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| How Rope Skipping Exercises the Brain
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Quite recently, two scientists in California came up with the following discovery:
Music education exercises that part of the brain-that governs spatial perception-and abstract reasoning skills.
On reading it, I realized that rope skipping would also exercise those
parts of the brain-for the same reason-and for additional reasons-such
as these:
- Rope-skippers utilize the same aspects of rhythm and timing-as
do singers and pianists- such as:
- beats-accented and unaccented
- tempo
- metre signature
- Rope skippers utilize the aforementioned aspects of rhythm and
timing-in relation to aspects of spatial visualization-such as:
- distance
- direction
- Speed
- Position
NOTE: Skippers and dancers utilize many applications
of the following mathematical rule:
Distance = Rate X Time
- In some skipping tricks, TWO aspects of space perception-must
be (simultaneuously) utilized. The whole time that the skipper
is moving, the rope is turning.
This applies when a skipper does any of the following:
- runs and skips(heel over toe)
- Double Dutch
- alternating feet rope jumping(one foot-and then the other
- "runs into" a turning rope-either into the "back door" or
the "front door."
- exits a turning rope
- Suppose two girls each hold an end of a rope(These girls are
called ENDERS.) They may turn the rope in a circle-with one(sometimes
more)girls jumping in the middle. They may chant poems-or sing
songs-as they turn the rope.
The poem and songs are more than just fun. They are tools-to accomplish
the following results:
- to instil the necessary sense of rhythm and timing.(If the
rope strikes the pavement-on EVERY beat-of the chanted rhyme(let
us say), this ensures that the rope is turned not only at
an unvarying(fixed)speed-(turns per minute) but also at a
desirable speed
- To determine what the speed-of the turning rope should be:
(Before a skipping game, the two enders have a rehearsal.
They turn the rope of a song or rhyme(The temp of the rhyme
has some bearing-on what the number of turns(revolutions)per
minute would be.
- for flexibility-A beginning skipper would need the rope
to be turned fairly slowly. A more experienced skipper might
like the challenge-of a fast-turning rope.(often called PEPPERS)
To accomplish this:
- The two enders could make the rope strike the pavements
on ONLY the accented beats(for novice skippers
- for intermediate skippers-the rope would strike the pavement-on
EVERY beat-of the chanted rhyme.
The purpose of the rehearsal is to give the enders and skipper
a "feel" for the rhyme(A comparison might be made with how a ballroom
dancer listens to a few "bars" of the music-to know what kind
of dance steps-he should make.
The skipper would obtain a sense of the "time gap" between one
jump-and the next jump.
NOTE ALSO:
- The tempo of the song-and the speed of the turning rope are
interdependent. An increase)or decrease)in the tempo would effect
a corresponding change in the number of turns per minute-and vice
versa.
- Timing is crucial-in learning to do alternating feet rope jumping.
There is a tiny time gap-between the POUNCE-and the START of the
resulting hop. It is important for the rope NOT to approach the
hopping leg too soon.
- Running and skipping(heel over toe)is really a mobile form-of
alternating-feet rope jumping. Some people who run-and-skip hum
a tune-in the process-and make their feet strike the pavement-on
the desired beats. This ensures that the rope is turned at a desirable-nonvarying
speed.
- If the skipper runs into the FRONT door-of the turning rope,
she does so just after the rope has struck the ground.
- If she runs into the back door:
- She STARTS to approach the rope when such rope is at the
crest.
- She must be closer to the rope(to start)than when entering
the front door. This is because the rope will turn in a semi-circle(not
a whole circle) before striking the ground.
- About Double Dutch:
- Double Dutch utilizes two ropes-each 14 feet long
- The two ropes are turned TOWARD one another(in contrast
with French skipping-where they are turned away from each
other.
- Run into the back door-when doing Double Dutch. Also-be
sure not to run too far ahead.
- Because the time gap-between one jump-and the next-is tiny-for
Double Dutch-rhymes for this type of skipping are sung fast;
they have short beats-e.g. one-eighth notes.(The rhymes also
ensure that both enders turn the rope at the SAME speed -
and at the desirable speed.
- In French skipping-the skipper enters the rope through the FRONT
door.
- Exiting the rope is also a learned skill. You utilize space
perception to know:
- WHEN to start to enter the rope
- WHERE to move-sideways, backwards,or sideways There is some
flexibility-about what direction to runs. It depends on whether
the skipper had entered the rope through the front door or
the back door
- The CROSSIE-is also a learned skill. The skipper must cross
his arms the EXACT instant that the rope is directly over his
head.
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| NOTE: If you would like to email me, my email address is: skippingdancers@hotmail.com
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