How to Breakdance: Backflip

Ever wanted to learn how to breakdance? This guide will walk you through step-by-step on the amazing backflip move! Everything you need to know to get started.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to breakdance? I'm sure you've seen all the flashy and exciting moves on TV and film. Have you ever wanted to perform these moves yourself? Why haven't you tried? Insufficient strength? Scared to get hurt?

Well, the backflip is a basic and exciting breakdance move almost anyone can learn. If you want to learn how to breakdance, this is an easy move to start with as a variety of people will be able to teach it to you - not strictly breakdancers. The backflip also does not require incredible physical strength like other breakdance moves.

First things first: we need to figure out your safety. The backflip is a pretty dangerous move, so you will need to find a spotter before you can continue. The spotter MUST know how to do the actual backflip. In addition, the spotter should be able to flip you over in case you are too scared. He should also know every detail of the move and be able to give you tips and recommendations to improve. In case of an emergency, your spotter will be the one to save you or call for help! So make sure you find someone you can trust. Finding a supportive spotter may be difficult.

The next aspect we need to focus on before we learn how to breakdance is the location! You need to find a place you are comfortable with. Preferably, you won't be self-conscious and looking around nervously hoping no one's watching you mess up. So find a spot you are comfortable with. For backflips, the gymnasium usually works. They should have a trampoline and gymnasts to teach you how to backflip. They also have a lot of "soft" equipment like mats to cushion your falls. This will help tremendously in easing your fears and correcting your form.

Once you've found your spotter and a location, we can start learning how to breakdance! Here are the instructions to perform the backflip:

1. Stand up straight. Keep your feet together. Your ankles literally need to be touching each other. Squeeze your feet together tightly and have your arms straight to your side. Your hands should be at your waist.

2. Position your arms so they are both parallel to the floor. Now swing your arms backward. You have to thrust them back. At the same time, lower your torso so your body is in a "sitting" position (but remain standing!)

3. Once you have hurled your arms backward behind you, swing them out forward again. This should be a circular motion. Swing them down, out in front of you, then directly above you. It should resemble a 270 degrees swing. When you swing your arms upward, they should go straight up! Use your arms and bounce off your feet to try and get as high of a jump as possible. The higher you get into the air, the better your backflip will be.

4. Practice the jump until you can get as high of a jump as possible. Preferably, you should get a couple feet into the air. You should know when you are comfortable enough in the air to perform a real backflip.

5. Now you are ready for the backflip. Repeat steps one to three again. This time, when you get to the apex of your jump, thrust your knees to your chest and throw your arms straight down to grab your knees. This causes your body to begin rotating backward. Make sure you are thrusting your knees to your chest hard and FAST. This gives you the momentum to get your body over as fast as possible. The slower you turn, the more difficult it will be to backflip (or you may end up hurting yourself!) Just remember, breakdance is all about form, so make sure your form is right.

6. Once you feel your body going over backward, start looking for the floor. You should literally see the floor. Do not close your eyes or you will hurt yourself.

7. Once you see the floor, start opening up your legs from the tucked position and begin to prepare your body to land standing. Basically, at this point, you just need to open up your body. Go from tucked to standing while in mid-air.

8. If you've done everything correctly, you should land standing. Not crouched. Not on your knees. Once again, breakdance is all about form. If you want to learn how to breakdance, you need to do this over and over again if you have the incorrect form. Most people get the wrong form when they first start out breakdancing, so do not be worried if it takes you several tries.

That should be it for the backflip. It's really quite simple once you get the hang of it. Make sure you have a perfectly clean backflip before you try more advanced breakdance moves such as the gainer or wallflip, which are both based on the core backflip move.

Dan Svinsky is a coach and dance instructor. He also runs a website on How to Breakdance.