About skill

In the '90s it got way too difficult.  With some sport kites, you need a hundred-dollar set of videos!

We aeronautically-engineered WindDances to require only easy basic skill:  pull-on-your-kite-line skill, the dual-line version of the same skill that children use to fly single-line kites.

All of dual-line FLYING skill can be distilled into five words:  pull to make it FLY.  On both lines to make it go.  On one line to make it turn.  To keep it flying, maintain at least an ounce or two of pull.  To make it go or turn faster, pull harder.  Simple.

Or better yet, as suggested by a clever grandmother, shorten it to three words:  "Just PULL it!"

This is "apply-power-to-your-kite" skill.  As children know, the only possible way to apply power to your kite is to pull on your kite line.  This ancient skill goes back perhaps thousands of years.

It's as straightforward as pressing on the gas pedal to make a car go, and cranking the wheel to make it turn.  If you don't press or crank enough, the car doesn't go well or turn well.  To go faster and turn harder, just press and crank harder.  The same is true for dual-line kiting.

Of course, your kite must be engineered and built for "kite FLYING with basic skill."  That is, your dual-line kite must have at least the first of the three essential FLYING qualities, which means it must have at least the first of the first two most important things to visually look for in any kite.

Otherwise, without these bare-minimum features, your kite can't possibly withstand or respond well to full basic skill, and you can't possibly FLY it well.

Before you buy a bicycle, you obviously make sure it won't flex out of shape, break, or lose control when you thrust hard on one pedal.

So why not do the same before you buy a dual-line kite:  when you pull hard on one control line -- a basic skill -- make sure it will keep its shape, won't collapse or break or fall out of the sky, and will respond with hot & powerful turning.

To launch, to keep it flying, and to fly it faster, pull on BOTH lines.  To turn & spin, pull on ONE line.

How do you pull on your kite lines?  You swing your arms from front to back like when walking or cross-country skiing.  To accelerate your WindDance, swing both arms back.  To turn or spin, swing one arm back.  In very light wind, to get it going and to keep it going, "pump" it along by gently swinging both arms back in short smooth pumping strokes.

How hard can you pull on one line?  With a bike, how hard can you push on one pedal?  As hard as you wish.  A good dual-line kite easily withstands that basic skill, and responds with tight, fast, powerful turning that makes your body burn.

Of utmost importance is to feel for pull as you move your arms to pull, and as you stand there flying.  Why?  Because "kite FLYING" theory -- pull = speed = FLYING -- says "pull makes FLYING," and "no pull kills FLYING."  Here's how you put that theory to use:  Want more speed = FLYING?  Then make more pull.  Both you and the kite feel that same pull.  If you and the kite feel no pull, it isn't FLYING.  If you and the kite feel strong pull -- either in both lines, or in just one line -- it's FLYING straight very fast, or it's FLYING in a tight spin very fast.  So constantly feel for so you can go for the pull = speed = FLYING you want.  More.

Basic skill offers even more fun.  You don't just stand there like a post.  You also move your lower body, sometimes rapidly and far, to generate the pull you want.  To keep it flying when you sense that your two lines are about to slacken, such as in light or shifting wind when flying at the side edge of the flight envelope, generate the needed ounce or two of pull by stepping back away from the slow-moving kite as you swing your arms back to apply pull.  To sustain a hot acceleration or fast spin, make the pull last longer by stepping back away from the fast-moving or fast-turning kite as you swing your arm(s) back to create that strong sustained pull.

The exercise from all that pulling?  Similar to using the arm-&-upper-body part of an exercise machine that simulates cross-country skiing.

Did the wind weaken or did the pull become really light?  Pull or "pump" on BOTH lines -- pull to make it FLY.  Want to accelerate?  Pull on BOTH lines -- pull to make it FLY.  Want to turn or spin faster?  Pull harder on ONE line -- pull to make it FLY.  Want that fast spin to last longer?  Pull farther and longer on ONE line -- pull to make it FLY.

Want the fastest-possible speed-&-turning performance?  The more you pull, the faster it accelerates, turns, and spins -- pull to make it FLY.

Want to "pump air" and feel the burn?  The more vigorously and more often you accelerate, turn, and spin, the better your workout -- pull to make it FLY.  Unlike the other forms of dual-line flying (including power flying), when energetically WindDancing you exert force with lots of arm-&-body motion like in normal exercise and recreation.

See how well this simple skill works, both for beginners and experts?

WHY does it work?  Because "kite FLYING" theory says so:  Pull = Speed = FLYING.

Beginning in the early 1990s, organized kiting downplays basic skill -- it's now considered beginner skill -- and showcases advanced skill:  slacken your kite lines to make it un-fly and do non-flying tricks, such as flipping it in the air and tumbling it on the ground, for the new no pull = no speed = no FLYING way of sport kiting.  Take your foot off the gas to get the hottest performance.  These advanced skills, often hyped as 'hot' skills, generate the sport's lowest levels of speed-&-turning performance.  And little exercise, too.  Power kiting's hang-on-and-get-dragged skill also provides low-quality exercise: lots of strain with little action.  Consumers are not informed about any of this.

Get the hottest performance -- and the highest-quality exercise -- from the sport's simplest and easiest skill:  basic skill!

WindDance dual-line parafoil stunt kites/sport kites are developed, sold, and backed by Seattle AirGear.
WindDance, WindDancing, Seattle AirGear, and AirGear are trademarks of Seattle AirGear.
Copyright © 1995-2017 Seattle AirGear.
This page last revised Nov-1-2001