How I Discovered Tricking

I am often asked how I got into tricking.  For those interested, here is the story :)

I have been very athletic literally since I could walk.  My parents started me in developmental gymnastics at 10 months old.  I did recreational gymnastics until I was about 8 years old.  I outgrew recreational gymnastics and joined a competitive gymnastics program where I competed to level 9.  I was putting in 25 – 30 hours per week in gymnastics training in addition to my martial arts competition training and schooling.  I just didn’t have enough hours in the day to do everything so I dropped competitive gymnastics in late 2009.

 At 6 years old I started my first martial arts classes and it came very natural to me.  Although my karate school did not teach nor encourage students to do competitions, some of the older students competed locally, and a few even competed on the North American Sport Karate Association (N.A.S.K.A.) circuit.  My karate school had a local demo team where I was exposed to tricking.   Since I could already tumble and flip it came pretty easy for me.  I started competing locally in 2005 in Extreme Forms and added Extreme Weapons in 2006.

My tricking mainly grew out of my demo team practices and my local competitions.  The first real karate trick I learned was a 540 at the age of 8 followed by learning a b-twist shortly after that.  I just continued learning and pushing my abilities to add to the list of tricks and combos I could do.

I began tricking seriously when I started competing on the NASKA circuit in 2007.  I attended my first real tricking camp/gathering in 2008 at Loopkicks and have attended many others since.  I really enjoy and love tricking and have met a lot of amazing trickers at tournaments, camps and gatherings.  I also watch a lot of tricking videos and try to trick with others whenever I can. 

Tricking and Why I Trick...

Tricking is a beautiful sport but unlike most other sports it has no season, no real winners or losers.  It is really an art as much as it is a sport.  It is about the evolution of the tricker, the journey itself, the expression of emotions that can be felt when we trick or watch someone else trick.  We see this all the time at any gathering, no matter how competitive the battle, we are one community, supporting, cheering, celebrating, inspiring, encouraging... 

Tricking should not be judged.  It would be like trying to judge art or music, we just know when it moves us.  Trickers should not be split into groups or classes. We are ONE and It doesn't matter who you are, where you are from, or which gender you are...  If you are a tricker then you just get all this.  It is the essence of our community, part of the beauty of being a tricker.

I feel very lucky to have discovered this sport.  I was born into acrobatics, starting structured gymnastics at a very early age.  But there was something missing.  I loved the freedom that came from flying through the air but gymnastics is governed by nothing but rules and judges.  Tricking offered another avenue that allowed me to still do all that but without all those restrictions.  It allowed me to express myself in whatever way I chose at that moment.  I got to make tricking my own - no rules, no limits.   Nobody was there telling me what to do or how to do it.  It also meant I would need to learn on my own.

But I never really was alone in that regard because of all the great trickers that laid the groundwork before me.  Anis Cheurfa, Danny Graham, Jeremy Marinas, Sesshomaru... just to name a few.  I never realized how accepting and willing even the top names in this sport would be to help each other, offer advice, teach, inspire and help spread this sport. There is no other sport where you can say that.  I have tremendous respect for all these trickers.  Everyone who has helped me along the way to where I am today.  It inspires me to do the same and I will.    Just another reason why tricking is so awesome and why I love being a tricker!

Tricking is not something I do.  Tricking has done something to me.  It is the very fabric of what I am and who I will always be.