Chinlone
April 24, 2006 3:47 PM   Subscribe

Chinlone!
posted by Witty (18 comments total)
 
Great. That makes me wrong about two things I thought were invented by hippies (previously, poi, and now hackysack).
posted by Bugbread at 4:14 PM on April 24, 2006


Amazing! And compellingly graceful (especially the girl in red). Nice post!
posted by annieb at 4:15 PM on April 24, 2006


Nice!
posted by furtive at 4:16 PM on April 24, 2006


While I applaude the ability to do 18 outside jesters in a row, I feel like there's alot more that can be done, there. I mean, basically, there's:

1) The behind the back knee (which I have to admit is a pretty neat trick)
2) The single-leg ball orbit
3) The outside jester (where you then proceed to fall on your ass? While this certainly makes it look harder, I'm more impressed by people who can jester and remain standing)
4) The "say the ball is coming low at your left foot. Most American/European players might raise their left foot and use the instep, or maybe do a toe-flick with the left foot while pulling it back. Instead, these guys rotate 180, pivoting clockwise on the left foot, and then raise and flex their right foot, hitting it with their laces as it comes from behind them" move. (Which to me looks like the only skill with anything approaching a practical in-game application)

So that's 4 moves. There must be a Michael Jordan of this thing out there who can do alot more than that. In an activity so apparently fertile for personal expression, this all seemed really formulaic and "trick-y."
posted by ChasFile at 4:18 PM on April 24, 2006


Cool!

ChasFile- I can't do any of those moves, let alone string them together. And do each one perfectly. On a tightrope.

I also find the group dynamic fascinating, which is something that I find sorely lacking in any hackysack circle (where there's often only 1 good player).

Also interesting to note that Myanmar is Buddhist, so it makes perfect sense that their national sport would be non-competitive.
posted by mkultra at 4:29 PM on April 24, 2006


That's fantastic. Thanks.
I've already forwarded that link to my poi-twirling friends
posted by adamrice at 4:31 PM on April 24, 2006


Cool.

There is also Sepak Takraw the volley-ball like derivative played with the feet.

I have always wondered why Asian cultures have developed so many highly stylized foot/kicking arts - both martially and for sport.

About Asian martial arts and kicking; there are theories about upper body muscle mass vs. lower body mass - and that smaller peoples tend to develop kicking arts as they can generate more force with the lower extremities with less compromise that taller people. But I dunno. It's an interesting cultural affect.
posted by tkchrist at 4:32 PM on April 24, 2006


I spent a lot of my last trip to SE Asia fooling with Chinlone and had the good fortune of seeing some true "ballers" show off. It's unbelievably hard, even for a footballer/hacker. Hacky sack is absolutely child's play by comparison.

Great post.
posted by kosem at 5:00 PM on April 24, 2006


Could have used a "LARGE MOV" note.
posted by mrgrimm at 6:17 PM on April 24, 2006


The incredible talent + the non-competitiveness of this is awesome!
posted by leftcoastbob at 6:52 PM on April 24, 2006


Excellent, thanks Witty!
posted by madamjujujive at 7:00 PM on April 24, 2006


Good find.
posted by boo_radley at 7:15 PM on April 24, 2006


Beautiful. Absofriggenlutely confusing, but cool.
posted by geekhorde at 12:17 AM on April 25, 2006


So, I assume Chinlone means soccer-ball-juggling in some language?
posted by poppo at 7:59 AM on April 25, 2006


Wow... i never new that, like, Chinlone chicks existed. And that they're apparently super hot. Actually, i didn't know that Chinlone existed until this post. But i love it. It makes me want to totally learn it, using the Hackey-sacking skillz that have lain dormant since high school. (nope... didn't even get to use them on "the Quad" in college!)
posted by indiebass at 8:19 AM on April 25, 2006


that was amazing.

although there maybe 4 basic moves there are almost infinite degrees of skill and elegance at which those moves can be performed. it's sort of like saying with diving, you can go in head first or feet first and beyond that it's tricks - it's true but it takes a lot of skill to do those tricks.
posted by thekilgore at 8:25 AM on April 25, 2006


So, I assume Chinlone means soccer-ball-juggling in some language?

Actually, even though some of the balls look like soccer balls, they're actually made of rattan and are significantly less forgiving than a soccer ball for juggling.

They look like this:
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/6388/sportsrattantakrawball9zv.jpg
posted by kosem at 8:27 AM on April 25, 2006


I'd like to see a combo of these people and these guys I like the group aspect of Chinlone- watching great footbaggers can be a bit repetitive.
posted by Four Flavors at 3:35 PM on April 25, 2006


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