Acrobatics

By Noble
((UNDER CONTINUED CONSTRUCTION))
As a hero, being adept in acrobatics and gymnastics could mean the difference between life and death. Knowing how to hit the ground properly and quickly roll back up, how to spin away from a thrown projectile or even how dive for cover properly are only a few of many different uses being familiar with acrobatics would have for any hero. For some, such as myself, acrobatics can acctually be incorporated into your style of crime-fighting, similar to Tim Drake of DC, the Acrobat of Marvel, and certain aspects of the infamous Spider-man of Marvel. Of course, no one expects you to be able to go out and backflip your self out of harm’s way flawlessly every time, that’s unlikely and impractical. However, in this quick acrobatic tutorial, I’ll do my best to assure that you can learn as much as you feel able to.
*Noble’s note*
Personally, I’m a trained acrobat who has been performing for a few years now, so all of these techniques I have acctually done, over and over. However, you may not have been. Because of this, I thought it best to rate the techniques between one and five, based on their individual difficulty. I suggest you start off with the lower-level techniques if you feel unsure about the mid- and high-level ones.
*Noble’s note*
I also recommend you start training in these techniques in a light gym outfit, then work your way up to gradually wearing your hero outfit. You armored heroes might have a hard time with some of these.
*Noble’s note*
The entire description of the move and the steps are not necessary for you to learn the technique, but will help with your understanding. If you want just the ‘quick-and-dirty’ version of each move, where I say it plain and simple, read the breakdown of each technique.
THE BASICS:
‘proper’ summersault, dive-roll, cartwheel, shoulder-roll.
1. Proper Summersault: Rating: 1/5
Now, most of us have been doing summersaults since we were young, so we all should understand how a summersault works. You put your hands on the ground in front of you, crouch, jump up and roll. Sounds fine and dandy, in a grass patch maybe, but on a cement surface, trying one just like that will probably hurt. A ‘proper’ summersault is done much more gymnastically, so that it can be done on hard surfaces like ashphalt painlessly. Technically speaking, a summersault starts with both feet on the ground. A jump into a summersault is considered a dive-roll, and will be the next thing I explain.
To do a proper, hero-friendly and painless summersault, fallow these steps:
1. Look where you’re saulting. Quickly glance to where you intend to roll and make sure there isn’t anything that will hurt to roll on in the area you’ll be, well, rolling on. Obviously, things like broken glass, sharp rocks and branches will hurt, so try to avoid them, or consider dive-rolling over them.
2. Position yourself. Again, quickly. You may not have a lot of time to do this, although odds are you’re dive-rolling, which is much more useful, but you never know. The feet forward, hands down approach you learned as a kid will work, but you need to know this if you don’t want pain while rolling on a hard surface: tuck your chin. Honestly, try and look as closely at your belly button as possible. This keeps your head tucked in nicely, and curves your neck and spine properly, adding a smooth roll to your summersault while remouving pain, as well as giving you a bit of intertia to spring back up.
3. Hands on the ground. Keeping your feet facing the direction you’re going to roll, but not necessarily together, put your hands on the ground in front of you, placed in the same way as if you were doing a pushup, or at the starting line for a sprinting race. This requires that you bend your knees and get low to the ground, but in which ever way is most comfortable to you. The knees may be bent completely and the legs spread, very also Spider-man like, or may be tucked in tight to the body, in a Robin style. Personally, I find it easier if I keep myself on the toes of my feet instead of flat-footed.
4. Roll. Roll by either curling in from your shoulders, leaning your weight forward to tilt you off the balance you have, or lifting off with your legs in a small hop. It depends entirely on your body type. If you are long-legged, curling inwards into a ball and leaning forward will not get you anywhere, whereas if you are upper-body oriented, lifting off with your legs will just send you flat on your back, knocking the wind out of you.
Breakdown: Feet pointing towards the direction you’re rolling, hands on the ground like a push-up, knees bent, tip-toed, chin tucked, back arched, lean forward/kick off, roll, stand back up.
Uses: Personally, I’m not sure if a summersault would serve much good on it’s own, but it could be used as a quick dodge/evade, and knowing how to arch your back and roll properly, as taught by the summersault, is necessary if you want to learn more useful techniques, like the dive-roll and shoulder roll.
2. The dive-roll: Rating: 2.5/5.
The dive roll is probably the single most useful acrobatic skill to learn as a hero, as it can be useful in dozens of situations. A dive-roll can get you behind cover, away from harm, into the right position or over an obstacle/threat quickly and efficiently, when properly done. Through practice, you can eventually jump farther and higher before the actual roll itself, maximising it’s efficiency. The highest jump I’ve ever seen is litterally over another man’s head, where as mine is currently 5 feet up at most. I recommend you learn the proper technique to a summersault before you attempt this one, since you’re going to need to know how to roll on your back properly to avoid pain, especially considering you’re jumping and diving into this one.
1. Learn your Aim. The aiming of the dive-roll is crucial. You don’t want to dive in an attempt to roll at point A and acctually end up launching and landing flat on your back at point B, rolling haphazardly to point C, then coughing up a lung at point D before puking blood at point E. To learn your aim, keep both feet together and hop as far forward as you can, then crouch down into the summersault position. Now, stand up, and look back to where you jumped from. The distance from point A to where you currently are is your aim. The place where your hands where once you were crouched into summersault position is your exact landing point. Of course, make sure you aren’t aiming at a pile of broken glass, used needles, ravenous badgers and angsty sex-starved spike-covered goths. That would not be a happy landing. Trust me.
*Noble’s note*
Okay, so there weren’t any glass, needles or badgers, but I did accidently fly into a couple of angsty goths in the process of make-out-walking once when they rounded a street corner suddenly.
2. The Dive. To do a dive roll, what you want to do is basically dive forward with your hands out stretched in front of you, palms flat, as if you wanted to land into a handstand. The rolling aspect comes right away after this step, so unless you can just dive into a handstand, I don’t recommend you practice this step without fallowing through with the next one.
3. Rolling. As mentioned above, this step comes instantly after the dive. Step-by-step, this is what you do: Once you the ground, tuck your legs in and assume the summersault position. Then, and by then, I mean a split second after, let your self fall down and forward into the roll, fallowing through in the exact same way as if you were just doing a summersault, and before you know it, the momentum from the roll will have you back on your feet at point B, a good couple feet away from point A.
4. Absorbing the impact. Because you are doing a summersault at the point of impact, all of the force from your dive is transferred into the momentum of the roll, and if you fallow the guide of the summersault above to the letter, you will feel no pain at all when executing this move, wether it be on carpet, linoleum or a street. just remember to tuck your head in, by either putting your chin as close to your chest as possible, or trying to get your eyes as close to your stomach as possible. This arches your back properly, and gives you the right roll to avoid pain and injury.
5. Breakdown. Dive, extend arms, touch ground, curve spine, roll, stand.
6. Uses. The dive roll is a very useful technique, helping you avoid obstacles or injury by getting yourself up and away from the source of the problem, then launching you forward with momemtum after the roll, which you could use for either an intertia-enhanced punch, a simple evasion or even the means for a quick escape. With practice, you can get your dive-rolls farther and higher, giving you more options when using it.
3. The cartwheel. Rating: 1/5
Not so useful on its on, the cartwheel acctually is more of a necessary requirement before you move on to the roundoff, which you MUST have before other more intense techniques, such as backhandsprings, backflips, arabians, etc. That’s honestly the only reason the cartwheel is here at all. Without knowing the proper basic techniques, you can’t hope to move up to the intense skills. I kinda hope you all know how to cartwheel already, cause if you don’t, you had a very dull childhood.
1. Positioning, The cartwheel position isn’t hard. Stand still, and look forward. Of course, once you know what you’re doing, you don’t need to be standing still at all, you could be running, or falling, or whatever. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re reading this tutorial.
2. Step one. To do a cartwheel, first, lift up which ever foot is your lead foot (If you’re right handed, it’s your right foot, and vice versa). As you do this, lift your lead arm straight up into the air, and hold your other arm straight out behind you. This should turn your upper body slightly, lining your shoulders up with your foot
3. The swing. To begin the cartwheel, step down with your lead foot. The harder and faster you step down has an effect on how fast you will cartwheel, as well as how far you will go. As you step down, however, you need to swing your arms with the movement. The lead arm, which should still be upright, is swung down, while the back arm is swung up. The back leg is also swung up as the same time as the back arm, which helps you generate your momentum.
4. The transfer. This is the defining moment of a cartwheel, it determines wether you cartwheel or bail onto your face. Swing the now up-raised front arm down, and put the hand on the ground, fingers point in the same direction as which ever hand you plant first (i.e, fingers facing left for left handers, right for right handers). Now, push up and kick off with your back foot, transfering your weight from your foot to your hand. Your wight is oging to shift forward, so plant your other hand wherever your weight takes you (this varies on body type, as well as hieght). Your body should still continue to wheel forward, so remove your back hand from the ground at this point, and your feet should land on the ground in a line with your hands at this point.
5. Uses. None, in practical thinking, none. Honestly. “Don’t shoot me, I’m going to cart wheel away! Ahhh!” Yeah, don’t think so. The only reason I have it here is cause you need to know it to do a round-off.
4. The shoulder roll: Rating: 2/5
As useful as the dive-roll in just as many situations, the shoulder roll can acctually help you roll over a car that is attempting to run you down.
*Noble’s note*
…Practice the move on a floor or ground patch somewhere before you start jumping at cars…
INTERMEDIATE:

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Move with the shadows

Flow with the shadows: How to move silently.
By: Supreme
Well to start off with… most importantly, make sure your bones are cracked. Get all the kinks out now. You don’t want to be in the shadows with your own body making noises.
Do not wear pants that’ll swish together or make a creasing sound. Ordinary jeans tend to be silent and move without hassle. Take it from me… do not, I repeat, do not wear leather pants or motorcycle pants. They are so damn noisy. Granted the moto pants give great protection.
Use malleable soft style knee pads. Don’t wear hard shell knee pads. They clank when you kneel and they give off a shine. Also you might want to wear them under your jeans to deflect any shine it may have.
An all black Under Armour ‘rash guard’ style shirt is very silent and moves well with the muscles. Don’t wear a shirt that has buttons or any metallic style threads.
Don’t wear a leather or pleather jacket for they also tend to make a creasing sound.
Your boots should be comfortable in a crouching position. This is important. You don’t want them to make a sound when you kneel forward from the crouching position.
An all black uniform is desired. Remember, you’re going for stealth and you need to move with the shadows not against the shadows.
Also, you may want to use a hydration pack when you are only doing recon work. It’s just a suggestion. You may be in one spot for some time. Be prepared to wait. Have extreme patience. If you’re going to live in the shadows and remain stealthy, I suggest you try it out several times before officially using it in patrol.
Good luck!
– Supreme
Below are the steps to moving silently. The art of stealth doesn’t have to be followed exact because you will need to fight and you shouldn’t wear soft shoes when fighting.
1: Get soft footwear. The harder your footwear, the louder the noise. The best type of footwear is socks or leather moccasins. When at all possible, avoid bare feet (feet generally sweat and on flat surfaces, this creates lots of noise, as they stick to the floor) and hard-soled boots (because of their bulk and material, boots are more difficult to walk quietly in).
2: Wear sparse, tight clothing. When walking, one’s legs and clothes rub together creating noise. Minimizing your gear will prevent this
3: Unless congested, take slow and measured breaths from the nose. If congested open your mouth wide and take deep controlled breaths
4: Watch the next place you will take a step. Be mindful of objects you are stepping on.

    • Outside, try to walk on bare dirt or live grass. Dead foliage creates a perceptible “crunch” even when lightly stepped on. If you encounter an area where forced to walk through foliage, then pick the clearest path and proceed slowly, possibly bending over and removing obstructions from the location of the next step.
    • Inside, stick to carpet or other flooring with padding underneath.

5: Match the cadence of the person you are following (i.e. when the person steps with his or her left foot, you use your left foot). This will help mask any noise your feet may make. Remember that sound travels at 340 meters per second (1116 ft/sec), so you might need to adjust your walk accordingly: Note the delay between the visual step and the sound of the step from the one you are following, and try to use the same delay for your steps, only the other way around – you must step slightly before the person you are following.
6: Place the heel or toes of your foot down first and roll your foot slowly and gently onto the ground. If moving swiftly, run/leap from location to location. Avoid landing flatfooted. For moving backwards, this is reversed, so that the ball of the foot is placed down first, and then the heel lowered to the ground.
7: Be sure your footwear fits properly; if your foot slides at all in your footwear it can produce a squeaking noise, especially if your feet are sweaty.
8: Walk on the outer edge of your feet, rolling your foot from heel to pinky toe, if you want to get very close to the target. Though very silent, this technique is also uncomfortable and should only be used for short distances. The hips can be rotated slightly to make this technique easier.
9: Stand 90 degrees to the direction you want to go with your feet spread slightly, then take the foot on the other side of where you want to go, and while balancing on your other foot, move it across, making an X with your legs. Take your other foot and swing it out from behind to the start position. This method allows you to walk with some speed silently, even when wearing jeans which usually make lots of noise.
10: Bend low at the knees. The first part of your foot to hit the ground should be the heel. “Roll” forward on that foot until you’re on the ball of your foot (the padded part just behind the toes). Just before you’ve rolled all the way onto the ball of your foot, put your other foot down, heel first, directly in front of the first foot, almost touching it. You should be able to smoothly roll from the first foot to the second. Continue by rolling on the second foot, until you’re almost at the ball, and repeat by putting the first foot in front of the second. This should all be done fluidly.
TIPS:

  • Running on the balls of one’s feet (‘digitigrade’) helps with speed and quietness, but be careful; this requires more strength in the feet and lower legs, and greater flexibility in the ankle and foot joints. It also requires better balance than normal movement, and creates a greater impression on softer surfaces (due to the weight being spread over a decreased surface area).
  • When climbing items such as trees and cliffs, be mindful of where your foot lands. Try to place the toes and front padding of the foot in between branches and on crevices of the cliff. If you are forced to step in the middle of a branch or push up the side of the cliff, do it slowly and proceed with caution. A little force may dislodge a shower of debris or break a twig alerting watchers.
  • When walking through a house with wood floors, stick close to the wall to minimize creaking floorboards. The same is true for staircases.
  • Avoid shifting your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. This will require a considerable degree of balance and practice.
  • When opening doors, apply pressure upwards on the handle to avoid squeaks. Also turn handle so the bolt is completely withdrawn before applying any pressure to the door. Keep the handle pushed down while passing through the door, close the door, push it against the frame so the bolt will fit without snapping, then quietly release the handle.
  • If unable to wear tight clothes, try to step without your pants rubbing together or rubbing against your skin as this can create noticeable noise in quiet situations. Wool clothing is quietest.
  • Make sure your footwear is completely dry, not only can it squeak, damp spots on the floor can alert someone to your presence.
  • If you have problems with dragging your feet, then try walking around slowly with your shoelaces untied and dangling to create noise if you don’t raise and lower your feet. Warning: Do not attempt to do this quickly or carelessly, as you could trip and fall. Keep it slow, steady and measured.
  • You don’t just walk with your foot; your whole body is involved, from arms and head for balance, to hips and torso for driving the leg movements, to the legs themselves for creating the distance. ‘Play around’ with your movements so that you build a picture of what works for you and what doesn’t.
  • Try Zig-Zagging as you walk: step with one foot then step forward and to the side. Step the other direction. Repeat. This way you keep more of your balance.
  • Start on the outside of your heel and roll your foot diagonally, but don’t overdo it and roll it just from the outside in.
  • Before you start your walking, roll both of your feet around at the ankles a few times. This will make sure to get any ‘pops’ from your ankles out of the way. These ‘pops’ are the result of synovial fluid moving under the joints, similar to the action and sound that your knuckles make when you crack them. If you don’t make sure to crack your ankles first, you may end up making some noise later on when you need silence.
  • If you must make noise, perhaps because of loose clothing, try to make it as “natural” as possible. Short, sharp, or repetitious noises that characterize human movement can be broken into unrecognizable segments by varying your cadence or by dragging out the noise, making it more fluid and less human. This may be more applicable in urban environments where frequent background noise can mask your movements, allowing you to, in-effect, hide in the “shadows” of ambient noise.
  • If your clothes make noise that cannot be helped, wait a moment before you walk, and try to take advantage of another distracting noise. Choose to move when another sound is more present, to mask your own noise.
  • Though not noise-related, if you are walking up directly behind someone be mindful of the shadow you cast. If there is a light-source behind you, your shadow will lead you, and be perceived instinctively. Using the crouched walking position will greatly minimize this.

Be safe out there!
– Supreme
Flow with the shadows: How to move silently.
By: Supreme
Well to start off with… most importantly, make sure your bones are cracked. Get all the kinks out now. You don’t want to be in the shadows with your own body making noises.
Do not wear pants that’ll swish together or make a creasing sound. Ordinary jeans tend to be silent and move without hassle. Take it from me… do not, I repeat, do not wear leather pants or motorcycle pants. They are so damn noisy. Granted the moto pants give great protection.
Use malleable soft style knee pads. Don’t wear hard shell knee pads. They clank when you kneel and they give off a shine. Also you might want to wear them under your jeans to deflect any shine it may have.
An all black Under Armour ‘rash guard’ style shirt is very silent and moves well with the muscles. Don’t wear a shirt that has buttons or any metallic style threads.
Don’t wear a leather or pleather jacket for they also tend to make a creasing sound.
Your boots should be comfortable in a crouching position. This is important. You don’t want them to make a sound when you kneel forward from the crouching position.
An all black uniform is desired. Remember, you’re going for stealth and you need to move with the shadows not against the shadows.
Also, you may want to use a hydration pack when you are only doing recon work. It’s just a suggestion. You may be in one spot for some time. Be prepared to wait. Have extreme patience. If you’re going to live in the shadows and remain stealthy, I suggest you try it out several times before officially using it in patrol.
Good luck!
– Supreme
Below are the steps to moving silently. The art of stealth doesn’t have to be followed exact because you will need to fight and you shouldn’t wear soft shoes when fighting.
1: Get soft footwear. The harder your footwear, the louder the noise. The best type of footwear is socks or leather moccasins. When at all possible, avoid bare feet (feet generally sweat and on flat surfaces, this creates lots of noise, as they stick to the floor) and hard-soled boots (because of their bulk and material, boots are more difficult to walk quietly in).
2: Wear sparse, tight clothing. When walking, one’s legs and clothes rub together creating noise. Minimizing your gear will prevent this
3: Unless congested, take slow and measured breaths from the nose. If congested open your mouth wide and take deep controlled breaths
4: Watch the next place you will take a step. Be mindful of objects you are stepping on.

    • Outside, try to walk on bare dirt or live grass. Dead foliage creates a perceptible “crunch” even when lightly stepped on. If you encounter an area where forced to walk through foliage, then pick the clearest path and proceed slowly, possibly bending over and removing obstructions from the location of the next step.
    • Inside, stick to carpet or other flooring with padding underneath.

5: Match the cadence of the person you are following (i.e. when the person steps with his or her left foot, you use your left foot). This will help mask any noise your feet may make. Remember that sound travels at 340 meters per second (1116 ft/sec), so you might need to adjust your walk accordingly: Note the delay between the visual step and the sound of the step from the one you are following, and try to use the same delay for your steps, only the other way around – you must step slightly before the person you are following.
6: Place the heel or toes of your foot down first and roll your foot slowly and gently onto the ground. If moving swiftly, run/leap from location to location. Avoid landing flatfooted. For moving backwards, this is reversed, so that the ball of the foot is placed down first, and then the heel lowered to the ground.
7: Be sure your footwear fits properly; if your foot slides at all in your footwear it can produce a squeaking noise, especially if your feet are sweaty.
8: Walk on the outer edge of your feet, rolling your foot from heel to pinky toe, if you want to get very close to the target. Though very silent, this technique is also uncomfortable and should only be used for short distances. The hips can be rotated slightly to make this technique easier.
9: Stand 90 degrees to the direction you want to go with your feet spread slightly, then take the foot on the other side of where you want to go, and while balancing on your other foot, move it across, making an X with your legs. Take your other foot and swing it out from behind to the start position. This method allows you to walk with some speed silently, even when wearing jeans which usually make lots of noise.
10: Bend low at the knees. The first part of your foot to hit the ground should be the heel. “Roll” forward on that foot until you’re on the ball of your foot (the padded part just behind the toes). Just before you’ve rolled all the way onto the ball of your foot, put your other foot down, heel first, directly in front of the first foot, almost touching it. You should be able to smoothly roll from the first foot to the second. Continue by rolling on the second foot, until you’re almost at the ball, and repeat by putting the first foot in front of the second. This should all be done fluidly.
TIPS:

  • Running on the balls of one’s feet (‘digitigrade’) helps with speed and quietness, but be careful; this requires more strength in the feet and lower legs, and greater flexibility in the ankle and foot joints. It also requires better balance than normal movement, and creates a greater impression on softer surfaces (due to the weight being spread over a decreased surface area).
  • When climbing items such as trees and cliffs, be mindful of where your foot lands. Try to place the toes and front padding of the foot in between branches and on crevices of the cliff. If you are forced to step in the middle of a branch or push up the side of the cliff, do it slowly and proceed with caution. A little force may dislodge a shower of debris or break a twig alerting watchers.
  • When walking through a house with wood floors, stick close to the wall to minimize creaking floorboards. The same is true for staircases.
  • Avoid shifting your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. This will require a considerable degree of balance and practice.
  • When opening doors, apply pressure upwards on the handle to avoid squeaks. Also turn handle so the bolt is completely withdrawn before applying any pressure to the door. Keep the handle pushed down while passing through the door, close the door, push it against the frame so the bolt will fit without snapping, then quietly release the handle.
  • If unable to wear tight clothes, try to step without your pants rubbing together or rubbing against your skin as this can create noticeable noise in quiet situations. Wool clothing is quietest.
  • Make sure your footwear is completely dry, not only can it squeak, damp spots on the floor can alert someone to your presence.
  • If you have problems with dragging your feet, then try walking around slowly with your shoelaces untied and dangling to create noise if you don’t raise and lower your feet. Warning: Do not attempt to do this quickly or carelessly, as you could trip and fall. Keep it slow, steady and measured.
  • You don’t just walk with your foot; your whole body is involved, from arms and head for balance, to hips and torso for driving the leg movements, to the legs themselves for creating the distance. ‘Play around’ with your movements so that you build a picture of what works for you and what doesn’t.
  • Try Zig-Zagging as you walk: step with one foot then step forward and to the side. Step the other direction. Repeat. This way you keep more of your balance.
  • Start on the outside of your heel and roll your foot diagonally, but don’t overdo it and roll it just from the outside in.
  • Before you start your walking, roll both of your feet around at the ankles a few times. This will make sure to get any ‘pops’ from your ankles out of the way. These ‘pops’ are the result of synovial fluid moving under the joints, similar to the action and sound that your knuckles make when you crack them. If you don’t make sure to crack your ankles first, you may end up making some noise later on when you need silence.
  • If you must make noise, perhaps because of loose clothing, try to make it as “natural” as possible. Short, sharp, or repetitious noises that characterize human movement can be broken into unrecognizable segments by varying your cadence or by dragging out the noise, making it more fluid and less human. This may be more applicable in urban environments where frequent background noise can mask your movements, allowing you to, in-effect, hide in the “shadows” of ambient noise.
  • If your clothes make noise that cannot be helped, wait a moment before you walk, and try to take advantage of another distracting noise. Choose to move when another sound is more present, to mask your own noise.
  • Though not noise-related, if you are walking up directly behind someone be mindful of the shadow you cast. If there is a light-source behind you, your shadow will lead you, and be perceived instinctively. Using the crouched walking position will greatly minimize this.

Be safe out there!
– Supreme