Tsukahara

Application: Men’s Artistic Gymnastics and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics

A Tsukahara vault is a type of gymnastics vault named after Japanese gymnast Mitsuo Tsukahara. It involves:

1. A roundoff onto the springboard
2. A back handspring onto the vaulting table
3. A push off the table with a twisting backflip dismount

Both men and women gymnasts perform variations of the Tsukahara with different numbers of twists and flips in the dismount phase.

Skill levels:

• Typically introduced at the intermediate to advanced levels
• In the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic program, simplified versions may be seen at Level 7
• More complex Tsukahara variations are common at Level 8 and above
• At the elite level, gymnasts perform highly difficult Tsukahara variations with multiple twists or flips