The Difference Between A Trick and a Combo

by Crazy Ivan

Years ago I decided to undertake a massive project.  I was going to compile a list of every single Myachi trick and I was going to catalogue them in a giant compendium.  The "Tricktionary" that you see on the panel to the right is an extremely abridged form of what I was looking for and I will slowly add tricks to it until it becomes a behemoth reference, but it will never be anything like what I was going for before.

See, the first obstacle I came across when I set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) was the most basic thing you can imagine.  It was the definition: What exactly is a trick?

This is actually a tougher question than you might think.  We all agree that a 360 is a trick and we all agree that an Illusion is a trick, but what about a Wolverine?  It's just a 360 and an Illusion done on the same throw.  Is that a trick or is it just a combination of other tricks?  If the Wolverine is a trick, what if I do a 360, catch the Myachi and then do an Illusion?  Would that still be a trick or would it now become a combo?

For the purposes of my index, I used a pretty basic definition that I more or less lifted from the world of footbag.  They say a trick starts at a strike or stall and ends at a strike or stall.  That means that a trick is what you do in between any two touches.

That pretty much works for Myachi.  That would mean that a Wolverine is a trick, but a 360 and then an Illusion is actually a combo if you catch in between.  If you did an In-Spin and a Butterfly on the same move it would be a trick in and of itself, but if you did an In-Spin, an Instep kick and then a Butterfly it would be a combo.

{Warning: Technobabble ahead.  To avoid technobabble, skip the next paragraph}

Interestingly enough, if you broke down the In-Spin> Instep Kick> Butterfly by the definition above, you would see that it is a 2 move combo.  The two moves, of course, are In-Spin to Instep Kick and Instep Kick to Butterfly.  You can see right away the difficulty that faced anyone who would take on trying to record every possible combination of strikes, aerials and stalls that would be considered "tricks" under this definition.

But there are still problems with our definition.  It's easy to see how moves like Aerials, Body Crosses and Portals fit into this definition, but what about swaps?  Is the Cold Fusion a move or is it a combination of two Under the Arm throws?  This calls into question a ton of classic moves like the myriad variations on the Fusion, the Fu, the Heartbeat, the Stutter...

And what about Vert moves?  These are moves where the Myachi never actually leaves the body.  If your starting point and ending point are based on the sack leaving or landing on your body, where do things like the Roller Coaster or the Snake fit in?  What about Grinds where the Myachi moves from one point to the other without actually leaving the body?  Is a Dark Slide a move or a combo?

To date there is no single definition that encompasses every aspect of what makes a "trick" a "trick", but the definition of a combo is still pretty clear.  Any time the Myachi touches your body, one trick has ended and another has begun.  Even this crystal clear definition can be parsed with moves like the Tail Whip or the aforementioned Grinds, but by and large this is a workable rule to go by.

It might seem like a small distinction, as though I'm vacuuming my big vacuum cleaner off with a little vacuum cleaner, but this definition is actually important.  Because Myachi is such a broad game people are still constantly coming up with new tricks.  To keep track of who is doing what, it's important that we draw a distinction between creating a new trick and simply stringing together existing tricks in new ways.

Keep in mind that some of the best moves are actually combos.  Nobody would argue that a move like the Wavy Gravy isn't a combo, but it's a great combo and everybody loves it.  There's value in coming up with new combos and sometimes they will lead you to ideas for new tricks as well.  All that being said, it seems like every dedicated fan of Myachi at some point or another gets it in their head that they're going to define themselves by inventing a new trick.  Those people need to know exactly what they need to do to accomplish that goal.

Look for another entry later this week that goes into details about how to actually invent new tricks.  Just laying the ground work today.