Nihai Ohai (ニーハイオーハイ)

Nihai Ohai is a waza used in conjunction with OAD during the A-melo. Some teams utilize Nihai Ohai outside of the A-melo, although this is rarely the case. We will be focusing on what is performed during A-melo. An example of this can be seen below.

Nihai Ohai, no lights. Song: "Yume de Yozora o Terashitai" from Love Live! Sunshine!!

Starting Stance

The starting stance for Nihai Ohai starts right from an OAD, after six counts of OAD. As you begin your Nihai Ohai, your head should turn to face your left foot, shown below.

Red arrow shows direction head is facing

Overhead Swing

After you face your foot, you want to bring your arms out of your OAD and over your head in a big circle motion towards your left foot. This motion should only take one beat.

Red arrow is the path your hands should take

Nihai (Knee High)

Your arms are then brought stopping between your foot and your knee (this is where Knee High comes from). Bending too low to bring your hands all the way down to your foot may make you lose your balance.

Ohai

After stopping, your arms will move straight across your body, back up to your head level.

Red arrow is the path your hands should take

Ending Flip

This part is perhaps the hardest of Nihai Ohai. This entire motion should take two beats. Once you bring your hands to eye level, you want to push your hands outward and make a small circle motion, bringing your hands back together, this time with the backs of your hands facing up instead of your open palms. The flip motion itself should only take one beat, with the beat after used to insert a small pause to make the motion look crisper.

Red arrow is the path your hands should take

Nihai Ohai should then end in a position where you can naturally begin OAD.

Important Points

• Do not bring your arms too far downwards. This will cause your body to hunch over making the overall movement look smaller.
• When returing in Ohai, do not turn your body completely sideways. Keeping your body slightly angled forward makes the motion look bigger but also makes the motion look cleaner.
• When doing the flip, push your arms outward and exaggerate the circle motion. This extra movement makes Nihai Ohai much sharper.

When all put together, Nihai Ohai looks as follows.

Nihai Ohai, with lights. Song: "Yume de Yozora o Terashitai" from Love Live! Sunshine!!

This concludes the guide on Nihai Ohai. Next up is Soiya / 4 Strikes, which is also used in the A-Melo.