Corkscrew (trick)

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A Corkscrew (formally also known as a 540 twist) is a move that is believed to have originated from Wushu and Capoeira. Because of the difficulty and appearance of the move it has been incorporated into various other athletic activities, namely Tricking and Break Dancing. The move consists of a practitioner swinging one leg up while jumping off the ground with the other leg. The leg is swung up high in order to raise the center of gravity and to give more height to the jump. After the initial jump, the practitioner will then straighten out their body horizontally and begin to twist their body as they would for a butterfly twist. Like a butterfly twist, the take off and landing is done with the same leg, however a corkscrew generally requires more rotation.

[edit] Variations

Corkscrew to the splits

This is a normal corkscrew that is landed into the splits.
Corkscrew to a breakfall

This variant is more common in wushu. Instead of landing on the feet, the practitioner lands into a breakfall, normally onto the stomach side of their body.
Hyper Corkscrew

An additional 90-180 degrees of rotation are added. The defining characteristic of this move is the fact that the landing is done with the other leg.
Gainer Twist

While some may not consider a corkscrew and a gainer twist to be connected, the take off of the two are surprising similar. Some practitioners incorporate more of a corkscrew motion into their gainer twist and others incorporate more of a gainer motion. Either way, a gainer twist is the combination of a corkscrew and a gainer in that the practitioner is twisting their body while flipping. In addition, the practitioner also moves forward from the initial point of take off.