Definition: The mazurka jump is a half revolution figure skating jump.
First, the skater picks with the free toe. The other leg makes a scissor type motion forward and the skater turns in the direction of the toe that picked and jumps forward in a leaping motion. There is a cross-legged pose in the air. Both legs are straight and the toes are pointed in the air.
The skater then taps the toe of the foot that leaped forward into the ice. Then, the skater lands and glides forward on the foot that was originally tapped into the ice.
Examples: Figure skating legend, Sonja Henie, did huge mazurka jumps. Today's skaters rarely do the large mazurkas that were once a standard for most figure skaters.
Today, mazurka jumps are usually done as part of footwork sequences or used in jump combinations. Young figure skaters do mazurka jumps in their ice skating programs.
