The True Meaning of Tricking – How to Use Failure

As with any sport, the glamorous gets the attention. No one cares about role players and bench warmers. The starters and stars command the market and the money.

Photo Credit: DJSWIM - DEVIANT ART

But oftentimes these stars are anything but stars until they seize an opportunity to succeed. Few people waltz their way to the top without hardship. It’s filled with mistakes, regrets, and sleepless nights. Usually the people that make it are the ones that can tolerate their own inadequacies long enough to make them adequate. So stick with it. Your time will come, and you will be ready.

I know of no better example than tricking. Everyone releases high class samplers that have no crashes or flaws. But it’s never like that. In fact, most sampler make me depressed. We need hope. We need to know that the best fail sometimes. We need to know they are human, that they were once like we are.

Last week, I blogged about the crazy videos in the tricking world. But, truthfully, that’s not tricking. Those were highlight reels. These videos below are more like tricking, complete with crashes, experimentation, and (at times) unclean tricks.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M91rF-0bKTM&feature=player_embedded

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRm0F4Iz8Rw&feature=player_embedded

 It takes a certain mentality to repeatedly fail, which is fairly common in tricking. But that’s kind of the point. It’s not about where you end up, it’s how to you get there. This video below is as basic as it comes, but what I love about it is the friendship. Find those around you that are supportive and never let go, no matter what you’re doing.  Everyone is obsessed about creating a magnificent display of tricks, but it’s videos like these that will spark good memories when you go back and watch then five years from now.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1sVpaFg_Bc

The videos above (and below) are barely viewed compared to higher end tricking videos. But don’t let anyone fool you. This is the sport. It’s never a set of complete successions.

Some people train their whole lives because they enjoy the journey. A friend of mine sent me his sampler over the weekend. It took him years to create something that he felt was “decent.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qHyZri54I

But it’s not always about the product.  There are machines that release videos of themselves and their pristine tricks. But there’s a generation that wants–and needs–to see failure. So show your blemishes at times. Show us you’re human. No one is judging you.