Jonny Callender

Heeeeeeeere's Jonny.........

Born in Bedford, a town just north of London, I have been an energetic person from a young age, so physical activity and sport were naturally great outlets for my excess energy. During my school years I played many sports, representing clubs and my school in football, basketball, athletics and rugby. As an adult looking back, I can appreciate how my involvement in sport and exercise has had such a positive impact on my life.

Both my passion for developing as an athlete and the strong influence of my Great Uncle Mike swayed my next move in sport. My Uncle Mike has dedicated his life to his passion, the sport of boxing. Mike competed in over 300 contests and his greatest achievement was a bronze medal at the 1958 Empire Games (now known as the Commonwealth Games). A true ambassador for his sport, uncle Mike has long since retired but remains a regular visitor to the local boxing club where he continues to coach. His contribution to the sport was recognised by Her Majesty The Queen in 2007 as he was honoured with an MBE at Buckingham Palace.

Naturally, Uncle Mike was always keen to get his nephew involved in boxing and he would encourage my involvement at every possible chance by sending me gloves, headgear and of course skipping ropes. One particular Christmas when Uncle Mike was visiting, he spent hours with me in the garden teaching me how to skip 'properly'. Mike taught me that skipping was to be enjoyed, to express myself and improve my footwork and rhythm.

I started boxing at the Bedford Amateur Boxing Club when I was fifteen. Boxing, depending on how you look at it, is a very lonely sport. Having progressed well in my amateur career, during the boxing season my life consists of many long late-night runs and time spent with nothing but the sound of a speed skipping rope for company.
I am therefore well aware of the benefits of skipping. For me personally, skipping is a routine activity that adapts itself to my needs. For example, if I need to shed a few pounds for an upcoming contest, I am able to wrap-up in layers and skip at a pace for an hour or so to get the job done. On the other hand, if I need to warm-up quickly and get the blood flowing, a few short bursts of double-under skipping gets the job done. However, I do still enjoy just grabbing a rope in the gym and trying out a new move, trick or step.

 Having completed my BA degree studies in Sports Media and Culture I joined the team at skip-hop at the end of '09. Its great to travel all over the UK and teach people of all ages how to speed skip, do rope tricks and really benefit from the positives of skipping and I really believe in what the skip-hop team are trying to achieve. I encourage anyone thinking about grabbing a rope and getting involved to do so and hope you get the most out of your skipping.

Jonny Callender

Just a quick message to say a huge thank you for a fantastic day.  Jonny was Great .  The kids and teachers thought he did a fantastic job and I just wanted to pass this message on. Thanks again. Jo Smith, Head Teacher, Snaresbrook Primary School.

Just to say thank you so much for the workshops delivered by Johnny last week. We had a fantastic day! It was so well organised and Johnny's manner with the children was excellent. We will definitely be booking again in the future. Hilary Towers, Deputy Head, Lane School.

Jonny came to our school yesterday and I would just like to give you some feedback. Jonny was absolutly fantastic, he did a workshop with reception-year 2 children and they all had a fantastic day. All the teachers said how good the sessions were and how good Jonny was at assessing the children's ability. He was fantastic at explaining skip-hop to the children and was really patient with the children who didn't get the hang of it first time. The demonstration at the end of the day was really enjoyable for the teachers and the children, the nursery children came to watch and although they didn't take part in the day they had lots of fun. Please pass on our thanks to Jonny Kind regards Jennifer Roe, Coppice Primary School, Oldham.