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By Emily Jackson

Yesterday was my first day learning how to do a proper blast. I have done several unintentionally and for very short periods of time but yesterday was the first for long blasts and on purpose. We have been on our Jackson Dealer Tour for 5 days and have been waiting for a day off to go boating! We went to the Ouachita River and it had a perfect blast learning spot! I am still recovering from a kidney infection and this was my second time boating since. The main playspot included hitting alot of rocks, which did not feel good at all. So I opted to go to the shallow blast hole where I had a private lesson with Eric Jackson himself! At first I wasnt doing so good and my Dad found it quite humorous, I was doing everything from window shades (keep in mind its an inch deep) flipping over, and sad but true carping. But I stuck to it and sooner than I expected I had the whole thing figured out. Then we moved on to bow blasting and I still need more practice at that but I get the whole concept now!

One thing that is important with kayaking is not to put things in an order for learning. I can right tricky-woo way better than I can left right split! I could do phonix monkeys but I couldnt blast, I can do helixes but I cant left flip turn. There are alot of moves that will take you awhile. A big percentage of kayaking is just figuring things out mentally. Now I am not saying you should learn how to roll and than try to learn how to Mcnasty. I am just saying once you have all the hips, edges and balance figured out, go ahead and try to learn whatever you want. The only way to learn moves is to familiarize the motions and techniques used. So whatever move you want to learn you will just have to keep practicing!

If you see me falling all over, carping or window shading in a small pour-over and you wondering if Im okay, I’m great, just figuring out the bow blast!
Happy P