Update 25 - July 6th 2021 - Hibernation almost over !

A blessing in disguise Corona has been.

Probably I would be again like in 2019, aspiring to be a battle tricker. Going to events, winning, losing, gaining experience, recuperating, learning, growing, coming back stronger. I’m really happy I got a lot of that experience over the years, and I was right about to go to Las Vegas for Adrenaline’s creative kick battle march of 2020 right before Rona hit, and life got cancelled.

If anything I learned though was to be adaptable and to figure out what is the positive I can do with this scenario? By now, after 3 major lockdowns .. ( hopefully no 4th ) I’ve got 2 full samplers for 2020 filmed ( sparked a greater love for sampler making ) and almost done my 2021 which is kind of a fusion / revision of my previous 2, which I wanted to improve upon. I do love how every sampler I have is unique and different. It just happened that way, but it’s now the goal. If every sampler I’m filming doesn’t show a new and different side to me, why would I dedicate another year to the same tricks? I guess I could build consistency ( which I do anyways ) but I would rather explore the concept of Newness rather than Redundancy. I stay consistent with my tricks while always learning something new, always trying new ways to do even the same old things, trying old things and putting it with other old things, in new ways. Constant, Evolution.

I named this Hibernation because actually, instead of being able to trick on a gym floor which is nice and comfy to fall on, 3x a week medium ~ high intensity as well as get in that addictive intense full body workout 1x a week, instead my training intensity dropped significantly.

Originally only training on grass during the 1st 2 lockdowns, the 3rd one hit forcing me to train on concrete since grass was frozen / snowed over.

I developed an interesting new relationship with myself.

I started to focus on the absolute barebones basics and worked my way up to intermediate difficulty ( snapus for example ). Concrete isn’t forgiving.

Rather than pushing my upper limits, I figured it wiser to focus on how can I develop my base level of performance? Through that I actually acknowledged a strong element of Dance coded into Tricking’s combo execution. In order to hit that flow ~flawlessly~ you must get in the rhythm. When I grasped this concept, I started filming the Concrete section ( 1st 1/3 of my 2021 sampler ). I fell absolutely in love with this section of the sampler. It was more about Performance than about learning. It was about Aesthetic and just feeling what it feels like to flow and that feeling was so addictive for me. Difficulty and intensity was not there. So my body wasn’t really challenged so much as it was just a training on Control and Momentum utilization, Aesthetics.

After the grass became available ( April-ish? ) I was able to fully transition onto there, which immediately re-ignited my Creative muscle. I don’t really train power and intensity on Grass. Grass doesn’t feel like that for me. I trick different on Grass than I do Plyo, as I trick differently on Concrete as I do from Grass and Plyo. Different surfaces bring out different qualities from me. I understand wanting to train something on all surfaces, so I did make it a point to smash Snapu when I felt like it regardless, but more important was learning more about myself and how I could bring out my potential via the different surfaces. It’s nice to be able to train what I want on any surface, even if it’s below -0’c in temperature, but why waste time in a bubble?

There is so much that has already been done in the world of Tricking that doing something new is actually hard to figure out, which is why intensity, a stat that most people value most, isn’t truly the most valuable stat in the game. It’s Rarity. How fuckin rare / unique are you? I can list 10 trickers who are all A game but are completely un-original or creative. I can even tell who is their #1 favourite tricker just by looking at them move for a few seconds. It’s so easily recognizable to me, and as a result has less value as compared to people who are truly Pioneers and Original. On Grass, I seek Originality. I seek being different and developing more ME. The hidden silmarils to be found during this lockdown was exploring my own inner inventor, and I fell inlove with the 2nd portion of my 2021 sampler, which does take up the majority as it also focuses on just Basics in addition to Creativity. Ultra-low intensity, but very prizeworthy in my estimation at least.

And where I am now.

My return to plyo came with mixed feelings. I hadn’t really been training anything power wise. When I think of Plyo, I just recognize it as the best place to learn and grow your power tricks. I don’t care for creativity too much on plyo, because Plyo is scarce. I can go on grass anytime I want and spend any length of time training Creativity. Plyo is valuable because it is only available and gives me the opportunity to mentally and physically anticipate being able to train on it. Like a fuckin dog wanting to go outside and play, when I have access to plyo, the first after 6 months, even despite not training power at all, I wanted to absolutely fuckin kill it and as much as I expected to, I was still surprised that my mindset wasn’t arrogance but rather accurate confidence.

I stomped DUB ABC first try no issues. Not even a fuckin sweat. Snapus obviously, I can do that shit anywhere. Full Snapu, 1st try stomp. I remember back in late 2008 ( or was it early 2009 pre injury ? ) repping full Snapus while I was a TEEN. I had fuckin YOUTH on my side. I’m no longer there. I was just about to turn 30 and without even hitting a Dub ABC in over 6 months, it welcomed me with open arms. I re-certified my Sir Status, without even trying. My kicks felt like fuckin magic on Plyo. All those months of wearing heavier clothing to keep warm and being weighed down, training on Concrete, built a level of fitness that I had needed. It’s no wonder Johan Krisila is a fuckin Killa. That Shosei and Zen are the top in the world, being able to spam Triple Cork in shoes in a confined area ( bboy cypher ). Training on Crete and Grass are ESSENTIAL to Tricking Performance OVERALL, and will benefit any athlete far more than only Plyo ever could. Because Plyo is comfortable, and soft. It’s a relief. It’s nice. It’s the best, which means it isn’t hard enough. It isn’t painful enough. It doesn’t challenge you or condition you the way you need to be mentally, emotionally and physically accepting harder circumstances and pain. The body absorbs that, you treat it well and nurture yourself, and it rewards that.

So far I been 1 shot smashing my goals. Same stuff I trained in 2020 but I don’t even really need to try. Which means it’s nice to have but like Ash Ketchum, I need to move on. Can’t just use Charizard all game. Gotta find the weakness, next area of improvement. Probably I wont make the mistake of straying too far, but I will probably develop some rust in areas that I don’t focus on, but as I get older, because of my strategy, I found a nice product that takes the rust off pretty quick. I’m not worried about sitting on prized possessions that are perma rusted, gone. I feel like with just a few sprays, I can leave something and come back, make it shiny, good as new within a few tries, possibly even sessions or weeks if the skill is hard enough. The only thing I didn’t one shot stomp, was Triple Full. Haven’t even tried the skill on floor since 2018. Landed it and moved on, just like a lot of my goals. But Triple isn’t far. I landed and fell. Kept happening. I’m just not used to the landing yet. I just need more time. I’m not worried. Considering I don’t even try it, to be that close is confirmation that having a solid foundation is more valuable than just focusing on holding on dearly to high level tricks, but then missing out on the opportunities to learning other things.

I’ve seen over the years so many trickers who reach their goal tricks and don’t move on. Every session is about living it the same as the last one. Same tricks. Sessions go by, weeks, months and I see even years go by and trickers are still reliving the same session. I think it’s great to have a skill and want to spam only that, but then there’s a wealth of opportunity that’s missed out on, so much like Ash, I understand it’s valuable to just let a Pokemon go, explore the new regions and the next iteration of Tricking, invent the next iteration of your own Tricking, and later on, pay a visit to old skills. Why settle so young? Why not be a fuckin Master?

You can still get better at all the tricks you don’t even train, just by finding ways to increase your base level of athleticism. Via conditioning, via diet, vie intelligent training methods. You can get better at skills without even touching them. Thats what Coronavirus lockdowns taught me. You can still get better into your 30s as an athlete, you don’t have to directly run at and crash your goals, risking injury. There is a more intelligent way forward, but you will need to fight against laziness and a comfort seeking attitude. You will have be portrayed as a villain for being someone who exists outside the normal realm of what is considered acceptable within the group dynamic, but I don’t see the value of just doing what everyone else does, and especially considering when most athlet'e’s successes are attributed to their youth and not even to their strategy, why would I want to gain acceptance from people who quite frankly are blissfully ignorant and arrogant to think that they can do whatever they want and still think in 10 years it wont have consequences?

I eat like I’m a buddhist monk. Like those life long martial practitioners who seek for nothing, but I personally don’t mind going out and getting laid, etc. Gotta do some stuff to fit in with normal life, but to be truly your best I feel you need to delve into yourself and you’ll reach an understanding that no one else really will be able to, but I find too often people would sacrifice everything for the likes, for the views, for the social approval. For that external validation and acceptance, while missing out on their own inner voice that had been trying to tell them that happiness comes from that place, not from out there. Confidence and Inner Strength come from inside, not from how big or cool are your friends.

On the topic of friends, I have what I consider to be incredibly high and concrete requirements, so theres only a few people who I actually could consider to be a genuine friend, and I’m okay with that. I would rather than, than some number. I’m used to people claiming to be friends, end up being let downs. I don’t like being let down, and I certainly don’t like losing on my investments, so I’ve learned to invest wisely, and I’ll tell you that quality investments pay wayyy better off compared to shitcoins. Sure you could probably experience many highs delving into the world of shitcoins, but quality investments will yield returns annually, and will nurture and grow over time. Solidify and create a depth that doesn’t last with the rise and fall of hyped shitcoins. Same is true with friendship. I rather true, genuine quality relationship, than being friends with someone cuz they’re popular but it meaning nothing. So I’ve opted to go into a high niche direction in life, that I crave for as I understand it now better, compared to people who only judge based on how popular one is. Reputation, etc.

The only downside was, as I am used to training with high intensity, my hunger stayed roaring during these 6 months, and it never died down, though my training did. So I got to about 155lbs or so, something that happened to me during the 1st lockdown which lasted 4 months. Gained to about 155~160 or so, but I lost then, and I know that once I can get back to my regular training schedule 3x a week, I’ll slim right back down.

The question is, how do I integrate grass and concrete on the regular now? Once life re-opens, and I go back to travelling the world, I have to find a way to manage my time and training more effectively. So we will see.