Learning A New Trick

You can't teach an old dog a new trick. Perhaps true. But I am not an old dog, you see. I am an old human :-) So during the Covid19 lockdown in Calcutta I decided to teach myself a new rope trick. The crisscross style of jumping rope. This is something that I have always wanted to learn. All the boxers do it.

When I started skipping during the lockdown to stay fit that old ambition that was lying dormant once again raised its head. And I am happy to say that in a week or ten days, I have been able to quite get the hang of it and know the basics of how to do it. Now it's just a matter of time and practice before I can do it endlessly. This evening I did some 23 criss cross jumps at a stretch. My jumping rope is not the ideal size. It should have been at least a foot longer. That's why I do get stuck now and then but the important thing is now I know the basics and know that you don't have to be a Mohammad Ali to be able to do it. These youtube how to's are such a blessing.

There was a time when I used to think that you needed a really long rope to do a clean criss cross successfully. But even with a very long rope (I used a nylon rope that they use for lifting water out of a well), which makes a normal jump almost impossible, I realised that I couldn't do anything even close to a criss cross. 

So this time, being more determined, I decided to youtube it up and learn the goddamn thing once and for all. I soon discovered that the trick lied in crossing your hands at the elbow. I used to cross them near the wrists. This used to make the loop really small. But when you are crossing your hands at the elbow or even higher like near the biceps, the loop is much larger and it becomes quite easy to pass through it. 

Once I got this basic and fundamental thing corrected, it was a matter of few days before I discovered the rhythm and cleared the first one successfully. Oh the joy of doing it the first time :-) You feel like a little child. Regrettably I was alone then and there was no one to share the joy with. I was trying and trying and hitting myself on the legs and then it just happened. Did it really happen? Yes it did. There was no one to tell me yes it was perfect. I just had to assume it was perfect.

But I wasn't getting more than one successful criss cross at a time. Then I realised that my hands were not as free as they are for younger boys. They are stiff near the shoulder, particularly the right hand. So I had to cross the hands very consciously. I also did a few jumping jacks as a warm exercise to get the hands a little free. The shorter than the right sized rope does not help either (priority number one after normalcy returns is to get a proper jumping rope of the right size. The American Cross Rope brand costs upwards of $100). But you can compensate for the short size by bending a little forward. Then jumping with a forward bend of the body isn't very easy either.

Then there is thing to know also. You turn the rope with your wrist. Not your entire hand. Your hands shouldn't trace a circle. Only the wrist should.

There are two things that can be done with a criss cross. You can either throw in one of them every three or four times you do a normal bounce or any other step or you can do a continuous series of criss crosses. There is a yet third type where you keep your hands crossed and then keep jumping  continuously through the loop. I will need a right sized rope and something better than a plastic handle that I currently have. Because in that style your ability to turn the rope with your wrists held in the reverse direction is important and it is anything but easy. 

I quite like the boxer's steps also. I am practising that right now. I can do it but it is more of dancing than jumping. I need more practice. Right now I am doing three sets of 55 bounces each (started from 40x3) and then I spend some time to practice the new tricks. I plan to take it to 150 x 3. That is what I used to do every alternate day before going to Sandakphu a few years ago with Ushnik.

The next macho thing to learn is the double under. You jump up, turn the rope two times under your feet and then land. For that one certainly needs a proper sized rope of the right weight. Because you have to turn the rope two times with your wrist while staying above ground. I will do it as soon as I get the right rope.

May 3, 2020

Last evening the green rope with which I was jumping (the youtube video is with that rope) broke from the middle. There was a steel spring attached there that had broken some time back. This was  there to take the impact of the friction when the rope hits the ground and protect the rope. With that spring gone, it was matter of days before the rope itself broke into two.

I threw the broken rope out - a plastic thing - but kept the handles. I added my nylon rope to them. Essentially inserted the two ends of the rope through the handle. So now I have a new rope made of nylon but it is too light. So keeping its form intact while it is in motion is a little difficult. But the size being perfect I find it easier to jump with. Swinging it around is a little difficult. You have to swing it much faster, otherwise it will sag. Just a tad heavier would be perfect. Once markets open I will buy an electrical or telecom kind of wire from Chandni that has metal wire inside and a heavy insulation outside. I think that will make for a perfect jumping rope for me.

As of the last few days I am jumping 100x3 times every evening. I wish to make it 200x3 over the next few months. Let me see how long it takes.