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First off, let me state that I have
no idea where the term "Japslap" came from, but
it is in no way meant to be derogatory. I can only assume
that whoever came up with it saw it first from a Japanese
rider (who are amazingly good at trials these days). In
that sense, it's really a homage. I just don't want anyone
to think we are crude.
With that out of the way, the Japslap is basically a combination
of the Bunnyhop and the lurch. It has aspects of both, and
is very useful for getting up objects. It has an advantage
over the bunnyhip in that it doesn't need hardly as much
room to run up. It also has an advantage over the lurch
in the fact that the Japslap has a little more forward momentum,
making higher ups possible.
The Japslap can be done from a roll or from a standstill.
It's easiest to learn from a slow roll. The body motions
are almost exactly a mix of the bunnyhoop and lurch, you
use the same body shifts and arm pulling to get the bike
into the air, but the power to get up comes from a pedal
stroke instead of a fast rolling speed as in a bunnyhop.
To begin, you need to position your feet with your bad foot
forward. This move makes use of a half pedal rotation, as
opposed to the ratcheting motion of the lurch. Rolling slowly
towards the target, with the bad foot forward, you will
make a quick, forceful half rotation (notice that now your
good foot is forward, making it much easier to pedal plant
or balance when you get on top of the target). At the same
time as the pedal movement, pull up and forward just like
a bunnyhop/lurch. The idea is to get the rear wheel off
the ground and get high enough to either rear-wheel to the
top of the target or at least get to your bashguard. This
will take some practice, but you'll find that you will be
able to get much higher with this method than with a pure
from-a-standtill lurch. You might be thinking that you are
able to bunnyhop higher, but what happens when you don't
have 20 feet to run up? That's where the Japslap comes in.
This move, of course, has variations. Some people use a
full, all the way around pedal stroke to really launch themselves
far to clear a huge gap. I can't do this personally, it
feels really weird to me. If you can manage it, it can help
getting across larger spaces. You can also use the Japslap
to get off something, much like a lurch.
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