Jump into tricking

Tricking can be simplified into just a few basic movements:

• Flip backwards or forwards (never at the same time)


• Jump spin left or right. (never at the same time)


• Stick a leg or two out, or back, while spinning and/or flipping.


• Put your hand on the ground sometimes.

It’s not complicated. All tricks are variations of these simple movement patterns. So if it’s so simple why is it so hard for some people to learn these simple movement patterns? Because they aren’t doing the movement pattern that these movement patterns are based upon: jumping!

Jumping!  You should be jumping!

Barring out being really tall, really heavy, or so inflexible it would be diagnosed as a handicap; whether or not you are good at jumping is all that stands in your way of a smooth transition into tricking. If you aren’t jumping up as high and as far as you can often, well then DUH tricking is gonna be brutal for you as a beginner! All tricking is is really fancy jumping.

Now, I’m not blaming anybody for any sort of laziness here, because you can still be very athletic but still suck at jumping. Your sport might not involve jumping. Why would you be jumping with a lot of effort daily unless you had a good reason? Tricking was my reason for jumping. Before tricking I wasn’t jumping. I was terrible at jumping before I started tricking. For most of us tricksters, your story is the same as mine: tricking made us jumpers. So no wonder tricking has such a steep learning curve: the very very very, most basic movement it’s based on (THE JUMP) isn’t something we do unless for special reasons.

My jumping suggestions

People who resistance train who are only thinking about getting into tricking: in between your squats, presses, or whatever, throw in a few sets of “jumps”. Nothing fancy. Don’t measure your jumping height. Just jump 4 to 10 times as high as you can for 2 sets. These aren’t weenie jumps, these are maximo jumps.  Focus you bitch. It should take you at least two minutes for a set of 10 of these suckers.  This will help your lifts too, and if you really want to try your hand at tricking you’ll be better prepared by your intra-workout jumping habit.

Tricksters: don’t just jump, trick!

Non-tricksters, non-athletic peoples, people of video game origins: go jump right now! jump tomorrow! jump all week! jump this month! jump into tricking!