In the run up to Christmas we are offering discounts on all our Progression dvds – the more you buy the bigger the discount!
So give someone a leg up this Christmas and get them from Beginner to Expert far far quicker with the world wide best sellers – buy now from our online store.
We gave you a quick teaser of the next DVD in the Progression Series, Kiteboarding Intermediate Volume 1, when we got back from our last filming trip to Egypt. In that time we’ve been re-working the script as we review and analysis the footage for some of the more complex technical sections of the DVD and it hasn’t been as straight forward as we first thought.
Half the DVD will follow the standard Progression Method – First Run Through, Key Elements & Common Mistakes, but some of the insight we want to in part can be very technical and confusing if not explain in the correct manner – things like kite dynamics, apparent wind and kite tuning. These and other aspects are the kind of things you pick up over time from an experienced kiter, and are best explained face to face, as and when you come across the need to understand them. But for many access to this level of experience is not readily available or worst still you may not realise the question needs to be asked!
So though we hoped to have the new dvd available for Christmas, we didn’t feel that the we could if we wanted to offer the level of instructional expected, in a clear and easily understandable manner. So anyone looking to master carving turns, toeside riding, jumping, lightwind riding, Strong Wind riding, understanding riding in waves, chop, tide & current along with tuning of your kite, lines, bar and board, we’ll you’ll just have to wait until January 2010. Sorry but it will be worth the wait.
Also to clear up a little bit of confusion – this new Intermediate Volume 1 DVD is not a replacement for the current Intermediate DVD. It sits perfectly between the New Beginner 2nd Edition and the current Intermediate, which will later be re-branded Intermediate Volume 2 – so there is no reason to hold off buying either of these DVDs in time for Christmas 
Its taken a little longer than planned but you can now check out the event video from the Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) event in China.
We got some great wind at the event, the KTA did an amazing job organising it all and the riders were a great group of guys and gals. There is definitely a huge amount of potential in the Asian riders and I think that this tour will give these guys the opportunity to really focus and we’ll see their standard increase dramatically over the next year.
Overall the vibe at the event was all about making it professional but alot of fun , ensuring that everyone had a great time on and off the water. So if you’re a kitesurfer based in Asian then you should get along to one of the future stops, hang out and give it ago! We’ll be at all the events so hope to see you there…
Whether you are into twitter or thing its a waste of time, a new feature they added recently makes it far more interesting to a wider range of people – that feature is twitter lists. Basically they allow anyone to pick a smaller number of people to follow and then anyone else can follow that list or just see any web page with the updates from those people.
So we’ve setup a couple of lists of people you might find interesting:
To be honest the manufacturers list is a little light on updates – not many of the kite brands seems to get twitter at the moment but the Pro Riders and Magazine lists get updates regularly and are probably the quickest way to find out what is new in the kitesurfing world.
We’ll be adding some more lists for News sites, schools & shops over the next few days so keep an eye out on our twitter page. If any riders, magazines or manufactures have been missed off then let us know…
Todays videos are for the all the advanced riders looking to add a little something more to an existing trick.
Starting with a Krypt – a cool name for what is simply a raley landing toeside!
Then we have a Toeside hop to blind, its technical and the full backside 360 without an airpass makes it look fast and stylish.
Finally we a Raley to blind with a pop out – not as easy at looks, but pop outs are getting added to all types of tricks by the pro’s and it’s definitely a cool addition to your repertoire.
What tricks do you want to see next? We’ve got a couple more waiting in the wings but we are open to suggestions…
The next trick definition videos are for those of you looking to add something to your jumps, and a simple grab is the next option and there are plenty to choose from!
Roast Beef Grab during a sent jump
And a new series of trick definition videos are for those you trying out skimboards, a great lightwind board and fun alternative. We’ll start with two of the more basic techniques:
More videos coming on Tuesday….
Unfortunately with myself in China and Will away in Brazil our plans for daily video updates got a little scuppered! But I’m back now and here’s several videos to get you all amped for whatever wind is heading in you direction over the next few days.
First up we have the next two parts of the Jame Boulding Interview, following on Part 1 two weeks ago:
Part 2: James explains about adding Shifty tweaks to your unhooked tricks
Part 3: Some insight into the Pros & Cons of riding with bindings
Then we have half a dozen trick definition videos:
Back Roll Transition with a Hand Plant
Back Roll Transition with a Mute Grab
Back Roll Transition with a Lien Grab
Back Roll to Toeside (Unhooked)
Shifty Back Roll
Front 2 Wrapped
Next up with bit another batch of grabs for both powered and sent jumps.
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been compiling a list of every tricks we can imagine, with every possible grab, tweak, pop, pass combination. The list currently runs at just over 200 tricks and I’m sure we’ve still got a way to go! As we started to show in our last few videos there is so many things you can do to make any basic trick a little more interest, just by throwing one of the many grabs, and that goes for riders of any level, whether your doing a straight jump or powered handle pass.
So we hope to have a constant barrage of trick definition videos to show you from this point onwards and to kick things off we’ve taken a dip in our archive and found some footage we shot nearly 3 years ago with Aaron Hadlow when we were making the Kiteboarding Professional DVD – here are 4 tricks all based around the Back roll to blind with an Airpass but each has a different grab that adds a little something different to each one:
Back 2 Blind with an Airpass and a Back Hand nose grab
Back 2 Blind with an Airpass and an Indie Grab
Back 2 Blind with an Airpass and a Nose Grab
Back 2 Blind with an Airpass and a Tail Grab
In a couple of days will have some video for the Intermediates out there with some more grabbed transition…
Many people outside the UK may never of heard of James Boulding but we think that’s gonna change over the coming year. He’s had a pretty outstanding 2009 – 2nd Overall Pro in the BKSA national tour; an accomplished BKSA instructor and Coach; he’s accompanied Fat Sand on two trips filming in Turkey and Egypt, and to round it all off he’s earned himself a spot on the Liquid Force International Team! We couldn’t be happier for him, he’s a talented rider who’s willing to work hard on and off the water! You’ll see him in many of our latest trick definition videos and whilst in Egypt Will got him in front of the camera for a quick interview which turned into a mammoth one. So here is the first of a 3 part interview – this one Will has appropriately named ”Sharing the Stoke“:
James is currently out in Egypt with Sam Light and Ali Barrett kiting and filming, so expect some nice videos coming from James, himself, over the next few weeks.
You can find out more about James at his website or follow him on twitter.
We are really excited to announce our partnership with the newly formed Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA). Fat Sand / Progression will be heading out to China early next week for the inaugural event where riders from across Asia will come together to compete in Freestyle and Course Racing competition.
Progression will be at the event to capture all the action on camera and deliver regular videos updates through the KTA YouTube channel, our hope is to give you a taster of all the goings on at China’s first IKA recognised kitesurfing event. The KTA aims to help aspiring kitesurfers across Asia to gain competition experience and hopefully provide a stepping stone to the world tour competitions. Its also an opportunity for some amazing kitesurfing spots to gain exposure to a wider kitesurfing audience. Hopefully the videos we create with the KTA, will give a greater insight into these great locations, and the riders that we will meet along the way, inspiring you to get out and ride and maybe even visit a new destination in the not to distance future.
As Progression moves forward over the coming years, we aim to inspire and motivate you to be a better kitesurfer. We think that competition is one way in which many riders can focus on improving their kiting skills whether its at a professional, semi-professional or amateur level. Its not for everyone but for those that get involved it will push them to try something new and share that with a group of other riders.
Being part of the KTA events also gives us an opportunity to meet a whole load more kitesurfers, finding out what they what to see from us. You can expect to see a many more interviews on our website, along with more videos in our ever expanding trick definition library, all taken at the KTA events.
We’re also lucky to have Dimitri Maramenides, launching his new kite brand, Epic Kites at the China event. Anyone who has seen him ride will know that he has a pretty explosive style and for those that haven’t, you’ll be able to soon enough, as we’ll no doubt capture Dimitri peforming at his best in Xiamen next weekend!
Stay tuned to www.progression.me, www.kiteboardtour.asia and www.youtube.com/kiteboardtourasia for updates.
