The modern day version of a hate-based tactic competitors use to gain advantage in Sports & why it breaks common sense rules & laws.
Hi my name is David Milner and I write about my experiences in my almost 20 years of being a Tricker in Tricking and what I've seen !
The first thing I'd like to do is my give myself ( and others ) a hi-five for focusing competitive energy towards self improvement & participating in contests in order to express ourselves in a healthy manner - as a Champion, I know. We all have our motivations to go out into the world and find ways to dominate and compete - but as time goes on I started to notice .. not everyone is a direct competitor .. are they?
It's not my natural instinct to approach my competitors and pretend to be their friend, all while secretly plotting against them. I have to declare myself a competitor, because it has to do with my internal system of respect & honour. I don't affiliate or associate with people I dislike, and the people that I'm likely to have the most competition with, especially if I feel it's an unhealthy dynamic are people I avoid altogether.
Also
I don't team up on others that I think are good contenders .. instead .. I train & improve, in case I ever have to battle them someday.
Growing up I did train with my friends at times, and I did hang out with other Trickers, but the foundation was always about the love of training.
The first time I saw a coordinated attack against a single individual might have been when a team called FS challenged a tricker called Daniel Graham.
Daniel is from Florida, and his team is called Hurricane. There were other members of that team, and they rebelled against him, finding other members in the USA and working together to compete against Danny.
Eventually, Daniel accepted offers to battle outside of the standard Tricking contest, and took on a series of battles. Surprisingly, Danny actually won, despite the fact that it might have been 2 or 3 people against 1.
This was the first time that I saw people gang up on a single athlete & my respect for Danny cemented my recognition that he is a tough dude. Though if you met Danny, you'd meet someone who is kind hearted and has a lot of self respect.
Danny won a few contests in Tricking, high status ones at that, and goes down in my history books as the rank #1 Tricker from his era. Literally, more than anyone else in his generation, Daniel Graham pushed himself and has the best career. Some people to this day might try to take it away from him, but I consider him to be the Grand Champion of those days.
Fast forward to where we are now, and this concept of "witch-hunting" has only grown more sophisticated & underground or even "official" organizations have dedicated themselves to this activity as a means of gaining popularity and attacking their competitors by out-numbering them - even if it's an entire country going after just 1 person.
Here in Canada there was a group of individuals that developed a hate-based culture and dedicated themselves to opposing me. Instead of challenging me to a battle or even a debate and conversation about any philosophical differences, people chose less direct, out-of-competition methods of teaming up and attacking me.
It was the first time that I saw that people would systematically copy me, deny my existence, reward and praise those for something that was clearly my contribution, and then give hate to me, despite the fact that people would benefit from my activities and contributions.
I've never seen such a blatant disregard for the common sense moral responsibility of simply giving credit & recognition of the truth and trying to form healthy bonds of cooperation and respect amongst groups and experienced my own form of discrimination that wasn't based on my skin colour, but simply because people couldn't handle that of all people in the world to hit an accomplishment - that it was me.
When people develop a hate-based culture around you, any of your positive contributions are minimized, and any of your flaws become over-exaggerated.
I realized that because my competitors were so inaccurate, that as time went on, I had to grow more accurate.
My guess is that in some people's minds, they have me fixed in a certain role and are incapable of seeing me any other way. No matter how obvious I make my positive contributions to the world, no matter how much love and support and clear obvious positive acts, that people have it in their mind that I am a bad person and are fixated on treating me as one, regardless of any positive changes I've made or attempts to right any wrongs.
I learned that it's actually by aspiring to be a good person, that people will hate you for simply trying to do the right thing.
I've written about this before, about how by age 20 I made extreme positive changes in my life - I decided to avoid alcohol, I did not want to smoke weed or do drugs, and I opted for a plant based ( vegan ) diet and focused more on training as a way to improve myself. I also made what I knew was the responsible decision which was to put Tricking as a hobby while I focused on developing my career so that I could pay my bills and survive in this world - a role that most people in society have to undertake eventually.
Eventually I was able to earn a lifestyle that I was proud of: I could do what I wanted to in Tricking without having to ask people for help - because I became self sufficient.
If I wanted to go to an event, I could just earn money from my job and go to that event. If I wanted to do art, I could buy my own supplies. If I wanted to train full time, I could afford a membership at a gym, I could afford protein powder and foods that might be a bit more expensive.
I worked hard for years and earned a decent living, and I used that money to invest in my hobbies.
As time went on, I saw that not everyone assumed that sense of responsibility to themselves - I saw the opposite in fact.
If people wanted to go to an event, they would have to receive a "sponsorship".
This is where I believe the heart of darkness exists in the sport of Tricking - it's what people are willing to do to receive a "sponsorship".
If you've read any of my other articles, you'll know why I have to use "sponsorship" in quotations. This is because there is an entirely black market method of promoting athletes in the sport.
Let me give a positive spotlight on an organization called Adrenaline. To my knowledge, they fully sponsor their athletes. This means that flights, hotel, compensation, etc, are being done properly and legally. Paperwork, permission, clear expectation. I could be wrong, and Adrenaline may not be perfect, but I do believe that they are genuine in their pursuit to fully promote athletes in a professional manner.
Adrenaline is a positive rolemodel in this way, but even in the year 2025, organizations intentionally avoid this method and still do things on the underground level.
Paperless, verbal agreements, and .. potentially hidden activities that athletes may be expected to perform in order to be "promoted" as a special guest at an event where scouts / recruiters have the connections to the organizers and can pull strings to have particular athletes "Sponsored" to.
There is the official, transparent, legitimate and legal way of promoting athletes, based on their performance and their ability to put on a show
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There is the underground, illegitimate, illegal way of promoting athletes, based on what they are willing to do in order to make it. Even if it entails criminal activity.
There are many "politicians" in the world of Tricking, and they know not to get their hands dirty, and so dis-advantaged youth are the most commonly conscripted individuals who are willing to do the grunt work in an effort to appease their "leader". Even if their "leader" doesn't technically run a business or is part of any sports organization - again, there are mafia style groups that roam the sport and serve legitimate businesses.
This is one of the main reasons I am opposed to some organizations, even if they appear legitimate, they work closely with organized crime groups which help to force outcomes, all while pretending to be clean - it's that false marketing and deceite that forces me to take a stance against these organizations politically & I feel the duty to issue warnings particularly to the younger generations not to get involved with gangs.
It might be slower or more difficult, but it's better to do things the right way.
I am proud to say that my resume as a battler was achieved because my family and work life supported me - I put in overtime shifts at work and saved my money, and I was able to live my dream because I worked for it.
I didn't have to run hate-campaigns and witch-hunt against my competitors - instead here in Toronto, I opened up the possibility to challenge me to battles, either at my events such as Battle Oasis, or even any time and place, like when I launched my Champion Challenge.
There is a reason why I am the Rank #1 Battler in Canada.
It's because I wouldn't resort to what my competitors did here with the kerbit collective, becoming a cult, and the subsequent degeneracy of forming an organized crime group, accepting bribes from another country to betray their own, and wound up having to cease their operations, disband, and delete their own history.
No wonder they hate me.
The next generation needs to be taught how to win properly, not how to scam or cheat a victory. There is no honour in winning by fraud. And people who believe they are victors by having to cheat to get ahead only reveals how low they are truly.
A high quality athlete will never feel fulfilled unless it was done the true right way.
It's always better to fight 1 v 1, but my respect goes to the athletes that have to fight off a team, group or army.
Focus on self improvement & battle in the arena, using the rules of the competition - especially if they are fair.
In my opinion, the moment you even need to turn to someone else because you can't beat them in a battle, you lost.
It means that if you can't challenge them directly 1 v 1, in your mind you've already assessed that you lost & need help.
Teaming up on people might make you feel stronger, but it reveals that psychologically, you are a weak person.
No one is perfect. Focus on self improvement and learn from your mistakes.
Right your wrongs.
A True Champion will go into a competition alone
& Win.
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