Cartwheels
This collection develops cartwheel-based ground acrobatic vocabulary, one of the most accessible yet deceptively rich entry points into dynamic inversion and spatial coordination. While often perceived as a single fundamental pattern (typically the ipsilateral cartwheel), the cartwheel actually contains a wide range of permutational variations in hand placement, leg organisation, and entry/exit trajectories, revealing a far broader landscape of ground acrobatics than is usually recognised.
At its core, the cartwheel establishes the essential skill of stacking the hips over the shoulders, creating a stable inverted moment that underpins nearly all ground acrobatic work. In this sense, it functions as a primary stepping stone into inversion control, orientation change, and coordinated weight transfer through space. As such, it plays a foundational role in building confidence and structural familiarity in inverted movement.
Beyond its technical role, the cartwheel also expands the practitioner’s movement perception and vocabulary, highlighting how small changes in limb configuration or trajectory produce entirely different coordinative demands and movement outcomes. This develops an awareness of ground acrobatics not as a fixed set of skills, but as a continuum of variations and possibilities.
Importantly, the practice moves away from the rigid, stylised “gymnastics cartwheel” archetype, and instead emphasises the use of intrinsic body weight and momentum to travel efficiently through space while changing orientation. This supports a more adaptable and less constrained expression of inversion, where the body is allowed to reorganise fluidly rather than hold artificial shapes.
Over time, this develops both technical competence and conceptual expansion, helping the practitioner see how subtle changes in timing, support, and sequencing significantly alter movement quality. In doing so, it directly strengthens adaptability across all ground acrobatic contexts.
As is often stated within the system: if you want to get good at ground acrobatics, you better start doing a lot of cartwheels.
In application, this collection serves as both a foundational training ground and a perceptual gateway into the wider world of ground acrobatics, where inversion, locomotion, and orientation shifts are understood as part of a continuous and evolving movement language
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Basic ipsilateral Cartwheel variations
THE WHAT:
The basic ipsilateral (entering/exiting with the same-side hand/leg in an "open-body" form) “cartwheel” is a foundational introduction to dynamic inversion and the most common ground acrobatic pattern discovered (not taught) by most children when freely exploring their ability to change... -
3-level ipsilateral cartwheels
THE WHAT & HOW:
A three-level cartwheel system expanding the foundational cartwheel into a structured applied vocabulary of ground acrobatics. The practitioner enters from three different levels in space - squat, low gait, and standing - each altering the relationship to the ground, timing, and b... -
Ipsilateral Cartwheel (CW) variations
THE WHAT & HOW:
‘Ipsilateral Cartwheel Variations’ are a set of ground acrobatic explorations that expand the expressive range of the ipsilateral cartwheel by introducing different internal configurations and coordination demands while maintaining the same entry pattern throughout. The focus is n... -
The 'AU Cortado' (progressions & variations)
THE WHAT:
Whilst having roots in the game of Capoeira, the 'AU Cortado' is a essentially a "short" cartwheel with ancient origins unknown. The 'A' refers to the shape of the body when in a squat/standing position - the 'U' (although perhaps more exactly a 'V') refers to the shape of the inverted ... -
'AU Cortado' (AUC) circles & 'Role to AUC'
THE WHAT:
As an ultimately dynamic movement travelling through inversion, with practice the 'AU cortado' (or, "short cartwheel") can be used to with efficiency for travel through space. It can also link seamlessly with other 'cartwheel' forms, such as the fundamental 'Travelling cartwheel' or 'St... -
The 'Swimmer' cartwheel (CW)
THE WHAT & HOW:
‘Swimmer Cartwheel’ is a ground acrobatic context centred on the use of the “swimmer hand” - a second hand placement in the cartwheel where the fingers face back in the direction of travel. This orientation is used to facilitate rotation of the hips between the frontal and sagitta... -
Ipsilateral & Contralateral Cartwheels (CW)
THE WHAT & HOW:
Coordinative permutations in which ipsilateral and contralateral entrance and exit strategies are systematically interchanged. The focus is on reorganising the body’s spatial and temporal structure while maintaining continuous movement flow, allowing transitions between same-side ...
