By Bernard S. Mason
16. Ready to Start
the Body Spin.
Let us start by learning the body spin or wedding ring, illustrated in the frontispiece, which is not only one of the most spectacular spins in itself, but is the basis of many other tricks which we shall want to learn. Twenty feet of 3/8 inch cotton cord is required.
Hold the rope as in Picture 16. Study the picture carefully. Note that the extreme end of the rope is in the right hand, held between the thumb and finger, the other fingers holding the noose, and that the left hand merely holds the noose open. Also note that the honda is nearly down to the ground on the right side. The stem held in the right hand goes straight through the honda and is not doubled back as so many beginners think.
17. Lay It Over the Head
With the Right Hand,
Keeping the Left Hand Low
Pick the noose up with the right hand and lay it over your head, as in Picture 17, keeping the left hand low. Do not use the left hand to lift the noose up--that is the fatal mistake every beginner makes: The left hand must remain on the level of your waist in the entire process. Much strength is not necessary - just lay the noose over your head with the right hand so that it circles the body.
18. Drop It Down to the
Level of the Waist
Having laid it over your head, drop the right hand quickly down until the rope is on the level of the waist as in Pictures 18 and 19, then give the noose a hard spin around you from right to left, using both hands to give it momentum. As you do this let go with your left hand and release the noose with the right hand, holding on to the end only. Raise your right hand overhead and just keep it going.
19. Give It a Circular
Spin Around You
Too much muscle is sure to mean defeat. It is spun largely with a wrist motion, not an arm motion. Your arm should be directly overhead, with a slight bend at the elbow, but little motion is made with it-the wrist mainly keeps it going. Roping is rhythm-you must keep time with the rope from head to foot; do not hurry it. A wide violent, arm swing breaks the spin-it is the fault hardest for most beginners to overcome, and perhaps much of your failure at the start may be traceable to it.
20. The Body Spin
or "Wedding Ring."
At first you will succeed only in wrapping yourself up in the rope, but don't be discouraged at that. Keep at it. There is no easy road to roping. Every one who spins the rope has paid the price, and you will have to do the same. The price in roping is hours of practice. So keep at it and it will come, perhaps much sooner than you expect. And when it does, practice harder than ever. Don't admit you have learned it until you can start the spin fifty times in succession without breaking down.
BODY SPIN WITH EITHER HAND
When `you have the rope spinning around you nicely, reach up and take the stem in your left hand and keep the spin going, thus giving your right hand a rest. Practice changing hands until you can work as easily and smoothly with one hand as with the other.
Handshaking
21. Hand Shaking-Pass the Stem
from One Hand to the Other.
The clever little trick which the boys in some parts call handshaking should be learned next, and is a very simple yet quite spectacular variation of the body spin. Starting from the body spin, it consists of dropping the spinning loop to within a few inches of the ground and keeping it spinning there by passing the stem around the body from one hand to the other. Picture 21 shows it in action.
Get the body spin going nicely and just as the stem is passing the right shoulder, drop the spinning noose to the ground by lowering the right hand to the level of the belt. Grab the stem quickly in the left hand and carry it around behind you; reach around with the right hand, take it and bring it around in front, where the left hand takes it again, and so on. It takes some fast grabbing with the hands. Try doing it on a smooth floor at first.
