How to do the windmill dance move

Step-by-step guide to the move

Breaking

B-Boy Wing explains a step-by-step guide to learn the windmill, a beginner-level powermove in breaking that all B-Boys and B-Girls should perfect.

Written by Divya Naik

5 min readPublished on 19.08.2021 · 17:07 UTC

B-Boy Wing was a judge at the Red Bull BC One Cypher India 2021 alongside B-Boy Junior and B-Girl Sarah Bee. To know more about the competition and to watch the stream, visit redbull.in/bcone

Read this article in Hindi.

Breaking has some fascinating powermoves. And one basic move that’s also super fascinating is the windmill.

It’s one of those moves that breakers are advised to learn early in their career since it forms the base of many combos and has variations that can level up your game over time.

It isn’t too hard to learn either. It just needs some basic skills to start and a little dedication before you get it right.

B-Boy Wing is a Red Bull BC One All Star who is very well known for his powermoves.

We ask the South Korea-based B-Boy about what a beginner to the world of breaking would need to know in order to perfect the windmill. Here are his tips with a step-by-step guide.

1 min

Red Bull BC One Windmill World Record

Watch more than 70 b-boys come together the break the record for the world's biggest windmill attempt in the Netherlands.

The basics before learning the windmill

“You must keep in mind that the windmill is a movement that needs you to use centrifugal force. So it is one of the most important moves to help your body learn the movements of breaking,” says B-Boy Wing.

He also says you will need to build up some stamina and flexibility before you start learning the windmill.

The move also needs you to drive power through your legs so you can swing your body around. For this, you need to keep your legs in a wide V-shape throughout the movement. “At first the legs won't open so you will have to practice stretching to make your legs go wider,” he says. His suggestion is to practice floor-based stretching exercises to widen your V-shaped stance. Try to keep your legs wide throughout the movement; the wider your legs, the more power you will be able to drive through your legs to maintain momentum.

Stretching to help widen your leg positions

Things to keep in mind

“While the risk for injury is low, please keep in mind that this technique needs focus and concentration to avoid any mishaps,” says Wing.

He suggests placing rolled up towels near your hips to avoid getting injured when practicing the move in the early stages. He also suggests wearing a beanie so you aren’t worried about your head hitting the floor.

Also focus on your body position. Most often, your shoulders and hands would make contact with the floor, so avoid rolling onto your back or shifting your bodyweight to your chest when practicing.

Wing conducts a workshop during Red Bull BC One Cypher India 2019

Step 1

The starting position is the crab or cricket freeze. Your hands will be in contact with the floor. Your left hand should be directly under your hip with fingers pointing out left, keep a bend at your left elbow while it is tucked into your stomach; most of your bodyweight will be supported by this hand. Your right hand will near your right shoulder, helping you balance. Your legs (in the V-shape) and head will be in the air, and your body will be almost parallel to the floor.

Step 2

From the crab freeze position, swing your legs clockwise, driving with a kick from your right foot and bringing both legs around towards your head.

5 min

Wing meets the local breakers of Bengaluru

B-Boy Wing gets to know the local crew in Bengaluru, India.

Step 3

Simultaneously with Step 2, drop your body onto your right shoulder to make way for legs to come around. You would basically be upside down at this point, transitioning to shift your bodyweight from your hands to your shoulders. Tuck your shoulder in at this point so it doesn’t get injured.

B-Boy Cico performing the windmill

Step 4

Bring your legs around full circle, up in the air at this point. Both your shoulders should be making contact with the floor. Make sure to not drop onto your back – rest your bodyweight only on your shoulders at this point.

Step 5

From resting on your shoulders, shift your bodyweight forwards again and bring your hands down to return to the original crab freeze position, thereby completing the windmill. From here, you can kick again and perform multiple windmills

3 min

Windmill fundamentals

B-Boy Lil G from Speedy Angels Family CrEw goes through the basics of the windmill move.

Lil G

B-Boy Wing’s pro tips for learning the windmill

Drive the movement through your whole body: Wing compares performing a windmill to how you would manoeuvre on a surfboard – you need to use your whole body to make a turn. “It's good to use your whole body. Your upper back, shoulder and head has to move like your turning while stepping on a surfing board,” he says.

Improve general fitness before practicing: “If you’re not flexible or don’t have basic athleticism, it might take longer,” he says about the learning process for the windmill.

Dedication will help you learn quicker: Wing recommends you practice the move every day for at least two hours with full concentration. “If you do so, you will be able to master the windmill in just a month,” he says.

Practice variations: There are many different styles and variations to the windmill move. “Once you have mastered the no-hand windmill, you can try the babymill and also the halo,” Wing says.

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Dance resource: Dances, dance. Dancing and dancing

Quadrille Windmill Quadrille

1 piece:

Mouline ladies clockwise - 12345678

To at this time, take eight steps to the place of the right counterpart, for this, on the first beat, make a 90 ° right turn, go to the set corner, then turn left by 90 ° and to the place of the right counterpart, where he meets his D .

Having met with their left shoulders and holding with their left hands, K and D make a 360° turn in pair - 12345678.

These two eights are performed four times to their places.

Chorus:

First and second pair:

C and D , turning to face each other and clapping each other's hands, go with their backs to the corner of the set - 1234

Rotated 90° K anti-clockwise, D clockwise, partners go on the side of the set to the opposite seats - 5678

Having met with counterpart partners, K with his left hand takes his right hand D counterpart, and, turning to face the center, go to the center of the set, where they meet with their partner - 1234

K takes his left hand with his PR D and walk back to his place - 5678

Third and fourth pair at this time:

Go to the center of the set - 1234

Having met with the counterpart, K LR takes his right hand D counterpart, and, turning 90° K clockwise, D counterclockwise, go to the counter-visa's places - 5678

K and D (vis-a-vis), turning to face each other and clapping their hands, walk with their backs to the corner of the set - 1234

Then, turning 90°, they go to their places - 5678

The next four "eights" the first and second pair perform the movements of the third and fourth pair, and the third and fourth - the first and second.

2 figure:

Mouline thread K clockwise – 12345678

D at this time go eight steps to the place of the right counterpart, for this, on the first beat, make a 90 ° turn to the right, go to the corner of the set, then turn to the left by 90 ° and to the place of the right counterpart, where it meets with its K .

Having met with their left shoulders and holding with their left hands, K and D make a 360° turn as a pair – 12345678.

These two eights are performed four times to their places.

Chorus .

3 figure:

Mouline ladies clockwise - 12345678

To at this time, eight measures go to the place of the right counterpart, for this, on the first cycle, they make a turn to the right by 90 ° go to the corner of the set, then turn left by 90 ° and to the place of the right counterpart, where it meets with its own D .

Having met with their left shoulders and holding with their left hands, K and D make a turn in a pair of 360° + 180° - 12345678.

Mouline thread K clockwise – 12345678

Meeting with left shoulders and holding with left hands, K and D turn in pairs 360°+180° – 12345678.

These two "eights" are repeated one more time.

Chorus.

4 figure :

To goes to the left to D counter-visitor, D goes to the right to To counter-visitor and holding the LR make a circle and return to their place - 12345678

K takes his right hand with his D and raises it up, and LR left hand D and holds it at the level of the belt and three "eights" go along the line of dance.

from the Middle Ages to our time - Elevatorist.com

News service

9 Sep 2020, 09:30

Dzherelo photo: http://istoria.ko.net.ua

The construction of the first mills on the territory of Ukraine began approximately in the 16th century. For the construction, they used technologies taken from European countries. In the XVII-XIX centuries, wind, water and steam mills were widely used on our territory.

Water mills were of two types: stationary and floating. Stationary ones were located on the banks of rivers and streams, in places where a dam could be made. And floating structures were placed on special boats. They could move only along large rivers - along the Dnieper, Desna.

Windmills began to be actively built in the 18th century, and the heyday of their use was at the beginning of the 20th century. Windmills were made according to Dutch and German models. According to archival data, at 19In 1717, the total capacity of windmills that were on the territory of modern Ukraine reached 1400 MW. For comparison, the Khmelnitsky NPP has a capacity of 2000 MW. Very significant numbers, right?

At the end of the 19th century, steam mills began to appear on the territory of Ukraine. They were equipped with a steam boiler and had more modern equipment. They made finer flour.

Now most of the mills are destroyed. The remaining water, wind and steam mills have become architectural monuments, and only a few are still in operation. Unfortunately, there are no floating mills left at all - the last of them disappeared before the middle of the 20th century.

Watermill in the village Kupin

The river Smotrych flows in the Khmelnitsky region, and its largest waterfall is located in the village of Kupin. Local legends say that the waterfall was created artificially specifically for the construction of a mill. Here in 1455 a water mill was erected. Since the 15th century, it has been repeatedly rebuilt, but since then the foundation and part of the walls of the first floor have been preserved.

The mill underwent a serious reconstruction at the end of the 19th century. For the purchase of the newest Swiss equipment, all the inhabitants of the then city of Kupina raised funds. The equipment was brought from Zurich by rail, shipped to Dunaivtsy station, and then transported to Kupin by oxen. The reconstruction of the mill lasted a whole year.

The Kupinskaya mill worked until 2005, until the equipment deteriorated - the water turbine burst. For more than 10 years, the mill has been standing without repair.

Watermill in the village Korzhova

A water mill built in 1825 operates in the Cherkasy region. The mill stands on the Yatran River in the village of Korzhova. Its construction was led by the Polish landowner Rafalovich. He brought the most modern Austrian equipment, which is still in use today. At that time, flour of the finest grinding was made at the mill. Interestingly, the mill will soon be 200 years old, as it works, and with almost no intervention in the equipment!

Builders had to change the course of the Yatran River to direct the flow of water to the turbine, and build a dam. The mill was built as a two-story building. It is adjacent to a large bridge over the river. During the Soviet era, the mill became part of the collective farm, and now it is private property. It was bought out by a local businessman Victor Khalakhur.

Today, the water mill continues to process grain into flour. And it has also become an object of "green tourism" - people come to see the historical monument from all over Ukraine.

Windmill in the village Pustovity

In 1903 in the village. The Pustovites in the Kiev region built a windmill according to the Dutch model. This mill has a very interesting history that continues to this day.

Ukrainian peasant Kuzma Driga worked for some time as a miller in Holland. In 1902 he returned home and began work on the construction of his mill. The whole village helped him. First, a 15-meter pole was buried, and then for some time in the evenings they rammed the ground with music and dancing. When the windmill started working, they went to grind flour from all over the area with a radius of 25-27 km.

Kuzma Driga died in 1926. A few years later, his son was sacked and expelled from Ukraine, and they wanted to destroy the mill. Then the local community defended the building, and for a long time it stood in decline. The windmill was restored in 2017.

Steam mill on the river Sluch

V with. New Chertoria, Zhytomyr region, still has a steam mill. It is believed that this was the first steam mill in the region. It was built in the 1870s on the banks of the Sluch River. The construction of a large multi-storey mill building was financed by a local entrepreneur Count Orzhevsky. It is interesting that from the side of the river near the building there are 7 floors, and from the side of the shore - 5.

Now the Novochertoriysk Mill Plant operates in the mill premises.

Steam mill in Kharkov

The beautiful four-storey mill you see in the photo was started to be built in Kharkov in 1893. Prior to that, in the 1860s, the territory beyond the Kharkov River was owned by the merchant Zadonsky. He built one of the first steam mills in the city and ground grain from his estates. And three decades later, the merchant Vasily Gladkikh began his project on the territory of the old mill. He left the old buildings of the mill for steam engines and began to build a beautiful new building for a new enterprise.

Soon he died, and the construction was continued by his wife Sophia Gladkikh. After the mill was completed, in 1899 there was a fire in it, and the room inside was completely burned out. For several years it stood without a roof.

In 1904, the owners took over the mill again and used it for its intended purpose for some time. With the advent of Soviet power, the enterprise became the Kharkov bakery plant No. 1. Now the mill building is empty.

Steam mill in the village Rudenkivka

V with. Rudenkivka, Poltava region, a roller mill worked. The building of the mill and water tower was built in 1904-1905. Thus, State Mill No. 21 began its work. At that time it was the largest and most beautiful building in the village. In historical chronicles, it was indicated that the mill processed 20 thousand pounds of grain per day - this is approximately 315-320 tons. The grain was ground into 12 different types of flour and cereals.

The company worked until the Second World War. In the autumn of 1941, during the retreat, the mill was deliberately burned so as not to be left to the enemy. Today, part of the premises is occupied by local entrepreneurs, but in general the building is not used.

These are very interesting stories of Ukrainian windmills. As Nazar Lavrinenko, head of the Ukrainian Mill Association, told Gazeta.