Rope Skipping Crit A

1. Is Rope skipping a sport? Justify your answer.

Rope skipping is a sport that impacts every muscle in our body, hence helping us develop and
create an improvement towards our physical condition. Most people object that rope skipping is
not considered as a sport as jumping is the only requirement to the activity, there is no score or
goal to it. However, it is an athletic activity that involves physical exertion, skill, along with
extensive training. Although the scoring system may differ from most sports, much like
gymnastics, the sport does not require too much strategy, but often a routine. Even though rope
skipping is not recognized as a sport widely, it is challenging, and competitive. Also similar to
martial arts, such as karate and kickboxing, as they are judged individually or as a group. Rope
skipping only differs from martial arts in regards of the scoring system. Rather than scoring
points on someone, the points are scored based on one's skill. In conclusion, rope skipping is a
sport that takes a lot of dedication, effort, and skill to be successful.

2. Is Rope skipping more popular in the USA high schools amongst students than in
Hong Kong schools? List 2 reasons to support your answer.
Theres not doubt that rope skipping is more popular in USA high schools amongst students in
Hong Kong. One of the main reasons is because the students in US has more exposure to
sports (such as rope skipping) than the students in HK. According to the Physical Activity
Council, 56% of the USs youth (ages 12-18) are involved in sports, this indicates that students
from the US are more active and shows more interest in sports in comparison to HK. There are
also more organisations in the US that are based on rope skipping such as the the United
States Amateur Jump Rope Federation (otherwise known as USAJRF). Aside from that, rope
skipping was brought to America first (compared to HK). Looking back to the 1940s, rope
skipping became an extremely well known physical activity and its popularity began to rise.
However, in Hong Kong rope skipping is usually viewed as a hobby or activity rather than a
sport, and the sport never really increased its popularity like it did in America.

3. What are the benefits of rope skipping? Give 3 reasons from physical aspect and 3
from mental (psychological) and social aspect.
Regarding intensity, research shows that 10 minutes of rope skipping provides a comparable
workout to running a mile in 8 minutes, thus both sports provides similar cardiovascular benefits
according to the Yale Medical Group. Additionally, it also increases your flexibility, and improve
your balance, rhythm and timing. Rope skipping also benefits us through burning our calories.
Rope skipping burns roughly 125 calories within a 10 minute workout, and a high-intensity 10
minute rope skipping workout is equivalent to 30 minutes of jogging according to The Jump
Rope Institute. Lastly, the sport helps build agility and quickness. Essentially, rope skipping
enhances your balance and coordination by making your mind focus on your feet for a period of
time.

Aside from the physical aspect, rope skipping is also beneficial to us psychologically.
Completing a workout of roughly 8 to 12 minutes helps us reduce our stress and anxiety.
Studies shows that regular exercise promotes better blood flow to the brain. This helps it to not
only function better but is also a great way to relax and get away from things. Secondly, rope
skipping can actually make you smarter through the improvement of dynamic balance and
coordination, reflexes, bone density and muscular endurance. This was shown from a study
done by the Jump Rope Institute. According to their research, rope skipping requires the use of
both the left and right brain, which improves our spacial awareness, increases memory,
improves reading skills, and as a result keeps you mentally alerted at all times. Last but not
least, rope skipping provides a simultaneous physical and mental challenge. This is mainly
provided through choreographed dancing or rope skipping, because of the numerous moves
that can be learned, jumping rope constantly keeps you from plateauing and stimulates your
brain activity.
4. What have you learnt after conducting this research? Has it changed your attitude
towards this sport / physical activity?
After conducting this research, Ive learned that even though most people dont agree that rope
skipping is a sport, from a physical to a mental aspect, it can benefit us in countless aspects.
completing this research has definitely impacted my attitude towards this sport. While rope
skipping has always been a hobby of mine, Ive never really thought that there were so many
benefits that came with the sport, I never thought that simply jumping while swinging a rope
couldve contributed to make such a difference.

5. The FISAR-IRSF World Rope Skipping Championships 2014 was held in Hong Kong
from 27th July 2014 - 5th August 2014; but the media coverage was far less than FIFA
World Cup 2014 or FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix (Hong Kong station) 2014.
i. Discuss the reasons for the lack of popularity & media coverage in rope skipping
championships.
Rope skipping, unlike most sports is not as well known, and this is mainly because most people
dont view it as a sport. Rather than thinking of the various techniques and skills, people usually
only think of one basic movement when it comes to rope skipping, which is one of the main
reasons as to why there arent much media coverage over this sport. Since people arent as
engaged into rope skipping compared to other well known sports such as soccer, basketball and
badminton, most entertainment channels would rather base their segments off of more popular
sports in order to gain more viewers.

ii. If you are the organizer or sponsor for the Rope skipping championships, what would
you do to attract more attention in the society? How would you promote and market this
sports event in the future if HK is going to hold the championship again in 2016?
If I am the organiser or sponsor for the rope skipping championships, I would the various tricks
and techniques the jumpers can do to show the audience that rope skipping is more than just
one basic movement. This is because one of the main reasons (as discussed above) as to why
the sport lacks popularity is because people arent engaged to it. I would promote the event
through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. This is because social media is
can be used effectively to build awareness, whether it is for an event or promotion, especially
when a majority of the people is interactive on social media.

6. Hong Kong team had great results in the Rope skipping Championship in summer
2016 (Sweden). It has finally attracted wider media coverage on the sport achievements.
Discuss (i) from different aspects (social, family, school and government), give 4 reasons
for the significant improvement and achievement of HK rope skipping. (ii) why is there a
change in media attitude?
Firstly, social media has taken such a huge part in spreading out a message, people can be
update with news in the matter of seconds, therefore attracting wider media coverage. Since
people can be updated and alerted as to what is happening in the championships, the jumpers
can constantly be receiving message from those cheering for them.
Secondly, having support from those who surround you such as your family can create a
significant impact on the outcome of your performance. Multiple case studies has shown that
motivated students are more likely to be academically successful than those who arent. The
same concept should be applied to jumpers, having more emotional support will significantly
improve their results.
Thirdly, schools nowadays has also been teaching a wider variety of sports to students,
including rope skipping. Whether it is performed as a group or individually, the practice from
school could enhance and increase their ability in rope skipping.
Last but not least, the government has also been taking action in regards of the topic of sports.
The government has been encouraging citizens to adapt a healthy and active lifestyle through
creating major sports events and schemes such as Sport for All. Which has helped increase
the coverage over sports within the past few years.
There has been a change in media attitude because of the increased performances from Hong
Kong. As Hong Kong has received better results, the media attitude significantly improved, this
can be seen when Hong Kongs contribution to performances in sports has increased, because
of this, the media outlet started receiving positive rather than negative news towards HK. Due to
the great results and achievements of the Hong Kong athletes, it caused more and more people
to grow interest towards it, resulting with a positive change in the media attitude.