Levi's Run

[2D2Will]

I was reading arsenette's blog (part 5) and she re-brought up an issue on my mind. What was Levi doing on stage 1?

Was he show boating?
Was he just excited?
Or were the moves just effective ways to help him run the course?

What's your opinions on the matter?

[RiderLeangle]

He was either trying to have more fun, G4 put him up to it, or 20 went to his head.

[madmonso]

The roll may, quote "may" of been to help, like if he was already falling. But the flips were definitely so the hell of it. Both were basically flips; the first one was from a raised platform and the second was off a wall. The wall one is slight more difficult but both are basic flips and he can do much more than that. With the amount of time he had, I was surprised he didn't do a flat flip from up top before he hit the buzzer.

[dl2606]

I liked the run personailly. I think he was just having fun however I can see how people could consider it showboating because he never did that in 20

[RiderLeangle]

Probably wouldn't want to risk doing it in that narrow walkway.
And the Jumping Spider one was probably for fun, the one to the Final Climb was sort of practical, but the Warped Wall one was plain unjustified.

[SRW]

Oh he was deffo showing off just having fun as he said!

[talledega7]

Considering he did all those flips/rolls during the run and STILL finished with 21.5 seconds left on the clock, I think everyone who keeps bitching about it should just chill out.

I had no problem with the run, none of the All-Stars seemed to have a problem with it, and when the reporter asked him about it and he told her that doing flips was just his way of training and overcoming obstacles, she said that he must be a real ninja now.

I really think everyone is just overreacting. Everyone seems to be so head up their a** over this that I think everyone needs to remember what has been said when they are told that Yamada essentially abandoned his family to train for Sasuke:

It is a game show.

It is supposed to be about having fun and challenging yourself. It is not a life or death struggle. Levi knew he could complete the First Stage and simply tried to give everyone a good show.

If he had done a flip on the landing pad after the Downhill Jump, THAT would have been excessive. But since he knew that the First Stage was going to be the easiest part of the competition, he decided to have some fun and enjoy himself.

[Yojimbo]

I agree with talledega. He is a freeruner and that is simply the way he always does it. He was very humble with his words and everyone loved it.

[obakemono]

I agree as well. It might not have gone down too well, but he didn't mean any harm and the only person who could have really suffered from it was him. In all his interviews he was the same old Levi from 20 and he cheered for all the competitors.

[The Chief]

Did anyone ever think that maybe he likes doing front flips and back flips? But, I liked that run.

[Jhonsun]

I'm still deciding between two competing opinions of mine. Part of me can understand if it was a way of working out the nerves or helping to establish or re-establish a rhythm (a freerunner's rhythm, that is). The other part of me thinks it was a "Look what I can do!" kind of thing.

Sextuple Step looked great. Log Grip no problem. Pole Maze work was nice. His pole stopped in the middle and on the left-hand side. He swung his body around and navigated the maze like a pro. Really nice job. Almost no time lost at all. Very smooth.

There was a guy earlier in the broadcast who did a side-flip right before the Jumping Spider - the same spot Levi did his first flip. That guy wiped out on the JS. Maybe Levi got an idea from seeing that. It was cool, it was exciting...it was unnecessary - possibly arrogant. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was just approaching it from a freerunning approach. Maybe he's been dying to do this since his last run on the course back in 20. Maybe he wishes he had had more fun with it. Who knows? My first impression was that it was showboating. I go back and forth.

Levi was really fast through the Jumping Spider. The Halfpipe Attack run was excellent. Great speed and no hesitation-really nice work.

The second flip off of the Warped Wall seemed even more gratuitous. That's usually where the course catches up to people (who get that far) and they sit down if they don't make it the first try, so it seemed strange that Levi would expend the energy when he probably could have gotten up with that attempt. Maybe he was doing it to keep a rhythm going or to work out some nervousness or maybe it was pure showboating. It didn't look very fluid though because he had to land it first and then reset for his real attempt.

Flying Chute. Grabs the rope ladder with his feet.

The third flip was more of a roll and seemed functional to me, a faster way of getting over that step and keeping forward momentum going. I actually kind of like it.

The fourth flip...after all the other ones, why not I guess.

I was really excited by Levi's run and simultaneously a little mortified by it. I guess time will tell which side wins out. I've only seen the run three times so I guess my opinion will settle the more times I watch the competition. I will say this: I wish he had he made it further in the tournament to put some distance in between that first stage performance and the rest. TBS had built up all this hype about Japan vs. America and I think we may have come off looking a little pretentious while Nagano's and Takeda's consistency once again reclaimed the glory.

[davidyko]

I'm personally cool with it, but he should just know that there's the possibility of his flips being taken as arrogance and overconfidence. Especially by us picky fans here. Basically, it's not the most prudent move, I wouldn't have done it, but hey, whatever.

[blackiechan]

I love Levi, he is my boy...But when I compare his run and Nagano's...Nagano wins! I like the more humble run...We already know Levi can flip. No need in making the other competitiors look bad. XP

[wolf4537]

Sept 18, 2008 17:37:03 GMT -5 talledega7 said:

Considering he did all those flips/rolls during the run and STILL finished with 21.5 seconds left on the clock, I think everyone who keeps bitching about it should just chill out.

I had no problem with the run, none of the All-Stars seemed to have a problem with it, and when the reporter asked him about it and he told her that doing flips was just his way of training and overcoming obstacles, she said that he must be a real ninja now.

I really think everyone is just overreacting. Everyone seems to be so head up their a** over this that I think everyone needs to remember what has been said when they are told that Yamada essentially abandoned his family to train for Sasuke:

It is a game show.

It is supposed to be about having fun and challenging yourself. It is not a life or death struggle. Levi knew he could complete the First Stage and simply tried to give everyone a good show.

If he had done a flip on the landing pad after the Downhill Jump, THAT would have been excessive. But since he knew that the First Stage was going to be the easiest part of the competition, he decided to have some fun and enjoy himself.

I agree with you 100% on that. Sasuke is about having fun and showing what you are made of. And if people are gonna go ripsh*t over Levi's flips and stuff then obviously they think it's 100% offensive to do such stuff which I find to be stupid.

[blackiechan]

Levi did rip it up though!!!

[Jhonsun]

Sept 18, 2008 18:39:28 GMT -5 blackiechan said:

I love Levi, he is my boy...But when I compare his run and Nagano's...Nagano wins! I like the more humble run...We already know Levi can flip. No need in making the other competitiors look bad. XP

BlackieChan! Good to see you here.

[Jhonsun]

One thing I was thinking throughout Levi's run was about how the slightest mistake can ruin even the best competitors. When I saw Levi tearing up the course but then doing all these extra moves, I was like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I just wanted him to get through, you know?

Levi definitely made it exciting, stressful, and moved the bar up. in the process though, it may have been a little pretentious. I'll tell you this much, I was on the edge of my seat.

Nagano though...watching him hit the course and then coast to a trademark finish was great. Seeing the two runs side-by-side like that was really entertaining.

[madmanike]

I think you guys are overthinking it. When he was out on the course, he was just doing his thing. So he threw in a little acrobatics to wow the crowd, not that big of a deal. Had it cost him a chance to advance, like Ijima in 11, then I'd agree there'd be an issue with this. But with 21 seconds left, it twernt no thang.

[RiderLeangle]

The only ones I could condone doing is the Roll to Final Climb (Hell, I'd even do that on the course as practical as it was) and the celebratory flip afterwards, Maybe the Jumping Spider one just to have fun providing you're making good time (Levi definitly did), the Warped Wall one was unjustified and wasteful, but since Levi made good time so I'll let that slide, I've only seen something like that once before though, Ijima did it that one time where he wasn't trying to do a Bruce Lee imitation but that was AFTER he lost.

[scnoi1217]

The only one I have a problem with seeing was the Warped Wall one. The other ones didn't bother me too much. It's just that he had this air of arrogance or at least over-confidence that he definitely didn't have in 20. Honestly, I think that's why he failed, because he kinda rushed into the Salmon Ladder and didn't give a little thought.

The fact is though, the dude is a great competitor, but he doesn't need to do that. I know it is what he does, and even if he meant no harm by it, it came off as if he was showboating.