Matrix; Evolutions

by Crazy Ivan

There was a time when the Matrix was largely considered the toughest hand trick in Myachi.  Man, that seems like a long time ago.

Since then moves like the Jedi, the Spidey Sense, the Super-Yoga, the 4 Myachi juggle and the myriad variations on the Matrix itself have long supplanted it, but the Matrix itself still holds a unique place in the pantheon of Myachi moves.  Whether it's the hardest or the 113th hardest, a quick Matrix will stop most people in their tracks.

It's no wonder then that the Matrix has spawned such an enormous family of moves.  Each new Myachi Master is eager to put their own personal twist on the move, to push the boundaries of what's possible, to carve their names into Myachi history by fashioning a new version of this classic move that might live in perpetuity.

Understandably, the names of these various moves have gotten unwieldy over the years.  Because each move is rooted in the Matrix, and because the Matrix is such a beloved move within Myachi, the names always seek to wed themselves to the original.  That worked well for the first few variations, the Matrix Reloaded and the Matrix Revolutions, and our creativity kicked in after that.  Moves like the Matrix Rebooted, the Matrix Rerouted, the Matrix Unleashed and the Glitch in the Matrix joined the more vanilla names like the Behind the Back Matrix, the Under the Leg Matrix, the Bandit Matrix and the One Handed Matrix.

Soon the army of Matrix variations would swell to the point where many went unnamed.  Names like the "Mantrix", the "Slingshot-Trix" and the "Wingtrix" never caught on (for understandable reasons) so there seems to be an unending supply of new Matrix variations awaiting more clever names.  Every new Myachi Master tries to come up with their own take on this move so ever more complex and challenging concepts keep getting crammed into this already forbidding move.

When I announced that this week's Trick of the Day videos would be Matrix variations, the other Masters at the House of Skills got pretty fired up.  I was instantly bombarded with a plethora of questions as to which variations I'd be using.  Would I be using the Matrix Rerouted?  How about the Matrix Recharged?  Maybe the Matrix Rebuked?  I was also inundated with emails (okay, maybe not inundated exactly) asking about this or that Matrix variation and whether it would be included in this week's tricks.

Of course, the answer to most of these inquiries was (by necessity) "no".  There are far too many Matrix variations for me to squeeze them all into a single week.  Heck, even if I did a whole month worth of Trick of the Days dedicated to the Matrix theme I would still have to leave some out (and some good ones at that).

So for those of you hoping to see this or that variation and disappointed when it doesn't show up, I can only promise that another week of Matrix variations will come again in the future.  I can't promise that your favorite variation will be included that week either, of course.  Heck, by the time I do another week on Matrix moves there will probably be at least 5 new variations that I'll have to leave out as well.