This article aims to give a good insight into the sport, along with terms, history and benefits of using the stilts....
GENERAL TERMS? Powerbock is the general name used for spring loaded jumping stilts regardless of the brand name. The name "Powerbock" has derived from the surname of the original inventor and patent holder Alexander Böck. Sometimes people often refer to the stilts simply as "Bocks" Our brand of Bocks is called Pro-Jump.
Powerbocking or
Pro-Jumping refers to the activity / sport of using these jumping stilts.
Powerbockers or
Pro-Jumpers refers to the user using the jumping stilt.
Brands There are a lot of different brand names for the jumping stilts such as Pro-Jumps, Powerskips, PoweriSer, PoweriZer, Velocity Motion Stilts, 7's, Skyrunners etc.
Inventor - You may often see the inventors surname spelt "Boeck" This I believe is the English way to spell it as the accent on the O in Böck is replaced with an "oe" - Don't worry there's only one inventor so when people refer to Bock, Böck or Boeck they are all talking about the same person!
ABOUT THE INVENTOR AND HIS INVENTION We have to thank
Mr Alexander Böck for the invention of these stilts. Very little is known about the inventor himself but it is said that the jumping stilts were created based on his in-depth research into the walking and running movements of the kangaroo, the stilt was developed and evolved over time to mimic this and now offers the end-user boundless possibilities. It is widely recognised within the sport that once mastered you can run faster than 20mph and jump 7ft high!
The biggest exposure the stilts saw was when the jumping stilts were featured in an advert for Zurich with the slogan "Because change happenZ" which can be seen below:
Luckily for Mr Böck his stilts have gone global and is now protected by a patent in most countries!
PATENTThe design of the jumping stilt is protected by a Patent. The patent can be seen
here surprisingly it was patented as
"A Device for helping a person to walk!" The following countries are protected by the patent held by Mr Böck...
The EU (Patent number EP 1 196 220 B1)
Great Britan (Patent number 1196220)
Spain (Patent number ES 2202160 T3)
Italy (Patent number 4840/BE/2003)
France(Patent number 1196220)
Germany (Patent number DE 500 02 752.8-08 andDE 102 11 691 C1) and
America (Patent number US 6719671 B1)
This basically means that Mr Böck's invention is protected and that it would be illegal to sell the jumping stilts in any of the above countries unless you have his permission. Also Alexander Böck benefits from all sales that are made of jumping stilts.
POWERSKIPS - THE ORIGINAL BOCK The brand that Mr Böck created and now sells himself is called
Powerskips These stilts are regarded as the best and are used mainly by professional performing artists such as
Swebounce. The stilts are very expensive and start at about £700. We now sell PowerSkips through
www.UKGoodDeals.comOn this forum
tundraH owns a pair and you can see him in action below:
BENEFITS OF POWERBOCKING Ummmm.... Let's see
IT'S FUN!
IT'S LOTS OF FUN and yep IT'S FUN
Just looking at the jumping stilts, apart from the obvious benefits of fun and another extreme crazy thing to do there's lots of health benefits of using them...
(For all the children / teenagers and adults - having a hard time convincing parents or the better half etc to buy you some here's some great points for you to use!)Research by Korea's Hanlim Inforbecause mation Industrial University found that:
*People lost an average of seven pounds after five weeks of using the stilts.
*They also shed nearly an inch from their waistline and half an inch from their buttocks.
*In addition, levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) increased
* Levels of bad cholesterol decreased - so they can help protect against heart disease too. (Source:Daily Mail)
So not only will you get a cardio-vascular workout, lose some weight, get rid of the belly but continued use of the Powerbocks will tone and strengthen the body’s core muscles too and to top that you should have FUN doing it too!
