High Performance Wushu Training Forums

[clinch]

I've been trying to get my aerial for a few months and I had a friend take a video of my attempt. I'm having a hard time getting my right leg to continue it's motion and make it to the ground. If you watch in the video, my right leg stops and almost lets the left leg catch up to it.

Any other pointers are appreciated.


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[HighPerformanceWushu]

Your right leg is one of the problems as you have already identified. There a few things you can do to make it better. First of all, it appears that there is a lack of tension in the right side of your body when you are in the air. Therefore, you are unable to transfer energy from your upper body to your right leg. Try to keep your right oblique muscles tight from the takeoff until you land. Really focus on using those muscles to help bring the right leg over especially as you get closer to landing.

Next, you can try rotating your hips earlier in the air. You are rotating them somewhat but a bit late. It's easier to swing your leg down in front of you, instead of down from the side. So, try to turn your hips earlier so that you face the way you came from before you land.

I can't tell from the video what your level of flexibility is. If you can't do a wide straddle, the aerial will be harder. The better your flexibility, the easier the move becomes. You'll need to actively try to keep your legs apart in the air until you land. This is achieved by keeping tension throughout your body (especially the legs) from takeoff till landing.

You're using a "swing-approach" which may feel more natural but results in a lower aerial. It relies heavily on leg speed to succeed. If you use a "jump-approach", you'll be able to get more airtime to work with. If you haven't read it yet, take a look at the book on this website. It goes into the aerial in great detail and explains the differences between the two approach methodologies. It'll also show you many other aspects which can help improve your technique. Finally, there are a bunch of exercises in there which can help you develop your technique in a progressive manner.

Keep working at it and post your videos again whenever you need help!
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