How do people in Texas learn to skid? There is no rain.
The rain thing is no joke. I was scared to death of skidding, until one day I was riding in the rain and it just happened. For the rest of the ride I just started skidding into every red light. Your muscles have their own memory, and once you feel a skid you will know how to do it again.
regarding clips/no clips/clipless: whatever you ride with now is what you should learn with. You use slightly different muscles with all three, and once you have your muscles toned and well trained you will be able to do the tricks. If you don't know how to install/maintain/clip out/clip in/adjust/have a powerful stroke with whatever you use, then it is a problem of ignorance and not some inherent problem with the technology.