Level up

Level up is my second tricking RPG analogy. My first one was New Game +



Two ways RPG fans could play through the oldschool games included:

Way 1: Level up before going through the next dungeon.

Way 2: Level up by going through the next dungeon.

Two ways Tricksters can trick through their years include:

Way 1: Level up before going to the next gathering or before beginning your next big tricking project.

Way 2: Level up by going to the next gathering or by beginning your next big tricking project.

Most RPG fans balance gameplay using both ways. And most of us tricksters balance tricking using both ways. And this is assuming we actually care about leveling up (because leveling up is fun and interesting). But when striving to level up, we can become partial towards either of these two ways, and end up getting stuck.

Playing an RPG Way 1 too much:

Safe. Boring. Time-consuming. It'll take 28 hours to finish a 16 hour game.

Tricking Way 1 too much:

Just not ready yet. need a few more months. a few more video clips., it's not the right time, there are a few more combos I need. next year I'll get them. I don't need to film this afternoon, or this month, next month I'll be ready to get the clips I need. it can wait, there will be another opportunity, I still have more training to do anyway (next year?)

Are you doing any of these?

• Extending preparation periods and off seasons waaaay beyond what's sane.


• Being apathetic with new tricks.


• Telling yourself you'll start working on a certain trick within your current capabilities, later.


• Avoiding anything out of routine, like gatherings or competitions.


• Not filming because things could be better in a few months.


• Not starting the next project because things might get even better soon.


• Not starting the next project because there will be later.


• Never finishing what's started because just a few more things are needed.


• Never finishing what's started because you believe you cannot "rush art".


• Squandering and missing unique tricking experiences of many kinds.

When Way 1 takes over: As if my over-planning and obsessive perfectionism wasn't bad enough, the fact I haven't made any progress or proof of progress in the past several years is.

Playing an RPG Way 2 too much:

The Ice cave.

Until you level up and upgrade your party's equipment, you're not going to get through the ice cave unless you run from every enemy encounter. And you can't always run. A lot of time can be wasted trying to shortcut to the end (well, not if you use save state using modern roms). But this is still not a very clean approach.

Tricking Way 2 too much:

In its extreme: Here is the trickster who only tricks when his friends are going to trick and only when he feels like it. Who never tricks alone. Who does little outside of plyo tricking sessions that would fall into the category of training. But who still cares about improving and becoming a better trickster!

Are you doing any of these?

• Sharing unmemorable session video samplers with the public (very frequently).


• Skipping tricks up the ladder of progression resulting in questionable cleanliness and unreliable tricks.


• Showing symptoms of a trick specific attention deficiency.


• Not having the discipline to train without a partner or outside of a group.


• Not having the assertiveness to organize a tricking event for others or just for yourself.


• Always being the one who waits for other people to schedule sessions or invent tricking opportunities.


• Being chronically injured.


• Regularly relapsing back into an injured state.


• Lacking a physical precedency in the presentation of one's tricking.

When Way 2 takes over: Nobody likes watching you trick, and the comments you get on your uploaded videos are because people feel sorry for nobody else commenting on them.

Playing a better game

If we want to level up, we need to figure out whether we're tricking Way 1 or Way 2 too much. Then we must start doing things which characterize the way we aren't tricking.

If you're Tricking Way 1 too much,

Try a few of these things,

• Attend at least 2 gatherings every year.


• Film sessions and strive to make mini-session samplers, tutorials, or something else out of each session.


• Look for new tricking locations at least a couple times a year.


• Consider taking a vacation from your pet tricks to train new or uncomfortable tricks.


• Compete with someone in some way other than your self.


• Stop training so much. Start making more of your sessions special events. (Try having tricknics).


• Step out of your comfort zone: Take a tumbling class, or do new things into pits... or start landing things on the ground you do into pits!

If you're Tricking Way 2 too much,

Try a few of these things,

• Forego an unimportant gathering this year. Save up your golds for a new camcorder or an even bigger gathering.


• Save up your footage for a little while so you can make a video sampler worth remembering.


• Buckle down and start training with consistency and a high frequency.


• Clean up your tricks by repping them.


• Start training completely alone at least once a week.


• Improve your tricking with recovery tactics, dietary intervention, flexibility or strength training, etc.


• Step out of your comfort zone by joining a weight lifting gym, seeing a sports therapist to fix your injuries, or paying someone to design you a diet or training program so you can transform.


• Find new plyo gym opportunities for your group or team. Be the leader.

Just pick a couple

Don't do all of these at once, just pick a couple. That would be plenty.

Why I wrote this

I wrote this because I saw the patterns in myself and others. My pattern is that whenever I think about what I need to do to level up, I invariably think about things like training and diet strategy, or routine optimization. I often neglect making something out of what I have at the moment because I always feel like I'll be better 6 months from now or 2 years from now. So I bully imps. I play the tricking game the 1st way too much. I'm working  on changing this though, and I'm using this analogy for myself now. I feel you can benefit using this analogy too. So what about you? Are you bullying imps or scrambling within the ice cave?