'Flair' Move to Try

Okay--so Dan and I did NOT go play lava today. So here, anyway, is the move challenge as promised. Start in a dead hang on parallel monkey bars (pistol-grip, so that you are perpendicular to them). First, jetpack-style, raise your legs with your knees locked until they are parallel to the ground. Next, in this position, chin up--already a little challenging and weird. Now the fun part. From the chin-up, leg extension position, curl your legs and stomach in so that your tucked legs can somersault backward through your (now probably) extended arms. In the end you should be hanging upside-down with your legs through your arms. Now re-extend and repeat if you feel so. Let me know how it goes.

New Post Coming

So--I haven't played lava in a month. Dan and I are going out tomorrow. We'll take some pictures of a new combo challenge and other exciting awesomeness. See you soon.

Levels

Here is the question I am interested in today: Should Lava incorporate levels for moves/holds/overall aptitude?

(if this question makes little sense to you, skip below to the 'gamer lingo primer' below, and then continue)

As Lava already is a sort of real-world video game, it would seem a natural fit--an adventure game, with some action elements, why not throw in some RPG elements? Level 5 jumpstick. Level 2 orangutan. Naturally. But there are at least two distinct considerations that come to bear on such a question.

First: is lava really a level kind of activity? One of the things that makes lava so much fun is that it is simple and organic. You either beat a challenge or you don't. Unlike other exercises--running, weight lifting--there is no need to 'keep track of progress.' For instance, the only way to beat a bench press challenge, is first to set a numerical goal: such and such reps at such and such weight. Same with running: so far, so fast. Lava is about getting from point a to point b without any necessary recourse to numbers. Get there however you can. It is this creative problem-solving and personalized element that makes lava different every time. Throwing numbers into this system might be not only unneeded, but ultimately damaging.

Second: It is difficult to quantify many of the aspects that makes one good at lava. Sure, perhaps a crow's nest skill can be measured in terms of time on a vertical, or revolutions, or some other test. But the endurance and novel approach that enable one lavaist to overcome a challenge where another fails is far less tangible. This relates to the first point in that, to be successful at lava, one needs to fill in all of the gaps between holds and transfers with a kind of gumption that is neither strength nor endurance exactly. It is lavaness? It certainly seems hard to put a number on this save by peer review.

Anyway, those are the considerations of lava I was interested in discussing today. Speaking of levels, Dan and I both successfully completed the jackup the other day on the Spicetree playground. Prior to this, we had only ever seen the Jack boys successfully ascend a horizontal using only upper body (confer Deacon to the left). Perhaps this in the end is all that can be done in terms of levels. Completed challenges. Like a merit badge, or trophy in a video game. All we need now is a sweet page to show all of it off. Anyway, I have internet again, so more to come soon. Also, more moves of the day are on the way. Lava lava labamba.

Gamer Lingo Primer:

Video games come in several genres, one if which is the role playing game, or RPG. In an RPG, the player constructs and plays a character that develops throughout the game. This happens primarily in terms of levels, or numerical values, assigned to skills and attributes. Thus, as play in an RPG progresses, a character gains higher and higher levels, specific to that game. In asking about lava and levels, this is the nature of the question. Should lava incorporate numerical values to a lavaist's skill set?

Lava is Real Right Now!

I don't have the internet for the moment. So. More posts to come. Suffice it to say that lava is real! Right now! That's all for now.

Heel Hang

A couple of weeks ago, Jarmo sent me a link to this video:

Looks easy enough. Here is my go at it:

Needless to say, apparently, I can only succeed at parkour workouts if I look like an idiot. Which brings me to a topic I wanted to discuss. What is the difference between lava and parkour/free running? Simply that lava is slow and uncool. Anyway, Try the heel hang for yourself and set a time-release camera on a tripod to send in a picture. Or make friends. Or do a drawing of yourself how you would imagine completing the hang. Or send in more ideas for creative ways to test our lava hang-skills. Plus, I want to start a lava club. So send in ideas for names. Like: T.L.C. which stands for The Lava Club. Or L.O.A.F. Lava Only And Forever. Or. L.A.V.A. Lava And Various Anecdotes. See you on the phlip slide!

Best Menu Ever

"Alright, now that we're under the jungle gym, what are we playing today?"

"Restaurant."

"Great. Okay, I'm only three but I've got a permanent marker and a preternatural gift for spelling."

"Then Let's make a menu, dude."

"Okay, go."

"Tatertots."

"Good. What else?"

"Um. Pizza."

"Mmm. Good. Next."

"That's it."

"What?"

"That's all we're serving."

"What about the vegetarians?"

"Vegi-what?"

"People who don't eat meat."

"Tatertots aren't meat."

"No. But we fry them in beef tallow. Totally not vegi-friendly, dude."

"Let's play firefighters."

"Okay."

"I'm the one with a gun for an arm. What are you doing?"

"Writing poop."

"Ha haha aahaa. Poop."

"Poop."

"Poop."

"Let's play toilet."

"Okay, I'm the one with a gun for an arm."

Aerial Orangutan

Another transfer, the aerial orangutan is used when traversing a gap between two horizontal bars that are further apart than the lavaist's arm span. The move is performed in steps. First, swinging to gain forward momentum. Second, snapping off of the initial bar, knees up and arms forward. Third grabbing the second bar (usually with one forward hand first followed by the second for further jumps). Fourth, absorbing the momentum with a chinup landing and controlled swinging. It is not terribly pretty, but it is terribly hott.