Arts & Entertainment

Photos from Red Bull's "Tricking" Competition at Center Stage

The sport of tricking pushes human physical limits through the mix of martial arts, gymnastics and break dancing.

(The following photos and article were taken from the Throwdown event at Center Stage this past weekend and produced by Red Bull for our Midtown Patch readers)

Trickers were Center Stage as a packed house of 600 fans watched the action at Red Bull Throwdown.  Will Coneys of Arlington, Virginia, reigned champion of the one on one tricking battle in Midtown Atlanta.  Red Bull Throwdown presents the new standard of physical movement, where all styles will battle to find the most complete tricker.  16 athletes made the finals on Saturday to compete head to head until only one stood as the winner. 

“It mean’s the world to win.  Everyone who I’ve learned from, and everybody who has been there through my tricking journey, got to see a bit of their self out there on the floor tonight,” said Coneys.  “A win for me is a win for the sport of tricking. You can grab inspiration from anybody and forge your own path.”

The sport of tricking pushes human physical limits through the mix of martial arts, gymnastics and break dancing.  Athletes were judged in a unique format in which each judge scored the athlete on various skills including air, difficulty, creativity and diversity, delivery, and overall. A heated three versus three battle competition was taken by Team Gucci, comprised of Aleksy Doronin, Ben Couvy and Bailey Payne.  Red Bull Throwdown incorporated stand-alone battles for cleanest kick, biggest trick, and swing thru contest. Andy Le of California, Bailey Payne of South Carolina, and Jacob Huntington of Nevada, took the crown for these individual events.  Huntington’s win of biggest trick included a first time ever “Tac Snapu”, a combination trick of a tac roll and snapu kick in one.

“Being in Atlanta as a tricker has been my life,” said local tricker and martial arts instructor Max Van Eck.  “The tricking community in Atlanta is booming.  This is the place to be.”

As early as the 1960s, martial arts on the competitive level began incorporating more advance techniques into their routines.  Eventually with the influence with other aspects such as capoeira, taekwondo, and b-boying, tricking evolved into it’s own established sport.  For more information, visit http://www.redbull.com/throwdown and follow @redbullATL #RBThrowdown to join the conversation. 


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