Well, I presented my TED talk today, and I can't say it went better than expected. After having technical difficulties with my flash drive, I had to copy my presentation to my classmate's SD card (you know who you are and thank you). After the shaky start, the presentation seemed to be going well. I did not find myself phased very much by the earlier troubles. That was when windows decided to quit unexpectedly. My friend was operating the computer and he told me after the presentation that he had to re boot the powerpoint. I also found out that the videos I put in my powerpoint, didn't work. This was because, when I uploaded them to youtube, I apparently made them private (I do not remember doing this). This meant that I couldn't show the videos to the audience.

Here are the videos:

If we ignore the technical difficulties, I think I did well.  I think that my passion came across in my speech. One problem I have is that I turn into a robot when I present. I tried to avoid that this time and I feel I pulled it off. It is really a shame that I was granted such misfortune with the videos. 

I learned two very important things today. I learned that I should never fret the things I can't control, and to always make sure the videos are public when I put them on youtube. Ok, maybe just one important thing. Never the less, I see my presentation as a success. I hope that I inspired someone in the audience to try and acquire a skill because I am certain they will be surprised by how quickly they learn it.

Well, This is the last cycle. I present my TED talk tomorrow and I feel confident that it will go smoothly. What I really learned over the course of this project was that if you consult your resources, you can acquire any skills much quicker than you think. I was inspired by the youtube series "People are Awesome" to obtain a unique ability. We are always told we are all special and unique. I wanted an ability that I could point to that defined my speciality.

I came further than I expected. I have been playing soccer for a while but I never got a hold on juggling. I practiced all of last summer but did not really get anywhere. For this project I figured I would consult my resources such as the internet. I saw much more improvement over the last three months than I had seen over last summer. I learned that there is no point going in blind. Resources can never hurt. They can only boost, never hinder.

Here is my schedule from earlier blogs.


Cycle 1
o Achieve 150 touches while juggling (total)
o 10 in one session (seek help from experts)
•  Cycle 2
o Get 150 more touches while juggling
o Begin head and chest touches (research tips on internet)
•  Cycle 3
o Achieve 15 touches in one session
•  Cycle 4
o 10 successful head and chest touches
•  Cycle 5
o One successful heel touch
•  Cycle 6
o At least 20 touches per session (consistently)

I did not stick to this schedule completely. I found that impractical. I did achieve most of my goals though. I am getting about 15 consistently. I got three successful heel touches.

My goal was to "get a glimpse of what experts can see". This was a quote from Adam Savage, a mythbuster. He said that when they learn a new skill on the show, They try to achieve something once what experts can achieve every time. This is why I included achieving at least one trick on my goals. I wanted to achieve, just once, what professionals can do every time.

I must say that I am surprised by the progress I have made during the duration of this project. I did not expect my numbers to get as high as 21. With that said, I have not beaten my record in a while. Most of my improvement has been in my consistency and my ability to get into my "zone" quicker. About a week ago I would need a solid five minutes of warming up before My juggling was consistently high. Now I can get a consistent 7 or 8 on my first go right when I pick up the ball. I never expected to become a professional freestyler by the end of this project. But I have definitely made it farther than I had anticipated. I will soon begin the "around the world". This is the holy grail of juggling. It is the benchmark among professionals. Anyone can juggle, but if you can do an "around the world", you are skilled. Here is a video.

I plan on trying the second version. The around the world from a juggle. I want to achieve at least one by the end of the project. It will not be easy, but I am hoping I pull it off.

I have pulled off three successful heel touches. I posted a video of that in an earlier blog. I did not do three in a row, I did one at a time. These followed my guidelines witch were

- At least three touches before and at least one on each foot

- Vertical ascent after the trick

- At least three touches after the trick, one on each foot.

These are the same guidelines I will be using for the "around the world" 

This blog is entirely for my previous comments on other's blogs. I sincerely apologize for not having done this earlier.

Cycle Four
- Brett Hu
- Sam Langman
- Matt Autieri

Cycle Three
- Jacob Kaffey
- Noah Killshaw
- Kenny Daily

Cycle Two
- Jessica Miao
- Josh Chu
- Sam Klugherz

Cycle One
- Matt Thompson
- Jacob Cohen
- Kyle Moynahan

This is my video blog, or "vlog". I took some time to explain why I am doing what I am doing in the video below.

In that video, I mentioned the youtube series "PEOPLE ARE AWESOME". If you have not heard of them, here is one of their videos, although I don't know WHAT you have been doing if you haven't.

This has been an unusual cycle. My performance was hindered by a sprained wrist and a slight fever. I actually sprained my wrist while juggling. I wanted to get to 10 touches and when I took my 9th, the ball moved up and away from me. In a desperate attempt to get the 10th touch, I did a sort of bicycle kick/slide thing. Whatever it was, I landed with my wrist underneath me and sprained it. I did however, manage to achieve the goal of 15 touches in a single session. This is with the inflated ball. It took me a little time to bounce back after the hiccup caused by my "injury". I plan on devoting more time to juggling the soccer ball next cycle. I have already begun to practice my head and chest touches. My goals for next cycle are to get one successful head and chest touch. My criteria for a "successful" head/chest touch are the following:

• At least three touches before the touch
• At least one touch on each foot before the touch
• Vertical ascent directly after the touch with the head/chest
• At least three touches after the touch
• At least one touch on each foot after the touch

This may seem like a lot but I achieve most of this while juggling normally, so it should not be an impossible goal. Most of these are to ensure that my head or chest touch was controlled. If I just hit the ball up in the air and it shoots sideways after my head touch, that is not a successful head touch. I need to be able to control the juggle of the ball, tap it up, settle it with my head, and regain control as it falls to my feet.

I inflated the soccer ball that I have been using. I was surprised by the difficulty compared to the deflated ball. I am happy that I made this change sooner rather than later. I have worked very hard today to try and get back the progress I made on the deflated ball. I managed 11 touches today and consistently got around 5. This caused me to rethink the changes I made to the schedule earlier. I am determined to reach my goals. I will get 15 this cycle. I am not going to be discouraged by the difficulty of the inflated ball.

Yesterday (tuesday) I felt a big improvement in my juggling. I have started to alternate feet when I juggle (left, right, left, right). This style allows me to keep the ball in an imaginary box and makes it easier to control. I am getting about 7 consistently with my deflated ball. I think I am ready to move up to an inflated ball. I am very pleased with my recent progress.

It is now Sunday 2/22/15. I have achieved my goal of 10 juggle-touches in a single session. I achieved this multiple times. I am feeling very confident about the goals I set at the beginning of this project. If I am completely honest, I was nervous about the goals I set for myself at the beginning of this genius project. They seemed a little too ambitious to me. Now though, I am extremely pleased with the progress I have made and I am relieved that I was able to achieve my goals. In fact, I think I might be raising all of my future-goals for this project up a bit.

This was my schedule for the entire genius project,

• Cycle 1
• Achieve 150 touches while juggling (total)
• 10 in one session (seek help from experts)
• Cycle 2
• Get 150 more touches while juggling
• Begin head and chest touches (research tips on internet)
• Cycle 3
• Achieve 15 touches in one session
• Cycle 4
• 10 successful head and chest touches
• Cycle 5
• One successful “around the world”
• Cycle 6
• At least 20 touches per session (consistently)

As I mentioned earlier, I completed my cycle one goals and I think I should up the ante on my goals for the coming cycles.

This is what I think my new schedule should be,

• Cycle 1
• Achieve 150 touches while juggling (total)
• 10 in one session (seek help from experts)
• Cycle 2
• Get 250 more touches while juggling
• Begin head and chest touches (research tips on internet)
• Cycle 3
• Achieve 20 touches in one session
• Cycle 4
• 15 successful head and chest touches
• Cycle 5
• One successful “around the world”
• One successful heel touch
• Cycle 6
• At least 30 touches per session (consistently)

The "heel touch" is when you move your leg behind your back and touch the ball with your heel. Here is a video tutorial of the trick with some clips of it being performed by Brazilian soccer-star Neymar.

I chose to learn how to juggle a soccer ball because that was something I felt like I was always missing from the game of soccer. Whenever I played soccer with a new group of kids, I would always notice how they could juggle better than I could. When I say "juggle", I do not mean throwing soccer-balls in figure-eights with your hands. I mean keeping a soccer ball off the ground without using your arms.

Here is a video:

Juggling might seem like an unnecessarily flashy skill that serves no real purpose in the game of soccer. It is, however, great for helping players develop fundamental skills. These skills include balance, concentration, control, weak foot, and first touch

I have researched tips for improving your juggling.

Some common instructions that every guide I have found is to hold the ball, drop it, kick it back up, and catch it again. After you get good at this, you begin to kick once with each leg before catching it.

Here are some of the websites I found.

http://www.wikihow.com/Juggle-a-Soccer-Ball.

http://www.active.com/soccer/articles/5-tips-to-juggle-like-the-pros

I followed the advice of the top link (wikihow.com) and began to see slow improvements.

In the video above, I was using a slightly deflated soccer ball. This is a tip recommended by wikihow.

The bottom link (active.com) presented many tips to improve the routine that I had found on wikihow. These tips were things like

• Keep your toe down and ankle locked, and try to hit the ball with the laces of your shoe.
• Start with the ball in your hand, drop it to your dominant foot and hit it back into your hands. Then you can try to hit it twice with your dominant foot. Keep progressing.

I used these tips in the routine of dropping from chest height that was mentioned on wikihow.com.

On Saturday 2/20/15, I reached my goal of 150 touches. I do not mean 150 without the ball hitting the ground, I mean 150 touches total, not all at once. I do not see this as a reason to stop. I would like to get 10 touches at once by Sunday.

I already feel that my touches are getting more controlled and I am much better already at kicking the ball up with the correct amount of power.