Jump rope helps muscle endurance, strength, and cardiovascular system improvement. Your body develops coordination, rhythm, agility, balance, and durability.
To make things more interesting, we will also introduce a little story.
It is essential to know that the evidence of the existence of this sport has been discovered in ancient Greece, Egypt, and China. In our millennium, however, we remember jump rope as a game that started from the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and crossed the Atlantic along with the settlers.
Remembering with nostalgia for their home country, the Dutch continued to pursue their favorite hobby. They jumped on a rope in front of their homes and sang in their native language, though they seemed ridiculous in the eyes of the colonizers.
But, the involvement of the colonialists in history proves to be significant; they gave the name of the sport “Double Dutch.”
Jump rope became popular at the end of the 20th century when a New York police officer decided to use “Double Dutch” in a program for youths dealing with drugs, theft, and other immoral and illegal things on the streets.
And bingo! The program with the motto “Rope, not Dope” (rope, not drugs) was successful. Until 1980 in New York alone, there were over 15,000 Double Dutch practitioners.
Soon, McDonald’s restaurant chain also joins the campaign, which starts to fund the event. The Double Dutch competitions were gaining in popularity. Still, it was unknown why when the McDonald’s sponsorship ended, and the jump rope obsession had subsided.
Naturally, despite all these ups and downs, children and athletes, even physiotherapy patients, jumped on the rope to have fun. However, there was simply no mass interest.
And then, Richard Cendali, a footballer from Boulder (Colorado, USA), appeared. His coach urged Richard to improve his overall condition by giving him a choice – either climbing the stadium stairs within an hour or jumping on a rope for 15 minutes.
Probably matchism principles did not allow the player to choose the rope because it was a “girl’s game.”
But, when it became almost impossible to climb the steps in the winter, the knife rested on its bones, and Richard leaned to the second option. One small sacrifice on his part and one big step in the history of sports!
Over time, Cendali became too good at jump rope and began to come up with tricks that would make it difficult. Today we know them as “Chris Cross” (crossing arms during a jump), “Double under” (twisting a rope twice within a single jump), “Multiple under” (scrolling a rope n times within one jump again), and more.
Richard Cendali began teaching his skills to his students (he was also a physical education teacher). They, in turn, invented new tricks, and their enthusiasm eventually infected the United States, and later became available to the rest of the world. That’s how the purebred rope jumping sport was born.
History is an excellent prelude to practicing this sport. Not accidentally played to this day. And Richard Cendali’s coach knew what he was saying.
Jump rope helps with endurance and muscle strength. Your body develops coordination, rhythm, agility, balance, and durability. And if that’s not enough to excite your enthusiasm, here are the other good sides of rope jumping:
- it’s learned quickly and easily
- it’s accessible – can be found at any sporting goods store.
- it’s not just for girls
- it’s fun and makes us more sociable (if we practice in the company of other people)
- you lose weight and at the same time maintain your tone
By jumping, you burn about 150-200 calories in 15 minutes.
Also available are high-tech rope variants with LCD and jump counter, calories burned, and distance traveled.
It takes between $ 2 and $ 20, a well-ventilated place and enthusiasm. A women’s sports bra is a must!
