Is BMX Flatland a dangerous extreme bike sport?

Are there any dangers in BMX Flatland?

What does it have in common with DXN
Ganoderma Coffee Business?

The main topic of my article is my favorite sport and hobby, BMX Flatland and its dangers, but at the end of the article I divulge a few words about common points in my sport and MLM business.

Making videos, as a new useful tool in my life

I've been really into making video lately, as you've seen the ever-expanding playlist of my DXN product experience videos. I record not only the consumption of Ganoderma coffee and nutritional supplements with my smartphone but also try to capture my BMX Flatland tricks. Earlier, I pretty much disliked both smartphones and making videos, but this was in my life before DXN business. I realized that I can really learn how to handle a touchscreen phone and it is useful if I can use it to work on the Internet.

Coffeeking DXN BMX Vlog

I've never been a big phototaker-type

I still find it important to note here that I have never really been a very big photo-enthusiast, but for my goals I had to get a bit out of my comfort zone in this area, but that did not go with great blood loss, I'm not really doing anything I do not want. I've made friends with my voice and basically with the sight of myself in the videos. There's always a little blooper and a few extra pounds here or there, but I'm working on these in the meantime. :)

Click on this pic to read 'Make coffee, not war' blog entry

I almost turned the cannon upside down from DXN Ganoderma coffee...xD

Making videos, though it is also time consuming and takes a lot of labour, ranging from good shooting, camera position and lighting - all of which I have not always succeeded in yet, but I'm trying my best - until the final cut, still I regret that I had not made videos or photos of my bike-life in the past, because it is very good to look at them again. I also have a lot of stuff I might not get out of my bag of tricks again because I'm interested in other kinds of exercises and styles. How good it would have been to shoot these tricks and combos that I learnt with tiresome work! Videos shot directly to advertise DXN products naturally form an integral part of online networking preferred by me.

Advantages of DXN: dr. Lim's words:

After this not too brief introduction, if you're still with me, I deal a little bit with the dangers of one of the five disciplines of BMX Freestyle I practise: Flatland. In the video, I'm talking about this with a lot less detours, though I could still say a lot on the subject. That's why I'm writing a few ideas, experiences beside this video as
well.

Although this BMX style is not the "big jump" type, here one also can crash, hit oneself and get injured. Wearing protective gear does not save you from these, which I experienced on my own skin. While riding street, dirt and vert or specially designed skate parks it is recommended and in most places, it is compulsory to wear at least helmets, which in my opinion is good, in BMX Flatland - although I've been wearing the helmet for some time surprising my mates as I come from a mountain bike background – there is very little chance of falling on ones head. Murphy, of course, also comes in here, and surely this is a counter-example, though I did not have a head injury - and I keep my fingers crossed saying: I will not have one in the future as well. While riding monty (mountain bike)
down the hill, the helmet saved me more than once. For example, once I landed right on top of my head and if I had not been wearing a headgear, I would probably not be writing this blog today.

Most of the BMX street riders do not wear helmets and other protective equipment, but those who do not want faith decide instead of them are even wearing a spine protector and body armour as well like in American football. At X-Games, if I know well, this is also mandatory. It is true that it is somewhat limited in motion, but it also protects from very serious, ugly, life-threatening injuries, such as a fractured rib.

Crossfoot ’’Funky Chicken" BMX Flatland trick, 

Gergely Takács Heroes Square, Miskolc, August 2003.

Shinbone protecors come in handy for BMX Flatland tricks but they are very hot to wear

Mine would not have been fracutured and later broken if I had been wearing body armor. True, fortunately, it only happened to me once, but it was more than enough, trust me. I do not want to repeat myself very much, this is what I'm talking about in my video, but I fell on the end of the handlebar and I did not know it yet, but my rib was broken, I think ’’only" one. Then two weeks later I managed to break it with a sneeze. That enormous surprise and pain never felt before almost scared me to death. I have never had a major injury before that so I was very scared. I did a lot of sports before BMX, which was not difficult as I started to ride Flatland at the age of 25 (!). Before that I had two injuries that were more memorable for me. When I was about 15 years old, I had rib bruise from a karate training due to the kick on my irresponsible team-mate which was not shown by x-rays. 

The second big injury happened to me at about the age of 23 while playing basketball. I managed to get so unlucky landing from a throw that my foot stuck on the ground, but my knee kept turning unfortunately and it jerked. I saw stars and almost started to cry, from the fright too. This is the injury that follows me till the present day, because one of my knees (do not yet) work with a 100% efficiency, and it debilitated me for a long time: I was simply scared to leap, because I always had the sudden pain on my mind that - and virtually all other injuries as well - I managed to avoid till that time.

The basic version of "Funky Chicken"

BMX Flatland trick. Gergely Takács, Heroes' Square, Miskolc, 2013, august.

Hero on the square: Gergely Takacs DXN coffee distributor riding BMX Flatland at Heroes' Square, Miskolc, Hungary

In BMX Flatland there are rather smaller, but quite unpleasant injuries

I also had an injury that was not visible on me. It happened while I was learning the trick Hang Five or Switzerland Squeakers. I do not remember exactly which one it was but my left foot slipped from the first peg and as I put both my legs on the ground so that they I did not fall on my nose, and the saddle found a very short but impressive manner hit my tailbone. (This is the bone that is at the back of the spine, and the animals’ tails grow out of it.)

The point is, that this is a very sensitive point. Anyone who has hit it in some way knows what I'm talking about. It had hurt me for at least six months, not always when I sat down, but I felt it and it was a bit scary when it had been hurting for a long time, but luckily it passed. I got this from faith. Once in elementary school, I pulled a chair from a classmate in the technics classroom when he wanted to sit down. It was a good tall 3-legged chair. It was very spectacular, and it seemed funny, everyone laughed aloud, me included. My poor classmate blushed red to the top of his ear and sat down on the chair. This was then forgotten, there were such jokes in the school every day. Two weeks later, on the other hand, this classmate remarked that his tailbone hurt. I asked him why, and he said ever since I had pulled the chair from under him. I did not even remember my act and then I became really ashamed, because I did not want to hurt him, I did my prank only for the sake of stupidity and laughter. Fortunately, he did not suffer from it, but I, as I described above, I got this back after 10 years. I've already experienced in other ways of life that you get both the good and the bad back from faith.

My friend Szmeti, with whom I was riding at Heroes’ Square in Miskolc, told me that he had a first peg in his neck when he was practicing the trick called Time Machine. Somehow the BMX slipped out from under him and he fell in such a miserable way. Thank God there was no harm done to him in the long run, but he abandoned the practice that day and went home.

Fortunately, I can not report serious Flatland injuries from myself and my environment. Perhaps it is still relevant here that my friend Csöpi, whom I owe a lot, is a king in BMX Street style too, and climbs mountains and rocks that I'm even scared to look at. Unfortunately, his ankle was damaged by a trick that his ankle had to be operated. True, this trick was rather a street trick. From a bunny hop-barspin he landed so unfortunately that his ankle broke under the pedal. I am writing this to the ’Dangerousness of Flatland Tricks’ section, because it is not in the same category regarding dangers as a backflip, but it was a very nasty injury too.

Once, when I had a pedal, chain and crank on my bicycle, at a "speed" of about 0.5 km per hour, I pulled the front wheel up the curb and my leg slipped off of the rough metal framed-pedal in such an unhappy way that the brutal-hard and spiky metal frame slammed against my shinbone, of which I took off the guard about 10 minutes before. I thought my shinbone was shattered to pieces and I wanted to shout really loud from the freaking pain. We were talking on the way home, I did not even do a trick. "Shit happens" – they say. In the picture below I switched to wearing long trousers from shinguards to protect my shinbones and calves a bit. It was not very comfortable in hot weather either, when I normally only wore shorts all the time.

Now let's look at that famous shinbone-protector with all its advantages and disadvantages.

’’Time Machine" BMX Flatland trick, really travelling slightly back in time to June 14, 2004. GergelyTakács, Avasi Secondary School court, Miskolc.

Here is the notorious brutal metal-framed pedal that hit my shinbone in a way that I saw Stars Wars right before my eyes. (In Hungarian we say ’saw stars’ when one experiences great pain. I made this pun using this Hungarian proverb.)

Advantages and disadvantages of the shinbone-protector 

in BMX Flatland cycling

The shinbone is a pretty delicate point in practicing with BMX bikes as well. One has in vain instead of the brutally hard, shinbone-killing metal pedal a plastic one that is used by most people nowadays, it can also be a source of pain to target the leg of the unsuspecting Flatland rider. Since I practice all sorts of tricks in Flatland that derive from the ’not intended use’ of (a ’normal’) bicycle, so the surprising parts of the bicycle find a surprising variety to hit different parts of the body. I took off the helmet soon enough, but for a long time I had elbow-and foremarm protector and kneepads and shinguard as well. These protectors gave me undoubtedly a sense of security, but they limited my movement and I was sweating in them like crazy, and even the clamping straps slammed into my flesh, and after a while these made the practising of the basicly hard tricks for me as a beginner very uneasy. I was advised to leave the shin guard on only. That's what I did. But after a while this was uncomfortable because, although it protected my shinbones and calves very well, it was the hottest of all the protectors. Not to speak of, that if I did not want to stink from miles, then that was supposed to be washed on a daily basis. This did not do good to the protector either, which did not 2 forints (Hungarian currency almost the same as US cents), but actually did not dry out between trainings when I had to put them on again. Especially if I practiced in the morning/at dawn and in the afternoon/evening, which I often did. Because the 6 - or even more - hour practices (trainings/bike rides) a day were not a rare phenomena. Being washed or not, somehow the smell did not improve too much either. Listening to one of my experienced Flatlander friends (Attila Sarlósi, World Champion!), during a practice I just took the shinguards off. Attila was right: it made riding a lot more free! It was not in the back of my mind's how much it was clutching, cutting, and how warm the shin protectors were. But, having them taken off they did not protect either, this was obvious. Since then, I've had a couple of minor or bigger knocks on my shins, which looks a bit like a leg of a Thai-boxer. Sometimes it has bruises and scars, and as it is healing continually, the skin is a bit stained, sometimes brighter, and uneven from the hits. Yes, my shinbones have already suffered a few very painful punches, there has been a trace of the latest one for weeks now, the skin came off in a little round shape and it bled and hurt too.

Pedal Five BMX Flatland trick at Harlee Cup BMX and Skateboard Contest 

Gergely Takács, Tokaj, Hungary, 04.05.2008.

Here I used a less shinbone-killer plastic pedal and rode a great St. Martin BMX.

But that is included in the game. No pain, no gain. A friend of mine, Matyi also said when he hit his leg that "this is good because it hurts." We laughed at this, because he had hit his legs very often, and he seemed a little mazochist, but he took pain very kind and smiling. Good because it hurts: on the one hand, it's good to hurt because it feels his leg. He has legs. This may be morbid, and I'm really not joking now. If you think about it, many people would take the punch for 24 hours a day, just to have legs.

On the other hand, if you hit yourself a few times, you experience and develope. This development in Flatland in the first few months, even years, is not very spectacular, but if you like this sport, you will enjoy, as I do, the tiny successes, first of all the simpler and more complicated tricks. Nothing can beat the feeling when one ’pulls a trick’ for the first time: when one first does it flawlessly.

Is it worth to wear protective gear for practising BMX Flatland tricks?

Now I'm writing about my own experiences. It may not be other’s point of view, and that's fine. If I could, I'd just miss out on the pain, that I hit myself here and there, the frame, the fork, the peg, the wheel, the handlebar, the brake arm, the stem. You would not believe how variedly and unexpectedly can one hit oneself while riding BMX Flatland. Fortunately for me these mean mostly discomfort rather than serious injuries.

BMX Flatland tricks have strange names. The picture shows "backyard glide", 

presented by Gergely Takács (me of course) at Szeged Extreme Games, Hungary 2008.05.12.

I entered a few competitions in my country, Hungary. At Szeged Extreme Games there was a great vibe, MC and audience.

You get hurt a lot of times when you train. Especially as a beginner, when it is frustrating that one can not pull the tricks, it's good if one does not embitter life with the bruises and scars from bumping into the bike all the time. Many of them might soon quit this way, but Flatland is not for everyone. This extreme bike sport is for persistent people, just like MLM business. It may be confusing as a novice BMX-er, but even in other sports as well that some jerks might quip (with me this very rarely happened) even those who have nothing to do with BMX or even with other sports. As a beginner one can feel awkward that he or she does not know many tricks, though it's totally natural. and others watch him or her practise and fail and fall a lot, but anyway, how good it would be to pull a trick when others see it. This is not always the case either, although I am not interested in this part either. It's good whenI succeed in pulling a trick, and others see it because it motivates me on some level, but I have never ridden a bicycle to please others or audiences. I started in some competitions, but I do not like demonstrations/presentations in no areas. To make this more plain and simple: neither in BMX Flatland nor in DXN business. I am in the very lucky situation that in DXN coffee MLM is not compulsory to give product presentations at home inviting friends or anywhere. Basically, this is a completely obligation-free business where they do not set requirements but offer opportunities. I have my personal freedom, so I build my business the way I like.

Facts about the DXN Healthy Coffee Network Marketing Business:

BMX Flatland cycling sport and 

the ’hated-by-everyone’ MLM business

It is absolutely true, that while the word sport has a positive tone, the same can not be said about MLM. Hooliganism, abuse, doping, fraud, bundle can also be considered in connection with sports, but all these are dwarfed by the enormous amount of distaste against Multi-level Marketing profession. Hate and prejudice against MLM is often not based on personal experience, but on the negative experience of an acquaintance or aquintance of an acquaintance who has lost money in MLM or has not succeeded in doing such a business attempt.

How can one mention on a same page 

– or under a "Coffeeking" baseball cap - 

extreme sports and networking?

Obviously it is as clear as day that if someone who rides BMX and deals with MLM business is already a common point. For this I am a living and flourishing example. :)

What does BMX Flatland mean?

In addition to the fact that both BMX Flatland and Multi-level Marketing / Network Marketing can of course be translated into Hungarian, there is more to this behind the scenes. BMX Flatland means "Bicycle Motocross", in which "Cross" is replaced by an X, which in my opinion cna also stand for extreme (unusual) sport. Flatland here means a flat ground. I think it is important to emphasize the importance of the flatness and smoothness of the soil, which can be asphalt, concrete, marble, parquet, OSB or tiles, because perfomring the tricks. which are difficult to do anyway, on a rough, cracked, bumpy surface would be a very a laboured self-torture, not to mention that tires also get worn easier on a rough surface. To better understand: I think most people have experienced or can imagine how bad, unfunny and difficult would it be to play basketball or football on a potholed football field, uneven concrete or bad parquet.

Crackpacker BMX Flatland trick.

Gergely Takács, Summer Gypsy Games – Ajka, Hungary, 2007.

BMX Flatland can make me sweat for sure, especially at 30 degrees Centigrade. Outdoor BMX Flatland contests usually start at 10 A,M., which is not a bit ideal for me. I prefer riding early at dawn when it is still cool.

What the heck is really this not-trendy-at-all MLM business?

MLM is the abbreviation of Multi-level Marketing, which means sales or selling on multiple levels. The word ’sales’ and ’selling’ is important: the true, legitimate MLM business has a product or service that meets a real consumer demand. It is also called network marketing, networking, because products are sold through a consumer network, through word-to-mouth advertising, although it is a little weird to write this down in today’s internet-dominated world. But in the end, people offer things that they see on the Internet to each other, either through linking or verbally. 

One of my favorite sayings is what I think is true for both Network Marketing and Sports, including the apple of my eye, BMX Flatland:

"First they laugh at you, then they recognize you. The time elapsed between these two is called persistance." 

I changed this to:

"First they laugh at you, then they recognize you. The time elapsed between these two is not called persistance, it is called drinkning coffee by us."

Patience and consistent work will be rewarded in DXN Ganoderma coffee MLM business

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