Have you ever jumped rope?
I'm not talking about the children's game you used to play in the elementary school playground; I'm talking about actual jump rope training.
Where the only things you can hear are the whipping sound of the rope hitting the ground, the sounds of the gym, and your own breathing. No fun and games here. Jumping rope is serious hard work!
An MMA fighter, boxer, or kickboxer jumps rope for the same reasons that practically every athlete jumps rope:
Great reasons to start jumping rope
1. Endurance
Jumping rope is much harder than some people think, until they try it. They may be used to other forms of cardio, but not to the relatively explosive nature of jumping rope.
It may not seem that difficult to get your feet a centimeter (or less) off the ground. But try it. When you do it many times per minute, it gets much harder after a while. Your heart rate rises and you start to sweat. It provides a great boost if you want to work on your fitness.
As you practice more often, you will also notice that you can jump for longer and more frequently than you could at the beginning.
2. Footwork
Jumping rope requires much more foot discipline than you might think, just like endurance does. Small, precise, and well-controlled movements, even under stress (or exhaustion, at the end of a training session), are not easy. Jump rope teaches you that.
Precise footwork becomes part of your natural muscle memory. Use a jump rope, especially for more advanced movements such as crossovers, double skips, switch skips, and so on, and see how your footwork improves.
Do you know that light-footed, almost bouncing movement that some top fighters use? The kind of quick stance switching that looks smooth? The jump rope also makes a large part of that possible.
3. Coordination
This is related to footwork, but it involves the entire body. Lifting your feet requires the ability to establish timing mentally while your body moves in sync with your awareness.
When you watch someone who is good at jumping rope and has already reached an advanced level, you can see the rhythm they have developed.
With good concentration you can go a long way. This will lead to greater coordination and skill. All day, every day. Coordination is one of the most important components of developing an effective fighting style.
Everything works together, there is complete control, and reaction times are sharp. Those things make someone a better athlete and certainly a better fighter.
4. Mental resilience
Jumping rope is incredibly frustrating at first. You constantly mess up, the rope hits your toes, your body gets out of sync, or you misjudge a rotation. At least once, you will throw the rope away in frustration.
It just happens, and just when you think you are getting good at it, new techniques are added—and that can be very frustrating.
It is also one of those exercises where you are ‘in your head.’ You need to concentrate, but there is also room to think, and it is harder not to become frustrated with yourself.
It is physically demanding, and continuing through the burning calves (and arms) therefore also requires mental endurance and discipline.
Jumping rope is just one of the things required—or often required—in combat sports. There is a reason why it has been a basic training method for such a long time: because it matters.
MMA fighters, boxers, and kickboxers jump rope because they want to improve, and it is a great way to sharpen the things that will make them better.
Try it and see for yourself! Here at Fight2Win, we carry a wide range of jump rope options from various brands.
So if you are looking for a good, high-quality jump rope with a great design, take a look at the Fight2Win webshop or visit our store.