Windmill (breakdance move)

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The Windmill (or briefly Mill) is one of the most well-known power moves in breakdance. The breaker rolls his torso continuously in a circular path on the floor, across the upper chest/shoulders/back, while twirling his legs in a V-shape through the air.

1 Description
2 Step-by-step
3 Variants
- 3.1 Halos
- 3.2 Air Track
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Description

The twirling of the legs is akin to twirling a math compass around in your hands; the momentum created by this twirling motion gives the breaker the majority of his power. The leg position and motion is seen in several other power moves, which makes the windmill an essential power move to learn first.

The basic windmill can either be "stabbed" or "unstabbed". A "stab" is merely part of the starting position for a single windmill rotation where the breaker has one elbow "stabbed" into his stomach while the palm of that stabbed arm is flat on the ground. The stab position helps to keep the hips up high which aids in execution of the move, especially during the first rotation. Unfortunately, it slows down movement when multiple windmills are performed. Accomplished breakers may stab to begin the windmill, but they will fall on their face and perform subsequent rotations unstabbed (sometimes called a "forearm mill").

[edit] Step-by-step

The description assumes clockwise rotation.

Begin in the stab position with legs straight. Raise the right leg. As it falls from the apex, whip it around and under the left leg while kicking that left leg up toward the head. Collapse the stab and the torso will roll over onto its back (the left hand can be used to help spin the body around). As you roll, swing the right leg around in a wide circle near the ground and kick up towards the head so that the lower torso lifts well off the ground. Meanwhile, the left leg is reaching the apex of its kick. As is falls, whip the left leg around and under the right. The torso should then flip over so that the chest is in contact with the ground. Keep the left arm tight against the chest so you roll right over it, and stab the right hand against the ground as it comes around. Meanwhile the right leg is falling from its apex. Roll up onto the stabbed right hand and whip the right leg around and below the left leg, which is now rising upward. One rotation is now done; continue the motion.
Tips

Try to keep the legs perfectly straight and spread wide apart.
The stabbing technique is helpful for clearing the ground, but is not necessary and can slow down multiple rotations.

Note: There are many ways to start this move.

[edit] Variants

There are several windmill variations that have earned a name of their own. Most involve placing the hands in different positions for style, since the hands are not essential if a stab is not employed.

Confusions - hands held on the face like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. (This variation can be somewhat dangerous as your elbows hitting the ground could result in neck injury)
Eggbeaters - hands held on the thighs.
Handcuffs - hands held behind the back.
Nutcrackers - hands held over the groin.
Forearm Windmills - arms tucked against chest. The breaker simply rolls over his forearms without stabbing.
Genies - arms crossed across the chest.

Other variations are more extreme:

Thread Mills/Treadmills - a mill with legs and one arm in threading position and crosses on the last spin. Rarely seen and is used by Russian B-boy Jora in Redbull BC One 2005.
Barrels - windmill with arms placed out in front as if hugging a barrel.
Munch Mills/Baby Mills - arms held crossed in front, feet crossed and tight against the body.
No-Handed Windmills/Breaker's Windmills The hands are not used at all for this mill, but are rather tucked away, obviously out of use. The breaker must pop off one shoulder and land on the other. This requires a lot of momentum to be generated from the legs.

Many feel this move should not rightly be called "Breaker's Mills". They feel that even though Mike Garcia (also known as "Breaker") may have been the first to do this move, it should not be named for him. They argue it would be similar to calling headspins "Kid Freeze Spins" just because Kid Freeze was the first person to popularize them.

Supermans - arms stretched out over head, often remaining in contact with the floor just like the upper torso
Tombstone Mills - similar to Munch Mills except the legs are straight out with relatively unbent knees (instead of having crossed legs).

[edit] Halos

The Halo is another move similar to windmills. In this move, the breaker's head stays in constant contact with the floor, and the body rotates around the head in a halo pattern. The hands are slightly employed. Halos can be performed with the legs swinging relatively near the floor, or they can become more and more vertical until they approximate a headspin. However, there is a distinct difference in that halos employ the hands for a part of the rotation, and the swinging motion of the legs remains critical in generating momentum. The legs' contribution is obvious when watching halos. Headspins, on the other hand, remain in essence a spin even if the legs happen to be extended.

The move can be dangerous if the breaker's no-handed windmills are not advanced enough. Normally beginning from a windmill, the b-boy catches himself in a Headglide/Icey Ice position so he's in a hand glide position with his head on the floor with his legs moving really high (not the headstand position). Then he kicks quickly and does a windmill on his head and catches himself with both hands in fron tof his face while facing down. Then quickly kicks and pushes off with both hands to send his body spinning around to finish the rotation. The legs and torso should never touch the ground; the breaker is only supposed to be using his hands and head.

[edit] Air Track

The Air Track is more extreme still, to the point that some breakers even consider them a separate move. An Air Track is basically a windmill in midair. You use only your hands and you hop from hand to hand in somewhat of a circular motion. There is dispute about whether this move is different from the Air Flare. Some say that Air Tracks have the body traveling only on an x axis, while with an Air Flare the body travels on an x and y axis. Others contend that the moves are one and the same, and that the name difference is merely based on the evolutionary history of the moves.