In this episode of Magical Mornings, we featured Archis Patil who is a professional football freestyler and a two-time world record holder in football tricks, representing India internationally while also competing and performing all over the world. He has also won many talent shows in India. Archis is also a Bollywood artist and a stunt double. He has participated in choreographies, commercials and a recent part of the hit TV show MTV Roadies X2.
Here's the interview of Archis with UnitePod.
Q. You are a freestyler soccer player, so can you explain freestyle soccer to our audience?
Archis: To begin with, freestyle football and football is completely different. The rules are different, in fact, football freestyle doesn’t have any rules and its more about expressing yourself like any other dance form. You can’t compare break dance to Bharatnatayam, it has its own techniques and values. So freestyle football is a different category in football where you do tricks using your legs, hands, head, upper and lower body, you do tricks by sitting down. It’s a completely different genre. Personally, I felt, it’s very transparent. I shifted from football to football freestyling because of a few reasons. Firstly, it’s completely crystal clear and transparent, that if you are working hard no one can replace you. Secondly, it’s not a team sports, it’s a solo sport so you can’t blame anyone for your success or failure. So that’s what football freestyle is for me.
Q. You are holding various records in the Guinness Book of World Record, so please share your experience with us.
Archis: It happened back in 2012, when I met a few international freestylers and when I used to freestyle. Basically, I am a first generation freestyle footballer of India. There were lot of people who would come out and judge me for what I am doing. People said that it’s a sport played by foreigners so why am I doing it? They believed I am not good enough and said I need to work hard. Although I was doing my best, I was always compared to the so-called “international players.” As a result, in 2011, I practiced and worked hard to earn my first world record. I made the world record because I was the only one surpassed the limit in the whole world which gave me the affiliation that I was as good as the international players. That is what made me push myself and beat the world record. So, that is my motive of making something unique in freestyle football through my hard work and personal training. That’s how I rounded up in the Guinness Books of World Record for the most shoulder spin rolls in a minute and the most number of consecutive side head stalls in 60 seconds.
Q. It must have been such a hard journey for you to be compared to others. I am so glad and proud of you that you were able to cross all those barriers and now here you are holding four world records. Your success makes me wonder if football was your childhood passion or whether you got in with it in later?
Archis: Well, I have always been an outgoing child and an extrovert so, I started playing football at an early age. I used to play both for my school and college. I started playing football in my primary school but discovered freestyle football when I was 19 years old and found its techniques to be totally different than the normal football.
Q. Some people are just born with talent and some just incorporate those later in their lives. You have done both. You were both interested in football and talented. Later on, you practiced hard and here you are now. So please share the secret of being fit and healthy.
Archis: There is no secret. The only secret I would suggest is consistency and well being. Consistency of life has two parts like physical and mental. It’s not about what and how you are doing but in what frame of mind you are doing it. When I am training, I have a clear mind and only focus on training without thinking about anything else. So, you know I make the patterns and try to upgrade them.
Q. You are also known as an influencer for the younger generation, can you tell us about your influencer life?
Archis: I won’t call myself an influencer honestly because freestyle football is a way of life to me and a hobby which I started 10 years back because I loved it. If people are starting to get influenced by what I am doing, I am very happy and glad because I found my passion and love and that’s about it. I never intended to influence anyone because it’s a way of life for me and I am just going to do it. I think the word influencer for me is more about the vibes because I met a lot of people, not necessarily from football, but from various areas like arts, break dance, science, fitness etc. I have a lot of influencers, I would say, who inspired me especially my crew, the BE SMOKE crew. All in all, I believe my friends are my biggest influencers.
Q. If you can step into my shoes what would you ask yourself that I didn’t?
Archis: I would have probably asked what would have happened if I got a chance to start my career earlier with a proper support. I don’t regret my past but I believe some things should have been started a bit earlier but that’s about it. But I believe that I can make up for it by working hard now.
Q. What message would you like to give for your listeners and your fans?
Archis: I would like to say that we should always follow people who inspire us rather than those who belittle you and make you realize you don’t have enough or are not enough. Surround your Instagram and yourself with inspiring people. You learn a new skill every day so improve on your progressions, work hard, and follow your dreams because you have one life. Live it with a good health, good mind, and just keep on crushing your goals and moving forward.
Q. That was a beautiful message. I agree with you. You need to live your life to the fullest and I really hope that the listeners who tuned in today do that as well. Thank you so much Archis for being here with us today. It was such a pleasure hosting you and I really hope you visit us soon again.
Archis: Thank you so much for having me on the podcast, it’s an honor to be here to share and talk about my journey and how things went for me. I just want to say that I will still keep freestyling till the end of my life and just follow my passion.
That is a wrap on Episode 12 of Magical Mornings featuring Archis Patil who, we can proudly say, holds four world records, and is one of the best freestyle footballers in India. He shared his life journey from a football player to a freestyle footballer and inspired us to never give up in in life.
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