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Jumping rope: The leaps that know no bounds
by babs@streetplay.com
When I was a small child my 30-something father, six and a half feet tall, cut
an awesome figure in his long navy blue overcoat as he entered our courtyard
on his way home from work in the evening. One who had never seen him before
might have gasped as he approached, but we 5 and 6 and 7 year olds from the
neighborhood broke into giggles. We knew what was coming, not just who, as we
hiked ourselves up on tippy toe and turned that rope as high as we could get
it. Even then, Dad would have to hold his coat up over his knees and bend over
at the waist as he jumped (ne'er a miss) and sang his preamble to Teddy Bear
Teddy Bear: "My mother, your mother lived across the way, 2-4-6 East
Broadway; every night they had a fight and this is what they'd say..."
Just goes to show you the joys of jumprope know no bounds of age, size or
gender. It's fun, plain and simple, and has caught the attention of kids of
all ages through the years. It is in fact considered by some an art form and
by others a sport, as demonstrated by
The Double Dutch
Divas, a group of women in their 30s and 40s who travel around the world
performing their art, as well as The
Heartbeats, a team of school-aged kids from Ohio who compete nationally.
Last but not least, there's a group of young folks from Texas A&M
University who are into a different kind of
hip hop.
The history of jumprope
Believe it or not, boys were the first to jump rope. Speculation has it,
though, that as American families moved from rural areas to towns and cities,
the girls got a handle on it, so to speak. With smooth pavements and more
leisure time than their moms had back on the farm, they were able to put
together the games and rhymes that we enjoyed as kids and passed on to our own
kids. They seem almost precursors to soap operas with their neverending,
whimsical, over-the-top plots that point to youthful concerns and fantasies.
Rhymes had not been very popular among the boys; they were more into fancy
footwork, tricks and maneuvers like crossing over and double jumping.
All in together girls, how do you like the weather girls?
The rules are simple and few. Jumprope is a cooperative effort. Grab an end
and turn in sync with your buddy turning the other end. Start a song or rhyme
and invite your friends to "jump in" to the beat--i.e., stay under
the rope, keep jumping to the beat and then jump out when the song is over.
Step on the rope and you're out. Double dutch uses two ropes and is indeed
twice as hard yet twice as much fun.
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