Jump Roping in Boxing Training

Video Transcript

"The next thing that we're going to cover in our introductory lesson after we get done the stretching is going to be jump roping. Some of the boxers come in, and they know how to jump rope already and a lot of them don't. A lot of them haven't jump roped since they were a kid, and that's fine. What we like to say is a good jump roper makes a good boxer, and a good boxer makes a good jump roper. So jump ropes come in all different styles and lengths, and thicknesses and textures. This one here happens to be what we call a 'speed rope'. It's a light nylon type thing with some good ball-bearing swivels. They've also got some heavier leather ones with some good heavy weighted handles. But what I usually tell people is, "If you've never jumped rope before..." I try to let them have a go at it. I can see them over in a corner and they're trying their best and they're jumping really high and they're winging that thing over, and this and that, and I say, "Hold on, stop a minute. Give me that jump rope." So they hand me the jump rope and I say, "You know how to learn how to jump rope? The best way to learn how to jump rope, you take your jump rope and then you set it aside. Okay? You just set it off to the side. Make believe you have a jump rope." What we're going to do is as you're making a believe jump roping, your wrists are going down, we're going to bend at the wrist. Don't bend with your full arms, and don't jump up a foot off the ground, that's just torquing your body. It's just wasting a lot of energy. We're going to jump an inch off the floor. We're just going to revolve our wrists a little bit. Just make believe you've got a jump rope, that's the best way to learn. You can practice on one foot, on the other foot, but just make believe. Okay? Now Nick here is going to show us a little bit on how he jump ropes. That's a knot in there. Okay. Well that's a good start. Next we'll start on hand wrapping."