Crowd Awakener Knife
Crowd Awakener Knife
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The Crowd Awakener Knife is a Jackknife variation where the Roundkick is replaced with a Splitkick.
It's oldschool name was Crowd Awakener Lvl. 3
01 Crowd Awakener
You don’t need to have crazy flexibility to hit good Crowd Awakener (mine isn't even good). Don’t think of it as a midair split but instead think of it as a Tornado Kick, where you kick out with both legs into the opposite direction.
02 Jackknife
Your skill in your Jackknife will directly translate over to how good your Crowd Awakener Knife is going to be. There are usually two different Jackknives: Those that have a very defined Roundkick, where it almost looks like there is a pause between both kicks and those where the Roundkick is swung over fast with no visual pause. The first one is more useful to learn this variation, because the splitkick will feel like a midair pause.
03 Crowd Awakener Knife
The key to this trick is to not kick too early. If you were to fire the splitkick with your hips square facing your target then you need almost 270 degrees of additional rotation to get into the hook kick position. Try to rotate 90 degrees more before you hit the splitkick, so your hip will be turned to the side and you won’t need as much rotation to finish with a hook kick. As you get better you can then improve and hit the split earlier. At first it should feel like a normal Jackknife where your non kicking leg is extended as you hit the roundkick.
Tips
You spot the target three times on this trick. First when you takeoff, second when you hit the split and third when you fire the hook kick. If you focus on these three spots, you should be able to maintain the right axis.
Being flexible will definitely help to lessen the amount of rotation needed and of course to create a bigger looking aesthetic.