This is just about the most basic vault you can do, but a brilliant way to start. It’s very easy to do, and for that reason popularly used with new traceurs. It is also very useful and commonly used, often for popping out of cat leaps to get over the obstacle quickly etc. It involves the traceur planting both hands onto the obstacle, and then bringing his/her legs to one side and over the obstacle.
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| Click the photo (above) to download a video of this technique.
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You can go at this vault with any amount of speed (even standing if you like). Usually a little hop into it will do, and in this case I am jogging towards the rail. My arms are outstretched and ready to grab the rail.
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| At this point I am just beginning to jump up, at the same time as I connect with the rail. It’s not too important if you hold the rail with your hands before jumping, so do whatever feels comfortable. |
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| I've now grabbed the rail, and my arms stay relatively straight to support me through the vault. My legs begin to tuck in, and slightly to the side. |
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Now at this point you either want to kick one of your hands (depending on which side your legs are going over), or you want to take one of your hands off the
rail (do the latter). Make sure you legs are tucked in and high enough above the rail to go over comfortably. You hand should come off the rail naturally, and you will be easily supported on your other arm due to your legs going to one side and thus putting your body off centre (so that you are leaning more on the side your legs aren’t on).
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| At this point I have begun to extend one leg so that I can land split footed, and continue to run without any pause. If you are doing this from a bit of height though, it would be better to land on both feet and roll. My left arm is still on the rail. |
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My left leg is almost fully extended, while the other is still relatively tucked. This acts in the same way a normal stride would, and this way you lose almost no speed coming out of the vault.
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| I have now landed and begun to run off. At the same time I let go off the rail. The letting go part is an important step for obvious reasons. |
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Variations
Not many variations for this really as it’s a very basic vault. Some people hold on to the rail with both hands throughout, while their legs go right to the side of both hands. The two handed vault is usually used when climbing up from a wall/rail after doing a cat leap. You can perform this vault without the use of support under your feet (you don’t have to be standing on anything to do it), and for this reason it is very useful.
Simply push up with your arms so that they are almost straight, if not locked in place. As you push up, simultaneously kick up and out with one leg, and using this momentum bring both legs up and over the rail as you would a normal two handed vault. With practice this proves a very quick way of getting up after a cat leap, and often much quicker and far more fluid than climbing up and over the wall. |
