Step-By-Step Shaolin Kung Fu Jumps And Rolls – Ch.3

Firstly, we roll forward like in the physical education class at school, where the teacher covers a program focused on gymnastic skills. To go with the flow, the next roll is the kind you do in martial arts – side roll.

The person, who learns back roll to push-up position, cannot be a weakling. But… what became clear to me over time, and this refers not only to back roll but any possible skill you want to learn, is that the key to performing a movement is a technique, which also means the ability to use muscle power in the right moment. I tried to figure out the technique of back roll to push-up position. Many students were giving me good advice, not to mention my Master’s teachings. Still, I wasn’t able even to lift my head from the mats.

In May, after traveling with my mum, I met a new student from France, Daniel’s friend – Matt. With his encouragement, I spend a few classes practicing back roll to push-up position. We tried to break down piece by piece, where I should use the power to make it. That was a stone mile in learning a back roll to push-up position. What I got to know was that it was not only about push-up from my arms but, more importantly, push-up using my legs. The key was the momentum of kicking up. At the end of the movement, Matt caught my feet and pulled up.

– Good. Like this – he said – PUSH UP!!! To handstand. Your body – straight. Your legs want to kick somebody above you.

It took me more than half a year to actually visibly improve my back roll to push-up position. Still, I am on my way to doing it correctly.

I could do a headstand – no problem. But every time I was doing it in yoga class, the teacher warned me against falling backward. Now, I was not supposed to fall back but worst – throw my legs there!!!

SUPER SCARY!!!

• What about my neck, my spine, and my whole body? Will it follow?

Not exactly. At least not at the beginning. What was awaiting me instead was landing on my butt and spine, and pulling my neck strangely. It took me less time to learn head flip than kick up (the next Kung Fu jump). However, it was training kick up, which helped me improve the head flip.

The other sequence of jumps, performed during the Shaolin Kung Fu Jumps & Rolls class, is front flip with landing on the shoulders and arms spread to the sides followed by a kick up and head flip. It was one of the exercises, which I didn’t appreciate, feeling that I was just dangerously throwing my body. Fortunately, it was not included in a regular class schedule. Also, with time it became easier, and it didn’t hurt as much anymore. It doesn’t mean, though, that I started to like it.

Many from Shaolin Kung Fu Jumps & Rolls movements are similar to those performed in gymnastics. Both competitive Wushu martial arts and athletic gymnastics integrate complex techniques and beautiful movements. However, the real Shaolin Kung fu emphasizes more practical application of the movement than artistic aesthetics.

The Shaolin Kung Fu jump has to be done with purpose, like kick or push. It has to be powerful to defeat the opponent. For this reason, the most common sentences used by Masters during the classes are: “More Power!!! Faster!!!”. The detailed approach, where the precise position of the hand or feet is corrected, happens after the student achieves a more practical level of the exercise.

So, when I am talking about Forward Handspring or the movements described above, like head flip or kick up, or the movement described in the following subchapter, like aerial, tornado kick or butterfly kick, the way the new students learn them, looks approximately like this:

First: observation.

Second: we follow, meaning we just try to copy what we saw, praying that we won’t break anything or – for less courageous – we make a scared face. The Master comes to us. Shows the movement as slow as possible, and we follow, praying that we survive without any injury.

Third: we never do the movement again because it hurts or – for more courageous – we keep training, and eventually, somehow, we learn it.

I was among the second one. Not so much because I am courageous. More because I am stubborn. I always wanted to learn gymnastics, but I never had an opportunity. In modern dance, my favorite exercises were those on the floor and in yoga, the upside-down asanas. I am addicted to the feeling of being in the air. Even if I still cannot do any of these jumps properly, I enjoy them a lot.

I want to know how many of these difficult movements I can learn, starting to learn at my age – 28 years old. This is what this journey is about. I have trained Forward Handspring for a year now, and I still land on my butt, or if not, I land on deeply bend legs. I know there is a lot of training in front of me. But I stay positive, and I can see slight improvements. Importantly, not only in the performance of the movement but also in my attitude towards it. It’s not so scary anymore, and it even seems not so difficult as at the beginning.

After performing forward handspring, the next Shaolin Kung Fu jumps are cartwheel and round off. The second one is also a cartwheel, but with two legs meeting each other in the air and bouncing off the ground together, preparing for the following tumbling sequences, like back handspring or flips.