Jump Rope Videos

In today’s video the YMCA Super Skippers demonstrate some advanced Jump Rope skills for us. The first trick is a 4-wheel switch. The second trick is a trick for two people with one rope called the “TLC Tunnel”. The 3rd and final trick is a fast 3-wheel gig. These tricks take a lot of practice and good teamwork to master.

Great job guys!!

I’m very happy to introduce the latest video project from USA Jump Rope All Star Lee Reisig. His video for “Welcome to Jumptown” is still one of my favorite videos we’ve shown on JRV. This is the first episode of “The Rope Show”. Lee plans to make this an on going series in which he will bring us “the latest in Jump Rope news, moves, demos, and challenges.” In episode 1 Lee introduces a 3-wheel technique called the “Gig Cross”.

One of the great things about Lee is his very analytical approach to Jump Rope. He’s great at breaking down skills and figuring out how they work. He can take a single technique and visualize how it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. To me that’s what it really takes to perform at a Masters level in this sport. You need a high “Jump IQ”. In my opinion, Lee’s Jump IQ is off the charts.

I asked Lee what we can look forward to in future episodes. He said that he has some footage from the US Trials and even some video of the “Deathwish” that Nick Woodard told us about last year.

If you have questions or ideas for Lee, leave your comments here and I’ll pass them along to him.

This is a video of the Ropeworks performance troupe at the Seattle Folklife festival 2007. It is a very professional jump rope demonstration. You can definitely see Rene Bibaud’s influence on their jumping style. It feels like this is straight out of one of her Cirque Du Soleil performances which is quite an accomplishment. It’s always great to see a show that successfully blends multiple styles. In this video we get to see single rope, double dutch, traveler, and chinese wheel.

Here is a great performance by the staff of the 2007 Rope Skipping camp in Aarhus, Denmark. They are clearly a high caliber group of jumpers. They attempt a lot of tricks with an extremely high level of difficulty. I like how they mix up the show with a lot of Double Dutch, Chinese Wheel, and Single Rope freestyle.

There are only a handful of professional rope skippers in the world, and Peter Nestler of Rope Masters is one of them. That’s right, you heard me, he makes a living jumping rope. We should all be so lucky. Actually, luck isn’t much of a factor here. Peter’s success is the direct result of a lot of hard work and a drive to constantly get better at everything he does. Peter may just be the hardest working jumper in the world. In the coming school year he will be going on a tour of nearly 350 schools! He has produced 2 jump rope DVDs and is working on his 3rd. And if that doesn’t wear you out, he recently started the worlds first jump rope video podcast.

I first met Peter in the early 90’s and got to jump with him on several occasions at camps and got to see him compete and win in international competitions. He’s easily one of the best single rope jumpers in the world and is a lot of fun to watch. When I discovered earlier this year that Peter had “gone pro” I had to check out what he was up to, so I ordered a copy of Revolve.

Revolve is a lot of fun to watch. In it Peter teams up with some of the top jumpers in the world to demonstrate some pretty amazing rope skipping. On a stop in Juneau, Kaitlyn Hart and Nicole Lim jump with Peter to demonstrate some Chinese Wheel. Trent Cunningham (Peter’s old jumping partner) also stops by to demo some Traveler.

By far my favorite section of the DVD is when Peter visits Houston to join forces with USA Jump Rope All Stars Nick Woodard and Jeff Mauss. Nick and Jeff show off a little of their pairs single rope freestyle which has always been amazing. The Double Dutch section that follows is also worth watching for some one-of-a-kind stunts that I won’t spoil for you. Just watch it. Peter is also joined by a unique cast of characters including strong man Dennis Rogers (rips phone books in half and bends metal with his bare hands) and extreme unicyclist Dan Heaton (can jump steps and park benches while riding). It’s all very entertaining to watch.

Revolve is exclusively a performance video. There is no attempt to break down or teach any of the tricks contained in this DVD. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it. I’ve watched several sections in slow motion to see how Peter pulls off some of his single rope tricks, and I’ve picked up some valuable information from that. I’m currently working on a rope release called the Mamba that Peter does with ease, and being able to watch him do it in slow motion is extremely helpful. In fact my favorite special feature on the DVD is the “Slow Motion Gallery.” For me that was worth the price of the DVD alone. If you are looking for more traditional instruction on how to jump rope, Peter has a Single Rope Skills DVD and is currently working on a new Double Dutch instructional video. Also, be sure to subscribe to his podcast on iTunes in which he teaches 2 new tricks on every episode.

Here is a preview of Revolve. I highly recommend you pick up your copy today.

In the sport of Jump Rope, we have several categories or styles of jumping. The two most common styles that most people are readily familiar with are Single Rope and Double Dutch. Other styles are well known within the sport, but are not commonly known to the general public. These include Chinese Wheel (2 people, 2 ropes, trading handles), Partner jumping (2 people, 1 rope), and Long Ropes (ropes greater than 20 feet in length). I often think that some of these styles end up taking a backseat to Single Rope and Double Dutch. Therefore it is great to see the occasional innovation in one of these styles. This group of jumpers from Taiwan does just that. They have a cool performance filled with several of these sometimes forgotten styles of jumping. Have you ever seen long rope tricks performed so fast?

This is a cool street performance in Amsterdam. If you’ve never done a street performance, you should give it a try. They are a ton of fun. It’s great to be that close to your audience and be able to interact with them and see their reactions up close. These guys rip through several styles of jumping including single rope, partner jumping with one rope, chinese wheel, and double dutch. They do a nice job playing to the growing crowd of people passing by. Fun stuff!

The basic Chinese Wheel is a style of jumping rope that involves two jumpers and two ropes. The two partners stand side by side and exchange the handles in the hands closest to each other. The ropes are then turned on alternating beats. The jumpers share the responsibility of turning both ropes. Each jumper does a “double bounce” while jumping. This means that each jumper jumps twice for every revolution of their rope.

You will want to use ropes that are slightly longer than you would normally use for single rope jumping. While a single rope normally comes up to your arm pits when you stand on it with two feet, a Chinese Wheel rope should come up to your ears. Beaded ropes are usually the rope of choice for Chinese Wheel since they are more visible to the audience.

The most difficult part of learning Chinese Wheel is unlearning the arm motions that are associated with normal single rope jumping. You must turn the ropes in a sort of “swimming” motion; when one hand is up the other is down. This is completely different from the arm motions that have been drilled into your head ever since you first picked up a jump rope. The common mistake that beginning Chinese Wheel jumpers make is that they try to turn their arms together as if they were jumping single rope. They may start out with their arms alternating up/down, but they slowly drift back to jumping with their arms turning in unison.

A good way to practice the turning motion is to forget about jumping for a little while. You will need 3 people to do this. The person practicing their turning stands in the middle. The other two stand on either side facing the turner and their job is to just hold the ropes, no jumping is required. Let the turner just focus on turning the ropes in the “swimming” motion. It is important that the two side rope holders do not help turn the rope at all. Make the turner in the middle do all the work. Focus on keeping an even beat (click.click.click.click and not click.click…click.click). Once the turner can keep an even beat, then the turner can try jumping in place while still turning the ropes. Nobody is actually jumping any ropes, this is just for the turner in the middle to practice the necessary arm motions. This is much harder than it sounds. The first few times you try it your natural tendency will be to start turning your hands in unison again.

Chinese wheel can also be done with more than 2 people. You can actually make a wheel with as many people as you want, but the most common wheels are done with 2, 3, or 4 people. Before you start adding more people to the mix, you should be very comfortable with the basic 2 person Chinese Wheel. Here is a video that demonstrates what a basic 2 person Chinese Wheel looks like. Notice how the jumpers turn the ropes and how they do a “double bounce” for each turn of their rope.

Here’s another amazing video of the USA Jump Rope All Star team. This looks like it was taken in 2006 at the world championships. This video has some of the coolest tricks in it, including a three-person double dutch trick called “Gears” and an unbelievable five-person double dutch trick called “Grand Central Station.” It’s so cool to see all of the tricks that have evolved from the original “Subway.”

Here is a nice halftime demonstration by the High Five Jump Rope Team from Parkersburg, West Virginia. They have some fun elements in their show including double dutch inside double dutch and even a chinese wheel inside a chinese wheel. You also have to be impressed by the leap frog during the traveling routine. Cool stuff.