I tend to be a bit narcissistic but in a weird way it's therapy for me. Understanding myself and being able to sit with myself and analyze has helped me to gain a greater clarity and relatability to people. I think a lot of people would agree that Tricking is beneficial for them but getting better at a sport doesn't automatically mean that we are necessarily good people. As a fitness exercise there is no doubt that Tricking is one of the greatest tests for athletes, but socially the sport could veer off in the wrong direction - a direction that I had been headed in, but as an adult and one that is educated it's far easier for me to make more informed and responsible decisions, and so naturally moving away from the sport actually became a healthy decision for me, and for people who can't say "no" to the peer pressure or maybe are being extorted, leaving the community and finding your own way might be the best decision you'll ever make.
Hi my name is David Milner and I advocate for the continued education and awareness of safe and healthy sports development. ( I also kinda combat the forces of evil using Investigative Journalism. )
When I was growing up I didn't have any sense of awareness until I was able to contrast my experiences and learn by seeing how others develop in life. I didn't come from high social status family in Canada, and infact one of my parents was a refugee and the other wasn't always there for me growing up. I experienced life as an only child and moved around a lot when I was a kid but found a few things that kept me positive along the way ( this was before the internet became a thing ).
I hadn't been made aware of what the world has to offer, because I didn't have much preparation or guidance - but I did have Japanese media to keep me and my friends busy. I'd say that activities like card collecting, video games and playing sports like basketball with my friends for the most part kept us out of trouble, and focused on something that was relatively family friendly. When you grow up with only one parent, and that parent is busy with work and being a provider, you kind of just have to find ways to keep entertained and productive, and I didn't understand why family difficulties could exist - it wouldn't be until I got older that I realized that the world is actually a pretty corrupt place, and that our parents do their best to shield us and keep us relatively ignorant and safe from all the known forces that might otherwise seek to harm us.
In highschool I started to fall off, and didn't feel a sense of self confidence or even have a purpose. I didn't have the ability to pay attention to the classes in school, because I just didn't have an interest, this was also when puberty was starting to affect my motivations, and I ended up not going to school and mostly hanging out with friends at internet cafes during the day.
I'm grateful that here in Canada we have something called an "alternative" school system, which allowed for students who were starting to fall behind to go to a smaller environment that sought to discover the hidden strengths of students and attempt to cater to alternative topics. For some people wouldn't fit into regular school programs because of their developing identities clashing with what is socially acceptable at the times, for example, I went to school with people needed a safe place to be open about their homosexuality, bisexuality, or even elements of trans-gender identity. Personally, I am a very straight male, and that my place in the alternative school system was more focused on simply feeling comfortable to go to school and get my credits ( which eventually I caught up and did ) taking a more enthusiastic interest in philosophy and art programs, and physical education. ( I did very poorly at math and other more objective-minded topics initially ).
It was in highschool that I did discover Tricking though, and it became the main thing about me.
I finally found something that I was naturally inlove with, and looking back, in such a short period of time, became one of the best in Canada at. From watching videos in 2005 or 2006, starting with parkour, going to Team Ryouko's Xtreme Skills program, then going to Open Gyms where I had the freedom to go at my own pace, by about 2009 I was definitively the best in Toronto history up until that point, and basically one of if not the top force in Canada ( having achieved a benchmark known as Sir [Mr.David Milner, culturally ].. landing double Atwist, double Btwist and double Cork ). It was nice going to school feeling the afterglow of a Tricking session the night before, and kind of boosted my confidence. I also got a girlfriend at one point, and started to figure out my identity.
I'd say that as time goes on my identity becomes a refinement of the things I know to be what are right and good for me, and that the experiences that I have, good and bad, help me to form my direction. I'm absolutely not a perfect person, I did a lot of debating with myself and with others in my youth. It was a healthy practice ( if I don't swear or use curse words) in figuring out things intensely. We all have experienced some spectrum in terms of right & wrong with experiences and I think for the most part we also reflect on them and we use it to make better choices. Tricking was a choice that I definitely continued to invest in, and eventually I felt encouraged to eat healthier, to go to the gym to strength train, and get a stable job ( in Security and Life Safety ) to support my hobby and interests of video games, travelling & Tricking.
As a person who was fortunate enough to be caught by Canada, and saved in a way, I have been able to use the foundation of our social system to take what would otherwise be a bad situation, and was oriented in one that has so far been so much more positive than if I did not have Canada's safeguards and protections. As I got older and began to study society, I learned how some of the more cold and calculated minds work - and there are people who not only want to catch people when they fall, but might even encourage their fall from grace, and the exploitation of those people once they have them - I'm talking about Organized Crime Groups and how they are not just myths or legend, that they are a form of dark-matter, a kind of invisible yet influential presence in society, and that even people who might take on the public face of being some kind of business owner could also serve a dual-function of facilitating organized crime under the cover of their public persona.
I'd say I was naive and trusting growing up, because I kind of accepted things at face value. We see malicious intent rear it's ugly head not just when we ourselves begin to lose and become desperate, but we sometimes see others when their true colours emerge - and one of the ways to identify people is based on their patterns of activity. It's not really fair to judge someone for a mistake that they've made, because everyone is bound to make a mistake in their life. People also feel bad, and correct their behaviour, we see people grow - but there are people who benefit too much from the tactics that society deems to be criminal, which is why it becomes their way of life. Organized Crime Groups are often punished greatly in society because it's not usually just one person doing something illegal once .. it's usually a group of people who plan and systematically intend to continue to do wrong, and the environment and actions necessary to keep what they are doing a secret also tend to be criminal in it of themselves - it spreads and affects many people, compared to isolated incidents, and because it's rewarded, the prospects of it continuing are also quite high.
I kind of see Tricking as a 25 year old, because our sport is so young, and because it has been evolving in different directions. What is the state of our industry?
I can talk most accurately about Canada. For people who have been following along, I built legitimacy by being a direct participant seeing it's growth over the last 20 years, and it's decline. There have been moments of glory, and there have been schemes. I've had to separate myself from the community and industry primarily because the sport has gone in a direction that is not appropriate for society. The movement itself is not an issue - but the surrounding environment, lack of regulation, mafia-like control that the US Tricking League has over our Canadian athletes and by extension, our events, has made the sport tilted towards people who lack the ability to ensure neutrality, integrity and fairness.
Imagine going to a school program where you have to be willing to commit crimes in order to further yourself? Thats a bit like where Tricking is at. Merit isn't rewarded as much as social-bias and the arbitrary decision making of influencers or "professional coaches" who are exercising the political agenda of their undisclosed foreign sponsors. Athetes are not setup to achieve success fairly - they're encouraged to fight off anyone that threatens Kojos Trick Lab or America's hold over our "influencers".
I think I might be one of the only Canadians that openly discusses this reality and advocates for a truly Canadian sport, but it's difficult given the power-differentials as well as retaliations that you'll experience if you go against the agenda.
I look back and actually see rejecting the sport as my greatest test that proved that I am a true and loyal Canadian, and that my dedication to the sport is based on preserving Canadian History. Now, I do for others what Canada did for me, which is to try to encourage that as athletes continue to fall into a life of crime, that they can make the informed decisions and get out before it's too late, or even begin to build semblances of orderly and legitimate safe havens for the sport - registering legitimate business, administering those businesses with clarity and integrity, lawfully, and working to establish neutral competitions that are inclusive and balanced.
There are plenty of sports that are established and run properly. Why can't Tricking?
It's hard when it's overrun by corruption.
You just have to be the change you want to see. Technically, you don't need to participate with other people to be a Tricker. You just have to go out and train, but when it comes to businesses, there are a few academies that I think are positive examples, and a few Trickers that I think are good rolemodels. I wouldn't consider myself to be one, because my upbringing and environment didn't really give me the best start, but I can take everything I have and know and push myself in that direction - I am proud to say that for many years I have been going my own way, and rejecting a life of crime.
To this day, I still have and give a lot of love to my inspirations, which is largely art & artists that comes from Japan.
As I got older, I learned that gratitude and honour are certainly some of the best traits to have, and I do my best to give my thanks.
I'm one of the forces that has been thwarting the efforts of these american-sponsored gangsters, as I mentioned before, like my childhood hero ( Trainer Red, from Pokemon would Team Rocket ).
My encouragement is to learn to separate. Recognize what a situation is with education and evidence, and find an appropriate way to leave a bad situation.
It's not like Trickers are inherently bad people, I think a lot are mostly ignorant actually, it's really the business owners, professional coaches and influencers that need to be the most responsible, and I do think parents should be far more involved with the development of communities.
If the environment and lack of oversight supports it, then negligence will lower standards and wrongdoing will occur - that wrongdoing becomes the blackmail criminally minded individuals use to exert control in situations they might want to exploit.
To make the sport exploitation free, we need a serious boost in education and responsibility amongst business professionals.
- Champion David
Canada
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