Just over a week has past now but Jam Camp spirit lives on. This jam report covers the jamming, and the competition on day 2. First, the competition. Students and teachers alike were ranked and then split into teams of four, each containing a pro, advanced, intermediate, and beginner. Teams had 1.5 hours to eat lunch and plan their routines. It was great fun for me to find out what my teammates had learned and then work that into our choreography. A few memorable moments from the competition; Raj hitting a nice brush, then two nice brush passes ending in my gitis, Hos, Lori, Brian, and Cade’s awesome juggling opening ending in nice catches by all, Tita filling in on the last team at the last minute and then shredding, and Ryan’s smooth counter under the leg passes.

As the competition wound down there was a buzz among the instructors. “That guy behind the tree. Is it? Could it be? It is! Krae van Sickle!!!” All of us became a little gaga and suddenly jam camp had to be over fast so we could jam with Krae. Z and I even got a little speed flow in with him before the closing ceremony.

The first jam was very official. We had a signed disc and at least 6 world champions playing with it. It was a bit of a publicity stunt. However the pressure was too much and the disc was too dry…not much happened. The group split up and Z grabbed a new disc. Then it was Z, Stork, Hos, Doug, and I. Things started heating up. Every time the disc went by Stork he would touch it ever so gently to change the attitude or to pass it back. This got us all fired up and we began hitting hoops, roll outs, and big catches.

Eventually we tired out and took a break. As I walked to my water I saw huge mob-op. Everyone was converging on Krae. I needed a piece of that so I took a swig and ran in. This jam was awesome. Krae was so graceful as he spun into an indigenous. Cindy Kruger hit a crow brush. Dave Lewis was again all over the field and hit combo after combo. Jason hit some nice tip back passes and catches. Lori also hit nice catches and was on most of the brushing runs, feeding everyone for huge catches. I am probably only remembering half the people in the jam…it was epic! At one point Krae had to step out to…get this…put on some nails!

That jam stayed together for a while but eventually people began peeling off to cool down and Krae was no exception. However, some of us kept on jamming. At some point I looked over from the jam and spotted someone playing catch with Krae. He was spinning into under the leg catches like a dancer, leg over his head and toes pointed. Whoa, who was that!? I looked closer and it was Raj! How’d he learn to do that!?

What an epic end to a wonderful day. Oh, I almost forgot, move of the day. That goes to Luke. See, earlier in the day Dave Lewis gave us all a talk on connectivity. Luke took that to heart. During the competition he kept getting counter throws…he’s a clock jammer. So as soon as he got a clock throw he took advantage. He took the disc directly off the throw on an under the leg reception, set it directly out and then did an arvand pull. He then immediately set it up into a behind the head catch. It had flow, style, grace, and was fully connected…no reception the’s. OOoooos and Aaaaaas were heard throughout the crowd.

So, there you have it. Jam Camp is a huge success as measured by the quality of the competition and the jams.

Well, the New Year Jam in Portland included the return of Brazil travelling, Matt Gauthier tonight. He joined Jake and Lori at our Multnomah Gym to shred it out for 2 hours. Great to see Matt since he’s been easing back into his turbo spinning jam style for the last few months post-ankle surgery and back injury. Even the staff at the Multnomah Arts Center (where the dance studio and gym are located) were elated to see us when we checked in. Jake, Lori, and Matt warmed up with a Jam Camp spinning catch speed flow with hoops and weaving around the floor. Afterwards, things got even more active with the usual tips, brushes, rolls, and spinning catches from each of the G-Bros. We also brought the soon-to-be touring Lemon Drop (colored) HDX Super Pro to the jam to help us wind down near the end and to add even more variety of challenges dealing with the small but sturdy disc. Thanks to Stork and Tita for arranging for the Super Pro to be available prior to it’s year-long journey around the world. Heinsville will be featuring an announcement about the Super Pro’s tour sometime in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, after exhausting ourselves and working up a healthy amount of sweat – we closed out with our broken-in Discraft Skystyler. Both discs were really fun to play with tonight. MOVES OF THE NIGHT: Jake succeeded in self-setting to a toe-delay (one of his first!) to a set behind his back to a clean scarecrow! Matt also boggled the mind by doing some ground-work – took a pass while seated on the floor and then under the leg passed to Lori, who then set it to Jake’s tip-pass back to Matt (still on the ground) who rolled around to a behind the head catch. Amazing! Too fun, that’s all I can say. – LD

Yes, jam camp was awesome. Yes, Stork gave a memorable talk on Freestyle. Yes, the campers learned quickly and impressed. However, I want to focus on the jam. As the sessions where coming to an end I found Dave Schiller giving a lesson to Jason. I quietly stepped up and looked longingly at the disc, and then at Dave. Suddenly the three of us were jamming. As we began to peel out, we started feeling a little like we were getting away with something. Jason hit timley catches, Dave hit killer combos, and the three of us went running into the sun, doing brush pass after brush pass.

Unfortunately, I still needed water so I had to step out. When I came back all official training was over and we had entered the school of hard jamming. Now there were multiple groups that included Cindy, Carolyn, Amy, Lori, Kathe, Luke, Raj, Danny, Dave Lewis, Dave Schiller, Danny, Brian, Ryan, and more I’m sure. One of the cool parts was, the jam camp spirit was alive, with everyone giving “Atta boys” and pointers as the jams went on.

At one point Dave L, Lori, Cindy, Amy, Carolyn, and I were in a jam. Dave had missed most of the first day so he was full of energy. I could not believe how much he was running. He’d hit two or three hard moves, pass it, and then he was somewhere else in the group and the disc came back to him. Although the rest of us were tired from a long day, Dave more than made up for it.

However, move of the day goes to John Thorne for bringing three Z machines. This “mob-ob” was a swarm of people (kids and adults) trying to learn the delay or trying to learn a new spin or trying to learn a new move. Jason picked up some counter work, Ryan learned multiple rim and center pulls. And many others were getting their hein on. I even took a turn of two to try to get more than four consecutive counter cranks. The scene was quite impressive.

As the shadows got long the jam wound down and we all headed out dinner. The first day of Jam Camp, and an awesome jam, were a success.