Re: Getting my Jr. High unicycling!

Tricks to show people:
Do ones that look pleasing but aren't necessarily hard. Some tricks are
uber-hard but don't look good at all, others are quite easy (backwards,
1-foot, 180s) and people like them alot.
Good luck!

--
ColDawG - Level 4 after 2 months

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What are some uber-hard yet not impressive ones?

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tylercox - I'm gooder than you!

~*~*~*Fueled by BAWLS!*~*~*~

A call to Albertsons: "Miss, do you have Bawls?"

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Wheel walking is the big one that people seem to love showing off that
they can do, but looks boring and easy to a non-unicyclist.

Joe

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I always get a good response out of WW and 1 ft WW, but maybe they're
just being nice. I'll definitely spin, backwards, 1 ft, 1ft WW, SIF,
SIB, SOS, Mounts, the usual stuff.....

--
tylercox - I'm gooder than you!

~*~*~*Fueled by BAWLS!*~*~*~

A call to Albertsons: "Miss, do you have Bawls?"

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tylercox said:

* So, my first question is what kind of unicycles we could buy for the
kids aged 12 to 15?

Now for the second part....I'm doing a one hour long unicycling
presentation at my current elementary school later in May. I'm going
to take all my unicycles, do all my tricks, tell about how unicycling
came about, how long it takes to learn, etc. and then I'm going to
take them to the gym and let the kids try the unicycles out to get a
feel for how hard they are. Second question....what kind of things
should I talk about and demonstrate?

Finally, this Friday I'm going to perform in a little "Talent
Contest" thing our head custodian set up (he is UBER-cool) where one
kid showcases a talent every Friday and are either voted to stay in or
get kicked off by the kids in the lunch room. I don't have any
worries about getting kicked off because last Friday all a kid did
were a few simple yoyo tricks and he was kept in. Anyway, that should
be fun, and it might spark some interest in unicycling around the
school so when those 6th graders go to my Jr. High next year they will
support the unicycle team idea. Final question....how should I carry
this little talent performance out? Like how should I do it, what
tricks, etc? *

#1 - The Memphis Unicycle Club uses 20 inch Torkers as loaners for
people to learn on. They are relatively inexpensive and 20 inch seems to
be the best size for learning. They are sturdy enough for most kids 12
to 15 years-old

#2 - An hour is a LONG time to be demonstrating something. Are you
including the gym time in that hour. For beginners, a 10 or 15 minute
demonstration and 45 minutes in the gym would probably be better. It is
really hard to hold the attention of young people for a whole hour while
you demonstrate something. People would prefer to be "doing" rather than
"watching". As for the things to talk about, talk about what you know
and feel comfortable with. You are very knowledgable of unicycling, this
should not be difficult for you. However, before you start, WRITE DOWN a
list of the things you are going to talk about and demonstrate. Take the
list with you. Lay it on the floor, off to the side and use it as a
guide to remind yourself of things to do and the order. As you talk and
demonstrate, casually walk over to the list and glance at it for a
reminder.

#3 - You are certainly a better rider than I am. I will leave choice of
skills up to you. However, I would suggest to keep your routine short
and to the point. Don't let it drag on. Keep the routine moving, keep
talking to a minimum. Do mostly demonstration and don't do much more
talking than to announce your next skill. It's better to have a short
routine and leave your audience wanting more than to drag the routine
out until the audience starts getting bored.

Good luck!! Have fun!!

--
mucRider - From the Over 50 Group

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary
and those who don't.
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Yes, the hour definitely includes gym time. I plan on talking/riding
for only about 15 mins like you said. I also am of course going to
"coach" them in the gym. Oh yea, I don't know what you mean by little
kids, but I'm only doing this for the 6th grade, not the whole school.

I'm thinking Torkers would be good, too.

That's a good idea to write things down, I think I'll do that! I'm
definitely going to keep it short and down to the riding, not the
talking.

I hope my teacher will try, that'd be really funny! Any more ideas
would be great!

--
tylercox - I'm gooder than you!

~*~*~*Fueled by BAWLS!*~*~*~

A call to Albertsons: "Miss, do you have Bawls?"

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For the gym, be very sure not to damage or mark the floor. That could
ruin all of your efforts in the future.

--
U-Turn - As long as my feet keep movin'...

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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tylercox said:

* Any more ideas would be great! *

Here are some other suggestions on presentation:
1) Talk to and look at the audience members. Don't stare off to the side
or at the floor. Don't just look down and talk to the unicycle.
2) Be sure to talk loud enough so the people in the back row of your
audience can hear you.
3) If your audience is spread out from side-to-side (like a row of
people sitting on the gym floor), casually move from side-to-side so
everyone in the audience feels included in your presentation. Again,
talk loud enough so the people farthest away can hear you.

That's a lot to remember but I think this will help make for a better
presentation.

Good luck!!

--
mucRider - From the Over 50 Group

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary
and those who don't.
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mucRider said:

*Here are some other suggestions on presentation:
1) Talk to and look at the audience members.*

very good advice in this post
make sure that when u 'look at' people, u actively make eye-contact with
them
u know these people well and if u can manage to make eye contact with
every person in the audience in the space of your 15 minute presentation
(which is also a long time...), u'll make them all feel included

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored] and Time-bider

if you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.--
'alice' (http://tinyurl.com/dt7ye) 'roosevelt'
(http://tinyurl.com/5ngze) longworth
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.-- William H.
Mauldin
...using nietzsche's metaphysics to escape from
christianity...-'metro_tramp on the value of metaphysics'
(http://tinyurl.com/4sjw6)-
it's hard to be sure, and good to be paranoid...john childs on life on
the internet
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://tinyurl.com/ywxgb)
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Tyler,

Great motivation, go for it, guy!

Couple thoughts on a couple things:

1. As far as presentation, remember that a great presentation is 90%
audience participation. Participation would include things like
performing directly front of and facing the audience, smiling,
enthusiasm, expressive facial gestures (winking maybe), hand and arm
gestures (waving, pointing, high-fives, thumbs up), comedy (quick jokes,
if you fall laugh at yourself, blame your unicycle), even verbally
talking, shouting or fun whooping during your routines. Use the
"Ta-da" aspect to draw your audience's attention but don't use it to the
point of bragging or flaunting. That may turn an audience off. If
you're having a good time, chances are your energy will feed the
audience's energy.

Ben and Brad have a performance tonight. We've been practicing this
past weekend and have practiced the audience participation part.
Practicing and then using audience participation may seem set-up or
phony from your perspective but to the audience, it'll seem new and
fresh. Since your presentation will be entertainment on the audience's
part but mostly work and effort on your part, psyche your self up before
the presentation. Get your mind ready and your game face on. Adrenelin
is a powerful tool and a wonderful thing and can help you perform things
better than you have in practice.

2. I had thoughts once upon a time of establishing unicycling programs
as part of the phys. ed. program in our elementary schools. I ran into
some problems. Firstly, I'm not a part of the school system so I
wouldn't be there to direct or lend my knowledge and expertise of the
sport. The teachers would initially go into it blind. Secondly, our
teachers use blocks or weeks to run with a topic before they move on to
the next thing. Usually the run is no more than two or three weeks.
Most times it takes that long for the average person to learn to ride a
unicycle so there wouldn't be a lot happening before the teachers moved
on to another activity. Thirdly was the expense. I agree that the
Torker chrome frame is probably the best starter uni available to my
knowledge. Still, it would require at least $1500 for equipment and
most schools are so tight on budget money now that they wouldn't have
room for such a capital expense.

Alan Tepper however in North Bend has a very successful unicycling
program. We've been in his school and were extremely impressed by what
he's done and how he had it set up. You may want to bounce an idea off
him or just pick his brain a little. He posts here from time to time
under at1pe_uni.

Bruce

--
yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards

Munipsycho on the art of raising children: "My job is not to keep them
from falling. It's to teach them to always get back up."
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try and get some 24" torkers too
some 15 year olds, hell, even 12 year olds, are gunna be way to big for
a 20" and will be far more comfortable on 24s
also, have a variety of sawed-down seat post sizes, as the torkers come
w/ huge (400mm) seatposts.
good luck and tell us the result of this project!

--
ColDawG - Level 4 after 2 months

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Yea, 24s would be good, too. The North Bend Uni Meet was at Allen
Tepper's school and I was UBER impressed with all of his unis. Very
cool guy!

--
tylercox - I'm gooder than you!

~*~*~*Fueled by BAWLS!*~*~*~

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if I made a club at my school i would be beat the tar out of, but oh
well. if you want to impresse them master the 1 meter high sidehop and
perform a farely high bc wheel hop.😄 😉

--
brockfisher05 - THE YAM FATHER

Also a member of the Vancouver unicycle group

ADD ME AT: [email hidden]
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A few weeks ago the Uniques were asked to do a uni demo for a "Choices
Day" at a local middle school. There were all sorts of presenters;
motorcycles, taekwodo, etc.

Since it was during the school day only us old guys could show: Frank,
JC, and me.

We first had a brief introduction to the basic uni.

We had prepared copies of the 10 skill levels and demonstrated the
skills we could ride.

We did some giraffe stuff. Showed the different types of uni's,
including Muni and Trials, and did a crank grab to rubber then hop up
and drop off the stairs of death.

Before turing the group over to try we showed about 3 minutes of the VHS
intro to UNiVERsE to show them what real unicycles do (They only had a
VHS player in the gym so DVDs were out of the quetsion.

We had a bunch of try-out unis and it still was a zoo.

Three minutes before the session ended one of the kids accidentally
tripped the fire alarm and caused an all school fire drill. Be careful
where they practice.

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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please nobody jump on what im a bout to say im not trying to bash him or
what not.

anyways i dont know how school are there but since your small and a
freshman i wouldnt sugest getting all up in clubs and that that arent
"cool" or what not. you might get freshied or shoved in a locker or
such. now everybody has said how they always get critized for uniing and
what not but those people you dont even know. the people at your new
school you will have to put up with for 3 years. trust me elemantry is
completely different then junior high or high school. now please im not
trying to get him, donw on this club thing but maybe i suggest not going
out and posting it over te intercom and maybe just try making a club
between a couple friends instead of the hole school.

w/e thats my two cents 🙄

--
drewation - team YAMS member

'SUNIC home page' (http://www.sunic.s5.com)
'SUNIC gallery' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/sunic)

drewation said:

*Beware of the tyler 🙁*

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tylercox said:

*Well, I dunno about that whole un-cool thing......what do you other
guys think? *

What matters is what you think. Everyone has different interests. Just
because someone is not interested in something you like does not make it
un-cool.

--
mucRider - From the Over 50 Group

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary
and those who don't.
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Don't worry about it man... the guys who make fun of you in the next
four years will be pumping your gas for the next forty.

Seriously, the kids in junior high and high school who make fun of other
people, especially for doing/being different are huge losers. There was
this guy in my school, captain of everything, party animal, could go out
with any girl in the school, and he was a total jerk to anybody who
didn't fit in. Know what? The girls moved on to better things, high
school sports is over after high school, and last I heard he was
checking people out at the A+P. Meanwhile, the guys who didn't fit in
are doing all sorts of cool things with their lives, have great
wives/families and nice lives.

I say go for the uni thing, and spread the sport to as many people as
you can.

--
mboulanger - UniNoob
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mboulanger said:

*...the guys who make fun of you in the next four years will be
pumping your gas for the next forty.... *

that is a marvellous quote and it reminds me, i need to go fill up

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored] and Time-bider

if you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.--
'alice' (http://tinyurl.com/dt7ye) 'roosevelt'
(http://tinyurl.com/5ngze) longworth
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.-- William H.
Mauldin
...using nietzsche's metaphysics to escape from
christianity...-'metro_tramp on the value of metaphysics'
(http://tinyurl.com/4sjw6)-
it's hard to be sure, and good to be paranoid...john childs on life on
the internet
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://tinyurl.com/ywxgb)
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mboulanger said:

*Don't worry about it man... the guys who make fun of you in the next
four years will be pumping your gas for the next forty.

Seriously, the kids in junior high and high school who make fun of
other people, especially for doing/being different are huge losers.
There was this guy in my school, captain of everything, party animal,
could go out with any girl in the school, and he was a total jerk to
anybody who didn't fit in. Know what? The girls moved on to better
things, high school sports is over after high school, and last I heard
he was checking people out at the A+P. Meanwhile, the guys who didn't
fit in are doing all sorts of cool things with their lives, have great
wives/families and nice lives.

I say go for the uni thing, and spread the sport to as many people as
you can. *

Trust a geezer: Mboulanger's post is Truth with a Capital T. It may seem
like a tough price to pay now, but don't sweat it and don't compromise.
I've now been to my 10 and 20 Year high school reunions, and almost w/o
exception, the sh!the@ds back then are still sh!the@ds, except all the
things they thought they had going for them are now gone gone gone. The
most successful guys from my graduating class were some of the biggest
"picked on nerds". One is now a brain surgeon of some reknown with a
great wife and family and unbelievable income, and another is a
nationally-known writer with two best-selling books on creating loving
and successful families. The guy who was the biggest [censored] to me is
now a Fritos salesman, peddaling bags of chips to 7-11s in a small
square of upstate New York. I love Fritos, but I know which stores to
avoid.

And like GILD, I'm reminded I need to go get my tank filled.

--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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