Noob with a specific BKick problem

[AlphaOmega]

Hey everyone here! This is my first time at the trickstutorial.com forum, so I would like this post to be both an introduction as well as ask advice for a specific problem.

First, I will bore you with a little about myself. I am 22, 6ft 1in (186 cm), around 72 kg (160 lbs). I got interested in tricking around 1 month back. Before that I had never done anything of the sort (expect a lot of dumb stunts when I was younger, jumping from high stuff). Never used to exercise at all because I have a naturally good fitness level and physique and never felt the need to. But now I am hooked to tricking. I have started working out, mainly shoulders and back, abs and legs. Also started stretching.

I can’t do much right now. I have pretty high kicks, snap kicks, roundhouse, tornado kicks etc. Cartwheels, 1 handed cartwheels, kip-ups etc. too. I can consistently land front handsprings (though I mostly land in a squat).

I have just started working on BKicks. I know most of you are tired of hearing questions about this noobish move, but I have a specific question whose answer I haven’t found in any tutorial or thread (afaik). I want to know exactly when I should jump off my main leg. Should I wait until my back leg, which I lift, is at waist level or higher behind me, or should I only raise it a bit and the really jump? In the first way, my back leg remains straight and goes high, but I don’t get enough air, as the kicking leg’s knee gets straightened by the time the back leg raises to that height.
In the second way, I get a pretty good height on my jump with my waist at my chest level, and my kick leg goes much higher (I am 6ft 1in, so that’s decently high I think), but the back leg bends back a LOT at jumping time, and then opens up a bit (not much) later.

So what should I do? BTW, all bkicks I do are from a standstill.

I am also putting up a video of my bkick soon for you guys to see. It’s a little dark, but I have brightened it up a little and have also added a slow motion replay. Please take a look at it and let me know what I am doing wrong and what I should stick with. Any advice would be highly appreciated. This video was taken 3-4 days ago, and I have been practicing since then. I haven’t go a more recent video, cause I only get to train in the dark. Maybe I have improved, or maybe become worse :tongue: .

Video: YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudgxTBmAEY
Video: MetaCafe http://www.metacafe.com/watch/387002/first_filmed_bkick/

I would also like to know if I you guys think that I am ready to attempt a btwist. Most btwist videos I have seen have the back leg bent anyway (I personally think those look better than the straight legged ones, as the rotation seems to be highlighted when one leg is bent and the other is straight). So, given by what I am doing and height of the bkick, should I start with btwists? Or is there something else I should do to work up to them?

EDIT: YouTube is giving me problems with playing back the video, making it unavailable occasionally, so I have an alternate download link: http://rapidshare.com/files/11889030/hmm_compressed.avi.html

Screw YouTube, it isn't allowing my video most of the time. So please download from RapidShare.com (above) or check out the MetaCafe link: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/387002/first_filmed_bkick/

[RayFinkle]

vid not available

[AlphaOmega]

Strange I uploaded the video just a few mins ago, AND previewed it! Now, I am getting this message "The video you have requested is not available. If you have recently uploaded this video, you may need to wait a few minutes for the video to process.".

So, please wait for a few minutes, and try again. I would really like your input...

EDIT: It seems to be back up...

[alpha7158]

I am a better alpha than you

[AlphaOmega]

I am a better alpha than you

Are you ANDY WARD?!?!? It's that guy in your avatar? If so, HOLY SHIT! Cause I watched your videos a lot when I started getting interested in tricking, trying to see the technique :tongue:

[Inkrepid]

ahahaha this is just to funny...you watched andys OLD samplers and got interested in tricking?

[AlphaOmega]

ahahaha this is just to funny...you watched andys OLD samplers and got interested in tricking?

Not exactly, the video that go me interested was Team Ryouko's Friday Night Madness 3, but Andy's video was among the first I downloaded when I was trying to figure out the techniques for the moves. After looking at him (and others), I aspired to be as good. Kind of took me by surprise to find him here :smile:

[AlphaOmega]

75 views and not one real reply? C'mon people give me some tips here. I am practising this kick everyday, and don't want to end up drilling the wrong technique...

[Dale(kyukodo)]

When i do a b-kick (you really need the set up for this) i lift my first and my head and my body all together. so when i take off i get quite a bit of lift. try it with the steps at the beinging cause u get way more momentum and see if you can get more height. You will need more height before you try a b-twist.

[DarkXacreD]

I think you're off to a good start. Just learn the setup and keep your legs straight.

And about when to jump, just experiment and find out what works best.

[alpha7158]

Are you ANDY WARD?!?!? It's that guy in your avatar? If so, HOLY SHIT! Cause I watched your videos a lot when I started getting interested in tricking, trying to see the technique :tongue:

haha yeah, cheers for the complament.

[DarkXacreD]

You're officially a legend, Andy.

[AlphaOmega]

There are only 2 things wrong with your bkick:

1: There's no distance, because you don't do a set up your legs are quite close together making it look less shwishy

2: No experiance, don't worry if your moves don't look like they can kill people straight off, i was tricking for quite a while before i could bkick well (ashamed)


Btwist is nothing like bkick :good:

Only 2 things wrong! Woohoo!:smile: Now to try to be able to get this kind of (or better) bkick every time.

Should I try to get distance even when I am attempting a bkick from a standstill? Will it help if I keep my legs apart more during dipping even when doing it from a stand still?

I thought btwist was a bkick with a twist added at the top of the jump. That I should torque with my arms and turn my head in the direction of the twist at this position:
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/4732/0001hw6.jpg
If I am wrong then how does it differ? Isn't the start of the bkick and btwist the same?

When i do a b-kick (you really need the set up for this) i lift my first and my head and my body all together. so when i take off i get quite a bit of lift. try it with the steps at the beinging cause u get way more momentum and see if you can get more height. You will need more height before you try a b-twist.

When ever I attempt a new trick, I usually try it from a standstill. It gives me a little more time to think about the move while doing it, and also forces correct technique, since I can't simply use power to get the move. I will try your lifting the body and head together to see if it helps.
Do I really need more height to get a btwist? I know more height is always desirable, but I think I have seen others pull of very clean and horizontal btwists lower than my peak (below).
http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/9681/0007ip7.jpg

[AlphaOmega]

Jesus, stop thinking and go drill it till it's good :ogre:

Ok, just didn't want to drill the wrong technique:smile: .

But you didn't answer my questions of moving on to btwists, about your statement that bkicks and btwists are totally different, and if you think that I should try attempting them, given how my bkick is.