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A NEW JUMP TECHNIQUE?
from the book
New Jump Swing Record breaking JumpRope Program for Fun,Fitness
and Cross Training-1992
After breaking my record for delivering the longest sermon in 1978,
I became a teacher working with inner city youth at a school referred
to as the Alpha School in Brooklyn, N.Y. As the teacher of Personal
Biology as well as Physical Fitness, it was my job to develop a
program that the students could relate to and participate in regularly.
This was really the formative days of New Jump Swing. Knowing that
I had achieved one record, my students looked into the Guinness
Book to see if there was another record that I might be able to
break. They looked in the section on rope jumping and they saw a
record for doubles with a crossover. The record was 56 consecutive
times. Believing that I could do anything, my students immediately
encouraged me to go for it. In my first attempt at this technique
I was able to perform 42 doubles with a crossover. Since I was able
to get that close without any training, I decided that this record
was certainly not out of my reach. I practiced and practiced and
practiced. I lifted weights, which was one of the exercise programs
that I initiated at the school. I rode a bicycle to and from work
everyday for the leg strength as well as cardiovascular conditioning,
and I sought out a massage therapist, acupuncturist and herbalist.
About six days before I was scheduled to go for this record, I received
a letter from the Guinness office. In this letter they informed
me through a stick drawing of what they considered a double with
a crossover. Their interpretation required the individual to do
both a double under followed immediately by a cross, before landing
on the ground. My interpretation when I read the technique double
with a crossover was to perform a double under and then perform
a crossover. Needless to say I was quite disappointed when I found
out that all of my hard work and training would not qualify me for
a record. To bring attention to the fine work that the Alpha School
was doing for youth who were expelled from the mainstream school
system due to substance abuse and truancy, I decided to go on with
the record attempt anyway. I chose to do the record at P.S. 183,
my old elementary school. I did~ this because in December of 1979,
the 1980 edition of the Guinness Book was just released and it contained
my sermon record. This I felt was an excellent opportunity for the
youth of both schools to know about someone who grew up in their
neighborhood and attended the same school that they did who could
be a champion in an academic venue as well as an athletic one. My
sermon was based upon my thesis that I'd. written in 1977.
On that date, I'd developed a head cold and was only able to do
45 doubles with a crossover (NJS style). A year later, after seeking
and receiving sponsorship from the New York State Dept. of Parks
and Recreation, I performed 44, 55 and finally 61 consecutive doubles
with a crossover (NJS style).
my contention that if 56 consecutive times was considered good enough
for the Guinness Book to first recognize this technique, then 56
or better was good enough to establish the NJS double with a cross
over technique.
As I have informed my students, there are well over 100 jump rope
techniques that have been listed in various books on the subject.
As long as the rope gets under your feet without you getting caught
in it, it's a legitimate jump rope technique.
In New Jump Swing the first emphasis is on recreation and fitness.
At time should you think that you have to go for any type of record
in order to benefit from this program. As I observed how other people
were using the Gum Book as a method of marketing and promoting their
skills and programs, I emulated them in my attempts at promoting
P.D.N. and New Jump Swing. Certainly you can be healthy without
breaking records and you can benefit from N Jump Swing with no more
than 15 minutes per day of jumping! The point have been trying to
make with these records is that regardless of where started in life,
you can go farther, higher and faster, if you believe in yourself
train properly. My records required me to train academically as
well as physically.
The development of the mind should not cause the body to lag behind
neither should the development of the body cause the individual
to neglect their intellectual studies. This is the
message that P.D.N. and New Jump Swing have
Be creative, set realistic goals for yourself,
the sky's the limit!
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