Kirjava
Colourful
I've been using Roux for 7 years now. Over this period of time, my <M,U> technique has evolved a great deal. Initially, I felt that stage 4 was the weakest part of the method. Now it's a powerful aspect.
I think I occasionally perform some M moves as combinations of two moves (Rr', etc) but this has gradually been phased out as I've improved my M moves. I'm not sure if I do them at all anymore. I will not be covering them here.
I perform the M moves solely with my left hand, but this can just be mirrored. It's something to keep in mind if you want to apply these techniques in OH, but unimportant otherwise.
I use a standard grip with my hands for <M,U> - I don't regrip (ever). My left hand grips the cube with my middle finger and thumb on BL and FL, and my right hand grips the cube with ring finger and thumb on BR and FR. I do not this that this is a 'standard grip'.
This grip allows for double flicks with pinky and ring of left hand, and double flicks with index and middle of the right hand - allowing U2 with right hand, U2' (eido) with left and full control of M slice. U2' is a bit messy for <M,U>, I only use it for one specific EO case. I used to use it for more but phased it out with U2 (that took a while to do, too. I'd been doing it the old way for a looong time and it was hard adjusting).
M'
My M' technique has remained essentially unchanged since I started. I use my left ring finger to push on BD towards DF.
M2
Originally, I was doing a strange M'1.5 R'0.5 r0.5 kind of thing. While quite fast, other people had a better technique of left ring then right ring. Unfortunately this would not fit my style.
With the advent of the modern fingertrick for A Perm with the pinky ring doubleflick, after getting used to that I applied it to M2 instead of D2. This took some getting used to, but now is far superiour than anything else I have found.
Firstly, I use my left pinky finger to push on BD towards DF, then do the same with my left ring finger.
This new technique is the only reason why I can do H Perm so fast one handed.
M
The curse of <M,U>. At least, it used to be. Back before developing this move, I would use a different technique for each situation. For MUM', I would do Rr'UM' - then for U2M I would do an eido U2' and use an index pull from BU to UF in one motion.
These days, I'm doing a left ring push from DB to BU. Seems to work just fine in most situations.
However, I'm not sure if I should be using this exclusively. In cases like U2MU2MU2, moving the ring finger back after the first M move is not something I'm adept at yet to do quickly enough. That string of moves is definitely the weakest point of my technique at the moment. That doesn't mean it's bad, I just think it might be able to be improved. This situation isn't common, but there's a single M layer case that requires it and it'd be nice to find a nice trick for it.
Some ideas I've had for two M moves following after each other inbetween U moves are to use an index pull for the second move. This frees up plenty of time for the left hand to move where it needs to be for the next M move, but the left hand is left in a bad position for doing U moves.
Something else I've though up while writing this post is to throw a left pinky push from DB to BU in there at some point. Maybe pinky then ring or ring then pinky. Will have to practise it.
Hope this helps people develop their fingertricks. Would be interesting to see how others do things, I'd be impressed if you could convince me that you had a better technique for something.
I think I occasionally perform some M moves as combinations of two moves (Rr', etc) but this has gradually been phased out as I've improved my M moves. I'm not sure if I do them at all anymore. I will not be covering them here.
I perform the M moves solely with my left hand, but this can just be mirrored. It's something to keep in mind if you want to apply these techniques in OH, but unimportant otherwise.
I use a standard grip with my hands for <M,U> - I don't regrip (ever). My left hand grips the cube with my middle finger and thumb on BL and FL, and my right hand grips the cube with ring finger and thumb on BR and FR. I do not this that this is a 'standard grip'.
This grip allows for double flicks with pinky and ring of left hand, and double flicks with index and middle of the right hand - allowing U2 with right hand, U2' (eido) with left and full control of M slice. U2' is a bit messy for <M,U>, I only use it for one specific EO case. I used to use it for more but phased it out with U2 (that took a while to do, too. I'd been doing it the old way for a looong time and it was hard adjusting).
M'
My M' technique has remained essentially unchanged since I started. I use my left ring finger to push on BD towards DF.
M2
Originally, I was doing a strange M'1.5 R'0.5 r0.5 kind of thing. While quite fast, other people had a better technique of left ring then right ring. Unfortunately this would not fit my style.
With the advent of the modern fingertrick for A Perm with the pinky ring doubleflick, after getting used to that I applied it to M2 instead of D2. This took some getting used to, but now is far superiour than anything else I have found.
Firstly, I use my left pinky finger to push on BD towards DF, then do the same with my left ring finger.
This new technique is the only reason why I can do H Perm so fast one handed.
M
The curse of <M,U>. At least, it used to be. Back before developing this move, I would use a different technique for each situation. For MUM', I would do Rr'UM' - then for U2M I would do an eido U2' and use an index pull from BU to UF in one motion.
These days, I'm doing a left ring push from DB to BU. Seems to work just fine in most situations.
However, I'm not sure if I should be using this exclusively. In cases like U2MU2MU2, moving the ring finger back after the first M move is not something I'm adept at yet to do quickly enough. That string of moves is definitely the weakest point of my technique at the moment. That doesn't mean it's bad, I just think it might be able to be improved. This situation isn't common, but there's a single M layer case that requires it and it'd be nice to find a nice trick for it.
Some ideas I've had for two M moves following after each other inbetween U moves are to use an index pull for the second move. This frees up plenty of time for the left hand to move where it needs to be for the next M move, but the left hand is left in a bad position for doing U moves.
Something else I've though up while writing this post is to throw a left pinky push from DB to BU in there at some point. Maybe pinky then ring or ring then pinky. Will have to practise it.
Hope this helps people develop their fingertricks. Would be interesting to see how others do things, I'd be impressed if you could convince me that you had a better technique for something.
