The jump front kick aerial is the quintessential “old school” wushu combination. It is often times followed up by a jumping inside kick (tornado kick) into splits. Many western wushu athletes incorporate this combination into their routines for its relative ease compared to other combinations. I would recommend students to get the jump front kick into jumping inside kick before they work on this combination. Having said that, this combination is pretty impressive to the lay spectator as any move going into an aerial will look difficult.

Prerequisites:

• Jump front kick, landing on the right leg
• Aerial cartwheel

One thing I have to say about the aerial cartwheel as a prerequisite: It helps if you can do an aerial cartwheel from a standing position although not required. The reason I say this is because you will not be able to take extra steps once you land from the jump front kick and will basically do an aerial cartwheel from a standing position. However, if you gain enough momentum from your run and jump front kick, your forward momentum will compensate for that.

Directions:

1. Run into the jump front kick starting with your right leg.
2. On your 3rd step (should be your right foot), instead of stepping down with your left foot and taking the next step, throw your left knee up at a 45 degree angle and into your chest. This should propel you upwards.
3. Throw your right leg up and straight. The peak of your foot should be at least shoulder height.
4. Slap your right foot with your right hand at the peak.
5. Pull your right leg down as fast as possible as you begin your descent. Keep your back straight (this is very important).
6. As soon as your right foot lands on the ground, take a forward step with your left foot, going into the aerial immediately. The key here is your back should be straight when you land and when you take your step.
7. Follow up with your cool combination.

The reason I emphasize back straight is because if you fall into your jump front kick landing or lean forward, you will drive your momentum downwards and not forwards which is what you will need to execute the aerial properly.

For more information on how to execute this jump and even more high level jumps, I highly recommend Raymond Wu’s book - Fundamentals of High Performance Wushu available at Amazon.com.

Any additional tips and pointers that would help students would be appreciated. If you found this helpful, feel free to leave me comments. Thanks.