Have you ever jumped rope?
I'm not talking about the child's game you used to play on the primary school playground, I'm talking about real jumping rope.
Where the only thing you can hear is the rocking sound of the rope against the ground, the sounds of the gym and your own breathing. No fun and games here. Jumping rope is hard work!
An MMA fighter, Boxer and Kickboxer jumps rope for the same reasons as any athlete jumps rope:
Very good reasons to start jumping rope
1. Stamina
Jumping rope is much harder than some people think until they try it. Those people 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 an inch (or less) off the ground. But try it. If you do it many times per minute, it will become much harder at some point. Your heart rate goes up, you start sweating. It's a great boost if you want to work on your fitness. The more you practice it, you will also notice that you can jump longer and more often than you did in the beginning.
2. Footwork
Jumping rope requires a lot more foot discipline than you might think, as does endurance. Small, precise and well-controlled movements, even under stress (or exhaustion, at the end of a training session) are not easy. Jumping rope teaches that. Precise footwork becomes part of your natural muscle memory. Jump rope, especially more advanced moves like the crossover, double skips, switch skips, etc., and watch your footwork improve. You know that light-footed, almost bouncing movement that some top fighters fight with? The kind of quick change of position that looks smooth? A large part of this is also made possible by the skipping rope.
3. Coordination
This is related to footwork, but it involves the entire body. Helping your feet up requires the ability to mentally establish timing while keeping your body in sync with your consciousness. If you look at someone who is good at jumping rope and who is already advanced, you can see how the rhythm was created.
With good concentration you can go very far. This will lead to greater coordination and skill. All day and every day. Coordination is one of the most important parts of developing an effective fighting game. Everything works, there is total control and there are tight reaction times, those things make someone a better athlete and certainly a better fighter.
4. Mental condition
Jumping rope is terribly annoying at first. You mess up all the time, the rope hits your toes, your body is out of sync, or you misjudge a turn. There will be at least one time when you throw the rope out of frustration. It just happens and just when you think you're getting good, new techniques are added and it can be very frustrating. It is also one of the exercises where you are 'in your head'. There needs to be concentration, but there is also room to think, and it is harder not to get frustrated with yourself. It is not easy physically and continuing to fight the burning calves (and arms) therefore also requires mental endurance and discipline.
Jumping rope is just one of those things that is required, or often required, in martial arts. There's a reason it's been a basic training method for a long time; because it matters. MMA fighters, boxers and kickboxers jump rope because they want to get better, and it's a great way to hone in on the things that will make them better. Try it and see for yourself! We at Fight2Win have many jumping ropes from different brands in our range. So if you are looking for a good and beautiful quality skipping rope, take a look at the Fight2Win webshop or visit the store.
