I was examining the skill level rules recently since the UUU adopted the IUF
level system and, being the pedant that I am, I have noticed that there have
probably never been any level 1 riders and hence by induction there can be
no riders at any level since you need to pass level one before taking any of
the other levels.
Let me explain:
I quote “All skills (except mounts) must begin and end with the rider
sitting on the seat, feet on the pedals and riding in control for at least
three revolutions (including Level 5 hopping on wheel and Level 10 Side
Ride).”
Level 1:
mount unicycle unassisted
ride 50 meters
dismount gracefully with unicycle in front
How many people do you know who can dismount gracefully with the unicycle in
front and yet still end sitting on the seat, feet on the pedals and riding
in control for at least three revolutions! Initially I thought you could do
it by dismounting onto another unicycle ( a pretty difficult skill since you
have to do it backwards ) but no, they had thought of that: “Within a
specific level test, the rider must use the same unicycle to pass all skills
within the level.”
A Jar of Marmite for anyone who can tell me how its done.
Jon
Jonathan Marshall
LUnis Unicycle Hockey
[A One Wheeled Conveyance?] [at] ntlworld [fullstop] com
Dude, you definitely should be spending some time over at rec.juggling.
Perhaps the authors of the rules intended that a dismount be considered a type
of mount, e.g. a negative mount, and so did not think it was necessary to
specify dismounts as being an exception.
Surely adding the phrase “and dismounts” to “(except mounts…)” would take
care of this problem.
But I must confess that I bow before your masterful pedantry not only for its
value in and of itself, but also for having provided indisputable proof that
there isn’t a single unicyclist in the known universe at a level more advanced
that which I’m at.
I would submit that the interaction of the initial or final motion
between a body and a unicycle can be termed a mount; general category
“Mount”. If a body moves toward an interaction with a unicycle, it
would fall under the category of Mount, subcategory described by the
type of motion, i.e., side mount. If a body moves away from an
interaction with a unicycle, it would fall under the general category
of “Mount” and be subdivided into the category of dismount, i.e.,
Mount:dismount:graceful with unicycle in front. Therefore per rule,
all skills except those in the general category of “Mounts” must begin
and end with the rider on the saddle riding forward three revs. Under
this scenario, Level One consists of three skills, one in the “Riding”
category; riding 50 meters, and two skills in the “Mounts” category;
mounting and dismounting.
Bruce
“Jonathan Marshall” <one.wheeled.conveyance@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:<2_rI9.2070$Ay.78347@newsfep1-gui.server.ntli.net>…
> I was examining the skill level rules recently since the UUU adopted the IUF
> level system and, being the pedant that I am, I have noticed that there have
> probably never been any level 1 riders and hence by induction there can be
> no riders at any level since you need to pass level one before taking any of
> the other levels.
>
> Let me explain:
>
> I quote “All skills (except mounts) must begin and end with the rider
> sitting on the seat, feet on the pedals and riding in control for at least
> three revolutions (including Level 5 hopping on wheel and Level 10 Side
> Ride).”
>
> Level 1:
> mount unicycle unassisted
> ride 50 meters
> dismount gracefully with unicycle in front
>
> How many people do you know who can dismount gracefully with the unicycle in
> front and yet still end sitting on the seat, feet on the pedals and riding
> in control for at least three revolutions! Initially I thought you could do
> it by dismounting onto another unicycle ( a pretty difficult skill since you
> have to do it backwards ) but no, they had thought of that: “Within a
> specific level test, the rider must use the same unicycle to pass all skills
> within the level.”
>
> A Jar of Marmite for anyone who can tell me how its done.
>
> Jon
johnnyjuggle@aol.com (JohnnyJuggle) wrote in message news:<20021207182120.03436.00000360@mb-fz.aol.com>…
> Dude, you definitely should be spending some time over at rec.juggling.
>
> Perhaps the authors of the rules intended that a dismount be considered a type
> of mount, e.g. a negative mount, and so did not think it was necessary to
> specify dismounts as being an exception.
>
> Surely adding the phrase “and dismounts” to “(except mounts…)” would take
> care of this problem.
>
> But I must confess that I bow before your masterful pedantry not only for its
> value in and of itself, but also for having provided indisputable proof that
> there isn’t a single unicyclist in the known universe at a level more advanced
> that which I’m at.
>
> Raphael Lasar
> Matawan, NJ
I know perfectly well how it is done, but the threat of the Marmite has
ensured that on this subject my lips will remain forever sealed…as
indeed they probably would if I tried to eat the damned stuff…I have
never heard anyone complain vocally after having placed even the smallest
amount of this substance between their lips
Pratchett explains fully how Vegemite is made, Marmite, however has a
different origin, and although the recipe is of course governed by several
military secrets, I can reveal that most of the raw material originates
from the bilges of several very old oil tankers. The recent sinking of the
tanker off Spain will undoubtedly result in increased prices and a low
supply of the product for the next couple of years.
I must respectively disagree. A dismount is a skill as it is in any other sport, e.g., gymnastics. Dismounts are practiced and the judging during the performance includes the dismount. When I am testing our riders for Level 1, if the dismount isn’t skillfully and gracefully done, the rider does not pass.
And a side comment, it’s the ending that’s most important as in speaking or singing. Nail the ending, it’s what the observers remember most.
Some anal retentive people get overexcited about irrelevant details,
Others poke fun at the anal retentive people by having satirical discussions pretending to be anal retentive.
Unimoron’s profile says he is 12 years old, … perhaps he hasn’t enjoyed the company of many diehard buffoons. I hope he continues to unicycle, in which case he will be blessed with an abundance of them.
Is an uptight unicyclist an oxymoron? Have anyone ever met an anal retentive unicyclist? Inquiring minds want to know.
Jonathan Marshall wrote:
>
> I quote "All skills (except mounts) must begin and end with the rider
> sitting on the seat
I’m sure Einstein would have pointed out that it’s all to do with
the frame of the observer.
A mount of the unicycle could be regarded as a dismount from the
floor from the point of view of an observer. Likewise a dismount
from the unicycle could be regarded as a mount of the floor from
the point of view of the unicyclist.
Or some bollocks like that.
Richard
(who apologizes because he’s in one of those kind moods today)
And if you can’t handle that, you aren’t still here and reading this stuff!
Two answers to this semantic/logic puzzle:
Did anyone want to make a suggestion about rewording the skill levels? They are admittedly far from perfect.
As someone else has already mentioned, the dismount is not a skill. He was right.
Not that it doesn’t require skill to “dismount gracefully with the unicycle in front,” it does. But “dismount” is not on the Standard Skill list! There are no defined dismounts, therefore you don’t have to pedal three revolutions after doing it.
For the way-anal among us, you can do the three revolutions after dismounting–in your head.
It would be cool with a remake of the skill levels! There are some of
the orders that surprise me. We use the skill levels a lot here in
Denmark in most clubs as a motivation to keep practising. Some clubs
then have tests every month, so the riders can get a new colour tape
(level) on their frame.
gimp wrote:
> *Some anal retentive people get overexcited about irrelevant details,
> *
And if you can’t handle that, you aren’t still here and reading this
stuff!
Two answers to this semantic/logic puzzle:
Did anyone want to make a suggestion about rewording the skill
levels? They are admittedly far from perfect.
As someone else has already mentioned, the dismount is not a skill.
He was right.
Not that it doesn’t require skill to “dismount gracefully with the
unicycle in front,” it does. But “dismount” is not on the Standard Skill
list! There are no defined dismounts, therefore you don’t have to pedal
three revolutions after doing it.
For the way-anal among us, you can do the three revolutions after
dismounting–in your head.
----- Original Message -----
From: “Lars Lottrup” <artist@unicycle.dk>
> It would be cool with a remake of the skill levels! There are some of
> the orders that surprise me. We use the skill levels a lot here in
> Denmark in most clubs as a motivation to keep practising. Some clubs
> then have tests every month, so the riders can get a new colour tape
> (level) on their frame.
>
> Lars Lottrup
>
What skills do you think are not in the correct order?
It seems to me that the fact that “dismount gracefully with the unicycle in front” is among the requirements for passing Level 1, that in fact, it is implied that the dismount is a skill. There may not be any enumerated dismounts, but again, in fact, there is a front dismount, a rear dismount and, oh boy here it goes, shall we say a controlled chaotic dismount, such as that done by Jamey Mossengren when falling from his unicycle during his UNICON performance.
And surely no freestyle performance that was otherwise flawless but done by a unicyclist who couldn’t “dismount gracefully” (the last “skill” observed) would likely be judged the best.
There is a fine line perhaps between removing your fingers from the keyboard when completing a piano recital and dismounting from your unicycle at the end of a freestyle performance, but the fact that the latter is specifically required to be “graceful” certainly, I reiterate, implies that it is a skill, if only a marginal one.
So, there’s a few minutes of my life I wont get back, but I’d say the easiest thing to do would be to explicitly consider dismounting to be a skill and change “(except mounts)” to “(except mounts and dismounts)”, even if it is stating the obvious.
I agree that this is a loophole that needs to be closed and thankfully, Cool Carol McL. and company are working on the situation. Good point, John, in covering the riding three revs after dismounting.
But I disagree that the dismount is not considered a skill just because it is not included in the list of standard skills. It is a skill that needs to be performed in order to pass a Level. Riding 10 meters between two parallel lines 30 cm apart also falls into this category in that it is not specifically included on the list of Standard Skills yet remains a skill requirement to pass a Level. Clearly, there are two different lists of skills, the Levels list and the List of Standard Skills, of which some items on the two lists overlap.
In a Standard Skills routine, dismounts are judged and are not judged. There is no point value assigned to a dismount as a skill but if the dismount at the end of the move is not done in a controlled and graceful manner, deductions can be assigned to the score. 4.4 Standard Skill: Dismounts: “All dismounts must be controlled…Failure to do so will result in a wave for insecure exit.”
