Axe2aerial tutorial

Entry data:

Class: Aerial
Alternate names: Nah...
Description: An aerial executed from a front lifting axe kick.

Variations:

Prerequisites: A straight line aerial or an aerial from a swift, forward takeoff.
Equivalent variations: Apart from the axe2webster, you can change the axekick into a different kick such as the following: Side kick, front kick, round kick, or crescent (outside or inside). Also, you can perform various grabs mid technique.
Advanced variations: More difficult swings, like a tornado kick swing through, a cheated 900 kick swing through, or a 360 crescent swing through as examples. Standard advanced variations include: Axe2brandy/aerialtwist/suicideswipe/etc which can all also have their initial kick manipulated.

Assisted learning:

Move preview: A single short clip or multiple short clips for observing the skill.
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The Axe 2 aerial exampler: A video overview of the move with a narrated walk-through.
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Okay, first off, it's always going to be easier with an initial step up. So keep good posture and keep your vision focused forward.
Step forward and leave some slack for the leg to pick back up.
Okay, all of a sudden we're here! Now the initial lift of the leg is important. As you get better at the move you'll want to kick higher and maybe a bit faster / but while learning this move make sure you lift the leg up gently and controlled. The reasoning behind this is simple - If you throw all your force up and uncontrolled then you won't have as much force when the kick comes back down. We want to have more force coming down than going up.
Arms, you can keep them up or to the sides. Just do what's comfortable for you. You might want to try only lifting the leg up a little bit and doing sort of a hop aerial type thingy / and slowly turn it into something more destructive, hehe...
Okay, pull the leg STRAIGHT BACK BEHIND YOU! You should have naturally turned the torso over like in an aerial, so it's not something that should necessarily be on your mind (It's automatic). Bring the leg directly behind you (Not angled) and try to keep your body upright as long as possible. Obviously it doesn't seem like that's a concern when viewing these images, but it's useful when directing your energy forward. Which is what we'll cover in the next slide.
FORWARD! FORWARD! FORWARD! (Good enough?)
I guess it wasn't enough explanation after all. You want to reach forward on this move. This is accomplished in two ways. One, keep your body upright as long as possible while bringing back the kick. If you consciously dip down you'll just dig a hole into the ground with your skull. Two, bringing the leg directly behind you, pushing off forward with the base foot, and reaching out forward with your arms. This move, like any other trick, is a small combination of little 'things' that equal an entirely awesome (Well, I think this move is awesome at least) technique.
Now, usually everything is processed in our little brains before this so this is just the aftermath of our preparation. Basically if you're having trouble shifting your hips over correctly you probably didn't learn the aerial well enough. You can aerial you say? Good, then you should learn it moving forward instead of standing.
Lalala... Oh yeah, muscle with your shoulders and arms a bit to get them pulling you through to the end. This isn't something you think about, it's just done naturally by the body (At least if you do everything before it correctly.)
DIG the heel into the ground.
This move can even be done on concrete littered with shattered glass.
The end.
As usual, go to hell.

Keep in mind:

This move is a combination of several small things.
Keep your body upright as long as possible and your vision focused forward.
Put more effort when the leg is coming back down rather than when it is going up.
Let the swinging motion of the leg push you forward (This is accomplished well when your posture is upright as the leg is kicking behind you).
Reach forward. FORWARD!
Push off with base foot to help you go forward.

Specific Problem Advice:

If you keep drilling into the ground, try reaching forward and keeping your body high. Seriously, this is the number one problem.
Feel awkward and can't seem to turn your torso towards the front? Better perfect your forward moving aerial. Side aerial just won't cut it.
Keep slamming your hands down? Just don't put them down at all you idiot. You'll crash the first time but if you keep repetitively slamming them down you'll set it as a pretty firm habit.

My experiences:

Actually, I had a good deal of trouble learning this fucker. It's totally easy now but I wasted a lot of time on it in the beginning before I got some solid advice. Logan helped me a lot on this move. He told me all about the reaching forward stuff and keeping your back straight etc. I love the guy, thanks a lot Logan! Anyway, after I started utilizing his advice I finally landed it. It took me awhile to get the move consistent but I did. My final advice is this: Don't get frustrated with it and don't waste your time. It's better to set good habits early with more concentrated attempts than to set bad habits with work of lesser quality. Don't get in the habit of putting your hands down and keep the things in mind I mentioned earlier.