Think we may be arguing definition here richirich
Thought I had sort of made your point when I said ;
quote:
Originally posted by puppetonastring
this is just the stuff that was served up to us spectators while all the "good" kiters were off having lunch
But I reckon you have raised a really important issue here.
Sure I agree that to sort the 'best from the rest' you have to limit the competitive extreme end of our sport to the most technically difficult moves possible. But this does not necessarily make them the "cool" moves. Nor does it make them the ones us everyday kite-4-fun kiters should aspire to or even bother attempting. Personally I will never become (or would ever be able to become) a freestyle competitive kiter. I am quite content to fill my days with fun kiting and when my skills progress to working up tricks then it will be Aaron-style-Shinanigans that I will be looking to master.
IMHO that is the way the masses should & will move as the kiting population grows.
Suggesting that these "cool" moves; ie the ones you admit thrill the spectators; set our sport back several years is definitely (IMO) out of whack. They may have been surpassed as measures of excellence at the extreme competitive edge of our sport but if they are the moves which thrill the spectators then they are the moves which will advance our sport amongst all those beyond the necessarily small minority who are prepared to put in the effort (& bear the pain
) of chasing the ultimate glory.
Because I have a bit of an insight into the technicality of kiting I could watch guys like you pulling off all those "radical moves" for as long as you could keep doing them - awesome - I love it. But for wider pure spectator value & for fun kiteing value give me the "cool shinanigans". .... Everytime
"I just wanna grow up and become an Aaron Jarman" 
Trouble is that Im having extreme difficulty acheiving either of these goals right now
