunity to watch Mike in action at Nationals this year. We had a post competition debrief with a few USPA board members, and Mike handled the meeting extremely professionally, brought up many good points and was very passionate about what he wanted for the USPA. In fact, he was the ONLY board member that supported what the actual jumpers were expressing. I don't know about the rest of his term on the board, but if he put as much heart into it as he did at that meeting, I have no doubt he did a great job... maybe only to be met with opposition from some of the old board members, who really didn't seem to be representing (or want to represent) what jumpers were telling them. Which brings up my second point... Having Max on the board is EXACTLY what USPA members should want. Seeing the difference between Mike and the other board members made it very clear that we NEED younger, knowledgeable, active jumpers on the board. If you really want the USPA to represent YOU, Max will do a fantastic job. If you'd like to keep the standard poltical bureaocrats up there, don't vote or just vote for the people who have already been there for a while... but don't complain about the USPA not representing you. Obviously, a lot needs to change at the USPA... the only way to do it is to get people in there who are not set in their ways and have no reason to keep things the same. Max has my vote, not just because he's a friend, but because he's the kind of person we need on the board. That's all I have to say about that! :) Oh, hello again!

I would avoid "diving" down to a tracking dive. I've seen this happen a few times with a few close calls. Someone's high on the group, so they increase their downward pitch and come screaming towards the group. No one below you can see you coming, since a few of them are likely to be on their bellies watching the leader. You may not flare out in time and come cruising through a group of unsuspecting trackers. That' bad. I've seen a few collisions this way, luckily they weren't too hard. The best method I've used to get down with the group is to put your hands on your BOC and arch while keeping the legs out for forward drive. Granted, you'll lose a little horizontal ground... but it'll be safer and easier to stop. Myself and most of the people I know that can lead track dives, get a little nervous when people start dive-bombing the group. Oh, hello again!

I've been absent from the boards for a while, but I always try to offer what freefly advice I can. So here goes... Try not to think about "sitflying" as SITTING. If you were really sitting, your weight would be on your ass. It would then be ass-flying or something like that. Instead, try to think of it as upright or head-up flying. This way, the misnomer of sitting won't screw you up conceptually as you are learning. I've heard a few different ways that people try to explain sitflying... "hang from the arms"... "more drag on top"... "push the feet down"...etc. Try to think about it like this, you are flying your feet. The relative wind is similar to the ground. If you stand on the ground with your feet together and your knees bent as closely to 90degrees as possible, you're going to fall over, most likely on your butt. Spread the feet to shoulder width, then bend the knees a little less. Straighten your back. This is likely a more stable position. The same as in the air, you're standing on the relative wind... whether you have your knees bent or not (sit/stand). You should be able to control your balance with mainly your feet and hips. Where your feet go, your legs follow. Where your hips go, your body goes. Ideally, you want to use your arms for docks or extreme movent, so it is better to learn that most of your "sit" skills are developed in the legs, feet, and hips. Does that make sense, or am I smoking crack? Oh, hello again!

Just wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to each and every freeflyer who came out this weekend and participated in our bigway event! We had people from Waller, Dallas, Moss Point, San Marcos, and The Ranch in NY, and I have to say that without even one of these groups the event would have been impossible. Thanks also to Max and Patrick who went above and beyond their responsibilities as organizers and coaches. The weekend started off with an 8:30 briefing on Saturday that gave the jumpers the whole plan for the day. We split into 3 groups so that we could slowly build our bigway to the goal of 12. After several changes in the base (Thanks Jon and Brandon!), we had a solid 8 and worked up to the 12. Although we had the 12 way built twice, it was not held long enough to qualify as an "official" record. The idea of getting the record seemed to fall to the backburner as everyone was working extremely hard and concentrating on becoming better group flyers. While it would have been an additional bonus to have the "official" record, I think that everyone involved felt that the event was a huge success. I know I couldn't have asked to learn any more than I did. I hope everyone had a great time. We hope to see you all soon! Oh, hello again!

Us Spaceland Esmoodie guys have a clip. Come out this weekend and we'll show it to you. Oh, hello again!

Right, who needs shirts?? Oh, hello again!

The current Texas FF record was done in Dallas this summer. 9 people docked for 5 seconds, head down. We almost had 12, but couldn't get it so we also had 11... but it was supposed to be 12 so it doesn't count. Right now, IPC doesn't have official guidelines for freefly records, so we just use the rules for belly formations. See you at Spaceland this weekend, hopefully we'll have a new Texas record. Oh, hello again!

Looks like Lili is going to give us a break. We're still on all weekend. Max and Patrick will be out here Friday afternoon if you'd like to get some early coaching. See you all there! Oh, hello again!

Hidey Ho People! Just want to remind you all that the TEXAS BIGWAYS II are THIS WEEKEND (Oct. 4-6) at Skydive Spaceland in Houston. Here's what we've got going on: Friday, Oct 4th Bad Ass Coaching from Max Cohn! Organizing with GF's Patrick Heaney and Spaceland Esmoodie Warm-ups for Saturday's Bigways Saturday, Oct 5th Texas Record Freefly Bigways (all day)! Organizing for ALL levels of freeflyers! More Bad Ass coaching Sunday, Oct 6th Smaller, multi-point freefly dives! More organizing! Still more Bad Ass coaching! Registration Fee: $15 (helps cover costs) Jump Ticket: $18 Bigway Breifing: 8:30 AM, Saturday Oct 5th We're planning on making 7-8 Bigway attemps on Saturday, so come ready to jump! All flyers will be working on bigway skills, no one loses! This is a no BS event, we're all going to leave as better flyers. There is something for EVERYONE. Don't forget, this is all running concurrent with belly 20-ways and the Jump for the Cause fundraiser! (see Rachill's post) The most important thing to remember is that you get to see our girls getting soaked in the dunking booth! Bring your white T-shirts!! Oh, hello again!

Hidey Ho People! Just want to remind you all that the TEXAS BIGWAYS II are THIS WEEKEND (Oct. 4-6) at Skydive Spaceland in Houston. Here's what we've got going on: Friday, Oct 4th Bad Ass Coaching from Max Cohn! Organizing with GF's Patrick Heaney and Spaceland Esmoodie Warm-ups for Saturday's Bigways Saturday, Oct 5th Texas Record Freefly Bigways (all day)! Organizing for ALL levels of freeflyers! More Bad Ass coaching Sunday, Oct 6th Smaller, multi-point freefly dives! More organizing! Still more Bad Ass coaching! Registration Fee: $15 (helps cover costs) Jump Ticket: $18 Bigway Breifing: 8:30 AM, Saturday Oct 5th We're planning on making 7-8 Bigway attemps on Saturday, so come ready to jump! All flyers will be working on bigway skills, no one loses! This is a no BS event, we're all going to leave as better flyers. There is something for EVERYONE. Don't forget, this is all running concurrent with belly 20-ways and the Jump for the Cause fundraiser! (see Rachill's post) The most important thing to remember is that you get to see our girls getting soaked in the dunking booth! Bring your white T-shirts!! Oh, hello again!

Just be careful, Ted. If you start acting up and hurt yourself, we'll all gang together and give you a Texas-style ass-whoopin. Got it? See you at the bigways! Oh, hello again!

Kris, Try not to slow down all at once. Just like belly flying... you don't track at the base and slam on the breaks to take a dock. If you've got a lot of distance, blow out the forward movement. As you get closer ease down the approach gradually until you've stopped. Yes, this will take longer initially to get to the other person, but after you do it for a while you'll be able to make this one fluid movement and it will actually be faster than just hauling ass to get somewhere. If you always drive in too aggressively, you'll probably see an orbit start... since the other person is moving out of your way and turning to face you. Oh, hello again!

Chris, It sounds like you might be using a sit-drive technique that was better suited to the older "sit-suit" flying. I find that I can get from A to be pretty quickly by focusing on what really propels you forward. It isn't the legs and feet so much as it is your back. Try this... go into a stand and lean way back, keeping your balance and feet down. (It'll take practice). For even more drive you can put your hands above your head and REALLY lean back. The balance takes practice, but you'll cover gaps very quickly using this technique. You also won't really sink out at all, even though you're standing, since your back is exposed to more wind and driving you forward and "up" in a sense. Hope that helps. Oh, hello again!

Come Out to Spaceland ANYTIME and get organizing with the Gold Medal Freefly Team Esmoodie! Now that we're done training, we've got all the time in the world to organize, coach, and otherwise entertain you all. That'll be me, Jed, and Stevie... we're here to help you get better and offer quality coaching and organizing every weekend. Come see us, you definitely won't regret it!! Oh, hello again!

Yeah but you've got to jump with all those Aggies!

We've got demo stuff you you to try out. Don't sweat it! See you here! Oh, hello again!

Not just yet, darlin'! Don't worry though, it'll look good when it does get here! Come out and jump this weekend, girl! Oh, hello again!

A guy with a broken leg competed, and came in second at Nationals. It can be done... but he did look pretty uncomfortable on landing... Oh, hello again!

Hey Houstonians, even though you got rained on this week... we're pretty dry... and jumping. Come out and have some fun. The deli's serving beer, we got a couple of medals from Nationals (Deguello, Esmoodie), and we're ready to jump! Y'all come on out now, y'hear??? Oh, hello again!