Since people have been coming to me and talking to me about this, i've devised the glowsticking timezones into 3 major generations. Im not saying its perfect, and im not saying anyone else specifically fits into it. This is just an analogy i plan on using for people who seem to be learning faster than they can process.


So far i will use names as examples that hold some truth. Im definitely not saying i know everything, these are just my observations made manifest into text.




Early Generation. What i like to call the Campfire Generation.

The campfire generation is to all of you OG stringers/freehanders out there who built up the foundation of what it is for us stringers and freehanders as we stand now.

Example. Sparrow. Now here comes the Ramen aspect of my analogy.

Glowsticking is like ramen. In order to learn glowstick is to eat ramen, You have to prepare it. Know your ingredients to prepare it and eat it. Now, back to my rather lowgrade analogy.

Sparrow is called a part of the Campfire era because in order for him to make ramen. He had to build a fire, boil that shit and then wait for it to be cooked. Then ingest and digest. In between ramen meals he had plenty of time to digest and reflect. (im comparing ramen to a specific move in this case)

Then there was my Generation.

What i like to call the 'Stove Top' generation.

I personally could not Flood youtube and check out every single tutorial and learn all these moves at once, i would get a tutorial and wait for a next one, in the mean time practice the crap out of the move i just learned. To paint a completely unnecessary picture for you it was like this.
When i got hungry, i walked into the kitchen put water into a pot and threw it on the stove. The Stove warmed up rather quickly, boiled the water fast enough and i got to eat. Ingest and digest and wait a while, the breaks in between the stove getting hot and my next meal were a pretty good layover for me to reflect on the move i just learned and use it for a few months before i moved onto my next ramen meal.

Now. Danika Aspect specifically and a few others who i cant name off the top of my face. I like to call you children the Microwave Generation.

You kids have EVERYTHING already on youtube right now and didn't have to wait. You put water into that Styrofoam cup and nuke that shit and eat. Now not that its bad that your ingesting the moves and tricks very fast, its good that you're learning quickly. BUT the fact remains that because you have all of these moves and all of these tutorials and video's out that you can just keep eating up all of these new moves. If you DO NOT DIGEST you will not form style. You will look like a stringer or freehander that you can tell has seen 1000 tutorials. Knows the moves, but has absolutely NO style what soever.


In this i relate Ingesting to Learning the moves. Digesting is the use there of and style you spin off onto it. Remember kids, eating too much can make you sick and if you flood your mind with new tricks without furthermore exploring your style and how you wish to implement them you'll get bored. With that i have a few things to say.



To the Campfire generation. (sparrow cleric and a few others [dont take it personally if you're not up here]) Sometimes i know you might be discouraged about how fast everyone is learning what might have taken you lots of time to work on. But remember, Slow cooked ramen tastes the best.

To the Stove top generation. Congratulations! we scored perfect timing >.< imo atleast (IMG:http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) . But remember everything we know was because of people making campfires. With decent time inbetween meals you can reflect on what you learned and how to use it.

To the Microwave Generation. BE CAREFUL if you learn too much and dont fix into your own style and transitions. It might get bland and make you not want to do it anymore. Also dont stress working with music so much. Music is nice to do things to but many people i know including myself practiced for HOURS without sound first to get the moves down with the transitions. It went basics, Transitions, style, music. Im not saying its best for everyone but just some food for thought.

That ladies and gentlman is Glowsticking and Ramen. Thank you for your time.

~Jinn44

<44 Jinn for using me in your analogy.
oh yeah.
the only thing I took from videos were figure 8 and stomach tracing.
other than that, I sought physical instruction, or being there in person to learn. I can't learn through a computer screen, in all honesty. Only cause its not 3-d, and I have a terrible attention span.
I thank everyone I've had a chance to learn from so far: romances, knivez, spazzman, ginseng, and a lot more people. I can't wait to get to meet more people and learn from them. I hope this cycle never ends... meeting and learning.

I think its cause this whole week blew my mind, meeting EVERYONE at once, so I'm stuck.
My wall will break soon and my mind will run free again.

I Nuke the shit out of glowsticking, heh 45 seconds high power good to go. Shows in my lack of combos and constantly changing style.

dude that was a really good article. props to you man!!

microwavers, don't get discouraged... the end of the journey is the beginning of the next..

jinn i was entertained by your analogy, hahaha, i could say im between the first and the second one, since i started in 1999 figuring things out, but bearly got thru the basics and just now i picked a few things to improve my style and ammo, but yeah the article is a hit!!!

real life i nuke the shit outta ramen, lmao!!! i like my shit fast!!! with glowsticking is a little different!! i guess i kinda promote ramen with my tutorials!!! lol and so does sparrow and company!!!!

i still encourage people to find new ways or new ingredients to cook ramen, new combos and moves (such as manips are essential for the mind development) think outside the box (ramens cookin instructions) and you'll be unique!!

haha props on artical. nuke the shit out of ramen haha XD.

But i do agree with you 100%, as far as the stages of learning and the times of the generations. But it does make you think, whats going to be the next generation? instant ramen or somthing like that nature?

Now everytime I glowstick im gonna want ramen haha.

I actually agree with you. That's a very apt analogy.

I think the next generation, to continue with noodles, is the chow mein generation. They'll be the ones who come in when stringing is really being reinvented and pushed. Just my prediction.

Im somewhere in the middle, not really a fan of videos but I am a completest.

iv kinda stop watching videos after a while .. i think i should be in the middle 50/50 with the microwave and stove .. my style hasnt change much, as for i think, and im trying to add new things to it .

nice article!

p.s james, i didnt know you could cook ramen