5 more videos to set you up with your ropeflow journey. I would say understanding video 9 (The Cardinal Law) may be the most important thing you can take from this page.
Once you understand how to transition between the different moves effectively, that is when you are able to link things together smoothly and feel the addictive draw of moving your whole body cohesively guided by the flow rope.
My favourite move – building on the Overhand Race and Chase, instead of doing one beat on each side you do two beats/rotations of the rope on each side.
There are a few different ways to do this move. In this video I show you one way to get used to doing 2 beats on each side, then I show you how to separate your hands at certain points in the move to get the matador style and look that gave the move its name.
The timing is key here. Once we separate the arms if we don’t bring the arm across our body the rope will wrap around our arm. Wrapping the rope around our arms is something we might look to add in later on, but for now we want to avoid that and learn the fundamental moves.
It is likely gonna feel quite clunky at the start. That is normal! It’s just a case of repetitions and practise. Once the move starts to become automatic it feels so smooth and lovely.
Where there is an overhand, there is always an underhand. Exactly the same premise as the overhand matador: two beats on each side, looking to work towards that separation with the hands on the second beat.
There is some nuance with this move in how you articulate your wrist (amongst other things), but that isn’t necessary to learn the move. It is just fun and feels good to explore that in depth as you continue in your practise.
A key concept in Ropeflow. If you want to be able to transition between different moves smoothly then this is absolutely essential.
We want to aim to maintain the momentum of the rope. Disrupting it as little as possible. We want to move ourselves around the rope, rather than disrupting the ropes momentum.
I show you a move called the propeller in this video which can be a helpful way to start exploring transitioning between overhand and underhand. Take it slow to start and do multiple propellers as you change the direction of your body in relation to the rope. As you get more comfortable try to do fewer and fewer propellers and see how quickly you can transition between the moves.
Some moves operate in the North to South Plane (Overhand and Underhand movements) like Matadors and Race and Chase. This is where the rope is coming to the side of your body.
Some moves operate in the East to West plane (Dragon roll for example). This is where the rope is coming infront and behind your body.
You can think of the momentum of the rope as moving from left to right in east to west plane movements. You can think of the rope as moving from infront to behind/ behind to infront, for North to South plane movements.
(It can be a bit hard to explain over text to watch the video and most importantly try it for yourself!)
Basic rule of thumb for transitions:
-Transitioning from Underhand to Overhand (or Vice versa) – turn your body 180 degrees (turn to look directly behind you)
-Transitioning from an East to West move (like the dragon roll) to an Overhand/Underhand move (or Vice Versa) – Turn your body 90 degrees.
Good luck! Let me know how you get on.
A bit of advice around how you can practise. The way I learned was little sessions often. 5-15 minutes most days.
I forgot to mention in this video how longer sessions are great as well! But not necessary on a regular basis. One hour long session with a coach can save you tons of time and help you to understand things more quickly and more deeply.
The challenge I speak about in this video is basically doing an overhand pattern, moving to dragon roll, then moving to an underhand pattern, then moving to dragon roll on the other side, then finally moving back into overhand – where you started! So you turned a full 360 degrees.
You can do this slowly to begin, but once you get it try to do it more quickly, with less moves in each patterns before you transition. Also train both sides, if you learn it by turning to your left, then practise it turning to your right.
I demonstrate how when you get very comfortable with transitioning quickly you can achieve dynamic flows and sequences which are very fun.
I have an Instagram and a Youtube account (flowropesuk on both)
Feel free to send me any questions you have about ropeflow! I do offer online and in person coaching sessions as well so send me a message if you are interested in exploring that.
I sell ropes and make custom lengths for people so if you feel like your rope is still too long or you don’t like having to tie all the knots in it, message me and we can figure out your ideal length which I can make for you!
If you haven’t already – I would really appreciate it if you could drop me a follow on Instagram and a subscribe on Youtube! I will continue to post tutorials, freeflows and general ropeflow goodness.
Happy flowing,
Sam x
