'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.

Precipitation

Today, Jarmo sent in some suggestions for lava workouts during adverse weather, replete with black and white muscles from the previous century. I quote:

"It's raining. Lava workout of the day:

Jetpacks: 4 sets, 25 reps or until failure. Use jetpack chair or hang from a bar if you're a real baller. Raise legs, keep knees from bending as much as possible. Do this hard up, slow down and try not to blow your brain. This exercise will increase your core strength, allow you to better momentum in leg-swinging movements, and increase your cerebral fortitude.

Wide grip chins: 3 sets, 10-15 reps or until failure. Grip

wide, overhand. Pull up and try to touch your nipples to the bar, if you're a dude. Doing these will strengthen your back, biceps, forearms, and hands, which are all vital for hanging, climbing, and doing pretty much anything in lava.

Pullovers: 3 sets, 10 reps or until failure. Read the directions in the picture (right). These increase the size of your thorax. Additionally, they will give you better range of motion in your shoulders to prevent injury, and will help climbing and hanging movements.

Wrist curls: 3 sets, 10 reps or until failure, 80% of your body weight. Stand with barbell held behind your back, hanging at waist level. Curl up, hold momentarily, and ease down for 1 repetition. Open your hands as you lower the bar and let the bar roll slightly down your fingers. This will increase your grip strength and forearm size, both of which are vital for many climbs and long hangs.

Dumbell flys: 3 sets, 10 reps or until failure. Read the directions in the picture. This exercise focuses on the chest, which is important when bear-hugging objects, climbing underneath structures, or doing orangutan maneuvers.

Conversely, one could also always go and play lava in the rain. Or eat Chinese food, pizza, potato chips, and play video games. On a related note, Dan and I tried for the first time a workout Jarmo had suggested earlier in the year. I'll post photos from that and explanation tomorrow.

For now check out this sweet playground we found at the end of Birch Hollow in Ann Arbor. It was like an acid trip spiderweb, and full of new possibilities, including a dunkstick onto that netting, a move which, incidentally, turns out to be harder than Link makes it look in the games. So that is that for now. Hope everyone is climbing safelyish and not burning too many singe holes in their shoes/eyes/brains. Tomorrow I will post Jarmo's other workout challenge and a new move of the day.

Introducing

Jarmo

Lava-Go-Round

Yesterday's photo came from a lava challenge that Simon completed in East Lansing a couple of years ago. He has provided a couple of more photos of team challenges to follow as well. How hot is it to cross a river with a rope? 77.6. That is the exact number. Dan and I took a day off from lava on account of the damage the lava-walk did to us, and instead played Knights of the Old Republic and went to the mall. On a brighter note, lavagames.blogspot.com has now been visited forty million times, and was named to the Forbes list 'Hot Three.' Anyway, the move of the day!

Blindfoot

Blindfoot – Like the orangutan, the blindfoot is a transfer from a one pole to another, but in this case, the lavaist extends a foot back blindly from the nestclamp in order to create a wedge between the two poles. Once contact with the back foot is made the lavaist then either pivots their body so that the transfer has been switched to the new pole or takes the leverage as an opportunity to perform a kind of guided orangutan. With enough space the blindfoot is very efficient and in some cases possible where the orangutan is not. The only real danger to the blindfoot is hyperextension (groin), or conversely, ridicule when performing the awkward swivel from pole to pole.

Simon: Boom

A Moment of Bloggerific

Silence in Honor of

Sweetness

Some Lavercizes

Dan and I played lava today at the Platt playground near Washtenaw. It was mostly uneventful but we did get a couple of sweet pics including Dan performing this crow's nest.

Also we rocked some sweet workouts, including a lava walk. What is a lava walk? Well, to understand the lava walk you have to understand one of my favorite lava exercises--the lava chin up. The lava chin up is the same as any other chin up except that you tuck your knees up to your chest while performing them, scrunching up just like your body would be in a real life challenge. They are as sweet as possum poop.

A lava walk is when you take the lava chin up position and then traverse to the end of the monkey bars and back, either turning at the end or simply climbing in reverse. It is awesome, because, scrunched up, you have to use all upper body strength to go back and forth.

And now for today's move of the DAAAAAY!

Orangutan

The Tarzan (no one calls it that) – The orangutan is a hanging transfer reminiscent of the arm-swinging primate for which it is named and is most useful on challenges that require a pole to pole transition. To perform an orangutan, the lavaist must reach arm-first from a pole hold, secure a handhold on a second pole and then their lower body to the new pole. Because the orangutan is most useful on challenges of narrow passage, often this swing requires an extreme contraction of the lower body and requires the core strength to suspend one’s knees up into the body while twisting from one pole to another—another feature of the move that lends to the primate appearance.

Hasta marinara! Until marinara!

Move-of-the-Day Day!

Dunkstick

Like the jumpstick, a dunkstick is an aerial transfer in which a lavaist jumps from one object or surface to a bar or shelf on which they hang. It requires good grip and body control in order not to over-swing and fall back-first onto the ground, only to get up gasping for air and asking absently the rest of the day if anyone else hears that.

Level Hundred Lava

Along with today's move of the day and continuing in the roll out of 'launch week' (trademark), I wanted to mention quickly the ultimate goal of lava. We talk about levels of moves, levels of transitions, levels of holds, etc. But what do all these lead to? The ultimate. Level one hundred lava. What's better than a pushup? A one handed pushup. A chinup? A one handed chin up. What's better than supporting yourself with limbs? Supporting yourself with no limbs. And that is the ultimate goal to which all of our efforts point. Levitation. Okay. Enough philosophy. Now today's move of the day!

Scissorfeet

A scissorfoot hold is achieved whenever a lavaist clamps onto a verticle using the sole’s of his/her/its feet pointed like the grip of a vise. The hold requires flexibility and leg strength and is usually a temporary hold in a complex transfer. It is especially useful in situations that require rotating around a verticle with minimal space for the lavaist’s body, and will give you biceps on your inner thigh which everyone who likes colors (everyone) can agree is awesome.

Why a Lava Blog

Okay. It occurred to me today that, though I felt it a good idea to have a lava blog, I was not sure why. So here it is. The essence of lava is getting together and watching other people complete challenges you wouldn't have guessed yourself able to overcome, only to find, after their success, that you too are motivated beyond your limits. It's that terrible and terrific now-I-have-to-ness that makes the whole thing so much more interesting than repetitive workouts. Competitive? Ish. More like iron sharpening iron, or in most of our cases, refrigerated butter trying to transmogrify (boink) into nondairy alloys.

What does this have to do with a blog? Well, a lot of the people I have played lava with live in a lot of places now. And it makes it a lot harder to get challenged by their strengths. Enter the interwebs. What I think I want most here is to post stories/photos/videos/psychic transmissions of peoples successes so that we can all get inspired and jealous. So send them in. Yesterday. Or I will start because that makes sense. But tomorrow. That is when I will start. Because I have not taken any videos and it is strange how long it takes to type a couple of hundred words. On the other hand, here is today's move of the day

Jumpstick

Jumpstick – The jumpstick is an aerial transfer from any originating surface to a suitably graspable pole or tree. Composed of two parts, the jump (surprise) is self-explanatory, while the stick requires a bit of elaboration. To adhere to a pole, a lavaist must jump in such a way as to contact the pole with one foot while wrapping arms or hands around the in order to create a crow's nest (see yesterday's post). This will require absorbing the momentum of the jump with the contacting foot just enough to stop the body in the proper position for the clamp. On narrower poles like those of swing sets and some jungle gym verticles, it is best to approach with a sideways or surf-like stance to get the most foot contact, and on angled poles sometimes two feet are required. The most difficult hurdle to overcome with the jumpstick is actually psychological, as it appears to most nonpracticioners an invitation for a busted jewel case or a mouthful of teeth, when in fact you will (mostly) only ever bruise or chip these areas.

Lava and Again

Okay. Once upon a time I started this blog. Well, then I didn't do anything with it. For one kagillion years. I am not sure why it has been so long. And I have been working on a website. But I am also not very good at finishing things. So I thought I would start posting the material here, and keep working away. Best of both worlds! I am going to post a new move every day from the encyclopedia of lava moves some friends and I have been working on. As far as me, I have been playing Lava with Dan (my brother) in Ann Arbor, nearly every other day since last summer (even in February). Deacon was here for a while as well, but alas he has moved west. So without further ado--I am going to start the new posts with the top ten reasons to play lava as voted on by citizens of the Indian subcontinent:

Top Ten Reasons To Play Lava:

1. Whoopie Goldberg

2. D.A.R.E.

4. Counting

5. Colors

6. Algebra

7. Continents

8. Colorful Continents

9. FM Radio

10. Number 3

And also the promised daily lava fundamental to try at home! Illustrated (of course) by Jason Polan

The Crow's Nest

The crow's nest is an indispensable building block for lava urban and rural alike. It is the hold in which a lavaist clamps to a verticle (pole, tree, etc) by wrapping arms or hands around the back and pulls against a foothold in front. The position offers great versatility and is highly energy efficient; a lavaist can easily climb higher, lower, rotate, or just hang and rest for a moment once this position is achieved. It is also a total chick magnet.

So that is that. Email me if you have been playing lava in your area, have ideas, want to post a song, need advice about the stock market, or have access to an offshore account that has been recently endowed by a prince with an unpronounceable name that needs nothing more than my social security number and credit information to release the funds to me. Little John for president 2007!

Lady P'Taj

View Larger Map

Deacon, David and Brent made some big progress on the P'Taj challenge which is (as far as I'm concerned) a master's level event of approximately 300 yards of forest to cover using primarily saplings and underbrush. The P'Taj is a deer blind (in the center of the clearing on the east side of the map), the house (on the west side (close the dialogue box to view)) being the finish. There are three major gaps and apparently they made it to the first the other day, and intend to cross using a leaning cedar. I'm basically totally jealous. Brent, Dan and I tried this a couple of months ago and I just about lost my brains out of the back of my head. I'm going to go today to a little park on Oxford St. and want to take a picture. Updates to follow on both my and other's lava exploits. Chears!

Vandermolen Etc.

Vandermolen sent me this picture of injuries sustained while Lavaing with one of the Jack boys. As he puts it:

"We got pretty busted up. At one point I was hanging upside down from a chain and i fell on to my back. Normally it would hurt, but i have been training for wrestling, so i'm getting better at back bumps. But i did die in the lava. Also, my friend Tara calls the game "alligator pit", because she imagines there to be be human eating alligators on the ground. I feel lava to be more dangerous. We both agreed."

I am going down to Conway Park this afternoon (picture to follow). It's a mammoth jungle gym and I am working on a complete route. Also! I found probably the sweetest lava course in the history of the world (exaggeration?!) I will post a picture of that one as well. Toodaloo!

Lavah Hurrah

I thought I'd start things off with arguably the sweetest part of Lava: the injuries. Somehow, swinging on the Conway Playground monkeybars, I managed to pull up an entire pad of skin, starting in the palm and stretching all the way under a callous. I stuck it back down and then all this orange puss oozed out, which I thought merited a picture. Anyway, onto the blog proper. This is a place for people who play Lava or Hot Lava, in which the ground and any specified elements of a structure are deemed lava, and require traversal, without contact with said lava. That's right, the same game you played when you were eight. Here you can meet other Lavaers with the same stunted maturity, share stories, techniques, photographs, drawings, short fiction, music, money orders, dating advice, poetry, government secrets, hair-loss remedies, knock knock jokes, and, of course, schedule Lava sessions with locals. I am in Somerville, MA right now and have no friends whatsoever with which to practice my trade. If you're interested, let me know and we'll Lava! It's the whole of my fitness plan at present, so it wouldn't hurt to have some motivation and morale boosts by fellow enthusiasts. And how!