You too can be a Homicidal Schoolgirl!

Admit it. When you saw Kill Bill, Uma Thurman was awesome, but Go-Go Yubari was the shit. Nothing in that movie was as cool as watching a 17-year-old Schoolgirl swinging around a big ball and chain. If you're anything like me, when you saw that movie you said, "I want to be a homicidal schoolgirl too!" Well, I can show you how.

You need:
1 rope
1 schoolgirl outfit (optional)
1 case of homicidal tendencies (optional for practice, necessary for application)

We're starting with a rope instead of a ball and chain because I don't want you beginners to hurt yourself. Also, I can't afford the ball and chain on my meager salary, so rope it is.
Learn about the rope here
Learn about the videos here

Got your rope? Excellent.
Now we'll start practicing. Please don't do any of these tricks in your living room. Find a nice, open space where there's nothing breakable nearby.

All lessons assume the you are right-handed. If you are left handed, switch all R and L directions.

Lesson 1: Figure Eights
This is pretty basic stuff, but even the craziest homicidal schoolgirls started at the beginning. Start by swinging your rope in a circle that would go clockwise on your left side and counter-clockwise on your right side as you look at it. Do a couple of these circles and then, as the swinging knot is passing your head, cross your arm over your body so that the rope swings to the other side of your body. Use the included videos as visual aids.
Figure Eights (Video File - 426KB)

Now swing the rope in the opposite direction and cross your arm over your body as the knot on the end of the rope is passing by your legs. Those are reverse Figure Eights.
Reverse Figure Eights (Video File - 474KB)

Ok. Go back to figure eights. Add an extra circle when the rope is on your right side. You can do this when the rope is on your left side too, but the video shows the extra circle on your right side.
Figure Eights with an extra circle (Video File - 312KB)

Lesson 2: Elbows
When using your rope as a weapon, it's all about circles. Firgure Eights were just large circles on either side of your body. Most of the techniques from here on out are just using parts of your body to break those large circles into smaller, faster circles. The first body part you'll be using is your elbow. Do some figure eights to get some momentum going, then move your hand in a bit so that the rope catches your elbow. Let the rope make one smaller, faster circle and then continue your figure eight. Do the same thing with the rope swinging in the opposite direction.
Elbows (Video File - 635KB)

Lesson 3: Hands
In Kill Bill, the chain that MIstress Yubari uses is so long that it requires the use of both hands. Your rope, if it's like mine, is not anywhere near that long. Sometimes the empty hand can feel a bit awkward. As with any weapon, you should keep your free hand up as a guard, but when using your rope, you'll want to keep you free hand pretty close to your body so that it doesn't get tangled up. In this lesson, I'll show you some other things you can do with you free hand. It's the same "smaller circle" type of thinking that came with the elbow technique. You can use your hands to break the flow of your circles by letting the rope wrap around either your hand or your wrist. Try not to let it go any higher up than your wrist because you won't have as much control. You can let it wrap for either a half circle or a full circle, then use the figure eight motion to get the rope to unwrap and free your hand up.
Hands (Video File - 717KB)

Lesson 4: Directional changes
Because of the momentum involved in these techniques, it's challenging to change directions in a manner that flows well. Here's a couple simple things you can try.
Using your heel. If you train barefoot, I suggest starting this one off slowly. Spin your rope in a circle forward and let the rope bounce off your heel. It looks simple, but it can take some time to master. Try not to hit the knot with your arch and try not to bring the heel up too much or else the rope will wrap around your ankle.
Heel (Video File - 384KB)
Figure 8 to Reverse figure 8. This move took me forever to figure out. It's one of those things where if you think about it too much, you'll never get it. Start with a reverse figure 8, then turn your whole body around. While you're turning, do an extra circle on your left side. Once you're facing the other way, you'll be doing reverse figure eights. Now do the same thing turning back to the front.
Turning (Video File - 704KB)
Wrapping around your waist. Start by spinning your rope over your head. Doesn't matter which direction. Now bring your arm down so that it wraps around your waist. Snap your arm back and whip the rope back up around your head. The rope should now be spinning in the opposite direction. This technique and the heel technique do not translate to the metal ball and chain, so don't be a moron and try it.
Waist wrap (Video File - 768KB)

Lesson 5: Wrap around your neck
This one is stright out of Kill Bill. I wouldn't actually use this technique in a fight, but it's killer when you're showing off for friends. Start with the rope in your right hand making counter-clockwise circles (from your point of view) in front of you. As the rope comes up at about 5 o'clock, stick your neck out and let the rope wrap around your neck. Follow the knot at the end with your eyes as it wraps around your neck until it gets to the 12 o'clock position, then raise your head up and turn to your left. It took me over an hour of constant trying before I got this one because the timing is so tricky, so start slowly and try not to hit yourself in the face. You can also spin the rope clockwise and do this trick, but the timing's a little harder to get down, so get comfortable with counter lockwise first.
Neck (Video File - 437KB)

Lesson 6: Using your legs
This is another one that's straight out of Kill Bill. It's a directional change using your leg. Start by spinning the rope counter-clockwise as you're seeing it. Stick your right leg out and rotate your body so that your knee draws a half-circle. Now unwrap the rope from your leg and you'll be twirling it in the opposite direction. This can be done in either direction with either leg, but that's the easiest. Get comfortable going back and forth with the leg that's on the same side as your rope hand before using the opposite leg. I kick sort of low in the video to keep it simple, but it'll look a lot more impressive if you use a nice, high crescent kick.
Legs (Video File - 1,005 KB)

When you get really good using your legs, you can do a trick I call "Walking the Rope." It's basically just timing the forward leg wrap with alternating legs. Again, higher kicks look more impressive, but can make your forward steps harder to time.
Walking The Rope (Video File - 1,038 KB)