Hello all. Does anyone here know a method for increasing jumping ability? (As in one that you know gives results.) Anyone who likes ninjas and video games, etc knows what I mean I say it would be awesome to get one's average vertical a little closer to Shinobi's.

PS. My hypothesis is that the additional leg power needed to jump high would help my fencing speed...

Exercise your calf muscles by doing heel raises.
Do jumping squats too.

I also hear that plyometric exercises works wonders.

Go to your back yard, Dig a hole, Jump into it, Jump out of it. Dig it deeper, Jump out again. Dig till you can't jump out. Keep trying every day till you can jump out. Dig the hole even deeper. If you can't dig anymore the strap weights to your feet. Before you know it you'll have a seven foot hole in your back yard that needs filling. Hell, all that digging would be a good arm and back work out. If you're a real bada$$ dig the hole with your hands.

By the way I'm not kidding at all. If you want to jump high really this will do the trick. If you're really serious and you can spare 4 square feet of grass then what's stopping you? Because it's rediculous Hell, I think doing Tai-Chi in the front yard at 5 in the morning is rediculous but that didn't stop my mom.

Join a local basketball team of your ability level. They train to jump high. If you're already strong, plyometrics will help as will squats. I have personally seen my instructor jump high enough to kick someone off horseback so it's certainly possible. (He's about 160cm (5'3") tall and plays basketball) Just jumping a lot should also help out.

[This message has been edited by Leo_E_49 (edited 03-27-2005).]

Those jumping squats really pay off! I weigh 85 kilograms, am 1.86 meters in height and I can do the slam dunk. All thanks to squatting [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]. When you do this excercise, try and do it as heavy as possible, cuz you want to stimulate the production of red muscle-tissue ( I think it's called an anearobe-type 1 muscle..) for explosive power! I use 130 Kg weights when I do the excersise and I do 3 sets of 6 jumps.. er.. I mean hops, cuz I ain't getting that far off the ground >.< :P Good luck ^_^

An old Japanese excercise for jumping is to plant bamboo. Jump over the stalk daily, and your jump height will grow with the bamboo. Really this would work with any plant.

If you want to jump higher just do some squat jumps or even jump kicking itself! If you are too lazy to exercise for 5 days a week in 15 months like me, just do your jump kicks at leg levels or the knees. it takes a really long time to improve jumping abilities. So the next time your sensei or instructor asks you to demonstrate and he or she tells you to jump higher, just say "sorry i try and i try but i just cant jump high," It works best if you sound like you are going to cry a bit.