All this brewhaha over a few videos.
The unfortunate catalyst perhaps, but let's hope this discussion is morphing into something more meaningful
I would suggest that the absence of this presence which is projected by a flier through the kite...owning the space...is most evident between tricks. This is when you can clearly see what the flier is trying to accomplish. Essentially, either this part of the flight is important to you, or it's just something you have to do to get into position for your next yank and spank.
Yup.
I had that moment of enlightenment about 12 years ago. I had been flying for a couple of years, busily learning every trick there was to learn, and had gotten to the point where I was a decent trick flier. One day a flying buddy said to me "You can trick like all get-out, no doubt about it. Now you just need to learn how to
fly". At the time it pissed me off a little, because my natural reaction was "I
am flying", but when I started competing it sank in. Tricks in isolation are only interesting for so long. I'm just as interested in how the trick is entered, where and how the kite exits, and what happens before the next trick.
The pyrotechnics are great, but if the whole package is not there, ultimately it's not much of a show.
THere was a thread about VF where the flying without/between tricks was called "vacant" and boring. FLying inbetween tricks and the whole "flow" of it adds a lot to the show. One spectator at our Ripon fly back in April i think said it well when they said they liked how the pattern flying added a bit of anticipation wondering what the next "stunt" was going to be. She compared it to watching a Stunt plane pilot fly and the "what is this guy going to do next?" thoughts.
