Freestyle Tricktip 51: The Railwhip

[@wolfdragon4176]

I’ve never seen a rail whip back I need to learn that after this

[@FreestyleTricktips]

I think the whipback is considerably easier than the railwhip itself, but it's also much easier to do badly. You really have to make sure you get the full 180º on both halves of the trick to make it worthwhile.

[@wolfdragon4176]

@@FreestyleTricktips yeah honestly I tried rail whip when I was out and couldn’t get it but I got the whip backs that day. I just cant stay on my toes long enough for it to go around fully yet when it’s not raining I will 100% try it again

[@farrowskateboards2465]

Thank you Tony! Been wanting this trick!

[@lineseeking]

I learned it in one day of trying! Then the next day comboed it with a toeside railflip to varial railflip back into varial railflip!

[@Rumi_Rune]

Tony, I Learned Nose Hook Impossibles today :D And there’s more! Because your tricktips I mastered my Rail to Casper, Landed my First Half Cab Impossible, and my Casper big spins!

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Good job! It sounds like your freestyle is really coming along well. Keep at it!

[@mauiseaphotography2668]

These are really fun on top on ledges with a drop or on small bumps or on top of painted speed bumps.

[@DavidCRoutledge]

Bloody hell you are an excellent teacher. These videos are pure gold. Thank you Tony. I've been riding a single kick for a few years and it's nice to see you using one when you do. The Kill Your Idols deck looks like my next single kick; after this Toronto winter destroys my MODE (which I presume it will).

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Cheers, mate. I'm glad you like the vids. Before my pro model came out, I actually had a three month period where I was skating a custom-made single kick more than anything else. They're really fun to play around with, but there hadn't been anything else I really liked until the Kill Your Idols. The Mode decks were definitely the best on the market until that point, but I just can't get on with that rocker. It feels really weird under my feet! How have you been finding it?

[@jaciobe]

Going to try these. I kinda tried them but they'd get stuck half way.

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Is it getting stuck on your foot, or is it just stopping dead as it spins across the floor?

[@jaciobe]

@@FreestyleTricktips I'm not sure. I'll give it another go and film it.

[@Mr007666]

Took me a long time to manage this.

[@Mr007666]

@@jaciobe it depends on the surface. Shape of board. Right setup between board/wheels. More space from wheel to board. Maybe even a cutout in the deck. I did it on a bad surface (only one i had in the rain gave the rail the tiniest amount of wax. And it went 350° still not sure if I have the optimal setup for railwhips. Seems very easy for some guys, they kick it with a light foot.

[@JohnAvillaHerpetocultural]

Wing Chun and Judo? Interesting combo. I found Wing Chun quite useless until I learned some Muay Thai and submission wrestling. Having a good practical base really opened up the more traditional techniques. I found myself using techniques from Wing Chun, Shotokan and Bagua in my sparring and rolling. I was even able to use some sticking hands when a crazy neighbor attacked me. Have you tried any pressure testing with a mix of Wing Chun and Judo techniques? If so, how did you find it?

[@FreestyleTricktips]

To be fair, the defence side of Wing Chun seemed the most interesting to me; the sticky hands stuff and some of the blocks are surprisingly useful, so that sort of situation - where you need to control a person without necessarily harming them - is where Wing Chun shines, in my view. Couple that with judo and yeah, it works. Wing Chun stops their attack, judo puts them on the floor and holds them there and/or forces them to stop. I don't think I've mentioned this anywhere online, but I used to train with my old housemate. We were drilling one sequence - some basic block, trap, push/deflect sequence - over and over again and I found myself thinking absent-mindedly about how the push-back was the perfect setup for an ouchi gari (a basic inner foot sweep that, frankly, I was never very good at). Without realising, I did exactly that, took his foot out from under him, and put him on his arse with a thud. I'm not sure who was more shocked - me or the teacher who didn't expect anyone to be going flying with such a basic drill. The link between the two techniques was so perfect I just didn't even register what I was doing. That said, it's now been over ten years since I did Wing Chun seriously. After I moved across the country, I couldn't find a school that seemed "legitimate" enough; my old teacher was very committed to talking about practical applications for each thing he taught, but most Wing Chun schools/clubs don't even have the blocks high enough to protect anything. It's very weird.

[@JohnAvillaHerpetocultural]

@@FreestyleTricktips it’s beautiful when things like that throw happen. Yeah, finding legitimate traditional schools is hard. Most of the TMA instructors here in the states have no idea what the more esoteric movements are. There is a lot of wrestling in Shotokan Karate kata but I had to learn submission wrestling to realize that. I don’t train anymore either. My spine is too damaged for that stuff now. I started skating again as the gentler option, lol.

[@FreestyleTricktips]

@@JohnAvillaHerpetocultural I had similar issues with judo when I moved; my former school was a traditional school with a lot of jujitsu crossover. All the schools down in my neck of the woods nowadays are BJA - British Judo Association, which explicitly deals with "olympic style" judo, which I'm not as interested in for various reasons. I tried joining a jujitsu club instead as a result, and... well, it didn't end well, so it's been a long time since I was last on the mat. Skating ate up all of my time, anyway. I spotted that a new BJJ club has opened in the next town over last year; maybe I'll give that a go instead.

[@JohnAvillaHerpetocultural]

@@FreestyleTricktips Is BJJ a thing in your neck of the woods? The Gracie family adapted it directly from Judo. It’s definitely not the same but the focus is still on practical combat skills. The caveat there being that unfortunately the focus on tournaments has resulted in a lot of gyms developing styles that are based on points and competition so there is some mud to wade through there too. They do a lot of things that work great on the mat but will definitely get you hurt in a fight where striking or multiple attackers are involved. It’s still not as bad as the situation with TMA though. I get it in my head sometimes to train but not do any live wrestling or heavy clinch work to maintain some of the neural pathways. I think if I did I would have to cross train at multiple gyms. That’s what I used to do. I would go train for a bit at an MMA gym then do a few months of Bagua or something before going back. Time becomes a factor there for me too. It would be really nice if there were about 30 hours in a day and cocaine didn’t have such nasty side effects 😝

[@FreestyleTricktips]

​@@JohnAvillaHerpetoculturalYeah, BJJ is knocking around, and I'm more than aware of its history and... issues, let's say. But I used to really enjoy groundwork sparring in Judo - it's just like playing physical chess - so transferring that to a BJJ club doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world. I've also considered kendo just for the discipline and mental side of things; I also, by chance, happen to own a proper bokken, so it seems like an obvious thing to do. Problem is the school for that only holds sessions first thing on a Sunday morning, and I definitely do *not* have that level of discipline!

[@cat_4664]

Hey Tony! I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on how to drop into casper? (Like throwing the board in a varial motion down and catching it into casper. I'm not sure what the name is.) Thanks!

[@FreestyleTricktips]

I think you're referring to a drop-hop variation. I'm not sure exactly which sort of version you're looking at, though - do you have any video links?

[@joshuapowers4623]

Can you spin yourself on the wheel while the board stays still?

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Yeah, you can. That's called a toespin (or, more precisely, a rail toespin). I've been meaning to do a tricktip for those for ages now... but between the weather, work and the pandemic, I've not had chance. It's definitely on the list, though.

[@Mr007666]

Hi. Are your wheels "wider" than your board?

[@FreestyleTricktips]

No, not quite. You want your wheels to be just slightly under flush with the board. If they stick out past the board, it makes the trick far too unstable, and it's likely to fall backwards out of rail and land upside-down.

[@Mr007666]

@@FreestyleTricktips Now I got it. Moved from concrete to asphalt it worked ! Great trick! I like the way you explain tricks, reminds me of when TV wasn't superficial as today.

[@joellauson8145]

Bending the knees goes a long way when you're learning this fo sho

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Yeah. That weight/unweight pump from bending the knees does wonders for a lot of tricks.

[@Dreadwinner]

😱

[@gonzo13ist]

I’d rather watch you skate your other skateboard! Looks better!

[@FreestyleTricktips]

Hah. That's funny, because one of my oldest friends said the exact opposite. Why don't you like me skating on this one?

[@gonzo13ist]

Freestyle Tricktips I honestly your pro model just looks better. That simple!

[@FreestyleTricktips]

@@gonzo13ist Well, I guess that's a compliment, in a way? Hah. Thanks. I'm glad you like the way the Gale board looks. Don't worry - it's not going anywhere!