i need help on flare

sushid00d · Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Posts: 10

does anyone have any tips on how to gain the upper body strength needed for a flare?

vincent_says · Joined: 29 May 2007 Posts: 67

I'm not familiar with belly dance, but I am familiar with health and fitness. You mentioned increasing upper body strength.

Some simple exercies you can do anywhere include:

1.) Push-ups: with your hands at different lengths apart to target different muscle groups.

2.) Strengthen your core: sit-ups, crunches, oblique exercises, lower back, and more. Your core is the most important part of your body, strengthen this to strengthen all.

3.) Bench Press, Shoulder Press: I would highly recommend building up your chest through bench press, but don't forget about your shoulders. Work them very hard, to balance out your total strength.

BBoy riPHt · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Chicago/Boston

Surprisingly, the flare is not centered around upper body strength. It's centered around momentum. You need to work your hip flexor, and your balance and strength in the sweep position.

For your hip flexor:
Short and sweet, sititng on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, place your hands on either side of your hips, and try and lift your legs straight up, with the knees locked. Do it on a chair if you have to. I'd recommend stabbing exercises first.

For the sweep position:
Spread your legs and lock them (standing up), as if you were going to stretch. Not so far as a split, but basically as far as you can push them without using your weight to help. In short, you want to stretch your legs as far as you can with your "active flexibility," which is essentially using your muscles to stretch, instead of your body weight, which is passive. Then bend at the waist, keeping your back straight. Lean forward and place your hands on the floor about 2 feet in front of the imaginary line between the toes of your feet. Now, [b:a57006a1be]without stabbing,[/b:a57006a1be] lift your legs off the ground as far as you can. Usually, you'll start out only getting a couple inches off the ground for a few seconds. It's excruciatingly difficult, but I don't know how else to exercise the flare muscle. It's not a normal muscle.

Once you've practiced these a lot (or a little, up to you) follow this video. It gives really great instruction, even if it's in Korean (with mediocre English translation on the side), but you can figure it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW27fki_1xg

sKOoTerDUd · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Somewhere

:twisted:

I can do the flare but i can't get my feet in the air

i can also almost do the backspin

[img:0275c5b520]http://www.danceforums.net/images/avatars/210534644346f55dec74d2c.gif[/img:0275c5b520]

[list=]dunno[/list]

BBoy riPHt · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Chicago/Boston

Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean by you can do the flare but can't get your feet in the air. The first thing you should be practicing is to get your feet up in the air in front of you, i.e. practicing the sweep back with one leg and the subsequent kick with the other. What have you been trying?

sKOoTerDUd · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Somewhere

I've been doing a /flare where I sorta do the flare but with my feet on the ground. I can also do the backspin really well but I'm having trouble on the Windmill and I keep falling. What should I do :?: :headwall:

:party:

BBoy riPHt · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Chicago/Boston

Are you locking your knees? What position are you starting your windmill from? Are your legs staying spread wide apart throughout the windmill? Let me know.

pr · Joined: 11 Apr 2005 Posts: 1033 Location: Göteborg, Sweden

Welcome sKOoTerDUd! :D

dance12 · Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 47

watch a video