10 years ago I randomly decided to interview Manny Brown. Upon research into Battles for Tricking, I discovered that Manny Brown was infact the first ever ( in the history of the entire sport ) winner of a Tricking Battle !( XKC 2000 in Atlanta at CLN ) Congrats ! Hi my name is David Milner and I do a lot of research and investigation into Sports Corruption as related to the sport of Tricking ! As a former Champion, I can't help but want to continue to explore the world of tricking and sometimes going back in time I find treasures here and there .. I forgot I messaged Manny on facebook to ask him about Tricking !Here is the interview:( For the purpose of simplicity, I've heavily edited my section of the questions and have simplified it. It was an informal interview at the time ! Manny's answers are a direct quote however, so none of his answers are modified/altered. )David: Question:Hey Manny, could you tell me who were the key players of Tricking at the earliest point of the sport?Manny: "Hi, David. I will tell you what I know/can remember, but please don't just take what I say as gospel. Here goes: Tricking seemed to start to form around the late 80's/early 90's in the American sport karate scene, when elements of Chinese wushu, Capoeira, and gymnastics began working their way into open forms. Some of those responsible for ushering in these movements were the likes of Kim Do, Mike Chat, Jon Valera, Keith Hirabayashi, West Coast Demo Team, etc. Toward the mid 90's, others on the circuit began to take these movements even further and began to add more advanced gymnastic elements. People like Carmichael Simon, David Douglas, Jimmy Pham, Eboni Adams, Butch Marks and others represented a newer crop of competitor who were not doing round-off flipping techniques, butterfly twists, 540's, etc. Then the late 90's/early 2000's ushered in the likes of Anthony Atkins, Mike Garelli, myself, Daniel Sterling, Matt Emig and it was at this point that the extreme movements in forms began to be assigned the term "tricks", but were still more considered to be a part of forms as opposed to being it's own complete entity. Then in 2000,a former competitor-turned-tournament promoter Charlie Lee decided to have the first Extreme Kicks Contest at his tournament in Virginia. This was pretty much the first time that the movements were recognized without having to be a part of an open form. It was probably around 2003 that people began practicing these movements exclusively without the inclusion of traditional martial arts punches and kicks. West Coast Demo Team still had students such as Chris DeVera, Chris Balualua, Jeremy Marinas and there were many other NASKA competitors like Marc Canonizado, Daniel Graham, Sammy Vasquez and others who were at the forefront of this new thing now called being called tricking. It was also around this time that Anis Cheurfa stated to become known as a popular tricker and became very influential with his strong twisting ability. Other popular trickers at this time were Sesshoumaru, Florian "Flo" Leoty, Jamie Colon, and others. Over the next few years, tricking began to spread all over the globe thanks to the internet. Soon tricking began to be practiced even by those with no martial arts background, giving rise to the "backyard tricker" and further establishing tricking's identity from the sport karate tournament scene with which it was so closely identified. You also are beginning to see trickers creating tricking teams in which they would meet up with other trickers to train and encourage each other. A decade later tricking has advanced and you have strong, well-rounded trickers such as Michael Guthrie, Vellu, Nelson Zuniga and a host of other trickers from the USA, France, Korea, Australia and other parts of the world who continue to push the limits of physical expression in tricking. Remember, you may get info that I haven't given you from other trickers such as Sesshoumaru or Chris DeVera. I hope that this gives you some idea of the history of tricking as I remember it. Does this help you?"David:Follow Up Question:When would you say that Tricking began to include exclusive transitions and took on it's own form?Manny Brown:

Tricking is an ever changing, constantly evolving sport - but words have meanings, and titles are only true if they are in alignment with the historical development of the sport ! This is why such things should be handled with precision, care & honour. Hi my name is David and I am a certified nerd on the topic of Tricking ! I authentic & invalidate titles at will ! Today my target is the concept of "World Championships" in Tricking, as we have several claimants .. so who is telling the truth? In order to know, we must bust out the Magic Schoolbus and Mrs.Frizzle the situation by going back in time and understanding the history of the sport. First let me start off by listing my personal criteria that I use to evaluate what I consider to be a "World Championship" calibur competition( not to be confused with "World Class" which is an event that is above a National level competition, and is a potential contender for a World Championships. )- How many countries are in attendance?- Does the event contain the best known Judges & Battlers?- Does the event have a large audience in attendance & online viewership?- Does the event accurately display/market an individual's profile including the teams they affiliate with, their battle history & country of origin?- Does the event have Symbols of Legitimacy in attendance?- Does the event have a historical claim or immense positive contribution in establishing itself?For some Tricking is a business, and it's not about ensuring that the substance of an event be true but that the event appears to be true if it's presented a certain way - and these tactics might work on the public who may not be aware of the history, and even investors/sponsors might be tricked by legal jargon & trending catch-phrases that are intended to hook people and get people to go along, but the entire point of a contest is that it's supposed to enable the highest truth of the sport to emerge. Sports Corruption is the hidden element that only experienced individuals can perceive that works to intentionally bend facts and the outcome of a contest in a fixed manner - there are people who intend to force an outcome, and not everyone in a position of authority intervenes to stop such forces from influencing a contest. If we go back to the very origin of the sport, Tricking has trace-able roots to the North American Sports Karate Assocation (NASKA) & it's circuit of competitions, enabling a variation of traditional forms to be displayed in their own semi-free style manner called XKC or Xtreme Kicks Contests - these were the first ever Tricking Battles & to my knowledge, the video below is the first official release of one for the public. 

As an athlete that grew up within a developing illegitimate sport, what would cause me to see the value in legitimizing and working towards saying " Thank you " to my heroes, inspirations & my own home city of Toronto?Hi my name is David Milner and I use my honesty, a pure heart & integrity with my words to defeat the bad guys in Tricking ! For people who have been following along the journey, Tricking started off in the USA, evolved from a Japanese discipline called Karate but became a global sport when it hit the internet, where now various countries from around the world are contributors. I even started a youtube channel and have been giving highlight and securing history to see the glory that other countries have to offer ( albeit the ones that aren't corrupted ). Growing up I got to see Pure Tricking. When I first went to Denmark in 2008 ( black hair emo days version of David ) I went to a community that was run by the Danish & I got to see what they had to offer. There were guests from other countries from scandinavia, but they weren't involved in the organization. It was truly Danish, and took place in a very old city .. what was it called again.. ? Naskov ! Anyways, I got to meet my hero at the time, a man named Rasmus Ott, who is a hugely influencial cultural & historical figure during my generation ( one I've classified as Generation II .. a nod to how Pokemon classifies it's games, I do the same for Tricking as a whole ! ). It was important for me as a learner to meet and learn from my heroes, and even to this day, I make sure that history remembers the ancestors and I pay my respects.A contest is not truly real, if it's all marketing, but the substance of the event tells a different story than that marketing. When I went to Denmark, it was so authentically truly Danish. This is not true in the world of Tricking now. A good example I like to use is Poland - where if you go to that event there called AMG ( Air Moves Gathering ) .. you wont even get Polish champions in attendance. The organizers might be Polish, but the judges, battlers, media .. it's all going to be members of an underground competition racket called the Kojos Trick Lab Tour. The way that competitions were corrupted here in Tricking was by removing the Nationality of an event and replacing nationals with ports from underground organizations, and then false marketing the situation to make it appear as if it were a national event still. The physical location may technically be in a particular country, but the actual substance of the event was replaced by foreign national interests - but worst of all is that the public & government, parents, and young generation of athletes are lied to - it's the false marketing. This is why I, as someone with nearly 20 years of experience, who absolutely loves Tricking, will take 1 look at an event, see how it's marketed, see the advertising & lose interest - because I don't believe in it anymore. I am attracted to Glory - not to Marketing. I don't sense high glory at these events, the way I sense high glory out in other parts of the world. & thats because a lot of my heroes have moved on, and I've witnessed the sport degenerate as time goes on. The population is comprised of people who have lower moral and ethical conduct. I will say that the skill level is higher though, but that really all these events are inter-changable. If I want Hooked, I could just go to Vertigo. If I want Hooked, I could just go to Bulgaria. or Poland. Because it's going to be the same cast & crew anyways. But that's all done the illegal way, because currently, Tricking Competitions are a fixed-racket perpetrated by Kojos Trick Lab & it's affiliates - essentially the Team Rocket of Tricking ( for people who get the Pokemon references ). The Olympics requires nations to represent themselves, and to unify amongst a group that host a sports competition where the geographical location changes every 4 years of the event - thereby making it incredibly neutral. As I got older, I became more self aware and respectful. I am who I am, because of my inspirations. The local heroes of Canada like Chris Mark, Shido Xen & Joe Eigo were hugely impactful on the sport - regardless of the politics, they inspired in a positive and healthy manner. They encouraged positive development, towards Tricking & Canada. If you get involved with gangs, you will be encouraged and rewarded to be dishonest, to do hateful & low-life activities. It might score you a "victory" but if you have to hide from the public what you did & delete your history after .. is it a true victory? Victory is for people who live in the Light, where they can proudly state their allegiances, love & affiliations. When organized crime groups have to lie to the public, governments, loved ones & to themselves, this is not a true victory, but self defeat. A True Champion is someone who can just be their true selves & their story is a truth that regardless of the attempts by their competitors to destroy it .. will remain. This is why someone like myself, who doesn't command a great wealth or army, is able to have such a positive impact on the entire sport - even if people absolutely refuse to admit it. My words hit deep, because with truth, it resonates & finds it's way into the soul. I am proud to say that I am the most successful Canadian Tricker of all time, and I can show off my 19 samplers, my battle resume, my gathering edits, scrap clips, my tributes, rough copies, my process, state my inspirations & give credit because it's my adventure and journey. When we're dealing with frauds, they will only ever present to you a final product & hide the process, hoping to win you over with a well polished and shined marketing tactic. Unless I can see behind the curtain so to speak, I've learned not to look at things at face value, but to take a deeper look and derive the true value of a product or event.See past the marketing for what something really is. Tricking has been on the decline politically - the skill level is high, but all the good & honest business people are naturally repelled from what your average Tricker is becoming. Two casts of society are forming - High & Low. Where drugs, organized crime, prostitution, and lies are masked with as much support & marketing as possible to cover it up, truly it's up to you as an individual not to sacrifice truth & honour for the money & fame. The same people who say they are for the culture, in the same breath fail to cite their sources & fail to give credit where it's due to the originals.To truly reach the top of the sport, skill level is only the beginning. Serving the true history & original culture becomes the highest value. If people want to be a part of an organized crime group, you might be able to force the kind of outcomes you want, but eventually society will catch on. As time goes on, people end up with people they are similar to. Attraction and repulsion. Criminals end up together, and Solo Champions go off into the world and just focus on invention and breaking limits. And every few years, Heroes unite and form leagues to validate and authenticate the truth of an event. This is why you need real judges who have cemented legendary and historical contributions - the true pioneers and contributors ( the ones Team Rocket try to clone ! )Some people even try to destroy that history. Remember folks, If they try to silence your voice, ask yourselves why? Why would people delete or destroy history? No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. We have to accept reality & change our behaviour.

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. AlsoI 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&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. 

Hi my name is David and I'm a Tricking Athlete turned Investigative Journalist ! I think the most important issue in the world of tricking isn't as much trying to change people who are too set in their ways but instead it's setting a positive example for the next generation, and stressing the importance of integrating properly into society, and respecting that other people are going to be vulnerable and that competitive drive needs to be channelled in the right direction. Life isn't about deceiving others we work with, but by working with integrity and establishing win-win relationships that comply with the laws and regulations that make society run safely and fairly - especially when it comes to sports contests !I think it's the combination of being a dominance-seeking individual, always wanting to get the upper hand and take a victory over others, combined with the willingness to do whatever it takes that is likely to develop someone into a criminal in Tricking or even in the world in general. You can't necessarily trust people to respect the honour code anymore. I do think that when children are raised in day-care and in their adolescence that they are taught to respect each other, and to cooperate as a group to keep their environment orderly and integrous. The problem is that making it into an industry, or gaining access to sponsorships, or even having a chance to strike an opponent aren't temptations or pressures that children face - adults do though. I think it's around middle school & high school where certain pressures start to affect the younger generation - I know it did for me. Marijuana, sex drive, drinking & even the introduction of other drugs can become a past time activity for some social groups, and now adays there are influencers online that encourage get-rich-quick money making schemes that go viral and attract a lot of people who are naive and susceptible. There are many motivating factors that could shake us off from how we developed when we were younger. The older generation grooming and recruiting the younger generation is the link in the chain where I think people abuse their seniority and have the intentions of taking advantage of their influence. Influencers who rely on popularity to encourage the direction of athletes either towards ticket sales or merchandise sales have been shown to resort to just about any tactic - either luring young athletes to events with the prospects of possibly being around sexual activity or failure to comply with the group's direction could mean being ostracized from the community - and communities work together to form larger associations or organizations ( albeit unofficially ) and so fitting into the sport as someone who isn't registered as part of a club can be difficult. For many prospective learners, the normal pathway is to attend an open gym program and begin to train with the already established community that trains there. If you've read my article about legitimate organizations in Tricking, you'll know that not every community is legitimate. Some communities simply operate out of open gyms, while others will intake students as officially registered athletes and coach them with the intention of providing a Tricking program to bring athletes up to the level of champions. Parents, guardians & the newer athletes themselves should be aware of these models and pathways in order to make informed decisions for the wellbeing of themselves and/or the safety of their children. Sex, drugs & money are the most alluring baits that influencers use to corrupt the youth, and when you combine this with organizations that don't officially or legally sponsor athletes into their teams or as special guests to their events, what happens is you get youth who are willing to do whatever it takes in order to move up and become accepted by communities that operate this way. Combine this with groups that will lie to the public, parents & governments about how they really do business, and you have a recipe for disaster.For me personally, around age 20 is when I began to pay special attention to my decisions. My father passed away around this time, and I had to assume a greater responsibility for my future. I put Tricking as a hobby on the back burner, focused on my career, but also knew that if I invested in my health, I could become a better athlete - this meant rejecting drugs, using my intuition and staying away from people that I did not think were going to be a positive influence on me, and eating and exercising in a much healthier way. Besides giving up smoking weed, I opted for a plant based diet. Fast forward nearly 15 years, and I am still not smoking marijuana. I'm not 100% vegan anymore, I do eat small amounts of animal products, but I'm far healthier than I was as a teenager. However, getting into the sport, I didn't see the sport in terms of politics or legitimacy as a teenager, but as I got older, I began to understand why it's necessary that athletes should receive protections and that social order needs to have integrity as a foundation. Here in Canada, we have something called a National Sports Organization, which is the official governing body that sets in place policy, regulation and procedures to help maintain the safety and security of athletes, while maintaining high standards and providing professionalism with excellence. Tricking has not reached this point, and due to corruption, has difficulty reaching this stage in it's development. Not only is it essential to sanction official contests, to help legitimize a title or award that an athlete is given, but it helps to ward off corruption to a much greater degree. When Tricking takes place on an underground level, where leadership is unclear, and where individuals are inducted into communities without a registration process, and where even potentially illegal activities could take place within these groups, the younger generation are at far greater risk. It's a common practice that larger, more experienced and politically backed foreign organizations, legitimate or illegitimate, typically have a birds eye view of the development of communities around the world, due to social media. It's common that the most naive and gullible amongst us, who are completely unaware of how Tricking really is, are likely to be targetted and either encouraged to participate in a corrupt system, or face rejection from ever receiving any opportunities to advance their career, simply because they aren't apart of the majority - even if that majority is exercising illegal and/or illogical practices. It's necessary to have something like a National Sports Organization ( NSO ) in place, like other sports here in Canada, because it allows for athletes to participate in an inclusive environment, free from discrimination, having coaches that regulate their behaviour, keeping things clean and professional, and safe, and to deter gangs and other groups from having an influence and subsequently exploiting what could be star-struck beginners. It's necessary for Tricking to reach the next level. My message to anyone reading, especially if you're from the younger generation is this:Take an honest look at the situation you're in. Compare what your friends encourage you to do, with legal definitions to see if you're breaking any laws. Research your own activities and be aware of who you're becoming. Figure out who encourages the best qualities, and holds you to your worst, keeping you good and safe, and be real about who wants you to take risks quickly, and who you kind of just know isn't good for you - regardless of how fun it might be to do things you know are wrong. Not only could you hurt yourself, but you could hurt others, and - there could be people collecting blackmail on you. If you're ever threatened that you have to do what your friends want because they'll release damaging information or if you see that these people will go behind people's back to try to harm them by using blackmail - if they would do it to others, they could do it to you. Don't participate in gangs or any witch-hunts or coordinated attacks. Tricking is a sport, and the proper thing to do is to become your best self by training, and by investing your competitive drive into self improvement and participating in competitions. If you want to flex on your opponents, win trophies and show them off on social media. Pro Tip:When people copy you, regardless if they only speak negatively about you, that's when you know you win. Check these websites for more information:https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/sport-organizations/national.htmlhttps://cces.ca/integrity

My first introduction to this topic was taught to me by Game Freak. Hi my name is David Milner and I'm a Tricking athlete doing work as an investigative journalist !Today I'm writing to help raise understanding about how to identify crime groups. Not just in Tricking, but in the world in general. When I was around 10 years old I got my first copy of Pokemon and a gameboy. I don't remember if I got Red version or Blue version of the game .. but I remember slowly being brought into the world these game developers created, and although I had to battle my way through opponents .. there was one group of individuals that stood out to me. Team Rocket. Team Rocket was first introduced in the second town you visit in the game. There is a bridge, and you battle your way through a few trainers and at the top there was a recruiter. He dressed as an ordinary trainer, but eventually reveals himself to be recruiting others into his organization. Later you find out that there was a break-and-enter and stolen property from Misty's home, the cities Gym Leader.The police were there, and you as the main player actually help to retrieve the stolen property. A criminal organization is as you might imagine it to be. A group of individuals who prefer to remain anonymous, who recruit others into their ranks, who lack integrity, so much so to take things that don't belong to them, or to gain things through unfair methods and/or threaten to or actually use force to get their way.This stuff doesn't just happen in video games. It happens all around the world.. and it isn't a rarity. I first started to notice the signs & symptoms of organized crime in Tricking when I began to travel & film in different countries, as a battler in 2019. Prior to this part of my career, I wasn't too focused on the competitive scene in Tricking. I was mostly focused on my life outside of Tricking, and really just training & socializing, making samplers was my main thing before becoming a battler. Canada wasn't really a country with many competitions, until about 2018 is when we started to develop in that area.I began to recognize that events were being advertised one way, but when I looked at the actual organization of the events, I noticed peculiarities. I questioned why members of certain teams and organizations were always present at most events but important information was being left out. I couldn't understand why some organizations would be advertised as officially collaborating with underground teams, & other events wouldn't mention collaborations at all, despite those players fulfilling key roles at these events ( such as being the judges ). I wrote an article about Legitimate vs Mafia style organizations before. Legitimate businesses follow all the common sense laws and appear in the public and facilitate pretty much exactly what is advertised as any paying customer or anyone from the public or government would expect of them. The way they present themselves, the compliance with the laws and regulations of a society, all these things are consistent with legitimate businesses. It's very truth oriented. However, you could still run a business, but completely deviate from what is expected of your conduct. Some people step outside of their bounds and offer products or services that aren't officially on the menu. This is when a legitimate business becomes corrupt. It's all the additional work that is being done off the books - if it's sales of merchandise that isn't officially on their manifest, or even going over to other businesses to try to interfere with their progress or cut collusive deals. Sometimes they might try to make a business deal appear to be legitimate, but that the money they were receiving was derived from illegal activity, and so in order to clean the money, it could be laundered into their business to make it look like real business transactions. Sometimes competitors work together to price fix, or bid-rig. There are many ways that businesses try to outsmart the public and gain an advantage. This is the world of organized crime - and it does affect Tricking. Though in our world of sports, it looks a bit different. Typically crime in the sport of Tricking has to do with producing intended outcomes, and eliminating individuals that have the potential to interfere with and expose their plans. Some of the signs and symptoms to look out for:- Inconsistencies in how a group presents themselves/advertises outwardly to the public vs how members refer to the purpose and inner works of the group- Dishonest, discriminatory, unsafe & immoral business practices or conduct among group members - Invitation to "secret" inner groups requiring collateral / compliance of secretive directives - Group hierarchy / role structure being unclear- If you are asked to commit a criminal act or witness criminal acts being committed

A Tricking Community has two potential paths to take - do you legitimize, or do you stay underground?Hi my name is David Milner - I am a Tricking Athlete turned Investigative Journalist, here tryna fight the good fight ! Today I'm writing about my observations about how a community could evolve over time, and that depending on the ethical and moral values of it's leadership, could lead athletes towards integrating properly into society, or cutting every corner and giving itself every advantage even if it means breaking the rules !What I've witnessed here in Canada from the year 2007, I saw how my heroes developed. Chris Mark, who was the sensation apart of a team called Team Ryouko that helped inspired the world to get into Tricking, partnered with legitimate businesses at various martial arts schools such as Sunny Tangs, where a Canadian form of martial art called XSD ( Xtreme Skills Development ) would be launched and new learners who wanted to learn to flip would be taught the fundamentals of martial arts, and have access to instructors who were teaching acrobatic classes afterwards. These classes went on for a while, long enough for Team Ryouko to make a big move !By the year 2008 Chris Mark and Team Ryouko purchased and developed their own gym, Ryouko Martial Arts in Scarborough, where XSD could be taught as well as providing open gym training grounds for trickers who wanted to train at their own pace, or to receive instruction if they need it. I believe Chris Mark is actually a positive male rolemodel in this regard. Personally, I did attend Sunny Tangs and I was a student at XSD. I eventually was recommended another gym program by another member of Team Ryouko named Allen Keng, at a gym called Steeles West Gymnastics, where he partnered with to host his gym program which was mostly focused on acrobatics and stunts. Allen's program is called Monday Wednesday Friday Night Madness. I moved on from XSD and went towards the Tricking program that Allen offered, because it was more specific - I wanted to Trick. Back then ( this was in 2007 ), I was watching samplers on youtube, tutorials from Jujimufu and then I'd head off to Steeles West and train the skills I wanted to learn. The bigger issue is that now, my generation, who was not focused on developing our own martial arts or contributing to XSD, would carry on the torch of community building. We organized amateur get-togethers called Gatherings ( A tradition that started in 2003 here in Canada by a man named Shido Xen of Xen Dynasty, one of Toronto's first tricking teams ) and we would naturally develop and eventually become the main body of Trickers by the 2010s. The previous generation of Trickers like Chris Mark would go on to the stunt industry to pursue a career in acting and action, and other older Trickers would focus on developing their careers - I know I personally kept Tricking has a hobby. The community was left to a group of teenagers and young adults, in a sport that doesn't even officially truly exist !Most of us had been focused on renting out gyms and hosting gatherings, but it wasn't truly a business endeavor, more as just a social get together. We also did not have battles and prizes yet, that would happen much later. It was a group of like-minded individuals who wanted to participate in sports and this was no different than what other communities all around the world were doing - simply training together - and this is how Tricking as a sport had been getting built. Something like a sport can't just develop perfectly, immediately. It takes time, and development. Also, it's not like we just knew what to do, or even felt the weight of responsibility - Tricking has been pioneered largely by the culture of inspiration that we obtained by looking to eachother's communities and seeing different advancements, and every country is different. Every community develops at a different pace !