Most would make the assumption that I would immediately crown Turlakov the "True Master of Uppers." Had this been a couple months ago, I would have capered to my bias feelings. Does this mean Luki is the "True Master of Upper?"  When Turlakov released his video "Hardcore Upper Tricks Pt. 2" it shocked the entire freestyle community off the shear ambidexterity this kid possessed.  If you look at the aberration of skill level from his previous "Hardcore Upper Tricks Pt. 1," part 1 doesn't seem so hardcore anymore.  The same can be said for Luki.  In his video "Jak Taka Ryba," the upper combo at 0:50 was mind blowing.  The fluent flow of Luki's combo seemed to make the ball float across his body.

It's easily stated that they are both highly skilled in upper, but I believe they are disciplined in two separate types of upper.  With that being said, Luki has been trained in "Body Trick Style" while Turlakov has been trained in "Roller-Coaster Style."  Let's go into debth and compare these two sensational freestylers.

Before I get into explaining the difference between "Roller-Coaster Style" and "Body Trick Style" I want to give you a brief explanation of uppers.  Upper is the hardest thing to keep entertaining to other freestylers.  We don't have bountiful amounts of moves to execute.  In lowers, the moves are endless.  As a predominately upper freestyler and having experience in both the "Roller-Coaster Style" and the "Body Trick Style," I can tell you uppers aren't as facile as everyone makes them out to be.  I'm no Turlakov and certainly not Luki, but I have basic skill in both styles.

Roller Coaster Style - The basic definition of this made up term I use can be portrayed as someone who focuses on long roller combos.  Turlakov and Bengau fit this definition perfectly.  Most people are easily bored of this style because it "all looks the same" to you.  This is understandable as it's hard to get an appreciation for this style because you must watch every move diligently.  If you watch very carefully, the ball rolls over different parts of the head.  Unless you can do this yourself, it's much more difficult to contemplate the difficulty.  Dizziness doesn't affect you as much as people would think; the only time I've ever experienced some type of dizziness is when I do (20) Reverse Pavel Rolls (no pause).  "Roller-Coaster Style" consists of a lot more than people think, apavel rolls, reverse pavel rolls, esk roll, zhura atm, the face transitions, nose stalls, etc.  It still uses around the moons, chest rolls, shoulders, just not in the same format "Body Trick Style" does.

Body Trick Style - The basic definition of the made up term I use is defined as someone who trains in the art of chest-rolls/shoulders/side-heads/around-the-moons.  Luki is the best possible person to fit in this criteria.  This style tends to grab people’s attention immediately, yet few realize how small the variation "Body Trick Style" uses.  This is not to be insulting, because "Body Trick Style" is just as difficult as "Roller-Coaster Style."  The "Body Trick Style" requires very basic tricks; around the moons, side-heads, chest-rolls, with an occasional apavel roll thrown in somewhere.  It sounds easy, but requires an immense amount of speed and consistency both ways.  Luki grabs people’s attention so quickly because of his unbelievable amount of speed put into his body tricks.  While Turlakov makes it seem like there's a magnet attached to his head, Luki makes it seem like there's a magnet attached to his torso.  The speed makes it seem like the ball should fall off his body at anytime.

Now that you have an understanding of these "Two Styles" in upper, you should realize that neither Turlakov nor Luki can be named the "Master of Upper" because they practice two separate disciplines in upper.  Turlakov's speed is nowhere near Luki's in body tricks and Luki's roller combos don't come close to Turlakov's rolling ability.  To be completely honest, I don't think anyone will achieve the "all-round" upper ability anytime soon.  In order to be the best upper freestyler you need to fit the criteria of both styles, and so far no one has done that.  I am looking forward to the day where we see Luki's speed and Turlakov/Bengau's rollers combined into one.  I feel it will change the upper style world yet again.

- Written by Sam Steinbacher (samuellff)