24 Levels of Balisong Flipping: Easy to Complex

SAFETY DISCLAIMER: Talent is a trained expert at operating these knives. Anyone who is not a trained professional and is learning to operate these knives should only use a dull trainer knife to prevent injury. Professional balisong flipper Corbin Lovins explains balisong tricks in 24 levels of difficulty.

Video Transcript

CORBIN LOVINS: Hey, my name is Corbin Lovins. I am a balisong flipper. I won the 2019 Bali Comp Championship. And today, I have been challenged to do balisong tricks in 24 levels of increasing complexity.

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Balisong flipping goes all the way back to the Philippines, where the balisong or batangas knife was used in the traditional Filipino combative arts. The openings that they created inspired the art form of balisong flipping that you see today. There are unlimited tricks with different styles for each person, but this is my interpretation of the challenge. To me, complexity is how smooth the tricks are, the momentum that you need, the finger dexterity, and how technical the trick is.

Before we get started, let's talk safety. There are a couple parts of a balisong that you need to know. The bite handle, the safe handle, the spine of the blade, and the cutting edge. I focus a lot on the safe handle. Keeps you from getting cut from the spine of the blade touching your fingers. The bite handle, you cannot touch the blade whatsoever. I am a trained professional. I've been doing this for five years. If you are learning new tricks, it is always best to learn on a trainer. The edge of the blade is actually thicker. Therefore, it will not cut you. And most of the time, the blade has been milled out. Now that we got all that out of the way, let's begin.

Level one, double rollout. So the double rollout is also known as the basic opening. This is what you see in all the movies when you see somebody flip the balisong open. The double rollout starts in a standard closed position with both handles in your hand and the blade hidden. Holding the safe handle, flip out the balisong so the blade is up and handle is down. Rotate it 180 degrees so that the handle is up and the blade is down. Then scoop your hand in order to bring the handle up and have the blade out.

So now you will be holding it in a standard open position. To close this, it is the same movement. Holding the safe handle again, flip it out so that the handle is up and blade is down. You will rotate the balisong 180 degrees to make it so the blade is up and handle is down. And then you will scoop your hand again, hiding the blade, catching the other handle in your hand.

In this trick, we used standard position. In balisong, we have three positions. Standard, where you hold the handles of the balisong with the blade facing out, also called the open position. Pinch position, where you hold the balisong between your thumb and the rest of your other fingers. And then we have reverse standard position, where you hold the balisong by the handles with the blade facing down.

So the next level, we are increasing complexity by learning to roll the balisong. Level two, rollovers. Rollovers are used in nearly every trick. You start to get a feel for timing of moving the balisong around your finger. The rollover I will be teaching you today is the thumb rollover. Start in a pinch position, safe handle out, holding the bite handle. Rotate your wrist down in a flick, letting the safe handle go around your thumb. You will then catch the safe handle as it comes around, flicking the balisong back up into a standard position.

If you start with the bite handle out, holding the safe handle, and you throw it in a horizontal position, this is known as a zen rollover. If you are holding in a vertical position with the safe handle out, holding the bite handle, this is known as a Y2K.

So a lot of beginner mistakes go with timing. If you do not catch the handle at the right time, you can lose control and drop the knife. Or if you go too soon, you can miss the handle altogether.

In this next level, we are increasing complexity by learning to work with balance and momentum. Level three, chaplin. The chaplin is another basic of balisong tricks. By starting in the standard open position, you will hold the safe handle. Place the spine of the blade over your pointer finger. Rotate your pointer finger in clockwise motions, starting with large circles, moving into smaller circles as you get the momentum under control.

Going in a counterclockwise position, this is known as a reverse chaplin. And if you have your finger pointing down where you are having to fight gravity, that is called a zero-gravity chaplin. If you rotate your pointer finger too fast, you can actually cause the balisong to get caught up with so much momentum that it flies off of your finger. If you move too slow, you can cause it to just fall off by not having the balance and momentum to keep it onto your finger.

By going into this next level, we are building up our finger dexterity. Level four, full twirl. Full twirls are only one form of twirling. Most twirling is when you move the balisong in between fingers without using rollovers, mostly using chaplins. So the full twirl starts in a standard open position. We will be holding the safe handle, again as we will be placing the spine of the blade over our index finger.

You will be placing your middle finger behind the safe handle. You will then roll the balisong backwards, letting go of your pointer finger and placing the safe handle between your middle finger and your ring finger.

Reversing the movements that you have already done gets you back to your original position. Replacing your ring finger with your index finger as you roll clockwise back into the standard position, doing a one-rotation chaplin, once again stopping with your middle finger on the backside of the safe handle. This trick is a loop, because your starting point is also your ending point, meaning you can do it over and over again.

Moving on to the next level, we are going to cover our last basic trick. Level five, fans. Fanning is another basic of balisong flipping. There are many variations of fans, but I will be teaching the standard fan. You will be holding the balisong in a standard open position. Holding only the safe handle between your thumb and your index and middle finger, rotate your wrist in a counterclockwise position. Torquing your wrist the other direction in a clockwise motion, you will flick the handle, letting go with your thumb but keeping a slight grip on the handle in order to have more rotations.

For our next trick, we will be increasing complexity, because we are moving out of the basics and into an intermediate trick. Level six, behind the eight ball. Behind the eight ball is one of the first Intermediate tricks most people learn. You are incorporating rollovers, chaplins, and overall, a little bit of finger dexterity. It's not that difficult, but it's very flashy.

You will want to start by holding the balisong in a standard closed position with the safe handle. It's extremely easy to get cut if you start with the bite handle. Flipping the balisong out horizontal with the blade and the handle, you will stick your pointer finger between the spine of the blade and the safe handle. Doing a zero-gravity chaplin, do one rotation and touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb.

Do one thumb rollover on the spine of the blade, which sets you up for another thumb rollover between the two handles. You will then catch the bite handle, flipping the balisong back up into a standard open position. You will also want to make sure, when you do the zero-gravity chaplin, you are only doing one roll on your index finger. This will make sure you're set up for that thumb rollover.

So there's often a beginner mistake of losing control of the balisong while you are moving from the spine of the blade on your index finger to the spine of the blade on your thumb. Make sure you touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb, just like the OK position.

For our next level, we are learning a trick that is commonly known as behind the eight ball's brother, because it's always learned directly after behind the eight ball. Level seven, helix. For the helix, you will be doing the same movement that you do with behind the eight ball. But instead of sticking your index finger between the spine of the blade and the handle, you will be starting with your index finger between both of the handles.

With the blade passing underneath of your wrist, touch the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb, just like we did in behind the eight ball, and then do a thumb rollover. A common beginner mistake on the helix is, as you throw the thumb rollover, your timing is not correct and you end up dropping the blade completely or catching a falling blade, which is something you should never do.

So for our next trick, we are increasing our complexity by combining finger work, timing, and momentum. Level eight, blender. So the blender is often known as the cousin to behind the eight ball in the helix, because most times, it's learned directly after those. Starting from a closed standard position, holding the bite handle, do a reverse index rollover. This is exactly like a thumb rollover, just on your index finger.

You will then go around your index finger, grabbing the safe handle and throwing a thumb rollover with the spine of the blade and the handle around your thumb. You will then throw another thumb rollover which will end the trick, or it can lead you back into the trick by doing another reverse index rollover.

In the upcoming trick, we are increasing complexity, tossing the balisong in the air, and also increasing the danger. Level nine, aerials. Aerials are any time the balisong leaves your hand and is untouched. There are several types of aerials, but the starting three are the standard aerial, the ice pick aerial, and the helix aerial.

For the standard aerial, you will be holding the safe handle. You will have the handle up and blade down, meaning the handle will be covering the blade. You will be flicking your wrist up, letting go of the balisong for it to rotate. Rotating too fast when you get too many rotations and you don't catch correctly. Rotating too slow, you completely lose control of the blade, either catching the blade or having not enough rotations to catch with both handles together in your hand. Watch the balisong in the air. You want it to do one rotation.

An ice pick aerial is exactly like a standard aerial, but you are getting a half turn more. On that half turn more, you will scoop your hand, grabbing one of the handles as they come around, and the other handle will fall into your hand. You will then be in a reverse standard position.

The helix aerial is thrown on a flat horizontal plane, usually following a thumb rollover, because it's easier to throw from there. And once the blade passes and you see the next handle coming around, you'll grab the handle and throw a thumb rollover.

For the next level, we will be increasing complexity by doing a combo that includes an aerial. Level 10, scissor. The scissor can be thrown from either handle. Throwing a standard aerial off of the safe handle, you will want to stick your middle finger in between the two handles, while your index finger goes between the handle and the blade. Bringing the balisong back over your index finger completes the scissor. How you get out of it is your choice. The most common way is to do a full twirl, which we learned in a previous level.

For our next level, we will be increasing complexity by using all of our fingers. Level 11, ladder. The ladder can also be seen when you are doing pen spinning. When someone moves the pen in between each of their fingers and back around, that is basically a ladder. For the ladder, you will want to hold one handle between your pinky and middle finger. Pull your ring finger towards you and push your pinky out, and bring the handle completely off of your pinky in between your middle finger and your ring.

You will then take your pointer finger. Push on the back of the handle to move it up, around your pointer finger, and into your hand. From there, you will do a simple thumb rollover and finish the trick.

Not having enough strength in your fingers can cause the bali to fly in different directions. Your pinky and your ring finger are often not your strongest finger, so you'll want to build up the strength. Holding the bali too close to your body while doing the ladder can also cause harm to your torso. As you move the bali from between your ring finger and pinky up to your ring finger and middle, you want to be away from your body so you don't hit your torso.

You might notice a lot of the ways that these tricks go wrong is you get cut. Again, make sure you're using trainers when you are first learning and then move on to a live blade.

For our next level, we are increasing complexity, because we are throwing an aerial with an unnatural movement. Level 12, backhand aerial. It's a little bit more complex, because you are throwing an aerial unnaturally behind your hand, rather than naturally in a clockwise motion. You will want to hold the balisong in a pinch position. Letting go of one of the handles, you will drop the handle. And once it reaches below your hand, rotate your wrist, letting go of the other handle. This will cause enough momentum for the balisong to turn and for you to catch the other handle, bringing down, ready for your next trick.

This can go wrong if you do not move with the balisong as you throw. The balisong's blade will be coming around before the handles do. This can cause you to catch the blade and surely be cut. The good thing about the backhand aerial is it's a handle switch. If you have the bite handle out, you will catch with the safe handle. If you have the safe handle out, you will catch with the bite handle. What I like to do is catch the bite handle coming up into an aerial chaplin.

For this next trick, although short, it requires perfect timing and great finger dexterity. Level 13, shortstop. Holding the safe handle in an already open position, as this is usually a finisher, do a reverse thumb rollover, where you roll the balisong backwards over your thumb, catching the bite handle in between your middle finger and ring finger, pushing your ring finger out and middle finger in.

This will then rotate the balisong up, as we did in the ladder. And then both handles will be on your pointer finger and your thumb. You will then squeeze those together into an ice pick reverse standard position. The shortstop requires very precise timing.

For this next level, we are increasing complexity because we are throwing an aerial where the balisong comes very close to our face. Level 14, van Gogh and the neck catch. The van Gogh is inspired by Vincent van Gogh, the artist who lost his ear. For the van Gogh, you are basically doing an ice pick aerial, but higher and with a slower rotation. The slower rotation will give you the ability to watch what handle is coming around and reach your hand behind your head, close to your ear, catching both handles in the ice pick position.

The neck catch is one of the only moves you will be actually throwing the balisong at your neck. For this, you will be throwing, once again, exactly like an ice pick aerial, catching between the crease of your neck and your shoulder. As one handle hits, you will clamp down with your shoulder and your neck in order to stop the balisong in its rotation. An easier way to do this so you're not throwing the balisong directly at your neck, but almost like you're throwing an ice pick aerial, is you can step forward into the balisong and then clamp down once you feel it touch your shoulder.

The next trick raises complexity because it requires a lot of finger movement and is overall the hardest trick we have learned so far. Level 15, choker fan. The choker fan was created a few years ago by a guy who goes by the name SirHorseChoker. In the Instagram community. Start just like you're doing a double rollout. You will hold the safe handle. Once you get it so the blade is facing away from you and the other handle's facing towards you, you will torque your wrist in order to start the fan.

You will move the handle from between your middle finger and index finger to between your middle and pointer finger, and then finally up into a thumb rollover. You would be hard-pressed to find any combo that does not use the choker fan in it today.

So far, every trick has been done with one hand. For this next level, we are increasing complexity because we are adding our other one and moving the balisong in between them. Level 16, transfers. There are an infinite number of transfers. But today, I will be showing you how to do a slap transfer. Whichever hand is your dominant hand is the one you normally flip with. Your off-hand is the hand you do not flip with.

So holding in your dominant hand the safe handle, turn your off-hand in the same way your main hand is facing. And bring one of the handles of the balisong, and you will turn your hand backwards and slap that handle away. From there, you will rotate the balisong up while moving your hand over and above your other hand, like this. And then flipping that other handle into your hand, grabbing that handle, creating a transfer, you will then rotate the balisong down, placing your other hand above your off-hand, doing another transfer.

Our next trick incorporates advanced movements in a reverse motion. Level 17, reverse behind the eight ball. Reverse behind the eight ball is the exact same motions that you do in the behind the eight ball, just starting at the end first. You will be holding the balisong in a standard closed position. Holding the safe handle, rotate the balisong out to a standard open position.

And then placing the spine of the blade over your thumb, you will do a reverse thumb chaplin. Rotate your wrist so that your thumb is facing down. Do the OK symbol in order to move the balisong from your thumb onto your pointer finger. From there, the balisong will go around for a zero-G chaplin, in which you will stop with your middle finger. The good thing about stopping this with your middle finger is that you can go directly into a full twirl in order to get out of this trick.

For our next trick, we will be increasing complexity by using our wrist in a whole new way. Level 18, wrist bump transfer. To do the wrist bump transfer, you will be throwing a helix aerial. But instead of throwing a helix aerial straight up, you will throw it diagonal. So you will throw it so that it is over top of your off-hand. From your off-hand, you will bump it at the apex of the helix aerial, bringing it back to your other hand, catching and going into another trick.

The reason we bump at the apex is so that we do not fight gravity. With most knives being titanium, bringing down hard metal onto your hand can often hurt. You have to be very precise with where you bump the balisong. If you do not hit the balisong on the back of your hand at the pivots, or if you do not hit it at the center of your wrist, you can cause it to go in different directions, oftentimes crashing to the floor.

For this next trick, we are increasing complexity by doing a reverse trick with an aerial. Level 19, aerial to reverse chaplin. You are technically throwing the same way that you do a standard aerial. But once you throw the standard aerial, you want to throw it with a slower rotation. This slower rotation will let you be able to place your pointer finger between the spine of the blade and the safe handle, towards the tang of the blade. This will then give you more control over where you start the chaplin and how you start the chaplin. A cool ending to this trick could also be ending with a shortstop.

For this next trick, we are increasing complexity, because we are throwing the balisong over and behind our back blindly. Level 20, modified guillotine. The guillotine was invented by Edward Anthonis, also known as Lucifur on Instagram. This trick is a finisher. But today, I have modified it as a part of a combo that you can keep going from. You hold the balisong with one handle, just like you're going to throw a standard aerial.

Bend down to roughly waist height and throw the balisong over your back. Seeing its rotation, find a handle you can grab and throw a thumb rollover. This will get you into your next trick safely and without getting cut. This is done best by keeping it into one rotation or even a half rotation to be a handle switch. Practice many times by just bending down and throwing it over you. Not too long so it gets out of your reach, not too short so it hits your back, but just so it's over your shoulders able to be caught.

For this next level, we are increasing complexity because we are throwing two tricks with little to no control. Level 21, ladder aerial to reverse chaplin. So as this trick suggests, you will be throwing a ladder, an aerial, and a reverse chaplin. Starting the ladder between your ring finger and your pinky, you will move it up. Just like we did in the ladder, use the pointer finger to throw the aerial and get a half rotation to where you can place your index finger in between the spine of the blade and the safe handle.

Starting with a large circle, just like we did in the chaplin and the aerial reverse chaplin, you will then get to smaller circles, depending on when you find the momentum and the balance.

This aerial is pretty difficult because you are throwing with two fingers or just starting the rotation with your pointer finger. Similar to the ladder, this trick can go wrong by losing control of the balisong between your fingers or placing your finger in the wrong spot on the aerial.

For our next level, we are increasing complexity by using a lot of the aerials that we have learned so far. Level 22, extended combos. It's not just these singular tricks. You can put these tricks together any way you want to into combos. This combo that I am doing, I have done in the 2021 Blade Show Competition for the quarterfinals. I was trying to do as many aerials as possible in the time frame given in order to beat my opponent.

The hard thing about throwing a lot of aerials is you can lose control very easily. A little bit more of a rotation makes you put in a different move and lose your flow of what you're doing. Combos can go on forever.

But since we've run out of tricks to add, to raise our complexity, let's just take away our sight. Level 23, blindfolded flipping. Blindfolded flipping is all about muscle memory. You completely lose your sight, so you are strictly going with what your fingers feel. So make sure you're careful with this one. Practice, practice, practice so you know where the balisong lands. You are solely relying on your hands. For all of our levels up to this point, we have had one blade in one hand. For our last level, we are adding a second balisong.

Level 24, doubles. There are three styles of doubles. Mirrored, where both hands are doing the same tricks. Staggered, where both hands are doing the same tricks where your off-hand is slowly behind your main hand. And freestyle, where each hand is doing their own routine. My preferred style of doubles is freestyle. That way, I can do a singular thing with my off-hand and a singular thing with my main hand, as my main hand can do things that my off-hand can't. Plus, overall, I just think it looks really cool.

Freestyle doubles is really hard, because it's almost like you got to use the left side of your brain for your left hand and the right side of your brain for your right hand. If you really don't know how to do freestyle doubles, you can do the same tricks over and over in your off-hand as a loop while you do something else with your main hand. For me personally, I do a thumb rollover into a half twirl with my off-hand, and then I do everything else with my main hand. It's kind of like a smoke and mirrors-type thing.

Balisong flipping is always changing. It's always getting harder, as there's new tricks developed every day. What I hope someone takes away from this video is seeing that balisong flipping can be really fun. It can be therapeutic. It can be something that people lean on, such as I have in the past. It's something that you can do with your friends, a community that you have on social media. It's led me to some of my best friends that I've ever met.

Personally, I'm still learning stuff every day. There are people out there who can throw things that I would never even dream of, and even more tricks are going to be thrown in three years that we would have never thought of now. Thanks, Wired.

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