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What is “style”?
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November 1, 2014 Opinion, Thoughts No Comments
Grump thoughts – stream of consciousness about tricking topics.

On facebook, I constantly see many people talk about style as “how” you do something, not necessarily what is done..  they commend people with clean technique and observable power as having great “style”, despite executing a generic combo.  I’d hate to think that so many people have such simple tastes.  I’d argue that this basic assessment of technique and power definitely contributes to style, but is far from being the deciding factor.  Likewise, the tricks you choose cannot themselves be what defines your style, as some argue.  I feel like people recognize something special about what they’ve seen, but either can’t voice what it is, or have never really thought about what it is that really creates this word/concept we throw around so much.  Style is more than simple, superficial observations, its the greater impression you leave with someone.  To me, these things that people throw out there are simple ingredients in a recipe.  So what is style really then?  How can we approach defining it in a somewhat logical or objective way?

Simply put, I believe a tricker’s style is the sum of their choices..

How a trick is performed, both in its gross mechanics, as well as the energy the put into it matters.  A cork can be technically perfect, but super lazy.  Conversely, it can also be technically flawed, but thrown with such aggression that it becomes visually more impressive than a more perfect example.  As important as what and how, is when and/or where a trick is performed.  This is the key to the OC, i believe..  Style is influenced greatly by the order of your tricks, which in turn influences the transitions used in a combo.  If you look at a typical power tricker, you’ll notice, on average, only a handful of transitions get used often: pop, punch, vanish (and/or redirect), and s/t.  This style of tricking is fast and linear – its always accelerating.  Now watch someone like Nelson Zuniga or Ish Payne trick..  You’ll see every transition in a sampler.  Many transitions they utilize, like reverse-pops and misslegs aren’t performed to increase speed or power, but to demonstrate skill, cause surprise, or adjust rhythm, among other reasons.  The typical cookie cutter power combo will follow a predictable pattern:  a common kick or two, maybe something like a coindrop (because swag lol), followed by their setup move (tdr/cart) into twisting and s/t series.  Honestly, its clear that the entire combo is based on setting up the twisting.  Now someone like Sessh may end with a big twisting trick finale, but he also tends to add in a lot of level and axis changes as he moves from twists to vert to ground and back into twists.  A lot of the ground work that Sessh chooses to do is for a reason – he’s actively pioneering a different way to trick.  Why these choices are made contributes to style.  Finally, I’d add that overall, long-term patterns define style.  We know who’s a twistbot, who’s a kickbot, who’s going to favor power twisting over lower tier skills in favor of technically diverse combos.  However, within those general guidelines, we can also observe patterns of movements that people like to do over and over.  For example, when i think of Jordan Okubo, i think of unexpected turns, a lot of kicking, obviously, and cartdub variations..  he simply doesn’t use btwists or corks often at all.  When i think of Bailey Payne, i think of the wrap game being destroyed, but also solid use of mega and semi landings, recently.  The point of this rambling is that a single combo can’t define the style of tricker..  Style is really created or defined by so much more than simple one liners and superficial observations..  it requires insight.

Style, to me,  is the sum of the choices about -what- tricks are chosen, -when- and -where- they are performed in a combo, -why- they were ordered or transitioned the way they were, and -how- the tricks themselves were performed.

January 22, 2015 Opinion, Thoughts 1 Comment
Inspired by several conversations i’ve had over the past few weeks, and some facebook threads, i think it’s important to talk about terminology, and how it is, or needs to change.  Awhile back, i wrote a blog post about a few holdover terms that no longer suit our current level and understanding of tricking.  This is somewhat of a continuation of that thought. 

Pardon my rambling mind:

During a meeting with Dylan James this week, our conversation turned to terminology like gainer-full (understood to be fully inverted) vs cork.  One question we asked ourselves: is gainer-full a necessary term anymore, or has it outlived its purpose?  Arguably it is an irrelevant term nowadays.  Variations (kicks) inherently alter/flatten inversion to varying degrees.  Because variations inherently alter the degree of inversion, a true gainer-full variation is basically impossible – at the very least, you could say it hasn’t been done often.  If this is true, then gainer-full has outlived its purpose.   A cork could easily be understood to encompass the fully inverted position as well as the horizontal, and everywhere in between.

So if the above concept of full inversion vs partial inversion is accepted, then it can be applied to other things, such as raiz.  Is there really a fundamental difference between a low flat raiz, and a fully inverted one?  This is where it gets interesting, i think.  Either way it is argued, there are several inconsistencies in terminology.  If all raizes are not equal, then there is an inconsistency in the suicide/invert prefix.  Why is it a suicide swipe, but only an invert raiz?  Shouldn’t it be a suicide raiz?  If so, shouldn’t this term carry to other axes?  Wouldn’t an atwist then be a suicide btwist?  If all raizes are equal, terms like suicide-swipe are irrelevant and should be removed to streamline terminology.  By extension, atwist and gainer-full should then be seen as unnecessary as well.

There has been a theme reappearing recently on facebook regarding webster-twist vs atwist and raiz.  Typically, we see atwists performed from a traditional gymnastics style aerial – a forward takeoff, rather than side to side.  Some argue that this type of atwist is actually a webster-half.  I’d argue that all twisting elements in tricking end at the complete landing, so to keep it consistent, this would have to be considered a webster-twist.  Crazy, i know..  but it twists, and lands in the complete position, so technically that must be correct.  Webster can be performed from the opposite leg as well, which creates more of an invert raiz type motion..  Obviously this type of webster-twist will still end in complete, but has even less twist than the traditional atwist method, yet both are supposedly webster-twists?  So either webster-twist needs further definition, or it is atwist and raiz that are off.  Perhaps, as some would argue, a true atwist is like an inverted btwist and takes off more side to side.  Jacob Huntington sent me a snapchat doing just this.  If this is defined as a true atwist, and the forward takeoff type is a webster-twist, then our terminology has expanded, but become more specific/clear.  The problem still arises for the raiz side though..  are both twists webster-twists still?  If they are not both webster-twists, then a webster from the raiz side cannot be a real webster because it cannot be twisted without becoming something different (raiz).  So there’s a hole there that needs to be filled.

At this point, the question must revert back to the invert vs partial invert question..  is aerial a necessary term, or should it just an inverted butterfly?  Is atwist really a thing, or is it an inverted btwist?  If you variate it and lower the degree of inversion, is it still an atwist variation?

Dan Pitlock and i had a discussion about GMS vs what he calls a GM-Flash (GMF for simplicity).  A GMF would be a backward flipping GMS..  they’re basically darkside gainer-switches.  They’re actually quite common, if you look for them.  What Ben Herald and Nelson Zuniga do are GMS’s..  they are side to side, like aerials.  I believe i probably fall into the GMF category, more or less.  It’s easier for me to GM”S” this way, just like a forward takeoff atwist is easier for most people.  Why make the distinction though?  Well we draw the same distinctions with Kroc vs GMT.  We actually make subtle, but necessary, distinctions in all manner of things..  half-kick vs banana-split vs sidewinder movements.. pizzaboy vs helicoptero, sideswipe vs laidback 540, crashmoon vs shuriken-box.  As tricking grows and our tricks become increasingly complex, so must our terminology, and these minor distinctions arguably matter.

Why am i rambling on about this?  I want everyone to realize that terminology is not, and cannot be a static thing.  It must change with us.  I’m not advocating any of the changes i’ve talked about in particular, i’m saying that just because some old timer named it, it does not mean it has to keep that name.  Or just because we have a concept, it does not mean it can’t change, it shouldn’t change, or it won’t change.  If we as a community decide that Terada Grabs are now called Fart Blasters, then we have the right and the ability to make that change.  Similarly, it should not be expected that more specific terms, particularly for compound actions, will not be introduced, or that existing ideas won’t be further subdivided and retermed.  We don’t have all of the language we could ever need yet.  Useful terms like Towels’ “boneless” arise constantly, and some of them are going to stick because they’re widely deemed useful.

I hope that everyone can keep an open mind, and be flexible with the ideas and concepts you are presented or have adopted.  Evaluate them, implement them, then accept or reject them.  Join discussions about these things, but remember that bullshit phrases like “it doesn’t matter what it’s called, just trick” are not constructive, and more importantly, they dont influence peoples’ opinions about changes/additions to terminology.  I recommend keeping up with the changes, because the world will keep changing whether you’re ready for it to or not.

Be an “early adopter”, it’s much more exciting to blaze trails than walk down paved roads.

January 6, 2015 Invert, Opinion, Thoughts, Vert No Comments
Opinion:
This has been bothering me for awhile..

One of my biggest pet peeves in tricking is people taking shortcuts..  It’s even worse when those shortcuts are sold as their authentic counterparts, whether intentionally or not.  Point blank, if you’re inverting, it’s not a vert kick.  That should be obvious, and when it comes to complete inversions, it is.  It’s when we see partial inversions that people seem to miss the distinction.  In short, when you add a degree of flip or flatspin to a “vert” kick, you’ve lowered the amount of vertical rotation necessary to complete it.  Vert kicks dont have flat spin.  It may be fun, and it’s still often a difficult movement, but understand that your pseudo-dubfull-round is not a real pop-900-round (bs12).  Your tak-hyperhook is not a cheat-900-hook (c10).. it’s not even really a cheat-720-hook.  That cork-round you performed is not a swing-900.  You can obviously do them in combo; nobody is trying to stop you from this.  The point is to have the intellectual understanding that these tricks are not vert kicks, and to have the integrity not to pass one off as the other.  A tak9 is not a c9/vanish9 ; they’re not the same rotation.  At best, a tak9 could maybe be analogous to a c5r (a backside rotation).  Think about it.. a tak-full does not have 540* of twist, and certainly does not have 720, so the idea that a tak9 and a vanish9 (540-720* of rotation) are the same is poor understanding and/or logic.  I urge you all to pay attention to this not-so-subtle detail, and apply it to your own tricking.  Force yourself to be precise and intentional in the way you trick, the axes you rotate on, and the amount of rotation (and targeting) you apply to your tricks and combos.  It’s ok not to be able to do a real c9-hook (c10)…  really, it is.  Please dont try to sell me a tak-hyperhook from a super-monkey-scoot though, i know the difference, and performed correctly, they are not really that similar.  The reality is that i lose some respect for the performer, as i know now that they either cant recognize the difference, or they dont put enough care into their tricking to be precise in their movements.  I know that what happens in combo is different than single tricks, and i’m not really talking about that, per se..  what i’m talking about is progression, singular examples, and long-term comboing ability.  It’s ok to hit that full or tak axis by mistake, but it should be recognized as ambiguity, and consciously corrected in the future.  It’s that simple to me.

All i’m really saying is:  Do your best to perform tricks ‘correctly’.  There really should be distinct differences in your axes, and rotations.  Tricking is progressive, and it’s imprecise, but that doesn’t make it ok to accept mediocrity as quality.

This concept is discussed briefly HERE.

The idea is that there has been a “missing” swingthrough in tricking..  for every other position, there is a swing from either leg, but not for the raiz axis.  One day, i set out to figure out why.  I created a concept, an inside wrap, or darkside gm, and figured out how to do it pretty quickly..  i actually thought of it on a monday, failed miserably at the session that night, but was successful at landing it the very next day.  That’s where the phone footage in the video comes from.  So i submitted those 3 clips to the Project Soul group on facebook, and almost nobody had any clue wtf it was.  Sessh was the most helpful, and called it a “Lotus-singleleg”, he explained that the lotus class is related to the wrap family, and told me that Neil Toussaint has been destroying the Lotus Doubleleg (aka the gainer doubleleg) for quite some time.  Now i dont see a singleleg, and that was certainly not my intention..  what i see is closer to a switch, or raiz type movement from an awkward swingthrough.  So that’s the basis for my exploration..  if a variation is possible, then a non-variated version must exist.  Because the dleg is possible before really twisting, it is clearly not a typical backswing, where a good deal of twist must be performed before reaching a position to dleg (cork dleg).  Likewise, any time where a dleg is possible, so is a raiz or raiz-axis trick (sideswipe/snapu/etc).

So that was my basic premise..  is this correct?  After a few months of testing myself, and input of a few other testers (Sean Ingel and Dan Pitlock), I believe it is.

Here’s how i visualize this concept in relation to the rest of the known swing types:
Trick Theory-01
Notice that every flipping axis (front, back, inside, outside) has at least 2 ways to swing – one for each leg..  except the raiz axis, without the lotus swing.  The landing stances give us approximate zones for differentiating different types of swingthroughs.  The hyper zone allows us to swing directly backward, such as into a kroc, or turn more sideways, allowing for GM and wrap swings.  Megas can land in approximately sideways orientation as well, such as from a mega aerial, and swing into aerial/btwist type tricks, or it can land completely square and swing into websters.  Same goes semi landings with websters and raizes.  But without the lotus as i’ve presented it, there is a missing possibility – either you skip an entire quadrant and move all the way to a pure backswing, or you need an opposite leg swing type to fill in the gap.  What’s interesting, is that we see this landing position somewhat commonly..  typically a -round variation, like a cork-round, is going to land ~90* short of where a backswing lands, allowing the hips to open up and target that round.  This is where the lotus lives, approximately.  It’s interesting to note that the twisting axis from the lotus is similar/identical to that of a raiz, but from a different landing stance.  We see this trend at other boundries too – aerial/gms, cork/kroc, websters (atwist/raiz when twisted).

At this point, i’ve only landed a few possiblities with this concept, but more come every session..  i can now combo into and out of it (i prefer the hyper), and am working to swing, though progress is slower than i’d like.  Hopefully soon i’ll swing gainer from Lotus, and wrapfull from Hyper (Pitlock said he’s swung from it already, despite being injured).  I’ve landed lotus-hyperhook, poorly, but didn’t bring my camera that day.  Neil made mention in project soul that he believes he can dleg-twist it now, and certainly if he can’t, Will Coneys will soon.  He destroys the lotus dleg HERE.
I’ve attempted lotus-twist a few times into foam, but it is fucking awkward..  it’s like raiz-twist and cork had a disfigured baby.  I wont be lotus snapu-ing anytime soon, but i believe someone will be capable this year.

Go get it, people!

Objectivity

Objectivity is often thought of as a bad word in tricking.  The basic premise being that anything goes, and any attempt to create a standard of “right” and “wrong” turns the sport into gymnastics 2.0, or something..  This is idea is understandable, but doesn’t actually help to progress the sport, like many believe.  If anything, this ideal that anything goes, and that objectivity is for elitist assholes actually holds the sport back.  To be clear, anything does go.. to a point.  You can add in ballet-inspired leg lifts and twirls, you can incorporate hip hop style floor work..  Hell, you can do the little tea pot in a combo if you feel like it, but when you do a movement that is rooted in another discipline, it gains a degree of objectivity.  That hook kick you threw has objective boundaries that define it as right and wrong.  There is still room for style in this, as different martial arts utilize different subtleties in technique, but the gross movements are pretty much standardized from one to the other.  Another example might be a degree of inversion in the vert kick..  Simply put, if your “vert” kick reaches a more-or-less parallel plane to the floor, and carries flatspin or flip, you didn’t do a vert kick, you twisted.  Very few 1080-hooks (bs14’s) are actually 1080-hooks.  More often than not, they hit that horizontal plane, and are full variations.  This distinction is important because the technique and inherent difficulty in each is different, and that objective standard needs to be applied.  It’s no different than differentiating a full and a full-up…  they’re different moves.  It is those broad standards that should be applied, without copping out to an argument like “it’s all subjective”, or “this is my style, i can do it however i want” ideology.

So why does this really matter?

As i see it, the next step in tricking’s evolution is a competitive league, and competition really needs a degree of objectivity..  i know, i said another bad word, for most of you.  You dont have to participate, but the option is already available to those who want to, and is only going to grow in time.  Accept it.  A competitive league, like the UTL, is important because it can give tricking a degree of credibility or establishment that does, or can, benefit all trickers in a number of ways.  First and foremost, an established ‘governing’ body for competition and/or certification can potentially be used as an example, and/or a negotiator or figure head, for insurance purposes.  Boring, i know, but once the insurance is taken care of, more gyms may be able or willing to host tricking classes/events.  Beyond that, competitive leagues create greater commerce and economics within the community.  I realize that many people hate the idea of monetizing this thing we do, but frankly, it’s happening, and bitching isn’t going to help.  The best thing to do is help guide it in the right direction by supporting the right people and events.  At the very least, realize that a competitive league can potentially allow us the opportunity to make a career out of this thing we destroy our bodies doing.  The potential to be a professional athlete is there, and with it, comes a whole slew of infrastructure behind it.  Event organization, league employment, coaching gigs, and even entire gyms dedicated to just tricking (rather than “tricking” gyms that actually survive thanks to parkour, cheer, and gymnastics programs).  There’s no reason someone like Michael should be faced with the choice of having a career that eats all of his time, and being able to really see where he can go as a professional athlete.  Even the less skilled should have the opportunity to coach tricking (not rec gymnastics for 9yr olds with occasional tricking classes) as a viable career, if they so choose, but this hinges largely on a functional tricking economy.  T-shirt sales aren’t enough, sadly.  There has to be more, and i believe that competition is an important step forward.

Objectivity vs Subjectivity in competition

In short, our sport needs both.  There needs to be a simple set of standards that dictates quality vs garbage, but does not get so specific as to create a standard of perfection that destroys personality.  Likewise, the subjectivity of showmanship, creativity, and ‘style’ is an important facet of tricking, and needs to be acknowledged without being stifled by rigid standards of perfection.  We dont want to create a situation where competitors always favor lower tier skills that are perfect because the risk to reward ratio is skewed in favor of perfect technique, rather than innovation and upward expansion.  It’s difficult, i know.  I’m working to create a system of judging that attempts to do foster both.  I dont know yet if it will be effective in the way i hope, but that’s the goal.  I believe we can create a system of competition, for those who’re interested, that rewards technical difficulty, precise technique, showmanship, and innovation or limit pushing equally.  I hope to create a standard that in some way levels the playing field for highly technical trickers who do less flashy tricks, to the dubdubdubber who puts on a show, to the perfect technique NASKA drop-out who wows with their precision.  There’s a way to balance these aspects without stifling them, but it requires a degree of objectivity to do so.  I’m interested in finding it.

In short, i urge the community to quit with the knee-jerk reaction of rejecting any thought of objectivity in tricking, as well as the uncompromising rejection of money and/or competition in our community.  Instead, i’d argue the constructive move would be for the ambitious few to openly share their ideas with the community, once they’ve reached a certain point, and for the community to discuss and assess the ideas presented, and offer constructive feedback.  The seeds have been planted and are going to grow..  it is inevitable.  All we can do is help them to grow in the direction we think is best.  We have the potential to create something different, something better, but it takes courage, and it takes ambition, and it takes a lot of trust in the community.

December 4, 2014 Hypers, TKT, Transitions, Tutorials, Vert, Video No Comments
A lot of times, the suggested method for increasing rotation in vert kicking is to drill the backside kicks (implied pop takeoff).  It works alright, but i find my balance and a lot of my general technique changes enough between a backside pop kick and a frontside cheat kick that this method doesn’t do quite enough for me.  This is particularly true with the first major jumps, like c3round (tornado) to c7round (c9), and c5hook (c7) to c9hook (c10).  That p5round (bs9) is really really easy, but moving to the c7r has a bit of a learning curve.  To lower the curve, you can utilize a cheat takeoff from the backside.  A c5r is barely harder than a tornado, and has a slightly slower timing.  Once it’s dialed in, the same process is repeated for the c7r – it’s just a c5r with a slightly slower timing.  It seems so simple, but every time i show someone an actual backside cheat kick, even at local sessions, i’m met with “woah” and a look like i just did some kind of sorcery.

The funny thing is that we actually see backside cheats all the time..  for example, typically when someone btwists/scoots/etc and vanishes, they’re doing a backside trick.  You can do frontside cheats from btwist/scoot/etc, but you have to change your orientation to the target.  Typically, those tricks that end in complete stance will travel across the target, left or right, which means they terminate in backside.  In order to end in frontside, you actually have to do the setup toward the target.  So we see those vanish-5rounds (vanish 9’s) a lot more often than we see vanish-7rounds (also vanish 9’s – see, no distinction in mainstream for 2 different skills).  Hell, if you look closely, so many “hyper c9’s” in combo are actually 540 rotations, not 720’s like they seem to imply.  I think it’s partly because mainstream terminology lacks the language to deal with this concept, and in turn, it’s not even in the consciousness of the general population.  TKT’ers, The Grump, and Tricktheory want to change that.

You can see in the video that my takeoffs aren’t perfect, and on the katana (hyper round), i kick slightly early, so it comes over the top.  This means i cant really jackknife it yet, so it needs work, but it was included to further illustrate the potential of this simple concept.  I’m nowhere near a c7katana (c9-hyper), but by spamming the c5k, i can more comfortably, and easily reach that goal.  The beauty here is also that you can add fractional additions to the rotation..  as the c5r gets easier, if you choose to, you can start to turn 10-20* at a time closer to c720r.  Hopefully this concept will help others feel like they’re making progress toward their goals with fewer tears and frustration.

December 1, 2014 Opinion, Thoughts No Comments
I feel like there’s a lot of room to grow in this sport..  We’re barely tapping the potential, and i wonder if it’s due to traditional mindsets, at least in part.  Mindsets like the old “it’s not tricking if you aren’t kicking”, or that difficulty is king and should be revered above all.  If tricking is art, then these self-imposed parameters must be torn down..  preferably sooner than later.  I personally do believe tricking is an art, and that some of the most important people in the community, as far as pushing the sport into the future, are not the ones questing for quad corks or dubdubdubdubdudbdubs, but those who explore the unexplored, and actively search for new concepts for us to play with.  There is no question that the upward mobility associated with a quad cork is necessary, but so is the slow creep outward.  People like Keith James and Sesshoumaru are doing their own thing, creating unique flows and patterns, and in doing so they are breaking new ground in how we define our sport, and what it can be.   Even something as simple as spamming the shit out of the wackknife concept, like Nelson has done, greatly changes how we view variations and kicking, and their potential.  It is important and should be praised, regardless of our views on the moves themselves.  It is that exploration that should be admired.  The edges they reach today will be passed by the people of tomorrow.

One area where tricking has a the potential to explode outward is in the female tricking community..  While all the concepts i’ll talk about can be applied by men, i see a greater potential for exploitation from the ladies.

First and foremost, ladies, you are not men..  embrace it.  Most of you come equipped with a level of grace that we meat heads will never achieve.  Even the most awkward of you has a beauty of motion we’re unlikely to attain..  Likewise, many of you come equipped with a general flexibility in the legs and back that most men could never dream of.  Even your center of gravity is different than our’s.  Use it all to your advantage!  Tricking doesn’t have to be about power and aggression, it can be about beautiful lines.  Tricking can be a display of flexibility, and smooth, creative movements in unconventional ways.  Many of us are just as blown away by Thekla’s ridiculous gumbi game as we are by Kensi’s snapu.  Imagine a tricker with a strong ballet background.  While they may never have that snappy hook kick, they will undoubtedly have beautiful spins, and long, pronounced extensions with their legs, i’d imagine.  There is room in tricking for this!  It doesn’t have to be a kick, it can be a graceful leg lift.  Similarly, there is room in the tumbling and twisting realm for variety..  dubdub is great and all, but why not gumbi pop onodi-stepout vanish front aerial s/t illusion s/t raiz s/t gainerflash to split?  With a flexible back and legs, this would be beautiful, and not a lot of men are even capable of trying to touch that.  I think it’s very realistic for many females in the community, and for females who could find a niche here, if they realized they could be different.  I’m not trying to advocate that the ladies change everything about how they trick..  rather, i’m advocating that everyone utilize their given talents, even if they’re different.  If you do it, others will too, and that is how the sport grows and evolves.

Strive to make tricking today, more than it was yesterday.

July 6, 2015 Opinion, Thoughts No Comments
A realization..

I’ve hinted at it a number of times, in different places:  at some point, I believe we entered the next major generation of tricking.  The greatest sign, in my mind, is the increasing number of old skool trickers and veterans disowning or downplaying their ‘tricker’ titles.  Guys who no longer identify themselves as trickers, yet continue to trick.  Guys who openly state that the sport is not what it was, and dont want to be part of it.  It would be easy to say they’re just whining because people aren’t tricking how they want them to.  Or to call them hipsters, and claim they’re just trying to be edgy.  Or write them off as dinosaurs who are unable to change.  That’s not the case though..  they’re being honest.  The truth is, the sport has changed, and what the community is doing now isn’t what it was doing 5-10 years ago, by and large.  That means that we’ve fully assumed control.  We’ve taken the reins, and are guiding the sport as we see fit, now.  It is ours.

I recently made an analogy that all along we’ve been playing jazz.  The feel, rhythms, and ideologies of jazz are what have defined us.  Now, many of the pioneers, and those who’ve been instrumental in tricking’s growth, are saying this isn’t jazz we’re playing anymore, it’s something different.  They’re right, it’s funk, and it’s ours.  At some point, many of us will look around, and realize that the age of funk has passed, and hiphop has taken over.  That’s ok, because our funk, and our jazz will always be ours, and we’ve gifted our progress to the next generation, and they’ll play the notes in their own way, to create their own expressions.  It’s all music though, and it is beautiful.

As I see it, we’ve entered the third generation of tricking.  At first, the roots of the sport were in sport karate.  Early trickers were overwhelmingly martial artists first, creating a new skill set to augment their forms, and eventually a spin-off sport/activity.  The second generation, in my mind, is where the backyard trickers began to make their presence known, and began to influence the game into what we have now.  Tricking was no longer an extension of karate, it was truly a stand alone sport for the first time.  Focus shifted away from martial application, for many.  This period showed a massive increase in the power twisting area, and can be looked at, in my opinion, as the age of the dubdub.  At this point in the game, I feel like the majority of elite trickers are all aiming for that dubdub…  Not just the twist bots, but even the well rounded trickers often aim to end their combo with a swing chain, ending in dub, or dubdub.  I think that simple concept, the expected double twist climax, will be the basis for where we go next.  We know that it’s a relatively reasonable standard, and it will likely endure.  What I see now, is I see the new generation doing so in increasingly interesting and complex ways.

The scene as a whole is going to change in the upcoming years.  I won’t assume to know exactly how, though I have my guesses, my hopes, and my goals.  Where this generation will go, is yet to be defined.  We are not bound by what it was “supposed” to be.  We have ownership, and the inherent freedom it brings.  We have the opportunity to grow the sport into our own vision of the sport.  We have the ability to create something amazing that the next generation will be able to grow as they see fit.  That is amazing.  But remember, as we grow this sport we love, we have a responsibility to grow it honestly, and for the greatest good of tricking as a whole.  I am excited to be part of this, and can’t wait to see where we are, and what this thing is in 10 years.

This motivates me.  Let’s do this thing.

June 6, 2015 Opinion, Thoughts, Vert No Comments
We’ve all heard it..  “If you’re not kicking, you’re not tricking!”  That’s bullshit.  Period.

If tricking is an aesthetic discipline, as it’s often described, if it’s an art, you can’t place such ridiculous criteria on it.  It’s too diverse to be broken down into such a pathetic one-liner.  Frankly, I see that phrase as narrow minded, authoritarian, and willfully ignorant.  Other common permutations, like calling it “Martial Arts Tricking” (MAT) are no different.  MAT is just a more subtle, succinct way to say it, in my opinion.  It implies that there must be, or should be, a martial arts element to it.  Why?  Because that’s where the sport’s roots are?  Tradition on its own is an illogical reason to do anything, so I reject that argument with every fiber of my being.  As i’ve said many times before, tricking belongs to the people who do it now, not those who came before us.  I will not be ruled by people who no longer participate, just because they had a different vision, and happened to participate chronologically earlier than i did.  It’s our sport to grow the way we see fit, because we’re the ones using it right now.  The old timers had their say, and they left us with what they thought was best, just as we will leave the next generation with what we think is best.

So..   you don’t have to kick.  You don’t have to do vert kicks, and you don’t have variate your twists.  It’s still tricking..  But think about what twist variations accomplish.  They demonstrate greater skill and power, as well as unique aesthetics in the air.  In a game that is currently so heavy on the tumbling/twisting axes, vert kicks break up the monotony.  Vert kicks are often stationary, they are obviously straight up and down, more or less, and ideally, they demonstrate finer motor control.  In my opinion, the main reason to vert kick is to create contrast with the multi-axis aesthetic so dominant in tricking now.  It’s like doing a gainer-switch, or gainer-flash when you’ve done nothing but corks in the last 5 combos.  It sticks out, and it shows you have another skill set; you are well rounded.  At the very least it demonstrates control over your power, particularly when coming out of inverted twisting tricks, because it requires you do manage and direct your energy into a single axis.  I’m often far more impressed by a well executed btwist vanish 5r (btwist vanish 9), than by cork s/t double-cork.  It’s power vs finesse.  If all you’ve shown is finesse, power is great.  If you continually show me power, I want to see finesse.  As I mentioned, it’s that contrast that keeps me interested, and kicking, both vert and inverted, helps to accomplish that.

Tricking is not sport karate..  it’s not tumbling..  it’s not freestyle martial arts, or gymnastics..  It’s a movement art (I shudder to use this phrase, but whatever..), and in defining it so, its whole cannot and should not be limited by restrictive thoughts.  However, if/when you execute a martial arts inspired movement, the karate nazis absolutely have the right, and in my opinion, the responsibility to point out proper technique and standards.  If you don’t like that, perhaps doing similar movements like a dancer might, and developing more/new terminology is appropriate.  It seems unreasonable to get pouty about a gymnast or cheerleader trying to correct your form in a twist, and so the same should be true for kicking techniques.  Some defined standard is necessary for quality to be assessed.  Without a degree of objectivity, criticisms and compliments are equally meaningless.  In order to avoid watering down tricking with an attitude that any flimsy movement is good, I think it’s fair to adopt some of the main standards and criteria from the disciplines that influenced us.  That doesn’t mean we have to do everything like a gymnast, or a martial artist, but gross movements like chambering, setting, and relative body positions are very reasonable starting points.

Just a some things that have been rattling around in my head for awhile..

May 28, 2015 homework, ideas, Invert, Landings, Thoughts, Transitions, Tutorials, Video 1 Comment
I love palm kicks..  i use them for nearly everything.  It’s to the point where i intentionally leave them out of combos, because otherwise they’d be in every single one.

I feel like the overwhelming majority of the times i see others use this trick, it’s to set up master-scoot, or wrap-full.  At this point, that’s so generic that i don’t even want to use it in that way, and in the video, i didn’t.

Why are palm kicks so popular as setups for power?  Because they’re insanely easy, and controllable, so you can direct enormous power through them in a variety of ways.
The trick is pliable though..  it can fit just about any utility you need.  I use it as a power generator, as well as a brake to slow down, or gain control.  It’s often a recovery trick, when applicable, and i even use it as a test trick, when transitioning out of things i may be unsure about, or need to feel out first.  For example, if i got mega-cork today, you can be certain that the first time i tried to swing out of it, i’d swing into palm kick, so i could feel out where i am, in terms of balance, power, focus, etc.  I love it because it gives the sense of doing something dynamic, while still being very energy efficient, and easy.

 

Tips:  These are ideas i try to utilize when possible to create the aesthetic and feel that i prefer, and/or maintain, create, and direct momentum as necessary for the combo.

Treat it like a kick, not a cartwheel.  Think butterknife, or stepover-hook, not carwheel.
Keep it circular.  This goes along with the first tip – let the hips go around the shoulders, not over them, when possible.
Kick Low.  You are upside down, on your hands, so the kick is naturally a foot or two above a head level target.  If you try to kick low, you’ll hit a better target, and probably maintain a more circular path, as suggested before.
Stutter the rhythm.  allow the hips to make 2 distinct movements.  First the non-kicking leg comes over, then snap the hips over and hook kick.
Bend the knee.  If you keep the non-kicking leg straight, it will look more like a cartwheel.  Keep it chambered, when possible.
 

The video provided utilizes palm kicks, and occasionally e-kicks in a variety of different ways as a means to encourage greater utilization of, and creativity with palm kicks in the community.  Think of it like my sketchbook, and these are just some base level ideas i had.  I chose to include clips that aren’t quite as well executed, because the idea is what’s important.  Feel free to take anything you see, and use it, as well as experiment on your own with this easy trick.  Keep in mind that this project uses only low end tricks.  The concept is applicable to any level trick with similar attributes.  a mega-cart is fundamentally no different than a mega-cork; a tornado is fundamentally no different than c7r(c900).  Remember, if you can palmkick from it, you can also theoretically do btwists, gainer axis tricks, or swing vert kicks.  Use the palmkick as a baby step toward those higher level skills, before you’re ready to implement them.

I included the e-kicks because in instances when a palmkick wont really work, i often think of and use e-kicks like i would a palmkick.

The hook kick..
It was probably the first movement you learned in tricking, or one of the first.  It’s used at every level as the main go-to segue into most powerful setups, like touchdown-raiz, masterscoot, and cartwheel, not to mention cheat kicks, and basically everything in between.  Why?  Because it’s convenient, and it’s controlled.  It’s also lazy, if you ask me.  I’m not talking about c5h (c7), or boxcutters, I mean specifically a standing/grounded spinning hook kick.  I can’t recall a single instance where i thought to myself “gee, that hook really made that combo work (visually)”.  For this reason, i believe that the hook should be discontinued as a common movement, once you’re past a certain level of proficiency.

I’m not trying to make you trick my way..  let’s not play that game.  I’m simply advocating a higher standard of tricking for those proficient enough to pull it off.  If you’re brand new to tricking, this is probably not for you yet, but perhaps it will give you something to think about.

Now i’m not saying that you should never use hooks, but i am saying that when you find yourself using it regularly, or if you’re planning to use it intentionally, it’s a crutch, and perhaps other choices should be explored.  Quite often, a c5h (c7) or wackknife is just as easy to get off in a combo as a hook is..  Or try an E-kick, or palm kick..  Try a tornado (or any round trick) and clever transition, like a skip, or reversal, instead..  The point is to remove the easy, common control movement in favor of a more unique, or at least visually interesting, option.

Often times, tricks get paired with hooks so much that our brains completely turn off the idea that perhaps they dont have to be done together.  If you see a c7r (c9), you can bet that it will almost always be followed by a hook kick.  Why not just vanish from that kick, or choose a different option, like a jackknife?  Similarly, as mentioned before, powerful setups like scoots and carts are almost always preceded by hooks, as are sideswipes and other raiz axis tricks.  Why not p1s (p3-hyper) or tornado instead, and vanish into the the sideswipe?  Try a round kicking trick and skip into that cart or masterscoot..  there are a number of ways to do all of this.

What i want, more than anything else in tricking, is to see the individuals of the community do something new, different, and unique.  Sure, you can choose uncommon tricks to stand out, or to show your individuality, but you can also use common tricks in uncommon ways by utilizing your transitions, and choosing not to follow the common trends of the past, such as relying on a hook kick to glue two broken combo segments together.

-1

Homework:
No hooks this week.  That doesn’t mean you just spam jstep cork swings all week.  If you’re up to the challenge, i want you to create well rounded combos, or modify existing ones, that exclude the use of hooks, but still stay true to your style.  The goal is to think outside of the box, and apply a greater degree of technicality and difficulty, while still accomplishing your general combo goals.  Yes, it can be hard..  but it should help you to achieve better combos, unlock new ideas, and hopefully add a bit of challenge and fun to your sessions.

Example:
(existing combo):  p180hH rpop c3r hook s/t masterscoot s/t cork.  (p3hyper rpop tornado hook mscoot cork)
(modified 1):  p180hH rpop c3rHS skip masterscoot s/t cork.  (over-rotate the tornado to a hyperstyle landing – land in backside on the non-kicking leg)
(modified 2): p180hH van 3k s/t masterscoot s/t cork.  (p3hyper vanish 540 masterscoot cork – same combo really, just altered some landings)

(existing combo):  c7r hook cartfull  (c9 hook cartfull)
(modified 1):  c7r van spyder reversal cartfull
(modified 2): c7r van ekick van cartfull

This is meant to take you out of your comfort zone, and challenge you creatively and physically, but it should still be fun.  Good luck, and as always, if you do something really cool, i want to see it; post it to the tricktheory fb page.

April 22, 2015 Events, Gathering, Opinion, Review, Thoughts No Comments
The Colorado Tricking Tribe had a gathering this weekend..  It was wild, to say the least.

First, a big thank you to Nick and Charlie for organizing an exemplary event.  It was an amazing weekend.  Thank you to the rest of the tribesmen, and miscellaneous Colorado trickers for their help in executing this event.  Their hard work is truly what made this event happen, and function as smoothly as it did.  Several tribesmen, including Nick and Charlie, as well as the boys at Torque opened their homes to as many guests as they could physically hold, and drove them around like heroes.  That’s a big deal..

So what happened?
It’s a gathering..  shit went down.  A few things did stand out for me this weekend.  First, everyone is sleeping on Isiah Jackson.  This man destroys tricks, period.  He can do it all, and it’s all clean and stylish.  If you don’t know yet..  you soon will.  Second, Ryan Posipanka can kick.  I didn’t know, lol!  The obvious things come to mind when i think about his tricking: spammin dubdubs and triple fulls like it’s a game.  The boy can kick though.  His c7r (c9) is balanced and vertical, and the kick is complete with proper chambering and full extension.  While most powerful twisters can execute kicks, many don’t have the precision and technique that a more martially inspired kicker might, and that Ryan demonstrated.  Similarly, Saul Ag really impressed me with his well rounded, powerful combos, and clean technique.  He’s another one that could be easy to write off as a mindless power mover / twist bot, but he has solid technique across the board, and a healthy repertoire of tricks.  Frankly, some of his better combos kinda got weaker reactions than they should have..  i think maybe some people were expecting little more than dubdub spam, and got confused when his legs stuck out, and he stayed upright (before ending in dub).  Unfortunately, Alex Omidvar tweaked a knee at some point, and didn’t get the opportunity to go wild at the gathering much, but in sessions before and since, he’s been feeling a bit better, and has been killing it.  Finally, Ben Cauvy wrecks shop.  Beautiful combos, with a excellent technique, and it seems he can do basically everything at a high level.  I’ve been really impressed by him so far, and am excited to session with him more over the next few weeks of his stay.

What i’ll remember about Tribe Gathering is not the gym sessions, but the times between.  For example, I had lunch with the SGTF boys on Saturday, which was really great.  It gave me some insight into them as individuals, and where they see tricking going, as well as where they’d like to see it go, among other things.  I’ll remember how sessions would just spontaneously come to life while hanging out.  What began as 2-3 people stretching and lightly moving turned into everyone present going hard in their street clothes.  I’ll remember dinner and conversation with Thekla, Jacob, and Jandu, among others.  It’s always so interesting to me to talk to people 10-15 years younger than myself, and to hear their perspectives on all manner of things..  I once saw a meme on facebook that said “Be friends with people older than you, they know cool shit that you don’t.  Be friends with people younger than you, they know cool shit that you don’t.”  I believe in this, and have found it to be true, particularly in this community.  Most of all, i’ll remember the joy i saw in peoples’ faces.  Tricking is an amazing thing, and i’m grateful i have the opportunity to participate in, and to witness this crazy thing we do.

In short, this gathering was amazing.  I feel energized, and inspired to take my tricking to the next level.

Keep being you, tricking community..

April 8, 2015 Opinion, Uncategorized, Video No Comments
When did tricking begin?  Well, this is Towels’ take on the birth of tricking..

I would argue that almost nothing in this video is tricking, despite common tricking moves and ideas being used.  It wasn’t tricking, because it had no community of dedicated practitioners.  It wasn’t tricking, because it was always a supplement to something else.  It wasn’t tricking, because it wasn’t yet self aware, nor self sustaining.

For many, the old narrative that tricking came about from the 90’s era sport karate scene, is just fine.  In my opinion, tricking still didn’t exist, despite the term being birthed at some point in this time frame.  You could also argue that tricking really became its own thing sometime in the early 2000’s, when people would participate in things like Loopkicks camp, dedicated solely to tricking.  I think this is closer to the true birth of tricking, but i feel that even then, tricking was overwhelmingly an offshoot of the sport karate scene, and without sport karate continually feeding it, tricking would have been crippled or destroyed.

In my opinion, tricking was born when it reached a high enough population of “backyard trickers” to become self sustaining.  Before “tricking” had a large, self-sustaining sect of weirdos who ‘just like throwing themselves around’, it was a supplement to something else.  It existed largely as a means to an end.  It was largely dependent on sport karate for it’s survival and growth.  Once the weirdos moved in, it became it’s own thing..  it became viable as it’s own entity, and i believe, that’s when it began to change into something greater.  Now, tricking doesn’t need the sport karate world at all..  while there will always be a good deal of overlap in the two sports, they have moved far enough apart to be 2 clearly defined, and separate things.  Sport karate can die, and tricking’s trajectory will only be slightly altered..  a far cry from just 10 years ago when the 2 disciplines were more heavily intertwined.

I believe tricking, as we now know it today, is very young..  less than a decade old.  It was birthed by the sport karate circuits, but owes its independence to the backyard tricker.  In many ways, tricking has reached a point in its existence that mirrors so many of you.  Tricking is finally beginning to take it’s first steps as an independent being.  It is becoming what it was meant to be, and finding itself in the process.  Tricking-only events, like Redbull Throwdown, and massive gatherings, are becoming more common, and the industry to sustain it is beginning to take shape.  This is a very exciting time to be active in the community, because we get to help shape what this burgeoning sport will be for the next generation.  I hope each of you will help this thing we do be better tomorrow than it is today.

March 31, 2015 News, Opinion, Thoughts No Comments
I’ve seen a number of comments and discussions about less focus on samplers, and a greater focus on Instagram clips, so i thought i’d comment..

First off, samplers aren’t going anywhere.  They are, and will probably always be, a way for trickers to share what they do, and build notoriety.  They’re stories about a time that people watch over and over throughout the years, and are arguably a driving force behind the growth of the sport, traditionally.  For video nerds, the creation of samplers is an art, but we cant expect everyone to do, or enjoy, the same arts.  Now, as Instagram is getting a lot of use, there are those who fear samplers might disappear, or are becoming less common.  I’d argue that excellent samplers from good trickers are still being released regularly, without any real impact from uploading clips to instagram as well.

For a lot of people, the sampler is about sharing their tricks with other people, nothing more..  they don’t want fame, necessarily, and aren’t as interested in the artistic editing side of the art, they just want people to see their tricks.  For those people, Instagram is actually a better platform, in a lot of ways.  While you can’t use it to document a long period in a short time, you can reach a lot of people who might not normally see your samplers.  To be quite frank, i dont watch twistbot videos..  they usually bore me.  If all i see is 012 combos for the first 30-45 seconds, i turn it off, and i may never bother clicking on that person’s videos again.  It’s not that i dont respect it, i just dont find it interesting…  It’s like musical tastes.  I prefer house music, and metal just kinda irritates me, so i choose not to listen to it for leisure.  That doesn’t mean i wont listen to it if i’m asked, or if i’m interested in learning something from it..  i just wont load it on my iphone.  Same concept.  The point is, if it’s just a 15 second clip on Instagram, i watch it…  every single clip in my feed, i watch.  So in that respect, Instagram is a better delivery service, or method of connection than a sampler ever could be.  Through short clips, i get what a sampler would show me normally, but spaced out over time.  I get the opportunity to learn a tricker’s style, and what they work on in a different way than a block of clips with a bad soundtrack could ever show me.  The Instagram clips are also better suited for the busy individuals.  Sure, i find time to watch samplers most days, but it’s far easier to open an app, watch 4 or 5 clips, and even leave a comment, in the same time it takes to watch a short sampler.  In this way, Instagram is better at connecting more people, more often, and that’s how communities and friendships begin and grow.

In short, they’re apples and oranges.  One is not better than the other, and they’re not really in competition.  Eat and grow the one you like..  or both.

****
Site News:  Tricktionary is in the works and should be up shortly after Tribe Gathering in mid April.

Store: coming soon, with a projected launch date at, or around the Tribe Gathering as well.

March 16, 2015 Hypers, Invert, Landings, Opinion, Thoughts, Transitions, Tutorials, Vert No Comments
We all do it, so it seems only fitting to talk about a few methods to efficiently create realistic combos on paper, before we take them to the gym.

Step one, for most of us, is to keep a journal of some sort.  Some people choose to notebooks and a pen; i prefer to use the notepad app on my phone, because i’ll never forget it when i go to the gym.  The key to writing out realistic, doable combos is understanding the position each trick begins in, and ends in, how to manipulate that, and how different transitions utilize, or change that position.  Once you’ve grasped the basics here, you’ll start to see patterns between landing positions, and families of tricks using common transitions, and how to utilize less common choices by varying your tricks and transitional choices.  For example, a hook trick, like a stepover-hook will commonly be used to reversal or redirect into a cheat kick, vanish into an aerial/cart/butterfly family trick, or utilize some form of swing to access the raiz/wrap/gm families.  Do you realize that you can also skip into gainer family tricks without altering your momentum though?  Or that you can actually vanish into corks?  Do you realize that hook tricks land just like hypered-rounds and swipes?  Each of these choices affects the combo in different ways.  Sometimes you’ll want the utility of a simple, efficient transition, like vanishing into a btwist to setup a cork, and other times you’ll want to do something atypical, to create more of an original flavor.  With each additional move, the goal needs to be addressed:  Utility or Aesthetic?

Tiered Combos and Reverse Engineering:
I’m told that Bozzy talked about creating tiers of combos at Hooked this year.  That’s a valuable take away.  I think most of us do it intuitively, but making the action conscious is important, because it gives us a set of tangible goals to reach, as well as more opportunities to grow in the process, creating a better tricker long-term.  You can approach this in two basic ways, so let’s look at each.

 

Method 1:  Reverse Engineering A Distant Goal
In this method, think of some crazy combo you want to do in the relatively near future.  Something currently out of your reach, but realistically attainable in like 6 months or less.  Next, break down the combo into smaller parts, and create combo progressions for each part.

Goal:  c3typhoon s/t corkdleg punch 5jackknife  (mainstream:  c9double s/t corkdleg punch bs10jackknife)  *make note that each round kick trick will ideally land at/near hyper-style, to maintain the momentum line.
Tier 1:  2 Combos:  tornado s/t cork, and corkdleg punch 5r(bs9) from any setup.
Tier 2:  2 Combos: c7r s/t corkdleg, and corkdleg punch 5jk(bs10jack) from any setup.  Tier 3:  Final Goal:  c7t(c9dub) s/t corkdleg punch 5jk(bs10jack)
 

In the above example, each tier has multiple combos to be working on, each of which can be further subdivided into progressions.  For example, moving from tornado s/t cork to c7r s/t corkdleg is a pretty big jump, but there are a number of ways to reach that goal.  For example, training both tornado s/t corkdleg, and c7r s/t cork should train the motions to reach the c7r s/t corkdleg efficiently, with the added benefit of drilling lesser skills that are applicable elsewhere.  Even the most basic of those steps can be further subdivided into progressions, when necessary.  For example, tornado s/t 3h, followed by tornado s/t gainer, followed by tornado s/t cork.

 

Method 2:  Upward Expansion
In this method, take any combo or concept, and create multiple combos with increasing difficulty as possible using the same family of tricks or concept.

Starter Combo:  Tornado hook vanish btwist pop flash
Level 2:  c5h(c7) vanish btwist pop full, and c5h(c7) vanish btwist s/t gainer
Level 3:  Jakcknife vanish btwist pop fullhyperhook, and Jakcknife vanish btwist s/t boxcutter
 

In the above example, each increase in level utilizes the same types of tricks and transitions, but has a much greater difficulty.  Other options are obviously available, but for this post example we’ll keep it simple.  By using each level increase as a goal, the Reverse Engineering method can be utilized to create progressions to make that step easier, and with the added benefits that method comes with.

 

The point to understand, and utilize from all of this, is that by approaching your combos in a logical and methodical way, you can more efficiently reach your goals, and improve more areas of your tricking than by spamming and crashing the goal itself until it eventually clicks.
 

====================================

Homework:  Do Something Unique
Using the above techniques, construct goals and progressions that identify and break common patterns at each step.  The goal here is to maintain the desired utility of the combo, while increasing the individual expression in it.  The goal of this task is to utilize unexpected tricks or transitions in a given situation.  Few of us do this inately, which is why we see generic combos and patterns in tricking.  Rather than relying on divine inspiration to create unique combos, utilize logic and planning to break identified patterns, and create a unique combo.

Pattern:  c7r(c9) hook redirect tdr
Change 1:  c7r(c9) vanish tdr:  This combo is slightly better because it is more efficient, but still nothing too spectacular
Change 2:  c7r(c9) hook c/t tdr:  Slightly better combo.  By altering the transition to a harder, but very uncommon transition for the situation, this combo should command more attention.
Change 3:  c3kHG(540gyro) s/t tdr:  This combo wins the OC game.  Not only does it utilize an uncommon starter trick and transition, it is also incredibly efficient, delivering a lot of impact in only 2 moves.
In order to find those uncommon possibilities, a strong understanding of each trick’s ins and outs must be reached, as well as their relationship to other movements, and how they interact with different transitional possibilities, not to mention common patterns each trick falls into.  Simply put, you need to know your $#!-, and you will need to experiment a ton, and sit down and logically plan something unexpected or unique.

If you do something cool, film it, and share it on the facebook page!  I’m always interested in seeing and discussing innovative ideas being played with.

August 13, 2015 ideas, Opinion, Thoughts 2 Comments
I’ve had this feeling inside of me for awhile now.  A feeling that something new is emerging in tricking.  I think a new form, or genre of tricking is about to fully mature and become mainstream.  As i see it, there are 2 main genres of tricking currently, each with their own variations or sub-genres.  I see the martially inspired trickers, or traditionalists, and on the other end of the spectrum are the twistbots, who embody a more gymnastics based style.  With only a few exceptions, everyone falls somewhere in this spectrum.  There are a few people who, overall, are not really properly classified as either, and instead deal largely in an overall aestheticly based or physically expressive style, like a dancer.  Many people dabble here, creating combos that flow in interesting ways, but ultimately their overall style is still conventionally kicky or corky (or right in between the two).  However, there are a few who dabble in the conventional, but overall are doing something completely unconventional for tricking.

Watch these, and imagine the ideas and concepts taken to the next level.  It’s not anything we’ve seen before.

https://youtu.be/JG1felrUHKA
https://youtu.be/lQyZOYY6w8E
 

Watch basically anything that Cody does, and you’ll see he uses a lot of unconventional movements.  He bends and twists and rolls in unpredictable ways, even if you’re accustomed to looking at the movements.  More than just about anyone i watch, i get a sense of joy and wonder when i watch him move.  Keith uses more conventional tricks, but he moves in a way that doesn’t really look like he’s kicking, or typically twistbotting.  When i watch his videos, i see him thinking through new ways to be a shape.  Even his kicks dont feel martial to me, but instead like this particular shape has a little thing sticking out of it, and it’s spinning.  I would consider many recent combos from Alex Hunter, Alex Omidvar, and Ashley Adams to be in this same category.  I see them as shapes, not gymnasts or kickers; i see breakdancing.  I see wheels turning, and skipping, and bouncing.  I see something new.

Think about who more obviously dances when they trick.  I’m sure your first thought is Sesshoumaru, then maybe G Dong and Luis Gonzalez.  These guys are actively trying to meld their love of breaking with tricking.  It may not be your cup of tea, but that exploration is one of the founding principles tricking was built on.  We’re going to see greater and greater influxes of dance based trickers.  We’re seeing it in Colorado, for sure, but all over the place, dancers are finding tricking, and bringing to it their dancing sensibilities to create new styles of tricking.

https://youtu.be/51ffhAK8I70
https://youtu.be/nU0SoUjbdIk
https://youtu.be/i49VlrLGXpE
 

I dont know much about capoeira, though i’ve watched a good deal of it.  My understanding is it is a martial art that was developed by slaves in Brazil, and disguised as a dance (because nobody’s going to let their captives practice fighting..).  So singing and dancing is very important to the art, obviously, and that sort of background transfers into the tricking world as well.  It’s pretty easy to see a degree of capoeira’s influence on tricking, and i think that it’s actually going to escalate as more people from different backgrounds explore this sport, and identify with that influence.

https://youtu.be/EEr3gWuFxr8
https://youtu.be/6H0D8VaIli0
 

 

So what’s the point of all of this?  There isn’t one.  It’s just a trend i think i see.  Perhaps it’s just something i hope for, I dont know.  Hopefully it will make someone think about tricking differently, and inspire something really special.  At the very least, i think it’s a fun idea to entertain, even just for a moment.

August 3, 2015 ideas, Invert, Landings, Opinion, Thoughts, Transitions, Tutorials No Comments
I’m a huge believer in using your hands in tricking.  Why?  Because it’s easy, for one, but more importantly, that ease allows me to train for skills i’m not yet capable of doing, and to apply that experience more quickly upon learning a new skill.  What i mean is, i may not be able to mega-cork yet, but by utilizing the mega-cart swingthrough to train, i will be much more comfortable and capable of swinging from the cork, once i get it.  I see hands-down type tricks as a safer step toward higher skills, because they’re essentially planned bails, as well as the more common uses:  swag and/or power.  Here is a list of basic skills to learn, and utilize to maximize your training tools.

Before training anything on your hands, be sure to adequately stretch your arms, shoulders, and wrists.  If you dont condition your arms and its joints, these tricks may leave you a bit sore, and have the potential for injury, so start slowly, at your own risk.

 

Cartwheels:  This should be a no-brainer.  Get both a side to side and front to back (gymnastics style) cartwheel on both sides, and if you really want to be thorough, learn them all on each hand (one-handed, each hand), as well as with neutral head position (dont look down, look forward the whole time).  The ability to do all of those things is invaluable for comfort, awareness, and control in hands-down tricks.
Aside from the obvious uses as a setup, cartwheels are an easy way to increase our strength, comfort, and coordination when on our hands.  This video is an excellent resource for everyone from beginners to veterans.  Learn and understand the principles in it, and apply them to all of the skills you learn.
https://youtu.be/vaP16CvCbMY

I also highly recommend getting cart variations to all 4 landing positions.  Cart-switch (complete), Cart (hyper), Mega-Cart (mega), Semi-Carttwist/Tinsica (semi).
Semi-Carttwist?!  It’s just a cartwheel that lands forward facing, in semi, rather than sideways or backward (hyper).  Arguably this idea is different than a tinsica, but for all intents and purposes, either works just fine.  Here is a great exampler for Tinsicas.  Hopefully You’ll be able to see the potential to setup tricks on the aerial/btwist and gumbi/raiz axes.  Also, checkout some of Cody’s other videos, he does a ton of great things on his hands.
https://youtu.be/izP9YrN246Q
Roundoff:  Learn it..  make it good, and strong, and correct.  The principles of a solid roundoff extend to every trick, particularly on-the-hand tricks, so learning this trick properly is time well spent.
https://youtu.be/gxGsEG_-7y4
 

Gumbi:  Sorry, you need this, learn it.  Gumbi is the easiest and safest way to train for raiz axis tricks.  You dont even need to really swing out of it; just the ability to do it will make practicing a frontswings and many carrythroughs much easier, and safer.  Gumbis will also help with progression through its variations – sailormoon, tdraiz, and raiz, and the switch/swipe versions of each, including gumbi.  I highly recommend getting all of those, in any order, but at least one should be a high priority.  By having one regular, and one swipe/switched version, you have easy access from the semi landing position to the complete and hyper takeoff positions.  This tutorial my help you.
https://youtu.be/v0-iRGmUnrQ

One method to learning gumbi that was successful for me, is to learn it from a cartwheel.
Step1:  Cartwheel on your good side, and end facing forward, either by pivoting, or landing almost like a tinsica.  Once both feet land, continue forward into the opposite cartwheel, landing backward (gymnast style).  This creates a reversal transition.
Step2:  Repeat this combination, but this time, attempt to swing the second leg into the second cartwheel, rather than putting it down.  Now, you’ve created a swingthrough or carrythrough transition (depending on how you perform it), rather than a reversal.  This step should be repeated until you can comfortably, quickly, and powerfully perform it.  This step can be scary at first, so take it slowly the first time through.
Step3:  Repeat step 2, but intentionally throw your first cartwheel way off axis – you want your momentum to follow a more circular arc around you, rather than over.  When you swing/carry into the second cartwheel, your body will naturally be pulled over, following the momentum created in the first cart.  Allow your back to arch, and be sure to reach high, behind your head to catch yourself.  The hand placement is crucial – your second hand should reach to the opposite side of the first.  It may feel like you’re falling the first time you do it right, but you need to trust in your arms, and keep them straight and strong.  Once you feel what the gumbi is, and you will definitely feel it when you do it right, repeat the process with increasing speed and power until it’s engrained in your muscles.  Once you figure it out, gumbi is super easy, and super fun.
This video is a great resource for getting, or improving your raiz, and many of the tips apply directly to gumbi as well.
https://youtu.be/0ONeQjJIbFQ
Finally, i recommend learning what we call Atwist-Gumbi, or sometimes Reverse-Gumbi.  This allows you to gumbi from the opposite foot position, such as vanished from a hyper or semi landing, rather than swung or reversaled into.  This trick is also an excellent pre-requisite for the full-backhandspring (tutorial below), which is essentially an onodi (arabian fronthandspring) into atwist-gumbi.
https://youtu.be/5QuYouOOAGc
 

Master Tricks:  Masterscoot is a fairly obvious trick to pick up.  It’s a great tool for setting swingthroughs obviously, but also as a first step toward both wrap and grandmaster tricks from the hyper landing position.  Dont forget to get yourself a masterswipe (tricker style) as well.  It’s just a cartwheel from a master swing, and will be more efficient for training GMS and GMT/Kroc type tricks.
https://youtu.be/mOMdeYoKi-o

For masterswipe, you can just do a masterscoot, and switch at the end, to land hyper, but it is not a true masterswipe.  Instead, think of it more like a cartwheel from the master swing.  Also note that the bboy masterswipe is not what we are talking about, and many/most tutorials on youtube are for the bboy style masterswipe.
https://youtu.be/qVEViM9Y790
 

Touchdown-Gainer/Valdez/Macaco:  Learn macaco, at the very least.  This trick is incredibly useful as a first step toward backward tumbling when landing complete, or relatively backward, into pop and swingthrough tricks, among others.
https://youtu.be/YbBVPGScUiY

Arguably the same thing as a valdez, fundamentally, valdezes have similar functions and functionality to macacos.
https://youtu.be/GH56ht66ZW8
Finally, learn to backswing into either macaco or valdez, creating a s/t valdez/macaco, or what some people also call a touchdown-gainer.  I love this trick/concept because it allows you to train swinging into gainers with much less height and power necessary.  Only half of the flip is necessary, and you can still practice the difficult part of the combo, which is the transition.
https://youtu.be/9HQel7e1Xm8
 

Finally, here are a number of extra tools that i highly recommend having.  They may not be quite as useful as the ones listed, but they can be a great way to add a little something extra/different to your combos, as well as a fun way to conserve energy, since on-hand tricks often require less explosive power to perform.

https://youtu.be/0JLrKT28VFs
https://youtu.be/OHAsGqbMc10
https://youtu.be/ab6Ihvex_nw
https://youtu.be/GfFYcHEtYCc
https://youtu.be/AZTx8ba7ukk
https://youtu.be/ASWH3l_rTc8

April 9, 2017 ideas, Invert, Opinion, Thoughts, Tutorials, Vert, Video No Comments

Because it comes up somewhat often, I felt I’d make a video explaining my perspective on flipped “vert kicks”.

For me, a vert kick is meant to be a single axis trick; it’s all spin, and no flip.  Just as I view a backflip with a 1/4 twist as something different than a true backflip, I view a vertically twisting kick with a degree of flip as something else.  I think this because the isolation of the vertical axis, and the quantifiable rotation in each kick is what really sets it aside from variated flipping elements, such as fulls, corks, and taks.

In the video above, I briefly explain my stance, and try to demonstrate the similarities and differences when adding flip to an intended vert kick.

It’s important to remember that what happens in combos is not always going to be perfect.  Often, we end up carrying more flip that we expect, or have a latent flat spin inherent in our setup.  These things are what makes comboing into different elements easier or harder, when we apply certain standards (like staying more or less upright such as in a cheat kick).  If we flip, or go horizontal, which is often easier, we’ve probably created a tak-full variation, not a “true” cheat kick.  That’s ok, it’s just something different; it’s not better or worse.

As always, remember to take others’ criticisms of our tricks with a grain of salt.  They’re giving their perspectives on what could be improved; they are not criticizing you as a person, or disrespecting you.  In fact, I’d argue that their willingness to engage you in thoughtful, respectful conversation and argument demonstrates that they care enough about you to want to help you to understand or grow.

September 10, 2016 ideas, Opinion, Thoughts, Transitions No Comments
There’s been a lot of talk recently about pop btwists..  are they real, are they just a shitty, underinverted full, and does it matter?

Yes.  Pop btwists are indeed real, they are indeed shitty underinverted fulls, and it does matter.

Sorta.

The same goes for cork, and if you wanna get really deep into it, tak and raiz.

The point I want to make is that if you want to be specific and deliberate in your communication and your own thoughts, the concept of a pop btwist / cork / etc. is important.

Full is a trash term.  It’s great for implying that you jumped, flipped, and twisted, and that’s about it.  That’s all you need for most conversations, though.  Full does not, however, really say anything about the direction of flip, or level of inversion, which to many of us are the defining characteristics of a twisting axis.

Think about cart fulls..  Some people takeoff sideways, others forward, and some even takeoff backward.  These “fulls” are all different, because they carry different flip: back, side, forward.  At the very least, 2 of these “fulls” are inherently different than the full you’d see from a scoot or roundoff.

It should also be noted that the transition into a skill does not, and cannot / should not define it.  A cork is not only performed from a swingthrough; it can be vanished, reversaled, reverse-popped, etc.  When you can grasp this concept, it should be obvious that 2 transitions are missing: pop and punch.  To many of us, what makes a cork a cork, is the direction of the flip (back), and the level of inversion (typically less than 45*).  So, when I see a “full” utilizing a backward flip, that never really goes much over the horizontal plane, all I see is a cork from 2 feet (pop/punch).  But what about higher inversions?  Well, if we wanna get specific, we’re talking about gainer-fulls and back-fulls now.  Again, the differentiation is useful for describing what’s happening, when you want to be crystal clear, or when it’s relevant to be specific, but it doesn’t really enhance a typical conversation in any kind of meaningful way.   In everyday conversation, pop btwists, gainer-fulls, and other similar terms are just kind of excessive, and tend to come off as pretentious.  However, if I’m being asked to be critical about someone’s new trick, identify it specifically, or offer tips, it’s often quite useful to use these terms to describe what did happen, or what should happen.  -How do I get a better swing from my cork?  Treat it more like gainer-full.  -What’s wrong with my cart dub, or how can I improve it?  You’re doing pop double-b; you’re not flipping enough.

Frankly, that’s all these terms are good for, if you ask me.  I don’t see much value in going out and trying to master a typical btwist vs a popped one, or stressing back full vs pop cork.  I think they’re great concepts when you want to be very specific, but they’re not worthwhile in pursuing individually, or even using in everyday conversation.  “Full” is fine most of the time, even though it’s trash.

April 5, 2016 Events, Hypers, ideas, Invert, Landings, Opinion, Thoughts, TKT, Transitions, Tutorials, Vert No Comments
The idea is simple:  look at tricks not by their takeoffs and landings, per se, but by their rotation and flip.  What does that mean exactly?  It means that rather than viewing a cheat-9, swing-9, and pop-9 as 3 distinct tricks, view them as the same trick, a “9”, from a different takeoff or transition.  Where one is possible, all 3 are possible, simply by changing the transition into it.  Likewise, the landing is not a defining characteristic of a trick, but an extension of its base.  For example, a cork is a cork, whether it lands in complete, hyper, mega, or semi.  The landing is simply an adjustment you’re making to create a particular position and transition into the next trick; the fundamental part of the trick is still a cork.  This concept goes for gyros, and hypers as well- a 540 is fundamentally a tornado, with an altered landing (a hyper condition).

With this in mind, any 2 tricks can be comboed in a number of ways, creating different aesthetics and diversity, simply by altering the transition (the landing of one trick, and the takeoff of the next).  Simple, right?

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about- this is the kind of thing Ish Payne and Dan Perez do so well:
For this example, we will be using tornadoes (c3r) with one of the 3 hyper conditions (so they all land in backside on either foot, or both), and a 540-round (900 in mainstream- rotationally, these are backside 900s from each takeoff).  Every combo is a tornado with a hyper condition into a “900”.

HS = Hyperstyle- kick + 180* in-air rotation, landing on the non-kicking leg.  It’s an over-rotation.  Rounds will land in backside, hooks in frontside, and always on the non-kicking leg.
H = Hyper- kick + 180* in-air rotation, landing on both feet simultaneously.  Rounds will land in backside, and hooks in frontside.  TH = True Hyper- + 180* in-air rotation, landing on the kicking foot.  Again, rounds will land in backside, and hooks in frontside, always on the kicking leg.  In TKT, these are also sometimes called Katana (k: TH round) and Shuriken (s: TH hook)
c = Cheat- a typical cheat takeoff (outside kicking leg lifts, and upto 180* of on-ground pivot occur) from either stance: in these examples they will begin in backside.
s = Swing- a typical swing takeoff, or a movement similar to a stepover hook’s takeoff.  In these examples they will begin in backside.
p = Pop- a pop takeoff, where both feet jump simultaneously.

Takeoffs for the 540r (“9”) will be labeled in parenthesis for clarity.

By landing: HS (backside, non kicking leg)

c3rHS pop (p)5r
c3rHS vanish (c)5r
c3rHS reversal (s)5r
c3rHS swingthrough (s)5r

By Landing: H (backside, both feet)

c3rH punch (p)5r
c3rH reverse-pop (c)5r
c3rH reverse-pop (s)5r
Notice that reverse-pop has 2 options for vert kicking.

By Landing: TH (k/katana: backside, kicking foot)

c3k pop (p)5r
c3k vanish (s)5r
c3k reversal (c)5r
c3k swingthrough/wrap (c)5r

 

11 combinations, each with a particular look and feel, that are the same combo by rotation: c3r + 180 hyper condition <> transition <> 540r.  There are actually other ways to perform this, but these are the easiest examples to grasp, and the rest are simple modifications, such as altering rotations slightly, changing reversals to redirects, or vanishes to skips.

Notice that in every case there is a reversal, a swingthrough can be performed.  Reversals, and by extension redirects, are interchangeable with singular transitions (swingthrough, carrythrough, missleg, and rapid).  Any point where reversal is possible, a singular transition can be performed in exactly the same way, simply without letting the second landing leg touch down.  This works in reverse, of course- any swing/carry/etc can be replaced by a reversal.  Likewise, skips and vanishes are interchangeable.  A skip is simply a vanish where you hop from one foot to the other, rather than stepping.  Unified transitions work similarly, as they allow us to alter our landings and takeoffs to utilize both legs at once, and to choose to land or takeoff sequentially.  You can use this concept to alter any combo into something new and different, while maintaining the majority of the muscle memory of the other.  At this point, I don’t even think in terms of 12 distinct transitions, but rather in terms of their groups: reversals, vanishes, swings, misses, and unifieds.  With that understanding, coupled with the more generalized approach to tricks themselves talked about above, I can more simply link tricks together, and then modify the transition to create a different look or function.  In short, by simplifying the first layer of thought, I can more easily create lots of possible options to create the exact look I’m after.

I suggest looking at similar movements from different positions, and grouping them together.  An example would be to view carts as more than just cartwheels to each landing position, but to include master-scoot/swipe, gumbi/tdr, and even td-gainers to each landing as the same family of tricks.  This allows us to change our landing position, such as from a cork, to any position and still “cartwheel” out of it to whichever positions we can do.  Typically, we’re limited to complete and hyper landings, because most of us aren’t killing the td-gainer-mega game.  So in this respect, masterscoot, cartswitch, td-gswitch, and gumbi are the same things, and can each be performed by changing the landing or transition out of the trick prior.

 

Now imagine how to apply this concept of grouping.  Let’s take non-twisted flipping and group all of the 0’s.  Normally, if someone says they did a 0000 combo, they mean they did 4 gainer-switches.  However, if you look at “0” as an untwisted flip from other positions, you create a ton of possibilities.  Think of it like this: each landing has a 0, and modifying the 0’s landing allows you to 0 on a different axis.

Complete:  gainer-switch, gainer-flash, gainer-mega, semi-cork
Hyper:  gm-scoot, gms, gms-mega, semi-gmt
Mega:  aerial-switch, aerial, aerial-mega, semi-atwist
Semi:  raiz, raiz-hyper, raiz-mega, semi-raiztwist  (This assumes raiz to be a 0)

Now with that in mind, any setup trick, regardless of landing, can create a number of different 0000 combinations.  I’ll list a few examples:

Setup to mega > a-switch st gflash st gms-mega st aerial
Setup to semi > raiz-hyper/swideswipe st gm-scoot st gainer-mega st aerial
Setup to hyper > semi-gmt st raiz st gswitch

 

The beauty is this scales..  you can add twists to any of these 0’s and create 1’s, which multiplies your potential exponentially.

The point of this simplification concept is to use less brain power to create broad strokes, then understand the specific landings, takeoffs, transitions and axes as details.  By simplifying, I am better able to take any combination I’ve done, and alter each piece to create a “new” and “different” combo with its own particular aesthetic, but overall similar flow (assuming I have the tricks to do so).  It’s like creating a template- cart pop full-hyper vanish btwist is really no different than say tdr st cork-hyper wrap full.  The transitions have changed, and this combo looks much different, but it’s still just cart trick to single-hyper to single.  I strongly believe that once our skills reach a certain level of proficiency, they become interchangeable in most/all situations, and can and should be played with in that way.  That’s not to say that each version of any given trick group is going to be as easy as the others, but with a little effort, they should be doable.  I base this on the idea that at equal levels between 2 base skills, like cork and btwist, the ability to hyper one should equate the ability to hyper the other.  All of the requisite skills are in place, they just need to be applied.   Another example would be taking aerial pop full, and changing the aerial to a gms.  They’re both the same thing, they just come from different legs, and the ability to swap between the two in most situations creates a lot of possibilities.

I urge you to try thinking, and comboing in these terms.  Think something like cart-trick to twist-trick to vert rotation, and see how many ways you can fulfill that requirement.  Not everything is going to work easily, and not all of it will look good, but this method will lead you to some interesting and often unexpectedly cool combos, or pieces of combos to play with.  It literally takes the guess work out of combo creation.  No more need for inspiration, just toss out some arbitrary numbers and see what you can do with them.  You’ll always find something nice, if you put in the time.  More importantly, doing this from time to time, or even every session, will help you train a number of different skills and concepts, increasing your overall knowledge and understanding, coordination, and skill repertoire.

 

One last thing:
Dont forget to sign up for Tricktheory Camp this summer, in Denver Colorado, from June 28th until July 1st 2016!  That’s the week between NEO and the Colorado Gathering, so plan to hit all 3 events, and spend a solid 9 days tricking with some of the best in the game.  Instructors for camp include members of Neotricks, Tribe, and Torque, with special guest instructors Vivien Youlou, Jason Goma, and Laurent Arrabito!  More are in the works, and will be announced as soon as they’re confirmed.
http://torquetricking.com/trickingtour/wordpress/

March 30, 2016 ideas, Opinion, Thoughts No Comments
Been awhile since I’ve vomited my thoughts onto the page..  So here goes.

I’ve found myself in a number of conversations recently about how to evaluate a tricker’s skill, in one capacity or another.  We don’t have ranks, for the most part, or a code of points that says a level XX must be able to complete skills A, B, and C.  So what makes someone a good tricker, or what makes them beginner, advanced, etc?  Or, how can I measure myself as a whole, or in a particular area, without necessarily comparing myself to another tricker?

 

In my opinion, the mark of a good tricker is not the skills they perform, or even their technique in those skills, although those things do play a part.  What I look at is how they combo.  I look for things like proficiency in the skills themselves, but also in their transitions.  Proficiency tends to be efficient technique, with deliberate actions, and “properly” applied power.  Beginners tend to be very stiff throughout a movement, and their posture, extension, and power tends to suffer because of it.  In contrast, when you look at someone incredibly good, you see an almost relaxed, comfortable state, with bursts of tension and power.  Every tiny movement is intentional, and has purpose, and that is when a skill tends to look good and function most efficiently.  Likewise, the way people transition tells me a lot about their level.  Again, the beginner will be less efficient in their transitions..  they may be slow, or putting too much energy into the landing, and losing it in the jump, or it may just be a hasty jerk into the next skill, whereas elite trickers tend to move between skills in a way that maintains momentum, or even increases it.

 

I view proficiency, power, and technique as very obvious, almost superficial qualities.  I don’t mean that in a negative way at all, I mean that they are the surface, they are the first thing to notice, but not the only thing that matters.  A more abstract, or less obvious thing to evaluate is the order of their tricks, and again, by extension, the transitions used to link them.  There are obvious entrances and exits to a variety of skills, and while you can make quality combos with them, they don’t say a lot in terms of creativity.  For example, the ability to wrap from a cart is a pretty basic skill, and while you can gauge proficiency here, the setup leaves something to be desired.  By changing that cart to a masterswipe, an additional level is added both in the setup, and in how that setup was comboed into (because the landing and/or transition must be altered to takeoff from the other leg).  It’s also a less common trick, which tells me this person has probably put in some time to develop it, and is attempting to do something less conventional.  Similarly, vert tricks tend to come in pairs, often at the beginning of a combo, and will usually be linked with reversal or vanish transitions, or will end in backside for a pop.  Simply opting for a frontside pop kick, or using a swing or carry transition will instantly show me this person has a wider variety of skills and ideas about how to do this thing we do.  This is obviously subjective, and open to our own personal interpretations, but these details make up a major part of the pie for me.

 

I see tricking as an art, not a sport, and art is inherently subjective; evaluating the skill of an artist (tricker) will of course vary from person to person.  We’re all on this spectrum somewhere between our idealized versions, and where we began.  For some of us, the journey is longer than others in each area we look at.  A tricker may have loads of skills, and use them creatively, but their technique may be lacking, or vice versa.  One does not discount the other, because we, as artists and performers, are the sum of our parts.

So the short answer to the question about how I evaluate the skill of a tricker is simple:  I watch them for something special.