Review: The Cardistry of South East Asia (CoSEA) Lecture

The Cardistry of South East Asia (CoSEA) lecture tour is well underway with four lectures down. Jaspas Deck of the New Deck Order (NDO) kicked off the tour in Vietnam before heading south to a ballroom in Bangkok, then continuing to a Karaoke room in Kuala Lumpur and are gearing up for some Jakarta love this weekend.

CoSEA is the largest Cardistry project to-date involving 10 Cardists across 5 different countries. This ambitious project was first announce in March 2014 on Indiegogo with a funding goal of $8k. Unfortunately, this project was only 49% funded and NDO has decided to self-fund their tour and lectures.

I was fortunate enough to be in Kuala Lumpur at the same time as Jaspas and decided to drop by to the CoSEA lecture and see how things are going. Travelling in KL is a challenge with day temperature of 34˚C (93˚F), 85% humidity and overcrowded public transport!

Waiting for public transport in KL

I finally arrived at my destination only to discover that there was a slight miscommunication and the venue has been changed. The organiser was on scene and directed me to the revised venue. All good!

The heat and the venue change did not stop the eager crowd of 30 from coming out to see the 2014 WKC champion in action. Jaspas kicked off the lecture with this awesome video of his cardistry career to date.

The 3 hour lecture consists of 5 main points:

+ The Cardist
+ The Competition
+ The Message
+ The Moves
+ The Community

Jaspas talked about everything from entering contests, pacing, practice methods, improving your skills, to getting inspiration and creating moves. With his background on filmography, Japsas spent a fair bit of time dedicated to videography basics, tips and tricks.

To keep the crowd engaged, Jaspas went through step-by-step two of his signature moves - Reverse Angel and various Isolation techniques. Jaspas is a very good instructor informative, gave great techniques and tips, and I loved how he took his time with each individual. He took the time to make sure we understood each move and technique; even for a non-cardist like me.

Jaspas in action at the CoSEA lecture

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture and I am no cardist. It is amazing to see Jaspas in action and get some insights to what make him the most creative mind in cardistry. Also, it is wonderful to see NDO's noble cause in reaching out to new and existing Cardists all over the world, and at the same time bringing everyone closer together.