What's up, guys?
I've been thinking about getting into calisthenics freestyle for a while, but I never took action.
It has been very difficult for me to make videos lately because of my finger injury.
I therefore can neither climb nor make quality climbing videos.
My progress of learning strength based calisthenics moves, such as the front lever, one-arm pull-up,
back lever, and the press handstand, has been slow, and I don't want to rush to upload
incomplete videos without finishing learning the moves.
Therefore, there is no better timing than now to start learning calisthenics freestyle.
The first move I picked to learn is the muscle-up to the front roll.
I thought it looked easy, so I could learn it fast and build up confidence.
I also thought it looked very cool when I saw other people do it.
I decided to go to the park to try it out right away.
Okay, man.
Might be harder than I imagined.
My first day was a mega failure.
The front roll was way harder than I had imagined and I came in with an unrealistic expectation
of learning it in a day.
I came back home and started searching for tutorial videos.
I discovered Daniel's channel with a bunch of really well-made calisthenics freestyle
tutorial videos.
There's a video dedicated to explaining the front roll and I watched it at least
10 times.
I thought I knew all what I needed to know and headed back to the park the next day.
For some reason, I still couldn't do it.
I decided to analyze Daniel's front roll frame by frame and compare it with my attempt
frame by frame.
The first thing I discovered is that when Daniel initiates the front roll, his elbows
are slightly bent.
My elbows are straight because that is the least tiring position for my arms, so my body
just naturally does it.
However, the problem is now the bar is positioned at my legs instead of my hips, so when I roll
up, it feels like my legs are stuck.
The second thing I discovered is that in the starting position, Daniel's legs are out
in front of the bar straight and engaged, whereas my legs are unengaged, dangling loosely,
and my core is also unengaged because that is the least tiring position.
Feeling that I knew what to fix, I headed back to the park again to try it out.
For some reason, I still couldn't do it.
I tried it a few more days, still nothing but failure.
I decided to try my luck and reach out to the expert, Daniel, himself.
He not only responded but also was very enthusiastic about helping me out.
What even more amazing is Daniel agreed to coach me live.
So I'm gonna give it a try; try my best.
-[Daniel] So when you are diving forward, you need to bring your legs up. You know, kick the heels
to your butt. -[Geek Climber] I will give that a try
-[Daniel] Did you see the speed get up?
You kicked with your legs but you didn't really kick with your upper body.
Now you need to get your upper body down to get the momentum.
-[Geek Climber] Okay, so I gotta like, like go fast.
Closer, but~.
-[Daniel] It is easier now if you use your elbows or your forearms.
Do a slow one so you understand when to put your forearms, and then you add the speed
and power.
-[Geek Climber] Okay. So close.
-[Daniel] Now you put your forearms wide. You are too wide.
Get them a bit closer because then you will be stronger in this one.
When you are here, you are more stable and have more power.
-[Geek Climber] Okay. Make sense. Make sense.
Hoho, okay? Okay, oh!
Yo!
I just gotta be able to do it with the hands.
-[Daniel] I want you to do one more time with the elbows.
-[Geek Climber] Okay, okay.
Hoho, okay? -[Daniel] Yo!
-[Geek Climber] Yes, haha.
Okay, so I really got it.
-[Daniel] When I teach, I have a rule that you do three times.
When you have it three times in a row, your body starts to really understand.
So we are going to do this one more time. -[Geek Climber] Okay.
Okay, okay, haha.
Okay.
-[Daniel] Now that you need to do the same thing but with the hands.
Remember to twist when you are underneath the bar, twist the hands up.
And remember use your legs to get that momentum.
-[Geek Climber] Besides the grip, the technique for doing the front roll with the forearms is the same
as doing it with the hands but with more intensity, but it's actually really difficult to get
my body to execute the technique right with more intensity.
Daniel reminded me what went wrong after each try.
-[Daniel] Remember, use the legs all the way.
You need to dive down a bit more so you get closer to the bar.
Remember the legs are the power, the key.
-[Geek Climber] This tremendously speeds up the progress.
After a few tries, this happened.
Oh!
Okay. Oh my god. Oh my god.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
That counts!
Like your words. that wasn't glamorous.
Haha.
-[Daniel] You did it!
That's what matters.
You did it!
-[Geek Climber] I gotta do it three times, just to make sure that I get it.
Okay, okay.
Oh, okay, ha!
After successfully learning the front roll on the low bar, it's time to do it on a
high bar with the muscle-up.
Ah, I think I kind of got scared a little bit. Somehow my body just kind of lowered the
intensity.
-[Daniel] The height makes a big difference just so you know.
You need to think of something else.
Look at the bar. What is the worse that can really happen?
You are holding the bar all the time.
There is nothing to be scared of.
Remember to use your legs.
-[Geek Climber] After trying it a few more times, I started to getting more and more used to the height,
and eventually this happened.
Okay, okay, okay, ah.
Yes!
But that didn't look good, though.
I was like struggling a little bit, haha.
Yes!
Yeah!
Thank you, Daniel.
Yeah!
Let me attempt it one more time. I want it to look better.
Yo!
Yes!
Thanks for watching.
Huge thanks to Daniel for the help and making my first venture into calisthenics
freestyle a great experience.
If you are also interested in learning calisthenics freestyle, you should definitely check out
Daniel's channel and watch his tutorial videos.
As always, make sure to like, subscribe, and check out my website geekclimber.com.
See you in the next video.