Chinmoy jumps high over the age barrier
If age is in the mind, Sri Chinmoy is proving it. This week the fitness enthusiast and peace leader succeeded in vertically jumping 31" from a standing position onto a platform — which is above the top of a kitchen table or a piano, and at the level of the hood of a Toyota car! Using the power of intense concentration and a childlike enthusiasm for this new and surprising field of endeavor, Sri Chinmoy reached the height of 31" on only his ninth training day.
“This is unbelievable! That is a great jump and from a coaching standpoint, this is a very, great athletic feat! Sri Chinmoy is like some of the basketball players in the NBA!” commented Jim Hurt, Track and Field Coach at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Putting the jump into perspective for us he added. “This is an outstanding performance for any human being, but it is absolutely stupendous for a master athlete of his age.”
Not stopping here. Sri Chinmoy recently jumped over a 33 inch tape in the standing high jump which is only 1/2 inch less than half of his height of 5'7". This week his record standing vertical jump of 18 1/4" inspired former Olympic Track and Field Coach Paton Jordon, who himself holds many track and field records, to offer the following encouragement: “Outstanding! Sri Chinmoy’s 18 1/4" vertical jump is terrific and incredibly outstanding for his age.”
A study reported in the European Journal of Applied Physiology of Italian athletes in 1991, reported that the average vertical jump for power athletes (sprinters and jumpers) aged sixty to sixty-nine was 9 1/2" and the average vertical jump for endurance athletes in the same age group was 7 1/2".
A sprinting and decathlon champion and volleyball coach in his youth, Sri Chinmoy was valued on the volleyball team for being able to leap up and smash the ball over the net. Almost fifty years later he says “the old-age bondage limitations return to the childhood-freedom dreams, with determination we can conquer the age-barrier and go back to our childlike heart where hope is blossoming at every moment.”
Known as a musician, writer, artist, spiritual leader as well as an athlete, Sri Chinmoy explains why he devotes himself to such leaping pursuits; “Age is in the mind, age is no barrier,” he states, “When the inflexibility of the mind surrenders to the enthusiasm of the heart, then we can accomplish many, many unimaginable things! I wish to encourage old people not to surrender to old age,” says Sri Chinmoy, “but to grow into the heart of a seven year old child. Then there will be no end to our progress.”
Sri Chinmoy has always been a dedicated practitioner of sports.
Caption:
From a standing position Sri Chinmoy vertically jumping 31 inches onto a platform.
Published in Caribbean Life, Brooklyn Edition, May 14-20, 1996.