Which is Tougher: Hands or Feet?

by Crazy Ivan

This question actually comes up quite a bit in the Myachi world.  I recall more than one heated debate on the forum where people would take up sides on the hands vs. feet debate.  The honest truth is that both sides could make a pretty convincing case.

So before I try to insert my own opinion here, let me break down the popular argument from both sides.

Feet:

To most people I suppose this seems like the obvious answer.  After all, a 360 on the toe is a heck of a lot harder than a 360 on the hand.  Most Myachi players can do a Wolverine with their hands but exceedingly few can pull off the same move with the feet.

When you compare basic foot moves to basic hand moves, it seems like a no-brainer.  The first five tricks people learn with their hands might be Half Pipe, the Hulk, Cold Fusion, Under the Leg and the 360.  Compare that with a typical first five feet tricks, say Toe Stall, Instep Stall, Toe Pop, Instep Kick and Outside Stall and there's no comparison.  Even the easiest trick on the foot end is tougher than the toughest of those five hand tricks.

Instinctively most people answer "feet" when they're presented with this question, but a potent argument can be made on the other side as well.

Hands:

The thing is that the foot trick argument really focuses on the basics.  The basic moves with the hands are definitely way easier than the basic moves with the feet, but what about the hardest moves on either side?  There is no consensus on what the hardest moves in Myachi are, but there are plenty of hand tricks that compete directly with the toughest of foot tricks.

Which is harder to learn, a River Dance or a Double Swordfish?  A Butterfly Stall or a Spidey Sense?  A Duck N Dive or a 4 Myachi Juggle?  An Osiris or a Daring Bodyguard?

For every really hard foot trick that a person can mention, there are at least two or three equally hard hand tricks to counter it.  There are far more tricks that can be done with the hands than the feet and thus in many ways, the hand tricks are tougher.

All of the Above:

It's actually a meaningless question.  Foot tricks aren't harder than hand tricks and hand tricks aren't harder than foot tricks.  Individual tricks can be harder than other tricks but when you start talking in huge categories like "hands" and "feet" it's kind of meaningless to compare them.

Most Myachi players start the game on the hands and only start learning tough foot tricks once they have a pretty good repertoire of hand stuff.  This leads to the pretty widely held belief that foot tricks are tougher.  In that sense they are, but at the highest levels of Myachi there aren't harder and easier categories of tricks.

Take traps as a perfect example.  Moves like the Hulk and Lotus can be the easiest in the game.  If you want to pull off a Symposium Tree Pose you're in for a long hard run.  Doing a blind Hulk behind the back is no picnic.  Pulling a three Myachi gather in a Lotus is a ridiculous challenge if you've split the sacks on a previous throw.

In other words, tricks are as hard as you want them to be.

Rephrasing the Question:

All that being said, there is a slight variation on that question that makes it pretty easy to answer.  If you simply turn it on its head and focus on which is easier the answer becomes pretty obvious.  Hand tricks are definitely easier that foot tricks even if foot tricks aren't harder than hand tricks.

I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it's true.  If you want to learn some easy tricks you'll find way more on the upper body than the lower body.  However, if you want difficult moves, you'll probably be able to find plenty of challenges no matter which part of your body you use.