Workshop Saturday

This excellent video comes to us from USA Jump Rope All Star Andrew Pang (Yes, he and Adam are brothers). Andrew has dedicated this video to those people who “sacrifice their time to be Ambassadors for the sport of Jump Rope.” His video does a great job of capturing the spirit and energy of the sport. What a great way to say “Thank you” to the community of people that make this sport so great!

I asked Andrew a few questions about the video and his jumping experience. Here is what he had to say:

JRV: It looks a lot of the footage comes from a staff show at a workshop. When and where was the show where this was filmed?
AP: The staff show was filmed at the Heartthrobbers workshop in Tyler Tx, mid January.

JRV: How old were you when you first learned to jump rope?
AP: I was 5 years old.

JRV: How many years have you been jumping rope?
AP: This year is my 18th year jumping.

JRV: What attracted you to the sport of jump rope?
AP: My mom couldn’t pick us up right after school most of the time, and i joined the local jump rope club so i could have something to do after school. Fast forward to now, its the people I meet and my coach Mrs. Ann who keep me in the sport.

JRV: How old were you when you first worked on staff at a jump rope workshop?
AP: 11 or 12.

JRV: How many jump rope workshops and camps have you taught at through the years?
AP: I cant recall how many workshops but, I have been teaching camps since 2002 and have recently started teaching adults the past few years.

JRV: I’m sure you went to a lot of workshops and camps when you were learning to jump. Who were some of the jumpers that you learned from or looked up to?
AP: Derrick and Marcus, Shaun and Willie, Jennifer, John, and David from Jazzy Jumpers

JRV: Fast forward a few years from when you were learning from those jumpers. Now you are on the USA Jump Rope All Star team and a world class jumper. Now there are little kids all over the world that look up to you. What is your advice to those younger jumpers that want to get to your level?
AP: Work hard, keep jumping, overcome adversity, and don’t take no for an answer.

JRV: Thanks for an awesome video and for being such a great ambassador for our sport. Keep up the good work!
AP:Thank you Chris.

This is what Jump Rope is all about:

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Adam Pang Lands the 900

On January 19th, 2008 Adam Pang became the first jumper to land a jump rope trick called the 900. This is an amazing achievement. For those that don’t know, a 900 is a trick where you start jumping forward, jump in the air and spin 2 1/2 times before landing backwards. The rope has to pass under your feet backwards before you land. To give you an idea of what an amazing accomplishment this is, go read up on Tony Hawk becoming the first Skateboarder to land a 900. Even though Adam is very humble about it, this is an athletic feat on that level of greatness.

Adam is currently a member of the USA Jump Rope All Star Team and was the grand national champion for single rope freestyle in 2006. He even made a cameo appearance in the Disney movie Jump In! Adam was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about landing this amazing trick.

JRV: When and where was this video taken?
AP: The video was taken at the Tyler elite workshop 08.

JRV: Was this the first time you landed the 900?
AP: Yes

JRV: In total, how many times have you landed it?
AP: Just that one time.

JRV: How long had you been working on the 900 before you finally made it?
AP: That was actually the first time i tried the 900. It took me about 6 times to get it though.

JRV: It looks like you and Nick Woodard were having a little friendly competition to see who could do it first. Can you tell us about that?
AP: Yea, we had first started off doing a rope dunk to pass the time. Knowing that Nick could probably do every trick I could do, i had to think of something new no one has done. I ended up trying to do the 900 but didn’t make it in my three attempts. I was close though, so after the rope dunk(Nick won of course), we were both attempting to be the first person to get the trick.

JRV: At one point it looks like you nearly landed it, but Shaun Hamilton waved it off and made you try it again? What happened?
AP: Well, what happened was i landed on the rope but was still able to pull it out. Shaun waved it off because the trick had to be clean in order to say that i was the first to get it.

JRV: What was the secret to landing it? Do you have any pointers for others that are working on it?
AP: There really is no secret. I just jumped as high and spun as fast i could. You easily get disoriented when you do this trick with the rope. If your attempting this trick, practice it without the rope several times keeping your arms close to your body.

JRV: Did anyone else give you any pointers that helped you land the trick? What did they tell you?
AP: No, i just went for it.

JRV: Are you the first person to make it?
AP: From what i know, i am the first person to do this trick.

JRV: Do you know if anyone else has been able to do it since?
AP: I haven’t heard of anyone trying this trick as of yet.

JRV: Do you think this is the hardest trick you’ve ever done? If not, what is the hardest trick you’ve done?
AP: I would say it’s up there with the hardest tricks i’ve tried, but i still think the money maker is the hardest trick.

JRV: Are you working on any tricks that you haven’t been able to do yet? If so, what are they?
AP: I’ve been working on the money maker (kind of close but not really), and a trick i thought up. You basically do a backwards kamikaze and land in a freeze, then pull the freeze.

JRV: What does it feel like to be the first person to land the 900?
AP: It feels great!

JRV:Thanks Adam! Way to go!

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Interview with Stephanie Johnes and Tim Martin of Doubletime

The folks at Spout got a chance to sit down with director Stephanie Johnes and USAJR All Star and World Champion Tim Martin to talk about their new Jump Rope documentary Doubletime. This video was taken the same day that Doubletime premiered at SxSW. They even got some footage of Tim jumping and showing off his amazing single rope freestyle skills.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (7 votes, average: 3.29 out of 5)
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