Invictus Blog

Steps to Toes to Bar – Progression #9-10 The Kipping Toes To Bar
Written by Cat Blatner

Now that you have completed the progressions to get your body behind the bar, it’s now time to work on getting those legs up!

Progression 9: Knees to Elbows

In order to get our toes to touch the bar in the toes to bar movement, it helps when your legs lead the way. The knees to elbows progression is going to begin just after you initiate the kip. To do this, open and close the shoulder, bringing the knees to meet the elbows. You still need to get your body behind the bar in this instance and you also need to pull your knees back down. Letting them fall will not help you kip into consecutive movements.

It’s all been leading up to this moment…are you ready?

Progression 10: The Toe Flick

After you master the knees to elbows, it’s time to touch that bar! Now we will add one more step to that knees to elbows progression – the toe flick. Timing is everything here. Once you reach the very top of your knees to elbows, you must extend your knees as quickly and aggressively as possible. It is vital to execute the kick as quickly as you can so that you do not disrupt your kipping rhythm. After kicking your feet (the toe flick), you must pull your legs down with force in order to fall back into your kip.

Give this a try and be diligent about practicing. Toes to bar will come with time but it is all about speed and rhythm. Be sure you are very comfortable linking your knees to elbows before you start adding in the toe flick.

Watch for our next progression in this series to learn how to begin linking your toes to bar and further master this skill!