This is an article about the footbag kicking movement called stalling:
stopping the footbag with the foot or other part of the body, repeatedly, as
opposed to keeping it in fluid motion. Perpetual stalling, often called footbag
juggling, is a type of freestyle, it is not freestyle per se. Stalling
is one form of freestyle tricks - there are many other freestyle tricks, some
are unique to a particular kicker. Freestyle means just that: FREE style. At
the FIRST LEVEL of the definition of freestyle it is footbag kicking that is
highly individualistic and creative and can involve spins, jumps, traveling,
gymnastic moves, use of other objects, moving with music, stalling, etc. At a
SECOND LEVEL freestyle can be defined as involving one kicker alone or a group
of kickers in concert. At a THIRD LEVEL of definition, a freestyle kicker can
combine various tricks or moves in a routine; sometimes that routine might be
perpetual stalling but more often it is occasional stalling to punctuate the
ending of a part of a routine.
Stalling itself is part of the FIRST LEVEL of freestyle definition, one
type of trick, but competitive, perpetual stalling only fits in one half of the
THIRD LEVEL of freestyle definition. Non-competitive, perpetual stalling only
fits in one half of the SECOND LEVEL definition because to kick with another
person or group requires the expectation of the footbag being kicked repeatedly
without stopping it. Stalling interrupts that process when one kicker does
his/her stopping-the-footbag thing which is a individual effort. That is, a
group of kickers dedicated to stalling each does his/her individual thing in
turn; whereas, true circle (or group) kicking involves a synergy developing from
interaction which grows within each circle kick period and from instance to
instance if the same people continue kicking together at regular intervals.
Stalling is O'K for whoever loves to do it. However, stalling is not freestyle
per se nor is it the epitome of freestyle and those footbag kickers who
say such things are wrong and tend to be perpetual stallers or jugglers
themselves.
Other freestylers would beg to differ with this opinion that some very
vocal perpetual stallers have. Other freestylers (98% of the world's kickers by
our reckoning from our email) do recognize stalling as a movement to be used
occasionally in a routine but they are confused as to why perpetual stallers
seem to think they are the only "freestylers". This attitude put
forth by some perpetual stallers or footbag jugglers may be due to the fact
that routines which feature perpetual stalling moves can be objectvely evaluated
by judges who pay attention to the types of stalls (an attempt has been made to
name various stalling/stopping efforts all of which are very esoteric and,
frankly, hard to understand) and the number of the stalls made (adds). There
are places on the internet where a kicker can find some things out about
perpetual, competitive, stalling. You need to be prepared, though, for a lot of
disagreement (sometimes hostile) about stalling series of movements, their names
and exact configuration, and about how the judging should occur.
On the other hand, creative freestyle routines, sometimes including a
few stalls, are pretty much impossible to judge without audience participation.
This is because there are so many options for individual creative tricks, within
the continual fluid movement of keeping the footbag in motion, that audience
reaction is truly the best gauge of the beauty of a freestyle routine.
Currently, no audience reaction judging is in place so far as we know.
Therefore, kickers who wish to compete have gravitated to perpetual stalling
(and net games) for which there are a number of competitions every year.
Because of this we encourage freestyle exhibitions, which may or may not include
stalling tricks, specifically developed for audience reaction which could
conceivably be monitored for awards (each audience member has a ballot for
instance). You need to attract audiences for this to work, and the evidence is
that freestyle routines do attract audiences even when they are done on the
sidelines of perpetual stalling or net competitions. So it is possible to
attract those audiences if footbag organizations try to do it.
Footbag.com has taken the position that
kickers should do whatever freestyle they love to do. If they want to compete
then they will have to activate for audience participation judging for freestyle
routines. Perpetual stallers have advocated for their competitive format,
freestylers who want to compete will have to do the same. It's not easy because
there is a lot of hostility about having anything but perpetual stalling be
considered for competition (unfortunately) but bite the bullet and activate if
you want to compete with other than perpetual stalling tricks. Or just forget
about competition and have at it. At footbag.com we actually advocate that
non-competition is the best kicking environment and that
footbag kicking is really a fitness activity for life that need not have
anything whatever to do with competing with others but rather with oneself and
that COOPERATIVE kicking with others in a circle is
preferable. Non-competitive kicking is healthy, enormously satisfying, builds
self-esteem and does not involve any hostility. For more about these benefits
read the "Bloughchi-a Rennaisance of Modern
Movement" research paper.
People all over the world are discovering contemporary footbag kicking.
Our focus is to give them information online about the basis for
sound kicking techniques and habits: 1) the proper
stance, 2) describing the basic kicks, 3) stressing the importance of stretching
exercises and illustrating which ones are good for kickers, 4) providing
professional information about the value of eye-foot
coordination and non-competition, 5) promoting the idea that footbag kicking can
be a lifelong activity for fitness, and 6)
advocating the sheer joy of kicking a footbag in a cooperataive manner. That is
our mission in a nutshell and only, minimally, are we interested in a dicussion
about stalling, or juggling, beyond this article, the mention of stalling that
is made in "Footbag Dance," and the inclusion of soft footbags in our site (the sand filled Stalling Star, the 5 panel de Cinco, and the 14 panel Asteroid, both filled with polyethylene beads) that are good for stallers and beginning kickers. Perpetually stall or juggle the footbag if you want to but
don't just do it to compete. Conversely, we suggest that if you are not a
perpetual staller and want to compete, activate for audience judging of
freestyle routines rather than buying into the idea that stalling is something
more than a movement to use in the full gamut of freestyle kicking.
