Tell me this girl is not riding. I hope she is JUST standing on the uni like that, like that would be any easier. But please tell me she is not riding. --chirokid–
She is gliding. Come to UNICON next year and see her in person! It’ll be in Tokyo.
Just curious, how long would you say it takes to get to that level? I realize it all depends on how much practice you’re willing to put into it, and how effective practice is. For me, I learned WWing in some time, then got to 1-foot WW for 10m with about 3 weeks of practice, averaging an hour a day. Gliding probably came in another month, with less practice on average. If I were to spend 1 hour a day diligently working on a specific skill set (organized routine), how long would you guess it would take me to learn stand-up 1-foot gliding?
Ah yes the japanese, They seemed to amaze me at unicon 11 as well certianlly a good inpiration for me because i like my freetyling. the best trick I witnessed was a backwards glide into pirrotte then back into normal riding been done by a little girl.
Trev
I’m not sure who that is, but I’m estimating her age to be about 16 or less. She probably learned to ride in elementary school, so figure a maximum of about 10 years. Less than most people would think! 
Do you mean with your other foot waay up in the air, and your arms in a ballet pose? It’s impossible to say. People learn at incredibly different rates, and the biggest factor is motivation, followed by innate ability. If you really, really wanted to do that move, you should have it down in less than a year.
Hei
Woah, she must be some hot chic.
…(Pardon me, very good flexibility! Now if I could lift my leg that high…)
Re: Hei
dont you lift your leg that high every time you pee? 
I think there are videos of her or somebody as good as her doing some pretty crazy stuff. I don’t know where to find them though. I watched one on my friends computer. anybody know where to download?
-sam
There is a page of Japanese freestyle videos here
<http://www.ichirin.ne.jp/video/>
The download links didn’t work for me. The links link to an ASX file. For some reason that wasn’t downloading the video for me. Right click on the ASX link, select Copy Shortcut, paste the shortcut into a new browser window, change the extension from ASX to WMV, hit enter to start the download. The download process will launch Windows Media Player. Once the video is downloaded in Windows Media Player select File >> Save Media As… to save the video file to your computer. This is for IE, don’t know about other browsers.
Here is a link to a video that shows a rider doing that stand up leg outstretched swan move:
<http://www.ichirin.ne.jp/video/sin02h-1.wmv>
i saw this vid awile ago and forgot till now to mention that it appears she has a cast on her wrist.
when she spins its on her outside arm,maybe its not a cast but some sort of spinning aid?
Re: Re: Hei
…I’d call you a jackass, but it would just be a shame. I needn’t ask you the same question.
i saw the video for the unicon in japan, which had all of the freestyle competition on- utterly amazing! i saw a japaneese man stand-up glide into a pirruette then back to pedals again, it was crazy. there was one 12 year old japaneese boy who had reached level ten and only started to ride at age 10!!! 
apparently the youngest level 10 rider!
iain
I believe Spencer Johnson of TCUC was 9 years old when he passed level 10, in mid 2002.
Thanks for the great links, John. The second one, with the fellow doing all seat-out skills, is simply outstanding.
Yeah, that video with the seat-out skills is awesome! I love all of the stalls… especially those where he’s just resting on the seat with no contact with the wheel… stillstand coasting? Absolutely superb. And now that I fixed my cottered 20" so I can ride it for more than 5 minutes, I wanna go try it again!
I don’t know what the big deal is with these videos. I mean, they’re not doing anything hard. Let’s see them do all those tricks with two wheels; then I’ll be impressed!
Disclaimer For those born with an irony deficiency, I’m joking. Okay, flat out lying. I actually am quite impressed and extremely jealous. Please don’t hurt me for the two wheel comment.
That video clip (I only took the time to view the one easy link) is amazing. I have never seen unicycling anywhere close to that in person, having never attended a conference or ridden with a freestyle specialist (or even indoors, for that matter).
Why, my limited unicycling is so stodgy and pedestrian in comparison!
(andrea puddles off to her uni to practice some more dumpy hopping)
That’s why you should try to attend a convention.
It’s worth it. There is no substitute for seeing it done in person.
Or get yourself a copy of the video One Wheel No Limit. It’s a video of TCUC practice sessions and shows a lot of the freestyle skills. You can get it at unicycle.com.
The Japanese girls have a very different freestyle style than US riders and other freestyle riders. The Japanese women do a lot of spins and standing on the crown. It’s more flowing and more choreographed than other freestyle routines. However the Japanese girls don’t do a more complete demonstration of skills in their routines like seated wheel walking, seat on side, crank idling, hopping on wheel, and other skills.
That is most impressive. I have never seen anything like it. I was impressed when I saw Kris Holm gliding around a corner on UNiVERsE, and the woman in the video made it look so much easier. I think UNiVERsE II should feature some Japenese riders because they seem to blow everyone else away.
I think the demonstration of skills was complete enough. I don’t know what it takes to gain those skills, (not having them myself) but from what I saw I don’t think seat on the side and hopping on wheel would have added much to the performance. I don’t recall ever seeing crank idling performed, it’s a weird sounding manouvre. It must be an incredible feeling to stand up with one foot on the crown, keep rolling and be able to sit back down and ride.
Hi,
UNiVERsE II does feature one Japanese rider, Daike Izumeda. He is one of the riders included in those videos.
-Dan