Now that you've read "How to Windmill 101", I assume that you're on your way to getting your windmills down. If you've gotten all you can as far as technique from "101", then you're ready to move on to the next class. Here you'll learn an alternate starting position, and from that position, how to go into your windmill from your six-step. Note: Like "101", these instructions are for counter-clockwise windmills.

First your new starting position (keep in mind, you can still practice with the old one, too). The position is the same one I gave for the six-step. Push up position, legs split, arms extended. Now, step one. You'll learn to roll off your shoulder. At first go VERY slowly, so you don't hurt yourself before you know what you're doing. From the push up position, you're going to collapse your LEFT arm (slow) so that your LEFT hand is right next to your LEFT shoulder, and your shoulder is almost touching the floor (Important: Your LEFT arm should not touch the ground, keep it about where you would when you're stabbing it for your windmill--but don't actually stab it, just roll). As you lower your LEFT shoulder to the ground, raise your RIGHT foot. You should feel your body leaning pretty heavily to the LEFT side. Now, just go with gravity and roll over your LEFT shoulder (you can use your RIGHT hand to push yourself over). You should feel yourself rolling over your left shoulder and across the top of your back. You should end up on your back. Make sure your legs are still split and straight.

Got that down?? Now, you're going to go one step further. You'll use the same position and technique given above, but now you'll put some power to it. From the push up position, jump up in the air with BOTH legs (this is important). You should be touching the ground with only your hands for a brief moment. Now, during that moment KICK your RIGHT leg backwards and to your RIGHT (remember the pivot and compass thing: don't just kick straight back, kick in a circular motion). As soon as you start kicking, begin the rolling motion described above by collapsing your LEFT arm, and rolling over your shoulder. When your shoulder first touches the ground (you're facing to your RIGHT), KICK your LEFT leg forward in the direction of your roll. At the same time PUSH yourself over with your RIGHT hand to gain extra rotational speed. This initial kick and push gives you the power of the spin. If you kicked hard enough, you should roll over your shoulders easily and end up facing the ground again. Note: The jump and two kicks described take the place of kicks one two and three of George's explanation. You can follow his directions from there because the rest is exactly the same. If it seems you can't get it, here's some tips. When you're rolling over your shoulder, make sure that neither your shoulder or your arm hit the ground with any great force. Concentrate on ROLLING (smooth) over your LEFT shoulder, and across the TOP of your back. If you feel yourself rolling on your lower back or your hips, it means you need to jump higher and/or kick harder (remember, you're rolling over your SHOULDERS not your whole back).

Now, the difficult part (don't worry, you'll get it). Combo: Six-step > Windmill. You're going to use all the technique you learned above to go into a windmill from your six-step. The part of the six-step where you sweep your leg around in the big arc (step 4 of the six-step article) is where all your power comes from when doing power moves from a six-step. You're going to do a regular six-step up to step 3. When you start to swing your RIGHT leg around in that wide arc, reach across your body with your LEFT hand and plant it on the ground (just like when doing a swipe). Now, before your right leg comes all the way around, jump up with your LEFT leg, so that your RIGHT leg (still swinging) sweeps UNDER your left leg (the same motion as a coffee grinder). Note: Until you stop your windmill, your feet should NEVER touch the ground again. Another note: Your LEFT leg was bent before you jumped, and you want to keep it bent for now, so you can use it to kick (you'll see what I mean). Use the momentum from the sweep to turn your body around, and HEY!! You find yourself that strange position from a couple paragraphs ago: hands on the ground shoulder width apart, legs in the air split and straight (except for the LEFT one, keep it bent for now). Now, collapse your LEFT arm like before, and roll over your LEFT shoulder (don't forget to kick, same sequence: RIGHT, LEFT). This time you can use your LEFT leg to kick even harder because it was previously bent. Extend it while you're kicking and you should really feel yourself spin fast. Lastly, don't forget to push with your RIGHT hand. After that, just roll, stab, and repeat following 101's instructions. Let's examine all the momentum you've got now:

Momentum from the six-step