The 12 Types of Myachi Trick

by Crazy Ivan


After a conversation with Bones last week, I decided to do a series of articles on the blog where I would break down all the different trick types and explain how to properly use them within a shred.  I've already done the article on Traps and one on Centrifugals, but before I move on to the other ten trick types, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a post where I break down all these trick types.

This probably should have come first, but since the idea to do the series grew organically, I'd already posted the first one before the whole concept was cemented.  So with apologies to anybody who was left scratching their heads over this unfamiliar nomenclature, I offer the following explanation of how trick types are categorized:

The number has changed over the years as more and more tricks are developed.  By the current count there are 12 trick types, though it is often said that there are 11 (and I often say this myself) for reasons that I will explain when we get to the 12th trick type.

 #1) Swaps 


Definition: Tricks where the Myachi moves back and forth from a surface on the right side of the body to a surface on the left side of the body in a continuous pattern.
Examples: The Cold Fusion, The Heartbeat, The Fu, The Hot Wings, The Subterfusion

While this category contains some of the oldest tricks in the game, it's one of the newer categories.  For years,  Fusion moves were considered "Aerials" (see below) and Fu and Heartbeat were considered "Centrifugals" (see further below).  In many ways, this category is superfluous since all the tricks could theoretically be fit into other categories.

That being said, for things like rule-making and score keeping in free style, it's important to consider these moves separately for a couple of reasons.  One is that they clearly represent a different type of talent than aerials or centrifugals.  After all, nobody judges your Double Wolverine by how fast you do it.  It's about how well you do it.  But swaps are very often judged solely by speed.

It's also important for a very technical reason.  In games where a player is limited to one or two "tricks", we have to define what a trick is.  Traditionally that definition restricts a single trick as beginning with the first touch (a stall or strike) and ending with the second touch (a stall or strike).  That generally works perfectly for any category of tricks except swaps.  By this definition, after all, a Cold Fusion would be two tricks, not one.

So in order to ensure that our definition of "trick" wouldn't leave out such fundamental moves as the Cold Fusion, the Fu and the Heartbeat (possibly the 3 most often performed tricks in all of Myachi), we created a separate category to fit those into and it has since become the primary category of moves.

 #2) Aerials 



Definition: Tricks in which the body moves in relation to the Myachi while the Myachi is in the air.
Examples: The 360, the Wolverine, the Turbine, the Butterfly, the Sonic

Aerials really define Myachi in a lot of ways.  One of the first major challenges a new Myachi player will face is running their aerial numbers up.  The 360 becomes the 720 becomes the 1080 becomes the frustrating uphill climb to the 1440.  The Wolverine become the Double Wolverine, the Turbine becomes the Double Turbine and eventually you're trying to get a Wolverine, a Turbine and a Sonic all on the same throw (and if you haven't tried that combo before, you're probably standing up and grabbing your best jammer right now).

Aerials have appeared on every break down of trick types we ever assembled.  Even our first clumsy attempt at shoehorning all the tricks into 4 very broad categories included Aerials.  And but for the Swaps eventually earning their own ancillary grouping, the definition of this category hasn't changed at all over the years.


 #3) Body Cross 



Definition: Tricks in which the Myachi or the throwing or catching surface passes behind, under, or over another part of the body.
Examples: The Under the Leg, the Behind the Back, the Bandit, the Daredevil, the In-Spin

It doesn't take much more than reading the definition above to know that this is a pretty convoluted category. It's a type of trick that everybody recognizes should exist, but nobody can easily define.  We all know that Under the Legs and Behind the Backs belong in the same category, but how do you break that down?

We used to call these moves "Flexibility" tricks, but that was pretty limiting.  After all, there are some Behind the Back passes that aren't really about flexibility at all.  A Duck doesn't require flexibility, but the Myachi clearly goes behind the head.  So is this the same type of trick or a different one?  What about the Daredevil? Is it the same "type" of trick as a Behind the Back even though it isn't about flexibility?

The problems with that categorization were obvious from the start.  We continued to use the flawed system for a while but eventually we settled for the traditional Juggling nomenclature of "Body Cross" to more broadly define what we meant by it.

Of course, even now the definition is flawed.  By the broad definition above, this would sort of include all portals, all aerials and some swaps, so I'll freely admit that this category might be tightened or redefined again in the future.


 #4) Centrifugals 



Definition: Tricks that use centrifugal force to keep the Myachi in place while the surface it is resting on moves.
Examples: The Half Pipe, the Snake, The Crane, the Vert, the Roller Coaster

This is a type of trick that belongs uniquely to Myachi.  Aerials and swaps are used in a number of skill toys and body crosses are part of virtually all of them, but I can't think of any other that uses something like centrifugals.  When we first starting categorizing Myachi tricks, this was a fairly small group that was small but important.  In the first fourfold division of tricks, centrifugals stood alone as this tiny little offshoot, dwarfed by the other categories.

But over the years a number of variations have appeared that have earned this category a pretty high spot on the list of trick-types.  The Drop of Death and all its variations, the continued advancement of the Roller Coaster and some of the exciting work Maverick and Animal have done with combining centrifugals into complex swap patterns have turned it into a legitimate segment of the game.


 #5) Grinds 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi slides from one part of the body to another.
Examples: The Dark Slide, the 50/50, the Hurricane, the Enlightener, the Rolling Rock

In many ways, this is the smallest category of tricks in Myachi.  In earlier break downs of trick types, grinds were considered off-shoots of centrifugals and were forced into the same category.  The definition didn't even have to change much.  They were all lumped together into a wide category that was "any trick where the Myachi never leaves the body".  After all, whether it stays on the hand in a Vert or slides down the arm in a Dark Slide, it still never left the body.

In some games, the two categories are still considered together.  So the pertinent question is, why divide them at all?

Once again, it comes down to the talent behind the trick.  Performing a grind requires a vastly different skill set than performing a centrifugal.  Learning every centrifugal in the book isn't going to get you any closer to the Hurricane Grind, but learning the Dark Slide will.  Mastering the 50/50 will help you get to the Enlightener, but mastering the Reverse Roller Coaster won't help much.

Beyond that, the two types of tricks clearly look different.  An observer who knew nothing at all about Myachi could see examples of one type and then the other and they would know immediately that they were seeing two different skills being exhibited.


 #6) Traps 



Definition: Tricks in which the Myachi is pinched or trapped between two surfaces of the body.
Examples: The Hulk, the Lotus, the Slingshot, the Long Sword, the Figure 4

In the old-school breakdowns, the Traps were usually considered in that same catch-all category that included centrifugals and grinds.  After all, in a trap, the Myachi is staying put on one part of the body... well, two parts of the body, but it's still not moving around.  As uncomfortable as it was to force fit traps into that category, there really wasn't room for them anywhere else and there was some debate as to whether or not they represented an important enough percentage of Myachi moves to warrant a separate category.

This debate, in fact, was the catalyst that eventually allowed the old system to fall apart.  As more and more Trap tricks were created, it got to be harder and harder to justify the ever-widening category.  This started to call attention to some of the other weaknesses in the system and led to it's all-out overhaul in 2006.

Traps were the first group to break away and for a brief time this was the only real compromise made to the larger system.  That meant that for a while we had 3 really big categories that included Aerials, Body Crosses and Stalls and then two comparatively tiny categories for centrifugals and traps.  We recognized that this would be pretty ungainly so we set out to start breaking those mega-categories down into their constituent parts.  The first to get split was that broad "Stall" category.


 #7) High Body Stalls 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi is caught and held on any surface above the waist except the back of the hand.
Examples: The Spiderman, the Melon Stall, the Mantis, the Parrot, the Neo

Once upon a time, stalls were all figured together in one large category.  But even back then, people would differentiate.  Maniacs would admit that while they were good at the arm and body stalls, they were still working on the foot stuff.

This clear demarcation in the skills required for the two trick types prompted us to split this category in half when we started rethinking our earlier system.  Obviously stalling on the elbow and stalling on the foot were vastly different, not only in the type of skill required, but also in the amount of skill required.  Mastering the basic arm stalls was something a committed Myachi player could do in a month or two, but master the basic foot stalls generally takes at least three times as long.

Splitting this category is also important for score keeping in freestyle.  An accomplished footbagger could walk into a Myachi competition and own the "stall" category if we were considering all stalls equally.  In the same way a contact juggler could probably dominate using only upper body work.  A truly developed Myachi player should clearly be able to exhibit skill in both.


 #8) Low Body Stalls 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi is caught and held on any surface below the waist.
Examples: The Toe Stall, the Instep Stall, the Knee Stall, the Outstep Stall, the Heel Stall

Thanks to decades of development by the footbagging community, this is one of the largest categories in Myachi.  It is also, by most measures, the most difficult.  Obviously, the difficulty of mastering any type of trick will largely be based on your existing skill set when you learn Myachi.  For example, a lacrosse player will probably have less trouble learning centrifugals than the average person just as a soccer player or a footbagger will have less trouble learning low boy stalls.  So which category of tricks is "most difficult" will vary from player to player.

That being said, the overwhelming majority of Myachi players will cite the low body stalls as the most challenging type of trick to master.  They require muscles that many people have never needed to develop, they require flexibility that even flexible people have trouble with and they require insane amounts of practice.  Even learning the five basic foot stalls (the Toe, Instep, Outstep, Heel and Sole) often requires more than a year of practice.


 #9) Strikes 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi is hit or batted by any surface on the body
Examples: The Popper, the Instep Kick, the Trampoline, the Toe Pop, the Knee Pop

It's hard to believe that there was ever a time when Strikes didn't merit a category of their own, but if you go far enough back into Myachi history there was a time when they were against the rules.  Even now, if you look at the rules printed in the booklet attached to a new Myachi you will find the words, "Do not strike or bat the Myachi".

This is obviously included to help new players.  When first learning to catch a Myachi, it is important to remind a newb that they need to absorb the Myachi rather than striking it.  Because of people's knowledge of Hacky Sack, a lot of people instinctively just start whacking the Myachi with the back of the hand as though the game was just about keeping the Myachi in the air.  To limit that, we remind everyone that this is a game about control, not just about keeping it going.

That being said, once you've mastered the catch, you actually want to add in that chaotic strike here and there to keep things challenging.  Even young players learn the Trampoline on the first day and that's clearly a strike move.  Poppers and basic kicks are usually a quick addition to a new player's repertoire and I see a lot of first hour players throwing in the occasional Melon Popper as well.

Strikes were added when we overhauled the system in 2006 and at first they were broken down to High and Low Body Strikes in the same way that stalls were.  We've waffled back and forth on whether or not this should be seen as two categories or one, but until high body strikes become a larger part of the game, it seems excessive to consider them as a full blown category.  That being said, Monk's profound additions to the game have had us wondering a lot more lately.


 #10) Flip Tricks 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi itself flips or spins in a prescribed manner.
Examples: The Kick Flip, the Pop Shove-It, the Impossible, the Tail Whip, the Tre Flip

This is a category that is essentially added to be thorough.  Flip tricks are clearly a part of Myachi, but they're not a very big part of it.  Every player worth their salt should have the basics mastered here, but it's not like you're going to bust out in a bunch of flip tricks in the middle of a shred.  We generally learn them so that we can master catching strikes and so that we can learn to throw the Myachi properly for weird stalls and swaps, but they're hardly a defining part of Myachi.

But of course, they're a part of the game and therefore they must be classified.  To be certain, I've won games of MYACH against accomplished players by throwing out an oddball flip trick that they'd never practiced, so there is some value to thinking these moves through.  That being said, if I earned the title of the world's best Myachi player in the category of "Flip Tricks", I wouldn't exactly add it to my resume.


 #11) Portals 



Definition: Tricks where the Myachi passes through a portal that is created by multiple parts of the body.
Examples: The Musketeer, the Thinker, the Swordfish, the Wormhole, the Jumprope

This is the second most recent addition to this system.  In many ways, portal tricks could either be considered as (a) aerials, (b) body-crosses or (c) a combination of the two.  After all, a Swordfish fits nicely into the definition of an aerial and a Musketeer fits nicely into the definition of a body cross.  So is there really any need for an additional category?

At first, we obviously answered no.  The Musketeer had been around for a long time, but it was really the only move we were doing that would have fit into this category for a long time.  The Wormhole was probably the next "portal" move to be created and the Thinker was likely the next.  But even then, these three moves hardly merited a category of their own.

It was in 2005 when the Swordfish hit the scene that we really started to consider crafting a new classification for these types of tricks.  This would be the first portal move that relied on linking the hands themselves and once we started doing that, it was as though the floodgates had opened and dozens of new tricks came pouring out.

But even after that it took several more years for us to start considering portals as a unique type of trick.  At this point we had everything neatly buttoned down into ten categories and it would seem weird to have eleven.  Especially when we knew that we could still force fit the portals into existing categories.  Ultimately, though, we realized that it was dishonest to the spirit of classifying like with like.  A Musketeer was considered a body cross but a Swordfish was an aerial.  Those two tricks required too similar a skill to be sitting in separate categories and thus another revision was made.


 #12) Showers 



Definition: Tricks where multiple Myachis are thrown from one or multiple surfaces and then caught or struck on one or multiple surfaces.
Examples: The Horizontal Split, the Vertical Split, the Triple Split, the Firecracker, the Instep Merge


As recently as last week, I wrote a blog post where I said that there were only 11 categories of tricks and when I listed them, I left this one out.  I wasn't intentionally trying to confuse people, but for the purposes of the article I was writing at the time, it didn't seem right to throw in this new, oddball category without any further explanation.


Showers represent a pretty broad category of multi-Myachi tricks that will probably eventually be broken down into yet more categories as our system of classification continues to grow with the game.  They include Splits, Merges, Firecrackers and Splurges.  They basically include any move where multiple Myachis are being moved around at the same time.


This is the only category of tricks that is exclusive to multi-Myachi work.  In all the other categories, there are one Myachi moves in the category as well as multiple Myachi moves.  If you do a Matrix, it is just a two Myachi swap.  If you do a Jedi, it's just a two Myachi body cross.  If you do a Double Dragon, it's a two Myachi centrifugal.


But, of course, there is no one Myachi version of a split, merge or firecracker.  Until very recently there were so few such moves that it had never even occurred to us to produce a category to put them in.  But as most Myachi enthusiasts agree, the most cutting edge work in Myachi is being done in this category of moves.  This is where the future of the game lies and where I currently struggle to think of the five examples to give in this post, I also know that by this time next year, I'll probably be able to rattle off fifty such moves without pausing to think.