For the Love of the Map
Are you looking for an out-of-headset dose of all things Supernatural: Unreal Fitness? Look no further! This is the place to discuss the latest scoop on new choreography, in-depth workout reviews, and all the happenings in the community. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting, the show covers everything you need to stay up-to-date and continue to find joy in movement!
For the Love of the Map
Mapping the Magic: Supernatural Choreographer Asia McNair ✨ EP|37
In this electrifying episode of For the Love of the Map, we sit down with Supernatural choreographer Asia McNair—a dancer, gamer, anime enthusiast, and the mastermind behind some of your favorite workouts. Asia takes us behind the scenes of Supernatural’s choreography, breaking down her creative process, the hidden Easter eggs in workouts, and the inspiration behind CyberPunch 2025. We dive into her love for movement, anime-fueled creativity, and even how her mom unknowingly inspired one of her most hilarious content series. Whether you're a VR fitness fanatic or just love hearing about the intersection of dance, gaming, and tech, this episode is a must-listen. Get ready to move, laugh, and geek out with us!
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Curate the music. I'm going to come up with a movement theme, and now I'm going to choose the environments. I've already gone this far. Let me make the environments, and then let's get Duana in on this. If we have to clip that, we can clip it.
Asia:The joy balls. So, instead of just like using it as like a boom, all right, take a quick breather. No, it's like a boom. This is surrounding you as you're continuing to dance Sassy a little bit, and you're like You're tracing tails, but they're like Like arm gestures To show that you're Having a conversation With someone. Asia and Marla, part two, I'm making sure On the when she's like Sustaining the vocal, you're hitting some kind of like Tail or a swing. You've got this cybernetic arm swing. You've got this cybernetic arm right and you're charging that punch up and it's such a hard punch that it guides you over a couple of lanes. I was thinking of things in a sci-fi way.
MJ:I accidentally made this one.
Asia:I accidentally made this high map a prose level map, trying to inject as much joy as I could in that particular map.
MJ:Everyone, go play this workout and rate it right now. Make sure we get another one next year, please. Thanks for tuning in. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of For the Love of the Map, where we talk all things supernatural choreography and the joy in movement. I'm your host, mj, and I'm super excited for today's guest. I feel like the world is going to be like yes, finally, asia McNair, you guys supernatural choreographer, among many other things, but we'll get into that today. Welcome to the show, dude.
Asia:Thank you. Thank you, I am so happy to be here. This is an absolute pleasure. I've been looking forward to this, like all week.
MJ:Yay, that makes all of us happy. Oh man, you are one of the magical unicorns in Supernatural choreography team that creates all the fun things for us, but you're also so much more than that. So I'm going to start with this like little quick fire questions. You just say answer the first thing that comes to mind so we can get to know you a little bit. Cool. Okay, summer or winter.
Asia:Summer.
MJ:Sweet Tea or coffee Tea Tea, yes, tea times two, she's got two Awesome Flow or boxing. Flow. Oh, I was not anticipating that. I like that Sweet. What about rap or country?
Asia:Oh man, oh man Rap.
MJ:All right, but the fact that that took you a minute. I'm interested to hear more about your thoughts on country music now, like we got to get into this. I had no idea.
Asia:Being forced to map, forced um being having to map, yeah.
Asia:Having to map country has given me slightly more of an appreciation for the genre. Um, um, I I mapped a hoedown throwdown once that I was like, oh man, this is not going to be fun. Got in and the music was just so like, okay, like I had fun. I was like, all right, we're gonna get these guys stomping, we're gonna do some heel digs, we're gonna, you know, have them shuffle, and it was, and it was a blast. It was a blast. So I had like a slightly deeper appreciation for the genre as a whole. Yeah.
MJ:That's interesting. I mean, you guys probably get exposed to so much music all day, every day, that you wouldn't necessarily choose to listen to on your own, but you appreciate it because you're mapping to it. So you have to find something you like, or I mean I couldn't imagine what a map would look like if you actually hated it. You know the music you were mapping to, I'm sure. Oh man, so how long have you worked for Supernet? You were one of the first.
Asia:I was um. It was yeah, I trained under Benny and Ethan. I started I always say 2020, just to round it out but I got my letter, which is still up on my bulletin board, in the back in December of 19. I started out as a contractor first. I don't know if you want like a full story.
MJ:Yeah, give it to us. We want the origin story. Come on. All right, yes.
Asia:Here for it. So I moved out to Los Angeles from Oklahoma in 2018. All right. And when I moved out here I was basically working for the family business. My parents own a cue case making company. So billiards, pool cues yeah, they break down in half, of course, like this and then we just would make cases for them.
Asia:So moved out here and that's how I was staying alive afloat and while I was doing that I was recording music videos like our background dancing and music videos and doing a lot of like independent work, and I was doing all that so I could make a demo reel, made a demo reel and I uploaded it to this website called Backstage, where a lot of like performers, casting directors and everything you know go to, you know scout for talent, we look, we look for work, that whole thing. Got it.
Asia:And one day, jess I'm not sure if you've met Jess Zobler, but she reached out and was like, hey, you know, we see you have these talents. Would you come try out our app? And I was like, yeah, of course, this is a dream job for me. Go out there and immediately fell in love. Dream job for me go out there and immediately fell in love. Uh, it was funny because jess and benny were there, um, and they were ready to present and it was me and a couple of other people and I didn't have a full understanding of what you know, the app was just yet. So I was in there full like dancer gear t-shirt, uh, sweatpants and and I was just full split. I was like in the in the lobby, just like stretching, and I was in a full split. And they walk out and they're like you don't have to do that. You know, I'm ready. I'm ready to go. Like, what do you need me for?
MJ:You thought it was like an audition, like you were coming to dance. You were ready.
Asia:I rolled up in there with my dance bag, my big bottle of water, legs in the sky, just sky high, but yeah, so after I, you know.
MJ:Had you ever been in a VR headset at that point?
Asia:Oh yeah.
MJ:Oh, okay, yeah.
Asia:I had played, of course, beat, saber and a couple of other games and I had always been enamored with it. You know, like I would love going to the VR arcades to play and I'd have so much fun. So that was like I was super excited at that aspect of it, but I had no idea, you know, like what else would go into it. So I was just ready to go, yeah.
Asia:I was just I was like whatever you need me for, like let's go. So you know, they give us our trainings and everything, and I fell in love with it. They brought me on. I was a contractor, moved from being a contractor to hourly and then hourly to here. So it was like it was just like a progression that I just I look back and I just had this deep sense of appreciation, like from where you know I came from, cause, like it was like I was helping them build this thing from the ground up. And yeah, so to this day I still have my, my letter.
MJ:I love that. I absolutely love that. That you have that on your bulletin board like that. You mentioned dancing, and JR has come on here before and he told us that you came and auditioned for his dance crew Magic Makers, correct? I'm trying to remember Rugmakers, Rugmakers, You're right, yeah. And that you are a dance with him. And you also said you know you came to your interview ready to dance. So have you been dancing your whole life? Are you just like the dancer in the family?
Asia:Yes, that is me. Okay, that is me. I've been dancing since I was five or six, maybe, yeah. Yeah. At one point it felt like that's all I knew. My my dad put me in a performing arts middle school and high school, and so that's all I was doing up until you know well even now. So, performing arts, middle school, high school, and then I went to college for dance.
Asia:I specialized in tap musical theater high school, and then I went to college for dance, um, and I specialized in tap, musical theater, ballet, contemporary Um, and then, after college, came out here came out here, started looking for dancing jobs and then supernatural scooped you up. Yeah, and it's. It's such a wild like series, series of events because, like my two passions are video games and dance, and so, granted, you know, supernatural is technically not a game, but we're still like adjacent. Yes. And it just it's a fusion of the two things I love most.
MJ:It's like totally your dream job.
Asia:Yeah, a thousand percent, it's like totally your dream job?
MJ:Yeah, a thousand percent. You are also a huge content creator. You create all sorts of stuff which sort of ties in, it seems like, into your hobbies Video games, anime yeah, Yep. Pop culture, yes, pop culture. All the things. And you make this one series that makes me and my friend Julia laugh so hard. It's the one where it's like if you were a mom watching your kid play video games and you're sitting on the couch and you're in your robe and sometimes you have curlers in your hair, and you're sitting on the couch and you're in your robe and sometimes you have curlers in your hair, and as a mom, it makes me laugh so hard because some of the things you say I could imagine if I was into that game, I would say it to my kid, you know. Anyway, it's hilarious.
Asia:You know that series, actually, that's based off of real life events, is it?
MJ:Of your mom yes, so.
Asia:So when I had to have been like 11 or 12 and I remember my very first like role playing like dungeon crawler was a game called balder's gate, dark alliance and it was you could obviously play one player but, um, me and my cousins would get together and we'd play the like local co-op and so we'd be in there playing and we'd be like running these dungeons and my mom, out of nowhere, would like she'd come in the living room and she'd, and then she'd disappear and then she'd come back and she's got like snacks and she'd sit down and she I just I remember we were fighting this elven, this like elven boss, and she has this. Like she was a maid, she had a staff but she was like sensual and she was like you guys won't win and my mom's like now, why is she dancing on that pole like that?
Asia:what are y'all fighting? What's going on here? I was like mom, please, can we focus, please, let us focus. Like we're dying out here, like, come on and she would.
Asia:She would always do that. She'd be like I'd like go to a door and it'd be locked, and you know my character like, oh, I can't go that way uh, this door's locked, I can't go.
Asia:Nope, can't go that way. My mom's in the back like didn't you just hear her say we can't go this direction, go somewhere else now, like my mom's getting impatient.
MJ:Yeah she's like done with you. She's like come, come on, let me play this game. Let me tell you how to play this game. I'm like do you want the controller?
Asia:So yeah, and so after a while, like I think I was just reminiscing on that one day and I was like this would be a good series, and so I went to the closet, got my robe, grabbed a bonnet, put some curlers in and was like all right and action. And now I do that series whenever, like, a new game comes out, or like if there's a game that I'm, you know, just delving into, I'll break out the robe and I'll start doing content covering that.
MJ:Has your mom seen these videos? Oh man, what does she think? How was her reaction?
Asia:So she is. She's also a class clown. Okay, all right, She'll message me and be like oh, I wonder who this is. Where'd you get that? And I was like I don't know. It just popped up in my head out of nowhere and you know she'll have like witty remarks like well, whoever you're imitating is, you know she's got to be grand.
MJ:Yes, fantastic, fabulous. I love this one.
Asia:I love this character. She's saying all the things that I would say. You know, she's also a class clown. So the text, our text message threads are just just two gestures Not safe, Not safe for all of us?
MJ:Not safe at all, just not safe. Not safe for all of us. That's funny, oh man. So you've mentioned already gaming in anime. Is it safe to assume that those are two things that you geek out, geek out about, like how? I geek out about supernatural, you're over there geeking out about all. Yeah, I geek out about Supernatural, you're over there geeking out about all. Yeah, I see, I see those are rad, though. Those are really cool.
Asia:Yeah, anime and video games are like life for me. Like, if you could see like my entire studio apartment, there's just nothing but like comic book references and pieces and you know like I've got got Sailor Moon figurines over there and all kinds of stuff. That was my source of joy growing up, when I wasn't dancing or doing all the other things, it was drawing games and that's what like really like helped shape who I am as a person.
Asia:Um yeah, I love that that's, that's really, and I just I never wanted to be the person that grew up and had to like let that go. Yeah, I've always felt like, as long as you nourish your inner child and you continue to indulge, you know, in the things that you love you, why not still keep that aspect of yourself while you grow, you know so for sure.
MJ:I really appreciate that. My daughter she's about to turn 13 and she's super big into cosplaying and always coming to figure out how she can order a new wig like get me to order her new wigs or new cosplays. And I showed her a couple of your videos the other day and she's like does she know about me? I'm like, no, she doesn't, she doesn't know, I haven't mentioned. You know, is that what I'm supposed to talk about on the podcast? You know, but she just on the podcast, you know, but she just she was like oh wow, she is amazing and she wanted me to ask you what your favorite anime was man.
MJ:Okay, and I told her this might be an impossible. You might be asking this poor woman an impossible question. If she's anything like you child, she's going to have a lot.
Asia:Okay, okay, there are a lot um. What's your daughter's name?
MJ:her name is avery hi avery.
Asia:Um, all right so, oh, this is tough.
Asia:So if I had to choose my favorite based off of, like, sentimental reasons, yeah um, I would say I'd have to say Sailor Moon, just because that was the first. That was the first and that was like my gateway anime. I remember being I was probably five or six years old and my dad took me to Blockbuster. I'm aging myself here. My dad was like, come on, we're going to Blockbuster, what is that? So we go and there are all these like VHS tapes in there and I'm like, oh, okay, I'm looking around and he's like go pick out whatever you like. And I'm like I don't know what any of this is.
Asia:So I'm walking around and it was almost like one of those cartoon moments where, like there's like this singular item and there's like the pool of light that comes down, yeah, so I'm walking through like the little aisles and I see, you know, sailor moon on this, like vhs and like pink and she's. I was like what is that? I want this. So I grab this pink vhs tape. I'm like, dad, I want this. And he looks and he's like okay, so we get that. And I'm watching it at home. And it gets to the part where she transforms for the first time Luna, her, now her pet cat, is like you must yell moon prism power. And she was like okay, throws her hand up, you know she transforms. And at that moment I was like oh. And I was like dad, dad comes in the room, I rewind it. I'm like you have to see this. I press play and I re-watched the transformation sequence and my dad's just like cool and walks out and I was like you're uncultured you don't get it.
MJ:Okay, you just don't get it right.
Asia:And then from there, from sailor moon, it was Cardcaptor Sakura, and then from there, I um, it was a studio Ghibli film, it was Kiki's delivery service. Uh, fell in love with that, and then it was just a snowball effect after that. Oh, wow I always have to credit Sailor Moon for getting me into the genre or into the it was the gateway.
MJ:It was in in blockbuster. You were called to it on the shelf on blockbuster. Hello me, is it?
MJ:me you're looking for oh, man, it's, but you. There are a couple of Studio Ghibli-influenced workouts. Well, I know of one for a fact and I know that you had a hand in mapping this particular workout. I want to know, behind the scenes, when you saw that pop up on the board. However, you guys get assigned your maps. When you saw that pop up, were you like I'm fighting all of you, let's go get your sword out from behind your chair. You're like this is mine.
Asia:So I kind of lucked out, actually. So it's. It's widely known that I am the one who I don't usually choose my songs. I let all the other choreographers go to the pick list. They'll choose everything and I'm like all right, you know, whatever's left, I'll just take it. That's just how I've always been. You know I should.
MJ:Team player.
Asia:You should, you know, I should, I'm just like you know, do your thing and I'll take whatever's left. But I saw that come through and I think it got auto assigned to um Ethan at the time and I was like hey, bestie, and he's like yeah, I was like so you got a Porco Rosso song there that I would like to map and he's like yeah, okay, you can have it.
MJ:It was that easy oh, it was that easy. You were getting ready for the bribe. Oh, you know, let me Venmo you, let's go to lunch like you were getting ready for the bribe. Oh you know, let me venmo you, let's go to lunch like you were ready anything, anything.
Asia:And he was like, yeah, you can have it. I was like, oh, bless you, bless you, um, and yeah, and I think I had just watched that movie, maybe a couple months prior, so it was still fresh in my mind. I was so excited to map that and so I went back and took a peek at it a while ago and the mapping, you know it's a medium intensity map and it's a little on like the simpler side, but for some reason I still got chills when I played it through and I was like why? I was like why, and you can just when you know the context of the film and how during that, or when the music kicks in during that scene, it's like an it's an air, it's an air battle.
Asia:So, with that context, you know, okay, whenever my arms are spread in such a way and I'm being guided through these triangle tunnels, you know that that's you in a plane trying to either like, you know, like dog, some like fire, or you know, whatever the case may be, and it just sent ah, it just sent chills.
MJ:Oh man and that's one of my when you guys add legit Easter eggs into your mapping. Like you just explained, you're flying in the plane and how that translates in Supernatural. I absolutely love when you guys do that. And oh man, when I I'm going to have to tell people to go watch the movie and then play this workout so that they can put the two together watch the movie and then play this workout so that they can put the two together. That's sweat symphony, um, movement, masterpiece, medium flow. Such a great workout from start to finish, start to finish.
Asia:Yep, such a good one man, One of my personal favorites, oh, one of my personal favorites. And um another little tidbit about that was when I mapped it. I used to map on the moon all the time, but that was my favorite background to use. I distinctly remember being like nah, I got to go somewhere where I'm like in the air and I always forget the name of the environment in the editor. But it's your crater lake, I think.
MJ:I think it might be You're hovering over this giant blue lake. Yes.
Asia:And I switched my environment to that while I choreographed, to just get a better sense of like being in the air, like how okay, how would I look going this way? You know just, I just wanted an added layer of immersion while I map that part, or map that piece so that's a great tidbit Wow. I. You know I might see if we can um plug that into another workout. Eventually I'd love to do like a high version of that.
MJ:I would love to see a high version of that.
Asia:I'd love to do a high version of that map.
MJ:That would be awesome and I don't. You mentioned that when you map in the editor, you map on the moon. I don't know if a lot of people realize this, but you guys can pick the environments that you map in. I love that you map in the moon. That makes my sci-fi loving heart so happy.
Asia:Another reference to Sailor Moon. Yep, I get it, I am the self-proclaimed moon princess. I love that.
Asia:Yeah, I've been fighting for us to get access to more of the environments, because we don't have access to all of them, but we have yeah, we have a decent chunk, but it would be helpful to get access to all of them so that we know, hey, you know, like, maybe white targets don't match against this background, you know, um, so that we'd be able to, like, call things out just a heads up, like whenever I turned this way, these targets are a little bit harder to see, um, so maybe we swap this out for a different environment.
MJ:So Well, that makes sense. I think a lot of people assume you guys map in the exact locations that appear in the final workout, and that's definitely not the way. It surprises me to hear that you don't have access to all of them. It's like one thing we have more of than you do. Sorry, had to call that out. Hopefully this is what we need to get that push. That would be amazing.
Asia:Yeah, it's just the way the production pipeline is right now. We don't even know what the environments are until after we've already mapped. So whenever something gets, you know, kicked back and like, hey, by the way, these targets, you know we can't see them here. Like, okay, I'll hop in and make the changes, but just remember, I don't have access to this environment. So when I do make the change I'm not even sure if it's fixed.
MJ:So Right, let me know, just let me know. Yeah, oh, wow, yeah, this I want to talk about, listen, listen. I want to talk about a brand new workout that just dropped this week that I know you created. You were speaking about environments and it. My brain just went straight to this workout. Okay, it is a boxing high. It is called cyber punch 2025. My baby, it is your baby. You the whole thing, the whole thing from environments. Yep. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. All right, what inspired. You?
Asia:So where do I start? There were a lot of different factors that pushed me to do this. I think the first thing was music selection. I wanted to create something utilizing music that I loved and because I like the way it started. And then, from there, I was like the music kind of tells a story. The story is something, the music tells a story. And now I want to create movement that like matches that.
Asia:And it went from there to being like all right, let me just go all in, let me just all right, I'm going to curate the music, I'm going to come up with a movement theme, and now I'm going to choose the environments. I've already gone this far. Let me make the environments, and then let's get duana in on this. So, like I, I roped everybody in together and then dennis, you know, championed for me to get all of the um, like the c, the CGI environment, cause, you know, he was like you, normally we don't do this and I was like you're the first, it's the first workout, it is the first workout and and I'm all about being first at things so high five.
MJ:That was amazing, amazing dude. I I was blown away. I've been begging for all the CG environments in a single workout for us forever.
Asia:So I noticed that theme and there were all the beautiful purple ones and I chose those environments to match the song choices, obviously, but it took them in. I was like okay, how does this one sound? All right, does this match this background? I probably swapped them all like three or four times before I got to the final decision. Yeah, it was a blast to map and I wanted to incorporate movements that I could like. How do I explain it? I wanted movements in there that were tied to the theme.
Asia:So like when you do the hook turn, you know, I told Juana to think of that as like all right, you've got this cybernetic arm right, and like you're charging that punch up and it's such a hard punch that it guides you over a couple of lanes. Like I was like thinking of things in like a sci-fi way. Yeah, and she was all on board she, she, she ate it up. Like she was like yes, I'm on board for this. The only thing that I would change is the skaters. You're supposed to be gliding from side to side, and I think some people are just kind of like twisting.
Asia:So it's almost like a like, like you're sliding from side to side, and so you'll probably notice it in the the playthrough video. But, um, that was one thing that got missed, but aside from that, it was.
MJ:Okay. So now when I go replay this, I will skate versus. Okay, I got this, I got this. So how did you create the name? Like was name for the workout, one of like the first things you decided, or how did that work out?
Asia:The name came about midway through the process.
MJ:Okay.
Asia:But it was so. My favorite band is um. They're called the midnight. They are this like synth wave, like synth pop, um band. The first track was the first track sunset.
MJ:I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. I have been listening to it nonstop. My partner, chris. He's like why are we listening to this song again? I get on these kicks where I just listen to the same song over. He's used to it by now. But he's like what is this song and where is it from? And what is happening?
Asia:I'm into it song and where's it from and what is happening. I'm into it, thank you. Listen, they are a magnificent band. I wish I had access to more of their music. Um, a lot of the songs that we have rights to are like remixes, and so sunset was like one of the ones that I had access to. That was like just the midnight, and so I'm like, okay, you know it's a little bit on the lower, like end of like uh, of the BP, like of BPM, um, but I made it work. We got to get this in there.
MJ:Um, it was perfect.
Asia:So I knew, I knew I wanted a title that matched the theme of like um, like like synth wave or like night night drive, like that kind of thing. And I was thinking about it. I was like there's a game called cyberpunk 2077 that I loved when it came out full of bugs, when it first came out full of bugs, but it was such a good game and the overall like aesthetic was in line with my favorite band's aesthetic, and I was like, okay, this makes sense. And so I changed the name to initially it was Cyberpunk 2024, because I thought about this last year, changed it to 2025. And the idea was, if it did well enough, that I would do one of these every year.
MJ:So your first series. Yeah, everyone go play this workout and rate it right now. Make sure we get another one next year, please. Thanks for tuning in, right right.
Asia:But yeah, like the midnight is, they've gotten me through like many a time, many a time and I've seen them probably seven or eight times now and I only discovered them in like 2019. I go all up and down California. They perform in California maybe three times a year. Every time I go all up and down the state to see them. I actually met them at my tea shop. They were in my at random, they were in my tea shop and I was like no way, like no way, so I had them sign my hat. Oh, it's on my teddy bear, this little visor.
Asia:Those are their signatures and then I got a picture framed. That's over that way. But yeah, they were also like a small factor that played into this workout, like this workout made so much to me.
MJ:Oh, I love that. I love that you were able to use a band that you absolutely love, like you guys had a song from them that you could use in the workout. Yeah, wow. So I assume your idea initially was I want to create my own baby, my own workout, and I know we talk on this show a lot about the whole creation process. There's a curation team who picks out the music, who puts the theme together of the workout and then it goes down the pipeline. But this is all yours. You curated this from start to finish.
Asia:I think that's pretty impressive. Thank you. Thank you, yeah, I want to do more of those. I want to make more workouts that are mine from start to finish. I was very nervous about it, obviously because you know if it doesn't do too well, you know you're like. Well, you know you tend to take it personally, right.
Asia:Because, in every stopping point. Essentially, it's all you. You know. The music was your choice, the environment selection was your choice, the choreography was your choice, the, even the coaching direction. You know, I told Juana hey, think about it this way. You know, make some gaming references if you can, so like. The coaching direction is also your choice, so like, if it doesn't do too well, you tend to be like ah well, maybe I shouldn't do it again. Seen some love, you know, in the Facebook community, and it was enough for me to be like I'm doing, I'm doing the right thing. You know, I, I, I have the capacity and the ability to do this, and that someone out there will enjoy it. So I definitely want to do it more often.
MJ:I really want to see more of these choreographer inspired workouts where you guys get to pick and curate the whole thing and create it. I'm not trying to take the jobs away from other people in the company, but I think it's really cool that every once in a while, you guys get to create your own little creative workout babies workout babies, you know. Yeah, we really get the feel of your creativity when you do that, you know.
Asia:Yeah, I think you also get an insight as to like the music that we really enjoy and I feel like our styles really shine just because we get to map to the music that we like. So, yeah, like if we could all do that more often, I feel like the user base would also be able to get a deeper glimpse into each choreographer and get to know them a little better just by playing those maps.
MJ:For sure what I found so interesting. You are fantastic, not just in boxing, but especially in flow, with encouraging movement, big movement. So in this, in cyber punch, you have a lot of moving from one lane to the next, one lane to the next, with, with the targets, but also, like the um, step hooks Is that what they're called Correct me if I'm wrong when they encourage you to move and you're hooking at the same time. You're like jumping lanes. I love those. I love those. Those are so cool, absolutely, visually and physically, to do them. It's just, oh, it's so satisfying because you get to work on. You know the turning motions. Kat said this she loves to twist, and I'm with her on that. I love twisting too. It gives you momentum and something more interesting to work on. Yep.
Asia:Yep, that's always been my thing with boxing Because, like flow, I think I've got it down, you know, like I know how to get you guys to move and utilize more of your body, versus just being planted and then focusing on like arm swings and stuff. Yeah for a while, but I'm finding out that there are ways to almost exaggerate certain movements or add a little bit of a like, like Kat said, a little bit of like a like a torque you know, torquing your torso a little bit to add an extra twist.
Asia:Or when you're doing your jab crosses, maybe you're going down a level, so now we add them underneath, like the duck bars to engage your legs, and so we're basically taking existing movements and then adding another layer of movement on top of that, which clicks very well for me. I'm like all right, this is, this is how I want to box. You know, like get firmly planted in a stance, but now, instead of just staying here and getting comfy, I want to be able to move slightly off center. I want to be able to go a little bit lower and then, with the skaters where you're sliding from side to side, now I want to keep your guard up, but then quickly finding your way right back to it, instead of being planted, doing your thing, then switching stances. So I like the idea of playing with, like added layers of movement.
MJ:That makes sense. Yes, it totally makes sense, because you get the basics, okay, but so you're adding. You get the basics Okay, but so you're adding on to the basics. Okay, now let's lift your skill level here by adding in the layers. I love that.
Asia:Yeah, and like my thing was just to go back to the skaters is, the challenge isn't just the skating from side to side, the challenge is going right back to where you were after you've done them, because if you do a couple of them in quick succession and then you go back to orthodox or you go back to southpaw, you might get that little arrow that's like, hey, you're too far forward.
MJ:Yes, I get that all day long. I'm like arrow go away.
Asia:You're like, I know, I know I got this, come on. And so the challenge is not in the execution of the skater itself, it's getting back to the stance and so, yeah, it's just, it's all, at least for that particular move. It's all about, you know, reinforcing proper form and getting back into your stance and everything. So, yeah, I think about these things a lot and like just trying to like add extra layers of movement and challenge. That's not like, oh my God, like I got to hit this Right.
MJ:Yes, you mentioned the skaters. Is this the first time that we're seeing them in a boxing workout?
Asia:No, no, no, I've definitely used these before and I know other people have used them before. They've existed for at least a year now. Okay. Which is almost why I'm like a year now.
MJ:Okay, um which?
Asia:is almost why I'm like why isn't? Why aren't other people picking up on it? That's what I'm wondering. I think what it was was dwana dwana in the the warm-up says, when you see the vertical bars, you're just gonna step to the side and do this. So I think there was a bit of a disconnect there between her and I. Um, because we've, we actually before skaters were a thing. We kind of workshopped them. You know, we had like a coach's ex choreographers meeting, like maybe two years ago, um, about those, and you know we came to the conclusion that you know you're, you're side, you're sliding from side to side. Um, yeah, so it just may have been a thing where they're not popping up often enough right so where all of us are synced.
MJ:But um, yeah I think it's also, uh, us as the users, as the athletes, we have a hardcore problem of skipping the warm-ups. And, um, this last year, 2024, I made my new rule to myself was, on my first play of a workout, I would not skip the warm-up. It was. It was hard because I was so used to skipping the warm-up, but I realized how informational on all the new movements and different things they're talking about them in the warm-up, and so I'm always preaching now don them in the warmup. And so I'm always preaching now Don't skip the warmup, don't skip the warmup. Doc is really good. He'll like yell at people right away. He's like hey, don't skip me, don't stop, stay right here.
Asia:That's genius. That is genius.
MJ:So maybe it's, it's a part of you know us, we we need to be paying attention to. You know, it's not just y'all, it's us, especially new workouts. You know that's when you guys are introducing new movements, um, new, different ways you'd like us to move. And, uh, I know there's some really cool lunges that Justin incorporated. I think the first time I ever noticed them was in a song called Remember, but that's removed from the library. So I'm going to reference Astronaut in the Ocean and you're doing a lunge, but you're doing a toe tap.
Asia:Yes, and you're bringing that leg in and out.
MJ:So I noticed no one was doing that and I'm like why are people not doing that? I'm over here dying, I'm over, my legs are shaking, like what is happening, and they're just like, yeah, we're good, but I really they're skipping the warmup where they're talking about it. So how can you guys introduce, give us new moves if we're not watching the warmup, so we're not learning them? So now I'm going to pay more attention with those skaters and make sure I'm doing them the way you intended us to move. That is the goal, yeah.
Asia:The idea is like, like, like cyber surfing, right, like you're surfing, you're surfing the net, or however you want to say it. But that was the idea. With the, with the skaters. It was just like a little nod, to like that old lingo, but yeah.
MJ:I also really like when you said the cyber arm having that and punching out there, coming, coming that way with the power of your body. Oh man, that that's a really cool, and you know to think about that while you're boxing. Now, when I go play it, I'm going to try and harness that.
Asia:Yeah, I'm all about immersion. In any way I can get it out there.
MJ:I would imagine, especially because you are such a gamer, a gamer.
Asia:Yep, oh my gosh. I tend to incorporate things like that into maps when I can. If I get an opportunity to, I'll do it Like sometimes, like I can't think of a map like off the top of my head, but I know for a fact that I've choreographed motions that are like almost like sword slices and things of that nature motions that are like almost like sword slices and things, things of that nature Like I. If there's a way I can like get my nerd brain into a map, I absolutely will.
MJ:I love that. Yeah, I. Sometimes we pick up things like that, like the swords or just the way, um, a lyric in a song will be like love and then you'll. You know you guys will do the hearts or down, and you've got us going down into a triangle tunnel, that type of thing. Those are always my absolute favorite to pick up on. You know, those are real Easter eggs. Now I know you guys call the balls that explode Easter eggs, but a real gamer knows that's not an Easter egg. What do you? This is not what it is. So I I named them joy balls because they bring me joy when I hit them, they make me very happy. But like legit Easter eggs, like the swords or going down things like that I'm always looking for that kind of stuff.
Asia:Acknowledging like a lyric here or there yeah, yeah.
MJ:Like Dave, he likes to. I call them Dave hugs because he'll do the crosses and it's like you're hugging yourself right when someone says love or they're talking positively about someone else, and so I call them Dave hugs and pick them out when I'm trying to guess his workouts. But you do similar stuff to that. Okay, you have this thing. You're the only person I have ever seen do this. These tiny triangles, the tiny triangles. Tell me about the tiny triangles, because they're even in your older maps.
Asia:Yeah, so I think that was. You know, I've done those. Hmm, okay, so these were birthed twice Okay. So the first time I used these was in some. It had to have been, um, like a rap playlist, and the idea was I wanted people to. You know, you're sitting from side to side, you're grooving, but I was like man, like when I'm at a cookout, I'm not just staying up here, like when I'm grooving, I'm going down, I'm like I'm hitting levels, and so I wanted to hit that. And I was like how do I get them to sidestep?
Asia:but, go lower. I made it, it got kicked back and they're like don't do that, it's new. I was like, okay, cool. So months go by and then I'm assigned a glutation workout and I was like this might be the time to, you know, resurrect these triangles, because now we can go into a squat, we can step, touch as we're in this squat and we're activating your lower body in a way that we haven't done yet. Loved it, they loved it, and so I was like, okay, yes, great. So from there I kept it for glutation workouts and then, once people got acclimated, then I started adding it into standard flow workouts, just like, as an added, like level change, just to add some flair. Um, so yeah, that's how those came to be.
MJ:Yes, I love them. I love them. The level change, the way that you try to get us to move differently than just do a lunge, do a squat. I appreciate, and the first time that really stood out to me, um wasn't a glutatious and I'm wondering if this was the first time you did it or not. Um, it is a glutatious from December 2022. It is called copitude. It has Leanne as the coach, but the song, the map, the whole reason I do this workout is for truffle butter and you featured those tiny triangles in such an expert way. You've got us doing lunges, then tiny triangle and squat. You got us doing two steps the step touches. Oh man, that map Did you first of all, were you? Are you a fan of Nicki Minaj? Is that why you went all in on? That listen I.
Asia:I used to be a, a barb okay used to be a long time ago. I'm not not anymore, but Triple Butter has always been a song that I have loved down, okay, down. I love that song so much, and so I was like, when I got in there, I was like I'm about to cut up, I'm about to act a fool in here.
MJ:You did, you did and we loved it. We appreciate it. Listen, that workout was mine and my other good friend, alison I call her twin. It was our warmup workout daily, like anytime we got in the headset together, it was like what are we warming up to? Oh, why are you even asking? We already know what we're warming up to. We're getting in there, exactly Like we played it nonstop. Anytime we had the opportunity to play it with others, we were playing with others. Um, it is so fun. It was so fun. And then it was like I think a year or so later yes, almost a full year later you redid it for a high. Now we have compared it, because you know we're obsessed and freaks like that. Um, we've taken the gameplay, you know, and compared it, and my friend Julia did a comparison video where she actually did a side-by-side with them, because I was like I want to see them together. I want to see them together and, man, you bumped up the high version. Really nice, really nice.
Asia:I wrote a note about this.
MJ:Okay.
Asia:I hopped in to look at it. Uh-huh. That high about this, okay? Um, I hopped in to look at it. Uh-huh that high. So we have like tpm ranges, yeah, target per minute ranges and everything, and that high is 230, which is slightly higher than our median for pros.
Asia:I accidentally I accidentally made fun I accidentally made this high map a prose level map, but it was just, it was so fun, right, it was so fun to map. And I think that's one of those maps where the lyrical cadence like we all have these songs that are like the like miracle songs, have these songs that are like the like miracle songs and it's when the musicality hits the, the lyrical cadence um is fantastic, and so when you have those two things come together and you you're able to actualize it with the mapping, it's joy for everyone we get the
Asia:satisfaction of mapping to it. But then when you guys hear it, you know you hit, you hit. You hit like a bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, ba-da-ba-da and you're like, oh, I just hit that, you know, and it's a lyrical cadence. You're like, okay, like there's this added layer of joy because you're able to hear that a song allows you to do that. It's just, it's just joy for everyone and that's just magic. Yes, and that's what Trouble Butter was for me. That's exactly what it was for me.
MJ:You do feel like a backup. No, you feel like the main character. You are dancing on that stage, not even a backup dancer. That's what that map does for you. Oh man, I freaking love that map. But ever since then, um, I noticed the tiny triangles every once in a while, um, and I really do appreciate them, because the levels, the different levels, I just I'm into it, man, I'm into it.
Asia:It just goes back to that notion about adding, just like, extra layers of movement to things. I'm always looking for ways to do that. I'm always looking for ways to do that.
MJ:Oh man, so another new workout that came out. I got a lot to say about this workout. First of all, I have been requesting more Rufus DeSole for years. So into them, so into them. I woke up Monday morning. I saw Cyber Punch 2025. And I saw Rufus to soul artist series in all three intensities. I had some feelings about it being in all three intensities Cause I'm like, well, I have some feelings about that.
MJ:Some music should not be made in all three intensities. That's my personal opinion. I agree. My personal opinion. Like truffle butter. Could you imagine making truffle butter in a low? It would not hit the same. You would not be the main character, you would not be the dancer in that map if it was in a low.
Asia:You'd be in the seats. Yeah, exactly.
MJ:You go up there Vibing a little bit with your shoulders, you know, not really. Not main character energy but Rufus, not main character energy but Rufus. So I was excited to see it because I know some people community members have been asking for this for a long time. I played the medium right off the bat. I love all intensity levels but for something like this, medium spoke to me. I was like I'm going to play medium first. Oh, it is so glorious. The whole set was so good. I guessed the wrong choreographer twice was lower, your first yes, it was a hundred percent.
MJ:Larry the tails girl, the tails. Perfection on there, the setups I often always talk about setups on the show, one arm leading to the next hit. You know everything was just perfect. Yep, and I assumed. I assumed it wasn't until I played it again yesterday with Julia, where I made her play medium and I played high. She originally had played the high and she noticed a tell of yours. Now I'm going to totally forget what that tell well is, but she was helping me do some research for this episode and so she was playing one of your other maps that she knew a hundred percent was yours. She goes Marla, marla, hold on a second, I'm gonna blow your mind. This is, this is what I just saw over here. I'm like are you serious? She's like it's happening again. She's yelling at us right now on the screen while she's watching this and I was like are? And I was like are you sure? Are you sure? Like, are you sure? It's Aces? So we had to reach out to Choreo Dad, to Dennis. Yes.
MJ:Because he helps us with our weekly polls and in the map group Awesome. He was like, okay, we've already voted. I want to know who mapped this. I got to know who mapped this right now and he confirmed it it was yours. And I was like, yes, I cannot wait to talk to her about it tomorrow. So I have a lot to say about this workout.
Asia:Awesome, cool.
MJ:I want to know what the tell was, I do too, and she's going to message you when she listens to this and she's going to be like okay, this is how I figured it out. So apologies for not making that writing that down in my notes, but I got to know, did you? Are you a fan of Rufus? If you're not, that's cool, I'm good.
Asia:I, so I am a fan of the music Rufus DeSoul makes Right. So like I've never been like. So like I have a lot of music in my playlists that sound just like Rufus. Oh fair, so like I have a lot of music in my playlists that sound just like Rufus, but I've, I've never.
MJ:You're not searching them out to listen.
Asia:Exactly, I'm not searching them out to listen, and that's nothing on the artists themselves Like, because I just I guess I wasn't exposed to them like forever ago.
Asia:So, like, when I listened to the music that I was assigned, I was like I like them. Like I like them and you know, they're such a big name that I've heard the name before but I didn't know the music they made. And so I was like, oh, this is what they're doing. I was like I have music like this everywhere, like I like this. So I like I can't say that I'm a fan of them as an artist, because I'm only just now being exposed to them, got it, but I love them, like I love them and I love the music they make okay, I, I felt that in your mapping.
MJ:I felt that, um, the second song, make it happen in the medium. Uh-huh, you do this thing with the step, touch triangles and the way you move us and that section right before that, it goes into the windmills. Oh, it is glorious, it is so good and my hips are just going and then you're getting us to do two steps and oh yes, oh man, it was so good and it was funny, because I was mentioning to Julie about the two steps in that song, but they don't appear in the high version. That is a difference. Yeah.
MJ:And I was like they don't. They're not in the high, and I hadn't played the high yet. So we switch and I'm like, see, julie, it's missing these glorious two steps. And I made me think about how you guys map things for three intensities. So maybe you were stepping down the high and had to take some targets out or something, and added triangles to the medium. I wasn't sure, so I thought I would ask the challenge with mapping.
Asia:So the mediums. In my opinion, the set list for rufus to soul works perfectly for medium 100 agreed. It gets you to do everything that I wanted you to do. You've got this expansive tail work. You've got patterns that are achievable, but a little bit of a challenge. But then you get to dance the whole thing.
Asia:The problem that I was running into with Low and High was because a lot of the songs had like these musical breaks and a lot of like airy, like airiness or like breathiness. Um to the quality, it was hard for me to make the lows not too sleepy and it was hard for me to kick um the tpm into proper high range without making it feel like the rhythms were manufactured if that makes any sense, yeah, it makes total sense and I hate doing that.
Asia:I hate making highs high for the sake of being high, like if the song is telling you right, oh, I can't sing, but you know, yeah, but then the targets are like there's a disconnect that I right cannot, yeah, and so, um, that was a challenge with this and I think I think I mapped it high first and then I shaved it down, but instead of just removing targets, I added back in that level of like danciness yeah, that I really wanted, and the mediums were the easiest to map.
MJ:They were the most fun to map man.
Asia:They were great oh, those were the most fun to map. Um yeah, oh man, it was just. It was an overall. The the mediums were a joy, but overall the mapping process was definitely challenging because I had to. I found myself mapping and then re like reviewing it and be like I don't like that, let's go back do it again. And then you have to like find places where you could add in, like for specifically for high, find places where you could add in targets where it it didn't pull you out of the almost like trance tranciness of the song. So that's what I was like trying to battle against, because the music, just it lends itself so well to being free and there's this like this essence of just like getting into, like this flow state and just like zoning out. And when you into like this flow state and just like zoning out, and when you're being faced with a whole bunch of like staccato targets, you kind of lose that. So it was a bit of a challenge.
MJ:Well, the very first song Pressure opens up with one of my all-time favorite things to see in flow. It's what I call three-portal magic. When three portals, three lanes are open. You've got us facing the middle lane, but targets are coming and Chrissy moving. I absolutely love that. And I screeched. And a second. I was like this is classic Justin work. But I know Justin is not picking this, he's staying away from this. And then I went this is Dave. Does this? Dave plays with three portals like this.
MJ:But then the way you moved us in around I was like this is not Dave's and so I went to this is Lowry's. And then I went this is Benny's. So you threw me for a loop on this one. I'm usually pretty good at narrowing it down, but like I went through every one until Julie and I played it together and she was like no, this is Asia. I was like are you sure this, are you serious, are you sure? Um, but that initial she. But that initial she got you figured out, she got me.
MJ:But that initial you open up and three portal magic happens. It just set the stage for that medium intensity of Rufus. I absolutely loved it. There was also something else really rad that we have never seen before, and I'm talking about the medium version. Break my Love, the fourth song. There are these three triangles that come and they merge together, but they move you two lanes over. All right, listen, listen. That was genius, that was epic, and those are so innovative because you're telling us, you clearly told us, how we needed to move. It was very clear.
MJ:I loved it now do that for an entire 360 spin no right, just all loyal. Yes, yes, please so it's really cool break my love.
Asia:I think that's what it was called. That was one of my favorite songs to map, because there was this I don't know if you recall the song, but there is this like vocal. It was like a vocal vibration, I guess you would call it. But it's like you know, the song is doing its thing and then every now and then, you hear like a ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da, and I was like I want to hit a triangle, something every time that happens, every single time.
Asia:So you're dancing through and then, maybe the first time it happens, you're going through a triangle tunnel that actualizes the little ah-ah-ah-ah. And so I got to the point where I wanted to turn you around. I was like I can't just have a turn here, Like there still has to be some visual that helps me actualize that vocal like vibration that I'm hearing. And I was like let's put triangles here that merge together and guide you the rest of the way.
MJ:And I was like this is it? That was it, that was it, that was it, that was gold. Those we noticed, we noticed, we noticed we were picking up on what you put down. We got. That was fantastic, man, and the community seems to be going crazy for this artist series so far, which is great. It goes either way, you know, sometimes with artists series, yep, but you did a fantastic job. But I'm still shocked. I'm still shocked I shouldn't be because you're. You're amazing, but I was not anticipating one because of the music. Sometimes I, I pit, I'm guilty of this I pigeonhole you guys, like, oh, they're not going to be really into this music, you know, like they're not going to want to map this, and then I kind of go from there with my guesses.
MJ:But, man Chef, grace that workout.
Asia:You know it might be because I always get I hate, I shouldn't say scraps, but I always get the workouts that aren't chosen by anybody else. So that's probably why, like you know, when I do get things where I'm allowed to like truly shine, you know it's like oh you did that, you know.
MJ:But yeah, so impressed, and you have lots of workouts under your belt that are like that, that are like Whoa, what just happened to me? Like that was next level, Great, but I was shocked. So now I'm I'm adding that into my memory bank because I'm like I'm never. I don't think I've ever seen you do three portal magic like that. Where you're, you've got all three lanes open in your dude, I love that stuff.
Asia:Yeah, I love that. I definitely want to start incorporating that more often.
MJ:Well, now I'm going to be. Now, I can't assume it's Justin and Dave. If you start incorporating it and I have been so like some workouts.
MJ:Oh, so I might be guessing the wrong. Okay, I'm glad to know that now. Oh, man, speaking of community loved workouts, because I really feel Rufus is all over the community right now they love it. Yeah, as is cyber punch 2025. I'm going to mention a map. It is from a shower songs steal the shower with Rainier. It is a high flow. It is the very last song in this workout. My friend made me play this workout. It was not a workout. I would normally pick the song selection. I was like I don't want to know she's like marla just bear with me, and I'm like okay.
MJ:Justin Bieber, baby, listen, listen. I came to my group of my chat group friends and I yelled at them why did nobody make me play this workout? Why has nobody told me how incredible baby is? And they're like Marla. We told you. You just ignored us Cause you were like, oh, it's the shower songs. And, uh, there were right. They were right, dude, that map. And they've recently come out with a uh quick hit. So now we can get to it really easy. Like Julie and I will skip the first song and just go play baby. We go straight to baby and we are moving everywhere the two-step triangles like dude. It is so good, so good.
Asia:Love that you know the funny, funny story. I do not like that song.
MJ:Most people don't. Most people don't. Totally get it.
Asia:I was like this is guilty pleasure.
MJ:Well, it is a guilty pleasure song for me, like 100%. I've got memories of it. My child liked it when she was little, and so it's just stuck in there. And there's this part where it's like I don't need no Starbucks, and it hits me, you know, like as just that basic, yeah, exactly. And I sing that line every time, and so it's like grown on me over the years. Um, but man and you, that was the first time I had seen these backhanded long, swoopy hits with the long um, yes. And at first, the first time they popped up, I was like hold on, I don't know how to hit these. And then I figured it right out. And man, so rad.
Asia:Such a fun one. Usually that's a tale of mine lately, because I have it saved and I don't know why I call them Hawkeyes.
MJ:Is that what you named it?
Asia:I named them Hawkeyes. You hit it outward and it goes out and down and straight back up. I don't know why I call them that, but I've been putting that in a lot of maps lately. But yeah, that song was not a song that I enjoy, but there is no denying how joyous the song is, yeah, and so you can't help but just create this like bubbly, like just fun, like poppy, like map, yes, um.
Asia:And then some of the lyrics just lent themselves to the choreography, like, um, when justin is like I'm going down, down, down, down, and like it was like, oh, I know what to do here. Like, just like you know it, just it was such an easy song to map because again, it's one of those like magical songs where the lyrical cadence or the lyrical content, you know, lines up with the music and so you're able to hit all those like accents as well. So it just makes you feel like you know you're on stage dancing or you know.
MJ:I love that during this conversation we have already picked up on a few of your tells. We got the hot guys, those down hits there that we'll be seeing in the future. Y'all remember that, remember that. And then she just talked about three portal magic. You know when the three lanes are open and targets are coming. She just said she was going to be using those, which is great, because this is a question I often ask you guys what does it tell? How can people start recognizing your choreography? So the more we can mention these little tidbits that you like to include, the more people can recognize your work.
MJ:I get, we get asked that a lot in the for the love of the map group, like how do you guys know who's? Well, we've just studied it for so long. You know, we just try to figure it out. Would be awesome If supernatural was like and this map is made by Asia. You know that would be great, but until then, you know we, you know that would be great, but until then, you know we'll, we'll call it out here and make sure we add add it to the album for each choreographer in our private group. So if you guys are ever wondering if a workout belongs to someone check their albums out. We try and populate them as often as we get the information, because awesome that y'all even have that yeah.
MJ:I think it's pretty cool it's. It's definitely would be cool to see Supernatural do something like that, but I understand why it doesn't get done, so we are happy to be those people who do it. You know, I mean, this is our, this is our nerdy thing, this is what we geek out about. So let us be those people for you guys, you know. I am surprised, though, that you did not like baby as a song as a whole, because, girl, you that work that Matt gets us dancing and feeling the love, feeling the joy. I feel like I'm a teenager dancing.
Asia:it's crazy objectively it is a good song objectively. Objectively it's a great song. The chorus is great. You know the, even like the. Is it Ludacris who's like the rap? Teacher on that song oh my gosh. Like his cadence. When he's like rapping his verses it's super fun. I just personally don't like it, but objectively it is a great song. Like you've got all like the right elements in there too.
MJ:This leads me to something. This is the. I want to bring up a workout. It's really old dude, and it's the first time I ever saw you or who you were in the community Like she's a choreographer. She's the one who's making this map.
MJ:Who is this? And it also ties into all the movement you like to get us to do and it is a medium with Leanne fuego, pure salsa, ah, where you legit positioned the triangles to get us to do the salsa steps. Yes, my mind was blown. My mind was blown. My mind was blown the first time I played that. I include it as often as I could in suggestions and competitions and things just trying to get people. And I always scream at them don't skip the warmup, because you'll you'll be lost if you skip the warmup. There's very specific movements for this workout. I want to hear about specific movements for this workout. Yeah, I want to hear about the creation of that workout.
Asia:Wow, so that was long ago. It was long ago, but I do remember taking that salsa class because I had already taken salsa classes before but, we wanted to get all the choreographers up to speed and get them aligned for this workout, and so we all took this class together at the office and they hired, like this, professional salsa instructor and it was a blast. As I'm like going through the lesson, I'm thinking to myself like all right, what movements can I are achievable in Supernatural. Right.
Asia:And so you know we're going through the class. I'm like, ooh, this, like this step out to the side seems like it'd be a really nice one. I'm like, okay, and then you know you can add that with like some some shines, like adding like arm flares and stuff. I was like, okay, this is what I'm going to focus on. So I get in the headset and I'm like, all right if I'm stepping, but I'm not stepping together, I'm stepping out. Logically, it makes sense to take a step triangle but then jut out one of the legs to signify that you're, you know you're stepping out, and then back to center. And so that's how that came about. And, of course, the music was fantastic.
Asia:So that was just a blast to make. But the reason we haven't utilized that step anymore is because I think it just happened too soon in the supernatural lifespan. At that point in time people weren't acclimated to learning like new movements just yet. Like now, I feel like our user base like is ready with open arms for a lot of those things. Yeah.
Asia:But so early on it was like jarring and it also looked very similar to just the lean triangle. So some people were like, oh well, I'm going to just lean through this, but it's like no, it's like smaller. Yeah, you know so definitely.
MJ:So if there, I want to bring it back because it just it feels so good it really feels good.
MJ:It feels so good for that series, so it's got to be difficult to translate how you want us to move, for us to visually understand it and see it and be able to recreate those movements doing the workouts that we are playing, and how you do the movements, especially if it's like a new triangle, like in the salsa workout. I really loved seeing that video, that social post they used. It was so amazing. You were like doing salsa and then it just jumped straight into the headset and you were doing the moves. But this is also an example of don't skip the workout y'all, because if we want new movements, they're going to go over it. Yes, don't skip the warmup. I want new movements. You guys. I want new moments. Stop skipping the warmups. It's gotta be difficult to translate, though.
Asia:It is, it's it's really tough, but I think I think I can speak to all of my the choreography team when I it is, it's, it's really tough, but I think I think I can speak to all of my the choreography team when I say that it's one of those things that we, it's one of those challenges that we, we enjoy like of all of the things that we have to like, you know, of all of the challenges we have to like deal with trying to translate a new move into headsets, one of the more like fun projects that we get to do. And so, yeah, we, we would do it more often, you know, if we had like the tools to. But yeah, we, we love that, we love that.
MJ:So that's amazing I'm trying to think of. I know there's a pros, only I don't have this in my notes so I might not remember the name of it. The pros I remember the name of the pros. It's not in this alone. You have the first two songs. Justin has the back three songs. The first song, the way you get us to move with the triangles Again you do a tiny triangle. I'm obsessed with your tiny triangles. I'm not going to stop talking about them. I'm not going to stop the way. And then in the second song, you do the same thing. Oh man, it is such. It's like a pros only gluteus workout. The first two songs kick your butt, kick your tail. If you're really doing the triangles, if you're really trying to do the movements. Again it's not just a squat and a lunge. You guys are really getting us to move around a lot and I don't think a lot of people realize that.
Asia:You know what I mean, that's always been my challenge with like pros. I don't do a lot of pros, pros content, but it's one thing that I want to increase this year. Okay, but my challenge was I know how to get you to move in a way that is pros only level right. Like I can get you to feel like, oh my God, like you know, like, oh, my legs are burning or my, my core is like so tight. But sometimes trying to also hit the target count is a little tricky. That makes sense. Yeah, you got to have that.
MJ:You got to have that balance. You got to have the targets be at the pros level plus the movement Right.
Asia:And sometimes, at least for me, what the challenge is is, once I hit that target, count or like where it should be. I find that, because it's so dense that I'm sort of planted, I'm sort of like here in a solid stance and I'm like focusing more on like a like a cognitive challenge versus like a physical, like moving thing.
Asia:So once I get that ironed out, I think I'll be in a great spot. But that's a challenge for me right now. I just I want to be able to add the like movement movement quality to a prose where it's like oh my God, like there are two more songs left.
MJ:I need a pause, I need a minute. So I actually looked up the song I was talking about from the prose, only not in this alone. It's the first song. It's an Ariana Grande song, not into you. It is so good. Yes, it is so good. That is it. That is it. It is so good. I really love that one.
Asia:I love Ariana Grande.
MJ:Same same man girl can sing talent for days, days oh my girl can sing.
Asia:Talent for days, days. Oh my gosh. And her as Galinda in Wicked.
MJ:Are you a Wicked fan?
Asia:Yes.
MJ:Big Wicked fan.
Asia:Yes, I love Wicked. I love Wicked, love Wicked. I wish I could sing, so I could just do the run all day.
MJ:Did you have a? This is totally off. We have no notes on this. Did you help with the new Wicked medium flow that came out? I believe you had a song in that one.
Asia:The song I mapped was I may have mapped two, but I think the song I mapped that I had the most fun mapping was Defying Gravity. Yes.
Asia:And oh my goodness, and usually when you put Easter eggs into a map, you have to hit it, let it do its thing, and then go on.
Asia:I was like, nah, we can't do that. So I've got these green bubbles and and, uh, butterflies, and so you're hitting it and you're going, and another one comes and you hit it, and you keep going, and you hit another one, and so the idea was like you're just being surrounded by like this magic, um, as you're going through, you know, and as elfie is, you know, like proclaiming like this, like like reclamation of her power, you, you know, she's like, you know, like okay, well, if it's just me that I'm going to do this, but everyone's going to know who I am, and like I was like this has to have Easter eggs, joy balls everywhere. You know, like we have to have those to to to make your hair stand up, to get the shivers, like you know, going up and down your spine. You have to have that so that you have the same feeling, at least as I would imagine, as Elfie does when she's saying all this, she's losing her best friend at this point.
Asia:People are after her. She's like all right. Well, she's like all right. This is it. Like I gotta go and I just I wanted to capture all that.
MJ:I really feel like you did capture all that. I was so shocked when I got to that song and I was playing it, I paused like 15 seconds in and sent my chat group a voice text out of breath Like y'all, hold on, hold on. I just got to a spot I could pause where I won't miss anything, and then I went back in. Oh it, it took me by surprise. It's complex, it's magical. The, the joy balls. What you did with those Easter eggs was perfection. Um, you had some, like I said, some complexity in there with multi-lane work a little bit. I was a little shook. I was a little shook by it. I was surprised and I thought, wow, this is good.
Asia:Yeah, the challenge I will say with that song was the length, but it was more of the dialogue, that's what I was about to say, because they're talking.
MJ:So how is it?
Asia:to match. Yes, it was hard. It was hard, and what I had to do for that was put myself like okay, I'm Elfie, I'm Galinda, I'm on stage. What is the blocking? What is the choreo for the acting instead?
Asia:of the dance right and so and so a lot of the motions you see during the dialogue is, um, like there are some moves right, like you go down to a squat, like I have to keep you moving. But in between all of those motions there are things where it's like you know, like instead of flying off the handle and maybe you're know, you're like off the hand, like you're like being sassy a little bit and you're like you're tracing tails, but they're like like arm gestures to show that you're having a conversation with someone, and so that was a trick. But I had to like sit there for a second Cause. When I got in, I was just in like just general, like mapper mode. So I'm like all right, I'm just going to start choreographing. I'm like this doesn't work.
Asia:And so I scrapped it all, went back to the beginning of the song and I was like let me just listen to the dialogue, let me just literally just stand here, play it back and just think. And I literally just sat there and I thought for a bit. I was like, okay, if I were acting, this is what I would do. And then it evolved from there, from like choreographing dialogue and gestures, to then, as the music ramps up, now I'm casting spells, like I created like this little, like S-tail thing in there at one point and that was me just like casting a little spell, and then we get into the actual, like meat and potatoes, and that's when the movement gets a little more grandiose and all that.
MJ:So it was. It is fun to play, so I'm glad you had fun mapping it and creating it and it's very interesting to hear your process when you're kind of stumped, like you're like well how am I going to map this?
MJ:It's they're just talking and you take it back to the acting. How are you going to map this? They're just talking and you take it back to the acting. How are you going to act? They're talking to each other having a conversation. That's fascinating to me, the process of it, because I was going to ask what is your mapping process? You get assigned a song, you listen to it, what are you doing? But you just explained it so perfectly, with Defying Gravity, how you would take that challenge on. So say, it's a song you absolutely love. What would your process be?
Asia:Yeah, so my, you know, and maybe it's a cop-out answer, but my process changes depending on, like, the project that I'm given.
MJ:Makes sense.
Asia:Of course, there are certain things that I you know. There are certain like comfort things, right. Like I have certain snippets that I know work well with certain things, and so I have, like, there are certain, I guess, patterns within the way I approach a workout that are similar, but the overall approach can vary depending on what I'm given Right, but if it's like, if it's a song I love, right. I think the one of the things I take into consideration for a song that I really enjoy is all right. I want to create a new-ish move Not so new where a coach is like, hey, we have to put this in the warmup, but something that's like, ooh, this tail is a little different, but I know how to get into it, Right. So I.
Asia:I try to create something that's like new ish or fresh. I'll use the word fresh.
Asia:So I try to create some movement that's fresh that I can like incorporate maybe into like the chorus, so it comes around a couple of times and then I'm focused on like getting you to dance or something, so that way you have something to chew on that's like oh, this is new, I like this, but you still have a sense of familiarity, um, in between, to like really keep in that flow, state um. And then the other things I focus on with music that I really enjoy actualizing the lyrics, like if there's something that can hit in there, like, okay, get on up to get down. There's a song, oh, there is. Oh, what is it? Oh, I mapped it like a couple of weeks ago. It's by Kim Petras and it's, I don't think, the workouts out yet, but be on the lookout for it. There's a song by Kim Petras.
MJ:Okay, kim Petras. Okay, it's called.
Asia:oh my gosh, I might have to send this to you, okay, and I'll add it in when I'm editing, not a problem. Yes, there is a song called that will be in this workout, and I had never heard the song before, but immediately getting in I was like, oh, I love this. And so my process was all right. I'm getting y'all to dance, first and foremost. That's always what I want to do, but now I'm going to be matching the lyrical cadence, and what that means for me is if she's like I'm making sure, on the, when she's sustaining the vocal, you're hitting some kind of tail or a swing, so it's like it's all right, get up to get down, like you're actualizing all of that.
Asia:So that's another thing that I tend to do with music that I really love.
Asia:Like I listen to the lyrics, see what I can like make y'all like almost imitate, and then, yeah, and then lately trying to be a little more liberal with the joy balls, so instead, so she says something and she kind of hits I can't remember, but she's like almost completing a verse, and she's like, ooh, here we go, or something like that.
Asia:That's the general vibe, and so in the notes I put hey, coaches, when you hit like a soap bubble, easter egg. That's just ambiance. You're still moving, but I wanted to use the soap bubbles because they're clear. You know they've got a little bit of color, but they're clear. So it's just more ambiance and it's not going to obstruct your vision too much to where you can't see the targets coming. Yeah, and so that's what's in there, no-transcript. So every now and then, the choreographers and I will have like we call like a peer review, and so you know, like four of us will submit maps that we are like particularly proud of, or something that we struggle with, that we needed advice on. And so I submitted this Kim Petras map and literally within the first like 15 seconds, you're like.
Asia:Asia like oh, my God Cause I think in the first like couple of seconds, you know, you hit a little pattern and then you hit the soap bubbles and then you have like this little dance party going on. It's all during the intro. Oh you got. You're surrounded by these like soap bubbles, as you're like dancing through this choreo, and I remember Benny being like like asia. Oh my god, this is fun yeah, I was like thank you sensei?
MJ:you see, the joy balls add to the overall experience and to the sass that you bring to the choreography all of it. So I love that you're using them in this way.
Asia:That's exciting exciting, yeah, and it it's almost like my own like work of working on with Jenny. Her name is Jenny, she's one of the engineers we worked on environmental effects and so what we do was we would program certain targets, once you hit them to trigger like lightning or rainfall or snow or like I think we have like a sandstorm coming through, so it was. It was such a blast and you know I was like we have to incorporate this at some point. You know right um, I uh.
Asia:Fun fact, I use my favorite song from the midnight to choreograph to um for that hackathon. I kind of just like brute forced it in.
MJ:You brute forced it. You're like here we're using this.
Asia:We're using this for our project, Like we don't have the rights to it, it's just for. We're just doing this for internal, just like you know, review and testing. Anyway, we're going to use this song. Okay, it's fine and it was a blast. It was a blast.
MJ:I have a dream of something very similar to what you're talking about the environmental effects With like a storm joy ball, where you would hit it and then like lightning bolts would come out and then thunder would happen and then like the sky would turn into a storm, you know, and then towards the end of the song or something like the sun would come back out. I don't know, I always thought that would be a really cool thing and I'm sure someday in the future you know something like that will eventually happen. But just the whole idea of using the easter eggs, the joy balls, to change the environment would be really cool.
Asia:Yeah, and the beautiful thing is we know it's possible. And we were using such like rudimentary, like tools to make it happen that. I know, if we devoted true time and energy to it, that it would be. It would be game changing literally game changing? Yeah, it would. But it was such an amazing project to work on. I think about it all the time.
MJ:Do you like working on projects like that, where you're just out of your comfort zone in a different area, working with someone from engineering, you know?
Asia:Oh, I love that. I love stuff like that. Cause it, you know, like I. Obviously I love my day job. I love getting to choreograph, you know maps and everything to get you guys moving, but I love having, I love being able to contribute to something like a little greater, Like that. If it means that it's going to make the app overall a better product, I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of it, no-transcript.
Asia:I think why I loved working on environmental effects so much is because it's the main reason that our users love the app, aside from being able to move, and all of that is because they're immersed in such beautiful environments. You're there because you're transported. There's a certain level of escapism to our app that people enjoy. Yeah, and if you're able to take this canvas that is the environment and add some motion to it, add a little bit of extra color to it, it's only going to make the level of immersion for you all that much, that much better. Yeah, and yeah, if I I love working on things like that, like for the greater good, I like that.
MJ:So, like Supernatural Together, you know the idea of getting people together, working out together. Did you enjoy working on that?
Asia:I did. I did Initially. Initially I was like, oh well, you know, they kind of already have a workaround for this, like they've been doing this for a while, but you know like if it meant that we had a native version, like in our app, that people could use, I was all for it, you know.
MJ:And the visual effects and supernatural together are my favorite part oh my God Are my favorite part Now, that is a blast, that is a blast.
Asia:Yep, that is a blast. The challenge zones, the victory tunnels, oh my gosh, that is an absolute blast.
MJ:Yes, those tunnels, man. And when the environment starts to get a little bit dark and then the people start coming closer together, right before I'm into that, I always said during those challenge zones, it would be really cool if, instead of the normal environment that you're in, you went into space just during that section and then come back like you're in a wormhole. You know you're like in a tunnel.
Asia:Yes, oh yes, gotta, fight your way out, get back to it. That's so, that's, that's a great idea.
MJ:I'm with you on all the environmental ideas and stuff. I think it's really fun. Well, obviously I love choreography. That's the main reason the way you guys get us to move. That is. That is my love. But I also really like the environments and it would be cool to see more movement within things. Whether it's with the joy balls, like you were talking about, and they're going around you, they don't bother me. You can put as many of them. I know there's rules, but you can put them in, they don't bother me. I'll still hit. You're still locked in. I'm still locked in. Yeah, because I've been doing it three years. You know I'm not looking at targets, I'm looking at the portal. So I Um, but everyone's a little bit different. Yeah, give me all the joy balls, give me all the distracting things I'm here for it.
Asia:I'm still locked in, I still got this, but it's yeah, they're so fun, they're so fun. So any opportunity I get to use them, like more liberally, I'm just like, yes, just let me do it.
MJ:Let me stick them in there? Yeah, absolutely so. Let me do it. You're going to stick them in there? Yeah, absolutely so. I have a very introspective sort of question to ask you, and that is from the time that you started working at Supernatural and putting out maps for all of us to play, how do you feel like your choreography style has changed and evolved? Wow Right, it's a huge question.
Asia:Yeah, and it's. It's a tricky one to answer, because I could look back at a map that I made like three months ago and be like I'm so different from then to now I feel like I am.
Asia:It's a double. It's a double edged sword, because there will be times where, like I, I grow and evolve. So will be times where, like I, I grow and evolve so quickly that people are like, oh, this is precious, this is great. But then, on the other hand, it's like, oh, like this is too much. Or oh, this is way too different. You know, scrap it, can't stand it. Right. And you know so I, I, I take the.
Asia:You know, it's just, it's a pro and a con of, you know, being a choreographer. But I, yeah, I could look back, you know, as far as a couple months ago or as short of a span as a couple months ago, and be like this is so different, was more think like almost like jazzercise or like a dancer size type of format, so it'd be like all right, lunge in up, lunge in up two hits here and lunge in up like more like that kind of like that style where you're getting the workout in right you're getting
Asia:the workout in, but it's more of like a exercise, like rep, like yes, um. And once I realized that I could push the envelope ever so slightly, like over time, um, I started to incorporate more dance elements and then I was able to start getting you guys to move, you know, in a more expansive way, and so I think my overall like mapping style has shifted from more of like a rigid let's get this workout in me and ha and ooh and ah, to more of like all right, like we're going to add some personality, some flair, some flavor here.
Asia:Some sass. We're going to add some personality, some flair, some flavor here. Some sass, yeah, some sass All day, all day.
Asia:So you're going to get that workout in and you might get some reps here and there, but you're going to feel like you're on stage, either as a background dancer or like you're the lead. I think that's where I am now in, I guess, my choreographer journey, because it's definitely a journey, yeah, I would.
MJ:I would love to do like a little study of like taking your maps, your personal favorite maps through, like one or two from every six months that you've started working there, and like checking them out and doing like some sort of video comparison of them. I just think it would be a cool thing to do because I think you would see how much you've changed in your style and how much you've evolved. All for good. All for good, all for good, yeah, honestly that would be, you know.
Asia:You know, asia and Marla.
MJ:Part two oh, here we go. That's a good idea. I think that's our, that's our second episode, right? I think that's a fantastic idea and we could just get into a total breakdown and break it completely down for everyone.
Asia:Honestly, I would love that. All right, I would love that. I would love that so much. That's such great content. It is great content.
MJ:It is great content. 100% content, a hundred percent, and you can see how much you've pushed the envelope and how much you've changed from rigid to. You're getting us to do the fun thing, but we're exercising and don't realize it.
Asia:You know you know, yeah, and like I'm already thinking about like being able to identify those maps where you see me stumble as I'm growing and evolving. You see the hiccups in that process. I'm like, okay, this didn't work a little bit, this wasn't that great, let's adjust and continue. That would be very interesting to look back at Like a retrospective and I want to be clear we.
MJ:Supernatural is my favorite. Uh, everything about supernatural is my favorite. I came in here, 2021. I fell in love with supernatural, the mapping, all of it. It got me to exercise for the first time in my adult life first time in my adult life. So when I am critical and say things like that wasn't really fun or it was more rigid, or when I'm looking back on maps from 2020, or 2021, it's still with love, it's still with so much admiration.
MJ:But I do love doing the comparison things and seeing how far everyone has come and the mapping has come Every year on my birthday. Well, you know, for years, new content came out daily, right, and now we get them once a week. This, my birthday, fell on a Monday this year. So when I said this is my birthday workout, it really was my birthday workout on a Monday this year. So when I said this is my birthday workout, it really it really was my birthday workout. All right. So every year on my birthday 11, 11, I claim a workout. Right, I'm like, okay, this one's my birthday workout and never in my life did I ever imagine claiming a low boxing as my birthday workout. Okay, but what you did in this very particular low boxing, I think this is like full circle moment here for you. Let me, let me think how I'm going to explain it.
MJ:You get us to move in a low boxing so much. There is so much leg glute, core work. You are dancing, you are moving. It is a Y2K baby up in the club with Coach Doc. I mean it's got heads. I mean the playlist, you got head sprung. Yeah, it wasn't me. Disco and pullover oh my God. But the last song, pull, pullover, oh my God. But the last song, pullover by Trina, that map In a low box. It's a low boxing. Obviously. You hear this music and you're like I want this in a high, I don't want this in a low. Okay, but you did it justice and that's what blew my mind. I was like why do I love this? This is a high playlist, maybe a medium if we're pushing it, but never low.
Asia:Absolutely a high playlist. Absolutely a high playlist. It's, I think, and this is going to be hard to put, it's going to be hard to like, quantify, but it wasn't me pull over, pull over, especially, that was just like that. I think that map. We'll talk about that one individually in a second, but I think, with that playlist, with um, what was the other song, Head sprung, was head sprung. Um, the songs are hype enough. I mean, they're obviously the songs are hype, they're they're, they're bangers.
Asia:So of course they're going to be easy to map in high, but they're at a certain tempo where it worked out in such a way where low intensity users could still get that groove and it not be too quick. Right, and those were magical songs, like you know, like, like the like uncles and aunties can still like, do their little, like those songs. And then you got the hardcore up in the club in the back. Like you have the ability to, those songs cover a range in a way that like the lows are not sleepy.
MJ:No, that is not a sleepy low, that is not a sleepy low. No.
Asia:Not a sleepy low. Yeah, those they were fun to map. They were fun to map. And the Trina one I went into with a little bit of a goal in mind.
Asia:Okay went into with a little bit of a goal in mind, okay, so anytime I get trina meg the stallion, even though the workout might not be glutes, you're getting it's gonna be a glute, you're gonna get some. You're getting some glute action in there, um, and so I just I had to do it like there that I think the Trina one had more duck bars in it than I normally would add in like a low boxing workout or map. But yeah, I had fun with that one. I had fun.
MJ:It's fun. It's fun. Y'all should go play it, because it it is a low when, when we're talking about the targets, all you know they come. That's low intensity. But the movement, the duck bars, the bobs and weaves that I mean you are getting to and so if you are doing all that is asked of you, you're going to get a great workout. You're going to get a fantastic and it's fun. You, you're going to get a great workout. You're going to get a fantastic and it's fun. It's so fun you forget you're working out. I mean my heart rate. I played training yesterday. Julie and I played it together. Both of our heart rates were in the red. We're both like how is she doing this to us in a low? This is amazing. It was so good. It was so good and focused.
Asia:It was very focused.
MJ:So cool that you mentioned that if you ever get Trina, you're going to get glute work in, because my glutes are screaming today. They are sore.
Asia:Yeah, yep, trina Meg the stallion, like if y'all see those, like if, yeah, if y'all see those and it's me, you're getting a lower body workout.
MJ:You're getting the stallion legs comes up in supernatural, you're grabbing it and it's rush, and I've seen it in a pros only boxing with mark um, flaming hot pop, um that map. So anytime we see rush that we we should assume is probably yours because you're like I want that song, want that song.
Asia:Unless it's a reshuffle or a level down and somebody else got assigned. If it's original, it's probably me.
MJ:And that pros only boxing was a huge workout in the community. The community loved that workout, loved it.
Asia:Yeah, that was my. It wasn't. I don't think it was my first pros boxing, but it was my first stab in a long while. And so I was like, oh, let me get back in here and see what I can do. And so, like there were some moves like in hindsight I played back I'm like, oh, like I would change this, I would change this. This doesn't feel great. But then there were other things. I was like, oh, like this was. I was in my bag with this one Like this was great Fun playlist. And yeah, I think that's one of those playlists where I feel like I was on that journey of growth At least in terms of pros.
Asia:So I was able to gather data. See what didn't work.
MJ:Yeah, and change it up for your next ones. Yeah, helps you grow. Yeah, it was a fun playlist. That's a good workout, that is a fantastic workout. And you know back to the evolution in all of this and you said you know, just thinking about how you mapped three months ago. Things have changed. So when a map, finally when a workout, comes to us, it's like months later. Yes.
MJ:You know, like the whole con, the process, you know so you would have worked on it three, four months ago and now we're getting, and then you go play it. You're like, well, hold on a second Cause. You're looking at it with new, fresh. You've evolved since then. Does that happen a lot to you, where you're like, oh man, I wish I would have done this differently?
Asia:yes, all the time, all the time, and then sometimes like I'll get, I'll see something. I'm like, oh yeah, this didn't work. I'm like I know, like I'm sorry, I know, I know, like I've grown past that that was like 90 days ago.
Asia:I've already grown I know I promise it won't happen again.
Asia:No, no, no, no again. Pros and cons, but pros and cons, but.
MJ:Yes, pros and cons.
Asia:Yeah, like I'm always growing. But you know sometimes like it is like I got dang. You know when you like you're already aware by this time that something didn't work, but it's now, it's released. You're like well.
MJ:What's out there now? Yeah, let's see how they take it.
Asia:Yeah.
MJ:Yeah, so your first full curated workout baby was a high intensity boxing Mm-hmm. Is it safe to assume your favorite thing to map is high intensity, or I should not assume anything?
Asia:I don't know. I think my favorite overall is probably High Flow. Okay. But that was. I was very intentional when I was curating that whole thing.
MJ:You had a vision.
Asia:Yeah, and trying to take music that I love and craft it into a package that makes sense. It wouldn't have made sense for high flow, just cause, like the music almost commands you to to battle Like it's, it's electronic, almost battle music, right, like you're you have to be. You know, you're, you're, you have to fight.
Asia:Like that's what the music is calling you to do, and not so much dance. I've been thinking about creating a flow version, but music in that same genre or wheelhouse, but not in the same tone, that's like hey, this is boxing. I've been thinking about calling it the neon cassette tape. No. Because it's got that retro, like 80s kind of sound to it. So I want to be in that wheelhouse, but using music that lends you or lends itself more to dance versus you know fighting.
MJ:Fighting yeah, oh, that's awesome. You know, fighting, fighting, oh, that's awesome. So is that your like your focus for this year?
Asia:creating more more workouts of your own. Yeah, that is one of my personal commitments. Like I, I hopefully Dennis doesn't see this, because if he sees it, he's like no. Asia you said you were going to.
MJ:You said yeah.
Asia:So it's more of like a quiet, like personal commitment to myself to make more, because I feel like we have this saying in dance where, like as a dancer, if you're teaching your by teaching your teammate the choreography, you in turn learn it better yourself. Like because now that I have to teach you this choreo, I'm forcing myself to learn it again. Right, I'm conveying it to somebody else and I'm actualizing those movements in my head again, so now I can execute it better. I can execute it better. It's similar by me being able to choreograph these workouts and then curate them as well and come up with the direction, choose a coach that I feel would match the overall theme, the best, who would be willing to take it with open arms. I think I'm developing a deeper understanding of the creation process as a whole, which is the overall goal of the whole thing. Obviously, I want to flex my creative brain more, but I also just want to get more in depth or get more in tune with the overall process itself.
MJ:Yeah, I respect that, admire that. I love that itself. Yeah, I respect that, admire that, I love that, and it's really cool that you work for a company that will allow you to do that.
Asia:It's a blessing, it's it's 1000, 1000% a blessing. Like I wake up every day, like I get to, like I work right here, you know, like it's, it's amazing, like I work here and I'm doing things that I love. I get to talk to people who are also creative, I get to talk to people like you, you know, which is amazing in its own right, but like, yeah, it's, it's 1000% a blessing.
MJ:Could you have imagined yourself in this sort of position, like when you were a senior in high school and thinking about your life and like when you were senior in high school and thinking about your life, if you would have told high school Asia that I would be doing this. I would have probably like peed and thrown up in a corner Keeping it real.
Asia:Right, if we have to clip that, we can clip it, but being so real, I would have been in a corner.
MJ:I appreciate that it that in a corner. Just appreciate that.
Asia:It's such a niche. Yeah. Intersection right, like being able to use my you know degree in dance and my know-how of like gaming and tech and being able to you know fuse those. Yes, and then to use that ability to like create a product that is doing like good Changing lives.
MJ:changing lives.
Asia:You know, that's. That's the part that's unreal, you know, and I just I would never have believed it. I wouldn't. I moved out here to LA thinking that I was going to have a more traditional career in dance, music videos, concerts, touring on a cruise ship or something. That's what I had the intent of doing when I moved out here. This was not on my bingo card. No, this was not on my bingo card?
MJ:no, this was not on my bingo card. True, unicorn. Like Benny said, they were looking for unicorns and you are one of them it helps that I love unicorns yes, I love unicorns too, and cats, and I meant to ask, because you have your little kitty ears are you a cat or a dog person?
Asia:man, okay, so this is a complicated. This is a complicated answer. If, if I lived in a house like I have a studio apartment but if I lived in a home with a yard dog person, I've always wanted a Shiba Inu. Oh yeah, and I, just I grew up with dogs. My fun fact my dad, when I was younger, was working all the time, always worked, and I was like Dad, I'm kind of lonely, you know, and he thinking me, thinking he's going to spend more time with me.
Asia:I get home one day and there's just a dog. I was like, okay, well, hey, so I've grown up with dogs my entire life and I had this little teacup poodle. More on that story, if you cared. It's a very short story, but you know, um, we can come back to a second um, but I've been considering getting a pet.
Asia:Um, but for here it would be a cat, and I personally love sphinx cats, the hairless cats the pink ones, um, but I I love hairless cats, so if I ever get lucky enough to find um a hairless cat that I could rescue or adopt, that's what I would go for.
MJ:I like that. I'm an all animals person. I grew up with dogs. I grew up with dogs, always wanted a cat, but my dad was not a cat person. It wasn't until I was older and my partner. We have been together. Oh gosh, wow, I think in August we'll be together 25 years.
Asia:Congratulations.
MJ:Wow, I think, wow, I think this has just hit me right now that it's been 25 years. Wow, okay, so it's a long time. Um, it's a long time. He was a cat person and he had cats, and then he happened to find our first cat that we ever had together on the side of the interstate and rescued it Tiny baby kitten. And I have been a cat and dog person ever since. We have all the animals in our house. I even have a bearded dragon.
Asia:I love that. Yeah, awesome, he's amazing.
MJ:He's amazing. I was also terrified. His name is Crocky and, uh, sometimes I call him a crunky and crocodilly. He's got all the nicknames. He's amazing, um, but yeah, I always like to ask people, cause I feel like you can learn a lot about someone. Are you a? Dog person or a cat person?
Asia:Oh yeah, you know, yeah, so what's the care like for a bearded dragon, for a bearded?
MJ:dragon. Oh, first of all, there's a lot of anxiety. I'm going to warn you, because they're reptiles and you just don't read them in the same way that you can read a cat and a dog. Like you know, they're sick. You know, like, yeah, it's weird. And dragons go through their own form of hibernation. They call it brumation. Okay.
MJ:So they sleep for months at a time, some of them, and they're all different. Some of them do it, some of them don't. Okay, ours did. They don't usually do it until about a year or so older. This was his first year and the signs of brumation are the same as if they were sickly. So you're like constantly worried, like is he sick or is he brumating? Like what is happening? He just woke up? Yeah, he just woke up. He's been asleep since Thanksgiving.
Asia:I would be a wreck.
MJ:Right, and so was I. I'm like, was he going to wake up? And so we would check on him, go in there and look at him every day. He would peek his eyes open. He wasn't just dead asleep.
MJ:But he would open his eyes. But he was okay hidden. You know, he wanted to stay, he didn't want to come out and bask, he didn't want to do all that. But, um, now that he's awake he's got his own room, like our spare bedroom is his room, where his habitat is, and he has a ramp so he can come and go as he pleases. He is safe in there. He has a whole window set up and goes basks with like lights in the window. He's probably in the window right now. He's got like a dig box in front of the window, like he's got the best dragon life ever. Okay, um, but it's my daughter's fault that we have him, because she's obsessed with reptiles and we went years, no, so finally got her one and I was like I can't do this, I can't. And now I love him. I love him. He is so cool. I recommend him afraid.
Asia:My dad got me a frog once and it was. I was, still am, but like people pleaser to the max and my um, I think one of my dad's friends was like selling frogs. And they're like, hey, you want a frog? And I was like, sure, yeah, I blink. And now I have a frog in this house. I'm like I don't want.
MJ:I didn't really want this.
Asia:I didn't really want this. And my dad was like touch it. I was like.
Asia:I don't want to touch it. And my dad was like, come on, touch it. I was like no, it's too big, it's too slimy, I don't want to touch that. And then my dad was like, all right, well, touch it or you're grounded. I say how long am I grounded for? Like no hesitation. How long am I grounded? For two weeks, all right, you want the tv? Do you want the phone? What do you want? I'm not touching this thing, I'm not, not touching, yeah, not happening not, not for you, huh no, no, but it's like.
Asia:I've seen bit of dragons and those. They look cool, but I can appreciate something from a distance.
MJ:Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. And they cause a lot of anxiety. I'm just going to say it because you just don't know, especially the information thing. Maybe it's because it's our first full year of having him and so we've never had a reptile. Maybe next year I won't have so much anxiety, I'll know what to expect. But this year, man, I was worried all the time.
Asia:All the time.
MJ:Yeah. Just sitting there and he's just chilling, you know, and I'm like is he breathing? Is he alive? What's happening? It's like having a newborn baby at home and you're like, am I going to kill it, like home? And you're like, am I going to kill it, like what's happening here? How am I taking care of?
Asia:this thing.
MJ:Cat dog got all the experience, all the confidence, so maybe next year I won't have so much anxiety with the bearded dragon, but it's a cool experience. Yes, exactly, I am going to ask this question for Julia, her favorite thing to know about people. She's nosy Me too, we all nosy. What is your go-to favorite food or snack?
Asia:Man, okay, justin will call me a biter immediately because it is sushi and I feel like that may have been Justin's answer.
MJ:It was.
Asia:And Ethan's answer. We all love sushi. I guess Me too. It's one of those foods that I could eat it every day and not get tired of it. Yeah, and it's one of those foods where you don't feel sluggish after.
MJ:Yes, I was just about to point that out.
Asia:You don't feel sluggish after you eat it.
MJ:You can eat your fill.
Asia:Go on about your day and you feel satiated, but you, like you're not, you know, drugged down right, not tired like I need a nap. I got the itis. Let me go take that, exactly, exactly the itis, out here trying to fight sleep and stuff and then like if the, if the fish is fresh, like if you get get really good, like sushi, grade sushi like sushi grade fish.
Asia:it's just it melts in your mouth. Like the fish melts in your mouth. Oh my goodness, I was in Japan last year in April like end of April, beginning of May, me and Ethan went and we went to this omakase place and everything I ate there like my brain just kept exploding. I was like, oh my God, like this. This is how this tastes, like this is. This is great. The texture was fantastic. You could taste how fresh it was. Like, oh, I could eat sushi all day, every day. Bonus answer um dessert.
Asia:All day every day Bonus answer dessert oh.
MJ:If I could eat something, it would be mochi. Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you said mochi because, like I got this mochi the other day, that is so good it is this blueberry one, oh man.
MJ:I've never had blueberry mochi before. I don't usually go for that, but it was a double-filled blueberry mochi before. I don't usually go for that, but it was a double filled blueberry mochi. I was at the mall with my daughter. She wanted to. Forgot the name of the store off the top of my head, but it has all the hello kitty stuff, like all of the all the things, and so I bought that for me while she got, you know, like a hundred dollars worth of all the other stuff new phone case all the other stuff new phone case, you know, like all the cute stuff, like some necklaces and hair pins and all the things.
MJ:And she got this really beautiful glitter eyeliner. And she, um, she was like, look at this, this is so cool. I was like, dude, I love that, I want some. And she's like you, you don't wear eyeliner, why do you need it? And I'm like, well, what if I wanted to wear a glitter eyeliner? She's like this is for me. This is mine. I got to put me first.
MJ:Exactly, it's like she starts talking about how it would be perfect for a cosplay. But anyway, I bought myself the blueberry mochi and they were epic so good, so I'm with you.
Asia:I love with you Fresh. Yes, my only thing now is places that sell mochi usually sell it filled. It's either got like red bean or some kind of like fruit, something in it I love, mochi that is, it's almost. It's a small, bite-sized pieces that are shaped almost like marshmallows. Ah, you get them in a little bag and they're hard to find Over in Japan. They're a dime, a dozen you can grab them anywhere I was in heaven.
Asia:But here they're hard to find because everyone wants to have the filled kind. But I could eat the mochi that's shaped like marshmallows all day, every day, and if it's like sakura flavored.
MJ:Keep them away from you, or they're gone. They're gone.
Asia:I will inhale those. I will inhale them. It's just like tea, because it's got that floral flavor of the cherry blossoms and anything floral. I'm just like I'll eat it. Just inject it into my brain. Just inject it into my brain.
MJ:Inject it into my brain, let me have it. Give it to me. So, so now here you go, julia. So if you ever get to to meet Asia sushi and mochi and I think we have half the choreography team covered already, because their answers were sushi, so our little potluck is going to be great, it will be perfect. So I have the most random question. It's not really random, but I just find it fascinating to see what else you would possibly do. It's like a Freaky Friday style question.
MJ:You could swap places with anyone in the Supernatural company and do their job for a day. You don't have to have the skills In this pretend world. You have the skills, you can do it. What job would you trade? What would you go do?
Asia:I would be one of the engineers, developers, I would be whoever is in charge or takes over joy balls and like environments. I would be, I would. I would want to be them for a day, maybe a week.
MJ:Yeah, maybe a week.
Asia:Yeah, maybe a week Give me time to work. But I, yeah, I would oh man, like I'm realizing now like how passionate I am about like environmental effects and like joy balls, but yeah, I would want to be on their squad for a day.
MJ:That's really cool, do you think?
Asia:learn.
MJ:Oh, go ahead. Would you think one of them would want to be on their squad for?
Asia:a day, that's really cool.
MJ:Do you think?
Asia:would you think one of them would want to be a mapper? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so. I think so Cause they, like, anytime that we have the chance to people are like, oh, um, let's get the choreographers on and see just like how their day is Like what, what they do in a day, just like how their day is like, like what, what they do in a day, like what their process is like, like, and we have it's so funny Cause, like the, the people that work on the, the editor, you know, obviously they're wizards in their own right and they're amazing, but they literally create the things for us and then we go in and the things for us, and then we go in and you know, we choreograph and stuff. If we were to hand them the editor and tell them to make a map, they wouldn't know what to do. But it's, yeah, they were almost like it's the word enigmatic, like an enigma.
Asia:Almost like we are this weird, like yeah.
MJ:Little enigma area. They're like who are these people? How do you do?
Asia:what you do.
MJ:Yeah, yeah, you're unicorns. Yeah, I mean, it's the perfect description for you guys. I mean, if you think about it, the background each of you has, like when Supernatural started and they were like, well, we want to put these targets here and get people to move and dance. And who are we looking for to make that? You know, you guys really are the unicorns dancers, musicians. You know, having some engineering or graphic design background, you know, being a gamer, it's pretty cool. So, environments, what would your joy ball? What would be the first joy ball you'd create?
Asia:it would, oh, it would be pink, for sure uh, yeah, 100 100, so it would have to either be like pink hearts or no, no, it would be. It would be cherry blossoms, pink flowers, like you hit it my little like cherry blossom emoji that I always use for everything. That's what it would be. You hit that and it just explodes and it's just cherry blossom petals everywhere. That's, that's it actually. That's it.
MJ:It would be just like the leaf ball one, where it swirls, yes, but instead of swirling in front of you like this maybe around you.
Asia:Yes, yes, yes that you like this. Maybe around you, yes, yes, yes, that's it, one thousand percent, that's it I have to make this happen now I love that.
MJ:Going back to that, uh, being an engineer for a day thing right, exactly we need to like do some magic cut, get this to happen, manifest it yeah, that has to happen, oh my god.
Asia:And then that being like the signature joy ball for asia, like obviously you know everyone could use it, but like if you're ever curious like who mapped this? And then at the end it's just like ah exactly.
MJ:I always thought it would be cool for you guys to have signature joy balls so we would know who mapped it. But then at the same time I don't want you guys to be pigeonholed into one joy ball. Yep, yep. But yeah, I could see the cherry blossoms for you. Well, this ties into my very final, most important question ever. Okay.
MJ:My friends and I, we did this thing where we use animals as emoji hugs. So like, say, someone sends you a message in Messenger and they had a really bad day and you want to give them a hug and you don't want to like, just heart it because you're like well, I don't love what you just said, but I want to acknowledge and give you a hug. So we decided to use animals. I use a flamingo.
Asia:Oh yes.
MJ:I love all things about balance, like leg lifts, like balancing I'm always one foot up on my other leg when I'm standing and then balance of of life. So flamingo worked for me.
Asia:Ethan picked a giraffe.
MJ:He's like eight feet tall, right, right. So I want to know what would you pick as your emoji? Hug?
Asia:now quick question clarifying question um is this an animal emoji that already exists, or is this like? Is it something I can find in my phone, or is it just like pie in the sky? Oh, wow I don't think I've ever seen a giraffe emoji.
MJ:It, I'm not there is this it does exist so hummingbird emoji exist let's check. I think I think in one of the last updates it it did.
Asia:Because if a hummingbird emoji is there, no. Pain. That is yeah. That is painful. Let me see then, because that would be my answer. It would definitely be a hummingbird.
MJ:We need a hummingbird emoji. We need a hummingbird Because I typed in, I tried hummingbird, nothing came up. I tried bird. So now I'm looking at all the birds and there's like doves, there's feathers, there's a dodo bird. Why do we have a dodo bird like, but we don't have a hummingbird? Um, there is a phoenix. That is phoenix looks cool. The dragon looks cool the dragon is a favorite um I mean there there's a unicorn.
Asia:So I feel like if I had to choose from this list, it would be the unicorn.
MJ:The unicorn.
Asia:It would be the unicorn.
MJ:What would your made up? One be Pine sky. Create any emoji you wanted. What animal would it be?
Asia:It would be a hummingbird and for the reasons you listed about the flamingo being about balance, the hummingbird to me symbolizes freedom just being a free spirit. I always like to think of hummingbirds as like nature's virgin version of like a pixie or a fairy yeah the way they fly, right they hover and like it's not just like linear flight, they can, they literally have like access to like all.
MJ:All the planes of motion.
Asia:All the planes, yes, and it's just, they're so free, they're so small and they just look like little pixies. Yeah, that's what I would choose if I could choose any animal. It's also my favorite animal.
MJ:That is really I like both of your answers and I'm hoping just saying it loud, loud and manifest a legit hummingbird emoji for you at some update in the emoji world. Please give it to us Now.
MJ:If we get an emoji from you, we know that you're giving us a hug yes and yes, I've never said this on the podcast, but some people in the group know this already because they've spotted it on my journey. But if you ever see me use an emoji for one of the choreographers in my journey, so if I use a, that's a turtle workout, that is a Justin workout. If I use a giraffe, that is an Ethan workout. If I use what? Did we pick the unicorn? Yes, if I use a unicorn, people will know that it is one of your workouts and so forth, and so forth.
MJ:So if, if you guys follow me or want to look on the journey, you can see I always edit and add the emoji, and so this is one of the main reasons why I ask you guys this question. I love that. It's my little code. Okay, there you go. Now you know the reason and now everyone hears that. So now they know.
Asia:Yes.
MJ:All right, weekly workout suggestion Get to a boxing and a flow.
Asia:All right, uh flow um princess power I.
MJ:Disney hits princess power.
Asia:Yes, and only partially selfish, like all the maps are wonderful in their own right, but, um, disney hits Princess Power, yes, and only partially selfish, like all the maps are wonderful in their own right.
Asia:But Part of your World was a map that I fought for and you know, I again I think I said this earlier but I rarely fight for music but obviously, coming out of you know, like, seeing Halle Bailey as the little mermaid yeah, her looking like me, um, and like my favorite like fantasy or mythological creature is the mermaid, um, and so like it was a lot of things that went into that. But being able to see myself represented on screen as a fantasy character, that or fantasy creature that I've always loved since I was like three years old, it meant a lot to me and I was like I have to have this song, please. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard of a fight, but Dennis was like I understand, I got you, it's yours, and so, yeah, I met that. And if you hunt around the internet, uh, far enough you, you'll find me, um, playing that map in a ginormous, obnoxious ball gown it's beautiful.
Asia:It's beautiful dress thank you, um, but it meant that much to me, it meant that much to me. It meant that much to me. So if you guys are interested, go back and play that, for not only my map but for everyone else that was involved.
MJ:Yeah, lots of you guys worked on that on. That workout is from 2023. It's with coach Dwana. I'll add it to the screen and obviously put it in the group when this episode airs as well. Obviously put it in the group when this episode airs as well. It was, it was fun, it was great. There are lots of little Easter eggs mapped into this workout. I would be very interested in the comments of the weekly workout suggestion to see what Easter eggs you guys picked up yeah.
MJ:That were, as Asia, mapped into this particular song, part of your world. There are a few, a few, and if you guys guess them, I will send you a for the love of the map sticker, because I'm all about the easter eggs man, like legit easter eggs like actual easter eggs?
Asia:yeah, not to be confused.
MJ:No, no, come on, engineers. Why do you name them easter eggs, sorry, what about your boxing suggestion?
Asia:okay, 100 selfish plug, but you gotta go play cyber punch 2025. Go play it for me, um, and I welcome criticism with open arms. So tell me what you loved, tell me you know what didn't work so well or what, like was unclear, and just tell me what your overall experience was in that workout, like I'd be curious to know. Obviously, as we've stated before, it's the first workout that has all CGI environments. Um Duana was, you know, coaching in a way that um brought in like gamer, like elements. Um, so I would be curious to see, like you know, how you guys felt um the journey it took you on and you know how you came out of it.
MJ:Hmm, I like, I like both of these suggestions. One, because both of them are very meaningful to you. Yeah, you have a such a strong connection to both of them and I think the community will very much enjoy playing them. Yeah, and I don't go ahead.
Asia:No, you go ahead I was gonna uh ask you a question, but go ahead, sure, no, no, no.
MJ:Ask me, what are you asking me? Hold on, hold on a second. Am I prepared for this question?
Asia:no well, I was gonna. I have a couple of questions to um ask you, but sure one that's top of mind right now is do you have a song or workout that just moved you like completely to where you were, like this is why I indulge in supernatural, or like this is?
MJ:I have, I have a few, I have a few and it's and it's changed as my journey through fitness. Um, when I first started, supernatural, I could only do low intensity. I could not play any other intensity level. I had never worked out before, I had never exercised before, never. And I was at a point in my life where I had to change or I was going to die. Like it was that dire. Like it was that dire. So I committed to working out every single day for 45 minutes. So I got in the headset, picked workouts for 45 minutes, only Lowe's. So it was months, months on, lowe's before I could move up. And I would look at all the other playlists and I would dream of getting there. And that motivated me to work hard.
MJ:So this is this is why I feel like not all songs should be every intensity level, because there was a huge part of my own journey where a lot of my motivation came from being able to reach the next level. So I could play that workout with that playlist. So a lot of that had to do. One of my biggest it was an artist series, a medium flow, swedish house mafia, and it's the very first song heaven and I play that song.
MJ:I get in the headset when I am super emotional and can't self-regulate. Getting in there and playing that song will help me self-regulate and sometimes I'll play it three or four times until, like whatever feeling I'm feeling that overwhelmed by passes, and I've worked through it and I think about it. There's lots of them, it just depends on what it is, what I'm trying to accomplish, I guess. But that song sticks out to me the most because it's just been so impactful for me, because it's about recognizing the magic of going through pain and suffering, yep, and I guess it gives me strength to go in there and play it. I was trying to think of some other ones for you, but definitely that one. That's the first one that comes to mind. That's fantastic, yeah.
Asia:That's neat. So how did you I don't think we've covered this yet, but like how did you find supernatural, like?
MJ:I went to the doctor. They said, marla, you gotta do something. You know like you gotta do something. Um, I came home from the doctor, I took my daughter's headset that I had given her for Christmas. I put it on, I went into Beat Saber because that was all I.
MJ:That's all I knew. You know, beat Saber is always the gateway for most people Got out of there, was promptly put in my face as Supernatural ad and back then they had the 30-day trial. So I just got in. I went through the whole process, didn't even go through the whole 30-day trial, signed up two days into my 30-day trial and I've been with it ever since. That was August of 2021. I wish I had found it sooner, but you know, the universe brings you where you need to be when you need to be there. So that's how I found Supernatural and it's literally changed all aspects of my life my health, my mental health, the relationships I have with my family, met so many friends. So many community members Started a podcast about supernatural. Um, it has impacted me in all of the positive ways. That's fantastic. Yeah, I'm a lifer, a total lifer.
Asia:Heck yeah, that's awesome.
MJ:Thank you for asking me questions. It's been a while since I've had anyone um, you know.
Asia:Oh well, ask that part, that's cool girl, we are just as curious about you for real, like that's amazing, like I I guess the and hopefully I'm not like running you like past.
MJ:No you're good.
Asia:You're good. So at what point did you realize, like I want to make a podcast, Like I want to cover like all things mapping and analyzing choreo and talking about themes and all of that?
MJ:Like, at what point did you realize, like this is what I want to do? Um, well, it was actually a really long time ago. Um, so the podcast has. The podcast has been out for a year now. I would say thank you. Um, I'm trying to think of timelines here.
MJ:Probably the end of 2022 is when I met my friend Julia, and before that I met lots of people in the community and I would work out with lots of people. I reached out to Julia because I saw her in the community posting videos and she just seemed really interesting and was writing comments back to people and I was like, hey, do you want to work out with me? You know, you want to get in a party and work out. I want to play this high super monster. It was housework and I was so scared to play it alone and she didn't know me. You know, she saw me in the community, but we didn't know each other and she said sure, and so we got our first time we ever talked. We got into a high super monster, which is crazy. Like, why would you ask someone you don't know? You don't even know if this is going to go well. Right, like, you guys might not hit it off, but you're stuck in this monster for 40-something minutes, yeah yeah. So, anyway, that opened up a door. We talked about our lives, but we talked. She talked about choreography and I talked about choreography, like this feels so good, this feels. And it just started, evolved and um, when her and I were in parties with other people, we would sort of break up the party chat by talking about choreography and people would be like what are what? What did you? And we sort of felt like we couldn't do that. So we decided to create like a party group that was focused on talking about choreography and that's how it originally started where we could create the set lists for workouts and we would compare the choreography in the workouts and then we sort of would host those and invite people to them and talk about them.
MJ:And, um, I told, I told her one day we're going to, we need to, we need to do a podcast. Like we have so much to say about choreography. It was always choreography. Um, the whole supernatural experience, yes, but always the choreography. We were just fascinated by it and fascinated by all of you guys. And I told her, I said we need to make a podcast, we need to do it. And she's like, yeah, yeah, and we said that for a year, for a whole year, to each other, and then it was like December of 2023. And I said, get on Amazon and buy these things by by microphone.
MJ:She's like what I said we're going to put our first podcast out the first week of February. And we just went from there, um, and she was, you know, she was with me from the start. Um, she stepped back. She's still in the podcast group. I call her the producer. She helps me with notes, she helps me with all the things. She's just not here on the screen. She's a huge part of this podcast and my supernatural experience in my life. Um, and that's, that's the backstory. For years, we talked about it like no one's going to watch. And you know why are we doing this? It's not for people to watch it, so we can hear about the choreography from the choreographers, because we didn't get that from supernatural, you know, and and bring focus to the choreography that, honestly, that's, that's actually passion in itself.
Asia:That's actually passion because, like, not once did you like mention, oh, like you know, we're doing it for this, this audience, right, it's all for, like you guys, and like how you like, how curious you are about the choreography itself, and so like you want to get to the source. But that's the real reason for yes it's not like oh, we're putting on this podcast for like viewers, like you're yeah the main goal wasn't like viewership so much, as it was actually having these real discussions about choreography.
MJ:That's amazing and that's why, for me, the organic growth of the show is so important, because I want people who are interested in learning about it. I want people who are passionate about talking about it and I know initially it's like, oh well, that's a lot of information. It takes time. I get that, um, but yeah, we could talk about it for hours. I do talk about it for hours, um.
MJ:So if it wasn't for Julia, I don't know that I would have come and started it all on my own. Maybe I would have. I'd like to think I would eventually have um stepped outside, but I never wanted this to be a video podcast, I only wanted it to be audio. She pushed me out of my comfort zone and now I can't ever see it any different, because we add so much visual stuff. Once we edit all the gameplay, all the side-by-sides, all the workout cards, it's just um. My hope in the end is to motivate people back into the headset, you know, or or to stay in the headset to find workouts that are interesting. They never thought they would do because of the music or intensity level. So that's always my hope.
Asia:I love that.
MJ:Yeah, and I'm super excited for you to come back on the show again. We're going to rotate through all the choreographers, definitely Now that we've had the whole intro of who you are, now we can come back and do little focused episodes is my thought.
Asia:I can't wait for that. I can't wait for that. Sign me up already.
MJ:I'd love to just break down some of the things you've done over the years and talk about them.
Asia:I'm so down I'll make sure I have more than two cups of tea.
MJ:Yes, you'll need more than two. I'll need more than two. They are empty.
Asia:I think I've reached for this cup like three times out of habit over the course of our chat, only to see that there's nothing in here.
MJ:Right, you needed more tea for sure?
Asia:Oh wait, oh yeah, Let me just go on. More tea. I'll just bring a whole pitcher over here next time.
MJ:There you go, fill it, get a whole pot. I think that's smart. What's your favorite tea? What tea are you drinking right now?
Asia:So this one is lavender, so it's more of an herbal tea.
MJ:there's not really caffeine um in this floral again yes, always.
Asia:Lavender and rose are like my favorite floral teas and then this one was a matcha from the from this morning. Um, usually in the mornings, because, like my morning ritual, I always go walk for tea, just cause, like I want to like get in the fresh air, sunlight, but I like talking to people in the morning. Just, you know, let people are not, I like talking to people in the morning so that you know we can tell each other, you know, like have a good day, or ask them how their previous day was, things like that. I just like that small, like social aspect and I go to, like the local tea shops that are in my neighborhood. So you know, you're building that like familiarity with people.
Asia:Um, so that is, I don't start my morning without grabbing tea. Um, I want to be able to talk to people a little bit and do all that. So that's why I grab it, and then I make more tea here at the house because I literally have a cabinet full of tea. But, yeah, so this matcha is usually what I get in the mornings, just because it's my morning ritual.
MJ:Got it. What's your favorite tea? My favorite tea is Earl Grey. Oh, okay, okay, I'm an. Earl Grey girl, there's a little lavender in there. There's a little lavender in there. Bergamot I'm an Earl Grey tea drinker with a splash of milk. I do it the British way.
Asia:Ooh, mm-hmm. You know what?
MJ:It's so good and afternoon pick-me-up Earl Grey tea as an afternoon is just mm.
Asia:You could do it iced if you wanted to go that way, but I like it hot.
MJ:I'm a purist. I might try that you should. It's delicious.
Asia:I might try that with a splash of milk.
MJ:Just a splash. I might try that. Just a splash of milk, not too much, but just a little bit.
Asia:Yeah, it's almost like creamer in coffee, but just not as heavy. I'm going to try that and get back to you.
MJ:Let me know, let me know.
Asia:Episode two. Episode two I'm going to be coming back.
MJ:Yes, well, we're mixing milk in there together and stuff like it's going to be a tea party and then we'll talk about all, all the workouts, all the tea. That's what we should call that episode All the tea. Look what we should call that episode All the tea. Look, we already have an episode name.
Asia:We're already there Tea time.
MJ:Yep, I appreciate you coming on and chatting with us today, with me, and allowing the community to meet you and get to know you a little bit. Tons of workouts yes, it was a pleasure. Good, I'm glad. And don't forget, after you play Asia's workout suggestions of the week, to look to the left as soon as you're done, before you exit out and rate it. Yes, so important, please rate it. Yep, they want to hear from us guys. They really do.
Asia:Yes and rate it honestly. Rate it honestly because that feedback will help me craft the next one.
MJ:So yeah, amazing. Yeah, all right. Well, thanks for listening everyone and we will see you next time. Bye. Catch you on the next one, y'all.
MJ:Thanks for joining us on today's episode of For the Love of the Map. Thanks for joining us on today's episode of For the Love of the Map. As always, you can join the discussion in the private Facebook group and follow along with show updates on Instagram and TikTok. Links can be found in the description below. If you find value in the show, please share it with your friends. Your comments, likes and reviews are invaluable and I cannot thank you, guys, enough. See you next time.