Exciting skills
Kicks, flips and twists that feel genuinely impressive to learn.
For parents & newcomers
What is tricking?
Tricking blends martial-arts kicks, gymnastics flips and capoeira styling into one explosive discipline - built around individual combinations rather than a set routine.
Where most sports ask everybody to perform the same routine, tricking asks each athlete to develop their own movement vocabulary. Kicks, flips, twists, tumbling and transitions are taught in a deliberate technical order, then linked together in a style that belongs to the athlete.
Structured coaching. Individual expression.
Where it came from
A short history of tricking
Tricking grew out of martial arts. Through the 1990s, competitive martial-arts forms became increasingly acrobatic: athletes started adding gymnastic rotation, capoeira-style flow and bigger aerial kicks to demonstration routines, chasing difficulty and originality rather than a fixed syllabus.
As home video and then the internet made it possible to share clips worldwide, that acrobatic offshoot found its own identity. Athletes traded combinations across countries, named skills, borrowed from breaking, gymnastics and freerunning, and gathered at open sessions and "gatherings" to train together rather than simply to beat each other.
That culture is still the backbone of the sport today. Modern tricking has judged competitions, world-level events and professional athletes, but it kept the gathering mentality: everyone trains together, higher-level athletes coach the ones coming through, and progress is celebrated whoever makes it.
The culture
Creativity, style and originality
Trickers treat creativity as a value, not a buzzword. Two athletes can perform the same skill and it will still look different: the set-up, the timing, the shape in the air and the way one skill runs into the next all carry a signature.
That means originality is rewarded alongside difficulty. A clean, well-connected combination that nobody has seen before carries as much respect as the biggest single trick, and athletes are encouraged to find variations rather than copy a template.
It also changes how training feels. Athletes are problem-solving rather than repeating, which is why so many young trickers stay engaged with the sport for years.
Difficulty earns respect. Originality earns identity.
Our method
The WightTricks approach
We teach tricking as a technical sport with a creative outcome. Every athlete works through foundations, shapes and landing mechanics before bigger rotations are introduced, so skills are built on control rather than confidence alone.
Progression is individual inside a group class. Athletes in the same session are often working on different skills at different stages, with coaching aimed at the next specific step for that athlete instead of a single class-wide target.
Strength and conditioning sits underneath all of it - mobility, control, power and landing resilience - and the culture is deliberately inherited from the wider tricking scene: train together, spot each other, and celebrate the breakthrough whoever gets it.
The appeal
Why kids love it
Creativity
No two athletes move the same way - style is part of the sport.
Visible progression
Clear, achievable next steps mean progress is easy to see.
Confidence
Doing something difficult, then doing it well, changes how kids see themselves.
Self-expression
Athletes choose the skills and combinations they want to own.
Community
A supportive group that celebrates each other's breakthroughs.
Is tricking safe?
Tricking is an acrobatic sport, so managing risk sensibly is central to how we coach. Skills are broken into stages and introduced progressively - never before an athlete has the strength, control and understanding needed for the next step.
Training takes place on a full sprung floor with an airfloor, trampoline, foam pit and appropriate matting, supported by experienced coaches who supervise every progression. Athletes are grouped by age and ability so the level of challenge stays appropriate.
As with any physical sport, injury can never be ruled out entirely. What we can commit to is careful coaching, suitable equipment and progressions that respect where each athlete actually is.
Do they need experience?
No. Most athletes join with no tricking, gymnastics or martial-arts background. Every pathway begins with foundational movement - balance, shapes, rolls, cartwheels and body awareness.
Classes are chosen according to age and current ability. If you are unsure which session is right, tell us about your child and we will recommend the best fit.
