Hoel

King Hoel (Breton: Hoel I Mawr, lit. "Hoel the Great"), also known as Sir Howel and Saint Hywel, was a late 5th- and early 6th-century member of the ruling dynasty of Cornouaille. He may have ruled Cornouaille jointly after the restoration of his father Budic II, but he seems to have predeceased his father and left his young son Tewdwr as Budic's heir.

Hywel appears in Welsh legend and Arthurian legend as a "king of Brittany". A relative of Arthur, he was one of his most loyal allies (or, sometimes, knights) and was said to have helped him conquer "Gaul" (northern France).

Life

The historical Hoel was the son of Budic II, king of Cornouaille in northwest Brittany. For all or most of his childhood, a usurping cousin ruled in Budic's place and the family resided in exile with Aergol Lawhir, king of Dyfed in Britain. He was credited with the foundation of Llanhowell during this time and, as "Saint Hywel", was revered by a local cult as its patron saint. The family was eventually restored to their home in Cornouaille, where Hoel may have ruled jointly with his father. He died shortly before he would have inherited the throne, however, and Budic's attempts to enlist his neighbor Macliau's support for the succession of Hoel's son Tewdwr Mawr ended badly. After Budic's death, Macliau invaded and the boy was forced into exile in Cornwall.

Jørn Hoel

Jørn Hoel (born 27 July 1957) is a Norwegian composer, guitarist and singer.

Hoel was born in Tromsø. His album debut was Ubarbert from 1982, and the album Varme ut av is from 1987 earned him Spellemannprisen. Among his best known songs are "Ei hand å holde i" and "Har en drøm". Later albums are Leapin' Lizards from 1994 and Soulsville from 1996, which chartered number one on VG-lista.

References

Freestyle football

Freestyle football, also known as freestyle soccer in North America, is the art of self-expression with a football, while performing various tricks with any part of the body. Similar in style to keepie uppie, kemari and the ball discipline of rhythmic gymnastics, it has become a widespread sport across the world and is practised by many people.

Increase in popularity

Freestyle football has existed since the early 1900s, but it has seen a surge in popularity as a result of global advertising campaigns and digital media sharing. In the early 21st century, Nike began an advertising campaign which relied heavily on the freestyle form of football, including video clips of freestyle performances. The videos are called Joga Bonito which means "Play Beautiful." These advertisements featured famous players such as Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edgar Davids. Many link such mass media attention to the start of the freestyle craze. In the YouTube era, however, many previously non-famous players have risen to prominence, and internet searches easily yield thousands of videos by amateur "freestylers" around the world.

Vašek Klouda

Vašek Klouda (born 1986) is a Czech competitive freestyle footbag player. Raised and resident in Prague, in the Czech Republic, Klouda started playing footbag when he was 13. He won his first Footbag World Championship in 2002 in San Francisco, beating the two-time defending champion Ryan Mulroney in the most tightly contested finals ever. He completed a clean sweep by taking first place in the three major freestyle disciplines: 2 Minute Routines, Shred30, and Sick 3. Klouda has since successfully defended his title five times, in Prague in 2003, Montreal in 2004, in Helsinki in 2005, in Frankfurt in 2006, and in Orlando in 2007. He holds the record for most consecutive World Titles (6), as well as total World Titles (7).

In the 2008 IFPA Footbag World Championships, held in Prague, Klouda was beaten by Damian Gielnicki of Poland, ending his bid for a 7th straight world championship.

Bouncing back from 2008, Klouda reclaimed the world title in Berlin, Germany. At the tournament Klouda's first book was launched. The Vašek Klouda Manual: How to Play Footbag is an eBook downloadable from the Czech Footbag Association's homepage.