Overview of Unicycling Disciplines

I wouldn’t say commuting is a separate discipline of unicycling. It would be a branch of distance riding (Touring is probably changing to Distance), with an added goal of getting to a specific place.

God lord, I’ve been accused of overthinking a few things in my time, but I take my hat off to the OP. :grinning:

There are two basic schools of thought in unicycling:

  1. Wheels are round so that they roll, and
  2. Tyres are rubber so that they bounce.

I am a devotee of the discipline number 1 above.

Applying this simple approach, I have at various times commuted, ridden muni and cross country, done long distances on the road, played hockey, set myself endurance challenges, done speed tests against the GPS, and practised various basic skills, performed to crowds, and — most importantly — seen a lot of places I might not otherwise have visited, and had a lot fun.

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Warning: long text 🙂

Here is the updated version of the Unicycling Disciplines diagram. I have carefully read through all the comments on facebook and here on the unicyclist.com forum, and I think the diagram has improved significantly thanks to our collective thinking. What changed?

  • Added a main branch Entertainment/Performing, without further subdivision. This would include everything that riders primarily do, professional or not, to entertain an audience. It is intentionally close to Freestyle, especially Artistic Freestyle. This branch would include Unicycle acrobatics, Unicycle manipulation, Unicycling and juggling etc.

  • Added a main branch Slackline. This would include highline and tightline, but this is not spelled out. Close to, but separate from, Entertainment. Since this is (still?) a niche activity, the font size and line thickness are smaller than the other main branches.

  • Added a main branch Games, without further subdivision. This would include Sumo/Wrestling/Gladiators, Jousting and tens of fun and informal other games.

  • Added Polo (next to Hockey) and Footbal under Team Sports. The difference between these and Games is that Team Sports are more ‘established’ and e.g. have clear rules.

  • Two additions under Trials are Speed Trials and Natural Trials. The latter is of mixed race: it is a child of both Trials and Muni, indicated by the dual colour.

  • Added Slope Style near Cyclocross. Both are quite close to the Trials family but (I think) belong to Muni.

  • Quite a few changes around Distance and Touring, this was hotly debated. The branch name is now Distance. This is everything where then emphasis is on ‘going places’ in other words transportation by unicycle to go from A to B, or from A to A via B. “One day or less” includes Day Trips (or shorter), commuting, running errands, riding through pedestrian traffic, etc. When talking about a Distance ride across multiple days, people seem to use different names. I have settled on Unitouring (could also be called just Touring) if the ride is primarily on paved roads or other easy surfaces, and Munipacking if the ride is mainly offroad. Both could be supported or unsupported, and while this may feel quite different, it is not spelled out in the diagram. Munipacking is a child of both Muni and Distance, indicated by the dual colouring.

  • Offroad had been renamed to Muni. I’ve added Technical Muni as a sub-branch, which is similar to, but more technical than, Cross-Country.

  • The diagram still doesn’t address equipment. I think that using a specific type of unicycle (large vs small wheel, fatter tyres etc) in itself is not a discipline. Specific disciplines have other equipment demands than others. Still, there is always a /range/ of equipment that can be used for any discipline. Notable, freewheel is mentioned nowhere. It seems that freewheel unicycles are gaining popularity. I think this will lead to freewheel unis not being ridden just for the sake of being freewheel, but to be used in various disciplines without fundamentally changing those disciplines. Similar to how unicycles with brakes, or with gears, can be used for various disciplines. Having said all that, I may work (later!) on a somewhat similar overview of unicycle types.

  • Rearranged a few branches and sub-branches to place disciplines with a similar ‘feel’ closer together.

  • Corrected a few small errors.

  • Dropped the subdivisions within Long Jump, High Jump, and Group Freestyle.

This whole thing has taken more time than I thought, but it was (is) a fun project to work on.

Further comments are welcome!

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Looks better, nice work.
Personally, I’d kick a few things out for simplicity, or because I think they are “overrepresented” in this chart again:
Technical Muni: I think “technical” is an attribute I can give a section or a complete ride afterwards, and not a seperate thing. Like saying: “I did this technical cross country route”, or “this technical downhill section” (or “this non-techical uphill”).

Slopestyle (Muni) I don’t think it was ever a big thing, and I don’t think it is now. The only Slopestyle I’ve seen lately is slopestyle street (which I’d say is just a competition format, not a seperate discipline). I may have missed Slopestyle happening at events (or even just people referring to their riding as “Slopestyle”), but it would surprise me.

Slackline While unicycling on a slackline is an awesome thing that people do, I wouldn’t consider it a seperate discipline. The way I would approach this chart is that for something to be considered a discipline, there would need to be a somewhat significant amount of people referring to themselves as a “insert discipline here” rider, or “insert discipline here” being done at events. Slackline (in my opinion) doesn’t fullfil either criterium. There are probably more people juggling on a unicycle (but not for performance/entertainment purposes) than slacklining on a uni, so I’d consider it overrepresented (even with the small font).

Similar for Games (like Sumo I’d guess), it’s a thing that you do, but it’s not necessarily a “Discipline” big enough for a chart like this in my opinion.

Natural trials: I think I know what kind of riding you are referring to with it (and it happens to be something I enjoy and do). But it’s not really a term that is commonly used, at least not by the people that I’m around. Again, I’d just add a descriptive adjective to describe those rides (like: “trialsy Muni”, or “trials on a trail”).

Just my 2ct, of course my perception of whats important will be different from others. As you might be able to tell, I’m someone that likes to keep categories broad, and then just start adding descriptive terms to further differentiate.

Wasn’t this called Muni obstacle at the Brixen Unicon?

Finnspin, I acknowledge your general point. Admittedly, the diagram errs on the side of being complicated, and that for something that I set out to get an overview. Personally however, I’m happy with it being as complete as it is. And in any case, in my opinion it doesn’t hurt. If anyone wants to see only the big picture, look no further than the thickest lines and the largest font.

Technical Muni:
I moved house in 2014. Before I did, my main style of muni was relatively technical. At the time, I had an area of steepish and technical stuff close by (sometimes used for national and international MTB championships), and I liked to challenge myself there. SInce 6.5 years I live on the edge of a large wooded area with mostly very gently rolling hills. It has changed my style of muni riding to be more distance-oriented, with more focus on enjoying nature and less on technical riding. So I would label myself as a different muni-style rider now. I believe that technical muni and cross-country muni are valid and distinct style labels (but of course they do overlap).

Slopestyle (Muni)
Indeed I think that no one would describe themselves primarily as a Slopestyle rider. Still, Slopestyle is IMHO enough of a thing to deserve a mention. But it would be one of the first to go if one needs a simpler diagram.

Slackline
I fully agree that this is a marginal activity in terms of numbers. But in the last five or so years, I gradually see more people doing this, and some of them do it as their main unicycling discipline. Enough for me to include it. While it may continue to grow, it will most likely remain a niche department within unicycling (which itself is a niche sport anyways).

Games
A total of 16 comments on facebook were devoted to the fact that Games were missing in the first version of the diagram. (To be fair, that includes comments about the absence of certain games (e.g. Sumo), not Games in general.) Enough to convince me that I should make Games a Discipline.

Natural Trials
This may be a name that is not used so often anymore, I think it was more of a known label 10 years ago. On facebook I got comments on the first version that somehow the ‘marriage’ of Muni and Trials was missing, and this was/is my way of solving that.

One of the main goals I see for this diagram is to show relatively inexperienced riders (or interested outsiders) what is possible on unicycles. For that, I think, it is important to make those different styles/disciplines explicit. BTW, there is still room for descriptive terms to further refine most of the ‘end points’ in this diagram :slight_smile:

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Yes, probably very much the same. I remember I watched The Muni obstacle competition in awe, seeing what the top riders were capable of.

This discipline in Unicon 2012 was grouped, as the name also suggest, under the Muni department. As far as I remember, it did hardly attract any Urban Trials riders, although they might have been quite good at it too. Maybe it would have been the other way around if it had been named “Natural Trials”, and introduced as a new Trials discipline. Pure speculation of course, but names and labels are powerful.

Mimo Seedler won the Muni Obstacle discipline this year in his age class and I consider him one of the worlds best urban riders. :slight_smile:
But you’re right, the name and the categorization under muni seems a bit confusing.

Just as with any other sport, the term discipline can be a bit vague here. For me any definition of a discipline consists of a clear set of rules or requirements in order to be called a discipline.
The setup of the uni is a very important factor there, just as other (un)written rules.

For example trials: 19/20 uni with a lowered seat, strong wheels and longer cranks. Are there people performing trials moves on a 29-er downhill muni? Probably, but they will have a huge disadvantage over the uni’s specifically made for this purpose.

Or distance: Although technically possible to ride long distances on a 19" trials uni with 140mm cranks, I doubt most people would use it for that purpose and most definitely not in a serious competition.

Slacklining is also mentioned as a discipline, but for an outsider (which I still am) it doesn’t say anything. I’m practicing riding my slackrack (up to 4m) with the uni as well, but does that make me part of that discipline?

Therefore as mentioned earlier, the labels by itself are to broad and vague to actually make a clear distinction. At a minimum there should be a clear definition / explanation of each discipline with the chart to make sure we’re all talking about the same thing.

For the rest awesome work! I never knew there was so much to do within the unicycle world :wink:

Yes, I think so. Same with your muni and trials riding.

Agreed. This diagram is a starting point. The plan is that it will be accompanied by text eplanations as well as videos and possibly pictures.

Great. Mission accomplished!

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There are mentions of confusing names, or discipline. I’m surprised no one mentioned freestyle yet!

Nice work @Klaas_Bil , it’s super cool and a good initiative.

When I first started looking at the graph I thought there would be a Track and a Road category, as opposed to Racing and Distance. Would it be better this way? Would it make more sense for Balance to be under the Track umbrella, rather than racing? Aren’t all the sub-disciplines in current Racing are held on a track, so wouldn’t Track work best as a common denominator? I’m formulating these as questions because I have very limited knowledge of Racing, and its sub-disciplines, as well a Distance, so please do enlighten me if everyone who does those disciplines refer to them as Distance and Touring.

As previously mentioned, Urban is relatively new, but is not limited to urban areas. I would say the main sub-disciplines are Flatland, Street and Trials. Since the vast majority of Trials is done on, but not limited to, urban obstacles, it makes sense to group these disciplines together and call them Urban. It used to be called extreme unicycling, and that included Muni as well. I think Urban generally represents well its sub-disciplines, also that extreme unicycling sounds a little 1995-2005.

Oddly enough long jump is usually seen as a Racing discipline, while long jump on platform is exclusively Urban. Just wanted to point it out, but I don’t think it’s necessarily required to move it under the Racing category.

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Thanks for your comments, Emile!

I’m not sure what your point is. If you mean that freestyle is a confusing name, I think that is kind of true. In itself, “freestyle” might imply that the style can be freely chosen. In this way, it hardly indicates anything specific. However, in the unicycling world, the term “freestyle” is quite well understood. The text that will eventually go with this diagram, will make it clear(er) to the non-initiated.

I see your point, but I’m not sure it would be better. The words “Track” and “Road” are in themselves primarily locations, not types/styles of riding. Also, it would imply that Road racing is closer related to Distance riding than to Track racing, which I think is not true. But I will consider to add a link from Road racing (and also Time trials) to Distance, similar to the dual link at Natural Trials.

If there were a Track umbrella, this would make sense, as the Balance skills are not about speed, while Racing implies going fast. I have partly based the diagram on the IUF Rulebook, which categorises the Balance disciplines under the Track Racing chapter.

No, Road racing is not on a track. Time trials can be done on a track or in any other place.

“Distance” and its subdisciplines are not regulated centrally (by a Rulebook or the like). Probably because of that, the terminology varies a bit from person to person. Most of the discussion on this diagram had been on facebook (only some here on the forum). The names in the Distance branch were a topic of debate, and the current structure and names are distilled therefrom.

I agree on your paragraph on Urban.

Is that so? The IUF Rulebook has all types of (competitive) Jumps under the Urban umbrella. Also, I think it wouldn’t make sense to have Long Jump and High Jump in different branches, as they are so related.

Hence why it’s not necessary to move it around. It just makes more sense to keep it there, and same for the rulebook as all other jumps are urban focused. I guess I just wanted to point that out for fun.

Again, loving the initiative, I often find myself explaining the different disciplines in unicycling, this will for sure help! Thanks for responding to me questions too.

One could argue here. For example in running, track, street, and cross country all all regarded as different disciplines. I think the location makes it a different type of riding since one is in a controlled environment, while the other will always change depending on the location. I don’t think it necessarily means road racing is closer to distance than track racing. It just means you have races on roads, and races on track. As for time trial, it is true it would then be between both, but you could branch it out from both Track Racing and Road Racing like you did for Muni/Distance.

Is there a difference in discipline btw 2-feet track racing vs road racing? I understand your grouping, but the intention of the chart is to describe the different disciplines. Or is the only difference the distance where track racing is the 100 and 800m. Once you enter the 5-10km, it is practically the same as road racing.

The longest distance in track racing is 800m, at least according to the current IUF rulebook.

Although related, track racing and road racing are really not the same.

On roads you may have bumps/holes or other irregularities, whereas the race track is a controlled environment and so flat that you don’t need to care about it. Also on roads you can have turns of various radii, whereas the round part of a track is almost always a constant radius, and also very similar between different tracks. In other words: each road race is different depending on the location, while track races are very comparable to each other, independent of where they are held.

There is a separation in distances even more than you suggest. IUF-regulated track races don’t go beyond 800m (by exception I have once encountered a 1500 m track race), while IUF-regulated road races start at 10km not 5 km.

Finally, there are lots of riders who ride track races but not road races, or vice versa.

(Admittedly, in some smaller events like NKE or Zeelse Eenwielerdag, the two disciplines are somewhat more mixed.)

Almost seems like you’re backing up my suggestion of using Road and Track in the end hehe.

Almost, yes :slight_smile:

@Klaas_Bil, for me it is interesting to read your argumentation on track - road / racing - distance.
Apparently the riding background has a lot to do with the distinctions you would make. I would say, road races are closer to distance riding than to track races, following my approach of “I am a distance rider and tourer, so the road races are what I compete in”.
Finding a solution here becomes a philosophical task and I think you have solved it well in your chart.

Hi Felix, thanks for your response!

I haven’t posted in a while, but meanwhile I have continued working on this. I updated the diagram a few times (not published). What I have now, I consider to be “final”. I’m working on a Dutch text (because this whole effort was initiated primarily for our Dutch Unicycling Foundation’s website). After that, I will create an English version and think about where I can publish it. (Diagram and text should be linked.)

One of the changes in the diagram addresses exactly your point. I have rearranged the Track Races so that not only Road Racing but also Time Trials are at the top, near the Distance branch. And I added black lines from the Distance ‘hub’ to Road Racing and to Time Trials, similar to the additional line from Trials to Natural Trials in the diagram above.

In the text (which is not yet final), Road Racing and Time Trials are still grouped under Racing, but one of the sentences is (translated) “Road Racing is mainly a form of Racing, but it is related to Distance Riding, and for a large part attracts the same riders”.

You are right that the whole exercise requires a philosophical attitude. I fully realise that everyone has their own perspective of unicycling. That is also why I sollicited input from the community both here in the forum, and in several unicycling facebook groups. I consider it my role to ‘marry’ all the different opinions, and get as close as possible to the common / universal view.