Rules for Chinese Jump Rope Games

Chinese jump rope is a game enjoyed by children on playgrounds and in gym classes that tests their coordination, balance and memory. The jump rope is a loop of fabric-covered elastic, about 1/2 inch in diameter and a few feet long. It is stretched between two players while a third (or more) player take turns jumping on or around the stretched rope.

Setup

Two players stand a few feet apart, facing each other. The jump rope is looped around each player's ankles and stretched tight to create a rectangle, approximately 12 inches wide, between the players feet. A third player stands to the side waiting to start jumping.

Game Play

The third player must now jump in a pattern in, out and on the ropes while chanting the movements as she goes. The movements need to happen in a certain sequence, and footwork must be precise to move to the next level. Each sequence of moves increases in length and difficulty as the game progresses.

Movements

The movements are as follows: In (jump with both feet in between the two ropes), Out (jump with both feet back out to one side of the ropes), On (jump with both feet and land one foot on each of the parallel ropes), Side Out (jump with both feet over the two ropes to the opposite side, clearing all the ropes), Saddle Out (jump and spread the legs so the feet are outside the ropes, but on opposite sides), Side by Side (jump with both feet so that only one of the parallel ropes is between the feet, then quickly jump and place both feet on opposite sides of the other rope).

Sequence

Children can make up their own sequences and play according to their own rules, creating more difficult sequences as they go, but a common starting sequence is: In, Out, Side by Side, On, In, Out.

Miss

A miss happens if a player fails to get a foot on both ropes during an "on" jump, or otherwise flubs a jump by not completing it correctly (jumping both feet to the side when they should be straddling, for example), or if a player performs movements out of the correct order in the agreed upon sequence. This is where a good memory is necessary to advance to higher levels. A miss results in a lost turn and the next player in line gets to jump.

Increasing Difficulty

The game becomes more challenging when variations are added such as raising the rope higher up the body to the knees, calves, thighs even the waist. Another alternative is to loop the rope around just one ankle of each holding player, thus creating a very small rectangular area into which the third player must jump.
A third challenging move is the criss-cross jump where the jumper must hook the inside of her foot on the outside of each rope and pull it across the opposite rope to create an X, then jump a pre-determined number of times crossing and uncrossing her legs without losing the rope, and finally jump clear of both ropes and out of the rectangle.

Resources

• Chinese Jump Rope Rules
• More Chinese Jump Rope