Headspin, power move, spinning headstand.

The headspin entered breaking in the mid-1970s. The Zulus¹ developed headspins by 1976 , and Swane and Beaver were known to do headspins around this time . The move may have been influenced by kung fu movies . Kid Freeze developed the "continuous headspin" in 1977 or 1978 . Trac 2 learned the headspin from Swane in 1978, and did a back handspring-headspin in the same year. Willie Will developed the swipe-headspin in 1979 with Spy. The headspin was still not widespread in 1979 , and must have propagated during 1980/81, as it is mentioned in the first news article on breaking, published in 1981 . The move appears in most early breaking films, including Wild Style, Style Wars, Breakin', and Beat Street . Storm recounts that the headspin and 1990 were in "fashion" from 1988 until 1993 .

The original headspin, called a one-shot headspin, is executed from the headstand position with a single push. A headspin of this kind appears in the 1898 short film A Street Arab . Headspins were also done by Norwegian Halling dancer Olav Thorshaug in the 1910s .

Numerous headspin variations have been documented .

Ball Headspin

Also egg headspin. Headspin with the legs tucked into the chest, and the hands grabbing the ankles. Developed by Orko .

Drilled Headspin

Also drill, pencil headspin. Headspin with legs pointed straight up and arms close to the body. Developed by Lil Lep .

Forearm Headspin

Headspin with forearms on the ground, behind the head.

Radar Headspin

Headspin with legs and arms arched backwards. Developed by Orko , evolving from his concept of going "as far back as I could—to spin on my forehead" .

Stop & Go Headspin

Also stop n go headspin, Rubik's cubes. Headspin where the torso is intermittently rotated against the direction of motion, keeping it temporarily stationary.

Swirls

Forearm headspin with one arm in front of the head.

Tap Headspin

Headspin with intermittent taps of the hands on the ground to maintain balance and build speed.

1. Referring to the b-boys and b-girls in the nascent Zulu Nation, i.e. the Zulu Masters, Zulu Kings, Zulu Queens, Shaka Zulus, etc. . Likely the Shaka Zulus specifically, as Cholly Rock did not do headspins .