Jackknife
Jackknife
The Jackknife can be three things:
540 + Hook Kick
Cheat 720 + Round Kick
Airborne Narabong
How you learn this trick depends on how you want to look at it or with which prerequisite move you feel more comfortable. All three ways are a viable strategy to learn the Jackknife, but if you’re comfortable with all three prerequisites it will become even easier.
Learning it from the 540 Kick
01 540
If you are comfortable with your 540 kicks, then you can start to learn this trick starting from it. Make sure you have one with low impact on landing (more height and less travel) and preferably with a round kick instead of a crescent. That means your hip should face the side instead of forwards, when you kick through the target. It can also work with crescent kicks (Rasmus Ott does them this way often) but it’s a lot harder to get the second kick out. Make sure you also spot your target, if you want a clean Jackknife. You will want to kick the same target twice and not just somewhere.
02 Land steady
Landing it in a controlled manner. You should be able to land on one foot without tipping over or having to place the other foot down for balance. You need your kick to come around and land underneath you. This step is harder if you travel too much. Spot your target and swing your arms up instead of to the side. Also shrug your shoulders upwards with your arms to gain as much height as possible.
03 540 into chamber
Now land your 540 in a chambered position. That means, stable on foot and with the other knee up, while you spot forward. If you are this far, all you need now is to add the kick.
04 land then hook
This step is not quite a jackknife but very close. Land your 540 in the chambered position and then fire the hook kick. Try to kick as early as possible. As soon as you leave the ground, think about kicking over fast to land into the chambered position. Kick out when you make contact to the ground and spot your target.
05 Jackknife
To finally turn this into a proper jackknife, you need to fire the hook kick as you come down and not after you land. You can achieve this by gaining just a bit more height or more easily by kicking the round kick faster, so you have more time for the hook kick. Try not to focus too much on the first kick. Just rip it through fast. As you get better you can then start to clean up the first kick.
Learning it from Cheat 720 / Narabong
01 Tsunami
You will need to know how to do a stepover hook kick, so you can apply that to your Cheat 720. It will teach you how to move your hip in a Jackknife.
02 Cheat 720
Not that important, but if you’re just starting to learn how to do a Cheat 720, start here. It’s basically just spinning around once, with your knee up, and then a hook or crescent kick.
03 Cheat 720 DP
DP = Double Pump. Both knees are being raised instead of just one. You will now apply the Tsunami into the Cheat 720. Imagine doing a big Tornado Kick but instead of kicking, cancel into a Tsunami in mid air. Drill this move a lot. It’s basically the Jackknife without the Round Kick.
04 Narabong
The Narabong is basically a Round Kick that rapids straight into a Hook Kick. It’s a tsunami where you replace the stepover with a Round Kick. That means if you apply the Narabong into the Cheat 720 it becomes a Jackknife. In Tricking you can train each move by practicing it’s prerequisites. That means if you drill a lot of cartwheels your Aerials will eventually improve with them too - without the need to do Aerials at all. The same thing works for the Jackknife and Narabong.
04 Adding Extension
If you can’t change your Cheat 720 into a Jackknife right away, then try to gradually change the angle in which your pumping leg bends until you can pump it over completely straight.
06 Jackknife
You will need to turn your hip faster as you extend your round kick. So do not focus too much on the first kick, instead just turn over fast. You can clean the round kick later as you progress. Focus on pulling the leg straight through your target, so you have more time for the hook kick.
Tips
If your Hook kick coming out is too low, you may have been too slow or you spent too much time for the round kick. Try to come around faster. You should finish the 540 earlier in the air than if you would do it by itself. The Kick should come through as you’re at the peak of your jump and not as you descend.
If your Round Kick is weak you may need to spot the kick more. Look forward at your target as you takeoff and focus really hard on actually pulling your kick through your target. As soon as your kick hits, that’s when you turn over for the hook kick - instantly. If you are going for two chambered Kicks with a proper rechamber after each Kick, the kind of Jackknife that looks like the tricker pauses in mid air for the first kick and then fires the second, you will need to snap the round kick at your target instead of pulling it through in a smooth motion. As soon as you the round kick hits, you rechamber, spin around like you would for a Cheat 720 and then hook kick.