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Strange Talents: Jumping / Leaping Abilities & Stunts

TheBeast17

Gone But Not Forgotten
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OK guys, the thread on the flying man, triggered a memory that I can locate no correlating information for on the net.

I've seen on these boards, a reference to a large yellow paperback books of Fantastic Facts, of which I used to have a copy. It was filled with all sorts of things; from 'real' werewolves, to people jumping from planes and landing safely.

One story in particular that I remember was about a guy who could, apparently, perform fantastic feats of jumping, by 'manipulating' 2 large weights that he carried.

It was reported that he could jump into, and back out of, a crate of eggs, without breaking a single one, and could jump across a river in 2 jumps, the first taking him to the middle of the river, where his feet would sink an inch or so beneath the water, whereupon he would leap to the other bank.

I've done a bit of googling, but can't find anything about him. There's a bit of info. out there on The Human Cork, who couldn't be sunk, despite being dropped in rivers and lakes whilst tied to massive weights, or to pieces of furniture, but I don't think this is the same person.

Any ideas?
 
I've seen this in a big book I used to have as a kid. I can remember an illustration of this guy in leotard and tights, taking off from the ground. But no more detail than that I'm afraid!
 
Footballing legend Dixie Dean was able to leap over a snooker table from a standing jump :eek!!!!: BOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGg
 
Theres a chap with a statue in his honor in Netherton (just outside Dudley, West Mids) who jumped canals by swinging weights in his hands.

Must look up his name.

(EDIT)

A walk starts here where Joseph Darby was born on August 5th 1861. He became the World Champion Spring Jumper, a sport long since vanished but enormously popular in Victorian times. He was also the licensee at The Albion in Dudley's Stone Street. Joe Darby could jump on the surface of water in a tank and out again, simply wetting the soles of his shoes. That this feat involved a double spring is proved by the fact that he would jump up to the water a distance of 5ft, and then clear the tank landing 6ft beyond. He could also alight on a spectator's face, springing off without hurting them. He was also able to clear half-dozen chairs with a jump taken off an ordinary glass tumbler filled with water without spilling a drop. Joe Darby must have attracted a massive crowd when he performed in public. There is a memorial to Joe Darby in the centre of Netherton opposite the Old Swan brewpub - though this is some distance from the canal.

From midlandspubs.co.uk/canalpubs/stourdudley.htm
Link is dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030416191942/http://www.midlandspubs.co.uk/canalpubs/stourdudley.htm



Picture of the statue and a 'ballad' here
Link is dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070206132958/http://www.storyjohn.freeserve.co.uk/jd.htm
 
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I'm not blowing my own trumpet, but I can do that! Jumping on people (as described above *ahem*) used to be one of my party tricks, and on biscuits and stuff without breaking them. It's not that difficult, you just kind of take the momentum and weight out of yourself by rolling your knees and ankles in the right way, it's hard to describe, but easy to do; I've always thought it came from having dense strong tendons, which can absorb a lot of the intertial weight. I've never thought about it as being weird before, but now you mention it.

I can't do the water thing though ;)
 
Mr Snowman said:
you just kind of take the momentum and weight out of yourself by rolling your knees and ankles in the right way, it's hard to describe, but easy to do;

What? So what do you do, you can jump on a biscuit and not break it or something?
 
There is more info and a picture of him (and an old news report):

He was the forerunner of the modern stunt-man. And in the early thirties the amazing feats of Dudley publican, Joseph Darby were still talking points over a pint in pubs and bars across the Black Country. Joseph, who was pulling pints behind the bar in Dudley in 1932, had been a world famous figure in his early days, having set up a string of incredibly bizarre records.

Apart from being an internationally renown champion jumper, Darby (pictured right) was also regarded as the most remarkable trick jumper ever born. In his leaping days he would take a spring jump onto water in a tank, touch the surface with his feet and spring of again without wetting the upper parts of his shoes. Likewise he would jump onto a crate of eggs, touch them and spring off in an instant without breaking a single shell.

One death defying feat involved him jumping over the back of a chair onto the FACE of his little daughter, lying on the ground, and springing off again without hurting her in the slightest - but leaving on her cheeks the marks of whitening from the soles of his shoes.

Joseph's fantastic abilities reached the ears of King Edward who was apparently as baffled as everyone else as to how he did it. In fact the King was so intrigued a command performance was arranged at London's Covent Garden for the publican's abilities to be tested. The King was so bowled over by Joseph's jumping that he sent him a cheque for £25.

Joseph performed before most of the crown heads of Europe who would see him presenting one of his favourite freak jumps - leaping over a handsome cab. As his fame spread, Joseph was beset with challenges from all parts of Europe.

In fact the more he jumped the more daring his feats became. The stunt man was so at home in the air that he eventually became known as "the man bird", a name which greeted him everywhere he went from New York to Vienna, Warsaw to Paris and Berlin to Brussels.

The man bird's more picturesque feats were: clearing a full sized English billiard table lengthways, jumping over a chair placed on top of a table with his ankles tied together , springing from a brick, stood on end, over seven chairs without causing the brick to move, and leaping over ten chairs placed together in one jump.

But these were his fancy jumps. In his matches he performed real athletic feats, beat all-comers and smashed every existing record. He attracted huge crowds all across the Black Country where he became an idol among the sporting fraternity. He set record after record with backward spring jumps, high jumps with ankles tied together, leaping billiard tables, and a number of spring jumps of different kinds.

And during the 17 years he held the world jumping championship - from 1882 to 1893 - he was regarded as one of the fittest men in the world, although in later years he acquired a Pickwickian paunch.

Born at Windmill End, Dudley, on August 6, 1862, Joseph Darby, known for his modesty, was reluctant to discuss his feats. But in an Express & Star interview in the early thirties, he said he started jumping almost as soon as he could walk. "My first recollections, however, are of the days when, as a boy at school, I beat the masters who tried to jump further than I could,." he said.

He started working life as a horse nail maker, later moving to the coal pits. But his leap to fame came when he appeared at a charity gathering in London as a young man. About 80 agents besieged the Manchester Hotel where he was staying, all waving attractive contracts. He signed up with one of them to appear at the London Aquarium for 10 weeks at £25 a week. That was the beginning and from there his salary sometimes went as high as £100 a week.

In another five years, at the age of 75, the once champion jumper died. He had been a licensee in Dudley for nearly half a century. When he passed on he ran the Albion Hotel, Stone Street, giving him his final record - the oldest licensee in the town.

expressandstar.com/millennium/1900/1925-1949/1932.html
Link is dead. The MIA webpage can be accessed via the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/2003040...dstar.com/millennium/1900/1925-1949/1932.html


More on the jumping records:

Joseph Darby, at Walsall, Eng., recently
broke the world's record of 34 feet 9 inches,
for three standing jumps by covering 35 feet
ii inches. He then broke the world's record
of 26 feet 7 inches for two jumps with weights
by a jump of 28 feet.

http://kurzweil.mit.edu/archives/VOL_011/TECH_V011_S0115_P022.txt

On if it is possible or not from Outing, March 1892, Volume XIX, No. 6:

Improvement at standing broad jump-
ing is very slow, but one should, with
judicious practice, do a foot more than
when first making a regular attempt. In
ordinary life I used to do 10 feet, but with
fairly regular attendance at a gymnasium
I would find myself doing 11 feet with no
special preparation for it. It is said that
12 feet 1 1/2 inches has been cleared for
a standing broad jump, without weights,
by Joseph Darby, an English professional
athlete. Not much credence is generally
put in professional records, but I think it
is quite likely that Darby is equal to that
phenomenal performance, for he has a
great incentive to practice. Eleven feet
to most men seems an incredible per-
formance, but if I could do that by prac-
ticing in an offhand way, why should not
a professional of superior ability and
making it a business to practice do one
foot more? It is also said that Darby has
cleared 36 feet in three standing broad
jumps without weights. The best ama-
teur record is 34 feet 4 1/2 inches, by my-
self. Taking up the ten jumps it is
found that Darby is credited with only
112 feet, while the amateur record, my
own, is 113 feet 5 1/2 inches, but it should
be said that if Darby can clear 12 feet for
a single jump he can do in the neighbor-
hood of 120 feet for ten.

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_19/outXIX06/outXIX06f.pdf

[edit: Mr Snowman: I'd also be very interested in further details - is it possible to draw a diagram or even video it and jam it online?]

Emps
 
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On a somewhat similar note...the great turn of the century dancer Nijinsky was known for his jumping ability..However a number of his contemporaries were shocked in his seeming ability to control his jumps, When he reached the apex of his jump, he seemed according to these sources to be able to descend as slow or as fast as he chose to .. Of course the Law of Physics would suggest strongly that this is impossible...An interesting story...( Nijinsky danced from about 1907- to the early teens, so no film of him dancing survives...just still photos)....Cant find any linking stories on the net so far..
 
ctaylor8 said:
What? So what do you do, you can jump on a biscuit and not break it or something?

Pretty much. You just kind of flick yourself off it as soon as you hit it. Just try it, it's dead easy.
 
Mr Snowman said:
Pretty much. You just kind of flick yourself off it as soon as you hit it. Just try it, it's dead easy.

I just don't get it- sorry I'm being so dense. You mean, you jump up in the air and come down on the biscuit or eggs or whatever, and just as you touch them, you leap again? But what do you push off of?

Please let me know before I crush another box of Oreos ( or do they have to be Carrs or something?).
 
ctaylor8 said:
I just don't get it- sorry I'm being so dense. You mean, you jump up in the air and come down on the biscuit or eggs or whatever, and just as you touch them, you leap again? But what do you push off of?

Please let me know before I crush another box of Oreos ( or do they have to be Carrs or something?).

Well, you just kind of roll your feet and flick yourself, almost as if you were trying to slide across whatever you were jumping on. Hmm.. I retract my earlier comment. It is quite hard to explain.

Try it yourself on a cardboard box (it doesn't matter if you crush one of those, and it doesn't make a mess). Just jump onto it, tiptoes first, and then prance off it. I tried to analyse it last night, and it feels like you're adjusting your centre of gravity, and distributing the momentum around your body.
 
Finally! From the Fortean theory we're getting down to practical experiments! :D My landlord will be puzzled out of his wits as to what's that banging, thumping and bumping upstairs. :rolleyes:
 
I was watching a repeat of the Channel 4 'documentary' on Free Running and I was wondering if 9amongst their range of techniques) they use somehting similar as some of their jumps are from impressive heights onto hard surfaces and I would have thought if you didn't distribute the forces somehow (they do a lot of jumps into rolls I notices - not egg and cress more of the forward variety) I would have thought they'd do themselves some serious damage.

Review of the doc:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv_and_radio/story/0,3604,1038864,00.html

Good long article and an explanation of the divisions in Free Running

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1026157,00.html

One of the main sites:

http://www.parkour.com

Mr Snowman: Should we get a Fortean Bureau of Investigation article done on you demonstrating your skills (as describing them doesn't seem to do them justice)? I can think of some experiments (like jumping onto a set of scales, etc.) and it would be interesting to get the opinion of someone like a sport scientist.

Emps
 
Theres a chap with a statue in his honor in Netherton (just outside Dudley, West Mids) who jumped canals by swinging weights in his hands.
Here's a photo of Joseph ('Jumping Joesy') Darby's sculpture from atop the Netherton monument dedicated to him, as well as a 2006 news item concerning additions to the plinth.
joedarbymonument.jpg
New facts on jumping Joe
12th October 2006

FANTASTIC facts about Netherton's famous jumping Joe Darby are being added to his well-known statue.

The plinth on Joe's statue is being refurbished to give more information on his amazing feats and feet.

Facts about the Victorian jumping champion are included on the series of copper plaques, which have been designed and drawn full scale by borough artist Steve Field.

Steve designed and sculpted the original statue in Netherton in 1991.

The painted aluminium statue will also be re-touched as part of the restoration and another plaque lists in detail some of Joe Darby's astounding competitive jumps and legendary trick jumps.

These include appearing to leap over a canal in two bounds - the second leap apparently from the surface of the water.
SOURCE: https://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/965836.new-facts-on-jumping-joe/
 
There's an extensive Wikipedia article dedicated to Joseph Darby. It includes a detailed history of his jumping career and a listing of his personal records.
Joseph Darby (6 August 1861 – 22 December 1937) was a renowned jumper from the Black Country village of Netherton, in Dudley, Worcestershire. He specialised in spring jumping (jumping starting from a stationary position) often using weights in his hands to help propel him. After taking part in competitive jumping at venues in the Midlands and North of England in the 1880s, he went on to perform at theatres in London and Paris and crossed the Atlantic to exhibit in North America. He entertained crowds by performing trick jumps and earned money in wagers with competitors. Highlights in his career included defeating the American World Champion spring-jumper in 1887 and appearing before the future King Edward VII in Covent Garden, London. After finishing his jumping career, he became a publican in his hometown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Darby_(jumper)
 
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