Floor: Intermediate
Past the starter pack: handsprings, capoeira lines, gainers and your first twirling kicks. Ten intermediate tricks that round out a solid trickster.
A front handspring passes through a handstand and keeps going: hands down, heels driven over the head, feet landing together. The handstand comes first as a genuine prerequisite — the shoulders carry the whole bodyweight for a moment — and a bridge helps too, since shoulder and hip flexibility is what lets the body open through the middle rather than fold. The power comes from the hurdle and the block: the step in stays long and low instead of reaching upward, and the shoulders push hard off the floor to throw the body over. Arms stay locked and squeezed beside the head, and the core stays tight, since arching through the middle bleeds off the drive. The landing brings the feet together with the arms lifted.
Side Flip performed on the ground. Sideways somersault, rotating laterally over one shoulder.
A front flip on floor rotates forwards from a run-up and lands on the feet. The one idea coaches return to most is blocking: on the last step the feet plant out slightly ahead on an angle, which converts the run's horizontal speed into upward height and starts the rotation — running flat-out and diving forward is the classic way to get a low, long, ugly flip. The run ends in a skip-step onto two feet with the arms driving up as the legs push, and the feet stay a touch in front so the momentum goes up rather than out. Looking forward through takeoff adds height; then the arms pull down and the chin and knees come to the chest to tuck. The trade-off to feel for is height versus rotation — throwing the body straight down gives fast rotation but no height, jumping straight up gives height but no spin. The landing is nearly blind, so the body opens a little to find the floor and lands on the balls of the feet, legs bent.
Webster performed on the ground. One-footed front flip taken off a single-leg forward hurdle.
💡 The front-flip that opens tricking's door.
A capoeira cartwheel where the legs windmill around the body instead of passing overhead: the movement stalls with all the weight on the second hand while the non-landing leg sweeps hard and low across the ground, following through toward the sky so the body lands on the opposite foot facing where it started. The most useful mental model is a 540 kick thrown upside down at the floor. The entry breaks every cartwheel habit — slow rather than punchy, reaching behind the front foot instead of travelling, hips angled around 45 degrees rather than stacked vertical. The straddle never closes: the sweeping foot should visibly pass in front of the eyes, brushing the ground, and landing on the other foot is simply the byproduct of a good sweep — chasing the landing is what produces the failed leg-switch version. The exit is a raiz-style landing with hips pushed forward and back arched, the landing foot close to the base hand. Everyone teaches it on a raised surface first, working gradually down to the floor.
The ultimate raiz guide from beginner to pro, taught in the gym.
Cheat Gainer performed on the ground. Backward gainer flip taken off one foot while traveling forward.
A gainer (backward, travelling) flash kick — a back somersault with a whipping leg kick. Performed on hard floor — the standard tricking surface, which grades this at its full difficulty.
Aerial twist on flat ground, learned by turning a simple 360 into the twist.
Cheat 720 hook kick on flat ground, learned fast by turning a 360 into the kick.