Jump Rope Videos

Belgian Double Dutch team DDF recently appeared on the tv show Supertalent in Vlaanderen. Supertalent is an American Idol style talent show where three judges watch your performance and then either like you, or they rip you to shreds. And I think one is required to say something like “I don’t know, dawg, it was a little pitchy for me.” Only on this show they say it in Dutch. Whatever language it’s in, DDF did an outstanding job. Nice work guys!

Here’s the latest promotional video for the Japanese Double Dutch Team Kurui. They won the double dutch holiday classic at the Apollo in 2005. The Bouncing Bulldogs from USAJR placed 2nd in that same competition with their amazing double dutch routine.

Here’s another jump rope video from the Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo. These freestyle routines are from a couple of Japanese teams. Kurui won best of show and Kirin took third place. Both teams are amazing. Teams from Japan have dominated the competition for the last several years. In these videos you can see why. They demonstrate excellent control over the ropes, very advanced tricks, great choreography, and great stage presence.

What does the U.S. need to do to catch up? A few years ago some jump rope teams started hiring gymnastics instructors to train their jumpers. It’s not far fetched to believe some teams will hire dance instructors over the next few years to teach some hip-hop inspired moves. With the recent success of the Disney movie “Jump In!” and the good reviews for the new documentary “Doubletime“, this new fusion of styles seems poised to become much more popular.

There is going to be a Double Dutch Contest in Leuven, Belgium on Saturday, April 14th, 2007. The contest rules say that there will be 3 events: 2 minute speed, Fusion, and 115Free (aka Double Dutch Pairs Freestyle). It is an international open competition. For details on entering, check out the website at www.ddcb.be.

Here’s some excellent double dutch freestyle from DDF, a team of world champion jumpers from Belgium. I met team member Maarten Goedemé before when I toured Europe in 1998 and again at the 1999 world championships. He is an excellent jumper and all around nice guy. DDF is actively bringing the Fusion style of Double Dutch to Europe.

Here’s another Jump Rope Video from Japan. This is team Kurui. I’m really impressed with the Double Dutch routines that I’ve seen coming out of Japan.

There is a Double Dutch Contest taking place in Japan on March 25th at CLUB CITTA’ Kawasaki. This promo video reminds me of the Double Dutch Holiday Classic at the Apollo. If you’re in the neighborhood, you should definitely check it out, especially considering teams from Japan have won “Best in Show” at the Apollo 8 of the last 10 years.

The Double Dutch Holiday Classic is held every year at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Teams compete in speed and compulsory events, but the main attraction is the Fusion event. I’ve only recently discovered the Fusion format online, but I wish I had known about it years ago. Fusion features some of the most innovative Double Dutch Freestyle happening anywhere in the world. Fusion routines can have anywhere from 3-6 team members and are set to music. They combine elements of dance, gymnastics, and jump rope into an electrifying visual display.

Since the format allows up to 6 people, it reminds me of the Double Dutch routines we always saved for the finale of staff shows at workshops and camps. Those were always my favorite routines because that’s where we traditionally had the most innovation. It was in one of those staff show finales where we introduced “The Subway” to the world. Unfortunately we only got to scratch the surface of what was possible because everyone always came from different parts of the country and we never had enough time to practice. Imagine what could be done if you focused on perfecting one of those routines all year long. The result would be a “Fusion” routine.

Here’s a video report on the Double Dutch Holiday Classic from the NY Times:

This is some of the best choreography I’ve ever seen in a double dutch routine. It’s an excellent routine, but I wish they would have landed the basket toss inside the ropes rather than doing it completely outside of the ropes. It would have been very easy for them to do.

I just got back last night from judging the 2007 USA Jump Rope All-Star Team tryouts and my adrenaline is still pumping! The future of this sport is in great hands. Out of 50 candidates, we selected 24 jumpers that will spend the next 2 years being ambassadors for the sport of Jump Rope as they travel around the world performing and teaching. These 24 jumpers were selected by a panel of 12 judges that observed each candidate of the course of the last 3 days.

Each candidate had to go through a very rigorous selection process. On Friday they had to dress up for a 5 minutes taped interview in front of our panel of judges. On Saturday they had to teach an all day workshop while the judges observed and scored them on their teaching ability. On Sunday they had to go through a very difficult day of demonstrating their jumping ability. They were judged in 4 separate events. Each jumper had to learn a very difficult single rope group routine. After that they had to do a single rope freestyle. Then they were randomly assigned to a 3 person team and had to create a double dutch freestyle. Finally they had to demonstrate their mastery of 3-person chinese wheel.

I was very impressed at how far the sport has come in the last few years. These jumpers have taken everything I was doing 10 years ago to an entirely new level. They didn’t just pass me in skill level, they leap frogged me and did a backflip TJ triple before landing.

Here is a taste of what these kids can do. I had the chance to meet some of the jumpers in this video this weekend. This video is of the Bouncing Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are the subject of the new jump rope documentary “Doubletime” by director Stephanie Johnes. They are great kids and amazing athletes. I can’t wait to see what tricks they will come up with next.