Analyzing The Dip - Butterfly Kick / Twist Practice

[Newmage]

I need to keep my legs straight, but I don't wanna straighten them so much to where if I land i'll hyperextend something.

A guy I know did this with a 540 and apparently he could do those pretty well.

[ItsAllJustMovement]

It actually is all about coordination, and using your big toe to make all your leg muscles engage and shoot you into the air, in turn giving you maximum height so you can elongate your core so you can spin in perfectly. This video has good advice, but for a true b twist learn from a wushu teacher, for real!!!

[ngstylez]

@ItsAllJustMovement Sure, everything is about coordinating your whole body to work together.

[888167]

man your b twist are one on the nicest i've ever seen....

one question.

it u start this move is it better to do a butterfly kick and spin on the highest point like u do it here or is it better to twist from the beginning??

thank you

[ngstylez]

@888167 Hey, thanks! That's a good question. Generally, it is told that you should initiate with the butterfly kick and then twist because when people start learning, they forget to jump and twist too early causing their height to be very low. So if you start with the butterfly kick (at least the right leg kicks up same as the butterfly), and then the left leg meets it to spin... you you would get at least the height of your butterfly.

[888167]

@ngstylez I'll try that thank you!

one more question:

your spin. Does it come from your legs or more from your arms?

on what do u focus more, apart from the dip and the jump?

I've done B twist into the sand several times now but my landing isn't like yours...

If I spin with my arms the twist is fast but I can't land the right way.

If i spin with my legs I can't jump as high as a b-kick.....

I would post u a vid, but I made it with my I pod and I don't know wether you can watch it...

[ngstylez]

@888167 Hey dude, hope your practice has been progressing. The act of looking over your left shoulder naturally causes your body to start turning... but I guess the torque of the spin comes from your arms more than the legs. If your body's trajectory wasn't correct in the original jump though, it will be hard to spin even if you bring your arms in hard and tight. I'm sure you've gotten pass that by now and realized what works for you. Good luck!

[K4lr0b]

How do you get straight legs during a b-kick?? It has something to do with flexibility or with technique??

[ngstylez]

@K4lr0b It's probably both. Surely flexibility would help. Straighter legs for the butterfly kick depends on your concept of "straight". You can have them straight and not be lifted, which doesn't look as good. If your hips are low, trying to get them to be straight up for the kick would be difficult as well. So technique wise, if you can get a good push off the ground and raise your hips to be parallel with the ground, you'll be able to straighten your legs easier.

[K4lr0b]

I can do a butterfly kick but when i try to do a b-twist i cant get the twist and end up falling!

My friends saw me trying it and they say i dont jump before doing the twist... cant feel much of the movements cuz when i do it my mind fills with thoughts and cant follow the movements. Also its really hard for me to do a twist, i just dont get it quite right.

Any tips on that?? talking about proper progression, how did you get ur twist? what can i do to practice it even before landing it....

[ngstylez]

@K4lr0b Yes, of course there is progression in accomplishments with every move! :D So first of all, let me say that strong legs and strong core muscles go a LONG way in martial arts such as wushu. Secondly, the reason you have a hard time focusing on what to do during the move happens to everybody. It's because our bodies and don't fully understand the movement yet. I'll explain it further in a future video, but for now, just find a safe place to practice and/or crash onto and "just do it!"

[ngstylez]

@K4lr0b Ran out of characters there... well anyway. I would recommend that you drill the butterfly kick and get that really comfortable first. It will make learning the twist a LOT easier.... well duh right? People rush into trying to learn to twist without a good comfortable butterfly and some may succeed, but see how many of them can control and/or make their twist better looking? If you rush into learning the twist, it's like you're just chucking the move instead of really doing it right?

[ngstylez]

@K4lr0b Of course, I'm no expert. It really takes time and practice. Just like learning the aerial. It may be scary and if you happen to land it a few times, it may have been out of luck and or "chucking" the move. The more time you dedicate to practicing and drilling these moves, the more your body will understand and be comfortable with them. And the more comfortable your body is in doing these moves or similar moves, the more your mind can remain calm and focus.

[K4lr0b]

I will practice until I get it right!! first with the b-kick and then the b-twist!!

Thanks 4 the tips man!!

[BlackDragon37]

Any tips for maintaining straight legs during a butterfly twist?

[ngstylez]

@BlackDragon37 Ah, maintaining straight legs is a tough one. My legs aren't straight, that's for sure. But from my opinion, I think the more confident you are in your jump, height, and landing of the twist, you can start to really pay attention to finer details such as straight legs. For many the twist is so fast that they don't have time to think about other stuff besides landing. So get super confident in your twist first. Drill them! Then drill them some more! Good luck!!!

[TeamFlyHigh]

it looks like you have your b twist 100% under control, really, looks so easy,

Your analysis is 100% correct,

thnks, now i can do b twist :D, landed a view times today :D:D:D:D

[ngstylez]

Thanks and congrats on hitting them! The butterfly twist really doesn't require a lot of energy or exertion to execute. I'm sure you'll realize that as you do more and more of them. The difficult part, of course, is trying to amplify the height, the number of twists, and to try to maintain straight legs. Good luck to you and hope your training is going well!

[TeamFlyHigh]

Thanx

[yoshiro5]

classic question... in order to jump really high and toughen the leg muscles up, should i be working on my quads or calf? i can't jump high enough to get my right leg over let alone the left leg up. Also when i over practice this jump, the right side of my body always starts hurt. Have u got any hints or tips to help me?

[ngstylez]

Different jumps and techniques use more or less of certain muscle groups of course. For the butterfly kick and/or twist's initial jump, I would say it's more quad and hamstrings. But it's impossible to do any jump without also hip and calf strength as well. So don't worry about working a particular muscle more, just work it all and you'll be in good shape! :D Post a video of your jump so I can see. Maybe stretch more would help it from being painful?

[XxChefAndyxX]

Just a question, if you dont mind me asking.

I used to do a butterfly pretty amateurly, yet horizontally good. Though, until fairly recently, my friends started saying that my upper body is being higher than my lower body, yet i swing my legs as hard as i can. What could be the problem? :[

[ngstylez]

Post a video and we'll see! Sounds like either you're looking up too much or sticking your chest out too much, causing your upper body to stick upwards... thus your lower body would be lower.

Or perhaps you're not jumping as explosively as you did before. The height of the butterfly kick isn't really coming from the forceful swinging of the legs up, it's really the initial lift up from your hips (as with most wushu jumps). Think about lifting your hips up high, rest of your body will follow.

[thunderkylinP]

heey erm i hope you can help help can;t get my left leg up after my right to get the turn....or do i have to trow my left up..first....??

[ngstylez]

Your left leg should definately go up higher than your right leg. If that's not the case, try to pinpoint what is holding it back.

1) Flexibility - Can you do a front split ok?

2) Leg strength - Are you exploding up from the squat position?

3) Posture - Is your upper body hitting a horizontal at the peak of your jump?

You should be throwing right leg up first. Try to keep it straight, then kick hard with the left leg as the right leg comes down to catch yourself. Post a video of yourself!

[zportee]

your butterfly looks great!

[ngstylez]

Thanks! Still needs work :) Keep practicing yours, I'm sure you'll be much better than this soon.

[FormerDeathMachine]

Wow! This is really great! I've always wanted to learn how to do the twist. Thanks for breaking it down. I'm gonna go try right now and kill myself.

[ngstylez]

Thanks! Good luck with it, it's tons of fun! :)

[MMAninjaboy]

thx. i can do a b kick now. im workin on the b twist:)

[ngstylez]

Hey man, good luck on your twist. You'll get it and realize how easy it is. Keep up the practicing!

[Riceboy369]

Very nice tutorial. Big difference looking back at the FSU videos. Looks awesome

If we only had half the dedication you have Alex =)

[ngstylez]

Thanks! Not really a tutorial, but just trying to figure out how I dip and some points to help others with their dips. FSU Wushu was like 4+ years ago! Keep practicing dude! :)

[lZlSHINTANi]

Holy crap dude. Your b-twists are soooo high.

[ngstylez]

They're only as high as the butterfly hehe. Remember to dip!

1) Squat

2) Keep back as straight as possible and engaged

3) Explode! :)

[mryoda]

very nice butterfly twist!! perfectly horizontal!

[ngstylez]

Thanks! It still needs a lot of work! My legs are still bent. I need to mentally remember to point them out while for a split second while I'm in the air. :)

[pixelranger72]

I love the background music. May I know what's the name of the music.

[ngstylez]

Glad you enjoyed it! The song is "Storms In Africa" by ENYA.

[Niroshine]

Definitely going to practice the butterfly twist with the super low dip this week

[ngstylez]

Yeah, experiment with it, see what works!