Because suicides are drops, too.
Note: for all y'all who hate long-ass guides, I'm going to try to keep this as concise as possible without sacrificing information. But be warned, there are many factors and moves in a suicide, and I am trying to be as complete as possible, so this is definitely one of the longer guides.
For those who don't quite know what a suicide is, it is a dramatic form of drop that gives the viewers the impression that you have just killed yourself, as you flip or fall sideways and land flat on your back or stomach. It looks like it hurts, and if done incorrectly, it does. Like Hell.
This guide is designed to address the common problems one may encounter while attempting suicides, therefore minimizing the risk of very painful or even serious injury. Therefore, this guide couldn't possibly be very short because "do a front-flip and land on your back... don't get hurt," quite frankly doesn't cut it. So, here we go.
PART I: STRETCHING
First you'd want to make sure your body is very loose and relaxed. Do all the stretches known to man, and make sure you are RELAXED. Any sore muscles would really do a number on your body. Stretch your arms and upper body extensively, for these muscles will play a very important role. Once you have finished stretching, go find someplace soft.
PART II: MENTAL PREPARATION
You are about to do a flip (front, back, whatever). Make sure you aren't going to chicken out at the last second. Go find your mattress, put it on the floor, and practice front flips if you know you have problems following through with a flip. If you cant use a mattress, go on the grass, on your school's wrestling mat, trampoline, wherever there isn't a danger of breaking your tailbone.
Do it enough times so that you are comfortable. Tell yourself, if you could do it on grass, you could do it on cement. Next comes the actual suicide moves. I recommend practicing these on the grass with a blanket (unless you like chlorophyll stains).
PART III: PHYSICAL PREPARATION
While you are practicing on grass, there are a few things to keep in mind:
1. RIGHT WHEN you hit the ground, straighten your arms, keep the hands palms-down, and smack the ground with your whole arm. Not just your hand, or your forearm... I am talking about the whole shoulder-to-fingertips arm hitting the ground at the same time. Your palms should get red and uncomfortable by doing this. Take a short break, then keep practicing this again.
2. Your arms hit the ground the same time your body does. Anytime sooner, then your hands hit and hurt like hell, your body then hits and hurts like hell. Anytime later, then you get the wind knocked out of you. Your arms are supposed to act as shock absorbers by "hitting back" at the ground THE INSTANT your back touches. TENSE your arms, the whole rest of your body could remain relaxed, but with your arms tensed, your force would go straight into the ground and not back up at you, therefore, you won't bounce.
3. Your legs also hit the ground at the same time as your arms. You pretty much want your whole body to hit simultaneously, therefore the force would be spread out across the whole surface, and not in one isolated area (like your ass, for example).
This makes it so that suicides are much more bearable, and over time, you hardly feel a thing as others gasp just watching you. A good place to start is to bend your knees slightly (while keeping your back and hips straight just before you land), so your feet hit the ground right when your arms do. Gradually extend your legs over time, as you begin to get familiar with the force your body endures.
4. As you hit the ground, breath OUT, and emit a sudden and powerful breath of air once you hit. The less air you have in your lungs, the less your body would hurt. Keeping air in your body during a move like this causes your lungs to expand laterally, which pushes against the diaphragm and internal organs, giving you that extremely uncomfortable feeling of getting the wind knocked out of you.
For starters, keep your mouth open and keep breathing out as you jump and approach the ground. Try to get ALL OF THE AIR out of you as fast as possible before you hit the ground.
PART IV: THE ACTUAL MOVES
Remember, you have to get the motions PERFECT before even attempting to go on a harder surface. Doing it wrong might not cause permanent damage, but it sure hurts like hell for a few days, which really kills your toprock. These are only a few of the many suicides there are out there. Note: I don't know the official name for them, if anyone does, please comment, thanx!
Suicide 1 : Front-flip suicide/flatout - Everyone knows how to front flip... on a trampoline. Not everyone likes to do it on a wooden floor. The only thing to keep in mind is: (once you have the guts to follow through with the move), your feet hit simultaneously with your back/ass. This is very important, for obvious reasons. People have broken their os coxae (hip bones) by doing it wrong on hard floor.
When you come around, just before you hit the floor, straighten your back and hips, and bend your knees slightly (for beginners). Upon landing, you'd want to keep your arms out at about a 90 degree angle from each other, palms down, TENSE. SMACK the floor with those arms the instant your body hits. Remember, ass first sucks.
It's safer to have your feet land first, then the rest of your body hit, as long as you eventually get it synchronized with your fall.
Note: this could also be performed by simply falling backwards. Just keep that back straight and butt tucked in, and keep your head down (as in keep facing your feet the whole way, so that your head doesn't pound against the floor).
Suicide 2 : Front-side flip - I am going to describe this suicide for right-handed people. From standing, you will take your right arm and swing it from slightly above the right side of your head, to below your left hip as hard as you can. You should feel yourself wanting to flip over and spin in midair, and that is exactly what you will do.
During the flip, your body will spin towards your left side, so be prepared: straighten you left leg (i mean, LOCK YOUR KNEE and stiffen the muscles) while keeping your right leg bent. Your left arm will also be straight and tense (palm down, again), as you keep your right arm relaxed. YOU WILL LAND ON YOUR LEFT SIDE, as the whole of your left leg hits at once, at the same time, your right foot lands right behind it, and your left arm smacks the ground beside you.
Remember to breathe out. Your right arm does whatever the hell it wants, i usually just fold it over my chest. Remember, everything lands at once, your WHOLE BODY acts as a shock absorber.
Note, while doing this move, sometimes I like to keep my right arm straight and in the air, giving the impression that some JuJitsu man threw me over his shoulder. That's a good trick to play in team battles. For lefties: just reverse left and right. It's the same thing.
Suicide 3 : Face Falls - now these are dangerous. For both Boys and girls... because of... extending anatomy. Due to this, a slightly different approach has to be used. Breathing out is the same, but not the whole body landing simultaneously. Here, one would have to use either arms or legs to protect these vital body parts. In all cases, ALWAYS TURN YOUR HEAD TO ONE SIDE unless you really want an excuse for expensive nose surgery.
1. Knee fall - notice this is different from the knee drop. From standing, you will kick one leg out to the side, while the other completely bends BENEATH you. So, I kick my right leg out to the side, as my left leg bends, and turns slightly to the right, so my thigh and calves supports my chest.
When I mean bend it, bend it as far as it could go. The knee should be a few inches DIRECTLY below your chin. Make sure that when you leg bends beneath you, it does it so fast that you actually have to FALL to the ground, and not just float down. Turn your head to one side, and your hands land on each side of your head, for support.
Note: this move doesn't look that great from standing, its better if you jump very high in the air, land straight into this. This is one of the easiest "suicides" (it probably really isn't a suicide) but it still looks pretty cool with the right toprock.
2. Front Fall - From standing (easier if your legs are spread WIDE), simply fall forward onto your face, but don’t hit your face! Keep on your toes!! This is especially important for guys with important packages south of the border. Stay on your toes.
As for the face thing, Practice first by stopping your fall using your hands, so that your face comes only inches of hitting the floor (turn head to one side, again). Even better, use your whole forearm to stop your fall. As you practice, you could allow your face you get closer and closer to the ground... eventually you could have both your arms outstretched above you so that only your arms and chest hit, and not your face. B-girls must be careful with this, though! Again, try this from the air.
3. Backflip suicide - Oh god i don't know. Good luck with this one, i can't even do a valdez. If anyone knows anything on this move, please share the wealth.
For suicides, you could do anything crazy - Suicides are up to you. They could be performed from any moves, at any time. Just be careful. Make sure to have the proper form: Landing on your back - Breathe out, your body is a shock absorber, arms smack the ground; Landing on your stomach - Breathe out, arms and legs protect your body parts, turn face to the side. This is just a basic guide for those who want to learn and make up their own moves. I might get on to more specific suicides and how to do them, if I figure them out myself.