Free-Running and Sticking

Roundoff Backflip

because simple is nice too

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Arabian on the Beam

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This has been requested a couple times, and I had an anim made for it, but it’s not really like all that good of a tutorial because my backflips are shitty but:

Flashrunners, in association with Fyeahparkour presents:

The Backflip Tutorial.

In this tutorial, the type of backflip we will be teaching, (there are many) is the Standing Back Tuck. It is a variety of backflip that involves the dude doing it to jump up in the air, and rotate quickly around by tucking the knees in.

The steps are as follows:

swing the arms behind you, to generate force for your jump.
while swinging the arms use the momentum generated to direct yourself upward in a leap of epic proportions. Do not jump back, jump STRAIGHT FUCKING UP. this is CRUCIAL. Jumping back WILL result in a HILARIOUS FACEPLANT, that will be EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL.
once you’ve jumped up, make sure your arms reach directly for the sky. Now, wait until you reach the height of your jump, and gravity starts to slow your rise.
at this point, literally try to knee yourself in the chest. Grab your thighs or knees once they get as tucked as possible.
hold this pose until you see the ground. once you do, let go, and bring your feet to meet the ground.

Notes:

if you properly jumped up, you should land in pretty much the same spot that you jumped from. the animation actually lands a bit forward, which is totally okay, but it’s best to land in the very same spot.
if you’re scared to flip backwards, before trying the flip for the first time, my best suggestion is to use a firm pillow you no longer want, and just practice flipping straight over backwards on it. land on your hands and knees. each time you flip, try to force yourself to be a little straighter, and a little higher. once you get super high, try them without the pillow.
if you’re scared to flip backwards DURING the backflip, maybe you should have consulted the previous step. however do not fret, just tuck like crazy. the first time sucks, but having the willpower to commit to a movement even when unsure is going to help in the long run.
a backflip is 20% skill, 40% technique, and 40% trial and error. don’t be afraid to fall. you won’t land on your head if you do it even kind of right.

and now, if you’re still not convinced to go outside (IN THE GRASS DUMBASS) and try one, allow me to share an anecdote. I taught my 275 POUND buddy to whip backflips, and all it took was a treebranch, and a large grassy field. I stood far in front of him, so he could spot, and the tree branch was to teach him to jump up and reach. he had to touch the branch before he could tuck. he got it in less than 20 minutes.

you would not believe the pussy he pulls with his flips. he has no problem just doing them anywhere now, even concrete, asphault, etc. he’s the size of a fucking small country, but as nimble as a cat now. bitches like cats. backflips get bitches. simple logic.

What is spotting?

Spotting is useful, however not really required. it involves looking at something until you are ready to tuck, thus making you whip harder when you bring your head around from a leaned forwards position. it also helps not counter-rotate.

I’d like to give a special thanks to fyeahparkour for being my inspiration on this tutorial mainly. he’s totally a badass dude, runs a badass blog, and can outtrick me and you all day long. I know it’s not really the script we agreed on, but I wanted to structure this like the other tutorial. thanks man!