Wonder Woman
April 18, 2013 8:37 AM   Subscribe

 
It would have been nice to have been able to watch the rope jumping.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 8:48 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]


As a parent, my first thought was: She must go through a lot of pants doing that butt-hop thing.
posted by DU at 8:51 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]


My feet can't move that fast, even without coordinating with the jump rope. Forget that whole butt-hop thing. I don't even.
posted by ambrosia at 8:55 AM on April 18, 2013


Wow! She's phenomenal. My 8 year-old will love this.
posted by PuppyCat at 8:56 AM on April 18, 2013


This, I think, gives a much better view with fewer highly annoying cuts that obscure what the actual tits is going on.

Also, I get that she's really good, but she doesn't look all that much better than some of the boxers I've seen. I guess maybe there's not that much you can do with a jump rope? Or I'm not good enough at skiprope to appreciate what's going on, that could be it.
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:57 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]


She really deserves better video.
posted by Jode at 9:02 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


Thanks WidgetAlley that was much better for seeing what she's actually doing.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:02 AM on April 18, 2013


Boxers let go of the end of the rope and then catch it under their leg?
posted by DU at 9:03 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]


What makes it awesome is the "I'm so naughty" smile on her face.
posted by fatbird at 9:04 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]


Also, moderately related: this took me down the rabbit hole of Cirque du Soleil YouTube clips (again), and I have to say.... I love them. I love the athleticism and the sets and the costumes and the totally surreal, immersive experience. But I will never go see them live, and there are two compelling reasons: that damn echo-y 80's-tastic snare drum bullshit, and that godawful noodly saxophone.

Sell like one, like one, of your gold-plated hats, please, and get a classical orchestra. Or a metal band. Or panflutes. ANYTHING BUT THE EASY LISTENING JAZZ.
posted by WidgetAlley at 9:05 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


Wow, it takes a lot to impress people these days. I thought she was mesmerizing.
posted by AnnElk at 9:06 AM on April 18, 2013


Videos like this of Cirque du Soleil people make me feel like I've wasted my life. I mean, I'm not exactly sleeping in a ditch here, but I could have joined the circus, fallen in love with some European acrobat and spent my time doing flips over a pit of boxing lions or something.
posted by cmoj at 9:11 AM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]


Wow, it takes a lot to impress people these days. I thought she was mesmerizing.

She is mesmerizing - but the video is a jerk-off by the director and editor to show off how many swoops and cuts and close-ups and depth-of-field shots they can cram into their three minutes, eliminating our ability to actually watch what the fuck is going on. It's the mistake of the video makers to think that this should be about their talents instead of hers. That's why people are complaining, and they should.

See also: every time figure skating is on TV and every third shot is four seconds tight on the skater's face, missing every last interesting bit of footwork that skater has spent years perfecting.
posted by incessant at 9:18 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]


Her smile is just crushing it!
posted by Poppa Bear at 9:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


Boxers let go of the end of the rope and then catch it under their leg?

Yeah, seems like that shouldn't even be possible.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 9:29 AM on April 18, 2013


"Those guys must be millionaires!"
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:06 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


And in WidgetAlley's clip, she's performing with one of those awful jump-ropes with the plastic tubes strung along them. The ones that give you welts if you're a clumsy little bare-legged kid and you jump incorrectly.

Ouch ouch ouch ouch.
posted by kimberussell at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


I wonder how many more years her knees will hold up.
posted by surplus at 10:50 AM on April 18, 2013


> I wonder how many more years her knees will hold up.

My personal experience is that rope skipping is far less wearing on the joints (ankles, knees, hips) than is running. If I run three miles, I hurt after. I can skip rope until absolute boredom sets in almost painlessly. My theory is that the thing that gets you running is the one step in a hundred where you land wrong, even landing almost imperceptibly wrong; whereas when you are skipping rope in place the landing area is invariable and wrong landings are far more rare.

That woman's rope-skipping rocks. The bouncing off butt sitting on the ground thing looks goofy though. Like she wants to TM levitate or something.
posted by bukvich at 11:04 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


I love this! The best part of circus performance for me is the fact that they're having such a ball performing. That they're making these incredible feats seem so easy and joyous is such a thrill.
posted by ooga_booga at 11:30 AM on April 18, 2013


The butt bounce comes from Chinese 9-section whip.
posted by fnerg at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


She's impressive! But I have to say that the Kings Firecrackers (previously) were even more charming and smile-inducing. Seriously. Go watch it.
posted by evilmomlady at 11:53 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]


I love watching stuff like this - thanks for posting it!

Whenever I'm supervising recess at school and I am watching those young and bouncy kids struggling to find a rhythm with the jump ropes, and then maybe to even get to a hundred jumps (and when I'm not busy reminding them "Jump ropes are only for jumping!" "NO JUMP ROPES ON THE SLIDES." "We cannot pretend jump ropes are puppy leashes at school, sorry.") I have dreams of grabbing a rope and blowing their minds with inspiring moves like this and thus becoming the coolest damn grown-up at school. My Double Dutch fantasies are even more shameful.

Then I have to snap out out of my reverie because I need to yell "Umbrellas are NOT for poking" or find a band-aid something, and I go back to remembering that I'm a pudgy forty-something mommy with a bad hip who needs to stop wearing cheap shoes - and even if I did remember to wear a good support bra that day and managed to get just a little bit fancy, at best some kid would likely just interrupt what I'm doing because someone called him stupid and another would make me stop to tell me there are ants in the girls' bathroom again and at worst, well - I'm still living down my shift from the last Fun Fair's dunk tank (note: loose tee shirts need to be tucked in.)
posted by peagood at 12:10 PM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]


Frack me. I had to check more than once that the vid was playing at normal speed, because gawdammmit she jumps so fast nd revolves the rope so many times per second.

Brilliant.

also nice post
posted by Faintdreams at 12:23 PM on April 18, 2013


She's good but I was reminded of the rhythmic gymnastics I only seem to see on TV during the Olympics. And suddenly I went down THAT rabbit hole.
posted by kariebookish at 12:25 PM on April 18, 2013


Oh man. Jump rope is quite possibly the best cardio you can do, and it's a killer warmup and workout. I am so flabbergasted that she could keep this pace and smile the entire time.
posted by Tequila Mockingbird at 1:32 PM on April 18, 2013


Yeah, the most amazing thing to me is that she just keeps going, and going..and going. *If* I get to 100, I feel like utter crap and my calves hurt.

But then I can't run very far either....
posted by smidgen at 2:08 PM on April 18, 2013


the most amazing thing to me is that she just keeps going, and going..and going.

How would you know? There's like 200 cuts in 3 minutes at like 10 different locations.

I would have MUCH rather seen one uninterrupted cut for 60 seconds.

Boxers let go of the end of the rope and then catch it under their leg?

Sure they could. Watch Buddy Lee.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:23 PM on April 18, 2013


And in WidgetAlley's clip, she's performing with one of those awful jump-ropes with the plastic tubes strung along them.

I actually prefer those types of jump ropes. They have good weight, move how you expect and want them to, and most importantly you can easily adjust them. Most people don't realize how important it is to have a properly adjusted rope for jumping, and a lot of those "speed" and "pro" ropes are kind of garbage because you can't adjust them properly. Don't get me started on those Everlast leather jump ropes that leave crazy welts.

How would you know?

Having done a fair bit of jumping with ropes, I am absolutely positive she could do at least 20 minutes of fancy jumping and keep that smile going.
posted by P.o.B. at 2:29 PM on April 18, 2013


evilmomlady: Thanks for posting this. That was totally awesome. Gravity defying.
posted by nostrada at 4:29 PM on April 18, 2013


Now I feel bad about my jump roping skills. I suppose there's always room for improvement.

She is great nonetheless.
posted by Farce_First at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2013


I love the Cirque de Soleil and just like this rope jumping so much of what they just doesn't seem possible. Many role playing games have thief-acrobat classes and at first glance most of their powers seem impossible. And then you watch a few Cirque de Soleil performances and you realise if anything the powers are understated.
posted by Mitheral at 11:29 AM on April 19, 2013


It's the mistake of the video makers to think that this should be about their talents instead of hers

and it seems unbelievably out of order that the jump roping lady is not credited in the video (although the videographer is!). How hard would it have been to add a line to the credits with this lady's name in it?
posted by emilyw at 9:11 AM on April 20, 2013


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