Can I get an amen, gentlemen?

[Less than Dan]

Although by no means am I some tricking "veteran", I have been here for quite some time. But, through my coming of age when it comes to this sport, I've began to notice some things, somethings of truth, and some things of personal preference.

This one pertains to certain samplers and styles, although. It is most certainly of personal preference, but I'm sure I am not alone when it comes to this. After watching hundreds and hundreds of samplers, I'm begining to realize what truly is most pleasing to this particular practitioner.

I'd like to start out my...well, thesis of this entire post by naming Ben Brown. He is a CLEAR definition of the point I want to bring up. I watch that man, and my jaw just hangs there and I drool uncontrollably. His moves are insanely clean and POWERFUL. He has a 540 that could break a tank in half. A flashkick that could kill a man. A b-twist that spins so fast it blurs. A 720 that literally cuts through the air. A spin hook that gives more energy and momentum than a bullet firing from a gun. Simple and pure mastery.

Now, notice the context of my last paragraph. Take note, if you will, that the moves I did name, are considered realitively basic moves in this large world known as tricking. This, however, arises my point:

Am I the only one who finds that the men and women who utterly master and give such immense power and form to the most basics of this sport often are the most (under personal opinion, of course) impressive and heartening to watch? With all due respect to gentlemen like Anis, of course, while watching our beloved frenchman pull feats with immense mastery on the spectrum of uncommon and difficult moves, something is just so pure about watching Ben Brown taking the basics of tricking, giving them SO MUCH power and style, and stringing them together without effort. He is capable of showing his enormous skill without being overbearing, simply by proving that even the more prime and basic aspects of tricking can be done so well and with such proficency. To a tricker with experience (if I do say so myself), his abilities are so simple and clean, that it reminds me of the days I first began, when the basics seemed so forgein and distant, as they were something a perspective I had never even layed eyes on before.

But Ben Brown, and other trickers around here, remind me that the basics are the truest esscence of tricking, and in many cases, the most useful and most impressive. It is proof, that the basics are vastly important, and one should NEVER stop practicing them. It is proof that a tricker should never truly be judged simply by how many moves he has, but the pride, commitment, and effort he has put into his moves, esspecially his basics. It is proof that the basics give shape and definition to our community.

Can I get an amen, gentlemen? Three cheers for the basics, because they truly are represenatives of our core skill and ability. They are what define tricking.

Thank you n_n

[Hez]

Ben Brown makes me wee myself, I think that's what you wanted to hear?

[TKD_Andy]

AMEN!

i really agree. I'd rather see a clean PROPER hook to 540 than people doing cork to cork to cork to cork to cork any day.

Basics are what makes tricking tricking, without having decent basics people are just throwing themselves around trying the really "extreme" stuff without appreciating how much the basics matter.

Ben brown basically epitomises this. All his stuff looks like he's practised it day after day, and theres a good reason for that - he has! He's drilled his tricks to the point of perfection, and not many people can say they can do moves as cleanly and as powerful on here.

I guess im just desensitised now when people come on here saying "zomg i just did a double cork swingthru gayness" or "zomg look i just did a triple a-swist" its jst like wow, great. [/sarcasm]

However seeing someone do something like hook-540 or a btwist round thats got a motherfucker of a cracking kick on it makes me thing damn, theyve really really drilled that.

Basics ftw.

[Hez]

I do love drilled basics, true, but you gotta admit; there was something absolutely stunning and beautiful about teddie's cork2cork2cork and his other tricks. They were the other end of the spectrum to Ben Brown - slow, natural, fluid, but filled me with just as much joy as watching Ben break the air with his machine gun like limbs.

[Source]

Amen brother. A super clean 540 is very much an orgasmic experience. I didnt used to appreciate Ben Brown much back in the day, but now I definitely can. I have a lot of respect for his skill and dedication.

[Munks]

I really do agree with this point.

But also I think that a mix of the hardest and the most simple moves is the best recipie for tricking. The basics being the base and the pure essence of tricking and then the extreme hard case nutta moves like cork2doublecork being the iceing on the cake.

The basics should never be forgotten but the strive to get better and bigger moves increases the adventure and amazingness which is tricking!

Edit: Ben Brown r0xs my s0xs, his legs are like rubber washed in bleach and dipped in gold!

[Grenkutzu]

The basic tricks are the complete foundation of all that I love. Sure, it's good to see some crazy shit sometimes, but I love watching someone pull off a beautiful 540, aerial, or flashkick. It just makes my day.

[simon]

i love a clean illusion twist

[Xenocide]

The basics are the tricks I appreciate the most.

[shengoikee]

AMEN BROTHA!

[waterboy]

To me, the essence of tricking is the comboing. Putting together all the tricks you have in a sequence that flows. When I watch samplers, I look for combos. Even if the combos aren't that clean, it shows me the individual is working on improving his overall tricking level. Stephen Renney once told me that another method to improving single tricks is to put them in combos.

For example take the butterflytwist. Just because you can land it does not mean you have it down to the full potential. The question I ask myself is...can I combo out of it? (btwist-540, btwist-flash, btwist-cheat7, btwist-etc) Can I combo into it? (hook-btwist, 540 btwist, gflash-btwist, etc) If I can't do that, then I know what I need to work on.

Single moves done cleanly are great. But there is nothing more beautiful than watching someone perform a smooth combo. Combos are what make tricking so dynamic and versatile. Combos are what differentiates the great trickers from the norm. Add a hook before a 540 and the whole package just looks THAT much more dynamic. Props to people who have sick jackknifes and sick 540s or raizes. But if you can't link them, then you are depriving yourself of a higher level of tricking. That's why Ben Brown is so beast, he can use all his tricks in combos and each are executed with the same care and precision as his individual tricks.

I put swingthrus in the same context. Yeah I know swingthrus have been over done over the past 2 years, but I still give mad props. Why? Cause it's fucking hard that's why. Those who bash it and call it boring should wake up and try chucking one. It's a lot scarier than trying a pop 900 for the first time.

As for the issue of flipper vs kicker...I don't even see why there needs to be an issue. Just LEARN everything. A plain kicker is boring to me. As much as I LOVE kicks, I am not in the mood to watch a sampler filled with 540s and cheat720s no matter how clean they are (unless just a training samp AND there is some combing) Same concept with flippers.

Build the basics. Explore the different areas of tricking. COMBO. Variety. Trick.

[Skilzat85X]

Amen. Learning advanced moves is fun, but it's better to have a few good than a lot crappy.

Waterboy is also very correct too. Comboing man, comboing! And what's better to combo than clean basics.

[The DA's List]

AMEN!

I'm going to be the first to rate this thread FIVE FUCKING STARS!

Over the past week there have been a few threads here that have completely changed my view on tricking. Waterboy said it all
i'm thinking of laying off trying new stuff for a while and getting some sweet stuff like a kickass 540 and gflashes on both sides (cuz they are my favorite trick)

I love everyone in this thread, too.

[shengoikee]

To me, the essence of tricking is the comboing. Putting together all the tricks you have in a sequence that flows. When I watch samplers, I look for combos. Even if the combos aren't that clean, it shows me the individual is working on improving his overall tricking level. Stephen Renney once told me that another method to improving single tricks is to put them in combos.

For example take the butterflytwist. Just because you can land it does not mean you have it down to the full potential. The question I ask myself is...can I combo out of it? (btwist-540, btwist-flash, btwist-cheat7, btwist-etc) Can I combo into it? (hook-btwist, 540 btwist, gflash-btwist, etc) If I can't do that, then I know what I need to work on.

Single moves done cleanly are great. But there is nothing more beautiful than watching someone perform a smooth combo. Combos are what make tricking so dynamic and versatile. Combos are what differentiates the great trickers from the norm. Add a hook before a 540 and the whole package just looks THAT much more dynamic. Props to people who have sick jackknifes and sick 540s or raizes. But if you can't link them, then you are depriving yourself of a higher level of tricking. That's why Ben Brown is so beast, he can use all his tricks in combos and each are executed with the same care and precision as his individual tricks.

I put swingthrus in the same context. Yeah I know swingthrus have been over done over the past 2 years, but I still give mad props. Why? Cause it's fucking hard that's why. Those who bash it and call it boring should wake up and try chucking one. It's a lot scarier than trying a pop 900 for the first time.

As for the issue of flipper vs kicker...I don't even see why there needs to be an issue. Just LEARN everything. A plain kicker is boring to me. As much as I LOVE kicks, I am not in the mood to watch a sampler filled with 540s and cheat720s no matter how clean they are (unless just a training samp AND there is some combing) Same concept with flippers.

Build the basics. Explore the different areas of tricking. COMBO. Variety. Trick.
thats cool, i agree with all of it. =)

[hype]

AMEN TO THAT MAN, just watching ben brown or the liquid 7 guys that drilled there kicks to freaking crazy extremes really makes my arm hair go up of exitement.

so drill the basics, and combo your tricks to prefection is the conclusion of this thread if u are a lazy bastard and dont want to read :)

[Jooler22]

Waterboy really did say it all. The basics are like your core or center of tricking. Guys like Brown have worked really hard to expand their core as far as they can. When people see the kind of mastery they have it makes them look like they can do anything. The basics are definately necessary for beginners or experts to really appreciate and enjoy tricking.

[ben brown]

WOW!! -

there are a lot of times in my training when i question myself. i sometimes think that everyone wants quantity and really does not care at all about quality. i think to myself that i'm crazy....... and i should be repping my gainer full or corkscrews and things of that sort. however, i have always felt that for me it was important to be able to do the techniques that i really love to the best of my ability. if there was a technique that i did that needed improvment i could not sleep until i fixed it the way i thought it should look. in my opinion, what everyone in this thread has said regarding technique and the importance of it is absolutely BRILLIANT!!!! there is always a lot of talk about "who did what" and rarely talk about "who did what and how WELL". i feel like i am on the exact same page as you guys because i agree with you 110%.

the basic techniques are so very vital. as a matter of fact, the basic techniques are a lot of peoples favorite techniques!!! for example, i once asked anis what his favorite technique was and he replied without hesitation..... "540", which just so happens to be one of my favorite techniques. anis (i love that guy) and i execute our techniques very differently. however our favorite techniques are the same..... i think that says something about the purity (excellent way to put it less than dan!!) of the basic techniques.

thank you guys so very much for the kind words. i am EXTREMELY flattered. and more importantly, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your thoughts and opinions on this matter because it makes me feel like i am on the right track and really gives me motivation to keep training the way i do.

you guys ROCK!!! keep kicking ass and taking names!!! and again, thank you for the inspiration!!!!!

[Skilzat85X]

Haha goooo ben!

The only bad thing about the quality over quanity things is people can start saying Joe Eigo is good because of that haha. But screw that!

[suicideducky]

i do apprechiate a good cork, but to see someone who has perfected his basics is an amazing feat.
most tricksters, no offence intended, will learn the basics to a point where they are decent and then move on, they will still practise them, but only as building blocks. to see at trickster who spends as much time perfecting his basics as learning new skills is truly and utterly beautifull.

[alex]

Haha, good ol' Joe...

Alright! next session for me is drilling basics! No more worrying about getting new moves (although I still need to get some of the basics :eh:), just the basics that I can do.

[Hez]

Waterboy speaks the truth. Ben tricks the truth. We need more threads like these, full of love and combos and tankbusting 540s.

[BBoySafety]

man those posts are inspirational, great to read!

i'm gonna clean my tricks up as soon as i'm outside, and finally get my 540, haha

[Alexx]

Excellent thread, AMEN to everyone

[Tatsumaru]

I agree, excellent basics for the win. I still have a lot to clean up, like my 540 crescent... but I'll get there. As for comboing, I suck - but that is probably because I don't practise them often. Waterboy's post inspired me to combo some more :good:

[[RozoN]]

Great thread!.... meeeehh I still want to get the cork today :D

[Matt R]

i fully agree with waterboy

i hate how people have ruined corks and most twisty moves :bad:

[Xeult]

The basics are the tricks I appreciate the most.

The basics are the only tricks I can:tongue:
And waterboi is right, tricking IS pretty much about comboing. But still I dunno, I just can't keep myself to drill, and drill and so on. For me tricking is mostly for fun, I don't really care much for how my tricks look like, I don't trick to showoff, I tricks for fun.
Though I need some good combos and cleen tricks, for a sampler, so it don't look totally buttfucked:tongue: