Rope Skipper Monkey Chan

HK Magazine: Isn’t skipping rope just exercise?
Monkey Chan: Yeah, but it’s also an actual sport. There are official teams all around the world. I’m a member of the Hong Kong Rope Skipping Association of China. I have a personal team with my mates named Martial Skippers. And I’m a fulltime P.E. teacher at Pui Ying Secondary School.

HK: So your expertise is skipping?
MC: Actually, volleyball. I have volleyball practice from 7am-9pm and then skipping after that at the dorm. Volleyball’s different because it really depends on your opponents. For skipping, as long as you perform your best, it’s good enough.

HK: Do you use special ropes?
MC: Our ropes are ordered from India, although Indians don’t skip that much. They’ve got a rope factory there because some Belgians or Americans started buying ropes from them. There are many kinds of ropes: generic plastic and cotton ropes, the wire ropes for speed, and the bead ropes for color and aural sensation, mostly for performances. I have a glow in the dark rope as well, but it doesn’t really glow that well in the dark, even though I put it under the sun for a long time.

HK: Does anyone denigrate skipping as a dorky sport?
MC: After graduation, I basically started pimping skipping at the school I teach at, using Powerpoint. And I got a lot of positive feedback. Students came up to me afterwards and thought THEY were the dorky ones for not excelling in skipping.

HK: Do you get high from skipping?
MC: Definitely, both emotionally and physically. Even during warm-up, I’m high as a kite. And when I’m performing, I’m so in the zone I don’t even see anything in front of me. Spectators, everything just disappears.

HK: Sounds like a dangerous sport. Serious injuries?
MC: Not foot or leg injuries as people would expect. You can and should land lightly on your feet after jumps. It’s the wrists. There are quite intricate ways of maneuvering the rope with your hands, so it’s easy to sprain your wrists. I’ve gotten my hands hurt many times.