This work is a review of an extreme hobby gaining popularity in Russia called «rope jumping» — jumping with a rope from high-rise objects. Rope jumping is considered as a form of youth subculture. The article discusses such attributes of roupjumping subculture as: joint practice; hierarchy of relationships; the presence of specific outfit attributes, e.g. ornaments; existence of jargon.
Keywords: extreme sports, rope jumping, subculture, ropejumping, rope jumping.
The purpose of this work is to analyze rope jumping as a subcultural phenomenon. For this, we will consider the history of this movement, we will single out the main subcultural features (joint practices, external differences in behavior, ideological guidelines, myth-folklore ideas about themselves, etc.), and also features of the development of this subculture in the city of Novosibirsk. The movement originated in 1989 in the US by the climber Dan Osman, who have been falling during the passage of a complex section of the route. They were noticed, that the breakdowns give pleasure. As a result, with the like-minded group Dan Osman began to carrying out targeted fallings, which became known as «jumps». Usually jumps were performed from steep cliffs. To mitigate the jerk they used a special system of climbing rope. The founder of the rope jumping did not duplicate the equipment in the softening jerk system. In the performance of one of the jumps, Dan Osman died [6].
In Russia, this hobby came with a delay of about 10 years, in different cities the dates of the birth of rope jumping are very different. At Novosibirsk first jumps took place in June 2007. In Perm edge, according to Nadezhkina A. O. [4], the first jumps took place in 2002 The first commercial jumps took place in 2004. For this moment in almost any major city there are groups of people who are organizing jumps. A. O. Nadezhkina gives the following definition: [3] «Rope jumping is jumping on climbing ropes from various high objects (rocks, multi-storey houses, cranes, bridges, pipes, various towers). " It is important not to confuse rope jumping, bungee jumping and base jumping. Bungee jumping is an exclusively commercial extreme Entertainment, as well as a softening jerk element used special elastic materials. Base jumping is a kind of Parachuting, jumps with a special parachute, are carried out from above-ground high-rise objects, such as towers, rocks and bridges.
According to Ilya Skolot, captain of the «Fly» team, rope jumping is most developed in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan. This can be explained by the availability of equipment, which It is required for organization of jumps and specificity of legislation, which practically does not regulate such activities. As an integral subcultural phenomenon, rope jumping was not studied in domestic scientific literature. So in the work of A. O. Nadezhkina [4] the emphasis is on the description technical aspects; a glossary of key terms, applied by the rope jumpers; a detailed description of the development rope jumping in the Perm region.
M. A. Akimova, D. A. Ruban [1] mentions rope jumping as one of the perspective areas for the development of extreme tourism and introduces it into a new classification of extreme tourism. Methods of investigating the cultural peculiarities of the movement of the jumpers were interviews, observation and analysis of documentary sources. The interviews took place in a semi-formalized form, 36 people were interviewed. Respondents were active participants in the movement, well familiar with the cultural aspects of the movement. Interviews were conducted, until new information was discontinued. Included hidden surveillance was based on the “ZigZag” team. An analysis was made of documentary sources: audio recordings of songs dedicated to jumping; collages of humorous content; images on the walls of objects where jumps helds regularly. In our work we proceeded from the definition of the concept of subculture given by D. V. Kataev. [2] «Subculture is a system of norms and values that distinguishes a certain social group from a wider community». In this study, the following signs of the subculture of the jumpers were identified: a specific lifestyle and behavior; joint practice; hierarchy of relationships; the presence of external attributes, manifested in clothing, ornaments; availability of jargon. The style of behavior of permanent participants in the movement is characterized by a propensity for increased risk. In some cases, this desire becomes a reason for professional reorientation, which leads to a change in the existing or taught profession to work in the sphere of industrial mountaineering or service in search and rescue teams of the Ministry of Emergency Measures, SPASOP and others. In these professions, risk appetite is a positive quality [5] for employees, which greatly simplifies adaptation in a new workplace. The basic element that unites the participants of the movement is extreme leisure. Slang name — «jumps». They usually pass on weekends and holidays, for the convenience of the participants. The venue is selected secluded high-altitude object (bridge, tower, abandoned building), on which a special system of ropes, carbines and other special equipment is designed. The main purpose of using the «system» is to mitigate the jerk that occurs during the «jump». Usually, events are held far from crowded places, so as not to attract the attention of casual passers-by and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But, according to rope jumpers, there is an exception, the so-called «black jumping», which means jumping in crowded places, or involving a risk of injury. Participation in events like «black jumping» is typical for people who have a lot of experience in traditional jumping.
For making jumps it is customary to take money from 200 to 2000 rubles, the price depends on the object. Money is not collected from all participants in the jumps. Experienced team members are exempted from the fee, providing technical assistance to managers. In the teams studied, there is a rigid hierarchical system of relations between the participants. Important decisions are made solely by the team captain, who combines the properties of a formal and informal leader and, as a rule, it is the founder of the team. Important issues include: the choice of the object, the date and time of jumps, financial management of the team, the solution of internal and external conflict situations. Also there is a group of up to five people, consisting mainly of experienced team members who have the special skills necessary for organizing jumps. They carry out an advisory function and are involved by the captain to solve non-strategic issues: keeping a record of jumping, cooking, watching the approaches to the object of jumping. The rest of the team members do not participate in the decision-making process. The main means of communication and information exchange are the channels of interpersonal communication, the social network «VKONTAKTE» and other specialized Internet resources: the site «https://ropejuming.ru/", «https://rujump.ru/" and «https: // wsropejump.ru/». The remaining media in the dissemination of information about the subculture is practically not involved. Communication through the social network «VK» usually comes down to the dissemination of information about the date and time of the jumps, about the place where they will take place, about the cost of participation. In Internet resources you can learn the history of the movement and some technical features of the organization of jumps. During the interpersonal communication between the participants of the movement and their surroundings, not involved in the jumping, information is spread about the fact of the existence of rope jumping, which contributes to attracting new participants. Manifestations of external differences from most people in appearance are not pronounced. For jumpers, sports style or style «military» in clothes are prevalents, both in the everyday life, and during carrying out of jumps is characteristic. Clothing and bags are often decorated with the elements of equipment used in organizing jumping. The most common is the carbine (climbing, mounting or decorative). Also there are key rings, pendants, bracelets and T-shirts with logos of the team, to which the person joins. The lexicon of rope jumpers is replete with technical terms that can be divided into two main groups.
Borrowed from mountaineering words («station» — the point of attachment to the support, «protector» — a lining designed to protect the scuffs from abrasion, «system» — a design of straps, which allows you to securely attach the rope to the body). Common words that have received another meaningful meaning («airbus» is one of the types of jump when a person takes several people in his arms and throws him from the support, «bra» is the upper part of the «system»). There are several performers and musical groups, whose repertoire includes songs about rope jumping. Examples include “Cheeses”, “Rope Jumping”, “Shegai”, “Square”, “Miss Phoenix”. Songs contain a description of experiences associated with «jumping»; they note the importance of counting before a jump; compare the jump with the flight; oppose the «gray» of everyday life, the «bright» life of the jumpers; note that jumping gives a sense of «real» life; signify the leap as the most important event in life. In places of regular jumping, there are images of jumps and inscriptions indicating the names of teams jumping from this object. In groups engaged in the organization of jumps, there are unique stories that are customary to tell newly arrived participants. The most universal story, which in different variations is found in all teams, is the history of the «black jumper». The stories of the stories are somewhat different, but in each of them there is the theme of undivided love, injustice, tragic death and, ultimately, the return of the «black jumper» for the purpose of revenge. The instructive stories about the importance of observing safety rules during jumping are also very popular.
After analyzing the data obtained in the course of the comprehensive study, we compiled a general idea of rope jumping. On the basis of the obtained research data it can be stated that rope jumping and the community formed around jumps can be confidently called a subculture. They are a prosocial informal subculture that does not conflict with the norms and values of society. It is convenient to use for studying people who are keen on extreme leisure activities, since the movement is widespread and fairly open.
References:
- Akimova M. A., Ruban D. A. Extreme tourism. Improvement classification // Geographical Bulletin 2016. N 1, 36. P. 95–103
- Kataev D. V. Penitentiary sociology: a course of lectures. Vladimir, 2006. S. 19
- Malinin V. B., Trapaidze K. Z. Culture and Subculture // “Tsarskoselskie chteniya»: Sat. sci. tr. (St. Petersburg, April 22–23, 2014). Saint-Petersburg: Leningrad State University. A.S. Pushkin. Pp. 144–150
- Nadezhkina A. O. Roepjumping in the Perm region // «Tourism in the depths Russia ": Sat. sci. tr. (Perm, July 24–28, 2016). Perm: Perm State National Research University, 2016. S. 150–156
- Samonov A. P. Psychological training of firefighters M.: Stroyizdat, 1982. ropejumping.ru. History. [electronic resource] URL: http://ropejumping.ru/history.php (date of circulation: August 28, 2017).
