This is part 2 of a series on Mabrouk. In this part I describe in excruciating details the four slalom components of Mabrouk previously summarized in What is Mabrouk: a slalom variant of Grapevine. I learned to skate a sustained Mabrouk by first practicing the four slalom components, and by connecting them with rudimentary transitions. I later refined these transitions to make the entire Mabrouk sequence flow, but that is for part 3 and beyond of this series.
Following diagram and filmstrip recap key takeaways from part 1. Remember to read them from right to left, as indicated by the yellow arrow showing the direction of body movement. Labels s1, s2, s3 and s4 denote the four slalom components of Mabrouk. Transitions are annotated by balance moments b1, b2, b3 and b4. Vertical blue and pink bands show when left and right skates glide alone as the primary bearer of body weight. Thus, the blue left skate can be seen bearing weight and gliding around balance moments b1, and later around balance moment b3. The red right skate can be seen bearing weight and gliding around b2, and later around b4.


Similarly, the filmstrip above illustrates a full Mabrouk sequence, incorporating both slalom components s1, s2, s3 and s4, and balance moments b1, b2, b3 and b4. Remember to read them from right to left, as indicated by the yellow arrow showing the direction of body movement. At every component and moment, the projected center of gravity is indicated by a yellow circle on the ground. Slalom components are labeled in white – they are symmetric distribution points where both skates shoulder body weight equally. Balance moments are transition steps where one skate shoulders all body weight, colored blue when the left skate carries body weight and glides, and red when the right skate does so.
TLDR: for those of you who just want simple instructions on learning Mabrouk, search for the label TLDR on this page. You may ignore deep introspections and tedious expositions on Mabrouk. Those are really for academics, and for learners with too much time in their hands.
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